Daya returned back after about fifteen minutes and heard her murmuring and saw her trying to do the job with the dregs of energy..An affectionate smile hovered at his lips as he advanced towards her couch and stated finally,with a little trick with the slim hope of persuading niyati,:'doctor...waise...aap ki zid to achcha hai...bas aap ka hi kyu...aisa zid to achcha hi hota hai...jo ki...khud ka kaam khud hi karna sikhata hai...mmagar...' he paused and looked once at her only to find her looking at him with a repressed snarl, daya was quick to avert his glance to continue,:'mmagar...madad...insan hi...insan ko karte hain...Aj...agar aap ko...kisi ka madad ka jaroorat par raha hai...kal jo...kisi ko...aap ki madad ki...jaroorat nahi parega...aisa koi strict and stringent rule nahi hai...' he paused again finding niyati silent..and then added soon,:'ek insaan ho ke...ek insaan se hi to madad le rahi hain aap...woh bhi...us waqt...jab...aap ko...chot paucha hai...' niyati sharply looked at him and eventually she turned reflective as her head was reeling listening to the words of daya...She was about to hurl him by saying,:'aap ko to bohut maja araha hai meri ye...' but stopped as there was a rare earnestness within the face of daya that by no means suggested that daya, being sardonical, enjoying her helplessness...Daya,seeing her sunk into deep thought with a solemn face, flashed a faint sage smile and kneeling before the couch, he at last wrapped the bandage properly...niyati though felt helpless but couldn't refuse this time and instead of that her glance stuck to the gentle face of daya when he was concentrating upon the bandage..After completing it, daya was not late to leave the place as his presence could embarrass niyati more...niyati was feeling a flaming anger inside her for not getting the time to give him a formal thanks but subsidising the anger, daya's words, his emollient tone of voice kept coming in the back of her mind..."ek insaan ho ke...ek insaan se hi to madad..." If in truth tomorrow daya would need her help, would she boast with pride for helping him? No...at least she shouldn't do it...perhaps...she should behave with him...with utmost...humbleness...what daya is now doing for her...but...in reality, she never considered these things from that angle...and now...if she was giving it a thought then ...it is...no doubt ...for daya...He is the responsible one who almost impelled her to think these things from this angle...

After about half an hour daya came back further and placed himself exactly opposite to niyati, asking sympathetically,:'bandage se dard kuchh kam huya?'

niyati answered with visible drabness,:'haa..thora sa...' she deliberately flicked through some magazines those were strewn over the centre table of the sitting room... daya asked her a little hesitantly,:'dard bhul ke rehne ka ek tarika hai ..' niyati shot a cold glance at him,trying to be composed infront of the person about whom she had been ruminating knowingly or unknowingly,with or without her wish,consciously or unconsciously...With a candid smile, daya showed her a ludo board offering her to play it,:'waise...main achcha khiladi to hun nahi...magar...kisi bhi tarha karke khel leta hun...' niyati's lips curled automatically as commented a little sanctimoniously,:'main sochti thi...ke..bas bachcho ke ghar me hi...ludo rehta hai...' saying that much she shrugged with a priggish gesture...Daya lowered his eyes once to look at the floor,marshalling his thoughts and then returned back gently yet with a stoutness seeping through his voice,:'waise...mere khayal se...bachcho ka aur baro ka cheeze..hum hi alag karte hain doctor...har baro me bachcha chhupa rehta hai...chahe hum use admit kare...ya na kare...' he stopped confusing niyati more and more...It was a stage when every word of daya seemed to her sage pregnant with a new meaning...Her eyes turned hazy as her mind busied in analysing and understanding the true meaning of his words, while daya with a faint smile flattened the ludo board in preparation for the game...Niyati perceived that it would be a torture to face him being her opponent in a long game, but she tried to embolden herself murmuring beneath her breath,:'you have to do it niyati...you have to prove to yourself that you can finish the toughest job in any moment..and at this moment..the toughest job is to face this suave man...you have handled his aggressiveness in the past...now you have to cope with his softness too...come on niyati...fight back...be as sardonical as one who hasn't yet born...be offensive...be attacking...be aggressive...grip the situation in your fist...hurl the man with unnecessary brashness who has the audacity to intrude into your heart...,bludgeon the man with abrasive remarks to psyche him completely who has the arrogance of shattering the barrier between you...and...any man of this world... be as ferocious as a tigress...come on niyati...repudiate him in such a way that he could never gather the courage to offer you to play ludo...refuse to play it...come on ...' niyati felt the paroxysm of rage being flummoxed by her own thoughts and suddenly she shrieked,:"I can't...ohh...I caaaan't...' daya was startled with a staggered face and a gloom of repentance spread over his face...He lifted the ludo board off the table while niyati covering her face with one palm of her, remained silent with a pant...Before daya could jabber a modest apology, niyati spluttered weakly,:'sorry...I'm sorry...I don't mean it...'daya after taking a deep breath, said in order to give her solace,:'aap...aap...itna chinta na kijiye...do teen din ke andar...sab kuchh thik ho jayega..' niyati now looked at him straight with a bitterness, as it was bothering her that her restiveness was so apparent that it was not difficult for daya to discern it..:'kaise? aap ko kya weather office se ake koi bol ke gaya?' she snorted and sarcasm seeped through her voice...Daya perceived that it was no use lingering the conversation with her rather the discussion should be ceased and thus he leapt to his feet and slipped out of the room making niyati burning with new guilt along with the accummulated ones..

