Siddhant's POV

"What? You are a Hindu?"

My jaws dropped registering her statement. Two months were gone! Does she even know what she did to me in these two months without her knowledge? And now she is acknowledging me with this awesome fact. Ridiculous.

"Yeah....so what? Why are you behaving so weird? Even you are a Hindu. We worship the same God." She said with devotion in her voice.

I banged my head on the table.
"I always knew how my name could deceive people. But how could your name do so?"

She winced, "What?"

"What do you mean by what? Your name - I though you were a Muslim just like me."
I snorted.

Her eyes were wide open like she got some shock therapy. She wasn't moving.

"Oh my God, and you planned your lala land with me...how could I be so stupid? I never asked your last name." Her hands flew to her mouth."Couldn't you remind me idiot?" She jerked angrily.

I knew she was crazy. But she was more than crazy. How the hell could I know what she was cooking inside her tiny little head?

"Siddhant Qureshi." I extended my hand and corrected her misconception. "Mind you, I never planned any lala or gaga land with you. I have my own land and I am happy with that."
Well, the my dumb version had already planned a happily ever after land with her until her name broke it into pieces.

"Ruhanna Goswami." She extended her hand and we shook hands for the second time.

"This intro should have taken place two months back." I said realising the condition of my heart. Certainly, a pretty bad condition.

"Will that change anything now?" She asked so innocently that I felt like engulfing her in my arms in affection.

"My feelings for you." I mumbled to myself.

Damn! I wish I could eat my words.

"Huh?" She tucked her hair behind her ear as to hear me to loud and clear. 

"I mean nothing will change. Friendship doesn't watch religion."

"Right. But love does." She said, taking her eyes away from mine. There was something stopping her. I don't know what it was. "Luckily, we are not into this lovey dovey stuff. We are friends." She gave a victory sign raising two fingers.

We weren't the ones who frequently talked with each other. Some hi and hellos, smile exchanges, eye contacts - that was all for me to start liking her. I was an idiot. A big time idiot. I even dreamt about proposing her one day and now, all of a sudden, it is disclosed that she is a Hindu. I knew my parents were a bunch of crazy people to endow me with a Hindu name. It often confused people. As my parents had inter caste marriage, my mom being a Hindu gave me the name Siddhant. Though I liked my name but during these times I disgusted it for confusing beautiful girls like Ruhanna and ruining my almost about to start love life.
Mom didn't you get any other name?

Okay lets consider my Mom to be blameless for a minute. What about her parents? Like seriously? How could they name her Ruhanna, for God's sake!

"History behind your name please. You know this is not a normal name for a Brahmin girl like you?"

"How did you know I am a Brahmin?"

"Oh please! I have a thing called called general awareness."

She smiled sweetly. "Anyway, coming to my history now, my parents are over dramatic specially my mother. She worships SRK." Ruhanna sighed.
"Her best friend's name was Ruhanna, and she passed away the day I was born. So my mother decided to pay tribute to her bestfriend by passing the name to her daughter. As if that would resurrect Aunt Ruhanna!"

I laughed out clutching my stomach. I couldn't stop my laughter. I really needed to meet her mother and get an autograph.

"Stop laughing." She sneered. "My dad opposed her decision actually, as he is a devoted brahmin. But my mom was too stubborn. She decided to go on a hunger strike. Poor dad! I feel sorry for him at times." She expressed pity in her voice. So much pity that even I felt sorry for that person. "What about your history?" She chuckled.

"My mom is a Hindu. Intercaste marriage you know. So she gave me this name."

She nodded. "Oh! I was expecting more."

"Like?"

"Some drama."

"Alas! I am born in a very robotic family."

"And I am born in funny family."

I laughed aloud.
"I really like you. You are funny."

"Don't cross the like." She said as if knowing what was going inside my head. "Oh god I am late for the class. I need to leave. See you." She adieu me and ran out of the canteen pushing everybody on her way. This girl is really something.

Laying on my bed with the book over my face, I was thinking what the world would have been like without religion. So peaceful isn't it? Every war, every hatred, every rivalry in history took place because of religion. I wish we could simply worship mother earth instead of all the Gods. At least people like me could fall in love with the one they chose to.

