~~~ GIFT ~~~

"When are u leaving office?".. A hurried Avi was screaming on phone as he couldnt hear Sharan because of the loud announcements at the platform for the trains that were either standing or were arriving the station.

"Dude I cant hear you.. text me.. i will wait near Ram Bhai's.. just like you said.. where is it actually..?".. Avi said and disconnected. He collected his luggage and started walking out of the platform that was totally steamed up with the beautiful girls, even at such hour of the day.. where in his hometown.. at this hour people were about to complete their 3/5th of the GOOD NIGHT sleep. He instantly fell in love with Mumbai..

The beep sound hardly audible with the mix of vibration alert told Avi that Sharan had replied back. It read "will be there in 10 minutes.. keep the gift safe.. ask any auto rickshaw driver.." and that made Avi skip his beat. His bag had fallen thrice in the 37 mtr distance of his 1st platform walk at the mumbai platform. Someone or the other pushed him every second.. he felt as if he was driving in the one way traffic .. opposite direction..

He swiftly moved out of the platform and first thing he checked if the gift was safe, that Sharan asked him to bring.. Avi had been to Italy for his project work.. lucky chap.. that was his 3rd trip in 2 years and this time.. Sharan asked him to bring the RM .. Remy Martin.. cuz Avi had described it too loudly in his earlier mail to him.

"Bhai.. ye Ram bhai ki dukan kahan hai?".. an auto wala who looked a friendly person encountered a question from a non mumbaikar looking guy..

he smilingly answered "aage jaa k pehle right pe duusra dukaan.." Avi thanked.. and hurried towards the Ram Bhai's... and thats when his cellfone started ringing.. Sharan was calling.. he picked up..
"Where are you..?" Sharan asked as if he was falling from a cliff and Avi was late in throwing the rope to save his life..
"i am about to reach.." and while Avi said this he took the right turn and saw Sharan grinning hard.. sitting on the hood of his 2 year old Audi and clapping in sheer joy..
"Padhaaro majaraaj.." and he stood on the hood.. and saluted Avi in Army style.. that almost made a dent on Audi and on Avi's heart too as he loved expensive cars.. an then suddenly Sharan jumped on Avi.. making him fall on the ground with his luggage.. he hugged him tight in his arms.. and after a minute of drama.. he stood up..

"Where to..?" Avi asked..
"Nariman.." prompt reply by Sharan.. "Gift..?".
"Its there.."
"Perfect..!!" and then Sharan opened a box type compartment under his seat and bring out 2 glasses.. and winked at Avi..

Avi only smiled.

The shiny black Audi sped towards Nariman point, synchronized with Avi's Heartbeat.. and then it stopped..

"Bring the bottle.." said Sharan as he moved towards the hundreds metre bench facing the sea and the live glowing city at the other end of it.. with the Glasses he also took out the jar filled with ice that he collected before the nearby shop after he left his office..

Avi took the bottle out.. wrapped in the shining purple paper.. already describing the executiveness of that drink..

"come here dude.." Sharan said as he dropped cubes of ice enough to fill the glass till top..

Avi had never felt this good in India.. specially after he joined the job..
he went to the stone bench sat beside the glasses full of ice.

Sharan took the bottle from his hand.. opened the cover and poured a nice amount of spirit in both the glasses..

RM steamed the ice it seemed.. smoothly making way between the rocks it gladly settled at the bottom.. Avi was smiling after long time.. He was all the time sad after he left India..

"How is She?" Sharan asked before raising the toast.. question hard enuff to answer and good enuff to make Avi stop smiling..
"i dont know.." Avi said with the coldness of ice in his voice..
"ok.. lets raise the toast.. For the moments we never discussed.."said Sharan and clanged the glasses and Avi gulped down the whole thing in one go...

Sharan made another one for him again..

"Hmmm.. you told her..?" another question from Sharan..
"yes.."
"ok.. thats good.. so what she said..?"
"she said.. she cant marry me.."
"but why..? it seems u have been in love with her since your last birth.. or may be last to last birth.. "
"she dont care about it anymore"
"what the fuck.. you guys even made out.. i remember you took my Esteem.. that christmas night.."
"Sharan.." Avi blasted .. filled with emotions..
"ya Avi.. i remember you coming back in the morning to the hostel room.. and jumping with happiness.. you said me Thousand times that she said you I love You only for ONCE for the moments you have given her.."
"We have grown up since then.." Avi said .. completing his second one too..
"and what exactly do you mean Growing UP..? there is no growing up.. its always falling deeper in love.." Came the rare words of wisdom from Sharan as he finished his first glass..

Sharan prepared drink.. 3rd for Avi and 2nd for himself..

"so what is the reason..?" Sharan seemed unstoppable that night..
Avi doubted if Sharan had some list of questions..!!

"I am not of her Caste.. I am Manglik.. I will die if she marries me.. My Shani is pretty strong that will tear apart our fate if we marry...".. came a reply that stunned Sharan ..

"Who believes in this crap..? you or her..?"

"Her father.. her mother.. her aunts.. her uncles.. her neighbours.. every other person they know or heard name of.. their Shiv maharaj and now she too.."

"bloody hell.. how suddenly..?"

"i dont know.. she called me 2 days before i left India.. and said.. she would be getting married in 2 months.. she told me the reasons.. and hung up.."

"whom she getting married to..?"

"she dint tell me the name.. said i knew him.."

"so..?"

"So she dint want me to know or be anything of her life.. "

"Avi.. lets go to her place.. and sort out the matter.. i have heard she has shifted to Mumbai.."

"what to sort out..? there is nothing to sort out.. i dont love her anymore.. i dont want to love her anymore.. if she doesnt want.. then thats it..!!"

"what..? are you sure..? i mean.. u mentioned her in ur every mail.."

"yes.. but now.. its all over.. i dont want to see her face again ever in my life.. poor guy who is marrying her.. he wud never know what kinda girl she was.. soft n subtle.. you know she hated color Pink.. she loved maroon lingerie.. she loved to kiss more than doing anything else.. she loved to watch cartoons .. we used to watch it for hours with she lying on my lap and i fiddling with her hair.. she used to bite my finger when i rolled them on her cheeks or lips.. and then she wud look into my eyes.. and smile.."

"here .. have another one.." Sharan handed Avi his 4th glass of the early morning.. it was around 4 A.M. now..

"she used to call me every hour to know how i have been doing in that hour.. and all cud say was.. i spent that hour remembering all the words she said me in the last call.. she covered my thoughts.. my dreams.. my reality.. fuck Sharan.. I loved her most.. i love her most.."..

Sharan could see Avi was on verge of breaking tears in his eyes.. he patted Avi's back..

"She loves you too.." Sharan said. comforting Avi..

Avi looked at him.. surprised...

"yes Avi.. she too loves you very much.. she called me yesterday and told.. that you never called her after she said its over with you.. you never mailed her while the time u were in Italy.. you never tried to show her that you still love her.. you never tried to know whom she getting married to. will she ever be happy.. u never cared enuff for her.."

"Fuck off Sharan.. it was her call.. i never said its over.. she said.."

"she said to know how much you want her in your life.. you never let her know her importance in your life.. you never tried to show that she is the person for whom u can fight the world... How cud she marry you if she was not sure that you loved her.. what answer she could have given her conservative parents who asked her every day..?"

"she said all this to you...?"

"No.. you said... you right now said... you dont care whom she getting married to.. you dont care about anything eh? She said she is broken.. and hurt.. I tried to convince her.. that you still love her.. that you mention her name in your every mail.. but she wasnt convinced.."

"then..?"

"she wanted you to say it yourself.. she wanted to hear it from you.. in your voice.. and thats the reason i have kept her on call from the time we are relishing RM.." and then Sharan winked.. and took out his cellfone.. that showed the call timer moving every second.. almost 2 hours..

Avi snatched the fone and started crying loudly.."Shreya.. i love you.. i love more than anyone in this world.. i love you more than anyone i have met after or before you.. Shreya.. please come back.. i want to meet you.. i want to touch you god damn it.. please Shreya... " and he continued crying..

he went on knees .. he was feeling the guilt.. he knew he was wrong..

And a voice came back from behind.."I love you too.." Shreya was there.. she was always there.. before Sharan and Avi arrived.. sitting in her car with black windows.. watching and listening them..

Avi stood up.. hugged her tight.. kissed her forehead.. eyes.. cheeks.. fingers.. and lips. He knew she loved it.

while this continued with the sun peeking from horizon indicating morning.. Sharan with his RM , 2 glasses and Ice jar.. moved inside his Audi.. turned on the music and left behind 2 lovers .. and an idiot..

