Measurements

We Want Romance Period, Love and Dance Period

We Want Romance Period, Love and Dance Period

Maana Ke College Me Padhana Chahiye

Likhana Chahiye, Padhana Chahiye

Romance Kaa Bhi Ek Lecture Hona Chahiye

Jo Ho Romance Period, Love and Dance Period

Jo Ho Romance Period, Love and Dance Period

The song blared from the tape as the group practiced their dance. Laughter rang out as Pandit stumbled, and Naina squeezed Sameer’s hand, holding her stomach with her other hand, trying to hold her giggles. But Sameer’s attention for once was not fixed on the feel of her hand in his. He was eyeing the papers kept neatly folded near Naina’s bag on the table. They held something he was craving to check out.

Her Measurements.

Was it wrong to be so curious? He couldn’t really even understand why he wanted to check them out. But from the time she had scribbled them down his hands itched to pick up the paper and take a glance. She was his, wasn’t she? So, he should know everything about her.

A tug on his hand diverted his attention. Naina was looking up at him, a puzzled expression on her face, “kya soch rahe ho kabse?”

“Umm… kuch khaas nai”, he lied, his eyes darting to the table again.

Soon they wrapped up their practice, and then they discussed about the costumes. Pandit had mentioned that his father’s friend had a tailoring shop and he could do all their costumes in a short span of time. They had all agreed it was a good plan.

Swati wiped her face with her handkerchief, “to aaj shaam ko hi hum milke aate hai tailor se.”

Sameer grabbed the opportunity, “aree tum log wahan aake kya karogi. Bahot dur hai unki dukan. Hum teeno jaake aayenge na.”

To his relief Munna supported him immediately, “haan, Sameer thik keh raha hai pandat. Tu shaam ko wahan kya karega.”

“Lekin tum log aise kaise hamare kapde bhi silvaoge?”, Naina asked hesitantly.

Sameer tugged at her hand to make her sit, “to usme kya hua? Tumne maap to likh diya hai na, tailor ko bas wahi chahiye hoga. Aur costumes ke photos to hai hi hamare paas.”

The rest of the girls agreed with this plan, except Naina. She resisted for some more time but finally gave in and agreed to let the boys go with all the measurements.

When they were about to leave, she held Sameer back, “kya chal raha hai tumhare dimag me?”

He stared at her, a guilty expression immediately entering his eyes, “kuch bhi to nai? Kyun kya hua?”

“Jhooth mat bolo”, Naina propped her hands on her hips, “mujhe tumhari aankhe padna aata hai. Kuch to shaitaani chal raha hai tumhare dimag me.”

Before Sameer could say anything, a probability hit Naina’s brain, “Sameer! Agar tumne hum ladkiyo ke costumes me kuch aisa waisa kiya na to achcha nai hoga. Hum logo ne decide kiya hai ke hume kya pehenna hai.”

He almost grinned. So, his Naina thought he might modify the girls’ costumes. How to tell her he only had interest in one, and that too not in the costume, but in the body on which the costume would be draped. He controlled his expression, “aree… main bhala kyun aisa karna laga. Tum to hamesha hi mujhpe shak karti ho”, he made a grumpy face, “ek to main itni mehnat kar raha hun tumhara sapna pura karne ke liye aur tum ho ki mujhe pyaar karne ki jagah mujhe daant rahi ho.”

She smiled, “pyaar to hamesha karti hun na.”

“Aise nai”, he took her hand, and pulled her close, “thoda nazdik aake.”

She blushed furiously at that and tried to pull her hand out of his grip, “chodo mujhe, sab intezaar kar rahe honge.”

“Karne do”, he winked at her.

“Sameer…”, she trailed off on seeing the intense expression in his eyes. Her heart thundered, and she didn’t know what to do. Strangely enough she had this sudden urge of flinging her arms around him, and she flushed ever more at her own thoughts.

He eyed the red tinge, “hmmm… abhi to maine kuch kaha bhi nai fir kyun itni laal ho rahi ho? Kya soch rahi ho aisa?”, he waggled his eyebrows mischievously.

Just then Munna returned to look for them, and Sameer left her hand reluctantly, while she struggled to calm her heartbeats and control her blush. They joined the group, and Naina handed over the chits of measurements to him, while he tried to control his expression of elation. The girls left for home, after giving instructions for the 100^th time to the boys about the costumes, and they promised to handle everything properly.

