The Dance of Passion

The air was filled with vibrancy and music drifted from every shop. Roadside stalls in Law Garden and other shopping areas were filled with colourful outfits and glittering jewellery. Excitement vibrated in the atmosphere. The small city of Ahmedabad was preparing itself for the soon upcoming festival of Navratri.

Girls twittered excitedly, discussing colours of costumes and how many each one of them were buying. It was a competition – girls tended to buy a new outfit for each day, and matching jewelleries were also must. They would apply mehndi on their hands, and leave no stone unturned to look their best. Even boys were excited, with the prospect of dressing up in their best traditional outfits, and dancing till late night. This was one festival where no parents scolded the girls for being out late or for dancing with boys. A perfect opportunity for youngsters.

Students in VJN were no exception. They were all the more excited because their college was to celebrate “Ratri before Navratri” – a very recent trend started by most colleges. It was an evening before the official Navratri celebrations, where the festival was celebrated specially in colleges. Students could get ready in college for the evening celebrations. Sometimes, a competition was also held for the best-dressed and best dancer.

Sameer, Naina and their friends were super excited for this celebration. Even though Sameer had spent so much time in Ahmedabad, he had not seen this festival ever. He was eager to learn the special dance, get dressed, and gorge on the Gujarati delicacies. They literally practiced the dance in their free periods, and even for some time after college. It need not be said that he had an exclusive teacher in Naina, only if he could divert his mind enough to focus on the dance steps, rather than her lips or the fluid movement of her body. When he had seen the kind of costumes girls would wear in this festival, his brain had raced producing images after images of Naina in all different colours and styles of those festive dresses. He had almost begged to let him come with her when she had gone shopping, but she had refused saying she wanted it to be a surprise.

“Naina, kamsekam colour toh bata do”, Sameer requested for the umpteenth time.

Naina smiled, “nahi. Chalo dance pe dhyan do.”

He made a grumpy face, and stopped dancing, “thike mat batao. Fir main bhi kal Sunaina ke saath dance karunga, tumhare saath nahi.”

She too stopped dancing and crossed her arms, “karlo uske saath dance. Lekin fir hug bhi usise maangna, mujhse nahi.”

His mouth fell open in surprise at her dialogue. Just last week, finally, he had been able to hug Naina. One evening after the dance practice, they both had been exhausted and sweating despite the fan. The rest of their group had moved out. He was already extremely affected by her proximity these days, and kept having sporadic bursts of desires to hug her or kiss her. The sudden urges had taken him by surprise, and he struggled to control himself, to not overstep the boundaries in their relationship. But that evening, finding her alone in the room, looking at her dressed in that pink salwar-kameez which she had worn in Mt. Abu, he had been unable to control anymore. He had slowly walked up to her, as she stood bending slightly, stuffing something in her bag. Almost in a daze, he had raised his hand, and touched the line of her sweat slick neck with just one fingertip. She had stiffened, frozen in that position, while he had traced the line down to her shoulders and back up to her ear. He had tilted his head to look at her face, and had found her skin flushed, eyes closed. Seeing the effect on her, he had dared enough to place his hand fully on her shoulder and straighten her, and then wound his other arm around her waist. He had felt her jerk, and a sound escaped from her mouth. That small sound had brought him out of his daze and he had realized what he was doing. Appalled with his behaviour, especially because he knew Naina didn’t like it, and recalling the slap he had received in school, he had snatched his hands away and stepped back. But before he could have mustered enough courage to apologize, Naina had whirled around and flung her arms around his waist. He had stood rooted to the spot for more than a minute, before the reality had sunk in. Naina was hugging him! And after that he hadn’t hesitated to wrap his arms around her and pull her to him completely, murmuring how much he loved her. She had also whispered back the same thing against his chest, her breath fanning through the gaps in his shirt, cooling off the sweat and at the same time arousing a different kind of heat within him.

That was the day, he remembered fondly, they had taken one step further in their relationship. Post that, he would roam behind her in the college, demanding a hug each day – whining, pleading, coming up with excuses, suggesting secluded places – until she would agree. He didn’t mind the pleading and whining because he knew she just liked to annoy him before relenting, and he also knew that along with him she too waited for these moments of privacy.

A snap in front of his face brought him back to present, and his eyes focused on Naina who had a lopsided smile on her face. He knew that she had understood what he was recalling. Well, it wasn’t exactly hard for her to know that especially given that he zoned out at least once every day recalling their first hug. He still couldn’t believe it that Naina had initiated the hug, he still reeled from the impact of her body crashing into him, he still trembled from the feel of those slim arms around him.

