After reading a lot of FF's I decided to write my first ff. I would do a character sketch, but there are way too many characters in this story, so they'll be described as their introduced. However, so you guys won't be confused I made a family tree starting with the family name, the head of the family & their spouse and the children following. The age of each character is also provided next to their name in parentheses. All three families are Punjabi-Sikh families, so most of the customs, rituals, traditions, etc. will be Punjabi ones….
****IMPORTANT NOTE: PREM & HEER'S marriage is NOT pre-arranged at all in the story!****
Background info:
-The Juneja's are one of many rich Punjabi families in Michigan, U.S.A. Lalit Juneja (head of the Juneja's) is the owner of the chain of Hotel's…Juneja Royale Hotels…in Michigan and Punjab. With him lives his wife, Gayatri, and two sons Prem (studying business) & Preet (studying to become an engineer). However, his mother and middle son, Harman (studying to become a lawyer) live in Ludhiana, Punjab.
-Maan's are also a rich Punjabi family, but reside in New Jersey. Balraj is the owner of a successful truck transportation business in NYC. With him lives his wife, Teji, daughters Heer (aspiring to become a doctor), Ashlesha (also aspiring to become a doctor), and son, Sunny (will be graduating high school soon). The Maan's are the only ones from their side to be living in the U.S., while the rest of the Maan's reside in Vancouver, BC., Canada. The Maan's are however more closer to Teji's family, the Gill's.
-The Gill's are the family of Teji and reside in Ludhiana. They are a rich family that own many acres of farming land, and dealerships in various cities in Punjab.
-Juneja-Maan-Gill link. Balraj & Lalit are best friends, while Gayatri is considered the daughter of the Gills. After Gayatri's parents death, the Gills took orphanged Gayatri in as their own daughter. However, Gayatri is NOT in any way related to the Gills. Her parents were family friends of the Gills. Gayatri has been with the Gills since the age of 10.
CHARACTERS/FAMILY TREE
JUNEJA'S
Dadi
LALIT JUNEJA (46)
GAYATRI JUNEJA (44)
PREM JUNEJA (22)
HARMAN JUNEJA (20)
PREET JUNEJA(19)
MAAN'S
BALRAJ MAAN (46)
TEJI MAAN (44)
HEER MAAN (21)
ASHLESHA MAAN (19)
SUNNY MAAN (18)
GILL'S
BEEJI & PAPAJI- The parents of Inderjot (Joti), Tejinder (Teji), and Baldev.
BALDEV GILL (38)- Teji's younger brother
GURDEEP GILL (38)- Baldev's wife
MEHER (17)
SAVRAJ (13)
BOBBY (8)
INDERJOT GILL Dhanoa(45)- Teji older sister
SUKHMAN DHANOA (47)- Inderjot's husband
SIMRAN (22)
SHUBH (20)
CHACHAJI & CHACHIJI- Teji's chacha & chachi
SONI GILL Grewal(35)- Teji's cousin-sister
AMAN GREWAL (35)- Soni's husband
KARAM (6)
MEET GILL (29)- Teji's younger cousin-brother
AMAR GILL (25)- Teji's youngest cousin- brother
Mannat
By: Deepika Gill
Chapter 1 (Saturday, December 8, 2008)
"Heer! Heer puttar…kaha ho tum!?!" shouted Teji.
"Oye, mom, why are you shouting? The neighbors will complain," said Teji's 19 year old daughter, Ashlesha as she walked into the kitchen in her pajama's.
Teji- "Tum laogo ko toh ithna baada ghar mein meri awaz nahi sunaii dethi, toh phir pardoosiyon ko kiya sunaii dehgi!"
"Ithna baada jooth, aur woh bhi mom bol rahi hai & that too subah subah!?! I'm shocked" said Sunny, Teji's youngest child and only son, while seating himself next to Ashlesha at the kitchen table. "Mom, you know we hear you, it's just that we don't WANT to listen to you…so we ignore you".
Not giving Teji a chance to reply back, Ashlesha said "Plus mom, I think you're getting old, you seem to forget a lot now a dayz. Heer di told you last night, she would be going the gurudwara this morning, before she had to leave for the airport," as her papaji, Balraj Maan, came and joined them at the table.
