THE WAR FOR LOVE

Part 5

Respect, yeah that would be the word to describe what Sana had for Sidharth. When he literally came front and fought with someone for her. She only had her grandma till now who used to look for her, to scold her, to take up a stand for her and everything a guardian was supposed to do. Her 'Dadi' had once scared off Sultan to stay away from her granddaughter and since then that guy used to stalk her and wait for her near the river at times she'd go to get her water pitcher filled. Now that even Dadi wasn't there for a while, Sana had panicked and when Shiv aka Sidharth had stepped up, she felt protected. She was about to thank him when he told her that everything she knew about him till date was a lie?! Her heart had jumped when he asked her to come with him. Though he was almost a stranger, his eyes were looking at her so intently at that
moment that she was finding it hard to deny. And then he himself destroyed the moment by revealing his identity, well, it had to happen someday.

Since then, it had been a day and Sana refused to talk to him and refrained herself from even looking at him. Sidharth had somewhere expected this but he didn't know that it would upset him so much. One day, it had been and no conversation took place, that was bad. And the fact that she let him stay at her place, even when he had upset her but she still didn't ask him to leave meant that she cared.

As half of the day passed by Sidharth decided to move a bit, now that his leg was getting comfortable to walk around a little. Importantly, he had to leave anyway for Alamgarh, to his friend's place. Without Sana now, it seemed she was definitely not going to come with him.

He took a shawl from the cupboard and wrapped it over himself and left the house. He only knew the way to the river and pond till now, walking towards the other way, he reached a market. Maybe this was one where Sana worked, he wondered. Making sure no one could see his face clearly, he tightly wrapped the shawl once again and continued to walk, or limp.

He saw a stall where pulses and spices were being sold, his mind took him back to the day when Sana had looked at him horrified when he had asked for them.

"Kitni mehengi aati hai daal!" he chuckled and thought to ask for it's rate.

"Daal kitne ki?" he asked the vendor.

"5 rupay kilo." came the answer, that was huge.

"Itni mehengi kyu hai?" Sidharth asked further.

"Yaha nahi hoti daal ki kheti, Alamgarh se aati hai isliye." the vendor replied. Alamgarh! Yes! That was the place he wanted to go after all!

"Acha, daal aur masale bhi?" Sidharth asked further.

"Sirf daal aati hai, iss gaon ke muslim vyapariyon ki jaan pehchaan hai. Vahi log laate hai." the vendor replied, wondering if this guy would actually buy anything or was just talking.

"Hmm, ye masale kitne ke?." Sidharth enquired, he noticed the suspicious expression he was getting and bought some spices. He had some money in a small pocket wrapped around his waist securely, today it came to some use.

A little ahead in his way he found a shop that sold pulses in whole sale, named after a muslim guy. Hoping they could help him contact Alamgarh, he approached them.

"Daal milegi?" Sidharth asked an old man, who was caressing the pile of pulses on sale.

"Yeh rahi, kitne bori loge?" the old guy asked back.

While the old man started measuring the pulses' weight Sidharth crouched down to his level and asked calmly, "Chacha, Alamgarh tak ek chitthi pahuchani hai, aap dedoge? Thodi jaldi hai?"

The old guy stiffened a little because no one ever requested that. "Kal saman lene jayenge toh pahucha denge!" he answered, shrugging.

"Thik hai, phir aunga." Sidharth nodded, getting up and going away without buying anything. At home, he came back earlier than Sana and mixed those spices in her palate so that she wouldn't come to know. The moment he was done keeping the utensils at its place, the door creaked open and Sana entered.

Sidharth acted as if he was there to get himself water. "Pani, lene ayaa tha." he mumbled, after drinking a glass full of water and went back to his bed.

She ignored him like she didn't even see him and began with her household chores. Chopping vegetables after freshening up and all.

"Vo uh-kagaz aur kalam milenge kya? Mujhe ek chitthi likhni hai." he requested to get ignored yet again.

"Sana yaar.." his words trailed off, in need.

"Khana bana rahi hu abhi, deti hu thodi der me." came her reply, stoic and simple. He hummed, sealing his lips for a while then.

Once done with dinner, she got him a paper and a graphite stick. Sidharth thought of a code word to use to write a letter to his friend, so that his message remained hidden and began to write a short and precise letter. Seeing him think so attentively and write so earnestly, Sana was amused. This guy was educated, she noticed. Knowing that he was being watched over, he smiled but maintained a straight face.

"Apne dost ko ye chitthi likh raha hu, kuch dino me yeh uss tak pahuchegi aur vo lene aa jayega mujhe." Sidharth told her, she nodded plainly to him.

"Tu toh chahti hogi na mai chala jau?" he asked, nonetheless her ignorance was enough to answer his question.

"Chala jaunga jaldi.. Zyada din pareshan nahi karunga." he added, just to let her know. God, he just wished to get a reaction out of her and it was going to be a damn difficult task.

"Ha, tu kaha pareshan karta hai mujhe? Dekha tha maine aaj khud se bazar hoke aa gaya. Mujhe batane ki takleef bhi nahi ki." she replied, with a particularly forced smile.

Sidharth was shocked, he had covered his face enough but still she caught him and now she was upset again. He was bound to hide his stuff but damn this heart, the most foolish piece of organ that was muddling up things unnecessarily.

"Sana mai-" he thought of covering it up but she shook her head, refusing to listen to him anymore and left after picking up her water pitcher. So he followed her out quietly, her being mad at him was another thing but safety came first.

"Peecha kyu kar raha hai?" she was surprised to see him coming after.

"Koi aa jayega!" she mentioned fretfully.

"Tujhe pani bharna hai na? Chal chup chap." he replied, straight away. She swallowed a lump down her throat, his voice was suddenly hard and intimidating outside the house, this man was so confusing to her.

"Jaa yaha se! Khud le aungi mai pani!" she stated and he didn't even move listening to that.

"Dekha hai maine, tu khud se kya kya kar leti hai!" he scoffed, tugging her hand as they made their way towards the river.

"Sultan mila tha kya phir se?" he asked, as their heated conversation reminded him of that drunkard.

"Sana maine kuch pucha?" he stressed his words, looking at her. She was trying to ignore him but couldn't anymore.

"Nahi, vo aksar aisi peeke ladayi -jhagde karta rehta hai. Toh usey yaad nahi hoga ki raat ko kya hua." she answered, avoiding his boring gaze. 

"Sahi hai.." he commented sarcastically. They didn't talk after that and returned once she got the water pitchers filled. Sidharth sat back on the bed with an audibly tired omph, seemed like he had had enough of walking for a couple of days.

"Aur ghumo!" Sana commented, enjoying her turn of taunting and strolling into the kitchen. The pain wasn't wincing but he could feel his muscles moving inside.

"Pao dikha!" she appeared with a small bowl in her hand that had oil in it. He obliged, putting his forward as she sat adjacent to him and applied it.

"Kyu kar rahi hai yeh sab?" he asked suddenly, wanting to know why she cared so much. She just shrugged not knowing what to answer. 

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Hey there people.. This is the part.. Batao kaisa hai!? I really wanna know your views! Comment down..