Part 10

Wednesday like the rest of the days was very busy at office. Nisha thought it wiser not to reveal what happened with Meenakshi to her friends. Meenakshi would perhaps be the best person to share it.

Her friends noticed that she had taken extra care to groom herself that day and remarked that she was looking very pretty. The day passed quickly. Again next two days were full of meetings. Nisha realized how quickly Friday evening had arrived but there was no sign of Suneel on Friday although she had seen him going into one or other rooms the day before. She reckoned that she was now thinking very kindly of him and was no longer critical. “This does not mean I’m agreeing to marry him”, she told herself.

The weekend again was uneventful. Nobody talked about marriage or Suneel at home, her parents had to visit her aunt on Saturday. On Sunday evening at Neeru’s suggestion the trio visited the nearby Mall to shop for some dresses.  Tinkoo was not interested in anything except getting some ice cream. Neeru was fascinated by new trendy art jewellery and trinkets. Generally Nisha did not buy much but she amazed herself by buying two new dresses and matching sandals with them.

Mondays generally are busier than the rest of the week. Nisha found Suneel in her team head’s room and she was soon drawn into a discussion on selecting clients for the forthcoming next conference on innovative practices in the field of estates.

After dinner Maa and Baba called her into their room. Baba asked her about her work and asked about Suneel. She told him that she could not see him for the last three days. 

Baba asked her whether she had come to a decision about Suneel. She was hesitant , so he asked, “Do you dislike anything about him?”

“No... Baba”.

“I have heard that you found him rude is it true?”

“No Baba, not any longer”.

“Is there anything about his nature that bothers you?”

“No baba, he is a very nice guy.”

“If his parents ask me after some time say a day or so, shall I give them a go ahead for the marriage?’

Nisha was silent.

Mother asked her “Nisha we might be required to give them a reply”.

Maa added,“Is there someone else you want?  Do you have anyone else on your mind? Just let us know.”

“NO, no”.

“Does it mean that you like him but you do not want to marry him?”

“I don’t know”.

“Shall we say no or yes to them?”

Nisha was silent.

Baba added, “It’s alright, take your time.  It is not that they have already asked us. We can seek time.”

Caressing her head he gently said, “Go child, go and take rest.”

Nisha went to her room thinking why she was so confused.  Why didn’t she tell Maa-Baba a clear ‘No’ out rightly? Sure she had started liking Suneel, but wouldn’t like to spend her life with him. Or would she? She hadn’t seen him for three days what was he doing?

When her head rested on her soft pillow she kept wondering why Suneel was not seeing her. Was he really so busy? With these thoughts she drifted into a disturbed sleep.

               She saw herself sitting on her desk and there were a number of important tasks she needed to complete. Suddenly a siren started blaring loudly. Neerja and Damini were moving towards the stairs and yelling at her to come with them.  There were fumes coming from the left side of the building and she soon saw other employees also evacuating the building.  She also started climbing down the stairs and soon all of them were outside the building. She looked up where all others were gazing and was shocked to see wild, fiery red and yellow hungry flames reaching up the upper portion of the building.

         She remembered seeing Suneel going into Sulakshna’s room. Sulakshna was standing near her and Nisha asked her whether she had seen Suneel?  Sulksha said he had left her room a long time back and she had not seen him since then. Did he come out of the building?  She looked around all the people were there but she could not sight him. Where is he?  She was sweating profusely. Sonu…Sonu..she called out but she could not find him.  She called again a little loudly. Moving among the crowd she tried to move around and locate him.  She was relieved to see him standing away and talking to someone with his back towards her.  She went near him and called his name, he did not listen, and she called his name again, yet no reply.  She pulled at his shirt to catch his attention, he turned towards her, she was shocked, he was a stranger, and he was not Suneel. Where is Suneel?  Is he still trapped in the building, why did he not come out when all others were coming out?  There were firemen all over the place. She started calling him again loudly.  Suddenly someone was shaking her hard and she expected that it must be Suneel who shook her so hard, she turned around.. and she heard Neeru’s voice calling her “Didi.. didi .. what’s the matter are you alright…? Suddenly her eyes opened and she looked around to find that she was in her own room. It took Nisha quite some time to realise that it was a nightmare. Its intensity was still affecting her and she was drenched in her own sweat. When she was fully awake she requested Neeru to get her some water.

Neeru told her that she shook her vigorously because she  was shouting.  After taking a few sips when Nisha felt composed Neeru asked her about her dream.  Nisha related to her whatever she remembered of her dream.

When Nisha had finished, she exclaimed, “Wasn’t it a strange dream? So frightening!”

Neeru said, “Didi, it’s obvious.”

“What’s obvious?”

“It’s so plain; can’t you see the simple fact?”

“Don’t talk to me in riddles, and come to the point.”

“Dee you are in love!”

“What?”

“Yes, you were worried about Suneel Bhaiyya even in your dream.  You were not able to talk to him. It was bothering you. If this is not love then what is?”

“This is rubbish; I think it was just a concern.  It could have been for anyone.”

