महायोगपीठे तटे भीमरथ्यां
वरं पुण्डरीकाय दातुं मुनीन्द्रैः ।
समागत्य तिष्ठन्तमानन्दकन्दं
परब्रह्मलिङ्गं भजे पाण्डुरङ्गम् ॥१॥

तडिद्वाससं नीलमेघावभासं
रमामन्दिरं सुन्दरं चित्प्रकाशम् ।
वरं त्विष्टिकायां समन्यस्तपादं
परब्रह्मलिङ्गं भजे पाण्डुरङ्गम् ॥२॥

प्रमाणं भवाब्धेरिदं मामकानां
नितम्बः कराभ्यां धृतो येन तस्मात् ।
विधातुर्वसत्यै धृतो नाभिकोशः
परब्रह्मलिङ्गं भजे पाण्डुरङ्गम् ॥३॥

स्फुरत्कौस्तुभालङ्कृतं कण्ठदेशे
श्रिया जुष्टकेयूरकं श्रीनिवासम् ।
शिवं शान्तमीड्यं वरं लोकपालं
परब्रह्मलिङ्गं भजे पाण्डुरङ्गम् ॥४॥

शरच्चन्द्रबिम्बाननं चारुहासं
लसत्कुण्डलाक्रान्तगण्डस्थलाङ्गम् ।
जपारागबिम्बाधरं कञ्जनेत्रं
परब्रह्मलिङ्गं भजे पाण्डुरङ्गम् ॥५॥

किरीटोज्ज्वलत्सर्वदिक्प्रान्तभागं
सुरैरर्चितं दिव्यरत्नैरनर्घैः ।
त्रिभङ्गाकृतिं बर्हमाल्यावतंसं
परब्रह्मलिङ्गं भजे पाण्डुरङ्गम् ॥६॥

विभुं वेणुनादं चरन्तं दुरन्तं
स्वयं लीलया गोपवेषं दधानम् ।
गवां वृन्दकानन्ददं चारुहासं
परब्रह्मलिङ्गं भजे पाण्डुरङ्गम् ॥७॥

अजं रुक्मिणीप्राणसञ्जीवनं तं
परं धाम कैवल्यमेकं तुरीयम् ।
प्रसन्नं प्रपन्नार्तिहं देवदेवं
परब्रह्मलिङ्गं भजे पाण्डुरङ्गम् ॥८॥

(It's a Pandurang ashtakam in Sanskrit)

Nandini's voice was echoing all over the 'Agarkar Vada' in the morning just after sun rose above the horizon. No matter how modern she is but her believes in God are too strong and whenever possible she always follows her routine of singing Abhang in the morning while performing Aarati . She belongs to Hindu Maharashtrian Brahmin family, her grandfather and father are priest of Dagadushet Ganpati since the time it has started . Her great grandfather was  the member of council who opened this Dagadushet Ganpati Trust when Lokmanya Tilak started celebrating Public Ganesh festival before the independence in 1893.

(This is not real , I used it for story otherwise this Trust is handled by another governing body) .

Manik was going for college in the morning as his paper is at 11am and he has habit to spend hours in college library before going to attend paper.  In the middle of his route he stopped hearing that soulful voice , he loves this voice since his childhood . She really have beautiful voice just like her father who is classical singer and even Manik used to train under him in his childhood for 5yrs.

Atmosphere was so soothing and her voice was making it enchanting his steps followed his heart and he stopped in front of her house i.e. Agarkar Vada. His eyes roamed around he saw her mother was almost done with colourful Rangoli in front of Tulsi Vrundavan . His eyes kept looking for the person behind this voice .

"Good morning Manik " after completing her Rangoli Indu looked at Manik and greeted him with sweet smile .

"Good morning Mami" he said with very small smile.

"Umm u r here , in the morning?" She questioned because he doesn't visit them regularly though he had visited them yesterday but that was also a rare moment.

"Actually I am going to college ..... I saw u so thought of greeting you " he answered politely but inside his mind was restless.

"Ohh it's good ...... Had ur breakfast ?" She asked concernly nd he nodded no .

"I have a exam today ...... So after that I will eat " he said , it's his habit, he don't do breakfast during exams . He just eats 2 peanut laddoos everyday.

"It's very bad habit ...... Now come inside I will make a tea " she said hurriedly .

"I don't drink tea " he said the truth . He heard chiming sound of anklets, he looked more keenly nd saw Angel coming near them with Aarati Thaal in her hands , she was looking very beautiful in white cotton dress with freshly washed, half dried nd neatly combed open hair. Her face was glowing under the fresh sun rays directly falling on to her flawless face , she was busy doing her stuff unknown to his presence who was observing her each nd every detail like her thin gold chain around the neck hiding below her dupatta , that very small kumkum tika between eyebrows , those small gold earrings twinkling on her ears and three-three bangles on each hand.

"Om Surya Devay Namah " she emptied the jar of water on Tulsi plant and offered prayer to Sun . After sensing familiar gaze on her , she turned to side ,nd her eyes met with his for few seconds before he shifted his gaze towards Indu who was admiring her daughter who is not talking with her since last night. Nandini noticed Manik's different dressing, today he was wearing loose shirt and pant , he don't wear dhoti kurta in college .

