Part 38

It was one of the best evenings, not hot not cold, the sun had started its descent in the west sky and was glowing furiously before bidding adieu for the day. The light was soothing and lent an ethereal glow soaking them in the newfound bond. Naina had already spoken countless lies, for Sameer, for her love, for their togetherness, and to protect him and them. And now, she was again going to lie and continue to do so to keep him close. Her inner self wouldn't have allowed this one bit if it was the previous Naina but this Naina, wholeheartedly belonged to Sameer now. After much ups and downs, they were finally together in every true sense and she wasn't going to let her family jeopardize it. Not that they didn't matter to her anymore, she always felt a twinge of guilt for lying or hiding the truth from her beloved Chachaji but she consoled herself that she was doing this for a purpose, for her school. But she also knew that she was simply finding excuses to keep Sameer as close to her as possible, not that he was complaining. They were lost in each other, happily gazing and gleaming at the brilliant idea to stay under the same roof.

While in the auto, the driver braked hard at a junction that was jam packed. That broke their trance, and brought them back. Sameer looked around to where they had reached and stated, "Naina, traffic clear hote hi hum paanch minute mein ghar pahuch jayenge. Toh main tumhe ghar drop karke apne ghar jaake car lekar aata hoon".

Naina scrunched her brows, "par car kaise la sakte ho Sameer? Nanaji wapas aa gaye hai na, toh unhe zaroorat hogi na", and stated the logic.

"Tum uski chinta mat karo, main Nanu se baat kar lunga. Woh samajh jayenge!" Sameer was firm and confident.

"Nahi Sameer. Yeh kya baat hui bhala? Hum apni sahuliyat ke liye Nanaji ko pareshan karenge? Koi zaroorat nahi hai car ki!" Naina was firm too in rejecting his idea.

"Par Naina, agar haath pe patti bandh ke rakhni hai toh tum cycle nahi chala sakti aur roz hum auto se kaise ja sakte hai?"

Naina thought for a second but still refuted his arguments, "woh mujhe nahi pata, hum kuch na kuch manage kar lenge!"

"Par Naina..." Sameer was still ready to argue but she interrupted him, "par war kuch nahi, keh diya na...buss keh diya!" She declared firmly and now though Sameer pursed his lips at her adamancy, he knew he couldn't win when she set her mind. He knew she wouldn't sit with him on the bike, so car was the best option to travel with her, but well, he accepted the daily auto journey as long as she was with him. He would just have to explain again to her family why he travelled with her in the auto.

Once they reached home, it was a breather that the elders were somewhere around in the neighboring flats for late afternoon gossip and tea. Preeti was deeply engrossed in a magazine that she was hiding inside the chemistry text book and gawking at the latest pictures of Shahrukh Khan. As soon as she heard Naina and Sameer enter, she leaped from the swing and intercepted her at the door.

"Tu pagal hai Naina, Kamya se shart laga li. Itna bada panga le liya!" Then glaring at Sameer, started to scold him too, "meri Behen toh pagal hai, par tumahara dimaag bhi kya ghaans kaatne gaya tha! Rok nahi sakte the ise?"

Walking inside and avoiding Preeti's eyes, Sameer confessed in a mumble, "actually Preeti...mmm...woh...dance mein participate karne ka idea mera hi tha!" Then he immediately defended himself, "haan par Kamya ko challenge dene ka idea mera nahi tha! Woh tumhari Behen ko gussa aa gaya aur...tum toh jaanti ho, jab ise gussa aata toh fir kisiki nahi sunti!"

Naina glared at him and he gave a cute smile and her anger dissipated in a second. She was never immune to his charms. Sameer continued, "par tum chinta mat karo, hum saath milkar zaroor koi na koi kamaal hi karenge!" He exuded confidence and Naina gave a proud smile that despite she might have challenged the expert on a whim, Sameer wouldn't let her down.

"Yahi toh chinta ki baat hai! Pure school mein khabar faill chuki hai ki tum dono duet perform karne wale ho. Rakesh Tauji ko bhi pataa chal gaya hoga, ab toh ghar mein Mahabharat hoke rahegi. Aur upar se thappad padenge so alag".

The last statement infuriated Sameer and his expressions changed immediately. He never liked anyone disrespecting a female and if that female was Naina, he wasn't going to stand by and watch. His hands already fisted.

