Na Jaane Kyon...

Khud se naraaz hun kyon be awaaz hun

The song is 'Main hun hero tera' from movie Hero

As he lay awake in his bed, Sameer couldn't stop thinking about what Naina had said. He was aware of eve teasing and crude behaviour of people towards women but it was spread at every level, he hadn't realized. If a person could visit a top notch hotel like this, he had to be from an affluent family... which guaranteed a decent educational background. When educated men from eminent families could behave in such manner, he couldn't believe what the girls must be facing when they moved around in general places. Why such basic understanding lacked in men?

His family, mainly nanu, had inculcated good values in him and his siblings. They had never seen any person being treated differently on the basis of gender. Only when he went to college did he realise the cheap mindset of some boys. After spending two years in London, his hatred for such things multiplied, and he asked nanu to put the behaviour clause for the male employees in their office. Not that earlier it wasn't being followed, but making it a rule had helped a great deal. When it was enforced, they could alter their conduct.

He wished same conditions were put up here too. Restricting the guests, who displayed any kind of obscenity, from using the hotel facilities. Though he was at a distance, he could feel the dirty eyes of those boys as they roved over Naina. Gritting his teeth, he punched his palm with the other hand. They were intruding into her personal space.

"Agar Naina dekh leti toh kitna bura lagta usse." He fumed.

The phone in his hand buzzed. He glanced at it, and deleted the promotional message. His eyes fell on the gallery icon, and he opened the folder, to look at Naina's pictures. One, where she was sitting with her head lowered, a pensive expression on her face, reminded him of how she looked when she crossed those boys.

A sharp stabbing pain pierced his heart as his eyes filled up with guilt.
Sameer sat up abruptly... wasn't what he had been doing similar to those boys? He was also invading her private space... by clicking her pictures without her knowledge. She trusted him. Even if she was doing it unknowingly, he knew it was her trust in him that made her send Ayush alone with him, that made her open up to him about her parents. What if she comes to know about this secret folder of his... her trust would be broken.

Sameer wiped off the sweat from his forehead. She would put him in the same category as the men she mentioned today. No, he couldn't do this to her... he won't betray her faith.

The phone was still in his hand but he couldn't bring himself to look at the pictures again. With one tap, the folder was deleted

"Tum mere dil mein ho, Naina. Chahe khuli hon ya band, meri aankhon mein tumhara hi chehra hai. Mujhe maaf kar do. Main tumhara bharosa kabhi nahi todunga." He mumbled in a repentant voice.

Naina and Ayush were ready when Sameer knocked at their door next morning. The breakfast room wasn't much crowded, it being early for people who were here on a holiday. They checked the layout of breakfast buffet and picked up a few items.

"Ayush, pehle corn flakes and fruits. Uske baad milega yeh." Naina whispered to him when Ayush tugged at her arm, pointing at the doughnuts.

He tentatively raised one finger... Naina smiled and showed him two, then pointed at the fruit platter. He happily nodded, and watched as she added different fruits to his plate. At the table, she cut the big chunks into smaller pieces, to make it easier for him to eat.

Sameer was still feeling guilty about the pictures. Though he had deleted the folder, his mind was still slamming him for doing such a thing in the first place.

In his befuddled state, he seemed to have forgotten the alu parantha in his plate, toying with the bowl of curd.

"Sameer sir, aap kha kyon nahi rahe? Hope you're feeling fine." Naina's concerned voice made him look up across the table.