"Then u should try Nandini's handmade tea ...... She will make tea for us ...... Come fast nd don't say no before going to a important work" after fighting debate with his mind nd heart, he nodded yes and looked at astonished Nandini who was angry at both of them but didn't said no to tea as she don't want to spoil his paper. She just went inside without saying anything .

"She have anger issues" Indu huffed and Manik chuckled knowingly .

"Manik u ?..... Come, sit here son" Gangadhar appreciated Manik's presence . Manik sat near him and they talked about usual stuff in few lines . All the while Manik's mind was thinking about beauty of Nandini , he thought she was looking sexy because of that jeans nd top yesterday but now in that simple white cotton suit too she was looking gorgeous with perfect curves and appropriate amount of flesh . He hated her for cutting her hair till mid back but he can't deny that still he can spend his life inhaling the scent of her fresh , silky smooth hair.

"Mami ...... I shouldn't say this but my Aai used to scold Mukta Taai in childhood for keeping her hair open ..... I mean she used to say it catches evil eye ..... So I am just telling you for Nandini" he said in his curt low tone , off course he cannot take risk with her beauty. If it would have been in his hands he would have made every boy blind with his supernatural powers.

"Thanks for concern but that little brat won't listen to me ..... U don't know ..... She is very stubborn and yesterday only I told her not to wear jeans ..... So now it will be too much for her , she is already not talking with me ..... But still I will try" till the time Nandini came back with four cups of tea . But she was more hotter than tea because of her raising anger , she heard how Manik was filling her mother's ears with his non sense talk . She don't know why he is behaving like jerk .

She served tea to her grandparents and her mother . Then she kept cup near Manik and said "here , ur tea" .

"Nandini tie ur hair with ribbon or make a bun. ..... Don't keep it open " her mother said sternly, and without looking at her Nandini made messy bun of her hair, she is giving silent treatment to her mother but she don't want to disobey her in front of others , she cares for her mother's respect.  She was still looking beautiful in bun with side partition nd small hair strands falling on side of her face . She was acting calm nd sweet as she don't want to spoil his paper but from inside she was burning with anger , she just wanted to throw that hot tea on his handsome face instead of making hair bun .

"Nandu won't u drink tea ?" Her grandfather asked.

"Maids are only allowed to follow orders Aajoba " she taunted her mother .

"Ladubaai , don't say like that u r princess of this house ..... And Sunbaai stay in ur limits " her grandmother cajoled her and warned Indu sternly showing her upper hand in house , that's what mother in law's do. 

"Aajoba , I should go " Manik said after drinking his share of tea. Nandini was little surprised because he never liked tea before , he always drinks raw or boiled milk .

"Why so early ? ...... Stay for a while".

"I have paper to attend in clg ..... So I will take a leave" he said politely and Gangadhar eyed Nandini to take cup from Manik's hand .

"All the best " Gangadhar wished and Nandini came there for that cup .

"Thank you" he said looking into Nandini's eyes for 3 secs nd smiled at Gangadhar . Acknowledging others presence too he left the house hurriedly and smiled brightly, afterall he drank world's best tea today.

Nandini came to kitchen with that cup and that time only she saw it's not empty , he left half of his tea in cup only. Her anger flew away for a while and she drank remaining tea with a small smile making her cheeks red with a hue of blush.

.........................||

"Sunbaai Gudi Padwa is near , hardly a week left for a festival so instead of scolding Nandini , give ur time for cleaning of Vada " Nandini's grandmother Janabaai said sternly .

" Saasubaai I also care for Nandini ..... I just don't want to spoil her , tomorrow she is going to be someone's daughter in law so she should learn how to behave that's why I am trying to teach her manners ..... In fact I will ask her to clean Vada with the help of few women  " Indu explained her motherly concern .

"She is not maid of this house ....... Don't be so harsh on her ...... And don't forget she is ur daughter first , handle her with care , she is different than other girls" Janabaai walked out from there , she loves her Ladubaai too much . Nd vada is very huge almost 20 rooms are there though currently only five people are staying in Vada.

......................||

"Jijaaaa" Nandini barged inside Jija's house .

"Calm down..... Calm down ....... Tell me what ur mother did now?" Jija asked obvious question after making her sit on old wooden khot .

"She made me a maid ..... Look at my dress , my hair ...... And top of that she slapped me last night ...... She don't love me Jija ...... I think I am her step daughter " with this Nandini started crying silently , Jija shook her head in disbelief .

"She is ur mother she cares for u ...... Nd look at urself u still look beautiful in this dress nd this bun looks nice , we can add Gajara (Garland) too " Jija tried to cheer her up .

"No she don't care about me , I know I am her step daughter only ..... She didn't even cared that I wasn't here for two yrs nd it's not even 3 days since I am returned and she already started torturing me ..... If she would have cared for me na then she would have made my favourite food nd instead of scolding she could have handled me with care but no she only loves Dada " this time Nandini started crying loudly , usually she is tough nd understanding but she is sensitive too , small small things hurts her .

