CHAPTER 3- THE VIDEO CALL

अब और क्या लिखूं उसकी प्यारी मुस्कान के बारे में,

बस कुछ यूं समझ लो चमकता चाँद हैं लाखो सितारों में।

DATE -20/05/2023

TIME - AROUND 6.30pm

~•GEET'S POV•~

" Tu aai sajh ke, mehandi rach ke, chal baj ke soniye,

Dil kitno ka khaye dhajke oh soniye"

Yes , you guessed it right, we three sisters are dancing on Maahi ve . Dance is the only common thing among us which we can agree to do together without any arguments.

" Yaar jija, bahut ho gaya ab mai thak gai.''said Kavya lying on the floor.

" Avu jija ,O mere pyaare jija, please kuch banalo na khane ke liye ,bhukh lagi hai" said Kavya pointing her fingers towards her stomach.

[It is enough now , I am tired.. O my beloved Avu jija, I am hungry , can you please cook something ]

"Tera yehi hai, KHAO PIO,TV DEKHO, SO JAO aur WAPS REPEAT . Kabhi kaha hai ki mai aaj kuch karti hu" Avanti switched off the T.V and walked towards her room.

[ This is what you do, EAT,DRINK,WATCH TV ,SLEEP AND REPEAT AGAIN. Have you ever said that let me do something today]

"ARRE JIJA , KAL MAI KARTI HU PAKKA, ABHI BHUKH LAGI HAI"Kavya said in a high pitch so that Avanti could hear it in her room.

[ I will do it tomorrow,I promise,but I am hungry right now.]

Kavya turned towards me ,making her hands as if she was eating a sandwich.

"Meri taraf mat dekh, mere under safai wala quota hai iss week " I told her justifying myself because I wasn't in the mood to do anything .

[ Don't look at me, I am handling the quota of cleaning the house this week]

"Mujse koi pyaar nahi karta, koi mera nahi sochta,sahi hai aapki lagti kon hu. mai jaa rahi hu aapsa ko kehne ki unki betiya kese muje rakhti hai" said wiping her fake tears.

After these dramatic dialogues, she ran towards our home garden where my parents were busy in talking.

[Nobody loves me, nobody thinks about me,who am I to you. I am going to complain dad how his daughters treat me]

Suddenly, I thought of making chai for us.Yes, I am a chai lover who can drink Chai at any time of the day or night.I do get scolded for being chai addicted but chai was on my side from 10th boards when I used to stay awake for studying and it is still with me and it would be forever.

I placed a saucepan on medium heat and started making chai. I know my aapsa will forget all the complaints of Kavya once he drinks tea especially if I made it. I checked the time and it was 7pm.

Hold on ,it has been more than a day since I received a text from him. Why am I thinking about him?He got his work done and we don't have any relation that we should text each other. Suddenly I said to myself,

"GEETANJALI, STOP IT."

"Kya stop karna hai, beta", I turned hearing a voice , it was my mumma's voice.

" Khud se kya baat kr rahi hai'',she continued.

I was astonished and nervous whether she has heard anything which she shouldn't.

" Aisa kya kaha maine,maine kuch nahi bola", I told her trying to divert her mind.

" Abhi kaha na Geetanjali,Stop it"

" Arre, woh chai ke liye bola, aap jaona, mai lekr aati hu" I told her to convince for going outside of the kitchen

[What do you want to stop my child?What are you talking to yourself?]

[ I didn't say anything, what did I say?]

[ You just told Geetanjali,Stop it"]

[ Oh, I said this for tea. You please go outside,I will bring it myself]

Thank God, she didn't hear anything about him. I filtered the chai soon in the cup and served my mumma and aapsa to drink it. Then ,I took my cup and got into Avanti's room .

" Acha Avanti, mai kya soch rahi thi ki kyu na tu aur mai icecream khane chale dinner ke baad?"

" Muje nahi jana, Wese bhi Kavya foodie hai mai nhi."Avanti made this excuse and she went to the kitchen as she is in charge to cook dinner for this week during night time.

In our home,every week there is a new allotment when it comes to doing household chores. My Indian mom believes that we should know basic work in order to live so we do our work by ourselves..

[By the way,I was thinking that why can't we both go and have ice cream after dinner?]

[ I don't wanna go,I am not a foodie like Kavya]

I drank my chai , followed her but before I could reach the kitchen , I heard my phone ringing. It was a video call from Shivangini jija,

one minute, what if it is Dhruv? He won't do it but Geet you don't know him,he is a stranger . You can't trust him.Do one thing ,pick it ,don't be afraid . Switch off the camera,better do it with the back camera.Before I could answer it, the call ended.

I entered the kitchen and again my phone started ringing.I answered it by switching my back camera on ,making my kitchen tiles to be visible

" Hello Geetanjali" Wait , it is Shivangini. I switched to front camera quickly , and said

" Hi , jija kese ho aap?" waving my hand as well as I started to scan on my phone if he was sitting along with her, but he was not there and then I realized she had connected her earpods. I sighed with relief. Thank God he won't hear me.

[ How are you?]

" I am good,How are you? Where are you?",she asked me.

"Udaipur!"

Then we started talking and it has been already 10 mins and I heard Kavya entered,murmuring and opening the fridge.