"Woh beemari ka kiya naam tha Ash puttar, jiska baara mein tum mujhe kal baatha rahi thi…uhh…" Balraj chimmed in wondering.
"MOM HAS ALZHEIMER'S!!" shouted both her children together.
"Alzheimer's!" sarcastically shouted Heer, as she walked into the kitchen, just arriving home from her visit to the gurudwara.
Heer was Balraj and Teji's eldest daughter. She was a beautiful, tall, 21 year old girl, with light brown eyes and long, straight, brown hair. She was the laadli of the family. Though her parents treated all 3 children equally, Heer was trusted more and had greater freedom. However, none of her siblings complained because they all loved their sister dearly. Out of the 3, Heer was the most different one, while the other 2 were bubbly and always joking around. However, only her family & close friends knew that Heer was totally different from what others perceived her. Heer was always quiet and shy in public, but with her close ones she was much more open. Though she was quiet in public, when it came to performing and doing dancing…her shyness always disappeared instantly. It was like she was a different person when she performed.
Heer had just returned home to New Jersey from college (University of Michigan, where she was completing her pre-medical courses) 2 days before after finishing her fall semester. Her parents urged her when she moved away to college, to stay with their close friends Lalit & Gayatri Juneja and their family who lived 25-40 minutes away from the campus, instead of sharing a dorm with a stranger, but she refused. Her family had all met the Juneja's various times over the years, but she had always happened to miss out on the visits. She felt really awkward staying with a family she had not met in 15 years. Hence, she decided live on campus.
Heer- "Maa, yeh toh bohat baadi beemari hai! Couldn't you wait a couple of years until Ash or I become doctors…that way we could've treated you well and for free!"
"Heer puth (short for puttar)...tu bhi! Tu hi toh thi, jo mera saath humesha dethi thi, aur ab tum bhi ihn ki taarah…." Teji said over the laughing of her family.
Heer- "Sorry maa, likhian Papaji told me to say something like this to you before he came into the kitchen and you know I can't refuse papaji! I'm sorry Maa.
Teji- "Tek hai Tek hai….oh haan, tumhari tiyaari hogi?"
Ash- "Maa, yeh aap kissa pooch rahi ho! Di has been ready to go since the day she got back home! I can't believe we're going to miss the surprise di is going to give everyone! Just imagine, No one but Inderjot massi knowing di is coming to Meet Mammu's engagement, suddenly the lights go off, the stage is lit, Di walks out, then starts performing and everyone trying to recognize who she is…and finally they realize it's Heer di
Sunny- "But how will they recognize her…di hasn't been to India in 5 years! Plus, they don't have any pictures of her.
Ash- "No, they'll recognize her…I emailed Inderjot maasi, di's picture last week and when Amar mammu came to visit, di came home to see him, so he'll definitely recognize her! Oh my god, I can't wait until we leave for India in 2 weeks! The wedding's going to be so fun! Unlike di we're going after 2 years!"
Teji noticing Heer looking nervous & not paying attention to the discussion asked her "Heer puttar, ki hoya? Tu ithni nervous kyun lag rahi ho?"
Heer- "Nothing Maa, I'm just nervous about meeting everyone. It's been 5 years. I wonder how they'll react seeing me, and performing at Meet Mammu's engagement isn't making me feel any better."
"Don't vorry puttar, everything vill be fine," Teji said looking towards the clock. She continued by saying "You have to leave soon, go bring all your sahman down".
Sunny- "Leave it to mom to totally kill the English accent. It's WORRY not vorry and WILL not vill!"
Teji- "Chup kare! Hum iss tarah English boldiyan saadi Punjabi vich! Bada Engraz baniya phirda. Jaldi Khana katham kar aur jaa kar apni behen ko sahman neecha lahna mein madath kar!"
Heer left the kitchen to go gather her stuff, still feeling nervous. The next hour, the Maan house was filled with chaos.
Finally, the time finally arrived for Heer's departure for the airport. Heer walked down the stairs leading into the great hall, wearing blue jeans and a fitted black sweater with a hoodie over a tight, long black top, with her jacket in one hand and her black Louis Vuitton purse in the other.
Teji- "Tumne sabh kuch pack karliya hai na? Kuch reh toh nahi gaya?"
