They wished to never meet again to soothe their burning hearts.
They pined to meet atleast once again to soothe their depressed hearts.
Phir Se...
This is a story about two star crossed lovers Arnav and Khushi, who as fate had it got separated for...
ASR had landed from London to Mumbai from his private jet. He waited in the airport cafeteria to meet his friend from his college days at Oxford, Shivaay Singh Oberoi.
"Hey ASR! How are you? It has been so many years!" Shivaay came near Arnav's table while Arnav rised from his seat formally to acknowledge him.
"I am good. I hope your family is also fine." Arnav forwarded his hand but Shivaay pulled him into a brotherly hug instead.
"Why are you so formal always?" Shivaay sniled pulling ASR into a friendly hug."It feels nice to meet an old buddy after such a long time. But you always feel so distanced."
"Doodh ka jala, chhaas bhi phhoonk phoonk ke peeta hai, Shivaay," Arnav faced him. (A person burnt by hot milk drinks even cold buttermilk with utmost carefulness.)
"What my friend did with my family had shaken all my beliefs of friendship and belongingness. You are one of my only friends, I know you understand me here." Arnav looked at the cream smiley made on his coffee in distaste and stirred it.
Shivaay looked at Arnav sympathetically and then decided to change the topic of discussion.
"ASR, I have done my homework. I think you would be interested in seeing that." Shivaay smirked, waving a file in front of Arnav. Arnav's eyes lit up with mixed emotions, happiness of seeing a long lost love hidden amongst firey hatred and disgust.
As Arnav tried to take the file but Shivaay withdrew his hand.
"Wait, my impatient friend. I waited till you came to see this file. I had sent a private investigator who practically stalked this girl to gather all her information. You have made me do illegal immoral things, so let me see first, how does your mehbooba look?" He wiggled his eyebrows while opening the file.
"Wow, she is gorgeous. My girlfriend is going to pluck my eyes out for saying this but woah! Are you sure you want to take revenge from her. I mean she looks too innocent to have done anything." Shivaay looked astounded.
"Looks are defying, my friend. All that glitters isn't gold. Similarly she might seem very beautiful but she has an ugly heart. You read out the info, show me the photos." Arnav snatched the photos from his hand. Memories of a pale skinned young girl flashed in front of his eyes.
"Well, full name- Khushi Shashi Upadhyay. Age- 22.
Qualifications- M.A.in literature.
Wakes up at 5 am, does yoga for about half an hour and then she takes a stroll around the temple gardens while watering the plants there. She takes a bath for about fifteen minutes to half an hour and gets ready for office in a modern sleeved blouse and cotton saree and silver jewellery. Her office is the temple authority. Although it is her mother, Indrani who is regarded as the caretaker of the temple, it is actually Khushi who is the excecutioner of the efficient administration of the temple.
Whenever there is a maha aarti in the temple it is she who performs it.
She seems to share a very affectionate relation with her step siblings- Ira and Isha.
Also, she owns a blog on which she writes stories and poems from the experiences she gathers by guiding foreign travellers through all walks of Allahabad's lifestyle and city space. She can converse in Sanskrit, Hindi, English, French, Italian, Spanish and Japanese all learnt from the internet.
Not married or engaged.
No boyfriends or love affairs et cetera." Shivaay read out in awe of the amount of detailed information the detective had collected.
"That much info is enough for me. I should be leaving soon, let me inform my pilot." Arnav rose up from his seat.
"Wait, ASR! Think once, again! I don't think you should be taking revenge on her. After all, you don't know the complete truth of what happened that day! You know only your point of view." Shivaay tried to stop him.
"The truth is that she is a liar, an opportunist, a selfish blot on the name of a friend. It was because of her that my family was reduced to ashes so she shall also not be spared by the flames of the fire of revenge." Arnav tried to remain calm as the images of his parents burning stirred rage inside him.
"But... look at her once, she looks so innocent as a full grown woman. How innocent she might have been as a child when this incident happened with your family." Shivaay tried to speak some sense to him.
"Woh bas ek khubsoorat dhokha hai!"(she is just a beautiful illusion) Arnav slammed his fist against the table making the whole crowd of the cafeteria look at him. Shivaay said sorry to the crowd and tried to calm Arnav.
"As you say but take care of yourself. I do not know if she is innocent or not. Yet, I wish you luck. May you finally get closure to your past!" Shivaay shook his hand before taking his leave.
*********
ALLAHABAD:
"Et j'espère que votre expérience dans Prayagraj a été mémorable. Merci."( and I hope your experience in Allahabad was a memorable one. Thank you!)
Khushi bid the tourists a gracious good bye and proceeded towards the agency from where she collected travellers for the tour.
Khushi's attire:
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"Khusi bitiya," the old owner of the agency beckoned her.
"There is a man here, adamant on having only you as his guide. Will you please attend him? I told him you only tend to foriegners but he isn't ready to listen."
"I'll see him, Kaka. You don't get disturbed." Khushi wiped her forehead with the edge of her Saree and proceeded towards the hall.
"Excuse me, sir. I heard you wanted to talk to me." She asked the man who was staring the photos of the magnificent temple adorned on the walls.
"Yes, miss Khushi. I have heard a lot about you. My name is Arnav Singh Raizada, you can call me ASR. My friends told me you are the best guide around and so I insist you guide me personally throughout my tour." Arnav offered.
"I'm extremely sorry, sir. I only tend to foreigner tourists and you seem to be an Indian. I shall recommend you another guide." Khushi tried to politely decline.
"But why?" Arnav scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.
"Because I do this just to make people of other regions aware of the greatness of our India. There is no point in telling you this all, after all, you are already an Indian and you must be proud of it. Sorry!" Khushi shrugged, making her point.
As Khushi turned away Arnav replied, "If Indians themselves won't be knowing about the greatness of their motherland, what would they be proud of? You don't expect all Indians to have taken great interests in their history -geography textbooks."
Khushi felt low at that, how had she never thought of this before? This man is saying the truth, she shouldn't deny him. She enthusiastically turned towards him and said,
"Hello, Namaste and welcome to Allahabad. My name is Khushi and thank you, Mr.ASR for opening my eyes. Come behind me, let me lead your tour. Here our journey begins!"she smiled.