“Naina…”, he whined. She laughed, shaking her head, and turning to leave from the practice room. He followed her, “please na Naina…”

She turned to look at him, “kyun? Jao na uss Sunaina ke paas.”

He increased his pace, coming up in front of her and blocking her way, “tumhe chalega main uske paas jau toh?”

Her eyes narrowed, and fire started to simmer in them, “tum jaoge?”

He gulped, knowing he had almost crossed the threshold, “ah… nai… main toh bas…”

She tossed her head, and sidestepped him, running away. He muttered a curse, and started after her, thinking of ways to pacify her, and what punishments he would have to bear. What if she refuses to hug him anymore? No, no. She can’t do that. She likes to hug him too. As he crossed an empty classroom, suddenly he felt his hand being grabbed, and he was pulled inside. Stumbling, trying to find a leverage, he almost crashed into Naina. Panicking at the thought of hurting her, he quickly wrapped his arms around her, together they teetered backwards, and Sameer clasped a palm around her head just as her back crashed into the wall.

“Ouch”, she yelped.

He was frantic at the thought of her getting hurt, “tum thik toh ho na? Kahan lagi?” He ran his hands over her back, and head.

She chuckled, and hugged him tight, burying her face in his chest. He was still so worried that he didn’t realize what she was doing, “pagal ho kya? Aise koi khinchta hai bhala?”

“Sameer…”, she murmured, “chup karo. Koi sunn lega.”

He frowned, looking down at the girl draped around him and a smile bloomed on his face. He enclosed her, wrapping his arms tight around her, and buried his face in her hair, “tum sach me pagal ho.”

“Jaanti hun”, she whispered, and he felt her lips curve up in a smile against his chest.

Few minutes later he asked, “suno… aaj tum mehndi lagvane wali ho na?”

She hummed in affirmation, and then he asked, “mujhe dekhna hai. Main rahun wahan? Please.”

“Isme ijazat kyun maang rahe ho?”, she drew back to frown at him.

He hesitated slightly before voicing, “wahan sab log honge na… matlab saari ladkiya… toh soch raha tha ke tumko kaisa lagega. Matlab… meri harkat ka bura lage agar tumko toh…”

She stopped him from speaking further by placing a hand on his mouth, “mujhe tumhari sab harkate achchi lagti hai.”

His eyes widened slightly, and then he smiled against her palm, a mischievous glint entered his eyes and before Naina could understand anything he kissed her palm softly. She gasped, immediately withdrawing her hand.

He grinned, “kya hua? meri saari harkate achchi lagti hai na…?”

She blushed and tried to escape, but he caught her hand, “aree ruko, itni jaldi kya hai.” Saying so he picked up her other hand and placed an equally gentle kiss on that one too.

Her face completely flushed, and she stammered, “S…sameer k..kya kar rahe ho?”

He pulled her back in his arms and explained, “bas thoda sa pyaar… ab aayega na mehndi ka asli rang.”

By evening most of the girls were again in the practice hall, helping each other put mehndi on their palms. Preeti wrinkled her nose and left the place, dragging Pandit with her, saying they would eat something in canteen. Sameer and Munna stayed back to admire their girls, and do any work that was needed. It seemed that girls needed a lot of things when they were applying mehndi, as they were treated to requests of water or purse or even specific demands like “purse me se woh hairband do na.” When Kamya’s mehndi dried she took up the job of applying it on Naina’s hand, and finally Sameer ignored every request and sat down next to her.

With total patience and ardent interest, he watched the flowery traditional pattern being etched on Naina’s hands. Sometime in between he felt Naina fidgeting and looked up to see her trying to control her flyaway hair. He scooted closer, and slowly tucked the locks of silky hair behind her ears. Surprised, she watched him with wide eyes and parted lips, and he smiled, “tumhare haatho pe mehndi hai na isiliye.” She swallowed and nodded.

After the mehndi was done, Sameer took Naina’s hands in his and frowned, “isme mera naam kahan hai?”

She laughed softly, “woh shaadi ke mehndi me hota hai. Isme thodi na naam likhwate hai.”

His scowl deepened, “mehndi toh mehndi hai na. Pyaar toh ab bhi karta hun main tumse, toh mera naam likhwao na.”

Before Naina could reply, Preeti barged in, “Naina! Tu kitna waqt legi aur. Time dekha hai? 6 baj rahe hai. Aur der ki toh, papa ya Rakesh tauji aa jayenge lene, aur upar se kal dandiya me bhi aane nahi denge.”

Hearing this everyone scrambled to leave. Sameer dropped all the girls home, leaving Naina and Preeti a lane away from theirs. However, the thought of his name missing from Naina’s mehndi didn’t leave his mind the whole night.