"Aare Teji, tu ithni fikar kyun karthi ho. Yeh ab bacchi nahi rahi" Balraj said consoling his wife. "Oh hain, Heer puttar, tum engagement ka doosra din Lalit aur Gayatri bhabi ko milna chali jana. Woh bhi wahan aai ho hai shaadi ka liya. Ithna saal hoga tumhe unha mila huya." Seeing the worried look on the Maan betiyan, Balraj continued "Don't worry, meina uhna nahi bathiya ka tum India aah rahi ho, meina tumhara surprise nahi ruin kiya" as the girls let out sighs of relief.
Ash- "Chalo di!
Hearing Sunny honking the horn of their Escalade outside, Heer exchanged good-byes and hugs with her parents, and then left the Maan Mansion with her sister, unknowing what life had in stored for her in this 1 month trip.
Upon arriving at the airport, Heer's siblings helped her book her luggage and saw her off at the security gate entrance.
Ash- "Di, we're going to miss you sooo much! You were only home for not even 3 days. We couldn't even catch up on everything."
Sunny- "Oye stupid, we're going to India in 2 weeks! You can catch up with her there…& didn't you guys stay up every night until 3 in the morning talking?
Ash- "Hey, who are you calling stupid. At least I'm not bribed by my sister with money to pass a semester!
Before Sunny could continue, Heer cut in "Stop it you both! Do you guys want me leaving with the memory of you two fighting?"
"Di, the security line is getting pretty long, I think you should leave" Ash said noticing the increasing size of the security wait line.
After saying her final good-byes to her siblings, Heer headed off towards security checking, when she heard…
"DI!!!" said Ash as both she and her brother ran up to meet their elder sister.
"Kiya hua?" asked Heer.
"Woh…you left your payals in the bathroom this morning and I forgot to return them to you!" replied Ash handing over the payals to a smiling Heer.
Sunny- "Hey stupid, you know she can't wear those through checking,"
Heer- "Thanks Ash and don't worry Sunny…I'll put them on once I get through the checking! Bye you guys!" And Heer headed off once again towards security. Once getting through security checking, Heer went and sat down at a bench to put on her most prized possession…her payals. Once putting them on Heer smiled to herself and got up and started walking towards the gate her flight was supposed to be at.
CHAAN, CHAAN, CHAAN went her payals as she was walking.
Hearing the noise of the payals, Prem Juneja stopped instantly in his tracks. Was it his imagination or was he really hearing the noise of a girls payal walking behind him. To confirm what he was hearing was real, he turned himself towards where the beautiful noise was coming…
***I hope you guys like the first part. It's not as interesting as the rest of the story will be, but I had to start somewhere and get the major facts out first. I hope I didn't confuse anyone! You guyz are free to leave negative (I won't mind…I promise!) & positive comments. I will update in 1-2 days time…and then after that I will decide if I want to continue or not!***
PREVIEW- Prem & family will be introduced (Much shorter & more interesting introduction) and Heer will be stuck in a sticky situation (a situation that some girls on this forum, may have been stuck in as well)…who will come to her rescue?
Deepika Gill
INDEX
Chapter 1- Page 1
Chapter 2- Page 2
Chapter 3- Page 4
Chapter 4- Page 5
Chapter 5- Page 7
Chapter 6- Page 8
Chapter 7- Page 11
Chapter 8- Page 14
Chapter 9- Page 16
Chapter 10- Page 20
Chapter 11- Page 25
Chapter 12- Page 28
Chapter 13- Page 33
Chapter 14- Page 37
Chapter 15- Page 41
Chapter 16- Page 44
Chapter 17- Page 46
Chapter 18A- Page 51
Chapter 18B- Page 53
Chapter 19- Page 57
Chapter 20A- Page 62
Chapter 20B- Page 62
Chapter 21- Page 66
Chapter 22- Page 70
Chapter 23- Page 73
Chapter 24- Page 77
Chapter 25- Page 81
Chapter 26- Page 84
Chapter 27- Page 87
Chapter 28- Page 91
Chapter 29- Page 94
Chapter 30- Page 98
Chapter 31- Page 103
Chapter 32- Page 105
Chapter 33- Page 108
Chapter 34- Page 110
Chapter 35- Page 113
Chapter 36- Page 115
Chapter 37- Page 118
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