Adhoore Hum, Adhoore Tum : Chapter-9

Hi guys! How are you all? I know I’m late. No, actually very late. Just got busy with some college work. Anyways, I’m here with the next part of the story.

HAPPY DEEPAWALI
Light a lamp of love!
Blast a chain of sorrow!
Shoot a rocket of prosperity!
Fire a flowerpot of happiness!
Wish you and your family a SPARKLING DIWALI

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ADHOORE HUM ADHOORE TUM

Chapter-9 (Veer and Sanchi’s Friendship Story)

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Veer lay back on his bed thinking about the first time he had actually noticed Sanchi. She was his classmate but she rarely spoke anything to anybody. She used to sit in one corner of the class while he used to be the centre of all attention and attraction. The fact that he had figured in a show, even though it was a flop show, was a very big deal for all his friends. His father’s name and fame in the industry was another reason why they all danced to his tunes. They all looked up to him while she literally seemed to fade into the background of the room. She seemed completely misfit for the place and its carefree atmosphere.

All of them had been grouped into pairs and he found that she was his partner for that entire year. They had to do and submit all their assignments and projects together. Their first assignment was a documentary on women’s issues. He began in a superior and bombastic manner about how they would do this and that, and how he would do everything all by himself because she was new to all this, while he had seen all this from his childhood as he belonged to a media family, and so on. He said, “We have to make our documentary in such a manner that everyone realizes how important it is for us to be sympathetic towards women’s issues. Do you get what I’m saying?”

Sanchi quietly replied, “I think women are more in need of self-reliance than sympathy. Being a woman myself, I know how a woman would feel when she is in such a situation. I’ve already done research on this topic and here are some cut outs of thought-provoking articles on the same topic. I’ve also listed out films, short films and documentaries that have already been made on this topic. We can keep all of them as a reference while working for our assignment. Since you belong to a media family you must most probably know all of them. Here’s my sketch on how we can proceed about this assignment. If you don’t have a clear-cut sketch or idea about what exactly we are going to do, it’s better we stick to my idea. If you have any suggestions or improvements to this, I’ll incorporate them. Do you get what I’m saying?”

Veer felt ashamed of his own ignorance. He had always underestimated her because she was not open and outgoing like the rest of his classmates. He felt that he was doing her a favour by being her partner while it was the other way round. She was very knowledgeable and studious and had an in-depth knowledge of the subject. Despite all this she never threw her weight around like him. He would really learn a lot from this association. Even he did not know her true capabilities and potential till now because she never displayed it.

That was the beginning of their friendship. They began doing everything together. Her studiousness, intelligence and firm grounding in the subject coupled with his style and flamboyance became a very deadly combination. Both of them always secured the highest marks in all their assignments and projects. Then he accidentally came to know about Sanchi’s past. His respect for her courage grew even more. Gradually his friendship started turning into a liking for her. He felt a certain feeling of protectiveness for her. He wanted to safeguard her from all her problems and issues. He wanted to be with her in all her struggles and give her all the happiness she deserved. Veer never thought he would enjoy this course so much before joining for it.
All his decisions since childhood were made for him by his father, Anand Singhania. If his father decided to launch him in a very expensive project despite the fact that he was not ready for it, he had to do it. If his father felt that he had to do this course in media studies and film making, he had to join it. So in the beginning he had not been serious about his stint at the university. He made much of his star-son status and wiled away his time in useless activities. But ever since his association with Sanchi began he found his lost focus. It was almost as if she became his anchor.

Veer spent his entire childhood without his father’s presence in his life. Only his mother, Savitri would come to all his Parents and Teachers Meetings. His father used to go away early in the morning even before he woke up and came home only after he went to sleep. He had never spent an entire day just with his father. He used to feel jealous of all his other friends whose fathers helped them with their homework, played cricket with them, and taught them to ride the bicycle. There was never any festival or function at home which he celebrated along with his father. It was always him and his mother.

One day when Veer was in his third standard, he came to his father in great excitement along with his report card. He had secured the first place in his class. He wanted to share his excitement with him. But Anand was so busy that he did not even look at it and just nodded telling him, “Good. Keep it up. Try to come the First next time.” Veer tried to correct him, “Papa but I got…” to which his father said, “Later son, later! I’m busy now! We’ll talk about this some time when I’m free.”

At that moment, Veer stopped working hard for anything or doing anything seriously because he knew that his father would never appreciate him or have the time to notice him, his needs or his achievements. The distance between son and father only started growing with time. Veer’s failure as an actor propelled it. So Anand arbitrarily decided that his son had to hone his skills and forced him to join in this course without even finding out whether Veer was inclined towards it or not. According to his father, he was bound to succeed him one day as the head of a mammoth production house. So he had to learn about the industry at all costs.

This was how matters stood between Veer and Anand. One day as Veer was leaving for the university, his father said, “I just spoke to your professor. He has very high words of praise for your work. I’m proud of you my son. I’d like to see whatever work you have done at the university along with you today evening if you are free.” Veer cried tears of joy. He had waited for this moment when his father would have time and concern for him all his life. And Sanchi was the cause for it. Even though it was team work, her contribution was the maximum in their joint projects. It was perhaps at this moment that he started actually loving her and looking at her as more than a friend.

