“Lekin Maan yahan do hi pillars achchhe lagenge.”

“Geet tum aesthetics ke hisaab se theek kah rahi ho, lekin structure ki stability ke hisaab se ye kaam nahin karega.”

“Oh! Ye kaise pata chalta hai?”

“Padhai kar ke aur experience se. Ab chalo – mujhe ye approve kar ke bhejne hain. Tum bhi please apna kaam karo.”

Geet left his cabin, but she wasn’t happy.

—

“Geet – tumhari tabiyat to theek hai? Hum aadhe raaste pahunch chuke hain, aur tumne hardly kuchh bola hai.”

“Achchha! To ghuma phira kar kyon kah rahe hain? Aapko mera mazaak udana hai na ki main har samay bak-bak karti hoon. To seedhe boliye.”

“Geet!” Maan gave her a look that told her that he knew something was the matter and she better come out with it. Because she can’t keep anything from him anyway.

“Haan. Woh… mujhe achchha nahin lag raha hai.”

“Kya achchha nahin lag raha hai?”

“Ab aise to main kabhi koi kaam khud se nahin kar paungi. Aap mujhe architecture kyon nahin sikhate hain?”

“Kya?… Oh! Tum ab tak un pillars ko le kar pareshaan ho.”

“Baat un pillars ki nahin hai. Main achchhe se kaam karna chahti hoon.”

“Hmm…”

“Haan aur hmm mat kijiye.”

“Tum chaar saalon ki padhai karne ko taiyaar ho?”

“Padhai?”

“Dekho Geet. Agar tumhein sach mein sab kaam karna hai to thoda bahut idhar-udhar seekh kar kaam nahin chalega. Theek se padhai karni padegi.”

“Main padhai kar sakti hoon?” Geet’s eyes shone with happiness.

“Bilkul. Kaun rokega tumhein Geet?” Maan smiled patronizingly looking at her happy face.

“Lekin Dadi Ma maanengi?”

“Geet tumhein padhai karni hai, kisi ka katl karne thode hi na ja rahi ho? Ismein Dadi Ma kyon nahin maanengei?”

“Haan. Ye bhi theek hai,” Geet said innocently.

“Pagal ladki hai,” Maan murmured and nodded his head as if in disbelief.

But Geet was too happy to hear his murmurs. Instead she started her happy chatter, “Pata hai Maan. Mujhe padhne ka bahut shauk tha. Agar Maa kabhi kissi kam ke liye ghar par rukne ko kahti bhi thi to bhi main chhup kar school chali jaaya karti thi. Papaji meri madad karte the aur Daarji se bhi baat chhipate the. Warna Daarji aur Brij Veerji to… Unhone hi mujhe apni padhai bhi poori nahin karne di aur jaldbaazi mein shaadi karwa di. Main nahin karna chahti thi…” What had started as a happy chatter turned into sad ramblings as Geet was reminded of the dreadful days that followed her fake wedding.

Maan looked for a suitable place and stopped the car. He took her hand in his and said, “Geet. Kyon phir se yaad kar rahi ho un dinon ko? Woh din ab beet gaye Geet. Tumhein pata hai ki tumhein aise dekh kar mere dil par kya guzarti hai? Please Geet. Apne liye nahin to mere liye. Bhool jao.”

Geet smiled, “Aap theek kah rahe hain Maan. Main bhi bekaar mein kabhi-kabhi… Promise ab main bilkul udaas nahin houngi.”

“Waise Geet – tum shaadi nahin karna chahti thi – lekin iska main kuchh nahin kar sakta,” Maan said jokingly to relieve the tension and then turned serious, “Uske liye ab bahut der ho chuki hai. Tumhari bina main ek pal bhi nahin rah sakta. To ab mujhse to chhutkara nahin milega tumhein. Haan tumhari padhai karne ki ichchha poori ho sakti hai.”

“Kise chhutkara chahiye Maan? Jab main shaadi nahin karna chahti thi, tab meri shaadi aapse thode hi na ho rahi thi,” Geet smiled lovingly and Maan restarted the car.