Pity me, one day I will die single like this and then I shall write a book depicting my woes and cries.
Or maybe join the army, if I can't marry the one I love. I wasn't the romeo kinda guy who could die for his love, but maybe fighting or dying for my country would be worthwhile.

"Siddhant, your call."
My mother shouted waking me up from these wild thoughts.

"Who is it Ammi?"

She passed me a ferocious look.
"Some girl."
No girl ever called me up like this. I hoped it wasn't her.

Shit!
Landline phone. Yea, India wasn't so upgraded for people like me to own a cell phone in the 2000's. Whereas now, even babies play with iPhone. Generation change!

"Hello." I sounded like a purring cat.
My mother was watching me by the corner of her eyes.

"Hello Siddhant. It's me!! Ruhanna." She screeched over the phone.

I slightly moved the phone away from my ear to prevent myself from further ear damage."Yea yea.." I tried to sound uninterested as my mom was standing right beside me.

"I got your number from Anuraag ha, don't mind. Actually, I had called you to invite you to my birthday party. Tomorrow sharply at 3 p.m. at my place. And don't forget to bring a gift. A good one."

Like seriously, how shameless she is!! She is demanding me a gift? I felt awkward to ask for a birthday gift even from my parents.

"Okay. But I don't know the address" I said and my mother stared at me with boggling eyes.

"Ask Anuraag. I don't have the time to explain it now."

My mother's eyes were glued on me.
I realised what was cooking inside her head so I replied,
"Sure. I shall post the book to the referred address."

"Book? What book?" She sounded confused.

"Bye."

I cut the call immediately and walked straight to my room, without looking left or right. I wrapped myself in the blanket so that my mother won't investigate about who this girl was or how she got my number. It is rather a big shame that being a college student I was scared of my mom like a nursery student. She was like Obama and I was her little Osama.

She asked me for a gift. And I never bought any gift for a girl ever in my life. I thought girls liked only barbies and teddy bears. Literally, all of them liked pink teddies and Barbies as I saw in the movies. Now, I wasn't the one who would walk to a shop, select a pink Teddy bear and say to the shopkeeper "Wrap it up." That wasn't me. I found it too cheesy.

Maybe they liked ....ahh what??? I had no idea. I wish I had a sister who could suggest me with something. As far as I knew my younger brother, Jaaiz had a girlfriend though he never gave a hint to mom about that.

I went to his room. He was busy writing some essay or I may say some stupid love letter filled with lies.

I cloaked a cough.

He instantly flipped the page and turned to me.

"You should knock?" He sounded like some arrogant little punk. I forgot, he was exactly one - my opposite.

"You aren't the President for me to knock." I bluntly replied."So, love letter huh?" I teased him.

"Hey! stop peeping into my stuff like this. It is an essay on woman empowerment." He sounded so honest that I wanted to lay down on the floor straight to touch his feet.

"Yeah, your kind of empowerment."
I rolled my eyes in disgust. "I need a help."

"I told you one day you will come begging to my door for help." He confessed as an evil grin crept across his face. "Just never knew that day will be here so soon."

"What kind of stuff do girls like besides pink Teddy bears?" I squirted trying not to make fun of myself.

"Just cut the crap okay?"

"Fine."

"What kind of gift do girls like?"

He wiggled his brows.

"Girlfriend?"

"No, friend."

"Yea, you can't have a girlfriend as long as Ammi has your back." He gave a sarcastic laugh.

"Can't you just simply answer!!!" I shouted irritatedly.

"Okay it depends on what kind of a girl she is. If she is a touch me not plant type, go for pink teddy bears. If she is the rowdy type, go for some workout CD's or strong perfumes." He said as he gazed at me in suspect.

"Okay. I got it."

We weren't the 'Karan Arjun' kind of brothers, sacrificing our lives for each other. Yes, there was some brotherly love, but all these melodramatic stuff was never a part of my family.

Now surely, she wasn't a touch me not plant type girl. I knew what to gift her. And regarding her invitation, I could lie about having tuitions from 3:00 p.m.
Damn! I was compelled to lie to my mother because of a girl.

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A/N

Finally, Siddhant is here in front of you. I really like him a lot. Such a decent and mama's boy he is. Can he really extinguish the fire in his heart for Ruhanna or he will end up doing something terrible?

Anyways, if you guys want Siddhant's POV in the next chapter, do let me know. Otherwise I shall go for Ruhanna's.