'Tum mile, toh lamhe tham gaye,
Tum mile, toh saare gham gaye,
Tum mile, toh muskuraana,
aa gaya...'
"Aakash,
what are we doing here?" Payal looked around the 5-star restaurant
they happened to be sitting in...
Aakash
braced himself as he bent forward in his seat..
"Look
Payal I need to tell you..I wanted to tell you..you know, I wished to
let you know-"
"Aakash,
you are doing this since the past 15 minutes. What?" Payal
said sipping the drink before her..
Aakash
threw his hands in the air..
"You
know what? this wouldn't have been so difficult had you not been
someone having read more than a dozen confessions by God knows what
out-of-this-world romeos thereby putting the risk of my confession
looking like total bleh.."
Payal
choked on her drink immediately as she stared wide eyed at him..
"WHAT?"
quite
a few heads turned at that...
Akash
felt a dozen heroes popping out in shining armors out of thick fat
novels and laughing at him and felt like the roasted chicken on his
plate..
Endless
moments passed until he couldn't take it any longer..
"yes!
I love you ! There you go! Take it or leave it! Compare it to whoever
you-"
"Aakash-"
"I
know Payal! Look, you don't need to agree, or you know, this wouldn't
change our friendship, but-"
"me
too"
silence..
"what?"
"me
too Aakash" Payal smiled as she blushed..
and
that marked a sudden transition from roasted chicken to Alexander the
Great...
1
new message from cement pile-
Heli
lands in Delhi shortly. Don't you DARE take ONE more flight. Don't you
DARE drive to the helipad.
1
new message from bhai(Nihaal)
Arnav
Singh Raizada just payed a visit to the New York International
airport. I guess it failed to impress him since he took off for Mumbai
in just an hour. Thought you'd like to know ;)
Delhi
to New York to Mumbai to Delhi...that explained the private
helicopter...
Khushi
stared blankly at her mobile screen for a few moments, standing at
the Delhi International airport Exit lounge, trying to put two and
two together.
A
soft , meaningful smile broke on her face as the realization of the
current state of affairs dawned on her. It took a few more moments
for that smile to turn into a blush... and then a grin.
And
a few more moments for her to stand right in the middle of the
airport exit holding her forehead with her palms and laughing,
earning as a consequence of her action a disapproving look from an
old lady next to her who quickly made an addition to her 'book of why
the current generation is not what the current generation should
be'..
A
while later a taxi drew to halt beneath the sunny October afternoon
sun somewhere near AR headquarters. Khushi stepped out and was greeted
by the sight of a hoard of journalists, cameramen etc spread all
around the place who were probably under an impression that he was
returning after a conference abroad or something..
Her
breath hitched as she felt the weird sense of deja vu numbing her
mind.
The
same journalists...
The
same bright afternoon sun...
The
same helipad...
The
same wait for Arnav Singh Raizada..
She
smiled as she remembered how not long ago, she stood at this very
spot and cursed a certain 'high and mighty thinks he rules the
world'..
...the
difference was that the scorching May heat had been replaced with the
warm and mild October gusts..
the
wait was as painful, but the reason, different..
the
impatience was the same, the desperation different..
It
was like coming around after having traveled one large circle...
but,
that was true, wasn't it?
Khushi
suddenly felt someone clearing his throat behind her..she broke out
of her trance and swiftly turned around to face the uniformed guard
who looked surprised at her..
"Ma'am
we never knew you were here. Why don't you just move into the car?
You know, the media is all over the place and if-"
but
it was already too late, Khushi was soon spotted by the paparazzi
who took almost no time to surround her from all sides..after a loud
'IT'S HER!"
"Ma'am,
when are you getting married?"
"I
am sorry I cannot comment on-"
"Ma'am
we never heard anything about the progress of your relationship after
the engagement, is the wedding still on?"
"Yes
I-"
"Ma'am
is it true that Mr Raizada slapped your ex at Mrinal Bhatiya's
reception?"
"what?
My ex?"
"yes
of course! Designer Hitesh Sidwani, your ex flame?"
"WHAT?
Look, I have NO idea about any such ex and now if you will please
excuse me I-"
She
stopped at the sudden drawing sound of rapidly moving helicopter
blades above. She raised her head towards the skies as did about a
dozen journalists along with her..
"He's
here..finally!"
someone
shouted as the sound became increasingly deafening..
Khushi
involuntarily stepped away from the crowd and went and stood by the
barricades, overcome by an overwhelming feeling of joy and
anticipation..forgetting the very simple exercise of breathing in and
out..
"Oh
get down already!" she muttered under her breath..
The
helicopter finally made a landing on the ground..after what felt like
years..
