SECTION II 

The Darjeeling Diaries 

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Hello friends, I'm back with another update. This section will deal with Samaina's memories of their Darjeeling trip. The timelines are all in the past as compared to the previous updates. Do vote and comment if you like it. Just a disclaimer- I've never actually been to Darjeeling, so kindly forgive any errors I make in this story. 

And as always, eternally grateful to all the love my wonderful readers show my writing. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Part 5: The First Train Journey 

Saturday, 17th July, 1993

Sameer was waiting for Naina at the platform. It was already 6am and Naina was nowhere to be seen. Did her family create some issues again? Sameer was getting anxious now. It had been with great difficulty they had managed to convince Naina's family to send her away to a far-off place like Darjeeling. Sameer knew the fact that Naina had been selected to represent her college in the Inter-College Literature Festival, would not be cogent enough for her Taiji and father. It had taken a lot of persuasion on Sameer's part to convince Naina to tell her family that if she won, she would receive a cash prize of 5,000 rupees. Naina did not like Sameer spending or in her words, wasting his hard-earned money. Yes, it was known to only Naina and Nanu, that Sameer was juggling a whole lot of things at once. From spending time in studies, to romancing Naina to learning about their family run business from Nanu- Sameer had been doing it all for the past three years.

"Sameer, 5000 rupaiy kuch kam hote hain kya? Tumhari mehnat ki kamai hai. Tumhari pehli kamai hai, aur Nanaji se aise paise lena acha lagta hai kya? Nahi koi aur idea socho," Naina argued.

"Arey trust me Naina, yahi idea kaam karega," Sameer said. Growing up all alone in hostel since childhood, he'd seen a lot of the real world. He knew exactly which strings to pull for different people to get his work done. As predicted by Sameer, as soon as Naina's greedy Taiji and father heard about the prize money, they immediately agreed to send her off to Darjeeling. Sameer though, had taken it upon himself to inform Arjun and Preeti personally. Arjun had been slightly wary, though by now he trusted Sameer. In the end, he too agreed on one condition that Sameer would keep him informed about their whereabouts every now and then.

Sameer looked at his watch for the umpteenth time. Finally he saw her panting over to the platform, Arjun on her heels carrying her suitcase.

"Nainaa, kahan reh gayi thi? Meri to jaan hi nikal gayi thi," Sameer blurted out.

"Sameerrr...sorry sorry late ho gaya. Wo Taiji aur papa, upar se itna bada lecture subah subah. Ye mat karna, wo mat karna," panted Naina, trying to catch her breath.

"Koi nahi, koi nahi...chalo train chalne me sirf 15 minute bache hain," said Sameer, as he and Arjun took their luggage up to their berths. Naina settled herself inside the train, as Arjun and Sameer came down to talk.

"Sameer, wo papa aa rahe the chodne. Tumhe dekh lete to bawaal ho jaata. Inform kaise karte tumhein. Badi mushkil se unhe convince kar ke ghar bithaya aur main aaya Naina ko chodne," explained Arjun.

Sameer now understood the real reason behind the delay.

"Dhyan rakhna Naina ka please. Aur kuch bhi ulta seedha nahi, samjhe? Nahi toh...jaan hai wo meri," warned Arjun.

"Meri bhi," replied Sameer, "tum chinta mat karo Arjun. Main koi hadh paar nahi hone dunga. Aur haan main tumhe phone karta rahunga. Mujh par bharosa rakho!" Arjun hugged Sameer as Sameer got onto the train, for what was to be his and Naina's first train journey together.

At that moment, the horn blew and the train started to chug along. Soon, they rushed out of Ahemdabad, onto the outskirts and then across the green pastures. It was the mid of July and the monsoon season had crept in. The sky was cloudy and the whiff of morning air through the windows was fresh. Sameer had settled himself besides Naina, who was enjoying the view from the window.

"Naina, aaj pehli baar hum dono bilkul akele hain ek saath...na dost, na parivaar...bas hum dono aur ye suhana mausam," said Sameer excitedly.

Naina smiled and nodded. "Mt. Abu trip ki yaad aa gayi. Matlab wahan bhi itne akele nahi the...," the words escaped Sameer's mouth and he saw Naina's smile falter.