~~~ On that Night ~~~

"Jasbir... just look whether this video has come out proper or not.. and please drop me a mail just before you leave.. i will check out in my BlackBerry and will reply you.. i need to take Nisha, you know my sweet daughter to her friend's b-day party..

you try to reply me by 11 PM.. ok..? Thanks.."

and Kabir rushed out from the office. He dint try to look at the dismal reaction on Jasbir's face. He dint try to notice that Jasbir dint want to remain in the office on late Friday hours.. He dint want to look at the filthy politician's video that had just come out from an anonymous source showing how he lead the new female actor to his bed, promising her the lead role which she is truly capable of doing on screen, for the new movie which is to be made of his black money which he told was hidden under his bed..!

Jasbir was least excited about the revelation this video could bring out the next day after it gets published on front page and highlighting once again the copious wealth under his belt without his name in public. He mailed Kabir just after 20 minutes .."Video is NOT ok... need to edit a few parts.. see you tomorrow for a quick discussion on it.. may be by 10 AM" He knew that this message would ensure Kabir's peace of mind getting disturbed, the way he has been doing it with him since 3 years and 5 months..

This was the second job for Jasbir.. earlier he used to work for an MNC in a reputed IT sector.. and he loathed that life too... He always knew that the life he is leading isnt taking him anywhere.. not at least towards happiness.. He got into media.. eyes filled with glitters of glam and fame of people who most of them were leading an unusual life, that astounding life which every common man dreams of.

he looked at his watch gifted by his grandfather; it showed 10 PM.. locked his PC.. picked his bag and started walking to get a cab..