The
metallic door swung open as uniformed security stepped down..
And
then he came out..
The
Arnav Singh Raizada of a few months ago had stepped down on the same
Delhi turf a few months back, annoyance and arrogance reigning his
face as the scorching weather and un-welcoming sight of desperate paparazzi had greeted him..
The
Arnav Singh Raizada of today didn't give two hoots about the
weather..nor to the presence of the paparazzi..
He
moved to instruct his staff when his eyes fell on a lone figure,
standing away from the crowd , immediately behind the barricade quite
a few feet away...
It
didn't require him a closer look to guess who it was..
Clad
in denim jeans, and white kurta, her hair loosely fallen over her
shoulders and slightly moving about in the gentle breeze Khushi
stared straight in his direction..
It
seemed like endless moments of strange silence passed between the two
of them before Khushi bent her head, starting to shake with
laughter..
Arnav,
himself, gave a light chuckle as he looked on..
those
endless break up plans..
those
relentless efforts to stay away...
those
strong self denials..
those
rumors, those confusions, those mess ups, those sleepless nights all
played along as rapid flashbacks and all they could do, was, laugh..
"Get
out. NOW!"
"Out?
My pleasure!"
"Khushi!
I am there! Relax!"
"They
have put hearts! HEARTS! DAMN IDIOTS!"
"Fiance?
Wife? Jiji, am I dead? Is this hell?
"so
what do you propose we do now?"
"break
up"
"Arnav,
why is this becoming a 'till death do us apart thing for us?"
"Just
say we are seeing each other.."
"WHAT?"
"Do
you have another choice?"
"Ladies
and Gentlemen, welcome to the engagement of Mr Arnav Singh Raizada to
Miss Khushi Kumari Gupta"
"After
all, you want to break-up.."
"NO!
I mean..yes..I mean, so do you, right?"
"who
THE HELL is Pallavi Khandelwal?"
"Jiji
I think I am in love"
"You
are leaving for 5 Goddamn years and I get to know this from your
brother!"
"you
let her go, chotte"
Arnav
slowly bent his head down, rapidly typed away a message on his
blackberry, then raising his head signalled her to look into her
mobile..
Confused
at his choice of mode of communication Khushi bent her head to her
mobile screen as the display lit up with the message-
1
new message from Cement Pile.
I
am not married, but to be married, not engaged, but to be engaged,
wanting to get married and wanting to get engaged. Are we done?
Khushi
stared confused at her screen for a couple of moments before
realization hit her. She bit her lip in sheer amusement..
then
hurriedly typed back-
I
am sorry I cannot do much about that, and I for one am not done Mr
Raizada.
She
waited as she saw him smirk a highly amused smirk at his mobile
screen before she received another message-
And
why should I care whether you are done or not?
She
bit her lip, thoroughly enjoying re-living the moment of their very
first encounter..
Because
I, have an appointment. Khushi Kumari Gupta,err...jobless :P
That
was as far as they remembered and moreover this was too much...these
few feet of separation were even more treacherous than the miles that
had separated them all these hours..
He
took large, firm and quick strides forward, but Khushi Kumari Gupta
had never been famous for her patience..
the
media, was forgotten..
the
fear of looking ridiculous, was forgotten...
Slipping
past the barricade (while all the poor security could do was make an
'oh shit, what am I supposed to do?' expression) she broke all her
high school annual sports day records as she sprinted like a dart
towards Arnav, who could only chuckle at her antic as for the first
time in her life, Khushi, despite running, could reach her
destination without tripping as she flew straight into him..the
impact so strong, that he literally had to take a step back...
It
was hard to tell whether it was her bullet like launch, or his steely
grip around her , hoisting her up, but the fact still stood in place,
that Khushi Kumari Gupta, at the moment had her three inches above
the ground..
The
security fully co-operated by moving back a considerable distance and
choosing to take a sudden interest in their respective watch makes,
the afternoon sky, leather shoes, etc. etc.
The
media fully co-operated by effectively placing palms over each
other's mouths to maintain a silence from their end only to be
interrupted by a dozen cameras clicking away rapidly...for after all,
such PDA after PDA, didn't come served on plates every other day, and
some PDA it was..someone tried to shout and was hit by a mike on the
head..
Khushi
felt a surge of peace flow through her within the embrace and the
feeling of finally being back home as she felt arms tightening around
her..Arnav himself felt his entire being relax as the anxiety which
has been gnawing on his mind felt ebbing away...
Still
within the embrace, Khushi slipped down, her feet touching the ground
, eyes a little glazed as their faces came into level with each
other..
