Five years later...
"Suniyeji! Aaj shyam ko jaldi aaoyege?" Shehnaaz asked her husband.
"Kya hua Biwi....aaj kya hai?"Sidharth asked.
"Uffo!Fatima bhabhi ke yahan dawat hai! Aap bhool gaye?"Shehnaaz said, disappointed.
"Arre yaar! Bhool gaya!Tum Simi and driver ko lekar chale jana...I will apologise to Bhabhi later,"Sidharth sighed and picked his briefcase.
"Theek hai!"Shehnaaz said sadly.
"Aye Biwi! Smile kar de na yaar! I swear I will take you out for a nice dinner soon! Chal smile kar de na...Happy Mummy ka happy Baby!"Sidharth tried to make his five months pregnant wife smile.
Shehnaaz gave a shy smile and was rewarded with the same by her husband.
She shut the main door and sat down on the sofa exhausted.
"Puttar chai bana doon?"Preeto asked her daughter.
"Nahin Mummy! Main banati hoon,"Shehnaaz tried to get up but Preeto stopped her.
"Tu baith, subah se Simran ke saath lagi hai, baith jaa!" Preeto insisted and went into the kitchen.
Shehnaaz sat down and looked at the poster size picture of their wedding day.
"Yeh waqt aayega socha nahin tha!"Shehnaaz sighed and looked around their 2 bedroom flat.
Sidharth's day-night toil had paid off. His business had taken off. With Sidharth not having a lot of time to spend at home, Shehnaaz had given up her job and taken over caring for their daughter Simran and mother-in-law Sujata, whose health had grown from bad to worse.
Three years later, to Sujata's utter delight, Sidharth had made a down payment for a 2bhk flat in a respectable Mumbai Suburb.
Shehnaaz hated leaving the chawl and her friends behind but had to give in to her husband's intense desire to fulfil his mother's lifelong dream to own a flat.
A year back, Shehnaaz's Mamaji had passed away and the rest of the family had planned to return to Ludhiana. Sidharth had insisted that Shehnaaz's mother Preeto shift in with them. After resisting a lot Preeto had given in, much to Baby Simran's delight.
"Naazo puttar, Simran adhe ghante main school se aa jayegi...Tu soja, main usse churi bana ke khila doongi," Preeto told her exhausted daughter.
"Nahin Mummy! Sidharth mujhe gussa karenge agar unhe pata laga ki main aapko kaam karne de rahi hoon!"Shehnaaz gasped.
"Oho Montu puttar ko kya bolun...par main saara din ghar main baith kar bore ho jati hoon! Sujata behenji ke liye ayah(maid) lagai hui hai! Simran ka toh kaam karne do mujhe!"Preeto said good naturedly.
Shehnaaz smiled but it took an effort.
"Montu puttar dil ka bahut acha hai! Na lada kar usse!"Preeto told her daughter.
"Mummy mujhe shauk nahin hai usse lkadne ka! Ghanshyam jaise log chikno-chupdi baaten karke phasa lete hain! Woh dil ke ache hain ...samajhte nahin hain!" Shehnaaz broke down.
"Waheguru meher karenge....rona nahin hai...Chal chal...chai pe le!" Preeto somehow got Shehnaaz to drink tea with biscuits.
****************************
Dressed in a dashing ice blue suit and a matching tie, Sidharth was driving towards Bombay Central, where his new office was.
"Biwi wapis naraaz ho gayi! Jab se chawl se gaye hain, Shehnaaz udaas udaas rehti hai!"Sidharth thought to himself as he manoeuvred his Maruti esteem car. It was the latest model. Although he now had a driver, driving the car around was still his guilty pleasure. MH 1212 had been preserved and grounded in the garage of his new flat.
أنت تقرأ
TAXI No: 1212
أدب الهواةCompletely filmy story, set in Bombay,1992. Shehnaaz Kaur Bajwa spends one day in Bombay and falls in love with a handsome Taxi driver who saves her from the goons. Will they ever meet again?