Naina saw that and cooed, "Sameer, jab gharwale poochenge toh unhe samjha denge. Ek baar Chachaji samajh gaye toh woh sabse baat kar lenge". He cooled down but didn't relax. However. During his stay so far, he had witnessed the enormous faith Naina had on her Chachaji and he was the sole sane person in this large household, who genuinely cared for all his girls, be it Chachiji or his daughters.

He still wore a grim expression but nodded. To lighten the mood and divert the topic, Naina suggested, "Preeti, woh sab chod, tu yeh bata hum kaunse gaane pe dance kare ki woh alag bhi ho aur semi-classical bhi".

Preeti rolled her eyes, "behen..." but then resigned to the determination of the jodi, "theek hai...ab okhli mein sar de hi diya hai toh moosal se kya darna! Chal cassettes dekhte hai, koi na koi achcha gana dance karne layak toh mil jayega!"

Both girls scampered to their room, followed by Sameer. They brought our their entire collection of audio cassettes and started soughting out the newest hit movies: Chandani, Aashiqui, Maine Pyar Kiya, Dil, etc.

But suddenly Preeti remembered something, "par Naina tu patti bandhe haath se dance kaise karegi? Kitni mushkil hogi aur kitna ajeeb bhi lagega. Aur aise toh Kamya aaram se jeet jayegi!"

Naina glanced towards Sameer as they had decided to keep it a secret for now that she could manuever her hand more than before and she might be completely ready before the actual D day.

So, Naina steered the conversation away from her hand to focus on the task at hand. "Woh sab chod na Preeti, woh sab baad mein sochenge. Pehle koi achcha gaana toh select karle". They spread out their cassette collection on the bed and the trio started to go through the playlist on the back of each cassette, although the girls knew almost all the hit songs of all the hit movies by-heart. Every now and then, one of them would point out an ideal song and one of the other two would reject it.

After 15 long minutes of painstaking selection and rejection, "kya yaar Naina, tumne toh saare acche hot gaane reject kar diye! Aise toh hume koi gaana nahi milega!" Sameer sounded disappointed.

Naina didn't voice it but she too was losing hope fast when Preeti suddenly blurted out, "mil gaya!"

Both turned to look at what she was holding. She was flaunting a cassette of Mr. India and gleeing excitedly.

"Daant kya dikha rahi hai? Ismein aisa ksun sa gaana hai jispe dance kar sakte hai?" Naina snatched the cassette and started to scan confusedly as to which song she missed from such a popular movie.

"Kate nahi kat te yeh din yeh raat...." Preeti started singing in answer. Naina blushed in embarrassment if that was even possible turning completely red, unable to meet Sameer's eye as it was a deeply romantic song with the famous lyrical I Love You, while Sameer was enjoying her plight and staring straight at her with an angled head to try and carch a glimpse of her bowed down head.

Just then the shrill phone ring went off and since the lovebirds were still in their la la land, Preeti headpalmed but jumped off the bed and ran to the hall to answer the phone.

As soon as she was gone, a shy and still blushy Naina tried to look at him from the corner of the eyes while tugging a stray strand of hair behind her ear with the left hand. The breathtaking gesture pulled out a deep sigh from Sameer and he hummed the tune of the sensuous song. Naina couldn't stop blushing and at the end of the stanza, he leaned a bit close and whispered the last line to her exactly five time in a sing song just like in the movie.

The lovebirds were caught in the moment when Preeti came scampering in and burst the bubble, "toh kya decide kiya aap logon ne?"

Her question broke their reverie and Naina doned her devi avatar, "tu pagal hai kya Preeti, aisa gaana stage pe kaun perform karta hai? Ek toh ab tak ghar mein kisiko pataa nahi ki hum duet perform karenge aur aisa gaana, gharwale toh kya, school wale bhi hume zinda zameen mein gaadh denge!"

"Toh fir kya kare?" Preeti didn't see any other option.

All three started thinking. As much as Sameer would have loved to get romantic with Naina, even he was skeptical about making a spectacle of them as a pair resulting in an epic debacle. It had yo be something safe snd modest coz duet dancing was anyways revolutionary. He couldn't jeopardise it by picking the wrong song.

"Ek kaam kar Preeti, saare purane cassettes bhi nikal. Khaskar ki Lata Mangedhkar, Asha Bhonsle aur Kishore Kumar ke hit songs. Inhone itne saare gaane gaye hai, kuch na kuch toh mil hi jayega", Naina suggested.

