22 | Parallel Perceptions

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*******

Riya's Pov

"It's not your house." I stated, confused, peeping outside the window as the car screeched to halt a few houses before Aditya's home.

"Hmm, I intentionally stopped the car here." He replied, removing his seat belt, turning towards me, my hand still in his.

God! This man has not left my hand the whole day, as if he only has today to hold it, and will not get a chance in the future.

"Why?" I asked, knitting my eyebrows.

"Yaar, if I would've stopped in front of our home, everybody would have come outside. At least this way we could get a little more time to spend with each other." He replied whining, pouting a little towards the end.

Greedy!

"We've been together for the past four hours, remember?" I raised my eyebrows and shook my head at his greediness.

"Yeah, so what? And what are four hours? It feels like we have been together for only a few minutes." He replied, his tone defensive.

"You are insatiable, Mr. Kansal," I remarked incredulously.

"Only for you, my would-be Mrs. Kansal." His playful reply came instantly in a hushed whisper, as he smirked, his eyes glinting with mischief knowing the impact his words have upon me.

Shaking my head, I looked outside, to cover up the smile, which I was miserably failing to suppress, though the complimentary blush couldn't be missed!

Damn! Why do his words make me spellbound every single time? He sure knows how to play with words, that too so smartly.

"I can see you crystal clear missy, no need to turn your face that way." His teasing voice reached my ears.

"Shut Up Aditya." I pouted shutting my eyes for a fleeting second, as I covered my eyes with my palm, while he chuckled silently.

"Acha, now please uh, leave my hand." I requested politely, turning towards him and simultaneously looking outside, to see no one watches us.

His face contorted into a look of puzzlement, as he asked seriously, "Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"God! No." I replied instantaneously, palming my face, "I said it because we are in your colony, and somebody might see us, what will they think about you?"

He rolled his eyes at my words, and spoke,

"Relax. Nobody is going to see us, and no one is going to think anything about me, or you, or us. Everybody minds their own business here, and even if they would see, they aren't going to do anything." He elaborated, half shrugging, mindlessly playing with my fingers.

"Oh! You know in Hoshiarpur, not even a single thing remains hidden from the neighbors or outsiders. If it was Hoshiarpur na, then this thing would have spread like wildfire till tomorrow morning, that so and so's daughter/son was in an unknown car with an unknown boy/girl, along with some really stupid assumptions about our relationship, sitting positions, clothes, etc." I huffed helplessly thinking about people's gross mentality.

"Even you know, when Ayaansh bhai first learned driving scooty, and one day he was riding it at a little higher speed out of his newfound confidence and excitement for driving. But Paa came to know about it from outside, and this was followed by some serious scolding sessions, and lectures at our place." I aimlessly looked outside for a fleeting second, and added,

"However, till now papa didn't tell us that who told him about this. Whenever we would ask him, he would just say, there are a number of people in this city who you may not know, but they know you very well." I sighed, my lips set in a thin line, and concluded,

"Small towns have their pros and cons I guess."

"That would be so difficult, isn't it. It's like your every move is witnessed by someone, and you're watched every time by some nosy people who constantly meddle into your personal lives. I am surprised that how could some people be so free to take interest in people's lives and inform the other person about what their children or other family members are doing." He paused for a second, and added,

"God! this is pathetic! This thing isn't much in Delhi, at least not Hoshiarpur level." He spoke, pursing his lips, and shaking his head incredulously.

Our conversations were interrupted by the ring on his phone, as he mumbled Dad before picking up.

"Ji Dad"

"Ji Ji, we've just entered our colony." he said, eyeing me, biting his tongue sheepishly.

"Hanji, hanji we are coming in just two minutes."

He cut his phone, sticking his tongue out in relief, and started the engine.

"Yaar, can't you stay a little more." He whined, sparing a glance at me, while I giggled at his childlike antics.

After a few seconds, our car stopped again, this time in front of his house. As he turned towards me, and said, a nervous look marred on his face,

"Uh, so we'll meet again?" He asked awkwardly, while I looked at him bewildered, thinking about when are we going to meet again.

"Uh, at our wedding?" He answered innocently, witnessing my confused look, more like asked himself, while I laughed heartily at his nervous, awkward state.

"Yes, yes, Aditya. We will meet at our wedding. Now our wedding couldn't happen without us, isn't it?" I replied animatedly, suppressing the budding laughter, fully enjoying his anxious, flustered self, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Why are you laughing so much, now I had to say something na, before you had to leave. So I just said this." He replied defensively, half shrugging.

His usually cheerful face was now marred with a big scowl as his grumpy self royally ignored me, aimlessly looking outside.

"Acha look at me na, because after today you'll get to see the live telecast of this sweet innocent face of your fiancee only after a month." I pestered, tugging him a little towards me, so that he could turn.

"No!" He stated, his voice firm.

"Please." I nudged him again, while he shook his head ever so slowly expressing his refusal.

"Pretty please? You'll see me after a month! A month Aditya, a month!" I spoke innocently, speaking the last line to add a little dramatic effect.

"Yaar! One month!" He groaned, followed by a deep sigh as he finally turned towards me, looking admiringly at me.

