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ramayantika · 1 year

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Braj ki Holi (Ch-5)

//Ch-4// //Masterlist//

The next morning Dau decided to take all of us to Vishram ghat in Mathura. Our train was in the evening at around 7pm and Mathura was barely half an hour away so we agreed to visit a few more temples and ghats.

All the girls decided to wear ethnic today, and I was glad that I had packed some nice ones to wear. My mother had packed a maroon chikankari kurti for me and lent me a beautiful pair of silver jhumke from her collection. She had also asked me to send her photographs in this dress.

"Yaar koi dori bandh do mera mera bhagya kahan hai ki koyi cute sa ladka bandh de mere liye," I heard Bhumi who was trying to tie the threads of her backless kurti in front of the mirror.

Subhadra laughed and helped my sister to tie those threads while commenting, "Arey didi itna rona nahi lago kya pata koi ladka aaj mil jaye?" Radhika who was combing her hair joined in too, saying, "Ekdum apsara jaisi sundarta leki padhari hai humari Bhumi ladkon ka dil phisla degi."

Bhumi giggled and applied perfume to her arms and then looked at herself in the mirror. "Tumhe koi haq nahi banta ki tum itni khubsurat lago. Not fair!"

I facepalmed and pulled her away from the mirror. "Okay Bhumi ji, now let others use the mirror too. Hume bhi khubsurat lagna hai."

Bhumi sat on the bed and began scrolling on her phone. Radhika was braiding her hair while Subhadra was playing with the beads on her beaded kurti. I applied a thick stroke of my kajal on my eyes and after feeling satisfied with the length and thickness of the kohl, I announced, "Okay, I am done. All ready."

"Whoa!" All the girls exclaimed. "Your eyes look stunning in kajal. You should wear it often," Subhadra commented. "Kanha bhaiya would get lost in your eyes for sure." This earned her a smack on her shoulder from Radhika.

Radhika walked over to me and moved her fingers in a circle around my face. "Like those typical indian tv serial vali mummy, tujhe kisiki nazar na lage."

"Jaa meri Bhaishmi jaa ab inn aakhon se aankhon ki gustakhiyan khel."

Adjusting my dupatta over my shoulder, I rolled my eyes at Bhumi who shrugged her shoulders and pushed me outside the room, making me collide with someone.

"Bhumi, what are you…" Thank you Bhumi! "I am so sorry Krishna, Bhumi pushed me and I had no idea that you would be walking here."

Subhadra's words indeed came true and I was struck with the realization that Krishna was holding me by my shoulders, his face leaning a little dangerously close to mine in front of everyone.

"Not in front of my lipstick, you two!" Radhika's words brought Krishna out of my kohl lined eyes.

I took a step back and adjusted my dupatta again, a brilliant way to hide my blushy face.

"Uh.. No I- not that, we won't… God, Bhaishmi, your eyes look angelic in kajal. Had you walked over to my seat on the train with kajal in your eyes, I would have proposed to you there itself."

Radhika, Subhadra and Bhumi smirked. My devious sister pretended to clear her throat and motioned the others to walk with her. "Generous of us to offer you guys some privacy. Bhaishmi, I need details."

"Ghanta details." I looked at Krishna who was back to smiling amusedly at me. "Chalo sab mandir."

****

It was 2.30pm and all of us decided to have lunch and visit the Vishram ghat after which we would head back to kaki's house and leave for the train station.

The ghat was usually crowded in the evening where tourists as well as locals gathered together to witness the yamuna aarti. Sadly, we couldn't stay that long to see the aarti, so we decided to enjoy the sight of the river and take a look at the various shrines built on the ghat.

The ghat looked quite empty in the afternoon. We could see some of the priests and a few devotees here and there. The boats were aligned together on the river and tied to one of the posts.

"There's our Vrindavan," Radhika pointed towards a distant mass of hills and trees visible from the ghat.

