True Love.FF.Completed!. Prt 83-86+Epilogue.Pg 137

Next day......

Susheel asked everybody to come to the Krishna Mandir and he suggested that they could meet deepika there as well. Dadima liked this idea and agreed for this.....

They reach the mandir, and see a lot of crowd. Dev doesn't find a place to park the car as there were many cars, because many visitors had come for this puja.

Dadima asked susheel "are beta, itni bheed"

"maa janmashtami aa raha hai, isilye bahut saare log aayen hai".....he said


"Dadima aap jayen, I will park the car. There is no place here. Seems we have lots of tourists visiting the temple" Dev said arching his brows a bit.

All the members except Dev proceeded to the mandir. Dev parked the car, puts the keys in to his kurta's pocket and walked towards the mandir.....

The stairs ended, he removed his chappals and stepped inside the temple. A song filled the air in the temple.

"Govind Gopal radhe radhe, Govind Gopal radhe radhe,
Keshav Madhav radhe radhe, Keshav Madhav radhe radhe..........."

His gaze fell on a group of people...... a bhajan group who continuously sang the song.

He shifted his gaze away from those people and looked up to Lord Krishna.

The crowd was divided in to two rows on either side leaving a small line of space in the middle.....not interrupting the view to Lord.

The idol of Lord Krishna was.....beautifully decorated with the pearl studded mukut with peacock feather adorning the mukut, pearl studded chains adorning Lords neck, beautiful garlands adding the right colour etc. In all it was a beautiful sight. Dev smiled on seeing this.

He folds his hands to seek blessings from The Lord and closed his eyes.

After a moment he opened his eyes and saw the Lord once again. He raised his one hand to touch the clapper of the temple bell so as to ring it.

But as he touched the clapper, he felt a soft hand beneath him.

He frowned for a second confused....... and then turned his head.

He saw a girl standing with her hand on the clapper, who turned her head as well, when he accidentally kept his hand on hers.

His eyes met hers......she was looking at him with her innocent, wide eyes. And he couldn't shift his gaze away from hers and neither could he think anything.

He stared at her continuously and felt as if her eyes had some magic which held his gaze on to hers, which made him loose his sense to think.

The song being sung in the temple filled his ears but he could hardly concentrate on anything other than the beautiful girl standing in front of him.

She stared at him as well.

And Their eyes remained transfixed for a few moments.

A few moments passed......

The girl suddenly drew her hand back in a jerk and quickly looked away.....this broke their eye contact with each other.

She was a bit stunned and her face reddened as if she felt embaraased for whatever just happened. She looked down and walked away in to the crowd.

His gaze followed her.....but she disappeared in to the crowd and he couldn't see her.

It was only after she disappeared amidst the crowd, did he come back to his senses. He stood there confused and saw the bhajan group. The music still filled his ears.

He shifted his gaze to the path she followed. She was nowhere to be seen. He had to search for her........his heart told him to do so....... He moved his legs and made his way through the crowds searching for her but she could be found nowhere.

He walked searching for her and wondering where did she go?

He almost reached the front row where dadima spotted him and pulled his arms, startling dev. Dev turned his head "dadima aap".

"Haan main....tu kahan reh gaya tha.....are yahan aarti ka samay ho chala hai.....wait here now".....she ordered him.

He didn't want to......he wanted to see that girl once again.....his eyes searched for her everywhere but there was no sign of her......!

He looked down....a bit disappointed. Just then he realized he was behaving rather oddly.

All the scenes flashed across his mind in a jiffy.......from his touching her soft hand placed on the clapper..... to his eyes meeting hers and then the way she withdrew her hand and walked into the crowd.

He didn't know why he was so curious to see her again....but he was aching to see her again.

The aarti begins and a female voice fills in the air as she starts singing the aarti

"Aarti shree kunj bihari ki
Shree giridhar krishna murari ki........"

Dev heard the voice and looked up......

The voice was so melodious that everybody just closed their eyes and started swaying and clapping to the tune of the aarti!

Truly the voice was so sweet and beautiful that nobody could resist it, the purohits too were mesmerized by the voice and the way the female sung the song. They could feel the devotion, the owner of the voice had, for the Lord.

Dev saw a girl wearing green shalwar kameez, dupatta around her head; sang the aarti with full devotion, but he couldn't see her face as her dupatta hid her face from him ....Something in her voice attracted him.... not allowing him to concentrate anywhere else....

But one part of his heart ached to see the girl he just met outside.

So he looked away from her as he searched for the girl he just met......but something struck him and he knitted his eyebrows and quickly turned his head to look at the girl singing the bhajan.

As she sung the aarti, moving the aarti plate in circular motion, the movement of her arms caused her dupatta to slightly shift behind and this unveiled her face.....

He leaned forward a bit to see whether she was her.

Dev saw her face this time and he was stunned to find out that she was the same girl whom he met just outside.....

He wondered "Its her.....who possessed such a melodious voice."

But deep inside, he was happy that he found her. Unknowingly a smile came across his face as he fixed his gaze to her.

The girl meanwhile continued to sing the aarti with full devotion and a beautiful smile across her face.

The aarti finished and everyone proceeded to take the aarti.....People came to take the aarti from her ..... Purohits too came to her for taking the aarti.....Dev too came to her.....

Her gaze shifted and found the same man whom she met outside standing in front of her....She caught her breath.... and looked away quickly.....her face reddening just as the way it did before....

