*Jhooth*
At Roy Choudhury House...
It was morning. Binoy was reading newspaper sitting on a lavish sofa in hall whereas Trilochan was doing arti of Durga Ma. Bihari brought them their tea i.e. ilaichi chai for Trilochan and British tea for Binoy.
On the other hand, in a room behind a close door, Anirudh was getting ready in his usual full shirt nd high waist pants when Bihari comes there with his coffee.
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"Arti lo Binoy!" Binoy ignores him. "Binoy!" "Da! Aap jante h mujhe in sab pe koi vishwas nhi h phir q aap baar baar-" "-tumhe nhi hoga lekin hume h. Bhoolo mat. 15 min bada hu tumse. Arti lo." Binoy again tries to defend himself,"Da-" but his brother's death glare stops him nd he takes arti. Trilochan smiles nd goes back to mandir.
"Namaste Trilochan ji." At the door was Bhaumik with his daughter Saudamini. "Are aaie aaie." Binoy welcomes him. "Humne socha ki parso sagai h to kuch taiyari ki baat-cheet ho jae." "Bilkul." Trilochan motions them towards dining area. "Aae h to nashta bhi kar lijie sath mai." They nod and sit at the dining chair and starts discussing about the engagement.
Anirudh comes there in hurry nd was going out when Trilochan calls him,"Are Anirudh. Kaha ja rhe ho?" "Kaka..wo mujhe kuch kaam h..to-" "-are! Aise kaise? Nashta to kar lo. Aur dekho, Bhaumik aur Saudaminii aae h sagai ke taiyari ke lie." Trilochan says putting stress on Saudamini name. Anirudh smiles lightly. "Kaka...ab mai isme kya bolu. Aap log ko jaisa shi lage kar lijie. Aur maine coffee peeli h. Mujhe jana hoga kaka. Pls thoda jaroori kaam h" Nd with that he is off to his mission.
"Itna bada ho gaya h lekin pata nhi kya karta rehta h ye ladka." Trilochan mutters.
"Aap chinta na karie Trilochan kaka. Mai aungi na, tab Anirudh sara din apke paas hi rhega." "Ha! Tum kam ho jo mai bhi usey apne se chipka ke rakhu." Everyone at the dining looks on but said nothing.
°•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•°
Anirudh goes to the school nd when he reach there, his jaw drops. The school was badly damaged. The door, windows, board, everything was badly shattered. He stops a man passing from that way,"dada..ye vidyalay ko kya..kaise..kab?" "Are yhi 2 din pehle, Mukhiya ke admi aae the aur sab tod fod ke, tabah karke chale gae." "Par kyu?" "Bhagwan jane kyu."
Anirudh looks at it nd recalls Neeya,'ye mere baba ka sapna h. Sabko shiksha ka adhikar mile. Chahe ladka ho ya ladki. Aur mai..apme baba ka sapna jaroor poora karungi. Is vidyalay ko sahi maybe mai vidyalay ka darza dilaungi, taaki aache se acche shikshak yaha awake padhae. Mere lie ye vidyalay hi sabkuch h. Baba ki nishani aur baba ka sapna, aur isilie mai ise humesha sajog ke rakhna chahti hu.'
Anirudh clutch his fist in anger, when something hits his mind.
"Sirf 1 din! Neeya mai tumhe 1 din ka samay de rha hu. Agar tum apne apko nirdosh sabit kar dogi, to tum is vidyalay mai padha sakti ho nhi to ye viyalay ko tod dia jaega!"
Anirudh sighs nd goes from there. 'Akhir saare bacche kaha gae honge...kaha honge wo?'
Anirudh walks thinking about all the incidence when he stops in front of a house where he kind of promised himself not to go nd sees a stressed, sad face. Its her.
********************
"Neeya! Kaha ja rhi h tu?" Dida ask stopping her in midway. "Dida wo mai bahar aise hi.." "ki? Tumko akal h ki nhi? 2 din mai tera vivah h aur tujhe bahar jana h. Shaadi tak kahi nhi jana h. Ghar par hi baith." Dida sternly orders her nd leaves.
Neeya sits at the door of her house recalling the time at the mill, all the children nd her Ma. After that incident, she lied to everyone about her Ma that she has gone to her own village in urgency, nd everyone believed that. But tbh, she literally wanted to scream all the truth out. But she was bounded by the life and death of her loved ones. And also, she dont have anyone by her side. She looks at the handkerchief in her hand in which অনিরুদ্ধ (Anirudh) was written. Not even Anirudh ji..
She sat there in her deep thought when she looks up to only find one and only him. His face carried worry with concern in his eyes. As always, he looks amazing but it was lacking one thing...his precious smile.
Anirudh didnt know why but he wanted to come here, maybe to see her once before her marriage. He notice her sad face nd eyes which were carrying tears in it. Seems like she was trying hard to stop them from escaping but u cant hold ur emotion back when you see someone whom u care nd love so much.
Both Anirudh and Neeya were in front of each other but there was only silence and looking at each other. His worried nd concerned eyes met with hers teary ones.
