BANARAS GHAT,
After the aarti ended, the shankh were blown again. Then all the priests together chanted,
"Namah Parvati Pataye, Har Har Mahadev."
With this, the aarti came to an end. After that, Vani started giving the aarti to everyone, but she was very nervous, so she didn't make eye contact with anyone. She kept her head lowered the whole time.
Then a man, the head of the Singh family, vikram Singh, spoke to Vani and said,
"You are very beautiful, child. What is your name?"
Vani lifted her head and replied with a smile,
"My name is Vani."
Then Vani's grandmother ( malti devi ) stepped forward and said,
"She is the elder daughter of my younger daughter. Today she is fasting, maybe that's why Lord Shiva gave a sign to the aghoris that the aarti should be done by her hands."
Saying this, Vani's grandmother placed her hand on Vani's head and said,
"Vani, go eat something , otherwise you might feel dizzy."
Vani said "yes" and left from there.
While Vani was leaving, vikram eyes were fixed only on her, as if he was thinking something about her.
Vani went to Vidya and said,
"Come Vidya, I want to eat something. Will you come with me? I'll give you something good to eat or what you want"
Vidya replied angrily,
"Look Di, stay away from me. I don't want to talk to you."
"Vidya, I'm sorry for yesterday. Please forgive me. Come on, stop being angry now..."
Vani was still speaking when Vidya interrupted her,
"Oh please Di, keep your sorry with you. And don't talk to me."
Saying this, Vidya walked away.
Vani stood there frozen, thinking, "What did I even say that she is so angry?"
Everything happening there was extremely enjoyable for Pakhi. She was secretly very happy watching it all and kept smiling to herself.
"Now watch, Vani... slowly I will separate you from everyone."
During the aarti, everyone's eyes were always on Vani. Thinking about that made Pakhi even angrier.
"She loves getting attention, right? Fine... now I'll give her all the attention."
Pakhi said,
"Vani, the string of your blouse looks very loose. Wait, I'll fix it."
Vani was lost in her thoughts, so she didn't pay much attention.
Standing behind Vani, instead of fixing the string, she loosened it even more. Then she took a cutter out of her bag and cut the lower part of Vani's blouse. She planned it in such a way that the moment even a little pressure was applied, the entire blouse would open.
"There, it's done, Vani."
Vani came out of her thoughts, looked at Pakhi, and gave her a faint smile. She said "thank you" to Pakhi and walked away.
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.
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.
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Vani reached the sweets stall and buy a lot of sweets.
First, she gave some sweets to the priests, and then she distributed some among the poor people sitting near the ghat.
The Shrivastava and Singh families, who were also performing rituals at the ghat, began watching Vani. They noticed how sweetly she was talking to everyone and how she was giving sweets to the poor before eating herself.
The Singh family really liked this, and slowly everyone there began talking about Vani.
Pakhi, who was standing nearby, heard all this. She thought to herself,
"I've been working since morning, but no one is talking about me. Everyone is only praising that Vani."
While Vani was distributing sweets, the box slipped and fell. When Vani bent down to pick it up, her blouse tore completely from the back and opened.
Everyone standing there was shocked.
Vani's mother covered her mouth with her hand in horror, her grandmother screamed loudly, and Vani's father and brother started running towards her.
But before they could reach, someone came from behind Vani, held her torn blouse carefully, and grabbed her hands gently.
The man stood behind her, so Vani couldn't see his face. But the moment he touched her, she felt something strange-something she couldn't understand, but it made her feel safe.
"Listen... don't move. Just walk quietly in the direction I take you, okay?"
The man whispered softly in her ear, like he was talking to a child.
Vani was scared, so she slowly nodded her head.
When the men talk to Vani near her ear , his lips touch her earlobe and she flinch from his touch .
" shuuu, Clam down . He said in her ear.
The man placed one hand on her shoulder and held her torn blouse with the other.
He slowly guided her in one direction, into a temple.
Then he took a stapler from his pocket and stapled her blouse together.
While he was doing the process his hand touched Vani waist and she gets butterfly in her stomach.
"It's done," he said in her ear and again his lips touch her earlobe and quickly walked away without letting her see his face.
When Vani turned around, she couldn't see his face-just a tall, muscular figure.
He was nearly 6'3", wearing a black blazer with a well-built body.
And within a moment, he disappeared.
"Hey, are you okay?" someone called from behind.
Vani turned and saw Charu-her classmate, though they had never spoken before.
Vani said "yes," and reached her hand behind to check her blouse.
Charu said, "Wait, I'll check."
She examined the blouse to see if it was fixed .
Wow, that man had a good idea-he stapled your blouse," Charu said laughing.
"But... will it open again? Should I go buy new clothes and change?"
"No, no, don't worry. He stapled it two-three times. It shouldn't open," Charu replied, laughing again.
"But seriously-where did that man get a stapler from?" she said, laughing even more.
"I need to thank him... but I don't know who he was," Vani said softly.
"What? You didn't see his face?" Charu asked.
"No..." Vani said with innocent eyes.
"Okay leave it. Are you sure you're alright?" Charu asked.
"Yes," Vani replied.
"Yeah, I can see that," Charu said, looking at Vani from head to toe.
"By the way, you're looking really beautiful today," she said with a smile.
"Thank you. But what are you doing here?" Vani asked.
"I came for darshan-just like you," Charu replied.
"Oh."
"So, when are you coming back to college, Vani?" she asked.
"Let's see... maybe after ten days. My aunt's daughter's engagement is coming up, so I can't attend," Vani said.
"What? But day after tomorrow is the last date for the supplementary exam! I'm leaving tomorrow because I have one back subject. If you want to come, you can come with me. I already have my ticket."
"If you don't take this exam now, you'll have to wait a whole year again," Charu added.
Vani was shocked.
"What? The exam is happening already? I didn't know..."
"How would you know? You haven't come to college for three months," Charu said.
"No..." Vani said nervously. "Okay, I'll try to leave tomorrow. Thank you for telling me."
Charu hugged Vani and said, "It's my pleasure. And yes-if you need anything, call me, okay?"
"Okay," Vani replied with a smile.
Then the two exchanged numbers and said goodbye.
TO BE CONTINUED ...........
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