The next day, Sameer tried to peek in all the bags the girls brought, but was totally unsuccessful as the girls had been smart enough to double wrap everything. He grouched the whole first half and kept wondering what was so special in her outfit that she was hiding it. Frustrated, and impatient, he tried one last time during the break, “achcha suno… main tumhare liye gift laaya hun, woh match hota hai ke nahi itna hi check karna hai. Colour batao na.”

Naina grinned, “tum mujhe apna gift bata do main bata deti hun match hoga ke nahi. Aur waise bhi ab match nahi hua to kya kar loge? Abhi classes hai aur uske baad hum 4 baje toh taiyar hone lagenge.”

He looked puzzled, “itni jaldi? Dandiya toh 6 baje se shuru hoga.”

“Haan toh? Taiyar hone me do ghante toh lagenge na”, she declared.

His eyes widened, and brows shot up. Was this Naina? His simple girlfriend? She was saying she needed two hours to get ready. Even his over imaginative mind could not think of what exactly she would be doing in those two hours. Oh how he wished he could know exactly what she was upto. For a brief second, his thought wandered down to their wedding. He had seen Devang bhaiya get irritated sometimes on Poonam bhabhi, saying she took too much time to get ready. He thought he could wait till eternity for Naina to get ready, if only he could look at her while she was dressing up or whatever she intended to do, else he too would be pacing in front of their bedroom like an impatient lion. He chuckled at his own thoughts, and Munna slapped his shoulder, “kya akele akele khi-khi kar raha hai bhai?”

He smiled, blushing slightly as he eyed Naina sitting next to him, deeply engrossed in conversation with Swati. Eyes gleaming, he slowly held her hand, hoping to stun her to silence. But instead, she took his breath away the next instant when she folded her fingers over his, instinctively without breaking a stride in her conversation. When had this happened? How? Yes, they had held hands since a long time, but she had always been conscious of it. And they had started to hug each other only since last week, and just yesterday he had kissed her hands. Yet the way she was sitting now, completely comfortable, her fingers twined with his, it seemed as if they had been doing this since years. He was still lost in the magical moment, when Naina looked over at him with a smile, giving his hand a gentle squeeze, and winked at him. A shiver ran down his spine.

It seemed like the Ratri before Navratri was going to be extremely interesting.

As discussed the girls disappeared at exactly 4pm, as soon as the classes ended for the day, and Sameer stood looking at Naina’s retreating figure wondering how much change he would witness after two hours. The boys loitered around for some time, and then quickly dressed in their kurta-pyjamas. Sameer kept looking at his watch, and pacing the corridor, frowning at regular intervals.

“Yaar, yeh log kitna time lenge?”, he cribbed. From where they stood, they could see the big ground completely decorated, and lighted up as the evening set in. Boys and girls had started moving in hordes over to the ground, while they still waited for the girls of their group. Sameer inserted his hand in the pocket of his kurta, re-confirming that the gift he had bought for her was safe.

Couple of minutes later, Sunaina sashayed up to him decked up in a bright orange chaniya-choli, and offered him a brilliant smile. Sameer stared perplexed at her, wondering what she was doing as she twirled in front of him.

She stopped twirling and pouted, “kuch kahoge nahi?”

Sameer’s confusion increased, “kya kahu? Main to yeh soch raha hun ke tum lattoo ki tarah ghum kyun rahi ho.”

“Aree bhai… hum exam ke waqt akhri din pe padhte hai na… waise hi itne din thik se practice nahi ki hogi, toh ab kar rahi hai”, Pandit proffered an explanation.

Munna slapped Pandit on his back, “aree nahi be Ponga. Yeh toh bas baki ladkiyo ke aane tak hamara manoranjan kar rahi hai.” He waved his hand encouragingly at her, “tum chalu rakho Sunaina. Karo, karo.”

Sunaina frowned, “tum log na… gadhe ho.” Stamping her feet, she flounced away from there, leaving a still confused Sameer and laughing Munna and Pandit behind.

Another few minutes later, all the girls except Naina came up to them. Sameer thought they were all looking nice, but his eyes searched for Naina.

“Ooff oo jijaji”, Preeti smiled mischievously at him, “thoda sa dhyan hum pe bhi de do.”

Sameer shifted his eyes to her and smiled fondly, “de dunga saali sahiba. Pehle usko toh dekh lu ek baar.”

“Fir toh hamara number aane se raha”, Preeti sighed dramatically, “chalo sab log.”