I saw Ranvit staring at that location for a long time. He then said, "I love how Vrindavan and Mathura have still kept their history and culture together while moving forward with time. Here are various ghats and temples constructed by so many saints and kings in history; so many folklores and tales connected to each and every corner of every street. Even though we live in the twenty-first century, a part of the old times still resides here. Call me crazy, but I can still feel that maybe once we turn a corner, a portal will open and we all will be with Krishna and his sakhas." He paused and sighed, "This holiday will be the most memorable holiday in my life."

Arjun then spoke up. "This was my first time in Vrindavan too, and I feel blessed to come here. Somehow connecting to our roots grants a different sense of happiness. I don't think I have the right words to describe what I feel, but I feel that this place has changed something in me."

Arjun was right. This place, this little vacation did change something inside me too. I met some amazing people and bonded with them; celebrated a festival together and created so many lovely memories that I will look back on in the future.

Heck, I feel like Naina from Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani as I write this. Now in the movie, Bunny and Naina got together, but does this story have the same ending?

Subhadra gave a side hug to Bhumi. "You all don't make me cry, okay. Bhumi, Bhaishmi and Ranvit… I am going to miss you all so much. Be in touch or I will spam all your inboxes."

I saw Radhika looking at Krishna, their eyes having a silent conversation on their own. Her hand gently patted his shoulder.

"I agree with my little sister. I never expected to have such a wonderful Holi celebration. All of this feels straight out of a book or a movie you know but I am glad I met you guys," Dau said.

"Are we going to stay here the entire time? We need to head back and drop them off at the station too."

Thanks for reminding me Krishna about that!

The journey back to kaki's house was no longer filled with us talking about how special this trip was or if we were going to miss each other or not. Radhika and Krishna had decided to cheer up everyone with a playful banter and soon we all were laughing until our stomachs ached.

We reached kaki's house in an hour. Everyone rushed out of the car except me and Krishna. I wanted time to slow down by a few hours just to spend some more time with him, thus I walked excruciatingly slow while passing occasional glances at Krishna.

"Okay, I am going to regret this if I don't do it now and let you go." This was the last thing I heard before Krishna pulled my wrist towards him and led me towards a secluded wall.

Pressing his forehead against mine, he murmured, "Do you want this too? For the first and maybe the last time I think?"

"Do it, Krishna."

And at last, I was closer to his lips than his flute had ever been. Both of us let our yearning out for each other, not caring even once about the consequences. His lips were soft like rose petals and he kissed me as passionately as he played his flute.

And we slowly moved away from each other after what seemed like eternity. We smiled at each other, and his arm moved around my waist, bringing me close to him.

"You know the next time I look up at the stars, I will always be reminded of you, Krishna," I told him as I hugged him for one last time.

His fingers played with my hair, delicately brushing them over my hair. "And why so?"

"The first time I saw you, it was your eyes that drew me in. They always shine with happiness and love for each and everything that exists in this world." Pressing a soft kiss to his cheek, I added, "And we have met like two stars too; coming close for a while and then moving away to our respective paths ahead."

I could feel him smile and his arms embraced me tighter. A very funny feeling arose in my chest. Warmth seeped inside my body, the more I stayed in Krishna's embrace. I felt the heaviness in my heart at the prospect of leaving this place and him, but there was peace and understanding too. I could feel my stomach do somersaults yet there was a calming effect too.

Are there any specific words to describe this feeling?

"Bhaishmi, where are you? Kaka and Kaki are calling." Thank you, Ranvit. I love you so freaking much!

The warmth that had enveloped my being had escaped back to nature, as I felt Krishna move a step back from me.

The end, isn't it?

****

Bhumi was on the phone with my maasi who had once again taken up the role of cautioning sixteen year olds to not accept any food from strangers on the train.

God, how would she react when we would tell her about our little adventure. Now, dear reader, it's obvious that we all lied to our parents that we were at the hotel and not with a group of teenagers

"Tum sab badme parivar ke sath aana bachon samjhe?" Yashodhara kaki wiped a lone tear with the end of her pallu.

Nanda kaka was busy settling all our luggages near our seats. I saw him smile and shake his head at kaki but I could make out that he too felt a little sad with us leaving. Strange, how people take up spaces in other people's hearts when they have met only for a short amount of time?

