Dating Diaries

Grey day

At around 6 pm Ahir wakes up.
Ahir-Waise aaj ka date?
Shaurya-Arre same hi hai. Bas gehri neend mein the toh lag rha hoga subah ho gyi hogi. 20th July hai.
Ahir-Wait 20th July.
Shaurya-Haan.
Ahir-Mein mujhe nhi pata tha. Mein mein kaise. Mujhse yeh galti kaisi ho gyi. Aaj mom. Mom I am so sorry.
Shaurya-Kya hua?
Ahir-Aaj mom ka. Mom ne mujhse promise liya tha iss din mein unke unke par udas nhi rahunga. Anath home jakar wahan ke bachon ke sath time spend karunga. Kyunki mom anath thi. Aur maine unka ek promise tod diya. Mujhe abhi jana hoga. Mein kya karoon. Mujhe kuch samjh nhi aata. Pehle change kar leta hoon.
He starts to remove his sling.
Shaurya-Ye kya kar rhe ho?
Ahir-Jaldi jana hai.
Shaurya-Meri baat suno Yash tumhe leke jaiyega.
Ahir reaches and seeing the faces he realises he forgot to get them gifts.
Ahir-I am sorry mein aapke liye kuch nhi la paya. I am so sorry. He gets emotional.
Diya(One of the kids)-Koi baat nhi bhaiya aap aaye. Hume laga aap nhi aaoge jab sham tak aap nhi pahunche. Thank you bhaiya. Aapko aaj chot lagi hai naa toh hum aapke liye kuch karenge.
Ahir-Arre nhi.
Diya-Please bhaiya humne last char din se prepare kia. Please.
Ahir-Achaa.
They sing a song for him. Jaane Kyun from New York movie.
Ahir-Thank you so much bachon. And I am sorry again.
Arohi(Another kid)-Koi baat nhi. Ab hum khelenge naa? Last year jo toys aapne di thi woh toh hai hi.
Shaurya-Nhi itne ache understanding bachon ko gift milna hi chahiye.
Ahir-Shaurya tum.
Shaurya, Anokhi, Reema and Babli starts distributing books.
After enjoying for sometime it is time to go.
Outside the orphan home:-
Ahir- Maa I am sorry. Mein iss saal kuch nhi de paya unhe.
Shaurya-Diya tumne books naa?
Ahir-Tum samjh nhi rhe woh mera hona chahiye tha.
Shaurya-Paise mere hai magar yeh gift tumhari hai. Kyunki humne har ek copy mein wohi notes aur markings banaye hai jo tumhare wale mein hai. Wohi phrases underline kia hai. Matlab tumhare thoughts tum unhe de rhe ho. Apni soch de rhe ho. Isse badi baat kya ho sakti hai. Woh toh paiso se bhi zyada anmol hai.
Ahir-You mean to say 53 copies mein?
Shaurya-Hmm utne hi chahiye the naa. Toh utne hi kiye exactly.
He hugs Shaurya.
Ahir-Yeh idea sirf tumhara ho sakta hai naa yaa phir Anokhi ka. Thank you. Thank you so so much.
Yash-Mujhe bhi credit do itne kitabein uthaye maine. Aur hath dukh gya underline karte karte.
He hugs Yash. They share a moment.
Ahir-I love you guys so so much. Mom thank you inhe meri life mein bhejne ke liye. Usse meri nhi padi thi isliye aapko mujhse cheen liya. Magar aapne inhe bhej diya.
Shaurya-Mein samjh rha hoon kya beet rhi hai magar tumhe ghar jakar khana khana hai and medicines bhi toh ab chale.
Ahir is staring out of the window. Suddenly....
Ahir- Tum logon ko mom kr baad jana hai naa. Please aaj nhi.
Anokhi-Humne pucha hi nhi aapse. Take your time.
Tears leak out of his eyes. He places his head on Reema's shoulders. While Shaurya gently ruffles his hair to show that he is there for him. Yash silently drives away. Anokhi is on the front seat. And turns her head periodically to check on her best friend.
By the time they reach home Ahir has cried himself to sleep. No one has the heart to wake him up as it will lead to the emotions haunting him again but he needs to take the medicines. He wakes up. They take him in. He has a silent dinner and sleeps quick out of the exhaustion.
Reema-I hope subah Ahir isse deal kar paye.
Anokhi-Woh zaroor sambhal lega. Shaurya-Aur jitna sambhal nhi payega uske liye hum hai.
Reema-Hmmm.
They spend a night sleeping on the sofa and chairs, uncomfortable constraining their bodies by sitting in weird postures but they are left far more uneasy in their hearts with the thoughts of the frame of mind their friend was in.

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