On their way to the tailor’s shop they stopped to have some snacks, and while Munna and Pandit went to the counter to order, Sameer sat in the car, taking the opportunity to sneak out the chit containing Naina’s measurements. It was easily recognizable, because he had cleverly folded a corner of the chit as soon as she had written it down. He opened the chit, his hands shaking, and read the numbers written in neat handwriting. He quickly pulled out his own notebook, tore a page, wrote down exactly what Naina had written and then folded it in a neat chit, keeping it with the others’ measurements to be given to the tailor. He looked at the chit Naina had written one more time, then folded it and kept it in his pocket. He wasn’t giving this chit to anyone.

Later that night, he lay on his stomach on the bed, his chest and chin resting on the pillow, and he was staring at the paper with her measurements. One fingertip traced the number written next to the word waist, and he closed his eyes, recalling the moment when he had once lightly held her waist while dancing. He wanted to do it again, but more firmly this time.

He turned over staring at the ceiling. This wasn’t the first time he had felt like this. Once during their Mt. Abu trip when she had worn jeans, he had been enthralled to see her. It was the first time he was seeing her in jeans, and his eyes had wandered down her figure on their own. He had reprimanded himself for thinking along those lines, he considered her a friend, then how could he look at her like that. If only he had the senses enough to understand that he was already in love with her, he wouldn’t have wasted half the trip in dilemma over his own feelings. She hadn’t worn jeans again after that. He frowned. Okay, there was no opportunity before. But she could wear it now, in college. Why didn’t she? Maybe her family didn’t allow. He sighed recalling Taiji and her moral gyaan. If it would have been allowed, she would have insisted that Naina wear burqa to college.

He looked at the paper again, the chit contained other numbers too. He grinned. His Naina had the perfect measurements, and he longed to explore the curves with his hands. He closed his eyes, and a vision swam before his eyes with a striking clarity. Naina, dressed in body hugging blue jeans with a red top, tiny blue flowers patterned along the v-neckline and edge of sleeves, her hips swaying as she walked towards him. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and he jerked upright breathing heavily. What was that? It wasn’t the first time he had dreamt of her. But this time he was imagining Naina in something he hadn’t ever seen her in. That vibrant red colour looked amazing against her smooth fair skin. He narrowed his eyes. Maybe he could ask Naina to wear red once, he can’t ask her to wear jeans if her family doesn’t allow, but wearing a red dress is possible. With that pleasant thought in mind, he drifted off into dreamland.

Next day, he prepared the few stanzas of his request to Naina, as he dressed himself. He knew her. If she would know that he wanted to see her in red, she would make it happen. He loved how she always tried to fulfil all his wishes. He picked up Munna and Pandit, whistling cheerfully all the way, and they drove to their college. “Yaar aaj to first period hi JBR ka hai”, Pandit grumbled, “mereko to na uss subject ka na sir samajh aata hai na pair.”

“Aye Ponga”, Munna slapped his shoulder, “jeev vigyan me sir aur pair hote hai. Isme to kuch karedit aur dabit samjha raha tha woh.”

Sameer parked the car and they stepped out, “credit aur debit”, he corrected his friend.

“Wahi to bola maine”, Munna countered.

Sameer shook his head and leaned against the car to wait for Naina and the other girls to arrive. Pandit suggested to wait near the stairs leading into the building and they shifted there. Few students were jumping around in joy, and upon asking the reason, they got to know that JBR was not going to come today, so essentially, they had their first lecture free. All of them cheered up at the thought, and Munna danced with Pandit to express his happiness. Sameer laughed, leaning cross-legged and cross-armed against the pillar. Suddenly his attention shifted to the gate, and he felt his breath leaving his lungs in a hard exhale, as if somebody had punched him in the stomach.

The girls were walking towards them, Naina at the extreme right. She was dressed in deep-blue jeans, a bright red v-necked top, that dipped and hugged at the right places. Her hips swayed gently with each step she took, and her open hair flew in the wind. Sameer’s body lost every momentum, his legs turned to jelly, he slid against the pillar, plonking down on the stair with a soft thud. Munna and Pandit stopped dancing to look down at their friend, and on seeing his mouth wide open, they turned to look in the direction he was looking at. Their own mouths opened in an ‘O’ on seeing their Bhabhi. The girls laughed on seeing the boys, and Preeti looked at Naina and winked. Naina grinned winking back at her sister.