Arnav
chose not to let go of his steely grip, tightening all the more with
each passing moment,which was creating significant breathing problems
for her, but breathing problems, currently, were not Khushi Kumari
Gupta's biggest issue..she could hell well have developed gills for
the same without noticing..
"Gosh..this
is so..filmy!" Khushi laughed through the choke in her throat..
"It's
Khushi Kumari Gupta" Arnav replied, smirking "if not dramatic,
then what else?"
"in
Delhi, may I ask why, Mr Raizada?" she spoke with a mischief laced
voice..
"some
business stuff" he countered.. "some people need to be shown
where some people are damn well supposed to be. You?"
"Oh
me?" she replied.. "just came back to extend my gratitude to
someone for their sweet little 'Goodbye Happy journey'..then I'll be
back to New York"
"I
see.." he raised an eyebrow "so let's see how you do that Khushi
Kumari Gupta"
"who's
stopping me?"
"try
saying New York
once again and you would see that"
She
giggled..
"Gosh..you're
so slow! you know that? I told it to you weeks ago and you react,
like now!psh.." Khushi spoke after a moment..
He
raised his eyebrow, before jerking her forward..
"How's
this for being fast?" He replied as he fished out a sparking
ornament from within his pocket, and his eyes as stubborn as amused,
he grabbed her left hand and forward and proceeded to push the ring
up her finger..
Khushi
pulled back her hand fiercely and stepped back..
Confused,
he questioned her with his eyes..
"A
girl likes to be asked" she drawled in a deliberately lazy voice as
she suddenly began blowing cool air over her nails..
"I
see" he replied, his smirk not hiding his absolute amusement..
Stretching
an arm forward and wrapping his hand around her wrist he jerked her
forward yet again as she fell flush against him..
"So,
Khushi Kumari Gupta, will you marry me? I give you two choices,
yes...or, yes?"
Flustered
already at the close proximity, Khushi tried to formulate the correct
string of words..
"I..urm..I."
"Is
there another Khushi Kumari Gupta here?"
"..no"
"then
yes, you. Khushi, don't test me, yes, or yes?"
She
smiled and blushed a pretty shade of pink, before a twinkle lit in
her eyes
"If
we get married, will you stop shouting at me, stop bossing around,
stop throwing totally unexpected news at me and be all 'it's a warm
sunny weather' about it, stop going all 'Goodbye. Happy Journey.Your
life. Farewell' and such crap on me when I am already hell confused
and literally commit the decision blunder of the decade, and not ROFL
if I tell you something, I didn't tell you all these days because I
thought you would ROFL?"
"No.No.Depends.Yes.what
is ROFL?"
(Arnav
Singh Raizada, was never famous for his patience either)
"Roll
on the floor laughing!!" Khushi gasped out, exasperated.. "you
never read my cool lingo list did you?"
"and
why would I do something like that?" Arnav counter questioned, not
being able to think of any situation calling for his rolling on the
floor..hell, why would he roll on the floor?
"oh..ok.."
Khushi bit her lip.. "then I will try..to..say..you know, what I
want to say.."
"I
am listening"
"urm.."
she gulped.. "Arnav..."
"yes?"
"I..you..i
mean we.."
"yes
Khushi, I, you, he, she, we , their, his, hers, whatever...next?"
"wait
a minute!" she shouted and pulled back.. "why am I doing this? I
shouldn't be the one doing it! YOU should do it! I am supposed to
smile and blush and you are supposed to do the talking not the other
way round!
Arnav,
who was still trying to figure out a reason good enough for him to
roll on the floor found the additional disturbing image of himself
blushing make a pretty horrifying picture and it was not long before
he put two and two together and got what she was struggling at..
Mischief,
and an irresistible urge to tease her, flitted through his eyes as
took a breath in and eyed the pretty confused creature with flaring
nostrils before him..
"I
should say what, Khushi?"
"You
know what?" she started off, furious... "I think I should go back
to New York! Because you are too slow for a snail! To HELL with what
you have to say! I don't CARE! I don't CARE whether you don't have
the freaking sense to freaking tell me that-"
"I
love you"
"Exactly!
And then you expect me to-...wait... what?"
"I.love.you"
silence...
"Khushi?"
silence..
"okay,
I expect a response to that Khushi?"
silence...
"I
thought this is the part where you smile and blush"
As
if following a manual, Khushi suddenly turned a pretty shade of pink
and he smiled, glad to know that his confession had not ended up into
one of those 'paralyzed lover gets admitted to hospital' kind of
things..
"that's
better" he whispered, and she turned red..
"So.."
he raised her chin with a finger.. "is this a unidirectional thing
or do I get to hear something too?"