Mt. Abu trip had been their first journey together, away from home. It had been the most special trip of each of their lives till then. For Sameer, he had fallen in love with Naina there. For Naina too, it was the time they had first said those three magical words to each other, and stayed in each other's arms in that chilly night, besides the campfire. But then the trip had ended on a bad note. Naina had got to know about Sameer's bet before he could bring himself to tell her the truth. The result had been weeks of pain, tears, separation, hurt and loneliness.

Sameer noticed the change in Naina's demeanour and immediately his hand crept over Naina's. She knew- his eyes told her, how much he himself regretted what happened in the past. How could someone change so much, change in love, thought Naina as she pressed his fingers in reassurance. They smiled again and soon became engrossed in the chit-chat and the scenery outside.

Sameer had brought two cups of tea from the train vendor when the train stopped for a few minutes at a small junction. Naina pulled out a package from her bag. She unwrapped the aluminium foil and to Sameer's delight, he saw his favourite food inside.

"Wow Naina, aloo ke paranthe? Thank you so much yaar! Bela chachi ne subah subah banaye? Waah," Sameer exclaimed enthusiastically. And then he added after a momentary pause, "kaash mere liye bhi koi aisa karta, par mom ko toh yahan aane ki fursat kabhi kabhi hi milti hai." There was a tinge of regret in his voice.

"Main hun na tumhare liye. Ye maine hi subah subah banaye hain. Mujhe pata hai ye tumhare favourite hain," Naina responded smilingly.

Sameer looked at her, touched. She always did things for him, even before he expected them out of her; actually she did much more than he could ever expect.

"Tumhare bhi to favourite hain!" he replied softly and then added with a wink, "kal raat ko tinde banana theek hai?" Naina laughed, as Sameer offered the first bite to her.

Naina too started feeding him. Soon they finished all the paranthas and Sameer sat licking his fingers. "Mmm, matlab shaadi ke baad mujhe khana pakane ki zarurat nahi," he said.

"Tumhe khana pakana aata bhi hai?" Naina mocked.

"Seekh lunga, usme kya badi baat hai?" Sameer retorted defensively, as he took the last swig of his tea.

"Acha ye chai kaise banti hai?" Naina enquired. "Wo...wo...Ramdhari banata to hai Nanu ke liye adrak daal ke...masala chai!" Sameer tried to recall.

Naina giggled again, "tut...tut...Koi nahi, sikha dungi kabhi. Fir Nanu ko apne haath ki chai pila ke surprise karna!"

"Haan haan, main vaise bhi bahot talented hun. Ek baar bas seekh jaun, fir dekhna na tumse behtar hi na banaun toh? Aur khana to aisa banaunga ki khane ke sath ungliyaan bhi kha jaogi," Sameer replied cockily.

"Wo to aur bhi acha hai. Fir toh shaadi ke baad tum hi banaya karna khana," Naina laughed as Sameer winked, "Joru ka ghulam bana rahi ho abhi se hi, khair aapka hukm sar aankhon par."

A sophisticated, elderly couple was sitting on the seat in front of them, with a young girl, about three to four years old, playing on their lap.

"Sneha, nahi beta, bhaiya ko tang nahi karte," the elderly lady reprimanded softly as Sneha started climbing on to the opposite berth and started pulling Sameer's hair softly. She seemed to be intrigued by his long hair.

"Arey koi nai aunty, tang kahan kar rahi hai? Mujhe to chote bacche bahot pasand hain," Sameer spoke, as he pulled Sneha up in his arms and seated her next to him. "Sneha, bahot acha naam hai aapka toh! Baal ache hain na mere?" Sameer asked, as Naina rolled her eyes, giggling at him.

"Ye hamari naatin hai, Sneha. Garmi ki chuttiyaan huyi to ise apne saath apne ghar Ahemdabad le aaye. Hamari beti aur damaad ko chutti nahi milti zyada. Ab iska school shuru hone wala hai to iske ghar Calcutta chodne jaa rahe hain. Kuch din hum bhi wahin bacchon ke saath reh lenge," the lady explained happily, as her husband took off his glasses and folded the newspaper he'd been reading. Sameer and Naina nodded as Naina too started chatting with Sneha.