Pandit looked back as Preeti and other girls ushered them away from Sameer, “aree par bhabhi…”

Preeti pushed him forward, “tumhari bhabhi mere jijaji ke saath aa jayegi.” She looked back and winked at Sameer.

Sameer’s heart thudded as he waited for Naina, and finally he saw her emerging from the dressing room at the far end. His breath caught for a moment, and then his heart started to beat at a fast pace as she came closer and closer. Dressed in black chaniya-choli, with a traditional woven pattern running around the bottom seam, Sameer thought she looked ethereal. The skirt, decorated with shiny multi-coloured dots, flowed and swirled with her each step. Her choli was black too with multi-coloured embroidery, and a transparent pink dupatta was draped loosely across her body. When she was merely couple of feet away, he nearly stopped breathing as he saw that the choli was sleeveless – transparent two-inch thick black straps, the embroidery started just below the straps and ended where the choli ended. He could see a smooth section of midriff, which was adorned with a gypsy style silver kamarband. Her jewellery was oxidized but heavier that what he had ever seen her in, the big round locket of her necklace resting between her breasts. Her hands were covered in oxidized bangles too. He could see that her eyes were lined with kajal, and something shimmered on her eyelids too. The distracting pink lips were covered in another layer of glossy pink and her open hair fell down her back.

Naina waited with bated breath as Sameer scrutinized every inch of hers. She too feasted her eyes on him, thinking how could he always look so effortlessly handsome. He was dressed in an orange-red shaded kurta with blue embroidery and mirror work near the neckline. The sleeves were pushed up to reveal sinewy forearms, which always allured Naina. However today her focus wasn’t on the ropey veins in his hands, but rather on the wide parted deep neckline of his kurta – the mandarin collar style cascaded down to mid-chest, and the seams parted to reveal his skin and a partial view of intriguing patch of hair. She felt a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach as her eyes drifted over his body noticing how the kurta stretched over his broad shoulders and across his chest.

Sameer felt as if his heart would gallop right out of his chest. He had known she would look stunning but this was something else – this was screaming sexy. He felt astonished because he had never thought of this word for any girl ever. Sensations coursed through his body, the urge to touch and feel was much too pronounced for him to trust himself. At the same time, he felt a surge of astonishment. He had specifically worn this kurta, hoping Naina would notice him much more than before. Hugging her daily had made him feel that with given time they could even progress further, and for that she had to want it to happen. Because, he definitely did, every time he looked at her plump lips. But Naina had shocked him with her look. Never could he have imagined her to wear sleeveless or be able to see her belly. He shuddered, taking a step closer to her.

He leaned forward, gazing in her eyes, and whispered, “samajh nahi aa raha sach me tumhe aise dekh raha hun ke koi khwaab hai.”

She smiled, “mujhe bhi kuch kuch aisa hi lag raha hai tumhe dekhke.”

He reached out and held her hand, assuring himself that she wasn’t a figment of his imagination. He had a hard time remembering that they were not hidden from view of the crowd over at the ground. Even though all of them must be occupied in their own world, he still couldn’t risk people seeing him hugging Naina. So instead, he knelt in front of her on one knee.

Her eyes widened, “kya kar rahe ho Sameer?”

“Kuch check karna hai”, he muttered and extended his hand to touch her feet.

She stepped back immediately, “pagal ho. Mere pair kyu chhu rahe ho?”

“Pair nahi chhu raha”, he assured, “yahan aao.”

She hesitatingly moved forward, and he touched her left foot, sliding his fingers up to her ankle, and smiling when he found it bare. “Perfect”, he murmured and then patted his own knee, “paav upar do.”

“Kya!!??”, she asked shocked.

He grinned, “paav upar rakho na. Apna gift nahi chahiye kya?” He withdrew a pair of beautiful silver anklets from his pocked and winked up at her.

This time her eyes rounded in surprise, “Oh, tumko kaise pata ke main payal bhul gai?”

He laughed softly, “bas dil ne kaha tha ke meri Naina ke liye yahi tohfa sahi hai.” He waited patiently, until she slowly lifted one delicate foot but still she hesitated. So, he caught her foot and placed it on his knee, holding her until she balanced herself. He took one anklet and titled his head, figuring how to make her wear without seeing. But, the next moment she lifted her skirt up a little, so that he could see her ankle and he looked up surprised to find her biting her lip in apprehension. His heart thudded, but he gave her a reassuring smile and hooked the anklet around her dainty foot. He frowned on finding the S-hook still loose, even though he pressed it in with his thumb. After trying twice, instinctively he ducked and tried to tighten it with his teeth. His hair and lips brushed the exposed skin of her leg, and she gasped, her hand automatically coming up to touch his head. He froze for a moment, bliss pouring through him as he felt her fingers tangle in his hair and his breath fanned on her skin. Few moments later, slowly he raised his head, and held her hand when she tried to pull back, “rehne do. Balance karne me easy rahega.”

