Manan came out of Nandu's cabin and headed towards the parking. On the way some of the staff greeted Manik in a bit of familiar way. And offcourse girls were going gaga over him.
Nandu: ( bit irritated) Yeh log tumhe jante hain i know that cause you are such a famous star. But itne ache se kaise jante hain? Aur tum bhi unhe jante ho? Kaise?
Manik: Nandini kabhi kabhi tumhara dimag chalna band kyun kar deta hai?
Nandu: ( confused) Huh?
Manik: If you have forgotten to main tumhe yaad diladun ki is hospital ki dusri coowner Mrs Navya Bose Malhotra meri Bhabi hai. To....
He trailed off the sentence looking at Nandini with a smirk and hamare Nandu ki dimag ki batti fir se jali. She gave a sheapish smile to Manik and started moving faster. They sat in thw car and Manik started driving. Nandini started the music and was enjoying the weather with soft music in the background. Manik was driving but sometimes when he looked beside him he got mesmerised by the view he got. Nandu was looking out of the window with her hair blowing slightly pn her her face due to the wind and a serene smile on her face which can make any guy go head over heels for her. He smiled looking at her and then concentrated on driving.
Nandu: (breaking the silence) Manik, ek baat puchun?
Manik: Hmmm.
Nandu: Tum itna achha kaise gaa lete ho. The best voice I have ever heard till date.( looking at the music player which was playing a romantic song of Manik)
Manik: Main gaata hun Nandini. Par tum jaise bol rahi ho waise itna acha nahin
Nandu looked at Manik.
Nandu: (softly) Tumhe andaaza bhi hai tum kitna acha gaate ho? Tumhare is awaaz main wo takaat hai ki tum kisi ko bhi apne emotions se ghol sakte ho. Agar tum koi khushi wala gaana gaate ho na to wo kissi ke bhi gham ko bhaga sakta hai. Tumhare awwaz main koi judai wala gaana sunke dusro ki ankhen nam ho jati hai. Tumhare gaane dusron ko heal kardete hain Manik. Kabhi kabhi koi aisa gham kisi ke zindagi main hota hai jo use andaar se lakhon baar maar deta hai. Par bas ek awaaz use phirse zinda bana sakti hai. Manik tum shayad apne passion ko pura karne ke liye ya apne emotions ko zaya karne ke liye gaana gaate ho par itna hamesha yaad rakhna ki ho sakta hai tumhara yahi gaana kisi aur ko zinda rakh rahi hai.
Manik had stopped the by now and was looking at Nandini who seemed to be in some trance not realising what all she had said. Manik looked at her eyes and saw the same beautiful eyes devoid of the shine. But today there was something else too. Hurt. The eyes showed how much hurt she was from inside. They reflected her pain. And Manik instantly knew that till now she had been talking about herself. He didnt know why but the pain in her eyes pierced his heart. He wanted to take away all those but didnt know how. Their eyelock was broken by the sound of horns. Nandu looked back out of the window and Manik got back to driving. They drove to The Blue Heaven. They both came out and Manik hande the keys to the vallet to park the car. He had booked a private cabin for them to talk freely undisturbed. They walked up to it sat down. The waiter came to take the order. Manik asked Nandu to ordered and she placed it for red sauce paasta and vegetable lasagne with glasses of orange juice.
Then they both sat in silence for few mins. Both were pondering over how to start a conversation after what happened in the car. Finally Manik decided to break it.
Manik: So Nandini tum itne saalon se US mein thi right? To wahan pe to tumhare bahut friends rahe honge.
Nandu: ( relieved that everything was back to normal) Hmm. Friends to the. Tumhe pata hai we to even had a gang - Me, Navu, Abhi, Arya, Maddy and two foreigners Alex and George. They both married each other a year ago. Cute couple...
Manik: Ek min. Abhi aur Navu to pata chal raha hai. Par ye Arya aur Maddy kaun hai?
Nandu: Arya ummm. matlab Aryaman Khanna aur Maddy matlab Madhyam Singhaniya. They both were with Abhi in the MBA section. Arya is the prankster just like Bhir bhai and Maddy is the mature one like Navu. Jab bhi main, Abhi aur Arya used to show our childishness na to they both would be ready to handle our tantrums. Alex aur George were the best company one can have.Main, Navu, Alex aur George MBBS mein the. But we were a group very famous in the whole Uni jaise Fab 5 hua karte the in Space.
Manik: How do you know?
Nandu:(smirking) I know a lot many things about you Mr.Malhotra. (seeing the look on Manik's face) Ok, ok, Bhai aur Bhaiyu aur Sanchi Bhabi teenon Space ke students hai na. To they told me about all your pranks and all and how much other students were afraid of you all. God seriously you used to torture those innocent and make their videos. So bad Manik.
Manik: This is the point where everyone got us wrong. We never used to torture the innocent. We tortured those who tortured others ya phir jo hamse panga lete the.
Nandu: Ok. I believe you. Waise tum logon ne music banana 13 saal ki umar se shuru kiya na.
Manik: Haan. My Dadu was our teacher. He was a great musician aur unhone hame train kiya. Unhone hi hame choti umar mein hi music ka career shuru karne ko encourage kiya. We made one song with his help. It became so hit and we became famous aur aage badh gaye. After that there was no looking back.
Nandu: No inspirations?
Manik: Offcourse there is. Our greatest inspiration was the Hidden 7.
Suddenly Nandu's heart stopped hearing the name. Many emotions flooded her but she tried hard to keep herself normal.
Manik: Oh how much I loved the music they made. Par pata nahin kyun 11 years se wo log kahin gayab ho gaye hain. Koi jaanta bhi nahin ki wo log hai koun. They never showed their faces on screen. But still jitne bhi gaane unhone banaye hain na they are all just my favourites. Infact we The Fab5 are the greatest fans of Hidden 7. Tumne bhi to unke gaane sune honge na. Didnt you like them?
Nandu was thinking how to change the topic and to her relief the waiter came at the very moment with their order. They started eating silently.
Nandu: (changing the topic) Waise Manik, tumhare family main aur kaun kaun hain?
Manik: Umm Dadi hain, wo Amritsar main rehti hain hamare pusteni haweli main. Dadaji ke jane ke baad we asked her to come and stay with us par wo nahin maani. Aur ek Buaji hain. Wo London main hai. Unka ek beta hai, Akshit.
Nandu: Hmmm.
Manik: Nandini ek baat puchun if you dont mind?
Nandu: Hmmm.
Manik: Tumhare past mein kuch aisa hua hai kya jis wajah se tum aaj bhi hurt ho? I mean I saw the pain in your eyes.
Nandu was shocked by this question. She was speechless. How much did this man understand her? He could feel her pain. Cant she just let her walls fall in front of this man and give him a chance?
Nandu: Manik, past ki baaten past mein hi rehni chahiye.
And Manik knew that it was the end of tje discussion. They completed their food in silence and Manik paid the bill although Nandu insisted on paying hers. They drove back to the hospital in silence. They reached their and Nandu was about to come out when Manik said,
Manik: Nandini, wo fab 3 wanted to meet you. They all have heard a lot about you from Navya and Cabir and wanted to meet you in person. So...
Nandu: Offcourse I would love to meet them. Ek kaam karte hain, this Sunday you all come to our house. You fab 5 and Navu. We all can spend some time together.
Manik: Ok then. So.. Bye.
Nandu: Bye.
And Nandu went back into the hospital. Manik stared at her retreating figure. He so wanted to know her in real. But will she ever let go of her walls?
So I am ending it here.
Few words about Nandu's heart talk.
Few words about Manik.
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Inline comments are welcome.
Bye.
