Chapter 02
The first meeting
“Tujhe samajhna chahiye naa, itni irresponsible kaise ho sakti hai tu (You should understand, how can you be so irresponsible)” Mishti spoke as she scolded Kuhu.
“Oh hello madam, mujh par kyu gussa ho rahi hai, mujhe kya pata tha ki dates galat book ho gayi hai (Oh hello madam, why are you getting angry on me, I did not know the wrong dates got booked)” Kuhu retorted back.
“Acha toh kis ki galti hai, booking karne ki responsibility teri thi aur ab jab usme galti hui hai toh tujhe hi bolungi naa (Then whose fault is it, you took the responsibility of booking the tickets, now if something went wrong, I’ll tell you only)” Mishti gave a reply “Acha hua ki Bhai ne tickets check ki toh pata chala ki train aaj ki hai, kal ki nahi (Thank God that Bhai saw the tickets and realized that our train is today, not tomorrow)”
“Bas karo tum dono, chup ho jao ek dum (Stop it the two of you, keep quiet)” Naksh spoke in a loud voice to stop their never-ending argument; both the girls looked at him in shock.
“Bhai” Mishti was about to say something but Naksh signed her to keep quiet and seeing his anger Mishti became quiet, “Kuhu, train ki timings kya hai (Kuhu, what are the train timings)”
“Aaj dupahar ki hai, do baje ki (Today afternoon, two o’clock)” Kuhu replied calmly.
“Hmm, abhi sirf aath baje hai, do baje ki train hai, agar hum try kare toh aaj nikal sakte hai (Okay, now it is only eight, the train is at two, and if we try we can leave by today)” Naksh spoke as he did some mental calculations.
“Par Bhai, aaj kaise hoga, packing bhi karni hai (But Bhai, how will it happen today, we still have to do the packing)” Mishti said with doubt.
“Haa Bhai, aaj toh possible hi nahi hai, itni jaldi sab kaise hoga (Yes Bhai, it is not possible today, how will it happen so quickly)” Kuhu spoke with the same doubt as Mishti.
“Try karenge toh hoga, tumhe Sona ki engagement mein jaana hai ya nahi, dekho aaj ki tickets hai, kal ki nahi milenge ab, parso ki try karenge toh engagement toh miss ho hi jayegi, tum dono soch lo ab, aaj jaana hai yaa engagement miss karni hai (If we try we can do it, do you want to attend Sona’s engagement or not, we have today’s tickets, we will not get tomorrow’s, and if we try for day after tomorrow we will miss the engagement for sure, you both decide, whether you want to go today or miss the engagement)” Naksh said listing all the various results of the problem they were in.
The girls looked at each other and then at Naksh.
“Hum aaj hi jayenge, Sona ki engagement kaise miss kar sakte hai (We will go today, we cannot miss Sona’s engagement)” Mishti said.
“Sari preparations fatafat manage kar lenge but engagement nahi miss karenge (We will manage to do all the preparations quickly but we will not miss the engagement)” Kuhu said.
Naksh smiled hearing them “Good, toh ab jao aur packing karna start kar do, main baki sab dekh lunga (Good, so now go and do the packing, I’ll take care of the rest)” the girls nodded and turned to go, “Aur suno (And listen)” the girls looked at him “Ab no more jhagde, ek aur baar ladai huyi toh Delhi jaana cancel (Now no more arguments, one more arguments and going to Delhi will be cancelled)” Naksh gave a warning.
“Haa Bhai, ab no more ladai (Yes Bhai, now no more arguments)” Mishti and Kuhu said together and walked to their rooms.
*****
“Ek number ka idiot hai tu Abir (You are number one idiot Abir)” Abir ran through the crowd making space for himself, his train would leave any time and he did not know if he would even reach the platform on time, he checked his watch as he passed the people “Do minute bache hai bas, tujhe samajhana chahiye tha, ghar se jaldi kyu nahi nikla (Only two minutes are left, couldn’t you leave early from home)” he scolded himself “Ab agar sagai par nahi pohacha toh teri khair nahi, Maa toh aise daatengi, hey partner bacha lo, koi Shah Rukh Khan meri life mein bhej do taki meri train miss naa ho (Now if you do not reach for the engagement, you are gone for sure, Maa will scold you, hey partner save me, please send some Shah Rukh Khan in my life also so that I do not miss my train)” Abir hoped and prayed as he ran down the staircase, he saw the train still standing at the platform, he smiled but his smile vanished soon as he heard the train horn blow, and the train started moving, he quickened his pace and ran along the platform in a hope to catch the train, his one hand held the strap of the bag tightly, while the other tried to hold the handle of any of the doors of the train, so that he could get onto the train.
*****
Mishti, Kuhu and Naksh managed to reach the railway station on time; they boarded the train and settled their luggage in their seats. Kuhu took a seat besides the window, while Naksh walked towards the washroom.
Mishti walked to the door and stood near it, the train would depart soon, and she was excited to meet her friend soon “Sona kitni khush hogi hume waha parso ki jagah kal dekh kar (Sona will be so happy seeing us there tomorrow instead of day after tomorrow)” she thought as she looked at the platform, the train started moving, she looked at the platform once again, she was surprised as she saw a man running after the train, it was clearly seen that he wanted to board the train and was trying to catch the train, she did not know what to do, she looked at the man and seeing his struggle, she forwarded her hand towards him.