He lifted her other foot, and repeated the procedure, this time taking the opportunity to brush his fingers down the side of her foot, feeling pleased on hearing her sharp intake of breath.

“Ab chale?”, he asked as he stood up, trying hard to react normal even though his body was almost trembling with the urge pull her close.

She nodded, and started to walk towards the ground. He exhaled, turned to follow her, and had barely taken a step when he came to a hard stop. What the hell was that? The back of Naina’s choli was deep… no wait, that’s not deep. That’s backless! A two-inch strap at the bottom of the choli, and one thin thread in the middle, and another at the top, tied in a bow, with beaded danglers in shades of pink, red and blue. She had draped her dupatta in a cross tuck, pinning one side to the bottom of her choli, but still… the dupatta was transparent. He could see almost her whole back. He swallowed the huge lump in his throat.

“Naina…”, he uttered in a hoarse voice and trailed off still shocked beyond words.

She turned, and on seeing him standing rooted to the spot, an expression of complete shock on his face, she smiled. “Kya hua?”, she asked enjoying his condition.

He slowly went up to her, “yeh kya… kya pehna hai tumne?”

“Chaniya-choli”, she supplied innocently.

There was a wild expression in his eyes, as if he couldn’t understand what was happening, “par… par aisa… iske peeche toh… mera matlab…”

She looked up at him, “kya matlab?”

He cleared his throat, “mera… mera matlab hai ki… tum bahot zyada achchi dikh rahi ho. Par isme toh peeche kuch bhi nahi hai.”

She reached back with her hand as if to check, and turned around fidgeting, giving him a view of the smooth flesh again, “huh… kya bol rahe ho? Hai to sahi dori.”

Sameer fumbled for words, his eyes darting all over the bare back, “haan hai… par… par… wahi…”

“Uff… thik se bolona kya bol rahe ho”, she demanded.

He couldn’t control anymore, and grabbed her waist pulling her to him, “tum aise jaogi wahan? Sab dekhenge tumko.”

She shivered as he felt his hand on her bare waist, and tilted her head, “mujhe kyun dekhenge? Saari ladkiyon ne aisa pehna hai Sameer.”

He frowned, “sabne? Maine toh nahi dekha.”

Her eyes glowed as she beamed, “achcha hai nahi dekha toh. Tum mujhe dekho.”

His eyes widened, and he took a moment to understand her words. Then his lips curved in a slow lopsided smirk, “achcha, ab samjha. Yeh sab mere liye hai. To fir Naina, main sirf dekhu? Aur kuch nahi?”

She blushed and pushed him away, turning to run from there. He took off after her, “aree suno… itna toh bata do ke koi aur bhi dekhega toh kya karogi?”

She half turned while running, “tum ho na. Mat dekhne dena.” He laughed and caught up with her, as they reached the ground.

Munna grumbled about them being so late, then handed over a pair of dandiya to each. As the tunes of “are dholida dhol tu” blasted out of the speakers, Sameer and Naina joined the other students. It was all so new for Sameer, the crowd, the excitement, the music, the rhythmic taps of wooden dandiya sticks. He felt exhilarated on being a part of it, and the sight of Naina dancing along with him was just so perfect that he ached at the wonder of it. At a point in the song, Naina twirled, and Sameer felt his breath hitch. Wow! He needed to see that again.

An hour later when they shifted from dandiya to garba, again Sameer was stumped on seeing the graceful movements of her body. He had seen them during their practice, but somehow tonight with her traditional attire, her jewellery; the movements seemed to be elevated to another level and his body reacted to each sway of her hips, to each twirl, to each flash of her brilliant smile. This time when she twirled, he just stood still, taking in her sight. Somewhere in the coherent part of his brain, he finally understood what Sunaina was trying to achieve by twirling in front of him. But, he had felt nothing at that time, complete nada. However, Naina was different, Naina was his. And he felt desire coiling in his stomach, with each twirl of hers.

Suddenly, he stumbled as someone bumped into him, and he almost crashed into Naina like yesterday. This time however, she quickly held him, and he too wrapped his arms around her. He splayed his legs, trying to balance himself and Naina, saving themselves from the embarrassment of falling on the ground. He teetered slightly, but managed to hold himself steady with Naina secured in his arms, their faces inches apart as she bent backwards and him forward. Breathing in relief, he looked into her eyes, and for a moment again found himself lost in his enchantress. The sounds of commotion brought them back to reality and he straightened with her, and they looked at the scene behind them. Kartik, who had collided into him, was sprawled on the ground along with his friends, and Sunaina too. Munna, Pandit, Preeti and the other girls were laughing uproariously, and Sunaina fumed shooting daggers with her eyes at Kartik and Sameer.

