Ria report karna na karna ....is completely your choice, sirf tera decision hai.Tu report karegi ....bahar ek lambi ladai hogi...and nahi karegi ...toh tere andar lambi ladai hogi."
Ria looked at her, Shehnaaz was few years older than her, an elder sister like.They shared a same generation, many a times the shared times and gender, would have given them similar experiences.
"Aapne kyu nahi kia tha report.?",Ria asked her.Women recognize the battle wounds their kind carries.
"Kyu ki....martrys don't win wars.,this world is a shrewd cunning place,yaha Shaheed hona Asaan hai....jeetna .
While Sidharth kept looking at her, Shehnaaz was not a martyr for sure, her face screamed victory,she had always won despite the situations.
"Ria i and you are two different people, hum log ki khani alag alag hai....tu lad na agr teko woh sahi a lage....but agr teko nahi lag raha sahi...dar lag raha hai...toh bhi its okay....kyu ultimately teri story sirf teri hai....i would want you to flight,but agr tujhe easy way out lena hai...toh bhi its not wrong. If I want I can sit in front of you and romanticize how fighting is good ,and you would be doing other women a good,but pta hai the truth is jab tu lade gi its going to be all ugly, mud fight ,and koi aur ladki tere saath shayad nahi hogi....toh jo bhi decision le....wog sirf apna soch k le....you Don't owe me ,Maa ,Sidharth, or your mom and dad anything;but you owe yourself,.......remember there is no right decision......koi aur saath ho na ho...tu apne saath rehne....khud k liye....",saying this she patted Ria's face .
Shehnaaz had a different kind of life ,she had at times chosen escape as the best answer. Correct or not it wasn't decided, but her decisions had cost and paid off ,both.She knew life was no film, it was no joke to fight when everything you had was put at stakes.Men have strange kind of power ,they can spin narratives .A noble man in a society could never be brought down.It is easier to wage a war when perpetrators are criminal looking, but what happens when they dress decent and eat with you at dinners ?what happens when their good "character " ,supercedes your agony? How do you fight a man ,who fights for the rights of your kind? Shehnaaz had seen it, it was not a commonly used term ,but "mancard", was a real thing. Where all women are gold digging whores and all men innocent kids ,who were lured into trap but cunning ,Vicious women.It was strange how a 40 year old man was always a fool to be trapped by a woman?
It was dead silent in the car. Sidahrth wanted to speak ,but didn't know what.His intellect failed him.Sometimes ,the world leaves you bewildered and speechless.
"Sana ...do you want to talk about it?",he asked, his eyes straight on the road,as if looking at her would do something to him.
"About what?",she questioned. Shehnaaz knew the context, but with the cats out of bag,there would be questions.
"About that...jo tune bola Ria ko...kon tha....i mean kya hua tha?",he fumbled along while joining words into a sentence .
"Does it matter?",she questioned back ,looking at her phone, typing something.
He looked at her, no it did not matter.Shehnaaz had moved way beyond anything that had happed. She had fought and won ,fought and lost ,and at times left battlefields without putting up a fight,but wasn't she a human too ,who like others of her kind had made decisions, sometimes right, the other times reckless ones and had borne their consequences.
"No ...of courses not....as long as you are happy and healthy ....it doesn't matter ,it does not", he repeated in his classic style, maybe reminding himself a bit; as he took her hand to place a kiss on the backside of it
"Yrr Sidharth's mom would kill me...agr tu ghar nahi aai...and besides Mumbai me kinda Delhi wala Gulati's hai...jo butter chicken hi khana hai...",Shehnaaz told Satya as the duo walked out of the building towards the parking.Day one of the conference had went great with them presenting their work ,listening to the others of the same profession.
"So...this is Satya....my soul sister...and Satya this is...",before Shehnaaz could compete.
"Oh my fucking....Shehnaaz you have got him....he's so freakishly handsome ,and tall ....tune apne checklist nikal k search kra kya isko...",satya teased both of them.But Sidharth was an extremely handsome man ,to say the least. A tall manly build with a vulnerability on face...he was a rare combination.
Sidharth shook hands ,welcoming her
"So Sidharth ...what should I call you...sid, Sidharth., Ya hamare Delhi wala , Siddhu?"
Satya was an easy to go blabber mouth.She laughed at her own sentence s. She was Shehnaaz's friend for a reason afterall ,they must have something in common
"Sidahrth is fine...or sid?",he answered
"So what are you treating us to ...you know saana hasn't eaten a morsel..."
"There is dinner at our place...and aapki Saana has an upset stomach...the doctor has advised her nothing by mouth. "
"Nothing per os!", she corrected him ,using a medical term
"Ya ...you treat us like illiterates!", he joked.
"All of your kind....infact doctors ko sab illiterate lagte hai..."Satya was easy to vibe with ,Sidahrth liked her energy .
"Waise tell me aisa kya dikha Shehnaaz me aapko...",
She contiued teasing Shehnaaz and Sidharth, all the way continuing with stories from their college.
Sidahrth's mom had prepared an elaborate meal for the guest,while Shehnaaz took some bisciuts with mild tea.All of them,sat there talking ,sharing stories from childhood ,colleges. His sisters ,their husband and them ,like a complete chilled out family,doing nothing but sharing space and laughter.A time free of drama, completely mundane ,but it had been long wished for.
"Mr Shukla....Shehnaaz belongs to me tonight...aaj ko she sleeps with me..
Not waise wala sleep jaise you do...but girls wala....hands off limits",she joked
Sidahrth raised his hands ,singing off,before kissing Shehnaaz's head.