After a while, the old lady smiled and asked, "Love?" pointing fingers at both Naina and Sameer. Naina and Sameer blushed and nodded.

"Shaadi ho gayi?" she asked again. "Abhi tak to nahi, lekin aap aashirwaad denge to jaldi hi ho jayegi." Sameer grinned.

Soon, the couple was talking animatedly with Sameer and Naina, with Sneha shuttling her attention between Sameer-Naina and her Nana-Nani.

"Tum dono ko dekh ke hamare jawani ke din yaad aa gaye, kyun Sunita? Tum bhi to aise hi chup-chup ke mere liye khana bana ke laati thi, jab main factory me kaam karta tha aur bhukha rehta tha?" Mr. Devsharan looked at his wife. She laughed and nodded. Soon, the couple were reminiscing about their youth and listening to Sameer and Naina's love story.

It had become a little cold by the time night fell. Naina had taken out her blanket from her bag and was sharing half of it with Sameer. Well another purpose of the blanket was for the two to hold hands secretly, without catching the attention of anyone, especially the elderly couple in front of them. They managed to do so successfully.

Soon, all dozed off, but sleep had ditched both Sameer and Naina. It was the first time they were alone on a train, snuggled upto each other, their fingers entwining and playing with the other's under the blanket. The night seemed magical as the train rattled on from station to station, sometimes over darkened countrysides and sometimes through well-lit towns. Naina noticed Sameer's eyes on her. He had been silently gazing at her for long. He smiled as she turned to look at him. His eyes darted around the compartment. Making sure they were the only ones up, he slowly pulled her closer to himself. Sameer leaned towards her as he closed his eyes. Naina blushed and trembled, knowing very well Sameer wanted to take advantage of the darkness around and give rise to their first kiss.

Naina had noticed Sameer's umpteen attempts to kiss her over the past two years. And everytime Naina had either acted innocent, or remembered something urgent or pulled his thoughts into some other direction. The truth was Naina had herself wanted to kiss him everytime he had, and many other times as well. But she'd been too shy. And also, Naina's mind would give her warning signals- not now Naina. You should wait. You aren't married as yet. It's not right. Tum dono jawan ho! But today her mind was on a break along with her. Naina too closed her eyes and leaned towards him. The lips had hardly grazed each other's when the train suddenly screeched to a halt. The sound awakened the elderly couple as well as the couple about to kiss in front of them. Naina and Sameer immediately pulled away, cursing their luck, yet unable to hide the colour in their cheeks. Mr. and Mrs. Chaudhari probably understood the intentions of the young couple as they tried to hide their smiles. They too instantly averted their eyes as if they hadn't seen them close. Mr. Chaudhari shut his eyes and turned to the other side, while Mrs. Chaudhari patted young Sneha, who had begun to stir again, back to sleep.

It was an hour later when the train started again. By then, a lot of people had woken up and were about, killing Naina and Sameer's mood to steal a few personal moments together. Sameer glanced in irritation whenever someone would cross their coach and then at Naina. She sniggered and muttered, "tut...tut" at another failed attempt of his.

"Koshish jaari rahegi. Abhi to puri trip bachi hai, kabhi to inaam milega," Sameer muttered, loud enough for only her to hear.

Another half an hour later, Sameer lay down and rested his head on Naina's lap as the duo chatted for the rest of the night, and listened to songs together on Sameer's Walkman.

"I Love You Naina," he whispered before he fell asleep on her lap. "I Love You too Sameer," Naina responded as she lovingly caressed his forehead. And before sleep took over, she planted a soft, loving kiss on his forehead, thanking the Almighty for blessing her with a man like him.

The morning found Naina encased in Sameer's arms inside the blanket, sleeping peacefully, her head nestled against his chest. Sameer's head too was bobbing up and down over her soft hair. The elderly couple smiled and coughed to wake them up before anyone else saw them in each other's arms. Sameer and Naina hastily straightened themselves up and moved to a decent position. Sneha too was up by now and she had resumed jumping on Sameer's lap. Naina adored the duo playing together, thinking what a good father Sameer would be, one day, to their children. 

A day and a half later, Sameer and Naina finally reached their destination- the beautiful city of Darjeeling.