“Oye! Pagal hai kya tu, aise beech me khada tha”, Kartik yelled standing up.

Sunaina grumbled, “mujhe bhi gira diya. Koi help karo jaldi”, she looked hopefully at Sameer who didn’t even spare a glance at her, and Kartik too ignored her whining for the moment.

Sameer kept his expressions neutral, “main khada reh gaya toh kya tum andhe the?”

“Teri toh…”, Kartik took a step towards Sameer, when suddenly Sunaina started shrieking as no one was helping her. Kartik’s attention diverted and he rushed to help her instead. Sameer took the chance and grabbed Naina’s hand pulling her away from the ground towards the food stalls. The remaining gang followed.

“Tum ruk kyun gaye the?”, Naina asked confused as they reached a cold-drink counter.

Sameer bit his cheek, “woh bas aisai, thoda thak gaya tha.”

“Haan toh chal khate hai na kuch”, Munna suggested. Pandit bought water for everyone, as they all were tired. Then the gang went to try the different delicacies, and gorged on the famous Gujarati papdi no lot and different farsan. Sameer’s eyes lighted up as he saw aloo chaat being served to some other students.

“Chalo na Naina wahan khate hai”, he pulled her to that stall, and ordered a dish. Mouth watering and impatient to eat he cajoled the chaatwala to make it faster and also kept on giving specific instructions to add more spices.

“Bhaiya aur imli daalo na”, Naina asked the vendor who poured another spoon of imli chutney. Sameer took the dish, and immediately started eating, closing his eyes and moaning at the taste of his favourite vegetable.

Naina smiled at his reaction, and speared her toothpick on one potato piece and took a bite. She sampled another piece, then said, “mmm… thodi imli aur dalwate hai.”

Sameer obeyed her, but couldn’t help teasing, “Naina, itni imli abhi se?”

She gasped in surprise, then hit him on his arm making him laugh. As he saw her enjoying the delectable taste of tangy imli chutney, he wondered again of their post-marriage scenario. After seeing Bittu didi, he knew how she literally craved for imli during her pregnancy. He wondered if Naina ate so much imli now, how much would she eat when she would be pregnant in future. And then again, how would he know about her pregnancy if she ate so much imli all the time. Farq kaise pata chalega, he wondered.

“Aree tum kha kyun nahi rahe ho?”, her puzzled question brought him out of his reverie, and horrified he saw that, lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t noticed that Naina had polished off almost half of the aloo chaat.

He quickly pulled the dish away, “Oi… tum saare aloo kha jaogi kya?” He covered it with his hand, protecting his precious aloo from his ravenous girlfriend.

She laughed, “toh usme kya hua? Dusri dish le lenge.”

“Haan toh tum banvalo dusri. Yeh wala mera hai”, he pouted.

She frowned, “Sameer, aisa mat karo na. Do na. Usme maine imli dalvai hai.”

He turned away, holding the dish close to his heart, “har dish me imli hoti hai. Tum isme se adha kha chuki ho, ab yeh wala mera hai.”

“Thike, toh tumhi khao apna aloo. Main jaa rahi hun”, she huffed fuming at his irrational behaviour, and left from there.

“Naina suno…”, he trailed off watching her stomp away. For a few moments he stood there, mouth quirked in a thoughtful expression as his eyes shifted between Naina’s retreating figure and the dish of aloo chaat in his hand, both of which were equally tempting.

Finally, he sighed, muttering to himself, “chal beta Sameer, Naina ko mana le. Warna aaj aloo khane ruk gaya toh fir zindagi bhar aloo se hi kaam chalana padega. Naina toh milne se rahi. Aur Naina maan gai toh fir shaadi ke baad wohi aloo banake khilayegi.” Pleased with his rationalization, he popped one last piece of potato, then left the unfinished dish, and ran after Naina.

It was difficult to keep a tab of her in the crowd, but finally as he swiftly ran out of the ground, he saw a flash of pink darting through the corridor.

“Yeh akeli college ke andar kyun jaa rahi hai”, he murmured and dashed in that direction. He looked through all the classrooms of the ground floor, even peeked into the dressing room, but couldn’t find her. Worried, he swiftly climbed up the stairs to the first floor. Here half of the lights were turned off, and the music drifting from the outer grounds seemed to be far away. Not a soul was to be seen. The same college, which looked so merry and cheerful in daytime, suddenly looked eerie and a bit frightening to him.

