AN: This is an old Swasan Two Shot ( two chapter story) of mine which I had written before the actual Dhanteras/Diwali episode of Swaragini aired. This was based on few spoilers which were floating all over the net during that time. 🙂
PREMISE OF THE STORY: This happens after the farm house incident where Sanskar had overheard Swara and Laksh’s laughter inside the house and misunderstood the scenario. He had thought Swara was finally giving another chance to Laksh and that she and Laksh had reconciled again. Ragini also had added fuel to that misconception.
Happens after this episode – Nov 13 -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2bPWvet6jM
Genre: Angst / Romance/ Drama
Rating: General Audience
Plz excuse the mistakes… Not proof read. Happy reading! 🙂
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HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM
PART-1
Today was Dhanteras and the Maheshwari mansion was getting itself decked up like a newlywed bride. Rows and rows of twinkling fairy lights of myriad hues adorned its halls and the pleasant cacophony of the festivities and its arrangements acted as soothing background music to its inhabitants. Everybody looked genuinely happy or so it seemed… Swara was happily decorating the pristine white marble floors of the mansion with bright vibrant designs of rangoli. She wasn’t much of an expert like Ragini was, but she really was trying to do her very best with utmost sincerity. Sadly she was oblivious to the tormented looks her husband was shooting her when she wasn’t looking at him. She was unaware of the fact that he had witnessed a friendly banter in the farmhouse between Laksh and herself and had misinterpreted it as something entirely different aided by Ragini’s clever machinations.
In Swara’s world everything had finally become perfect… Her maa and baba were united. Her maa had been accepted whole heartedly by her dada and daadi and now even Laksh was willing to give another chance to her sister Ragini! Her whole family was happy and that was all she ever wished for… Her family was the whole world to her… But now looking at Uttara, who was excitedly demanding her brother for her Diwali gift, Swara realized with a start, that off late she had felt as if the word wasn’t restricted to just these afore mentioned relations… That her family no longer just consisted of the people she was connected by birth… Instead she felt that it now included a whole new set of people she considered equally dear and near to her… All these people around her- bade papa, badi maa, mom, papa, Adarsh bhaiya, Parineeta bhabi, Uttara, each and every one of them were her family now! And all these lovely people were her family because she was associated with that one person who stood there happily teasing his younger sister… her best friend Sanskar.
For the past few days thinking about Sanskar and what he actually meant to her, were giving her many sleepless nights… His unrepentant attitude towards the love he had for her and never once shying away in admitting it openly had often baffled her. She wondered how he had the endless courage to accept his love openly knowing fully well that her answer would be negative each and every time. His unflinching support to all the decisions she had made so far and the promise of that continued support in her all her future endeavors too without expecting anything in return, was soon becoming a concept that was much beyond her comprehension. For heaven’s sake, he had even fasted for her! She really couldn’t understand how on earth somebody so good was so completely in love with her. She knew better to doubt his love because of his repeated warnings for the same, so instead these days she wondered whether she was actually worthy of this kind of unconditional love which he had for her… She certainly didn’t think she deserved such kindness and adoration which he willingly bestowed upon her.
But that didn’t mean that she wasn’t enjoying them… Oh no, not at all… She had actually started to love the way he looked at her when she took some special care to dress up, especially the mesmerized look he had given her during Karva chauth was something she still dreamt of… And if truth be told, she had sub-consciously been making a little more effort in dressing up in these past few days, hoping to gain that mesmerized look of his to be bestowed upon her again!
She currently had no reason to be in the Maheshwari house; especially when Laksh had so called set her free. But at the slightest excuse by Ragini she had happily stayed back for few more days till the festivities were over. Last time she was in a hurry to leave the house because of the threat she saw in Laksh, but now as that hurdle has been gotten over, she was actually happy to be staying back, especially happy to be spending some more time with Sanskar, as she had strangely come to realize that it was this that she was going to miss the most when she would have to eventually go back… Off late his smiles had started to brighten her day and their carefree bantering sessions had become her favourite pass time! He truly had become her best friend. He was slowly becoming an indispensable and irreplaceable part of her life. And she slowly wondered whether he was gradually seeping into her very conscience and was ultimately becoming someone much more important than a mere best friend to her… That line of thought seemed extremely scary to tread upon but she also knew that, now since that thought had struck like a lightning, she would have to face the music of the thunder called reality soon enough… Hopefully she thought that the time would aid her in making a conclusive decision which would be right for everyone involved…
Just when she had been lost in her thoughts, somebody touched her shoulders. She looked up to see that it was Laksh who seemed to be amused looking at her valiantly attempt at rangoli. Laksh now reminded her of the old friend he once was, the one she had met even before she came to know Ragini was actually her sister. The one who reminded her of her good old carefree days and she smiled involuntarily at his teasing smile and said preemptively not to mock her design. He held his hands up in mock surrender and said that he wouldn’t dare to mock her masterpiece let alone say something about it to her face! He said he knew that she would happily blacken his face again like she had done the previous time! They both innocently laughed at that old memory not knowing that two pairs of eyes with completely different emotions were watching them… One pair, with immense pain belonging to Sanskar and the other with immense hatred and envy belonging to Ragini.
But the laughter had suddenly died when Laksh gifted her a lehenga for Diwali. She truly wanted to believe everything had been sorted and then he goes and gifts her something so personal… She looked suspiciously at him. He for his part again put up his hands and said that they were strictly meant as a gift for a friend and nothing else. But seeing her hesitation he insisted that she should accept it if she truly had forgiven him for all his misdeeds up until then and if she truly considered him as her friend. She wasn’t fully convinced but then again thought it was better to just accept it and not actually make a fuss about it which would God knows again give wrong ideas to him. So saying that she was accepting it strictly as a gift from a friend and nothing else, she took it from him.