That evening after seeing Veer’s work, his father said “Your university assignments will stand alone even with the best work done in this field. Good job, Veer!” Veer did not want to take the entire credit for all their joint achievements alone. He told his father how Sanchi’s contribution was very crucial to all their projects and assignments and how all of them were her brain children. He told his father of how she would write the entire script of their project while he would give it his own special finishing touches.

Veer also told Anand of how Sanchi would call him her lucky charm and how she was his BFF. After carefully listening to all this, his father said, “It’s the other way round, Veer. She is your lucky charm. It is to your benefit if you have someone like her beside you in all your future projects. If I were you, I would try to carefully maintain this relationship for life. From what I hear, she is a talented girl and will go a long way in this industry. Both of you make an excellent team. Never give her up for anyone or let her go away from you. That day would be the day of your downfall. By the way, if you guys have anything interesting and serious up your sleeve, our PH will produce it.”

From then on, there had been no turning back for Veer. Both he and Sanchi had given three successful shows which had won most of the awards in the previous years. Now even their fourth show was a hit. But even his success did not give Veer peace or happiness. He saw his father’s words coming true when he saw Sanchi going closer and closer to KG. Both he and Sanchi had written the script for so many love stories but he couldn’t script his own love story with her. KG and Sanchi started falling in love just before his eyes. He initially tried to discourage her but it did not work. Then he tried being happy in her happiness for some time. But he changed all his views when she met with that accident because of KG.

Now he would not give her up without putting up a fight. Why would he invite his own downfall by letting her go away from him? If ever she became KG’s wife, would he allow her to work with him again or be friends with him? No! KG was such a suspicious man. He misunderstood her for her past. So he would surely not understand their friendship either. He would see to it that both of them permanently parted ways. Then why should he be so nice and self-sacrificing for the sake of KG?
Veer was looking at his and Sanchi’s selfie taken after they had watched DDLJ the seventh time in a row at the theatre for the sake of an assignment on Iconic Bollywood Romantic Movies’. They knew all its dialogues by heart. They were discussing all the scenes even before they would come up, and dissected each character part by part, when one man from the audience came up to them and asked, “For God’s sake guys, I came to watch some romance and not to listen to some intricate research!” After this interruption, they stopped talking but continued texting to each other whatever they had to say.

After the movie was over, the man came up to them and said, “Will you guys just message me if you are planning to go to any film. I’ll cancel going then because I still prefer watching movies and not having them dissected like dead bodies!”
Sanchi always gave a unique twist to whatever she did for him, just like her stories. He loved the South Indian tiffin idly but hated its accompaniment, sambar. So whenever she made it for him, she used to serve it with the bhaji of vada paav. And those full nights they spent together at his place watching shows, videos and documentaries, discussing them, and working on projects and assignments, cracking jokes, having fun, and pulling each other’s legs, how could he forget them? She would tease him about his endless list of girl friends and give him wacky ideas of what he ought to do with them during his dates. She perhaps never realized that she was above all of them for him and that he thought only about her and that it had crossed the bounds of friendship on his side.

Right from the tea he had with Sanchi every morning ever since their university days, and their long walks along Chowpatty Beach discussing their various assignments and projects when they were at the university, and now about their shows, and the twists and turns they could introduce in them, she became an integral part of his life, though only as a true friend and never in the romantic sense. It was another matter that he had started looking at her in the romantic sense. But she remained with him in all his struggles and fought beside him.

His eyes fell on another selfie of his along with his friends and entire family taken on the festival of Diwali. She had heard his mother Savitri remark one day about how she and Veer always celebrated the festival all alone. So she planned a surprise for him and his mother. She called up their entire family and all his old school friends to join them for Diwali. The biggest wonder of all was that she had convinced his father, Anand to be at home and celebrate the festival along with them. He still remembered how his mother with tears in her eyes had asked her, “Will you be my daughter for this life?” To this she smiled and replied, “Yes, aunty! I’m your daughter just as Veer is your son.”

Veer broke out laughing on thinking about all those kaleidoscope of happy moments he had spent with her before coming back to the present and saying in a serious voice, “I miss you Sanchi. I’ll be waiting for the day you will come back. I miss you here every day. There’s none like you. My fingers are itching to call you back to Mumbai this minute but I will not. I have to throw KG out of your life at all costs. I have to save you from him. Whether you love me or not, I’ll always love you.”

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So guys how was the episode? Thanks for reading the episode. Do let me know how it is and express your views.
And once again a HAPPY DIWALI
“The gorgeous festival of snacks and sweets
everyone enjoying a royal feast
when old and young with delight meet
and with love and affection do all hearts beat.
Diwali is here – the gracious festival
Celebrating victory, of myth and mystery
The festival that signals Triumph over Tragedy
May it Bestow all with Love and Happiness!”

Take care
With love
~Rishika❤