So, Preeti opened the lowermost drawer of the bedside table and scourged out the entire collection on the bed. There weren't too many, so each started to scan out the lists. A lot were 70s songs, even 60s, but were rejected by Sameer saying that although they were melodious to the ear, it would require old, slow, and boring choreography. He wanted something matching to their generation and surely Naina would need something soft so as to be able to practice easily but also exquisite that would fit in the classical genre.

"Mil gaya...finally...maine decide kar liya...hum isi pe dance karenge Sameer!" Naina exclaimed.

Both Sameer and Preeti were curious, and peered over Naina's shoulder on either side. She had a cassette with Lata Mangeshkar songs. They both scanned the list but impatiently Naina tsked, "arreee...yeh wala...Pathjhad Saawan..."

Sameer became thoughtful sitting straight, "par Naina yeh toh sirf ladkiyon wala gaana hai, main kya karoonga?"

Before Naina could reply, Preeti came to his rescue, "Jijaji, aap kyon tension le rahe ho...aapki Saali hai na!"

Preeti wiggled her brows but Sameer scrunched his still in confusion. Preeti quickly rummaged through the rest of the old cassettes and found a collection of Lata's duets and quickly scanned the playlist, and exclaimed "yesssss" when she found what she was looking for.

"Yeh dekho!" She handed him the cassette. "Iss gaane ka duet version, jo Naina ke paas hai woh sad wala hai. Duet pe dance kar sakte hai!"

"Haan...mujhe yaad hai, ispe Jaya Prada aur Rishi Kapoor ne semi classical type kapde pehne hai aur dance bhi waisa kiya hai. Hum bhi aisa kuch karenge!" Naina also supplied excitedly.

"Gaana toh mujhe thoda thoda pata hai par dance kaisa tha yaad nahi hai!" Sameer clarified.

"Koi baat nahi, hum Kumud teacher se seekh lenge!" Naina resolved the issue immediately.

But now it was Sameer's turn to tsk, "Naina, tum bhool gayi, Kumud teacher ne kya kaha tha? Ki woh sirf ladkiyon ki practice karvaaegi. Ab agar hum duet lekar unke paas jayenge dou chance dene se pehle nikal dengi. Aur fir Kamya ka kya bharosa, kahi hamara gaana chura liya toh! Hume iski choreography khud baithani hogi aur seedha selection day par hi sabke samne prastut karna hoga!"

"Haan....yeh to hai!" Naina agreed but got thinking how they were going to accomplish such a feat. Meanwhile, Preeti put the recorder on and let the song play. She had to rewind and forward a few times to start the song at the right point as it was not at the beginning of the playlist.

"Preeti gaana fir se laga...hume dheere dheere sochna padega dance ke baare mein aur pura gaana bhi yaad karna hoga!" Naina instructed and Preeti got back to the repetitive task.

After a few seconds of deliberation, Sameer suggested, "ek second, baar baar aage peeche karne se achcha hai ki hum ise dusri cassette mein record kar le!"

"Haan...par hamare paas double tape nahi hai!" Naina informed.

"Mere paas hai na! Nanu ke ghar par!" Main abhi leke aata hoon", Sameer almost jumped out of the chair he was straddling as was his habit.

"Ruko Sameer! Hmm tape laane se behtar hai ki tum cassette le jao, aur record karke le aao", Naina suggested.

"Theek hai!"

Just when he was about to leave the room, Naina tsked loudly and Sameer halted and asked worriedly moving to the bed's edge, "kya hua Naina?"

Seeing the worry lines etched on his face, she quickly composed herself, "mmm kuch nahi....woh bahut tez khujali ho rahi thi", she tried to sound convincing lightly scratching on the edges of the bandage as it was uncontrollable.

"Woh kuch fatt rahi hogi aur kuch skin dry ho gayi hogi. Doctor ne warn kiya tha na. Par khujali mat karo warna khoon aa jayega. Abhi nayi chamdi aane mein waqt lagega na!"

"Pataa hai....par beech beech mein achanak itni khujali joti hai ki control hi nahi hota", she tried to explain her predicament.

"Achcha theek hai...lao main fir se achche se patti kar deta hoon...tumhe thoda aaram milega!" Even before Sameer looked at Preeti, she was off to the kitchen to bring the usual warm water and clean cloth, while he grabbed the medicine box and the new itch relief cream according to the new prescription that was still lying packed on her study table. He sat on the edge opposite her in their comfortable position. He was completely focused on her hand, while she was busy adoring him with a blushy smile.

He had just finished unwrapping and was examining her hand when they were both caught off guard with a loud "O baiii!"