Bhumi was munching on those tasteless, saltless yellow Lays chips causing me and Ranvit to grimace. Dau was inside with kaka and Krishna was on the platform, standing silently.

Radhika's gaze often switched between the two of us. Subhadra being the clever girl she is, cleverly asked everyone to get inside the train after sending Dau out to get some more snacks for us, leaving two people behind at the train compartment's gate.

Reader, you must know who they are?

"Goodness, my sister is far more clever than me," muttered Krishna.

I looked at Subhadra's retreating figure as she walked to my seat. God, just a few days ago only we were on the train meeting each other the first time and now it was time to go back. Soon. This was ending too soon.

I think when we leave a place we leave behind some part of ourselves there and carry bits of the places in us while leaving for the next destination. I was taking away some scenic sites, fun memories, amazing friends, beautiful flute tunes that would always find a way to enter my dreams and sweet memories of a very pretty boy.

The train was to leave the station in ten minutes and Krishna and I weren't speaking a word. Our fingers would fiddle around each other, with our lips trying desperately to conceal the words of our hearts.

But finally, Universe being the master conspirator, conspired against every bodily function and made me speak the sentence.

"I am going to love you, Krishna."

His eyes met mine and he held my gaze for a very long time. His eyes that had lost their shine for a few moments back there on the platform were twinkling again just like my favourite stars adorning the night sky.

Sometimes we don't need to have those forever kind of love stories. Love can be found in small moments of time too and maybe you may choose other things or some other person later in life, you are still going to house that love in your heart forever. I think people might not be forever, but love is.

And I was going to nurse this beautiful plant of love forever. These four to five days with him were going to be some wonderful memories inside my heart.

But indeed was it love? We only met for a few days. You can love people for the briefest of moments too. Love is a very mysterious but beautiful language of the Universe that connects your heartstrings to many people. Popularly, love might always mean romance and relationships, but one must never forget the love that exists in friends, amidst nature and quiet places that exist to tell you little secrets of life.

I was going to love Subhadra, Dau, Arjun, Radhika, Kaka and Kaki too. I was going to love this blissful experience of Vrindavan and Mathura. There was love flowing in the breeze when Krishna and I talked by the Yamuna river. The stars that I saw with him on the terrace the night before and the darkness that welcomed my eyes after sleep embraced me as my head rested on his shoulders spoke of that love.

This little bud of love had blossomed into a lotus inside me. And, Krishna understood everything that I have written here because…

"I am going to love you too, Bhaishmi."

Kaka, Kaki, Dau, Subhadra and Radhika came back to the gate and stepped down on the platform one by one. Krishna was the last one to move down, but he did not leave my hand after giving me a very precious object.

He left his peacock chain from his flute in my fingers. Those beautiful lips curled upwards for one last time and I committed his smile to my memory, and those starry eyes once again promised: I am going to love you, Bhaishmi.

"Goodbye, Krishna."

"No. See you soon, Bhaishmi."

Kaki waved at us and I felt Ranvit's hand over my shoulder. I stood near the gate until the others on the platform were reduced to a dot in my vision until I could no longer see the platform, with Krishna's sweet voice ringing inside my ears.

"See you soon…"

*****

Hello! It is 12.36am with machhar attacking me from all sides but I managed to write this fic nevertheless.

Wait wait wait I completed this fic??? I had started this out before my board exams maybe somewhere in April after I posted about a fic I had wrote somewhere half way about meeting Krishna on a train and some people told me to post it here. I changed a lot of things here though that what I had originally written before.

Also the last section of the fic, I would love to hear your thoughts about it. And worry not, we are going to have an epilogue. Picture abhi bhi bali hai mere dost!

Also, I would love to hear your thoughts about the ending. What were you expecting? Was it good or you wanted something else. Everything!

Anyway, I should go to sleep now. And god I am going to miss these characters. I hope you guys miss them too. Bhaishmi and everyone will always be here on this blog.

Okay so tagging people for one last time here for this fic:

@ma-douce-souffrance @lil-stark @jessbeinme15 @inexhaustible-sources-of-magic @pokemon-master-elita @manwalaage @phoenix666stuff @itsfookingloosah @riiddhhiii