Dev raised his hands up to the aarti ki thali, without shifting his gaze from her eyes and unknowingly bought his hands too close to the fire burning in the lamp.

"Ahhh" he cried....jerking his hand quickly away from the fire.

The girl quickly looked up. Dev's gaze shifted to his palms, a bit frowning.

"sambhal ke" she said with a concerned tone....

Dev glanced up and flashed a charming smile and moved his hand above the lamp and then raised his palms to forehead.....to take the aarti!

Seeing him smile....she looked away rather quickly....

Meanwhile Susheel purohit introduced the purohits to Brij Mohan Shastri and vice versa.......

"Shastriji......Yeh humara parivar hai......Mumbai se aaya hai" said susheel

Shastri welcomed them with a smile "Namaste.....aapka vrindavan main swagat hai"

Dadima smiled at him.

Dadima's gaze then shifted to the girl who sang the bhajan..... "Beta......tum to bahut acha gaati ho".....

The girl smiled beautifully...........

Dev wondered "Such a sweet smile" and he smiled at himself.....her smile only made the conditions worse for him.....

Susheel smiled at Dadima "are maa.....yeh to iss vrindavan ki badi Krishna bhakt hai.....isski madhur awaaz yahan sabko keench laati hai".....

His gaze shifted to shastriji..... "Aur phir ho bhi kyun nahi......shastriji ki putri jo hai"....

Dev looked on.....

"to kya tum shastrijee ki beti ho......tumhara naam kya hai" asked dadima

Dev was more than curious to know her name.....he waited impatiently so that she could speak out.

"Jee radhika"........the girl said in sweet voice.

Dev said to himself "Radhika".......and smiled....

She felt as if someone called her....Her gaze shifts to see who called her..... But again her gaze falls on the same man, who stood with the purohit family......

She felt a little odd to see the man again.....still staring at her......

She tore her gaze away from his.....and concentrated on the purohit family instead..........
Where the purohits kept praising radhika and her singing abilities......

Radhika smiled "Jee shukriya".....

Susheel introduced radhika to purohit family members.....and finally Dev.....

"Aur yeh hai......Dev, humare parivar ke sabse ladle".......said susheel

Dev didn't shift his gaze, already fixed on her face....just folded his hands and said "Namaste".....

Radhika smiled back tentatively.....and quickly looked away.....

"Ma......Radhika aur Vishaka, shastrijee ki doosri beti.....dono bahut pyari hai...dono sanskari aur padhi likhi hai..."

Dadima smiled "Acha".

The Purohits continued talking to shastrijee regarding the engagement......when Susheel spots deepika and her family......and called them.....

Deepika comes to him smiling and touches his feet "Radhe Radhe babuji".

He gave her blessing and introduced her to the family... Deepika smiled and touched dadima's feet.

Susheel, shastriji and other members of the family started talking about the upcoming engagement ceremony of Arjun and Deepika.

Whereas Radhika grew uncomfortable with every passing second as she was aware of Dev's gaze on her.....

She didn't dare to look at him and kept her gaze carefully away from him....and pretended to listen to others

Meanwhile Dev's gaze continued to study her. She smiled answering some question dadima asked her.....

She had beautiful features. Her eyes were large, medley of black and brown, well spaced under perfectly shaped brows.She had a fair complexion, flawless with a glow.....

As she spoke to Dadima, Her dupatta slid down her head.....unveiling her hairs; soft, silky, glowing with a brownish tinge....left loose falling on her shoulders.

He didn't seem to get enough of her.....and his gaze shifted to her every now and then.

He smiled at himself........

Finally the purohits were about to leave and radhika heaved a sigh of relief.....

The purohits said their good byes and started walking away .....

She saw them walking down the stairs.....and her gaze shifted to him....his back as he was walking down the stairs.

She frowned a bit.......not shifting her gaze.......

Just then Dev turns around to wear his shoes......And briefly glanced up at her....and seeing her looking at him....he smiled.....

Her face went red and she looked away!

Dev turned around smiling and walked down till the car......But as he walked, an array of images flashed across his mind....images of her singing, her staring at him, the way her face reddened, the way she spoke etc.

He smiled at himself......and bought out the keys from his pocket. He reached for the car door, seated himself, inserted the key and turned on the engine, and drove the car to where others stood....Other members got into the car and he drove off to Purohit house.

After the usual affairs and dinner, Dev retired to his room. He quickly took a bath and changed in to his black cotton pajamas and t shirt.

He lay down on his bed, his hands behind his head.......

His thoughts again drifted away to her....Radhika! And he smiled......!

Again her images flashed across his mind......her smile, her eyes, her face, her voice.....!! "Everything is so beautiful about her" he wondered aloud......! He realized that he wasn't able to take his mind out of her.....

She demanded every ounce of his attention.

He thought about her as he drove back to home, as he dined with others, as he chatted with arjun. He thought just about her.

It seemed rather odd for him. He had never ever felt for a girl like this. True he did date a few lot of girls, but it was he who always had the reins, he never felt so out of control, he wasn't able to control his mind......it kept thinking about her.....!!

But he somehow loved thinking about her....

Somehow strange, he wondered.

He had hardly met her. Just a few glances, and her sweet voice has made him feel for her like this, has made him think about her like this. This was maddening, he thought.