"Okay so u don't want Gajara ..... Then it's fine ...... I am not going to make one for you" Jija knew she needs distraction otherwise her self pity drama won't stop in minutes it will take hours.

"Yes yes ..... I want" she wiped her running nose and said hurriedly while sniffing.

.........................||

"Hello Manik " one brunette greeted him enthusiastically in her British accent.

" Hii Claire " Manik too smiled at her politely.

"Can you please help me with this problems of trigonometry ?" She asked for help .

"Yeah show me " he is very intelligent and maths is his favourite subject . He is going for specialisation in mathematics .

He started explaining her in his Indian English accent , he is very good at teaching and everyone from his class knew that . Claire always have liked this handsome, calm, polite nd intelligent man . No matter what he wears but he always gains attention of people for his looks with rough muscular body . Many girls are crazy for him but mostly foreigners because Indian girls are too shy to accept their liking towards any boy . Ferguson college always have been international College since it was started by Deccan Society Of Education in 1885.

"Thank you Manik" she smiled dreamily nd he hmmed in response . Then he left in search of his classroom for today's paper.

..................||

"Why she is so grumpy ? ...... What happened last night? " Manju whispered in Jija's ears when they were plucking Aboli flowers (firecracker flower) to make Gajara for Nandini. Jija and she came out of Jija's house to search flowers for Gajra , they also went to Manju's house and after hearing few curses from Manju's grandmother she joined Nandini nd Jija . Now they are plucking flowers , Nandini is little away from them so Jija explained everything to Manju.

"What ??? ...... Manik Dada did this ?" Manju screamed shockingly after hearing whole story. Nandini's mother's nature was obvious to her but Manik's deeds shocked her , she knew he is strict since childhood but she never expect him to behave like a bitch .

"What?" Nandini turned to them and raised her eyebrows.

"Jija told me everything ...... And Nandini how u can be okay with Manik Dada ? " She asked surprisingly because Nandini is very rebellious kid .

"I am angry on him but what I could have done he was going for exam nd u know he is very serious about his studies ..... That's the only thing which I can't mess in his life otherwise he will kill me " she said horribly.

"Haan u r right ...... Gopu told us that Manik Dada was sad for weeks when he came 2nd nd not first in college in his 12th " Nandini smiled sadly at the given information nd then she remembered how he got to know that  she will stay at her Aatya's house for two years after her 10th exams nd unfortunately that time Manik's 12th board exams were going on.

"I don't understand one thing ,Nandu ..... Why he is behaving like this with u ...... U guys were okay before , not so friendly nor enemies " Jija asked suspiciously.

"Umm I don't know" she shrugged her shoulders and pouted . They sat there on biggest rock and started making Gajara . Nandini was also thinking why Manik is behaving like this , they were never so friendly in last 10 yrs but still there was peaceful comfort between them. He used to stare at her whenever she was in front of him nd she used to hide her smile, lowering her eyes. She used to barged inside his house in the name of Gopu but she never returned back before taking glance of Manik.

"We r looking beautiful " Manju praised themselves after fixing Gajara on each other's hair . Jija nd Manju's hair are long so they tied Gajara around their braided hair nd Nandini tied Gajara around her loose bun .

"We r smelling beautiful too " Jija said nd they chuckled a little.

"Girls let's go " Nandini stood up from her place and said .

"Where??"

"To Ferguson college" Nandini smirked and girls nodded knowing meaning behind her smirk .

They started riding their own bicycle towards Deccan. Nandini is banned for bike riding so she cleaned her old bicycle in the morning. Three of them belongs to wealthy nd well educated Brahmin families.

...................||

"Manik thank you ..... thank you.... thank you so much " Claire danced happily after coming back from exam hall.  Fortunately questions related to trigonometry was for 15 Marks and she could solve them because Manik had explained that pattern for one hour in the morning to her .

"It's okay ..... It's nothing. ...... U have solved ur paper nd not me " he being modest didn't took credit.

"It's nothing for u but it was everything for me ...... I am very bad at mathematics that I was fearing for passing marks but now I am relaxed " she exaggerated but she said truth nd not only her but many students don't like mathematics that much . Less amount of people takes mathematics for specialisation while studying in Arts faculty .

"It's fine u will get good marks ..... Don't worry" he assured her calmly . He is very reserved , he don't like to talk much nd his colleagues only talks with him for topics related to study because he don't give attention to other things.

"I like you Manik " she placed her thin pink lips on his rough ,fair cheek for few seconds, catching him off guard . He was very nervous nd he didn't liked it very much because it was very very very small thing for Claire but it was very big thing for a Indian man . He knew she is sweet girl to be with nd it's casual for her to kiss his cheek out of affection but it's not his thing nd he didn't gave right to touch him to anyone except one . Before he could react they heard scream of his name .

"Manikkkk" Claire saw a beautiful , Indian , short heightened 5'2 feet girl dressed in white cotton suit, fuming in the anger nd furiously glaring at the man standing next to her.

...................... The End ..................||

Let me know if you found any mistake.

How was the chap?
(Sry for delay)

.................. Aish ❣️ ................