𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴

• 3 •

Next day, She got up early as she had to go to the temple since it was Thursday. She used to visit the temple every Thursday morning. She dressed up in a simple green cotton Kurti and matching leggings.
Naina reached the temple and bought the Puja plate along with some flowers.

She went inside the temple. After she was done with the prayer, she sat on a cemented platform under a tree waiting, "Abhi tak aaye kyu nahi. Pata nahi kaha reh gaye. Thodi der aur wait karti hu..."

She kept waiting, her eyes searching for someone in the crowd. And then she saw him coming towards her. Her eyes lit up in happiness.

She bent down to touch his feet, "Namaste Nanaji, Kaise hai aap?"

Nanaji smiled and blessed her, "Humesha khush raho beta. Main bilkul thik hun. Tum kaisi ho, sab thik hai na ab?"

Naina smiled, "Haanji Nanaji, main bilkul thik hu."

"Office mein sab thik hai na, tumhara woh khadoos boss pareshan toh nahi karta tumhe?" Nanaji asked giggling.

Naina laughed, "Nahi nanaji. Sir bas thode serious zyada hai kaam ko leke. Bina matlab mein kisiko kisi ko kuch nahi kehte."

Nanaji jokingly said, "Chalo achha hai. Agar kabhi koi pareshani ho toh mujhe bata dena. Khatiya khadi kar dunga main uski."

Naina laughed and inquired about his health, "Aapki tabiyat ab kaisi hai Nanaji? Reports kaise aaye hai aapke?"

Nanaji smiled at her concern, "Meri tabiyat bilkul thik hai beta. Dekh kitna hatta-katta hu main abhi bhi. Tu chinta mat kar, Abhi bahut jaan hai mujhme."
Naina nodded.

It was a weekly routine for both of them to meet at the temple. They used to sit under that tree which had become their usual spot, talking about various happenings in each other's life. Nanaji considered Naina as her own daughter and had a special spot for her in his heart.

According to him, she was the strongest girl he had ever met. This tree had witnessed several tears shed by Naina whenever she talked about her miseries, the life lessons given by Nanaji, the jokes about Naina's khadoos boss and whatnot. Nanaji was the one who had seen her pain and consoled her when there was no one. His guidance had really encouraged her a lot to let go of her past and start over.

Nanaji also used to tell her about Sameer. She couldn't believe the fact that Sameer was his grandson when he first told her about it since their personalities didn't even have an iota of resemblance. She had observed him have a very strict and rigid demeanour whereas Nanaji was the most humble person she had ever met.

He used to share the hardships faced by Sameer in his childhood. Whenever he used to talk about it, the pain in his eyes never went unnoticed by Naina.

The fact that his grandson was her boss, never affected their bonding. Naina was very comfortable while talking to Nanaji about everything. Nanaji was very pleased to get a companion to talk to since he didn't want to add more to Sameer's concerns by sharing everything with him.

He had never told anything about Naina to Sameer as he didn't want to give rise to any sort of awkwardness between then. He knew that Sameer had never kept any kind of relationship with any of the employees and Nanaji had always respected his point of view.

They sat for an hour or so talking and discussing. Naina got up to go and took Nanaji's blessings, "Ab main chalti hu Nanaji, nahi toh office ke liye late ho jaungi."

Nanaji smiled, "Haan beta, apna dhyan rakhna."

Naina said, "Haanji Nanaji. Aap bhi apni tabiyat ka dhyan rakhna aur khane peene ka bhi."