Dil ne jisay apna kaha

Chapter 7

Kehte hai khuda ne iss jahan mein sabhi ke liye kisi na kisi ko hai banaya har kisi ke liye,  tera milna hai uss rabb ka ishara manu, mujhko banaya hai tere jaise hi kisi ke liye.. Kuch toh hai tujhse raabta...

Bebe,  Prakash ji,  Neil, Maddy jiji.. Uff kahan hai sab?  Neil,  Bebe, Anuj..
Shweta was shouting on the top of the voice while everyone gathered in the living room..
Bebe:  kya baat hai madam madona?  Itna kyun chilla rahi ho? 
Shweta:  Bebe.. Bebe.. Aap sunegi toh aap bhi khush ho jayengi..
Everyone looked kneely..  She moved towards Neil and put her hand on his shoulder and said..

Wo Juhi ka call aaya tha.. Avni ki family humse milna chahti hai issi sunday ko.. Toh aap sab log 3.30 baje tak ready ho jaye kyunki hume Restaurant mein jana hai meri bahu se milne.. She said teasingly and stressed on the word bahu.. Neil who stood standby. Blushed hearing the news.
Maddy:  Arre bhabhi abhi wo aapki  bahu bani nahi hai bass dekhne jana hai hume.. And yeh kya baat hui..  Restaurant mein kaun bulata hai bhai?

Before Shweta could say Bebe said Maddy ghar mein dekhe ya restaurant mein,  dekhna larki ko hai.. Baat usse karni hai uski family se na ki ghar se..
Shweta:  jiji wo Avni yahan akeli rehti hai.. Toh ghar bohot chota sa hai n zyada samman bhi nahi hai toh unhe shayad uncomfortable hota hume wahan bulake.. Isiliye.. Aisa Juhi ne bola.. And rahi baat bahu ki toh mera dil kehta hai ki Avni meri bahu banegi..
Maddy:  bhabhi dekh le dur ke rishte nibhane mushkil hote hai.. Delhi mein bhi toh..
Prakash:  bass hogaya Maddy.. Choti si toh baat hai..
Maddy left as she knows nobody would understand her..  Neil somewhere is nervous he thought what if  Maddy bua say something which Avni Or her family didn't like.

Anuj:  toh bhai abhi se honeymoon ke sapne dekhne shuru.. He said teasingly.. Whle Neil gave him stop-otherwise-i-will-kill-u look..
Acha samjh gaya.. He kept his finger on his lips.. Hey chal tune kapre decide karne hai na.. I want you to look dapper.. Saying he dragged Neil into the room...

Sunday
Avni was sitting on the bed,  lost in her thoughts.. Time has moved so fastly and she reached at this stage of her life.. That too this soon..
Riya who was busy choosing her attire,  looked at her who is lost somewhere..
Riya:  kya hua di?
Avni shoked her head in a no..
Riya:  acha see inn dono mein se kon sa? 
Avni:  Riya hum milne ja rhe hai,  shadi mein nahi ja rahe hai.. Main kuch simple sa pehnuingi.. And please no questions over this..
Later Avni wore a simple yet beautiful floral long kurti with matching earrings.. While Riya was busy in her make up
Avni:  bass karo Riya..
Riya:  bass thora aur..
Avni:  bass yahi sab nahi pasand hai mujhe.. Yeh arrange marriage.. Kya hai..  Main kya koi saman huin jo log mujhe dekhenge.. Agar pasand aayi toh le jayenge aur nahi toh koi aur aayega..
I hate this.. Pata nahi kyun gayi main Juhi kisi shadi mein.. Yeh musibat gale par gayi..
Riya was about to say when Neela entered and told her to go and get ready. She saw Avni with a bad mood..
Neela:  Avni taiyaari ho gayi?  Wahh.. U are looking gorgeous.
Avni:  maa please..
Neela:  Avni koi zabardasti nahi hai wo pasand na aaye toh mana kar dena..
Avni thought to answer her back but then she was not in a mood to argue...
Avni and her family sat inside the cab and headed towards the restaurant.. Avni was thinking how her dreams got shattered.. She always wanted a person in her life whom she knows.. On whom she can trust,  whom she loves but nothing happened like this.. Pata nahi aage kya kya aur tutega.. She murmured to herself.

Finally they reached the destination and waited for Neil's family..
Neil along with his family reached their after 10 mins.. And he become busy in searching for her.. Soon his eyes fall on the familiar figure and yes there she was.. He guided his family towards their table.