In a reflex action, she pulled back and he easily let go and both stood up. Taiji came barging in and grabbed her injured hand from the elbow and started twisting and turning it around as if it was a non-living thing. Naina tsked lightly at the crude manuevers and Sameer's hands fisted into tight balls but was stopped by a slight shake of her head.

"O bai! Yeh kya hai Naina? Isse toh achcha hota pura haath katwa hi leti!" She made an unbelievable remark and continued cursing her. "Ek toh pehle hi shakal surat mein koi dum nahi. Upar se baap ke paas dahej mein dene je liye futi kaudi nahi. Ab shareer par aise daag lage honge toh kaun karega tujhse shaadi?" Most of the times Naina had learnt to shriek away the harsh words knowing it was Taiji's second nature but she felt quite humiliated into nothing as Sameer was witness to the whole situation. "Tere liye toh waise bhi ghode pe baithke koi rajkumar nahi aanewala tha par ab toh koi raah chalta bhikhari bhi tujh jaisi badsurat ka haath nahi thamega!"

Naina still didn't utter a word but tears threatened to leak out. She was trying to reign them on a tight leash but it was more than enough for Sameer to take in.

He composed himself, "kya Taiji aap na bekaar ki chinta kar rahi hai. Shakal surat ka toh pataa nahi par Naina jaisi akal pure school mein kisi mein nahi. Jo ek baar padh leti hai hamesha ke liye yaad ho jata hai use. Aur jis kisi bhi pratiyogita mein hissa leti hai, jeet kar hi maanti hai. Aur dahej, Taiji uski toh fikr hi mat kijiye. Ladka khud aapko dahej dega Naina se shaadi karne ke liye. Aap ke sanskar hi aise hai ki har koi iss parivar se rishta jodna chahega. Main toh bahut lucky hoon ki Naina meri partner hai warna main aajtak school mein kabhi kuch nahi jeeta hoon!"

Taiji gloated coz while Sameer openly praised Naina to take a stand for her, Taiji falsely assumed he was praising her. So, with her fake smile, "hehehe....Buss ek tum hi ho Bholuram, jo badon ki itni izzat karte ho...warna hamare ghar ki ladkiyan...samjha samjhakar thakk jao, inki moti budhdhi mein kuch ghusta hi nahi hai!"

Just then, she heard Pralay hollering, "mummy bhookh lagi hai...!" And she scurried away to attend to her prince passing Preeti on the way who witnessed everything and once again was proud of her Jijaji and happy for her sister. She left the tray on the bed and went away. Without exchanging words, he completed his task, everything time scrunching his brows whenever he saw her overwhelmed or if her eyes misted.

On his way home, something clicked and he stopped by the video library.

"Bolo kaun sa cassette doon?" The video parlor in-charge asked in a sweet business tone.

"Uncle aapke paas Sindoor ki casette hai?"

"Haan...par yeh toh bahut purani picture hai!" The uncle affirmed surprisingly as to why someone was interested in older movies when the new hit movies were available. He made his suggestion to garner more rent from the new and hit movies. "Mere paas nayi picturein bhi hai. Maine pyar kiya, Baaghi, Dil..."

His movie names sent Sameer in a dreamland. How he wished he could watch one of these romantic movies with Naina...correction only Naina... but alas, it was hard enough to talk to her in private, let alone watch a whole movie. So he pushed the fantasy aside and focused on why he had stopped at the parlor.

"Nahi uncle...nayi movie abhi nahi chahiye. Fir kabhi! Aaj aap se dusra kaam hai! Sindoor picture mein woh gaana hai na, Pathjad saawan, jispe Rishi Kapoor aur Jaya Prada ne dance kiya hai, mujhe buss woh record karke chahiye!" Sameer explained.

"Beta....main cassette bhade pe deta hoon, khud picture nahi banata jo har picture ka har gaana yaad hoga!" Uncle quipped.

"Arre uncle dekhiye na please. Hume school ke program ke liye chahiye! Aap ke jo bhi paise honge main doonga na!"

"Teen ghante ke picture mein kitna aage peeche karoonga? Nahi nahi, itna time nahi hai mere paas!" The uncle refused blatantly.

"Uncle please...." Sameer was almost pleading when a surprised boisterous voice echoed near the door.

"Arre tum log yahan?" Sameer cheered up immediately seeing his both besties.