The moment he stepped out from the AC building.. the sweetness of air filled his mind.. For a moment he closed his eyes.. took a slow deep breath and with a smile opened his eyes.. after feeling the beauty of night..

Smilingly he moved out of the gate, removed his tag and zipped inside his backpack.. and waved his hand for a taxi to stop..

"Kitthey saabji..?" Old Taxi driver asked.

"Sector 3.. lane 9.."

"aes wele..?" "(at this hour... in a surprising tone..)" .Yes... Taxi Driver in delhi are mostly punjabis, or they speak punjabi normally.. or they speak punjabi on seeing a Punjabi guy. This was the latter of the cases.

"Koi problem haigi taan main dujji taxi ley lavanga.."( if you have any problem.. i will take another cab..)

"naii jii sardaar ji.. baitho.."

and he sat in the cab.. listening to the melodious Jagjit Singh .. the verses of Shabad Kiirtan.. that made Jasbir uneasy..

"shabad band kar dawo.." (please stop the shabad being played)..

Driver easily read the pain on his face and stopped the kiirtan.

"haanji.. bus ethhey ruko.." Jabir asked cab driver to stop near a small white gate.. at lane 9..

The clouds had already started making noise.. he knew it would rain that night.. he was waiting for it... he knew .. had he been working on the video.. he would have missed the moment he waited every year on this day...

He quickly made the payment and swiftly walked under the tree.. opened his bag and took out the steel cylindrical pot in which he used to carry tea.. poured in the cup shaped cap of it.. and started taking sips.. Taxi slowly moved away from the scene..

soon he found a drop of water falling in the cup.. The gift was here..

Yes it had started raining... he moved out from the tree shade... lift his face up and let droplets fall slowly on his forehead, cheek .. on his closed eyes... he wanted to cry.. but couldn't. He wanted to run .. fastest as possible till he dry his lungs out of breath.. he wanted to fall on his knees.. and yearn for the loss. He felt pain.

July.. this month was very special for Jasbir... and particularly this day.. 10 years back.. he got the definition correct.. that no one could ever explain to him.. The definition of Love..

High school time it was... Jasbir returning from the extra classes never knew that we would meet someone that will change the meaning of his living...

he saw a girl in a white salwar suit trying to do something with her bicycle at the corner of the road.. he stopped and found that she is the girl from the same tuition class he was returning from.. he inspected and found that the chain slipped of from the chain wheel and she was not able to move her cycle.. he immediately sorted the problem, showing the girl the mechanical genius side of his..

he then offered to company her till the end of the lane.. to which she smilingly agreed.. she was very pretty when she smiled.. she was always pretty and Jasbir knew that he had already fallen for this pretty tuition-mate of his.. and soon it started raining... the girl started running with cycle in her hands.. quickly waving bye to Jasbir and entering into the last house of the lane.. and saying "thank you..."

"No problem... see you tomorrow.." Jasbir replied..

And then it became a routine affair... Jasbir was sure that he was in love and always tried to dig an opportunity to be with her...

but this couldnt last for more than 6 months... differences cropped up.. they chose different college.. career.. priorities.. partners... and reasons for being happy...

but one of the decisions went wrong for both of them.. The reason for being happy... they never knew that happiness was around them when they were together.. Air.. clouds .. weather.. always had a soft part to play when Jasbir tried to move his story forward..

It thundered ... hailed storms.. they day she moved on leaving Jasbir behind.. far away from her life...

................... Everything was like a flashback... Jasbit rose up.. went under the tree.. took his bike off the stand.. and started to drive from the lane he went every night..( he left his bike on this lane every night.. so that he could come and pick it up.. a reason to cross this lane every day..)

but then he stopped.. at the end of the lane... and what he saw was, a girl in her late twenties was standing holding the small gate.. wearing white shawl.. her thick black hair sticked to her face and rain falling on the ground first touched her face and then silked to the ground off her long black locks..

he switched off the bike so that she wouldnt notice... but it was in vain... he saw her opening the gate and coming towards him... as she came nearer, his memories started getting a recall.. she was her..

he thought she wouldnt recognize him... after 10 years he looked tired.. beard moustache and turban covering most of his face... but she now stood close to him..

as close.. that he always tried to be with her.. she removed Jasbir's glasses to look into his eyes (she immediately knew he was Jasbir).. and stared directly into them.. long enough to make Jasbir realize the moments they have lost.. the happiness they could have created being together..

".. I.. I... I..... I am... I.. I.. I was.." and as Jasbir tried to explain, he was shut with a hard slap on his face... and before he could recover from that.. he felt the most beautiful kiss on his lips that he always begged from his fate...

Under the sky showering love again, instead of thunders... this night was enlightened by the purity of the love they had for each other.. tears rolling down the cheeks... they kissed the happiest moment of their life..

The moment of re-discovering their love..

which was sweet.. sweet as the first childhood love.. sweet as kissing your love under the rain that brought them together again..

and sweet as telling her once again.. "I love you.." and she accepting .. not by saying YES.. but just by another warm tender kiss.. silently explaining "I love you too.."