Atharva could feel her voice vibrating through his entire system, it had an honesty, and he could feel her love for him through the song. He was over the moon to hear her fulfil his wish and was elated.

He spontaneously clapped his hands and earnestly appreciated her, “Shruti… that was simply awesome! You are really good at singing… thank you so much for such a delightful payback… I couldn’t have asked for more!”

Shruti was happy, but….

To be continued….

Shruti was happy, but her nerves were yet to calm down. She could feel the exhilaration in his voice but couldn’t make herself look up at him. They sat in an amicable silence for a while. The atmosphere was electrifying, with a lot of emotions and unspoken words floating. For the time being, their eyes conveyed all that was unsaid in between them.

In a while, they reached Nainaa’s home. Nainaa had messaged her to get Atharva up  but in spite of a lot of insistence, Atharva refused to come, saying that since it was too late, he was feeling very awkward.

Shruti conceded after a while and was about to get down from the car, when Atharva stopped her saying, “Shruti…” she turned around and looked at him.
He simply said, “Thank you… for everything.”
She gave him a dazzling smile and said, “Thanks for coming in my life Atharva.”

Both gazed at each other for a minute, and finally parted. He reminded her, “Please message once you reach home. Am waiting over here till then.”
She looked at him wide eyed, “Arey! It’s okay… I am not a kid… you have to drive back as well.”
He refused to listen. “You were with me so it’s my responsibility. Just do as I say.”

Shruti nodded her head, not wanting to argue, waved at him and went inside the complex.

She couldn’t resist smiling at his authoritative tone; mentally preparing herself that he is going to be decisive. Then again, it was this very nature of his which had saved their relationship. She shuddered thinking about the consequences if he wouldn’t have been adamant.

She reached Nainaa’s home, and saw her waiting at the door. She was about to message, when the call came. “Have you reached?”
She smiled at his impatience and replied, “Yes.. just reached.. was about to message you.”
He answered, “Okay..cya.” She returned, “Bye…”

Atharva just sat there in the car for 2 mins… glanced at the screen and smiled at the name that had taken away his heart. He started driving the car, and was filled with her thoughts all the way. He knew she felt perturbed and inconfident when he teased her, but he just couldn’t resist. The way she had sung the song, he knew then and there that it was her way of letting him know her feelings. How lucky! She could at least voice out… no such luck here.

God! He knew it was too soon but he couldn’t help yearning to take her in his arms and convey his feelings in the only way he knew. He could do any thing for this girl.

Once he reached home, he sent her a good night message, waited for her reply, and with a smile thinking about the day, went to sleep.

The next day didn’t go as they had wished to. Shruti woke up in the morning and greeted aunty and uncle. They both showered blessings on her and congratulated her in person.

Over the breakfast, all her hopes were dashed as on the spur of the moment, they planned for a day visit to Sula Vineyards, near Nashik. Shruti felt utterly  dispirited and Nainaa and Abhinav could feel her unhappiness.

Nainaa asked her to come in the room and apologised, “Sorry Shru.. I know you two must be wanting to meet each other today, but this wasn’t pre planned. Actually, the issue is that we can’t even invite Atharva as mithijeeb is yet to be done… so won’t look appropriate.”

Shruti was crestfallen but knew that Nainaa was right. She didn’t know what to tell Atharva.

Atharva and Minish were whispering to each other since morning, their mother noticed.
She wondered what they were upto, and asked out of habit. “What are you two upto now? Enough of drama ho gaya hai.. hope nothing new up your sleeve.”
Minish said, “Nothing ma… I was just asking Atharva about his party yesterday with his friends. He met them after a loooong time… so we were just talking.”

Atharva didn’t let anything reflect on his face; he had mastered it over the years. They had mutually decided not to reveal at home, as their parents would disapprove of meeting so many times before the official ceremony. He smirked and thought, he was always a rebel at heart.

He was just thinking what excuse should he make for today, when he received a message. ‘Good morning Atharva.. please call me when free.’
Minish saw his face and teased, “Bhai kabhi humare messages padhke bhi muskuraa diya karo…”
He just grinned and got up to go to his room. 

Atharva dialled her number. “Good morning…” he said.
She greeted him back, “Good morning Atharva.. hope I didn’t wake you up.”
He replied, “No.. in fact I was just thinking about what excuse to give at home to meet you today.”
Shruti felt all the more guilty now. She said in a very dejected voice, “Sorry to douse your hopes… but Nainaa’s in laws just made a plan to visit Sula Vineyards…”
He returned, “Good try madam… but main tujhe shakal se ullu dikhta hu?”
She was quite astonished to hear him say that. “What?! I didn’t get you…”
He replied, “I am not going to be fooled today. Not again… just let me know at what time you can make it and I’ll be there to pick you up..”
She said exasperatedly, “Please try and understand… I am not bluffing… Nainaa’s mom in law hasn't been well for long na.. so she was sort of bound to stay at home only. She wants to go for an outing and since it’s Sula Vineyards, it makes sense that I return today itself.”

He could hear the desperation in her voice and knew that she was not faking. His heart sank and his voice reflected the melancholy, “Isn’t there any way out?” Shruti shook her head and replied, “Do you think I haven’t tried? But the problem is that it’s not official yet… as in.. gud dhana bhi baaki hai. So ethically it’s not appropriate to meet up so many times before that…”

Atharva murmured, “Same mentality over here… so haven’t disclosed it at home that you are in Mumbai.”
He continued in a disheartened voice, “I wish we could meet up. I was really looking forward to it. But I guess, we should thank our lucky stars that we met yesterday at least.”

