Maan
who had turned Geet away from the stairs was facing towards the corridors
leading to the bride’s bedroom and he saw Haider come out of the room rushing
the opposite way.
He jerked Geet back breaking off the
golden pearls of her tassel, as he rushed to catch up with his friend before
anyone else notices. Geet got her feet balanced and was busy setting her
dupatta right with her shaking hands. Rather than heading downstairs to find
her mother in her nervousness she just shot back towards Meer’s bedroom.
Downstairs Dadima looked slightly
embarrassed and turned to Jassi ji to hesitantly say ‘woh Maan zara hasmukh
mizaaj ka hai, shayad Geet beti ko tang kar raha hai. Aap buraa na maaney main
ussey…(uhh..Maan is light hearted and he
might have been teasing Geet. Please don’t mind him I will have a word…)
Jassi ji interrupted Dadima and said ‘Nahi nahi Dadima, main samajh sakti hoon.
Geet kam thodi hai!! aur waise bhi yeh bache shaadi ke ghar main hi aisey
shararat kartey hain..Bache hai bhagdod main mazey kar rahe hai aur Geet par bharosa
hai mujhe’ (No, Dadima I understand. Geet
is no less! And anyway these kids get mischievous in a wedding house. Chasing
each other and having fun. I trust Geet anyway) and she smiled warmly at
Dadima to wade away her embarassement.
Dadima was pleasantly surprised at
Jassi’s open mindness. She patted her cheek with warmth and left towards the main hall
again.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meer sat still at the edge of her bed
and yet again with a sudden intrusion in her room, Geet walked in shaken and
nervous than Meer herself. Meer caught hold of Geet and held her by the arms to
ask her ‘kya hua Geet?!Why are you shaking?’ Geet stuttered looking down at her
paranda (tassle) and said ‘woh woh kuch nahi.. Wahan raste main Ma a n..”(Umm oh nothing…over there on the way Ma a n) Meer cut her short only hearing the first half of Ma-an spoke ‘Ma! What happened? Did Ma tell you
something? Meer stepped back and collapsed on the bed saying ‘Oh gosh I told
Haider ji, not tonight!!’ Ya Allah how will I face everyone’!!
Geet who was trying to tell her that she
almost had a fall and Maan saved her, forgot about her own story and was shocked
to see Meer so distraught.
Geet abruptly sat on the floor infront
of Meer and asked 'What happened Di, I didn't see Ma. Tell me! Did Haider bhai
come to speak with you?’
Meer who by now had her eyes filled with
tears with relief and this sadness didn’t know what she should tell! She just blurted out ‘Woh shaadi nahi
karna chahte mujhse’ (He doesn’t want to
get married to me). Geet held her hands tightly and blurted out a ‘Kya?!’(What?!)
Maan caught up with Haider whom he had
seen going up a staircase leading to the terrace that he found on the otherside
of the corridor. He reached the terrace and found Haider leaning over a
balcony deep in thoughts. With all his impatience, Maan rushed forward and asked
his friend ‘kya hua bataa na! (Tell me
what happened?) What did you tell her and what did she say?!’
Haider looked at Maan and then looked
away again, Maan turned him around wondering what exactly happened that Haider
is shying away from his eyes. Maan asked him again. Haider sighed and replied ‘I told her to say no’.
‘Kyaaa!!’ (What!?) Maan echoed Geet’s words but only Haider heard him.
‘But why Di! Aapse nahi toh kisse! (If not you then with who does want to get
married!?)He just put a ring on you in front of everyone!’ Geet exclaimed out
loud.
‘He is not ready for a marriage so soon.
He wanted some more time’ Meer stated Haider’s words.
‘What did she reply with when you asked
her to say no, Haider’? Maan asked with his hands crossed over his chest staring
pointedly at Haider.
Haider quietly added ‘She said that she
didn’t lie to her father when he asked for her acceptance for this marriage and
she won’t lie to him now either.’
‘Good!’ Said both Maan and Geet
respectively to their narrators in different parts of the haweli yet their thoughts and words mirrored one another.
‘I thought you will be a man enough to
say no yourself! But you asked her instead to say NO! So she
can be your scapegoat! She doesn’t deserve that!!’ said Maan angrily.