But since the conversation was done in hushed tones, Sanskar of course misunderstood the gesture and was completely shattered. And as luck would have it, that was exactly when Swara noticed him. Swara for once got an inkling that he must have misunderstood the whole exchange between Laksh and herself. She wanted to tell him that it wasn’t the way it might have seemed to him… But before she could get up and move towards him, he had swiftly turned his face and moved towards bade papa’s room with the files he had in his hand; thus postponing the impending conversation to a later time.
Later that afternoon when she had finally finished all her chores and had got time to go back to her room to take some much needed rest before she had to again get ready for the evening pooja, she noticed that a few beautiful gift boxes decorated with gorgeous bows were placed carefully on her bed. There were a total of four gift boxes – two bigger rectangular ones which were of the light silvery-pink and light turquoise blue color respectively and two relatively small square boxes that were a combination of deep maroon and gold. She could guess what each contained but knowing didn’t dampen her enthusiasm and her child like curiosity made her rush and open her gifts with a happy glee!
The light pink box contained a gorgeous light peach-pink net lehenga with delicate pearls embedded in fine silver thread work. And the light blue box contained a stunningly soft midnight blue color sari with antique gold color tissue border and a matching designer blouse. She recognized the labels of two different well-known designers and their exclusive showroom tags in the underside of the lids. She smiled fondly thinking of the effort which must have actually gone into choosing each one of these exquisite pieces of artwork especially for her. She then proceeded to open the rest of the boxes… They each contained a jewelry set which matched the outfits, one was a delicate pearl set complete with a choker necklace, dangler ear-rings and a delicate bracelet; while the other was an antique gold temple jewelry set with a short necklace which had motifs of Goddess Lakshmi in them along with a pair of earrings with similar design and a matching kada to go with it.
She absolutely loved the whole selection which was in front of her. Saying that it was exquisite would be an understatement, but yet she felt that she couldn’t possibly accept all these gifts from him… It wouldn’t be right. Because of course she knew that only one person in this whole world would bother so much as to go to various exclusive showrooms and search for the perfect outfits for her and then again take some more effort and time to get matching jewelry for those outfits. Her respect and admiration for him grew every day and it was not because of something as petty as buying her expensive gifts but because of the time he invested on her on a daily basis… She knew he was a busy man, in fact one of the top business man of their city and yet he was always there for her when she needed him and looking at these gifts she realized, he had been there for her, thinking of her, even when he wasn’t in front of her. That thought made her heart tighten and gave a funny feeling in her stomach… May be this is what they called butterflies in the stomach, she mused dreamily…
Just then Sanskar entered their room; he had come to keep some file in his cupboard and noticed that Swara was standing there in front of the gifts he so carefully selected for her, lost in some deep thought. He sighed internally… He knew she wouldn’t like any of it; he might have over-stepped their boundary of best friendship which she had drawn for them. And now since she had got an outfit from the person she actually loved instead of the one pining one-sidedly for her, he knew she would be wearing only that instead of his unwanted gifts… His heart ached at the thought but then again he steeled himself thinking it was how this was meant to be. If he hadn’t come between them, they both would have been already married by now and if things go right they might as well be truly married in few days for real this time… As if that thought had choked the very air out of him, he suddenly coughed struggling for breath, waking her from her deep thoughts.
She immediately rushed to him with water and made him drink it the same way he had done many times before by pushing his chin upward and rubbing his back comfortingly. He smiled gratefully at her gesture. He wondered how long would he have her to himself before even talking to her casually when they are alone might be frowned upon. He had never feared the future as much as he feared then. If somebody would say he could trade his whole world for a wish, he would just beg them to make the time stop, he wouldn’t even ask them to grant her love to him for he could live with her friendship but knowing that in few days she might be staying in the opposite room as his brother’s wife was a something that was beyond his tolerance level. He had never despised his fate as much as he despised it just then…
Swara looked at him with concern and he immediately smiled to reassure her of his wellness. She smiled in turn and then looking at the gifts she thanked him whole heartedly and said how much she truly appreciated his gesture. But… Sanskar sensed that a ‘but’ was on the way… He of course knew the reason too… She of course couldn’t accept them because she already had something else her beloved had gifted her…
Swara had wanted to tell him that she would accept the outfits but since the jewelry were way too expensive; she couldn’t possibly accept them in her good conscience. But before she could tell him any of this, he just nodded to her and said that he understood her reasons and that it was all fine and immediately left the room before she could get in another word with him! She stood there utterly lost at what had currently transpired in their room.
She didn’t understand why he had reacted the way he had until she suddenly remembered that she had wanted to clarify with him about the earlier lehenga incident with Laksh! She then immediately ran towards the door to stop him but halted at the threshold thinking there was a better way to clear this situation and turned towards the gifts lying on her bed and smiled conspiringly.
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TBC
AN: Will post part -2 tomorrow. Do tell me your thoughts regarding this part until then. 🙂
My other Swasan works:
(OS= One Shot= One Chapter story)
1) Tere tasveer ko seene se laga rakha hai- Swasan OS – https://www.tellyupdates.com/teri-tasveer-ko-seene-se-laga-rakha-hai-swasan-os-authors-note/
2) Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge – Swasan OS – https://www.tellyupdates.com/dilwale-dulhaniya-le-jayenge-swasan-one-shot/comment-page-1/#comment-699797
3) No Conditions Apply – Swasan OS – https://www.tellyupdates.com/no-conditions-apply-swasan-one-shot/comment-page-1/#comment-703994