“Naina!”, he yelled, concerned about where she might be. What if she is scared? There was no response. He ran along the right side, continuously calling out to her, but again there was no answer from her. Almost frantic now, he dashed to the left corridor, and finally heard her trembling voice, “Sa…sameer.”

“Naina…”, he pushed open the classroom door from which he thought she had called out, and the next instant her soft warm body was pressed against him, and she was shivering.

He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tight, soothing her fear and the classroom door closed behind them. Keeping a safe hold on her, he reached out with one hand, and felt along the wall finally finding the switchboard, and flicked onn a couple of switches until the old yellowed tube light flickered onn.

Naina still didn’t leave him, pushing herself as close as possible. She had left from the grounds angry on his stupidity with a food item, and hadn’t noticed the spooky empty corridors until she had reached this classroom. The darkness, the muffled music, the sound of her own panting breath had scared her. She hadn’t known what to do, too scared to move, until she had heard Sameer calling for her. Slightly relieved, she had answered his call, and then rushed into his arms as soon as he had opened the door.

“Shsh Naina, daro mat, main aa gaya hun na”, he assured her. He drew back a little and cupped her face with one hand, “aur tum kyum sorry bol rahi ho? Sorry toh mujhe bolna chahiye na. Khane ke liye tumhe naraaz kar diya, gadha hun main.” That’s when she realized that she was muttering his name and apologizing over and over.

Still unable to say anything, she shook her head, as if telling him not to apologize. Seeing the lingering fear in her eyes, he cursed himself. Why the hell did he have to behave like that over a simple potato dish? So what if she ate half of it? It wasn’t as if he couldn’t have ordered another one. After all, it was just food. And this was Naina, his love, his life. He pulled her in his arms again, rubbing her back, trying to soothe her.

It was only a few minutes, before they both realized what was happening. Sameer was rubbing her back – her almost bare back. There was a sudden tension in his body that made his muscles taut, and Naina almost stiffened in his arms. His hand paused, as he was unsure of what to do next, but his fingers lingered on her skin unknown to him. He didn’t want to leave her. He recollected how he had kissed her palms. Would she mind if he kissed her hand again? Or on her forehead?

“Naina…”, he whispered, lowering his head to the side of her face, his nose touched her ear and hair.

She jerked, and immediately withdrew a little, looking up at his face. She saw that his eyes were darker than usual, his face set in an expression that she couldn’t comprehend. But nevertheless, her stomach fluttered and her lips parted as she suddenly found it difficult to breathe. What was happening to her? His fingers trailed up her back, causing a scorching sensation to erupt on her skin. What was he doing?

Unable to contain and comprehend, she pushed him slightly and turned to leave. But she had barely taken a step away from him, when she felt a tug, and heard tiny clattering sounds. Turning just her head, she saw his eyes widening and mouth falling open in shock. Her own eyes drifted from his face, to his hand that was lifted and she felt the bottom drop from her stomach – the top dori of her choli had tangled in his watch and come open, the beads from the dangler breaking and falling to the floor – that was the clattering she had heard. A surprised sound erupted from her throat and she tried to reach back to cover herself, although what she would achieve she didn’t know. Now she slapped herself mentally for being so bold as to wear a backless choli. Why couldn’t she have worn a simple choli? Why did she have to fall is the trap of her friends and want to buy something enticing for Sameer? What did she have to want his reaction to her look? If she had worn a simple choli, then she could have saved herself from this embarrassment.

Suddenly, she felt him coming closer, and wondered what he would say. Would he scold her for wearing such a dress? She recalled that he hadn’t exactly said that he liked it. He had even asked how could she wear such costume. He had been worried about other boys seeing her. Shouldn’t she have been worried about the same thing? She never liked when other girls in their college drooled over her Sameer. Then how could he be okay if he saw other boys looking at her. She closed her eyes, unsure and slightly scared of his rebuke.

He came to stand in front of her, his arms looped around her, so that there was no tension on her dori. Almost enfolding her to him, he slowly tried to detangle the delicate thread. She felt his breath on her face, and opened her eyes, to find his attention focused on the task at hand.

“I am sorry”, she whispered, as soon as he successfully managed to release the dori, and tried to withdraw again. But he was too quick for her, he grabbed her waist, pulling her flush against him.

His breath fanned her face as he whispered back, “kisliye sorry?”

She closed her eyes, gulping, “woh maine aisa pehna isiliye.”

He swiftly changed his hold and turned her around, plastering her back to his chest. Ducking down, he murmured in her ears, “tumhe lagta hai main gussa hun?”

