Note on the story

This story is based on the Amritsar track. It starts on the night of Karwa Chauth that Maneet celebrated there.

—

He wanted her. He wanted her so bad and here she was! Innocently giggling and being playful. Without knowing what havoc it was creating in his heart, his soul… his body!

“Geet,” he held her hands tight and spoke in heavy voice, while his eyes showed desire and desperation, “Main tumhare kareeb aana chahta hoon. Tumhare saath ek ho jaana chahta hoon. Apne rishte ko aur aage badhana chahta hoon.”

The expressions on Geet’s face changed. The giggling and smile disappeared. Maan wasn’t sure if the inscrutable expression on her face was because she was feeling shy talking about it or whether she was not ready.

Maan would understand if she was still not over the trauma of miscarriage. He was willing to wait, to wait forever. But he did have his desires. He could control them for her. But he needed to know, what she wanted, where she stood on the path that was their relationship. And when she seemed oblivious to his subtle hints, he resorted to a more direct way of asking her.

“Geet. Oye Geet. Kidhar chali gayi puttar?” Beeji’s shouting voice disturbed their conversation. Geet gave another inscrutable look to Maan before she ran away.

—

They had spent the entire afternoon running around in the jungle. First to get away from the goons and then to find their way out of the jungle or at least to a safe place inside it. For last half-an-hour Maan had been carrying Geet in his arms as she was too tired to even walk on her own. Finally they had located this hut which looked safe enough.

Maan put Geet down on a layer on hay and said, “Geet. Main kuchh khane ka intezaam karta hoon.”

But Geet clutched his hands, “Mujhe akele chhod kar mat jaiye. Mujhe dar lag raha hai” She again had the same inscrutable expression on her face. Maan wondered what she meant and looked at her intently.

“Aap aise kya dekh rahe hain?”

“Tumhari aankhon mein apne sawaal ka jawaab dhoondh raha hoon.”

She looked away nervously. Maan started moving away.

“Kya hua Maan?” She asked hastily.

“Mujhe mere sawaal ka jawaab mil gaya.”

“Aap sawaal kyon poochh rahe hain mujhse? Ye aapka haq hai?” She blurted out.

Maan looked at her for couple of seconds as if trying to understand what was on her mind when she said that. Then he sat down beside her, “Geet. Mujhe haq nahin, khushiyan chahiye. Aur woh khushi mujhe tabhi mil sakti hai jab hamare milan mein tum mere saath ho. Jan hamare saath se tum utni hi khush ho jitna main hoon. Tumhare saath zabardasti kar ke mujhe khushi to nahin mil sakti hai Geet. Usse kahin behtar mere liye intezaar hai, us intezaar ki kasak mein bhi ek mithaas hai. Main kabhi bhi apne rishte ki mithaas ko khatam nahin karna chahunga Geet.”

Geet looked really surprised and overwhelmed, “Maan,” she started speaking but could not continue.

Maan was worried. He cupped her face and asked, “Kya hua Geet? Maine kuchh galat kah diya? Main kuchh bhi aisa nahin…”

She silenced him by putting her hands on his mouth and nodded negatively to answer his question. Then she spoke, “Jab se aap meri zindagi mein aaye hain, aapne mere liye bahut kuchh kiya hai, har kadam par mera saath diya hai, mujhe izzat se, sar utha kar jeena sikhaya hai, mere liye apni jaan khatre mein daali hai…”

“Geet. Tum ye sab kyon bol rahi ho? Maine bas…”

“Itna kuchh kiya hai aapne mere liye ki ab aapke kuchh bhi karne se mujhe ashcharya nahin hona chahiye Maan. Mere liye, meri khushiyon ke liye, meri izzat ke liye, mere atma-samman ke liye aap kissi bhi had tak ja sakte hain, kuchh bhi kar sakte hain. Aapse meri ummedon ki to koi seema hi nahin honi chahiye. Aur hai bhi nahin. Lekin phir bhi… phir bhi aap har naye din, har naye pal meri ummeedon se bahut aage nikal jaate hain. Kuchh aisa kar jaate hain ki main phir se ascharya mein pad jati hoon ki aap mere liye kya kya kar sakte hain. Maan. Ho sakta hai ki duniya mein aur aise log hote ho. Lekin main jhooth nahin bolungi. Maine apni zindagi mein kissi aise mard ko nahin dekha hai, jisse ye ummeed ki ja sake ki woh apne is haq ke aage kissi ki chinta karenge – shaadi ke itne dinon baad… Maan. Agar ye mumkin hai ki kissi ka dil baar baar jeeta ja sake to aaj aapne ek baar phir mera dil jeet liya hai, khareed liya hai mujhe.”

“Bas karo Geet. Shayad is duniya mein aise khushnaseeb log hain jinhein unki khushiyan bahut aasaani se mil gayi hain, ya aise badnaseeb log hain jihein apne jeevan-saathi se khushiyan nahin mili. Aur isliye woh unki parwah nahin karte. Main bahut zarooratmand hoon Geet aur swarthi bhi. Barson gham aur gusse ke andhere mein rahne ke baad tumhare aane se mujhe khushiyan mili hain. Main unhein kho nahin sakta Geet. Kabhi nahin. Main tumhare oopar koi ehsaan nahin kar raha. Bas apni khushiyon ko dil-o-jaan se bachane ki koshish kar raha hoon.”

“Kya meri aankhon mein aapko apne sawaal ka jawaab nahin mil raha hai?”

“Bas is ek baat ke liye Geet, main tumhari aankhon se nahin tumhari zubaan se tumhare dil ki baat sunna chahta hoon. Kyonki galti karne ki koi gunjaish nahin hai mere paas.”

Geet leaned towards him and put her head on his chest, “To jawaab ‘haan’ hai Maan. Meri aankhon ka, meri zubaan ka, mere dil ka, meri aatma ka, mere shareer ka, mera – sabka jawaab haan hai. Main hamesha ke liye, har tarah se aapki ho jaana chahti hoon. Pighal jaana chahti hoon aapki baahon mein. Aapme aise samaa jaana chahti hoon ki aapse alag mera koi wajood hi na rahe,” she moved away and looked straight into his eyes, “Main hamare rishte ko ek naye mukaam par le jaana chahti hoon.”

The happiness he felt was visible in Maan’s eyes. Then they turned naughty and Geet could no longer meet them. She smiled shyly and started looking down. Maan came closer to her, cupped her face and then drew her in an embrace keeping one hand on the back of her head and the other one around her upper back, with his chin resting on her head. Geet also hugged him back and then their hug got tighter. They started caressing each other back. Maan noticed her pigtail. She had done her hair like that after a long time. This reminded him of her in their pre-wedding days. Since then she had changed her hair-style and he liked the new style on her. But still this pigtail had a feeling of old familiarity about it and he liked it. He took the rubber-band off from it and started undoing her hair. As he was caressing her hair and head lightly, he felt that she was leaning more heavily on him than earlier. Her grip on his back was also lighter. Surprised he broke the hug and saw a very sleepy face of hers. She was startled out of her nap when he broke the hug and appeared to be trying hard to keep awake.

—

To be continued