Darmiyaan

The Real Celebration Part-1

'Yeh sab mai inke liye karta hu.' Ram said, with tears in his eyes, ' Party Shivi ke liye, kyuki usse bhi Dad ki celebrations yaad hai, but mom aur dad jaise party ke baad akele kahi ghumne chale jaate the, I just wanted to give them that space. Yeh mom and dad ka favorite time tha Valentines day ka. Iske bina vo neeche vali party adhuri hai.

Par yeh sab dekh kar phir inki yaad aane lag jaati hai, samjh nahi aata kya karu, kya bolu inhe ki yeh vapis aa jaye.....'

Vedika had not seen Ram this broken ever. He was still holding Vedika's hand, but it was a tighter hold, like he wanted her to stay so he could survive this. Like he was asking for support. She couldn't just leave him here. This was so hard for him. And all these years, Ram was just going through this alone. And not even for himself. But for his father, his mother.

'Aaj agar uncle yaha hote toh tumhe aise dekh kar kitne dukhi hote. Don't cry, Ram. Unka birthday vaise hi celebrate karo jaise vo karte the, pyaar se, aasuon se nahi.' Vedika said, understanding him.

'I try, Vedu, but every year, it just, just gets harder. Kuch badlata hi nahi hai. It's the same, every time. Vo akelapan, vo dard, sab abhi bhi vaisa hi hai.' Ram threw a glance at her, but looked away again, knowing this wasn't the time.

'Iss baar hai na alag. Mai hu tumahre saath. Aur mai kahi nahi jaane vali.' Vedika said, holding both his hands tightly. Ram felt different at those words, because he had heard them before. 

Vedika had said them when they were in the office of his first job, packing his things. He had lost the job and was so disheartened. He hadn't looked at Vedika once since she had been there. She had been worried that something like this might happen, so she had dropped everything and brought his attention to him. 'Ram agar tum aise behave karoge na, toh mai tumahri workplace pe kabhi nahi aungi. Kis baat ki itni sadness hai? Haan? Ek job hai bas. Aisi dher jobs hai bahar. Aur tumhe job pe rakhne ke liye toh koi bhi tyaar ho jayga.'

'Tum bas mann behla lo mera. Vedu, maine pehle aisa kabhi feel nahi kiya hai. Aisa lag raha jaise mai kisi kaam ka nahi hu, kuch nahi mai mere paas.'

'Aisa nahi hai. Yeh itni khoobsurat ladki khadi hai tumarhe saamne, isse zyada kya chahiye.' Vedika had posed weirdly, making Ram smile. Jumping on the opportunity, she had gone to him, hugged him from behind and had said, 'Mai hu tumahre saath. Aur mai kahi nahi jaane vali.'

'Cake khana hai mujhe.' Vedika looked away, changing the topic.

'Haan, of course, pehle cake hi kaat lete hai.' Ram replied, trying to remove the awkwardness.

Both of them took a seat in front of the table, and Vedika started to light the candles on the cake. The glow of the fire was beautifully illuminating her face, and when she looked up, Ram caught his breath. He didn't think she had ever looked this beautiful. She handed him the knife and signaled him to cut the cake. He looked at it and was sure this wouldn't change anything, it wouldn't bring them back. The disappointment was starting to crawl its way slowly back up to his heart when Vedika held his hand. She smiled at him and reminded him, 'Aaj nahi.'

He smiled back and then closed his eyes, making a wish. He blew out the candles and then looked at his hand. Vedika was holding his hand with the knife, and seeing that Ram was also watching the same hand, she tried to draw it away. Ofcourse, its his dad's birthday, he wants to cut the cake. Its important to him. But Ram took his other hand and stopped her. She looked at him with surprise and both their hearts starting beating faster. With their hands entwined, they cut the cake. Ram took a piece and wished his dad and mom in the picture, and them asked Vedika to take a bite. She felt like she was as important to Ram as his father. She took the same piece and offered it to Ram. He ate it whole, making Vedika giggle, stopping her tears at the brink of her eyes.

'Aur kya karte ho tum iss din?' asked Vedika.

'Jo mom dad ko pasand tha. Romatic gaano pe dance karna. Vo dono toh bas ek dusre ke saath din bhar dance karte the. Mere saath koi hota nahi toh mai akele hi-' Ram felt embarrassed, and tried to change his answer, 'mai vo...neeche jaakar Bri ke saath dance kar liya karta tha.' Ram looked up and Vedika was just looking at him. But not with pity. It was something else. He didn't quite understand and said, 'neeche chalte hai, every body's gonna notice.'

Ram got up and was just about to open the door when he heard it. Something was playing on the speaker, and it wasn't rock music. He turned around and Vedika was standing in the middle of the room, her heels removed, swaying to their song.

Nahi jeena tere baaju, nahi jeena, nahi jeena,

Nahi jeena tere baaju, nahi jeena, nahi jeena,

Vedika held up her hand, like she wanted Ram to hold it forever. He looked at her hesitantly, knowing this is not something they should be doing. But Vedika just stood their, holding out her arm, waiting for him to, to forget every thing else. Ram walked back to her slowly and as he did, every thing else seemed to fade away, until all he could focus on was the music playing in the background.

MAI TENU SAMJHAAVAN KI........