As she came closer, Sameer saw that the top indeed had tiny embroidered blue flowers along the neckline and the end of sleeves, just like he had visualized last night. He swallowed. She knelt in-front of him, and he looked at her face, her eyes were lined with kajal, and her lips were shiny. Was she wearing lipstick? His eyes dipped from her face, to the dip of the V of her top, a shiver ran down his spine. Look up Sameer. Now.

“Hi Sameer”, she chirped, and he jerked his eyes back to her face guiltily.

Pandit laughed, “Bhabhi yeh kuch nai bol payega abhi.”

“Haan yaar, achcha hua aaj JBR nai aaya warna Sameer to class me bhi aise hi betha rehta”, Munna joined him in laughing. The other girls sniggered, and Naina felt overwhelmed at his reaction. She had hoped she was looking good, and that Sameer would compliment her, but his speechless state was so much better. She placed a hand over his shoulder and shook him, “Sameer!”

He shuddered, shaking his head, “Naina… t..tum… yeh…”, he stammered, making everyone laugh again. He glared at the others, then stood up and grabbed Naina’s hand pulling her with him. She willingly followed. He took her up the stairs, right up to the second floor, where he knew there were a couple of unused classrooms. He pulled her into one and closed the door.

He turned to her to find her standing with a small smile on her lips. He didn’t go to her, not yet. His eyes roamed over her body, head to toe and back up, lingering at all the places that he now knew the measurements of. God, this girl would drive him crazy someday. How was she wearing the exact same top? Was she a witch formed out of his fantasies? Or maybe an angel who knew what his heart wished? He started to move towards her, one step at a time, his eyes never leaving hers. He knew his eyes must be conveying a multitude of desires. And he saw her beautiful eyes widen, for a moment he thought she would flee, but to his surprise she stood her ground.

When he was within touching distance, he slowly extended his hand, and touched her waist lightly. She shivered, but still didn’t move away. Gratified, he took her other hand in his linking their fingers, and commanded, “dance.”

Puzzled, she took a moment to look at his face properly, but then obeyed. They moved in their practiced rhythm, without any music, but they didn’t need it. “Yeh top kahan se aaya?”, he asked softly.

“Mera hi hai”, she informed surprising him.

He twirled her once, “kal maine tumko isi top me dekha tha.”

She looked up confused, “lekin maine to aaj yeh pehli baar pehna.”

He nodded, “haan. Maine sapne me dekha. Ya fir aisa kaho ke apni kalpana me. Exactly yahi top.”

She took a moment to understand his statement, “kalpana me? Iska matlab tum chahte the ke main jeans pehnu?”

“Haan”, he pulled her closer, “kamaal lagti ho jeans me. Mt. Abu me dekha tha na, tabhi hosh udd gaye the.”

She stopped dancing, and removed her hand from his, surprised at the revelation, “par tab to hum…”, she trailed off unsure how to put forth what she was thinking.

“Gadha tha main”, he shrugged, “sochta tha tumse pyaar nai karta fir kyun tumhe aise dekh raha hun.”

“Kaise dekh rahe the?”, she tilted her head, intrigued.

He shifted even closer, and held her waist with both hands, firmly, “aise jaise main janna chahta hun ke mere chhune pe tumko kaisa mehsoos hoga, aise jaise main samajhna chahta hun ke tumko chhune pe mujhe kya hoga, aise jaise mujhe haq ho yeh pata honeka ke tumhare kamar ka size kya hai.”

She trailed her hand over his arm, “Kya hai size?”

“26”, he muttered immediately. And then his eyes widened as his brain caught up to what he had uttered. He left her waist, and took two steps back, scared of her reaction.

She looked up and smiled, “hmm… kab dekha chit? College se nikalte hi?”