"Sameer Maheshwari kisiko please bol raha hai! Aye Ponga...mere kaan toh theek hai na!" Munna stared unbelievingly but both were astonished.

"Kya yaar tum log bhi! Help karne ke bajay mazaak uda rahe ho?" Sameer felt disappointed but what he had to fear when his besties were near!

"Arre uncle, aapko pataa nahi, aap kitne special ho ki Sameer ne aapse request ki. Warna bhai jo chahta hai use mil hi jaata hai aur baaki ka woh haasil kar leta hai. Ab chup chap jo woh keh raha hai woh kar dou!" Munna Pandit used their age-old alternating technique to intimidate the uncle and get the work done. It never failed and reluctantly the uncle agreed.

Sameer was overjoyed, "thank you Uncle, aap karke rakhiye, main ek ghante mein aata hoon!"

Once they left the store, Pandit questioned, "Bhai...tera kaam toh ho jayega, par aisa kya karvana tha uss Paresh bhai se ki pehle tu ne please bola aur fir thank you bhi!"

"Ghar chalo batata hoon!" Sameer explained.

"Haan waise bhi hum tere ghar jaake tujhe Naina ke ghar pe phone karne hi wale the! Yeh jo school mein raaita failaya hai use kaise sametna hai?" Munna expressed his concern.

Later when they reached home, Sameer first got to the task at hand. He had brought the cassette with him, so rewinded and paused it exactly before the start of the song. Then inserted a blank cassettte in the other side of the tape and pressed record and then started playing the song from the original casette. He intended to record the song multiple times on one side so while practicing the whole song, they didn't have to rewind each time. While that was happening, the boys as usual hogged on snacks and bombarded Sameer with questions!

"Tu kar kya raha hai yaar? Yeh casette ki recording aur woh library wale Uncle....tere dimaag mein kya chal raha hai Sameer?"

"Yaar humne yeh gaana final kiya hai dance practice ke liye. Ab Kumud teacher ne toh saaf saaf keh diya ki woh sirf ladkiyon ki practice karvaaengi. Toh hume apni taiyyari khud karni hogi. Toh video cassette mein se woh gaana record karke use dekhenge aur hum apni practice khud karenge!" Sameer explained the whole plan.

"Wah yaar Sameer...tu ne toh badi durr ki sochi!" Pandit praised him.

Before Sameer could gloat, Munna warned him about the obvious, "lekin tujhe pataa hai na Sameer, duet gaana gaana aur uspe dance karne, dou alag cheezein hoti hai. Hamare school ke toh kya, competition ke pure itihaas mein aisa kabhi nahi hua hai. Yeh sab karna itna aasan nahi hoga!"

"Iss saal aisa bahut kuch ho raha hai Munna, jo pehle kabhi nahi hua! Aur fir jab okhli mein sar de hi diya hai toh moosal se kya darna. Aur tumhara Bhai apni Naina ke liye kuch bhi kar sakta hai!" Sameer was firm.

"Wah! Kya baat kahi hai. Tu ne toh apne Nanu ka dil khush kar diya aur seena garv se fula diya". Nanu praised loudly from the threshold as he had heard Sameer's declaration while entering his room. He was just back from his office when Ramdhari informed him about Sameer's visit.

"Nanu aap?" Sameer was pleasantly surprised.

"Aur kya...tu bina bataye aa gaya...par achcha hua main jaldi aa gaya warna tu toh chala jaata".

"Nahi Nanu, aapse mile bina nahi jaata". And Nanu and grandson hugged as usual.

Nanu was overwhelmed all over again, "teri shiddat ne aaj fir mujhe yakeen dila diya ki tu chahe laakh sharatein kare, tera dil ekdum saaf aur mazboot hai. Warna itni imaandaari se rishte nibhana har kisike buss ki baat nahi. Naina ke liye teri bhavanayein kitni sachchi hai yeh jaankar mujhe bahut khushi ho rahi hai aur kahi na kahi dil mein sukoon hai ki kal chahe jo bhi ho, mera Sameer kabhi akela nahi rahega. Use apna sachcha humsafar mil chuka hai. Kyon sahi keh raha hoon na main?"

Sameer was amazed at how well Nanu knew him and how easily he could read him. He hadn't completely disclosed that he and Naina had reconciled and she had completely forgiven him and also accepted her love for him, but Nanu had simply understood it all, and so he blushed.

"Matlab mera andaaza bilkul sahi hai", Nanu teased him more. "Chal ab yeh bata ki mujhe milwa kab raha hai?"