Finally, collecting all his power, he called her softly but trying to hide any emotion in it. "Neeya."
It grabbed her attention nd she looked away from his beautiful brown eyes. She wipes away the tears she didnt know when escaped from her eyes. She stands nd walks to him. "Aap..yaha?" "Ha...wo...mai yaha se gujar rha tha..." Neeya nods lightly. His eyes falls on the hanky she was holding nd he recalls the moment when her wrist was bleeding and he tied it. "Tumhara haath kaisa h ab?" Neeya looks down at her hands nd her cheek burns up blushing and feeling embarassing. "Behtar h kal se....Ye apka.." she passes the hanky to him. He smiles and politely denies it,"lagta h mujhse jyada iski jaroorat tumhe h. Tum rakhlo." Neeya smiles nd tuck it in her skirt.
"Waise..Kaki nhi dikh rhi. Aaj ghar bhi nhi aai?" Neeya gets tense on this nd looks here nd there. "Wo...wo ma..Ma apne... apne gaon gi h....kisi jaroori kaam se.." but she doesn't know that Anirudh already noticed her tense and scared face.
He comes close to her and speaks in low voice,"Neeya..mai sach jan na chahta hu. Kya tum ye shadi apni marzi se kr rhi ho? Kya tum pyaar karti ho Indra se?" At this question, she looks at him and as Anirudh being "barrister babu" study her carefully, her expression, her body language, etc. She looked sad, nd scared on listening his name. She looks down nd answer,"Ha...ha...mai karti hu na...tabhi to..han kaha..." "Pakka?..." "Ha Anirudh ji." He moves back nd Neeya feels cold around her, missing the warmth of his body. "To phir meri ankho mai dekhkar bolo." He orders in serious tone. But she doesn't look at him. 'Mai kaise inki ankhon mai dekh ke jooth bolu...kaise?'
But she, collecting all the courage looks at him,"ha. Pakka" but Anirudh, he doesnt see any confidence, any truth in her eyes. "Theek h! Tum mujhe nahi bataogi to mai khud pata laga lunga.-" "-Neeya!" Dida comes there. "Neeya. Under chal. Kaam h bahut. Shaadi h teri sab taiyari karni h." Then she notice Anirudh,"Are chote malik. Maaf kariega lekin is samay bahut kaam h to aap.." He nods,"ji. Mera kaam ho gaya. Mujhe mere sawaalo ka jawaab mil gaya h." He says looking at Neeya for few seconds,"accha mai chalta hu phir. Namaste" he joins his hand nd then leave from there.
"Tu. Chal andar!"Dida forcefully takes her inside her room nd push her down. "Kya..kya bolne ja rhi thi tu Indra Ji ke baare mai?" Neeya looks at her shocked. "Dida mai to-" "-Chup!..khabardaar agar un baccho aur apni Ma ke baare mai kuch bhi bataya to." Neeya looks on. "Dida aap...?" "Ha mai...sab janti hu mai..teri ma ko maine hi bandhi banwaya h waha pe." She pulls her hair nd hisses,"kuch bhi boli agar aur koi bhi hoshiyari dikhai...to mujhse boora koi nhi hoga.." nd she leaves from there locking the door of her room. Neeya just looks on, shocked? Surprised? Dont know. But she wasnt able to believe all this...
--•••••••••••••••••••••••--
Anirudh was in his study room, thinking bout everything. 'Aaj Neeya ne jooth bola..par kyu?'
He wasnt getting why the school was so badly destroyed and why Neeya was lying to him. And for the first time, there was doubt in his mind about Indra and Neeya and mostly Indra.. 'kya aisa ho sakta h ki Indra ka koi haath ho insab mai?.'
He was getting frustrated and banged his fist on the table,"q jooth bol rhi ho mujhse Neeya? Q?."
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Neeya was locked in her room. She can hear all the talking nd giggles nd laughs outside her room which means the guest nd relatives are here.
She opens the window of her room nd looks at moon. Tears escapes her eyes nd she close her eyes. 'Kya ye mere sapne, mere baba ke sapne ka ant h? Kya ab mai aise hi, is narak mai jeeungi? Kya bacche..ma..sab..choot paenge?.. Kya Anirudh ji kabhi sach jaan paenge?..' More tears roll off her eyes....
There, Anirudh was also standing in his balcony looking at the moon, sadly. 'Kya ab yhi ant h? Humari dosti ka? Kya Neeya sach mai gunehgar h? Kya wo...khush h?'
*Jooth bole jeebh sulge....
Aesi meri majboori....
Appni khusboo Jo chupaye..
Me hu vahi kastoori....
Tere mere bich me Hain ek hi Pardee ki duri.
Tu Jo chahe wo saja de..
Kuch bhi na me kahoogi...
saathiya bhagavan tu hain Mera...
Rishta Tera Mera
Rishta Tera Mera
Rishta Tera Mera
Rishta Teraaaa Meraaaa...aaaaa*
Both were sad nd were looking at the moon but actually, they were looking at each other.. They both were missing each other in a corner of their heart.
One was scared for her life but moreover, for her loved one's. While the other one was determined to find the truth....
A/n...
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