She gasped as she felt his breath, his hold on her bare stomach, his heartbeat against her back. Was his heart beating fast just like hers? He used his other hand to push aside her hair, his heart thundering at the sight of the smooth column of her neck. He trailed one fingertip down that column, and heard her breath hitch. She couldn’t believe what was happening. She knew her dori was still open, she knew that her sleeves had loosened because of that, she knew that Sameer had pushed aside her hair and was looking at her. But, she didn’t have the ability to say anything. She just felt. His breath, his touch, the situation they were in, everything played havoc with her senses.

“Tum meri ho”, he rasped possessively, “tumne kaha tha na ke main sirf tumhe dekhu. Wahi kar raha hun.” The fingertip on her neck, slowly trailed down her back, and she arched, quivering in his hold. He stopped at her second dori, and her breath faltered, but after playing with the danglers for a second, he drifted down. He reached her waist, and drew patterns on her soft flesh, making her gasp again. Moving back up, he stopped at her nape, and drew an invisible S, “mehndi me toh mera naam nahi tha, yahin sahi.”

“Sameer”, she whispered in a trembling voice, unable to convey what she was feeling.

Lost in the feel of her, he bent his head and sniffed at her neck inhaling her scent. He nearly groaned aloud when she jerked and accidentally his lips brushed against her skin. Her knees trembled, then gave out completely as she collapsed against him. His hand on her belly, clenched, fingers digging in, struggling for control. He opened his mouth to say something, he didn’t know what, but before he could utter a word, she turned in his arms and hugged him. Through the parted seams of his neckline, her lips were soft and warm on his chest, adding fuel to the raging fire in him.

This time he did groan aloud, “Naina, please hat jao, warna main khud ko rok nahi paunga.”

Incredibly enough she didn’t move. She trembled, but didn’t move away an inch. Was this her acceptance? Stunned to even think of that possibility, he fisted a hand in her hair, and pulled her head back. Her eyes were closed, lips parted and quivering – in acceptance, in surrender.

Everything inside him tightened, “soch lo”, he whispered hoarsely.

He saw the glaze of desire and yearning, as she slowly opened her eyes and softly uttered, “soch liya.”

Holding her gaze, he dipped his head, and pressed a soft kiss on her forehead, then drifted down to her cheek, the corner of her mouth, and finally placed his lips on hers. Her hands on his back clenched and unclenched in nervous anticipation, then moved up his spine to fist in the hair at his nape. He lifted once, searching her face for any doubt, but she whimpered and pulled him back. He saw the slightly flickering tube light once, and then absolutely nothing as his eyes fluttered shut in pleasure. His mind came to a full stop, because her breath was sweet, her lips sweeter, and when her tongue flicked his, that was the sweetest of all.

“Mmm”, she purred in a way that conveyed to him how much she was enjoying what was happening between them, and that knowledge went straight to his head, hitting him with a punch strong enough to reel him. His blood was running so hot, that he was surprised steam wasn’t billowing from him. He revelled in her tentative exploration and soft exhalations.

Finally, after just another moment, he demanded no-holds-barred abandon from her. He positioned one hand at the small of her back, pressing her closer to him. His mouth exerted pressure to part her lips further, and the kiss deepened. Every inch of her skin was on fire, her belly roiling, her scalp tingling. His body shuddered with the surge of unexplored desires, as he heard her small purr turn into a full-on moan of pleasure. He nipped at the fullness of her lower lip, exploring her mouth with his tongue. Her hands tangled in his hair, while his moved possessively over her back and waist.

Panting for breath, he drew his lips away from hers, holding her quivering form close to him, treasuring her. If his heart had voice, he was sure he would have heard it whooping for joy. He had imagined, but had never known, had never expected the reality of hers to be better than his racing imaginations.

“I love you Naina”, he slowly, moved his hands over her back, and tied that dori – securing her clothes, her trust in him, and his promise of lifetime to her.

She smiled, as she pulled back a little, then showed him her right palm, “I love you too Sameer.”

His brows furrowed as he looked at the mehndi on her palm, then his lips parted in surprise as he saw his name – his whole name ‘Sameer’, not just the initial – etched on the edges of the flowery design, woven intricately with the leafy patterns, but still clearly visible. And he understood, that she had done it herself, later on, at home probably, to fulfill his demand. He caught her hand, and kissed it. Her eyes gleamed, a soft smile curving her mouth as she cupped his cheek and went up on tiptoe to kiss him again.

As the tunes of energetic dandiya raas vibrated in the air, the deluge of love extinguished the pangs of yearning, leading two souls, two hearts, two bodies into the dance of passion.