She
had practiced this N number of times, but Khushi would have preferred
reciting Latin poems, than the fix she found herself in returning
those three words back to him..
"same
here" she smiled..fiddling with her hair..
"same
what?" he wouldn't let go that easily..
She
took a deep breath, shut her eyes, shut all the 'you shall say and he
shall ROFL' fears, thought about the immense crap she had undergone
the past 26 hours all for this moment and breathed out..
"I..love
you too"
Arnav
felt his heart growing so large within his chest that he felt he
might as well have to book a trolley back home to carry it along with
him...
this
was twice better than hearing himself being announced as the Young's
business entrepreneur of the year.
This
had to be the best thing to have heard in the world!
Khushi
slowly opened her eyes, saw the look in his, and a second trolley was
mentally booked for a co-passenger for Arnav's heart...
"you
didn't ROFL.." she whispered..
Taking
her hand into his he slipped the ring up her fingers with such a
force, that she literally winced..
"Arnav!
My finger ends there you know!" she laughed..
"Don't
you freaking play out that 'I think this is yours' thing again with
me do you get that?" he darted a dangerous look towards her...
She
smiled sheepishly before holding his hand and pulling his engagement
ring out of his finger..earning a confused look from him..
"what?
She replied.. "if I am getting engaged twice, so should you!"
"I
see" he smirked as she tried her best to apply comparable pressure
in thrusting the ring up his finger..
If
rings could have two eyes and a mouth, the two of them on their
respective fingers, would have been probably making a 'duh!'
expression at the moment..
"Happy
engagement!" she beamed at him.. "but I still haven't thought
about how will the break-up go on.."
"Oh
we will figure it out" he replied, his face inching closer to
hers..
"pish
posh! You suck at breaking up!" she laughed..
"this
coming from you? I feel like such a failure..." he spoke as he
cupped her face within his palms and inched yet closer..
Automatically,
Khushi shut her eyes, as she felt herself conveniently switch to
'freeze' mode..mentally cutting the inauguration ribbon of her
internal sanctuary which had seen no turning back ever since the
construction works had begun..
he
smiled at her response , stood looking at her some more, and inched
closer..bending..
"WOOOHOOO!!!
*whistle * WOOOAAAHH!!"
The
media, which had safely decided that Mr Raizada and his fiance did
not give two hoots to their presence finally broke their silence ,
hitting the proverbial axe on their feet, as the duo suddenly broke
out of their trance and finally realized that a walking talking world
existed around them..
Arnav's
own security had 32 out grins on their faces which could very well
have qualified them for happy dent white advertisements..
Khushi's
eyes widened in horror while Arnav gave a frustrated scrunching of
features...
"Oh
shit" Khushi muttered..
"Oh
shit" Arnav wondered..
"Oh
shit"
the media regretted, as they suddenly wished to sprinkle invisibility
powder on themselves and fade into nothingness, lest the
PDA stopped...
Khushi
felt Arnav's hand wrap around her wrist as he motioned to the
security which immediately blocked the way of a hoard of journalists
making it's way towards them..
"Maa's
gonna kill me" Khushi muttered as Arnav, with sure confident steps
led her to the car...
Back
in the car Khushi slumped back on the seat beside him, not noticing
the slight pressure he coolly applied on a button by his side as the
partition curtain slid down effectively putting the front seats out
of view and granting them much desired privacy..
"you
know what?" Khushi turned to him, biting her lip, a sight, which
for the first time, failed to irk him as he lazily smirked...
"I
think I am in a legal mess" she eyed him with wide eyes..
"You
are
in a legal mess Khushi" he replied..
"WHAT?I
have to...go to jail or something?"
He
struggled to prevent the laughter bubbling inside his chest from
escaping..
"yes,
or perhaps be hanged or something"
"Arnav
I am serious!" Khushi moaned..
"Ok
relax!" he replied.. "A fine has to be paid since you have signed
the contract and done the formalities and all"
"Are
you sure? How much?" she asked, fiddling with her fingers..
He
was sure, since he had read her contract thrice better than her and
had given each detail his undivided attention..
"How
much, is none of your concern" he spoke curtly..
"Excuse
me? What does that mean?"
"That
means, that this is the part where you shut up"
"But
I-...why are you looking at me like th..that?"
"like
what?"
"like...I..ARN-"
she gasped as she was pulled forward and landed inches apart from a
devilish smirk..
"Arnav!"
she gasped at his outrageous action and her eyes flew to the front
seat and widened when she found it out of view..
"Arnav
you really need to stop doing that when I am in the car okay? What
must they be thinking?" she flustered, trying to get out of his
hold which after a widened smirk, tightened..
