The Sixteenth Birth

2. Beautiful place. India

Important: This chapter is having some words in Hindi which some of you don't know so to help you I have translated them in English. I hope this may help to learn this new language. Sorry for grammatical mistakes, if there are any.

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*Ritz's POV*

The atmosphere is cold, a blanket is on me and someone is beside me.

"-the life jacket is under your seats. In case of emergency..."

The air hostess continues. I open my eyes and wrinkle them. The man sitting beside me is my dad. Mr. Sanjay Dobrial, the ultimate man of our family. Tall with black hair, sharp nose and a natural style mustache. He always has a professional demeanor and he never gets tired.

"Hey kiddo, had a nice sleep?" Dad enquires, grinning.

"Yep! And I'm not a two year old daddy. It sounds so childish." I laugh to myself and bite my lower lip to stop.

"So you have to spend nearly twenty four hours here." My dad teases.

"Please tell me you are kidding. Ha, nice joke dad." I reply, expecting that to be true.

"No. It's not. I think I can help with some sleep." Dad does the best thing to avoid my further inquisition, dozes off to sleep that too within a second. Really in this case I'm dad's descendant-A Heavy Sleeper.

What? Twenty four hours in a closed air conditioned, suffocating, executive class compartment of a plane is not funny. It is 7:00 in the morning and the plane just took off. I have traveled to a lot of countries but I don't remember being 24 hours in an airplane. Maybe it's for the Asian countries, I haven't been to them lately.

So in this long journey, I watch some F.R.I.E.N.D.S on the small screen in front of my seat, then shuffle songs on my iPod.

After getting tuned to the music I open a novel and read. I play games on my iPad, flap through magazines and what not an electronic can let us do. Eventually I swap seats with my Dad (it isn't easy to wake him up) and sit next to Maya. We chat, gossip and discuss India, though, our dresses are the centre of our talks.

**

We land on the land I thought I'd never come to. Well, at least the airport is better than I expected. Enormous with innumerable people. No doubt it is the second highest populated country in the world.

The climate is much warmer than L.A. I remove my Puma jacket to roam about in a sleeveless tee with shorts which go midway on my thighs. The sun is shining and the warm breeze hits my cheeks.

After landing in New Delhi we boarded another flight to Dehradun and here I am already feeling so foreign.

We leave the airport with our luggage, just when we are about to catch a taxi a Mercedes stops in front of us. "Sir, yaha par![Sir, over here.]" The man in the car says to my dad who sighs,"Khurana Sahab ne aap ko hotel tak pauchane ke liye mujhe bheja hain. [Mr.Khurana has sent me to pick you up from here and take you to the hotel.]"

That man says something in Hindi which I hardly understand. Being an Indian I don't know my mother tongue. God! Though I know some words but now I will have to learn at least a little bit of it.

"Are! Itna karne ki koi zarurat nahi thi hum aa jate. Par tab bhi thank you! [Oh! There was no need of this. We would have managed, but still, thank you. ]" My mom replies politely and sits inside the car. Maya, Mom and I sit on the back seat and dad claims the shotgun.

The ride to the hotel is very silent. I am taking in the place. It's not how I thought it would be. For the first ten minutes we are travelling on a highway. But soon the car enters a mountainous area and a very thick and dense forest. The shadows of trees block the sunlight making the place cool. But what really caught my attention was the place we have reached. Why the hell did Maya tell me that India is no more than just an untidy mess?

In fact it's gorgeous and mesmerizing. Each turn brings a new scene. I must say this country isn't as bad as I thought. Well again I miss L.A, it's only been a day and I miss it. But India is different.

Now we're in front of the hotel where we are going to spend a few weeks before we move to my grandma's mansion. A five star hotel which is decent with gigantic doors and a carpet is laid to welcome its customers.

After checking in we take the keys for our rooms and leave for the lift. The bell boys carrying our luggage are on our heels.

"Sanjay!"

Someone calls my Dad, the man's voice being really heavy. My dad turns around. His eyes widened with joy. He fastens his pace towards the man and gives him a manly hug.

"How are you man?! Tabyat vagera sab thik hai? Duble patle ho gaye ho! [Is your health good? You look so thin.]" My dad says in a joking tone and overly excited voice.

"No, mai toh thik hoon. Thoda jyada busy tha aakhir humare bete ki shadi hain, dhum dham se hi hogi! [No, I am good. I was quite busy, at last it's our son's wedding, it has to be grand and royal.]" The man chuckles. Oh gosh the man is good looking for his age, but who is he?

"Dad! that-" he stops. "Oh Mr. Dobrial glad to see you, sir." Oh, that's Vivian and I guess the other man is Mr. Khurana.

"Same here dude!" Wow dad is acting like a lad, in his fifties. Vivian smiles and looks at Maya. Glancing at her I notice her blushing.

Woah. They actually look good together. Looks like they are going to hit it off. Vivian is handsome and yeah hot too. Am I liking this dude? Nah, that will take a few days or weeks.

Dad notices Maya blushing and clears his throat. "Yeah, yeah steal her. No problem, she's all yours." With this Dad interrupts Maya and Vivian's staring. Vivian flushes at his words and leaves and Maya follows him.

"Be a man, my son. Take your woman whenever you want." Dad teases Vivian. The group expels into laughter and my mom playfully slaps my father's arm.

"I see, why not? Come on Maya!" Vivian jokes back and takes Maya's hand. As the son exits his mother enters. Mrs. Khurana is smiling at us. She is the perfect definition of gorgeous. With brown eyes, the Indian fair complexion, straight long hair and a good height.

So is my mom. This is how I'm all alone, the two handsome men and two beautiful women are chatting and the soon to be engaged couple is seated on the sofa and enjoying themselves.

So I just decide to leave the big lobby and go out for some fresh air. But I have no luck there too. While I stroll out I slip due to the damp floor, lose my balance and am about to fall but land in someone's arms.

My eyes are closed, so I can't see the person but the warmth and the cologne which this person is possessing comforts me. It feels so cozy. So I open my eyes to see the person.

And seriously...

He is breathtaking.

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A/N: How was this one? I know less dialogues and more thoughts are flashed in here. And the introduction of hindi?! How it went? What do you think? Who is the heart throb? Answer my questions through comments and messages and please vote.

Thank you! Again

Edited by Rhea Bajaj.

Sweetheart