"Come soon." He whispered gently, his thumb teasingly tracing slow circles at the back of my hand, as he leaned his head sideways at the back of the seat, staring at me intently. His intimate touch along with his intense gaze was enough to raise goosebumps on my skin, and make my heart thump, as I tried matching his hypnotic gaze.

"Soon." I affirmed, in a hoarse whisper.

We jumped on our spots, and left each other's hands hurriedly, as we heard the creak of the front door signaling the arrival of our families.

Peeping outside, both our families could be seen happily smiling and conversing with each other, simultaneously making their way towards us.

I kept his gift rushedly in my bag as we exited the car and scurried towards our respective parents before they get yet another chance to embarrass us, and innocently joined them in their conversations.

Feigning a straight face, I tried my best to ignore Kunal's teasing smiles, smirkful face, and playful wiggle of brows, but failed miserably every time my gaze would follow him.

"Okay bhaiya and bhabhi ji. We'll take your leave now. Otherwise, these marriage talks will never end." Dad folded his hands respectfully, taking their leave, while they reciprocated the same.

Aditya and I took blessing from our other side of parents, while Kunal hugged me, silently whispering, "I hope my brother didn't bore you bhabhi. Or did he?" He wiggled his eyes playfully.

"Your bhabhi didn't let him bore me! And vaise bhi, don't worry we'll soon make this grumpy grandpa learn different forms of enjoyment when I'll come here." I played along, in a hushed whisper and winked jokily, while he chuckled heartily cheekily eyeing Aditya.

The subject of our discussion turned around the exact moment and walked towards us all the while narrowing his eyes observing me suspiciously, and simultaneously glaring at his poor, innocent little brother.

"Go Kunal, greet mom and dad" The grumpy elder brother ordered bossily, indicating his sweet little younger sibling to greet my parents.

What fun do these elder siblings get bossing us around every freaking time? Why do they feel like some celebrities chiding us every moment?

"Don't you think you're teaming up against me way too much? What were you saying to Kunal huh?" His sly voice sneaked into my thoughts, as he stood beside me pinning me with his challenging gaze.

"Acha? Who? Me? And teaming up against you, no, not at all." I shook my head animatedly, masking an innocent face.

"And I was just telling Kunal that we enjoyed so much." He eyed me skeptically, not believing my words, "Arey Sachi" I added, to make my words more convincing.

"Yeah yeah, I know." He smiled sarcastically, making me smile at his antics, resultantly his sarcastic smile turn into a dimpled one in merely two seconds.

"Come beta, let's go," Mom called me, while my heart sank a little as I matched Aditya's gaze which reflected the same emotional turbulence I was going through.

Discreetly entwining our little fingers together, he whispered hoarsely,

"Bye. Message me when you reach home, and try to sleep on the way. You look thoroughly exhausted."

Smiling warmly at his concern, I blinked my eyes in assurance, and with one last tug at his little finger, I left his hand and made my way towards our car.

Settling inside, and giving one last look to him, we drove away towards the highway, my heart happy and mind at peace, thinking of a certain someone who has managed to sneak into my mundane life and reserve a special place in my heart, which maybe I would never be able to give anyone but him.

Just Him.

*****

Aditya's Pov

"Careful!" Mom's screeching voice boomed my ears, as she repeated the word careful the hundredth time in the last five minutes.

"Ji Mom" I spoke politely, masking the budding irritation at mom's super-active eagle-like vigilance of the ceramic dinner set used yesterday during the lunch with Riya's family.

"Stop sulking and internally rolling your eyes, Aditya. I am your mom, hence I could see you even if you have your back turned towards me." She admonished, carefully passing me the ceramic plate with her both hands tightly gripping the corners of the plate for extra protection, after wiping it thoroughly.

"Uh, Ji." I spoke without arguing, thus saving my poor self from mom's never-ending lecture.


I delicately placed the plate above the stack of plates, my eyes solely focussed on the plate, silently praying it to reach its fellow buddies in one piece.

Because the safer these plates are kept, that too in one piece, the safer I will be, and in one piece!

I internally screamed in victory every time I succeeded in stacking them safe and sound without them falling, that too with mom's thunderous list of instructions raining around, each time I take them from her hands.

This was followed by the other members of this ceramic dinner set family rightfully and happily placed at their respective residences.

These dinner sets are only meant to be used when some special guest has to come, and not on any other occasion.

Once the guests leave, they are washed laboriously till they come out to be brand new and sparkly shining, kept to dry for a considerate number of hours, and then meticulously and attentively placed at their respective places, until their need is felt again.

Phew! Dinner sets in, Stainless steel Bowls and Plates out!

******

After having dinner, we were randomly sitting in the living room, talking leisurely, about the wedding preparations, the guest lists, budgets, shopping, and endless other tasks.

Our talks came to halt, as Dad's phone rung,

"Hey, Mohnish. How are you." Dad smiled as soon as he picked the phone, talking to his friend.

"Yes, yes I am good as well." Dad replied.

He kept talking, while I got busy scrolling Instagram boredly looking at the same memes, and posts on every other page I had followed.