"what?"
he asked, appearing to be the innocent angel, while Khushi could very
well draw horns above his head at the moment..
"that
we..are..you know.."
"we
are what?"
"that
we are..doing..you know..we are like.."
"and
are we not ?"
"what?"
Arnav
chuckled before he bent his head down and pressed his lips on hers,
none too gently, earning a gasp in return before it slowly turned to
a sigh , and she relaxed as she lost herself in the feel of pure
bliss without the need to panic, hurry ,or pull back any more...it
grew deeper and intense, until jet lag was not the only thing that
had the two of them in a dizzy..
The
driver and chauffeur tried desperately to maintain straight faces as
they focused their eyes on the road ahead..
INDIAN
TIMES
Page-3
Engagement,
followed by...engagement?
Uncaring
of the presence of dozens of cameras around them, Mr Arnav Singh
Raizada and his lady love , the charming Miss Khushi Kumari Gupta
played out their engagement ceremony yet again, for the world to see
last afternoon at the tycoon's private helipad. In what came out as a
heart wrenching, emotional re-union the blindly-in-love duo engaged
in a significant amount of PDA(why are we not surprised?). Though the
patch up was delightful enough to awe the entire spectatorship, one
still wonders what could have been the reason for the break-up in the
first instance.Had Pallavi Khandelwal's claims truly held waters? Is
it about Miss Gupta's rumored past flames? For more, keep your eyes
glued to this column.
Also
read, Katrina Kaif and Priyanka Chopra wear same gowns at event, does
Siddharth Mallya have commitment issues?PG-3
The
week that followed, saw Payal and Aakash officially declaring their
commitment, though not engagement, before the family. It saw a Khushi
Kumari Gupta single handedly managing housework as sweet revenge from
her family for ruining their packing efforts despite her various
attempts at emotional blackmailing. It saw an Arnav Singh Raizada,
strictly following his regime of calling upon his fiance at the most
odd hours possible. It saw newspapers and magazines filled with
break-up speculations, which had Khushi often freaking around the
house with shouts like 'who the HELL is Hitesh Sidwani" and
throwing cushions at anyone who dared to say 'your ex flame', it saw
an Anjali Singh Raizada going on conference calls with Nihaal who had
them connected to Arnav or Khushi's line randomly and proceed to
tease the hell out of them, though with Arnav it mostly ended with an abrupt end to the calls, followed by Nihaal and Anjali exchanging hi
fives via Skype. It saw a Garima Gupta greeting her future son-in-law
with a broom (again a sorry co-incidence) the next time he visited
their house, considerably freaking him out as to what would follow
after rolling pin and brooms and mentally preparing himself for a
pistol soon. It saw Mrs Raizada, roaming around with loud audible
sighs over his choice of a mate then going all 'nothing darling, I
will take her for you' on her son..
It
saw Arnav and Khushi kick starting their journey of true
commitment..(though Arnav had suddenly become downright flirtatious
in his own way of course, and Khushi, much to his amusement, had
begun threatening him with break-up threats and getting flustered and
furious at a pretty fast speed)...
It
promised , for two people who had..
Unexpectedly
met..
Expectedly
repelled..
Unexpectedly
gotten linked up..
Expectedly
failed at break ups
Unexpectedly
tried to fight love..
Expectedly
failed..
Unexpectedly
realized..
and
Expectedly confessed..
a
life ahead which promised to be as pleasantly unexpectedly expected
as it had always been..filled with fights, threats of break ups,
small moments, laughter, confusion, delight and made them a part of
one big crazy destination, which would be the Raizada and Gupta
residence for years to come...
A
house, which still had lots to see, and couldn't wait to have its
Lattu and Cement Pile married pretty soon now...
"Okay,
so if you are done with your elephant trumpeting can we get back to
the rest of the world?" Fate rolled it's eyes at Love who was busy
finishing heavenly supplies of tissue papers..
"Like
seriously dude! Do you have to do this every
single time? That is why I hate watching confessions with you..."
"congratulations"
Love threw it's arms around Fate and Fate did a
'okay..okay..yeah..whatever...' and couldn't help a small smirk
itself...
Love
quickly jumped back and rubbing it's hands in glee bubbled "Who's
next?"
"hmm.."
Fate mumbled as it crossed it's arms on it's chest and looked at the
world map yet again.. "let's see.."
while
cupid tightened his grip on the pulled back arrow in the bow once
again before he received the next signal to shoot it off..
'Tum mile, toh mil gaya humsafar,
Tum mile, toh khud ki hai khabar,
Tum mile, toh rishtaa sa,
ban gaya..'
[lyrics, picture quote, not owned]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------