—

Three months later new session had started and Geet had joined an Architecture course.

It was her first day in the class. Geet had come to the class enthusiastically, but once she entered it, she started feeling unsure. She felt out of place. In age she wasn’t much older than the other students, probably a year or so that she had lost dealing with the worst and the best in her life. Yet, looking at the carefree students donning jeans and sport-shoes with funny hair-styles, she felt much older. She was definitely older by experience and somehow it did not feel like an advantage. Other students looked at her curiously and then moved on to sit at other places. One girl entered almost with the professor and in a hurry she quickly glanced around to find an empty seat and grabbed the one next to Geet.

“Hi! I am Malini. Malini Biswas.”

“Geet Khurana,” Geet replied with a smile. The professor had entered the class by then and they could not continue the conversation.

After giving an introduction to the course, the professor asked the class as to why they joined an Architecture course. Most of the answers were predictable ones like “I have always been fascinated with buildings”, “It is a hot field with good career prospects” etc. When Geet’s turn came she stood up looking unsure of what to answer. Then she narrated in simple words the incident that had resulted in her deciding to continue the study. She had the attention of the entire class when she spoke about how going by the aesthetics she wanted only two pillars in the design, but her boss pointed out that the structure will not be stable with that design. Then she concluded, “Aisi cheezon se mujhe pata chala ki agar mujhe kuchh achchha kaam karna hai to mujhe Architecture ki padhai karne ki zaroorat hai. Koi short-cut nahin hai.” She had, of course, skipped mentioning the name of the company and her relation to it.

The professor was impressed with her genuine answer and wished her luck. Other students in the class also started looking beyond her appearance and saw the sincere and genuine fellow student that she was. It worked well for Geet as after that she was not made to feel like an outsider by her class-mates. Most of them were at least courteous to her after that.

Malini, her accidental neighbour in the first class, became a good friend of Geet. They also became friendly with two boys Sandeep and Mihir and the four of them formed a group of sorts. They hung out together all the time.

—

“So a movie tonight. What do you say Geet?”

“Nahin. Tum log jao. Main nahin aa sakti.”

“Kyon yaar?”

“Maan mera intezaar karenge ghar par.”

“Oye – hoye. The married woman. Ek din nahin rah sakte kya tumhare bina?” Malini winked at her.

Geet blushed and smiled, but did not say anything.

“To tu Maan ko bhi saath le na?”

“Nahin Malini, unhein ye sab pasand nahin hai.”

“How boring!”

Geet did not say anything to that. Just then Sandeep noticed the car waiting for Geet and told her about it. She took a leave from them and went to the car.

She was surprised to see Maan in the car, “Maan aap yahan? Aap office mein nahin hain?”

“Kyon main apni biwi ko lene nahin aa sakta kya?” Maan pulled her legs.

“Aisa maine kab kaha? Lekin aapko apni biwi ke liye fursat mil gayi?”

Both of them smiled and Maan drove her home. Maan wasn’t sure what it was, but something kept bothering him the entire evening.

—

There was something very pleasant about their conversation. They were mimicking some professor of theirs and having great fun at his expense. Geet herself was laughing like crazy and Maan could not help staring at her pleasant face for a while before walking in to the hall where the four friends were having tea and snacks.

“Maan aap aaj jaldi aa gaye?” Geet asked with a smile.

“Haan Geet. Abhi ek client ke yahan meeting scheduled thi, par woh cancel ho gayi. To maine socha ghar hi aa jaun,” Maan replied taking his place beside her on the sofa and then turned towards her friends, “How are you all doing?”

“Great Mr. Khurana!” replied Sandeep and Mihir together and then laughed nervously as they realized this.

Some formal pleasantaries were exchanged and then they decided to leave. Geet asked them to stay for a while more but they took their leave.

Maan once again felt bad about something, but he couldn’t say anything to Geet.

—

To be continued