Prakash:  ahem ahem, ji myself Prakash khanna..
Ashish along with his family stood up and greeted the khanna family.. Both the families got introduced to each other..
Riya bend towards Avni's ear and whispered..   Yaar di he is so handsome..
Avni who was least interested till now looked up to see him.
For a second she was mesmerized by his look.. Yes she was.. She stared him but soon she realised she has seen him and she remembered he was the one Vidyut introduced her..
Bebe:  waise aapki beti hai bohot sundar..  Avni lowered her face and smiled..
Shweta:  bebe i think bacho ko akele mein baat karni chahiye.. Kyun Neela ji?
Neela looked at Ashish who gestured a yes..
Neil took Avni to the another restaurant in the same building..
Both sat on the chair but none spoke.. They didn't know what to say..
The silence broked by the waiter who handed them the menu card..
Neil:  kya logi tum?
Avni:  a soup will be fine..
Neil ordered two soups for them..
Neil:  Avni i know it is a bit wierd for you but now when we are here and we know why we are here so don't you think we should talk..
Avni in her mind.. Order deta hai yeh..
Avni:  hmm..
Neil:  so let's start with intro.. Hi i am Neil khanna.. I stay in Mumbai,  working in XXXXX. 
Avni:  I m Avni Mehta.. I work in XXXXXX.. My family lives in Lucknow.
Again silence engulfed them..
Neil:  tum kuch bhi puchna chaho toh puch sakti ho Avni. Don't hesitate.  I promise I won't lie.
Avni smiled a bit on his promise.. Sacha insaan hai.. She realised.
Avni:  aapki family ne mujhe kyun pasand kiya?  I mean hum pehle kabhi mile bhi nahi. Wo log mujhe jante bbi nahi.. She was curious to knw each and every detail regarding this decision.
Neil:  to be honest Maine pasand kiya hai tumhe..
Hearing this Avni's eyes widened..
Wo shadi mein dekha tha.. Actually i liked you.. Your gestures towards everybody.. I always wanted a girl in my life who is respecful towards everybody... Mom asked me about marriage and tmhare bare mein Maine bata diya.. I told ki if u are not married we can contact you.. And Juhi helped..
Avni in her mind.. Yeh Juhi ki bachi...
This is my honest confession to you..
Avni:  itni si der mein you have observed such things for me?  She asked verifying him...
Neil:  only few minutes are required to know someone... Time can never be the measure,  atleast for me to judge anyone..  I know how people are..
She was proud on his answer..
Neil:  main kuch puchuin?  She nodded on a yes..  Hmm tum yahan apni marzi se aayi ho na?  I mean nobody forced you..
Avni thought for a while then answered.. 
To be honest,  initially i was not ready to meet you.. Actually i never believed in arrange marriage...mujhe yeh concept hi pasand nahi.. Like am I a thing which should be presented over someone to knw whether he liked it or not?  But my mom told me to come and now I am here.. This is my honest confession to you.. She smiled..
Neil:  I am sorry..  I was never intended to hurt you..
She was awestruck on his sweet gesture..  "Sorry" Means a lot to her.. She thought egoistic nahi hai..
Avni:  please don't be.. Now I think I didn't do any bad to come over here..
Hearing this Neil was overwhelmed.. He knew she is the best and now she is proving one.. Both are looking at each other.. Like they are talking through their eyes when the waiter come with the order.
Neil:  do you have any boyfriend?
Avni chocked over this,  not because she had one but this question was so sudden..
She shoked her head and he took a sigh of relief..
The whole lunch they were discussing their work,  their schooling, college about their friends..
Avni:  Neil i want to request you something..
Neil:  you can say directly no need to request..
Hmm humble bhi hai.. Avni thought
Avni:  dekho i don't know what your decision would be after this meet but if it is a yes I just want you to think again before saying a yes.. See this is a matter of our whole life.. How can we say a yes with just one meeting?  Like how much do we know each other?
Neil:  so u want to meet me again and again... He winked
Isshhh he is a flirt... She murmured.
He started laughing..
Avni:  bad joke.
Neil understood why she said so.. Because of her disbelief on arrange marriage..
Neil:  Avni.. You can trust me.. If I'll say yes it won't be in a haste..
He saw her looked dissatisfied..
Neil:  see I have to go in four days.. So uske pehle we have to answer a yes or a no.. And honestly I don't want to leave you.. Not at all..  But I know what are you feeling.. You need time to take decision.. So are u free tomorrow.. Will you spend a whole day with me Ms.  Avni Mehta?
Avni was shocked what to say.. His gesture left her speechless.. She wanted to say yes but what if her parents didn't allowed her?
Avni:  mom dad.. Umm
Neil:  Don't worry I'll talk to them.. Tum bolo chalogi kal mere sath..
She lowered her eyes and said a yes.
Neil was smiling as he won her..
Soon they left the place..

They entered the restaurant where their family was and was so glad to see the view.. Everyone was laughing as if they know each other since years..
Shweta:  Arre tum dono itni jaldi aa gaye..
Neil:  ji mom..
Shweta raised her eyebrows to know his decision.. While Neil looked at Ashish and said. Uncle umm actually before taking any decision I want to meet Avni again.. Yeh humari puri life ka matter hai I don't want to rush taki baad mein mujhe ya Avni kisi ko bhi problem ho..
Ashish knew what he has to answer.. All he could do know is to allow them as he don't want to lose such a nice boy.
Neil:  thik hai phir main kl 9 bje subah Avni ko pic kar lunga..
Avni gulped the lump in her throat..

They all were about to leave..  When Neil remembers he forgot to take Avni's number..
How stupid you are Neil khanna..
Anuj:  kya hua bhai?  Chalna nahi hai..
Neil:  wo..
Anuj:  kal mil lena bhabhi se abhi toh unhe ghurna band karo
Neil:  Arre Maine uska number nahi liya yaar
Anuj:  what.. Tum mere bhai nahi ho sakte.. Neil looked in disbelief..  Arre pyar ka pehla rule hai larki ka number lena..
Neil rolled his eyes..
Neil:  yeh rules aap ghar jake samjhana okay Masterji?
Anuj:  iss ghar ka sara kaam inn nazuk se khando pe hai.. Ab mujhe hi kuch karna hoga..
Neil:  ja na mere bhai.. Kuch kar.
Anuj:  ja rah huin..

They waved Avni' s family a good bye and sat in the respective cars..
Neil was with anuj...
Anuj:  99********
Neil:  kya hai ab yeh..
Anuj:  bhabhi ka number..
Neil was shocked.. Wahh mere sherr.. Akhir koi kaam toh aaya tu..
Neil saved her number and was smiling thinking about tomorrow while Avni was lost in Neil's thought..

Phew finally over..
Thanks for reading

- love to all