Geet walked back and forth angrily and
turned to ask Meer ‘His Baba should have asked him too like our baba asked you
Meer! ’
Meer half smiled and said ‘not everyone
are as lucky to speak their minds with their fathers like you Geet’.
Geet suddenly looked at Meer and asked ‘So
are you not telling Baba the truth either?’ Meer hastily replied ‘No, I mean… I did
speak the truth to Baba, I thought he would be happy getting married to
me as well’ Meer tried explaining to herself more than to Geet’
‘What are you going to do now Di?’ Geet
asked her the impending question as Meer looked ahead lost in her thoughts.
‘She told me I know we are still very
young and we have a lot to do in life so getting married this young will help
us grow together… I never looked at it in that way Maan! I have been thinking
that she will stop me from achieving everything in life that I wanted but she
thought so much more…and better’ Haider spoke Meer’s words to Maan but it was
as if he was mulling over every word she uttered and each word opened his eyes
to her perspective even more.
‘I will speak to Baba tomorrow morning,
Abhi toh woh sab bohot khush hai. Aaj ki raat yehi khushfehmi main guzaar lene
dein unhe ke unki beti ki baraat ayegi kal chaukath par’ (He is so happy right now,let them all live this night under the guise
of happiness that tomorrow is the arrival of his daughter’s wedding on his doorstep).
But is that what you really want?! Geet
asked Meer as Maan asked the same to Haider.
Haider turned to look at his friend with
the realization dawning upon him that he is about to make a huge mistake in his
life.
On the other side, Meer flicked the tears away from her face and instead asked Geet ‘ Ma
must be looking for us! Why were you looking so tensed when you came in?! ohh! coz your
tassel broke! Here, I will fix it and let’s go downstairs after, they must be looking
for us’.
Geet looked at her friend through the
mirror who was busy fixing her tassle in her hair again and but really was trying to
dissuade the sadness off her own demeanour. Geet turned around and said ‘ Di, Daijaan
kehti hain, ke har mayoosi ke peche ek seekh hoti hai khushiyon ko paane ki.
Yeh gham bhi dhal jayega, aur waise bhi aap ko ab dukh hora hai na.. Haider
bhai ko baad main hoga unki yeh galti par!’ (Di, Daijaan says that behind every disappointment in life there is a
lesson to find real happiness. This time of sadness will pass too. And anyway
you are sad now but Haider will be sad later for making this mistake!).
-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The girls went downstairs again and Meer
sat in the hall with other guests and family with the pretense of being a bride-to-be.
A while later, Maan saw Geet sitting quietly
in one corner of the veranda outside, staring in blank space and her hands
mindlessly playing with the ends of her chunni. The guests had thinned to its
last with just the immediate families inside discussing details of the
proceeding days ahead.
Just from the outline of her drooping shoulders Maan instantly
felt that Meer has poured her heart out to Geet and she was feeling sad for her
best friend. He walked towards Geet with two glasses of lassi in his hands and simply
offered it to her. Geet saw him approaching and prepared to to leave from there
as the scenes of her last encounter with him flashed before her eyes.
Maan quickly said ‘Ruk jao na!’.
The
colour in her cheeks rose yet again with embarrassment at his nerves to tease her
with those very similar words! Even before she could think of saying anything, Maan
took a chance that Geet knew the situation between her friend and his and added
‘Haider wants to get married to your friend and he doesn’t want to break this
relation now.
Geet’s eyes turned from bemusement to elation
as they filled with tears of happiness and a smile broke on her face.
She
leaped forward and held his shirt ‘Really!! Haye Rabba! Are you for sure?’
Maan was taken aback in surprise at her sudden closeness,
as he stood on his weak leg he tried to balance himself with her and placed
his hands lightly around her shoulders. Her genuine happiness for her friend made
his heart fill with warmth and he nodded at her with the same excitement
shining from his eyes affirming her of the truth he knew; forgetting that they were in each others arms for the second time in one evening!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Daijaan who was walking back after
bidding away some guests, stood stunned as she saw the scene in front of her:
Geet
and Maan in each other's arms with beaming smiles.. still and lost under the beautifully
flowered veranda -alone.