She was so disappointed that she couldn’t talk more, without breaking down. She mumbled, “I guess yes, I am grateful for that. But on a happy note, gud dhana is just a week away.”
Atharva realised about something and queried, “Achha listen! You didn’t tell me what are you gonna wear for our special day.”
Shruti simply got lost in the words ‘Our Special Day.’ She said dreamily, “Better see me on that day..”
He smiled at the thought, “You bet. Then, I also won’t reveal. Anyways, mujhe koi nahi dekhne wala on that day, I am sure.”

He continued when there was no response from the other end, “Okay listen, don’t wear any jewellery and come on that day.”
She was aghast, “Are you kidding me? I can’t come just like that. In fact, I had decided to wear one of mumma’s… its magnificent and my favourite.”
Atharva insisted, “Please?”
She questioned, “Can you please clarify?” He reluctantly disclosed, “Well… I want you to wear something that is going to be given to you as shagun on that day.”
She understood, “Oh.. Okay… but I would not like to come without wearing any jewellery. The Shagun would be given during the ceremony na. Tab tak kya karu? I would feel very conscious.”
He conceded, “Hmmm. Got your point.”

Nainaa came in to remind her that they need to start moving soon. She conveyed the same to him, wished each other goodbye and hung up. She smiled realising that he was going to be over protective; last night the way he had waited down till the time she reached Nainaa’s house and again now before disconnecting, asking her to keep him updated about her whereabouts. She smiled and assured him that she would.

They all started the journey with a lot of excitement. Shruti tried to keep up a pretence, but her mind and heart was elsewhere. She ridiculed herself for behaving like this.

How can a relationship of a few days replace years of bonding and proximity? She corrected herself; it hadn’t replaced, just that Atharva had taken a priority over her mind, body and soul.

As if on cue, she received a text from him which read:
Thhe ajnabee hum
Aaj yuh mile jaise barso se thhe mere meet tum
Mile hai pal bhar fir bhi
Lagte ho dil ke qareeb tum
Anjaan thhe jiss ehsaas se
Tumne milaya iss meethey dard se
Aye khuda… tera shukriya
Milaya hai iss dil ko apne mehboob se
(Shayari courtesy: Vvish Mehta)

Shruti was blushing, bit her lip and realised that Atharva used to do that when he was engrossed in something or deep in his thoughts. By now, she knew that he wasn’t a poet to pen it on his own and teased him. She texted, ‘Ye churaayi hui shero shayari se I am not gonna be impressed. Kuch original likho toh maanu.’
He read it and smirked. ‘To be frank, I never used to bother even reading them till recently… likhna toh bahot door ki baat hai.’

She smiled at his frank response and naughtily questioned, ‘Then how come you suddenly started reading them?’
He replied, ‘Kya batau? I was hit by a tornado recently… something happened which changed my perception of life…’ Before she could reply, he cornered her by asking, ‘Any guesses?’
He smiled, knowing well by now that she would get cold feet. Shruti tried to evade, ‘How would I know? We have met only 10 days back.’
He wrote, ‘Liar.’
She was appalled at the response and typed, ‘What was that?!’
He quipped, ‘Jhoothi… as if you don’t know… meet me next time and I will tell you exactly what.’
She retorted, ‘You are too dominating.’
He smirked, ‘Have been complimented all my life for this ‘virtue’ of mine.’
She softened and typed, ‘This virtue of yours saved our relationship… so am thankful in a way.’
He smiled and bit his lip. ‘Chalo… Kuch toh achha lagaa… shukriya.’
She wanted to answer, bahot kuch achha lagaa but then chickened out.

Just then they reached their destination and she messaged, ‘Cya… have reached… will talk to you later.’
He reverted, ‘Miss me…’
She read it and fell silent for a minute. Then mustered up some courage and finally replied, ‘I already am. Sorry once again for not being able to meet today. Bye.’

Everyone descended from the car and the Vermas greeted the Bhatts. After a lot of hugging and preliminaries, they had their lunch first as it was getting late. After that, they moved towards the inquiry counter. She had visited this wonderful place a couple of times. It is a vast expanse of land, where the wines begin their journey from grape to your glass. It is an enjoyable experience to visit the vineyards and winery and caters to people of all ages.

They had planned to take up the guided tour, where the guide takes the visitors back to Sula’s early years as well as explain every step along the way in the making of wines. Everyone enjoyed every moment of it, although Shruti was not too keen today, for obvious reasons. Their guided tour ended with a personalized wine tasting at The Tasting Cellar where the team took them through the five steps of tasting wines. It was a day well spent, with her family around her after a long time. Only one member was missing, and Shruti couldn’t help reminiscing about it.

By evening, they all were tired and sat down for refreshments. The Vermas once again invited Nainaa’s in laws personally for the Gud dhana ceremony, who offered them to stay at their place, but the Vermas insisted to stay at the Parmars as it would mean less time commuting and would be practically more convenient. Mr and Mrs Bhatt acknowledged, and then by 7 p.m. everyone departed to head home.

The following days flew by in a jiffy. Both the families had bought a couple of things for gifting, although this was going to be a small ceremony as compared to the engagement. Still, the excitement was infectious.

30th April was a Sunday. The Vermas decided to reach Mumbai on Saturday night itself so as not to rush about anything at the last minute.

It was way too late by the time they reached Parmar house and Shruti had to request Atharva not to come so late. He didn’t like it, and was a bit pissed off.

Shruti sent one of the most beautiful message to her affianced, which brought an affectionate smile on his face and his disappointment vanished into thin air. It read….

To be continued….

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