I think I need to unfollow these useless pages.

"Uh, yeah, she's is 21." These words from dad caught my attention, as I looked at him to see his brows furrowed and lips pursed.

"Ah, No, we'll first marry off Aditya, then Kunal, and only after that Isha. Moreover, Isha is still studying." Dad said over the call, his tone convincing, eyeing us.

"No please Mohnish, The family might be good and well settled, but we want Aditya and Kunal's marriage to take place first, before thinking about Isha."

"Uh, no. No no. We don't even want to meet the family. We aren't interested.

"Hmm. Yeah. Chalo okay, Good night" He replied and disconnected the call.

Taking a deep, tired sigh, he looked at us.

"What happened?" Mom asked.

"An alliance has come for Isha, the family is the acquaintance of Mohnish. When I said, we want to marry our sons first, he said, as per rule Isha should be married first, as girls are supposed to be married in the first place. And she can complete her education later as well." He voiced, helplessly shaking his head.

We all shared a look of disbelief and kept mum thinking of people's thought process these days.

There are several families, who still consider that marrying a girl before the elder brother gets married is a rule that every other family needs to follow. No consideration to the age, qualification, and most importantly, willingness of the said female is given before taking such decisions.

No matter, how modernize we become, but still, these roots of conservative thought processes are stuck and maybe will be stuck for infinite years to come.

It's not wrong if a certain family believes in all this, and has a certain thought process, but pestering others to follow the same and generalizing the very concept is unacceptable.

Hope is the only thing that keeps us going in these times, when people shamelessly point us, suggests us, and defines the ways we live our lives. People want to dictate others for the way they live and want every other person to follow the same old age traditions, which may/ may not be acceptable to all.

"Thank God Isha wasn't here, otherwise, we could have gotten free and unlimited access to her shrieking voice, raucous yelling, and her big fat tears for the whole night, even though we have said no to this alliance." Kunal spoke in relief, palming his heart dramatically, simultaneously looking heavenwards while we chortled heartily imagining Isha's state if she would've been here to witness this nonsense.

******

Riya's Pov

"So, ready for today's activity?" I spoke a little enthusiastically observing the hopeful and expectant face of the students, waiting for their fortnight Saturday activities.

"Yes ma'am." They all replied in unison, matching my excited tone.

"Okay so for this, you all need your copies and pens. So come on, take out your notebooks, and open up a blank page, and divide the page in two by making a line in between." I instructed, ascending the classroom stairs.

"Done?" I asked after a few seconds, and in return, I heard few affirmations from the students, with some voicing a yes, and some bobbing their heads up and down.

"Um okay. So today's activity seems simple but is not. All you have to do is to write five positives about you and only two negatives about yourself. Simple isn't it? You all have fifteen minutes to ponder over it and write, after that we'll discuss the activity." I stopped, and after a pause added, "Is it clear to everyone?" I asked, eyeing everyone, and seeing some students have already started writing and thinking over the activity.

"Yes ma'am." The reply came.

After fifteen minutes, I collected the responses from the students, of which some looked quite perturbed and disturbed while handing me the pages.

Scrutinizing the answers, I came across the same chronology which I had been expecting in today's activity.

"Okay guys, So I clearly said that I want only two negatives to be written about yourself, and do you know the majority of you have reversed the numbers. Most of you have written an endless list of negatives in you, while mentioned only one or two positives in yourself, isn't it? I asked, my lips set in a straight line, sitting on the front bench, facing towards them, while they all kept mum, slowly nodding their heads.

Taking a deep inaudible breath, I started,

"You know, this is what we people do most of the time. We find it easier to look at the faults in ourselves as well as the people around us rather than accepting and looking at the positives we carry. In our life's dictionary, we highlight all the negatives, that easily mask the positives we have in ourselves. And this is the only reason why most of us keep on doubting, self discriminating ourselves every moment."

Gazing absentmindedly towards the empty space of the classroom window, my thoughts wandered to certain someone who has successfully brought a little yet significant change in the way I look towards myself.

"We doubt our career choices, thus naming ourselves as indecisive and unambitious. We keep doubting our caliber and potential, thus naming ourselves as unskilled, and unvisionary. We doubt our speaking capabilities, friends-making capabilities, our nature, our personality, and whatnot." I spoke softly.

"But we hardly look into the positives we could find in each negative, that we think is negative we hold." I stopped, gauging their reactions.

"Instead of writing reserved in the negatives, we could write someone who believes in quality relationships, isn't it? Instead of writing overthinkers in the negatives, we could write analyzers in the positives, isn't it? And yes, it's not justifying your negatives, it's just about changing the perception you hold about yourself."

I stood up from my seat, towards the lecture stand, "You cannot alter every negative to positives, thus for the traits you couldn't change your perception about, you need to work upon them and try eradicating them from your mind and heart systems." I spoke in a single breath, and concluded,

"Once we start changing our perceptions and the notions about ourselves, and try to look into the positives in everything we witness, with a complementary introspection every time we are at crossroads, life would be a better place to live in, our minds at peaceful state, and hearts more content and satisfied."

Sighing, I added, "This little change in how we see

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