"Kya Nanu aap bhi?"

"Arre sharma kya raha hai? Yeh ishq nahi aasan, ek aag ka dariya hai aur doob ke jaana hai!"

"Tsk...kya Nanu...pehle woh puri tarah se theek toh ho jaaye!" Sameer's words suddenly sounded dismayed.

"Kya hua Sameer? Tu khush hokar bhi khush nahi lag raha. Teri aakhon mein khushi ke saath saath ek udaasi bhi dikh rahi hai!" Nanu gauged immediately.

Since Sameer shared everything with Nanu, he shared the evening's gut-upsetting incident. Seeing Nanu deliberating over something, he added, "Bhagwan na kare Nanu, par agar yeh nishaan Naina ke chehre pe bhi hote tab bhi mujhe koi farak nahi padta". Lowering his head in shyness, but in a firm tone, he declared, "main bahut pyaar karta hoon Naina se!" Munna Pandit were also blushing staging aside.

"Sameer ko shiddat wala pyar ho gaya hai Nanaji!" Pandit couldn't stop almost giggling like a girl. Nanu's fake stern look quietened them both. They cowered in the corner rendering themselves invisible.

As if he heard what he was exactly waiting for, Nanu patted his back and firmly held his shoulders. "Shabbash Sameer! Mujhe tujhse yahi umeed thi. Arre jab pyaar itna gehra hai aur rishta sachcha toh sharmana aur ghabraana kaisa, nazre jhukana kaisa? Arre jab pyaar kiya hai toh darna kaisa? Beta tum donon ki umar kachchi ho sakti hai par kachchi umar ke rishte kabhi kabhi ekdum pakke hote hai. Tera aur Naina ka rishta bhi aisa hi pakka hai". Nanu's words encouraged and assured him. And since Nanu understood him well, he narrated the rest of the school and dance situations too, and what they were planning to do.

"Beta main apne anubhav se sirf itna kahunga ki har parivartan ko virodh ka samna karna padta hai par yeh yaad rakhna hi parivartan hi srishti ka niyam hai".

"Ji Nanu...samajh gaya! Seeing that his cassette was recorded and it was getting late, he hurriedly packed his stuff. "Ab main chalta hoon Nanu, warna bahut der ho jayegi".

"Ruk zara...chal mere saath". Nanu took him to his room and produced an Amber-colored sealsed bottle from a desk drawer. "Teri ek samasya ka hal hai mere paas". Saying so, he extended the bottle to him.

"Yeh kya hai Nanu?" Sameer asked taking and turning the unlabelled bottle around in his hand.

"Rambam!" Nanu answered gleefully but Sameer didn't understand.

"Beta jaise hamare desh mein Ayurveda ko sadiyon se maante aaye hai, waise hi Chini logon ka abhi apna Ayurveda shastra hai sadiyon purana. Use Traditional Chinese Medicine kehte hai. Ayurveda ki tarah hi jadi butiyon aur aisi samagriyon se banta hai. Kabhi kabhi kuch jeev jantuon ka abhi ark istemal jota hai par tu chinta mat kar, yeh sirf jadi butiyon se banaya gaya malam hai. Jab mein Singapore mein tha, maine dekha aur suna, kuch logon ke saalon ke katne aur jalne ke nishan theek hote hue. Fir kuch aur janakariyan bhi mili aur na jaane kyon mann mein Naina ka khayal aaya aur main ise apne saath le aaya. Yeh dawaiyan aise banti hai ki saalon saal kharab nahi hoti. Agar Naina ko theek lage toh istemal karke dekh lena. Shayad fayda pahunche". Nanu suggested but left the decision to Sameer and Naina. Sameer was skeptical too but still happy that there might be something that might heal her fast and completely. Not that it mattered to him but it would boost her confidence and that was all he cared about.

"Achcha sun, gaadi bhi le jana...main rickshaw ya taxi le lunga!" Nanu offered that too.

Sameer was overjoyed but remembered Naina's strict denial to not let Nanu encounter any inconvenience.

"Thank you Nanu, par iski zaroorat nahi hai. Naina aur main manage kar lenge!"

Without Sameer's explaining, Nanu deciphered that it must be Naina's doing who was such a kind-hearted girl putting everyone's needs before her own. She must have thought only about his trouble leaving aside her inconvenience and that further firmed his belief in the girl.

Sameer thanked Nanu profusely and hugged his besties and hurried away to pick up the casette on his way, gearing up for the new challenge.