“I don’t think so.  You did not seem to be concerned for anyone else.”

“Please don’t speak of this to Maa and Baba.”

“Okay”, Neeru smiled at her. She looked into the timepiece beside the bed and declared, 

“It’s too early to get up. Let’s catch some more sleep.”

True to her word Nisha soon heard her snoring lightly. Nisha could not sleep quickly she was still brooding.  What if Neeru was right?  Deep in her heart she knew that she found Suneel attractive, and had developed a liking for him which was not for anyone else, but could she really fall in love?  Could all those sweet things be happening to her as they happened in the movies and novels?  She tried to brush aside these thoughts but a feeling of sweet satisfaction and euphoria swept over her as she drifted back in her sleep.

Next morning she got up quite early and took out one of the new dresses. Maa was surprised to see her ready so quickly and that too in the kitchen even before the breakfast was ready.

“Let me help you Maa,” she poured the milk in glasses for all the family members and took it to the dining area.  Humming softly one of her favourites she helped bring the chapattis from the kitchen and readied the plates for Tinkoo and Baba. All of a sudden everything seemed to be so easy and bright. She liked everything and everyone and was in a very good mood.  It was such a beautiful morning!

By now Neeru was ready too.  As she noticed her new dress, she pinched Nisha and told her it was very becoming. She teased whispering in her ear, “Sonu is definitely going to love it.”

“Shut up!”

To her surprise Nisha found herself blushing on this comment but admonished Neeru to behave herself.

In the office work was voluminous this Tuesday as usual but Nisha felt more energetic. She saw Suneel passing by her cabin and her heart nearly missed a beat while exchanging a hello with him.  After the morning tea when she was discussing some files with Sulakshana in her room Suneel came into the room along with four people. Suneel introduced them, they had joined the company just a day before and Suneel was given the charge to mentor them during their probation. There was a lovely girl named Priyanka, and the other three were boys all smartly dressed and eager to impress, named Vijay ,Kamal and Himanshu.  Their excitement and energy lightened the atmosphere in the room and a barrage of questions kept coming her way about the work. Nisha noticed that Priyanka was very pretty and was quite tall nearly reaching Suneel’s ear.  Suneel soon left with them for a tour of the office.

Nisha returned to her seat and was expecting to see Suneel presumably after lunch after he would finish his responsibility with the new interns. But even the afternoon teatime had passed without any sign of Suneel.  While reading a file Nisha felt as if Suneel had come to her and asked her in that familiar voice “Coffee?” But when she looked up from her monitor he was nowhere to be seen.  Nisha tried to concentrate on her work. Soon in her mind’s eye she saw Suneel turning round the corner and approaching towards her. Nisha tried to pull herself out of this thought process.

“What’s happening to me?”

“Have I gone mad?”

“I’ll soon have to do something about it.”

“I think he will come around the closing time”.

Soon it was six in the evening, Neerja and Damini pulled her out of her reverie. 

“Come Nisha, let’s go.” Nisha dragged herself along with them.

When she reached home Neeru was sitting on the couch in the drawing room, she was not out playing that evening.  Her friends had gone on a three day tracking trip.

“Did you meet Suneel Bhaiyya didi?”

“Yeah, I did but I did not talk to him much”.

“Oh”.

“Neeru, Baba wanted to know my answer yesterday.” Nisha confided in her younger sister.

“What did you say to them Dee?”

“Nothing”

“Why Dee? Don’t you like him?”

 In reply to Nisha’s silence after a pause she added, “He is such a nice guy, educated, progressive and so handsome…and so rich! I think you like him a lot, don’t you?”

“Neeru, I think tonight after dinner I’ll tell Maa that I am ready for this marriage.”

“Oh! Wonderful! Dee!” Neeru hugged her in excitement.  “This would be the best Dee. I think this would be a perfect match for you.” Enthusiastically she asked, “Shall we tell Maa right now?”

“NO, no wait a minute”, Nisha stopped her. “Maa would be, expecting an answer from me, so we will tell her and Baba after dinner.

Neeru went out of the room to answer the bell expecting that Baba would have returned.

Nisha went to her room to change into comfortable clothes and thought she would help Maa to lay the table and get things ready for dinner.

She found Neeru with Maa and Baba in drawing room talking and they all fell silent when 

she entered.

“Why Maa, what has happened?  Why all of you are so quiet? Is everything alright?”

The three of them looked at her.

Maa said, “We should tell Nisha too.”

Baba joined her, “Come here my dear”, Baba put his arm around her and drew her closer to sit beside him on the sofa.

“I received a call from MahendraTewari in the evening. He told me that they will be going back to the mountains tomorrow. He was sorry that he wouldn’t be able to meet us in the weekend.  They will go to Summer Hill straight from Jaipur. Although they had planned to stay another week in Delhi before returning to Simla they have to rush back due to some urgent property matters.”