She came near me and tried to match my height by standing on her toes to know who I was talking to.

" Jija , meet Kavya,meri sabse choti behen aur ye hai Avanti , the middle one" introduced them to her by asking them to join us.

[ Meet Kavya,She is my youngest sister]

"Jija,phone ko yaha rakhona wall ke pass, hum bhi baat kare." asked Kavya so she could talk without any trouble and I did the same .

[ Place the phone near the wall so we can also talk ]

" Acha aap wahi ho na jo Abhi (Abhimanyu) bhabha k waha aaye the , maine dekha tha aapko, aap bahut beautiful ho, kya lagate ho ?" asked my talkative sister one by one without letting Dhruv's sister answer. By the way ,why is she talking like a 5-7 year old kid when she is 13 year old teen.

[ I have seen you. You have come to Abhi brother's place.You are so beautiful, what do you apply?]

She smiled and said "Thank You so much. By the way...." Before she could complete her answer ,she was stopped by someone .She muted her voice and we were able to see only lip movement while she was talking on the other side. Maybe she is talking to her mom.

"Acha ruko mai aapko milwati hu kisi se, come na yaar, sharma q raha hai , sasural wale thode hai tere"

As soon as I heard this my mind started working faster than a bullet train.Is she talking about Dhruv? NO,NO, I don't want to see him.Please Mahadevji ,Hear my prayers.

[Wait, let me introduce you all with someone,come on, why are you feeling shy, they are not your in-laws.]

Shivangini held his wrist , calling him to come into the camera. I am sure she wants to introduce Dhruv. Suddenly, I saw him in a grey t-shirt, making a sign of ok with his right thumb to his sister. He still didn't face us but jija asked him to look at the camera, not her.

" Dhruv, aap inke bhai ho , pehle batana chaiye tha na, jija aap toh ghar ke hi ho" Avanti said with such a big smile like she met her long lost friend after years.

Wait ,does she know him but how? Avanti has never been to either Sirohi or Jaipur. Do they know each other as friends or something else? Stop, you can't think about them in such a way.

[You are her brother,You should have told me before, you are like our family member ]

"Hi Mr.Cricketer , kese ho,mai yaad hu aapko,Thankyou for that chocolate " I heard kavya with the same enthusiasm.

[How are you? Did you remember me? ]

Wait a minute, Kavya also knows him,my sisters know him and he gave her a chocolate and she is calling him with a nickname.Did I miss something? These thoughts vanished when I heard Dhruv's voice.

"Hello Avantika, Hi Kavya kese ho aap dono? Mai toh thik hu." he smiled looking at my sisters. Also,he is not looking at me and that's good because I don't want him to do it.

[How are you both? I am fine]

I was not able to control myself to know how they know each other. I asked " How do you know each other?"

"Wo badi kahani hai Jija, ham kisi din batayege" saying this Avanti and Kavya started talking with Dhruv and Shivangini Jija.

I was not able to digest the fact that my sisters are giving importance to him .I said Avanti to return my phone when their chit chat gets over.I left for my room as I know I won't be able to control my anger after feeling left out .

[ It is a long story,we will tell you some other day]

*******

Time - 9.45PM

DHRUV'S ROOM

•~DHRUV'S POV~•

I had my dinner and was waiting for my bhabosa's call so I could pick him up from the railway station. He is returning from Delhi after 2 weeks .

I can't sleep ,not because I won't be able to wake up again but after talking to my 2 friends,Avantika and Kavya, like literally after 1.5 years.I never knew that Ms.Shaktawat is their elder sister, I thought of someone else because they called her as Jija without using her name whenever they mentioned her .

I didn't meet them the day when I had attended teeka dastoori at Jodhpur as I neither got the chance nor did I have their contact number.

I was scrolling on my phone and I fell asleep.

" Dhruv, railway station jana hai, 11.30 bje train aa jaegi ", my sleep got disturbed when my mumma called me by tapping my shoulder.

"Uth 11 bje hai, late mat kar, ye le car ki keys aur dhyan se jana"

[ You have to leave for railway station as the train will arrive at 11.30pm]

[ wake up, The time is 11pm, take this car's keys and go carefully]

I washed my face and wiped it with my towel. I took the keys , wore my slippers as I felt there was no need to wear shoes. Before I could start to drive , I called my bhabosa informing him that I was on the way.

I started the car and reached the railway station within 20 mins. He was waiting for me on the platform . I touched his feet to take his aashirwad (blessings) and carried his bag and kept it in the back seat.

I thought of texting my mumma that I have reached and will be back within half an hour.I texted her and kept my mobile in my pocket.

I started to drive and we both started talking . I reached home and finally I was back to my room . I checked the time it was going to be 1am and I got notification from her ,Ms.Shaktawat at this time but why?

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What could be the reason for texting Dhruv at this time?Is Geet going to reveal her angry bird side? or Is she planning to do some investigation? All these answers will be revealed in the upcoming chapter.👀

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I hope you liked this chapter and let me know in the comment section any suggestions to improve myself or the way of telling the story. Don't forget to vote , your one vote act as a motivation for me that my work is being recognized by you. Follow for more updates .

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See you soon with a new chapter till then take care and lots of love!

Avina,

THANK YOU FOR READING!🌷💌🎢ðŸŽ