Kabhi to nazar milao

Baarish

Here is a pleasant surprise for my loving readers. Thanks for all the support and thank you for your beautiful words of praises. I'm deeply touched.

The monsoon was making its presence felt in Mumbai. Light showers to heavy downpours were becoming a regular affair... competing with the falling tears of two lost souls in the campus of Mumbai University.

Naina did not see Sameer after their interaction in the library. She wanted to ask him so many things, she had even put up a few of them...  but he abruptly walked away... leaving her confused once again.

Naina was surprised to hear that he remembered her from school... he knew exactly how much time they were together, two years, he had said. She felt a sliver of hope somewhere.

But he again went into Mr India mode after that day. She did not go to Phulla bua's house last weekend, citing some excuse about finishing a project... hoping to get a glimpse of him somehow. She had no idea where to look. Now this week had also come to an end... and this time she could not make any excuse. There was Teej puja ( a festival to celebrate the arrival of monsoon)  in Phulla bua's house and Pooja didi was also coming. Naina prepared to leave, hopefully checking out everywhere for him till the time she boarded the auto from the stand in front of the gate.

Sameer had managed to avoid her... though he kept a keen eye on her most of the time. But was careful not to spotted. When he saw her leaving on Saturday afternoon, he smiled to himself... happy that she will be spending some time with her relatives and feel loved.

Previous few days had been really hard on him. The realisation that dawned on him had pained him even more... making him wonder how much pain could he endure... surely there must be a threshold. Everytime something new caused him to hurt more, he thought this was the last straw... and then God sent some more. For now, it was the realisation that the moment he felt a little soft towards Naina... when he sang in the competition... she had  a bad experience... with Neeraj. His one step caused her pain again. His stars were indeed not meant to bring any light to the lives of those he loved. This painful reality made him draw back again... go back to his shell.

Well, for now he need not bother about keeping himself out of the view of the only person who mattered to him in this entire city... she was not around till next day evening.

Naina had a good time with Pooja didi and her little son who was an adorable bundle of joy. She enjoyed the home cooked food and checked out new sarees that Pooja didi had bought. She happily contributed to every conversation and discussion but the thought of Sameer never left her mind... not even for a fraction of a second. After watching a movie in the night,  Naina tried to sleep but like past few days, it was futile. Sometime during the early hours of morning, exhaustion took over and her eyes closed. By the time she got up everyone had finished their bath and were ready for Teej puja. She quickly went for her bath, washing her clothes of previous day and got ready in the suit she had brought for today. After the puja, the three women sat down for breakfast. Later, Naina got busy playing with the little one. She got so engrossed in his cute smile and playfulness that she didn't realise it was lunchtime. When Phulla bua called out to her for lunch, she hurriedly got up. But in the process, her kurta got stuck in the tricycle and due to the jerk, it tore all the way up till her arm. Naina was shocked to see the damage... it was not a seam that had come off but the entire panel was torn... could not be repaired.

Now the big tension was what to wear. Her previous day outfit was still wet as she had washed late in the morning... and she wasn't carrying an extra one. Phulla bua had nothing to offer. Markets were closed, it being a Sunday. And Pooja didi wore only sarees since she got married. Naina was not left with any choice. She had to wear a saree to go back to her hostel. Pooja didi offered her all the new ones but hey were very bright... Naina could not wear such colours. Finally she decided on a plain chiffon saree in dark green, with a very thin silver border. However, when she wore it, she realised, to her horror, that the bloise had a very deep neck at the back. Thankfully the sleeves were little longer than her elbows. Having no choice, Naina draped herself properly in the pallu and left for the hostel.