“My dear, as I was asking you your opinion about the match they too might be asking their son about it. Mahendra told me that he and his wife were very much interested in this alliance due to our friendship but he opined that it is our children’s future and their lives.  They have to be sure about this marriage. His son seems to have asked him to hold it for some time and not to rush into it. He said that he had asked him but Suneel did not give him any reason. ”

“But he seemed to be so enthusiastic when he came here”, Neeru said. “What could have happened Baba? Could it be that he is refusing the match?” Neeru was anxious

“I have no clue, my dear.”

Maa said, “I think if Nisha is Okay with this we may start looking at other proposals too”.

“Yeah, that option is always open to us, I am sure Nisha would get a very good match, but I think let us not rush things,” Baba was looking at Nisha, her face had lost all its colour.

Maa also noticed it and quickly added, “Yes you are right”.

Dinner was a quiet affair.  All of them were busy in their thoughts except Tinkoo. When he did not receive any response to his requests for playing a game he quietly busied himself in a video game.

Nisha was perturbed.  She was tossing in her bed.  What could have gone wrong with Suneel? He did not come to see her for the last three days, was he avoiding her? What could be the reason? Was it a polite way of rejecting her? These thoughts made her feel very uncomfortable.

Next morning, was again busy in the office.  Suneel just helloed her and disappeared into his chamber.  During tea break she saw him standing in the corridor near the coffee machine chatting with the new recruits.  They were engrossed in what Suneel was saying and then they were roaring with laughter.  She noticed Suneel was paying a lot of attention to Priyanka. Although she could not hear them but could guess that he was explaining one of the projects to her.  Then all of them went inside Suneel’s chamber.

So it meant that Suneel was too busy with the new recruits especially the pretty girl out there that he is not finding time to even talk to her properly. She thought there was no point in expecting Suneel to see her.  What could have gone wrong?  Suddenly it dawned upon her that it could be because of the new lady recruit with whom Suneel seemed to be so fascinated. She was very pretty and anybody could be easily attracted to her. She felt a little depressed and wanted to run away from the office, so after finishing the work at hand quickly she went to Sulakshna to ask her for an off in the post lunch half. Sulakshna agreed because there were no meetings lined up till the next two days and she knew that Nisha had never taken an off since she joined this post. All the leave due in her account had lapsed in the last six months.

Nisha rang up Neeru to get ready with Tinkoo and offered to take them out to see a movie.

Next day too Nisha did not feel like going to the office and early in the morning she emailed Sulakshna that she was not well and wouldn’t be reporting for duty for two more days.

She helped Maa with her work, Played Carom with Neeru and Tinkoo when they returned from their studies and read Jane Austen her favourite author in the evening.  In spite of herself her thoughts kept returning to Suneel and the rejection kept pinching her.

Saturday morning Nisha got up late and Neeru and Tinkoo were still asleep. Baba was reading the newspaper after his return from a walk.  She was leisurely sipping her morning tea when the door bell rang.  She had to answer it because Maa was in her daily Pooja. 

As soon as she opened the door she was faced with a big bouquet of red roses and gently pushing her, the bearer came straight inside.  She was amazed to see Suneel peering from behind the roses.

“Will you keep admiring the roses or will ever look at me too?” he pushed the bouquet in her hands

“Surprised?”

Nisha nodded.

“Sorry all my work kept me away from you for so many days.”

Suneel looked around ascertaining that nobody was hearing them. He came closer to her and took one of her hands in his and whispered, “I’ve been missing seeing you alone. In fact I was missing you”.

He bent towards her and came still closer such that Nisha could feel his breath on her forehead and hear her heart beat loudly in her ears.

He whispered, “Will you marry me?”

All of this was so sudden and unexpected that Nisha felt the whole room spinning around her. She looked up in his eyes with disbelief and as he nodded she knew he meant what he said.

Baba’s voice came to her from the ante’ room, “Who is it Nisha?”

Suneel looked at her questioningly and then added, “I think we are best suited as life partners. What do you think?”

She only smiled.

“I love you, what about you?”  

Nisha was silent; the answers to all the questions that had been bothering her till now did not matter any longer.  Everything else became trivial.

“Marry me”, he insisted.

Baba called again, “Who is at the door Nisha?’

When Nisha nodded with her eyes downcast he said aloud, “It’s me Baba”. 

Catching her hand he went to her father and simply said “Sir, I want your permission to marry your daughter if you find me worthy of her.”

Baba beckoned him to come near him and took him in his arms. Nisha realized that all the family members had gathered around them in the room to listen to the plans that Suneel had made for that weekend.

Suneel explained that he had finalized the paperwork and some deals for their property in Simla and he was getting it converted into a tourist resort. They would keep their house in Summer Hill to live and would visit it whenever they wanted. He had to overlook some of the things in Simla and then bring his parents back to Delhi.

He offered to take them to Simla with him for the weekend.  Baba allowed Neeru and Tinkoo to accompany Nisha on her trip with Suneel to one of her new homes.

 Nisha was now ready to go anywhere he would take her.  He gave them one hour to pack their things. Then he followed Maa into the kitchen to see what she planned to feed him.

Soon Nisha was off on her dream journey on a dream road with her dream partner.