MaNan ff: Tera Ban Gya ✔

Chapter 17

The beam of orange hue spread across the wide sky and the land was soon shone with rays of the early morning sun.

Where bells of the temple and the hymn of mantras could be heard from the temples in distance, folks of Varanasi were up and ready to kick start their morning chores in their respective houses.

The day in the street of Varanasi starts with a newspaper seller who every early morning rolls his bicycle home to home tossing the newspaper through the gates and making them land safely to its readers' portico. However, the street turns into chaos for a long line for municipality running water tap with the ladies bickering and arguing for who came and deserves to fill in their bucket first.

Though it was a usual sight for the people in the neighbourhood, Manik, who was at the patio of his home cleaning and dusting off his motorbike, grimaced now and then with the awful cuss he could hear from the ladies by the turn of the lane near the water tap.

He was quite refreshed when he woke up the morning as usual for his regular schedule, i.e., water paddling and running laps of the lane, but now with the uncivilized neighbour and the people he grew up with, irked him the core.

He can never stand their incivility.

"Hey there! Good morning." Acknowledging Aloke with a nod, Manik concisely craned his head to reply "You too."

Amused by the gruff baritone, Aloke sought his attention merrily "Gotten up from the wrong side of the bed or what?"

Sparing him a nonchalant look, Manik rounded up to kickstart his bike to warm up but ended up hitting his toes with the stand hardly and yelping in pain which was followed by a series of profanities.

"Well, you sure had a bad start in this morning, didn't you?" Aloke chuckled finding Manik visibly pissed beyond words but he anyway offered "There, let me start it for you."

Smiling underneath, Aloke simply went ahead and ignited the engine with Manik's eyes all the while on him as he interrogate "How do you keep smiling like an idiot? Don't you get tired? I mean is there any secret which always keeps your smile intact?"

Bemused upon him, Aloke shook his head, a smile still lingering on his face as he was having fun on his brooding self "There is none, Malhotra. I am happy because I choose to be happy. And my reason to smile is my family and this neighbour. They keep me going."

"I second you with the family but neighbour? You mean this neighbour?" Manik scoffed making Aloke squint his eyes "This neighbour only knows how to give one migraine. I mean look at them. Brawling and arguing over water. And not to forget their poking nose in every affair of others. Can't one live peacefully? I am so sick of them."

Manik's rant took Aloke off-guarded as his lips drew thin and puckered mulling and processing his words. Aloke knows Manik is not much fond of their neighbour but seeing spurting abomination with so much detest surprised Aloke "Shiva! Calm down, man. I know you are not much of a fan of these people but you amaze me with those words. You forgot you are also a part of this neighbourhood? And your wife too. You grew up here and also used to stand into those ques to get water. You have always been here among these people only. They have even seen you since your nappy days."

"And the very same people have seen me getting disrobed." Manik retorted in a heartbeat as he tossed the dusting clothes on the seat of his motorbike before turning the engine off and giving heed to mouth tided Aloke "I don't want to bring the ghost of the past but if you are making these people a reason to your happiness then I suggest you to think again."

Seeing Manik nod his head with an adieu before strolling back inside the home made Aloke exhale a sigh looking upwards to the almighty "What a moody person." before he proceeded for his day.