OS| Strangers
[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2csnXq0zV7I[/YOUTUBE]
The shadows under her eyes were a testimony to the long nights she had spent awake, in the past months. The colour of her cheeks had faded and so had the glimmer in her eyes. No one could remember the last time Khushi had truly smiled, that smile which went right up to her eyes. Khushi, the name she had always personified, was buried deep beneath the debris of books and notes piled up in her room. Ma and Bauji had been supportive, but watching their daughter slogging off so hard had made them helpless.
They wanted to tell her to slow down, to relax, to breathe. But she never gave them a chance.
She didn't budge, she couldn't or rather wouldn't. Her persistence refused to cower down, until today.
The tears welling up in her eyes spoke of a story which is not mentioned often. The not qualified' on the screen in front of her had got her guts drawn up into tight knots. She kept looking again and again, probably in denial. She refreshed the page, trying to ignore the not'. But there it was, in big bold red letters.
Her heart sank, somewhere from where she was not sure if it would be able to resurface again. The tears now appeared willingly, they soaked her cheeks, disappearing before finishing their trail.
Manchala..mann chala teri ore
Manchala.. mann chala teri ore
Khamoshiyon ki sooraton mein
Dhoondhe tera shor
Dhoondhe tera shor
She didn't have it in her to tell Ma and Bauji. Her legs seemed to be stuck , they refused to get up and go out and have her face her parents.
The money they had spent so willingly on her education, the aarti they had done every morning for her success. Every tiny moment haunted her.
What had she done wrong? Now the long hours in the library didn't seem to make sense. Nor did the nights she had stayed awake, with a cup of chai. She shut down the laptop, dejected , her fingers trembling against the surface of her study table, tracing the scars present on it, repeatedly. The tears truly came down now, willingly, unrestricted, free and naked.
**
Arnav Singh Raizada had faced the worst day of his life today. His business plummeting down towards disaster, this was the first time failure had struck him, cut him apart. His seething temper had withdrawn into a mould of ignorance.
Kabhi gardishon ka maara
Kabhi khwahishon se haara
Roothe chaand ka hai chakor
Zara se bhi samjhote se
Yeh parhez rakhta hai kyun
Maane na kabhi koi zor
At twenty five, he had come to know that his father had committed suicide because his mother had eloped with another man.
Was this not reason enough?
Oh how beautifully they portrayed tragedy in classics and literature. And how difficult it truly was in reality. His mind had lost balance, completely. Nothing made sense anymore. Not the scores of medals and certificates on his shelves, nor the beautiful infrastructure of AR designs.
He unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt, the jacket coming off and gathering into crumpled folds in his arms.
He squeezed his eyes shut, walking into the library, through the side door , which few had known of, even in his college days. He was more than surprised to see that a tiny sliver of light glowed in the eerily silent hall. He walked cautiously, through the corridors lined with bookshelves, peering over the books to make out who it was.
Duniya jahaan ki bandishon ki
Yeh kahaan parwaah kare
Jab kheenche teri dor
Kheenche teri dor
And then he heard it, a loud bang, as if someone was throwing a book on the floor.
As if.
He told himself he was hallucinating, when it came again, the loud bang. He now swiftly paced across the aisle and came across a sight which he probably wouldn't forget ever in his life.
**
She stood in the midst of a pile of books she had thrown on the floor of the library, her hair a wild mess, her eyes sunken. Arnav was caught in her for a tiny moment before she picked up a huge encyclopaedia and he rushed up to her, clutching at her hands.
Manchala.. mann chala teri ore
Manchala.. mann chala teri ore
"What is wrong with you? Have you gone completely crazy?!" He shouted, the voice booming, echoing back from the books. She shuddered, looking up at him with those big eyes she had and collapsed into him.
Arnav was shocked, he let the book he had snatched from her hands slip down to the ground. She leaned against him, completely, as if about to faint. He supported her, cradling her head in his arms, almost frightened.
Was she hurt? Should he call the ambulance? Had she taken something?
His mind raced and his fingers were reaching out to his mobile when she opened her eyes. She immediately drew back from him, disturbed to find herself in the arms of a stranger. And for the first time that year, Khushi Kumari Gupta shouted, in her characteristic Delhi girl ways.
"Who the hell do you think you are, holding me like that? You dare come near me, or I will..." she looked around helplessly, "or I will.." she picked up a large dictionary and targeted him.
He stood silent, arms folded. And Arnav didn't know how or why but he gave a very tiny smile, infuriating her.
She looked at him, confused and then at the dictionary in her hands.
"WHAT?" she snapped.
"In your state, I wouldn't have been so confident about self defence." He calmly replied, picking up the books on the floor and placing them back in the shelves. She stared at him, before joining him.
Her hands trembled as they picked up the books, brushing them slightly against his. He looked at her, with an expression of something slightly more than just a stranger's curiosity.
That day, Khushi did something which was weird, unexplainable and completely out of the blue. Something which had no place in her rational world.
She hugged him, she put her head against that of a stranger whom she didn't even know and who could have probably taken advantage of her and what not. He was apprehensive, he didn't even know what to do. But the girl crying in his arms at that moment, saved Mr Raizada from ruining his life. In an unexplainable way.
Rookhi-sookhi dil ki hai zameen
Jaane kahaan gum hui nami
Meri ummeed hai teri baarishein
Ye sahe kayi baar pyaar ke
Tujhe har baar haar ke
Seekhe phir bhi kabhi nahi saazishein
**
The crystal decorations glimmered in the background as she walked on the damp grass, removing her extremely uncomfortable footwear abandoned somewhere in the middle. In a few hours, she would get married here, this was where her old friends, her loved ones would be gathered to celebrate her new life.
Khushi could not explain how happy, how beautifully, gloriously happy she felt right now. As she looked up at the evening sky, whose reddish hue put up the fairy lights to shame, her eyes remembered that dark night as a haze.
It seemed so far away, that day when everything was like a roller-coaster going downhill.
"Miss Gupta, may I have a last dance?"
He cleared his throat, his eyebrows gearing up in that peak which she so adored.
"Last?" her questioning glance made him eye her face which he had first seen at its worst. He remembered thinking how beautiful she would look when she was happy. And he was right.
"Last, before you become Mrs Raizada." he winked, playfully, an arm bringing her closer to him while the other weaving through her fingers. She put up that wow you are so funny' face and continued to let him lead the steps.
As they danced on the wet grass, both of them barefoot, their minds reeling back to that night and this, thinking of contrasts, of the weird ways of life and of finding love, in times when you couldn't have possibly imagined.
Tere liye aaj khud se hi bhaage hain
Himmat ke tukde bator
Ho bhaage zamaane se
Chhup ke dabe paanv jaise koi chor
Jaise koi chor...
Manchala.. mann chala teri ore
Manchala.. mann chala teri ore
Khamoshiyon ki sooraton mein
Dhoondhe tera shor
Dhoondhe tera shor
Khushi, had finally qualified'.
**
A/N- Hey everyone!Not sure if anyone does know or remember me here, but I was previously 'Risha_ipkknd' and 'Amethyst.' I have come here after probably two years and well..let's just say, I am at one of the worst phases of my life. And I always feel like writing when I am the happiest and when I am at my worst. So here it is!
About the OS, I don't know. I know it seemed a bit strange , different and vague. But I would still like to garner reactions. Haven't written for quite a while now, so just trying out my hands again.
If you want to read better and happier things, you can always have a look here 😆 - My Index
-Risha
PS- I know the song lyrics don't quite go with all of this. But the tune of the song and the entire atmosphere it generates is very beautiful.
**
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