Abir was running as fast as he could, when he saw a girl at one of the doors, she was extending her hand towards him, he increased his pace seeing her “Thank you partner iss Simran ko bhejne ke liye (Thank you partner for sending this Simran)”
Abir ran faster and after a few struggles he caught hold of Mishti’s hand, Mishti held his hand firmly while her other hand gripped the door handle tightly, she used all her strength and pulled him towards her, Abir also helped her and using his strength got into the train, Mishti moved inside as Abir came inside the train, they both composed their breathes and looked at each other.
“Thank you so much, mujhe laga aaj toh train pakka miss kar dunga (Thank you so much, I thought today I will miss the train for sure)” Abir said as his breathing became normal.
“Welcome” Mishti said still trying to catch her breath.
They looked at their hands still in each other’s hold; they took their hands out of each other’s hold and looked in opposite directions to ease the awkwardness. Mishti smiled at him once and walked into the compartment towards her seat, Abir smiled back and followed her as he walked into the compartment to find his seat.
*****
“Mishti, kaha thi tu (Mishti, where were you)” Naksh asked as he saw Mishti come and take a seat opposite Kuhu near the other window.
“Kahi nahi Bhai, bas darwaze par thi (Nowhere Bhai, I was just at the door)” Mishti said as she looked outside the window.
“Finally” a familiar voice reached Mishti’s ears and she saw the person she had helped sit beside Kuhu, she was surprised seeing him, he also looked at her and had the same look of surprise as her.
“Hey, pata nahi tha dobara itni jaldi milenge Simran (hey, I did not know we would meet so soon again Simran)” Abir spoke in a playful tone, Kuhu and Naksh looked at each other confused, while Mishti was surprised hearing the name Simran.
“Simran” Kuhu asked him confused, “Simran kaun hai (Who is this Simran)”
“Are Simran nahi pata tumhe, Simran, Raj ki Simran (What, you do not know Simran, Simran, Raj’s Simran)” Abir looked at her with shocked expressions.
“Tumhara matlab woh DDLJ wale Raj ki Simran (You mean the DDLJ one, Raj’s Simran)” Naksh asked him.
“Haa bilkul wahi (Yes, absolutely correct)” Abir said with a smile.
“Wo toh thik hai par tumne Mishti to Simran kyu kaha (Okay that is fine but why did you call Mishti as Simran)” Kuhu asked with confusion.
“Are woh toh isiliye (That was because)” Abir began narrating the incident that had happened some minutes ago, Kuhu and Naksh listened carefully as Abir very dramatically explained each part of the story while Mishti looked at him surprised hearing his extra dramatic version of the incident she also had been a part of, “So jaise tab Raj ne Simran ki help ki thi, in hone meri ki aur is tarah se yeh ban gayi meri Simran (So just like Raj had helped Simran, she helped me and like this, she became my Simran)” Mishti, Kuhu and Naksh looked at him and Abir too realized what he said “Mera matlab yeh Mishti ban gayi Simran (I mean Mishti became Simran)”
“Oh ho yeh to pura hi filmy ho gayi, bilkul Bollywood movies jaise pehli mulaqat (Oh ho, this became completely dramatic, just like the first meetings of Bollywood movies)” Kuhu exclaimed in excitement while Mishti rolled her eyes at her friend’s over-enthusiasm, Abir and Naksh only smiled.
“By the way mera naam Abir hai (By the way my name is Abir)” Abir said.
“Main Kuhu hu, yeh Naksh Bhai hai aur yeh (I am Kuhu, this is Naksh Bhai and she is)” Kuhu said introducing herself and others.
“Yeh Mishti hai, tum bata chuki ho (She is Mishti, you already told)” Abir said and Kuhu gave a smile.
“Waise acha hua aapki seat hamare saath hai, mujhe company mil gayi warna yeh ladkiyan to mujhe pagal kar deti (By the way it is good that your seat is with us, I will have company otherwise these girls would have made me mad)” Naksh said to Abir, he laughed hearing Naksh while the girls glared at him.
“Aap log bhi Delhi jaa rahe hai (You all are also going to Delhi)” Abir asked.
“Haa hum Delhi hi jaa rahe hai (Yes we are going to Delhi only)” Kuhu replied.
“Ab train Delhi tak ki hai toh wahi jayenge naa, chaand tak toh nahi chale jayenge (If the train is going to Delhi we will go there only, we won’t go to the moon)” Mishti said looking outside the window.
Kuhu and Naksh were surprised by her behavior, Abir only smiled.
“Jab chaand saamne hai toh chaand tak kyu jaana hai (When the moon is in front of me, why I will go to the moon)” Abir said, Mishti looked at him but was surprised seeing him talking to Kuhu “Sach mein aap toh kafi khoobsurat ho, sorry pehle kehna bhul gaya (You are really beautiful, sorry I did not say it earlier)” he said to Kuhu, Kuhu smiled hearing this.
Abir then looked at Mishti and winked at her, Mishti looked at him shocked; Abir smiled seeing her expressions, something told him this was going to be a trip that would change his life.
Mishti turned her face and looked outside the window, “Thoda bohot filmy kya ho gaya, khud ko sach mein Shah Rukh Khan samajhne laga hai (Some things happened dramatically, he is really thinking himself to be Shah Rukh Khan)” she thought while looking outside.
The journey continued as Kuhu, Abir and Naksh got involved in a conversation.
*****
Hello everyone, I hope you all are doing well.
Here is the next chapter of the story, do share your views on the same.
And keep guessing what turns their lives will take now when they all meet each other in Delhi.
Keep reading and smiling!!!
Take care and stay safe!!!