Sameer looked at her shocked. Was she smiling? Or was she going to slap him next? He cleared his throat, “umm… Naina… woh… main to bas aise hi…”

“Jhooth”, she said, still smiling, “tumne aise hi nai dekha. Pehle se sochke rakha tha ke dekhoge”, she walked towards him, “kal dance karte waqt yahi soch rahe the ke kaise dekhoge uss chit me kya likha hai.”

With her each step towards him, he walked backwards, terrified. He knew he had been caught. How? “Isiliye tumne mere likhe hue chit ka ek kona fold kar diya tha, haina”, Naina continued detailing out his actions, “aur isiliye hum ladkiyo ko bhi tailor ke paas aane se mana kar diya.”

He gulped, “Tumhe pata tha?”, his back hit the wall.

“Haan”, she shrugged, stepping right up to him, and looking up in his eyes, “tum bhul rahe ho Sameer Maheshwari ke main tumhe kitne achche se jaanti hun.”

He took a deep breath, “toh… toh… tum naraaz nai ho?”

She laughed softly, “chit me jo likha tha woh chupana hota to main kal hi chupa deti”, she winked, “waise bhi mujhe to tumhara size bahot pehle se pata hai, tumko hi zyada time laga mera size janne me.”

He gaped at her, “KYA!!??”

Her grin widened, and he stood dumbfounded, then he somehow managed to ask, “tumko kaise pata? Kab?”

“Yaad hai school me, tum kabaddi khel rahe the, aur meri wajah se tumhara shirt kharab ho gaya tha?”, she asked.

He frowned, recalling the incident. He had been playing with the boys, and suddenly Naina had appeared out of nowhere with muddy shoes in her hand and planted them right on his chest. He hadn’t known whether to laugh at her cuteness or be angry with her for spoiling his shirt. But somehow, he couldn’t be angry on her, for reasons unknown to him then. He had had to change his shirt, and then Naina had offered to wash it for him. He had found the offer strange but agreed upon her insistence.

He nodded, “haan yaad hai.”

She smiled, “mujhe tumhara sweater banane ke liye tumhara size janna tha. Ab tumse puch to nai sakti thi, isiliye tumhari shirt utarva li.”

Stunned he looked at the feisty girl standing in-front of him. He realized she had literally backed him into the wall. Suddenly he smiled, and grabbed her hand, pulling her to him. He waited for a moment to see if she minded. She didn’t. So, he wrapped his arms around her and she nuzzled against him, draping her own arms around his waist. Her curves fit to the angles and planes of his body, like pieces of puzzle fitting together, as if she was made for him. Perfect.

After a few moments he drew away, then grinned impishly, “waise shayad mera size change ho gaya hai, abhi shirt firse utaru?”, he swiftly undid the top button of his shirt.

She sputtered, surprised at his flirting, and batted at his hands to stop him from unbuttoning his shirt. He laughed, then caught her hand. His gaze changed again, as his heart thudded, he kept a firm grip on her hand, and knelt in-front of her on one knee. Last time he had been slapped for his audacity, but this time, she lowered her eyes shyly, and didn’t attempt to remove her hand from his. Warmth and joy surged inside him, as he slowly brought her hand up to his lips, and placed a soft, lingering kiss on the back of her palm. She blushed, the sight endearing.

“I love you Naina”, he whispered.

She looked at him, a warm glow on her face, her lips curved in a beatific smile, “I love you too Sameer”, she held his shoulder with her free hand and helped him stand up.

He drew her in his arms again, then slowly unable to resist, traced two fingers down the side of her body, whispering her measurements in her ear. She hid her face in his chest, her hands gripping the shirt on his back. He didn’t know how long they stood there, lost in each other. Finally, he said that they should go back downstairs, before the next lecture starts. She nodded.

Reluctantly he separated from her, and drew a hand through his hair, and smiled wide at her. He was so happy today, that he didn’t think he could concentrate in the lectures anymore. He gestured her to come and turned to leave, but before he could take a step, she gripped his hand, he turned back surprised. He opened his mouth to ask what happened, but she picked up his hand, and placed a kiss on the inside on his palm. She smiled and fled from the classroom.

He stood rooted to the spot, lifting his hand he looked at his palm, and saw a clear outline of her lips in light red colour. He trembled, heart beating wildly against his rib-cage, a grin started to spread on his face and he closed his fist, preserving the mark, that she had left on his palm but imprinted forever on his heart.