Again that sharp pain of unknown origin and angle attacked her and she couldn't help but sobbed once surreptiously until she could control her flowing emotion that was betraying her badly...

" ye dard..." gritting her teeth she mused,"kyu mar raha hai ye dard mujhe? aur sab se ajeeb baat yehi hai ki...ja bhi nahi pa rahi hun main yaha se...koshish kiya to ye halat huya...abhi pata nahi...kab tak...kab tak..." beads of perspiration stood over her forehead as she was breathing fast with an unknown scare...

time passed by though within an uneasy tension..It seemed as if a thick layer of inconvenience had been knitted in those past hours...Daya was sensible enough to fetch her lunch in the sitting room and allowed her to eat it by herself, without any more disturbances...After having the lunch niyati tried to have a sleep but her efforts were in vein as her heart was being enamoured to feel the sensitivity of the man who was wise enough to discern the fact that she was desperately avoiding him...She wanted to avoid him with a strong urge..Daya undoubtedly had given her the privacy, the much needed space that she wanted very badly...In the afternoon the door was banged again having a startling effect upon niyati..she tried to spring out of the couch but hurt herself invariably and grunted like a little girl..daya opened the door and further niyati heard that quivering voice of that aged lady thanking daya for fetching vegetables for them...daya had been ingenuously trying to fend it off with pure gentleness what a son should do with his aged mother...niyati's eyes brimmed but she was quick to cover her face with a magazine...The door was slammed as the voice of that lady trailed away and niyati felt precisely that daya stood in the sitting room, perhaps to say something..With an effort she asked still wrapping her face with the shiny pages of a magazine,:'kkya kuchh kahenge aap?'

daya replied a little irresolutely,:'jee haa...darasal...pas ki ghar ki...mausi ji...' he stopped suddenly and now niyati with much difficulty laid herself up and intruding her long fingers within her silky brownish hair, she drawled,:'mausi ji aap ko taufa me koi khana diya hai...,'she paused, and then raised her eyes masterfully to utter,:'hai na?'

daya flashed a coy smile this time and asked,:'haa..unhone gajar ka halua bana ke khud deke gayi...is liye...main soch raha tha ke...'

niyati asked promptly,:'kya?'

daya replied a little skittishly,:'bas ye ki...kyuki ...aap mera guest hain..to aap ka bhi hissa hai is me...'

niyati's brows puckered together as she again countered curtly,:'woh kaise?'

daya this time couldn't repress a broad grin and asked her banteringly,:'aap hamesha aise sawal poochhte hain...jaise ke koi official debate chal raha hai...aur aap ...' his grin turned into an amusing chuckle,:'aap...bar bar haarne ke kareeb ho ke bhi...haar nahi man rahi hai...jeetnewala ko challenge kar rahe hain...'

niyati's right brow raised once though she tried to manage it with adjusting her specs and then tried to state in a seemingly calm manner,:'hmmmm...to aap ka kehne ka matlab hai...ki...main har rahi hun...aur aap jeet rahe hain...'

the chuckle ebbed away from daya's face as he stated, a little hesitantly,:'jee aisa nahi ...woh to...main ek example diya...anyway...aap halua khayenge na?'

niyati smiled ruefully again adjusting her specs and then said,:'mujhe khana to nahi chaiye..kyuki ye mere liye nahi aap ke liye banaya gaya hai...magar...' she paused and then resurrected,:'khana parega...nahi to aap bhi nahi khayenge...kyuki aap to guest ko khatirdari na karke kha nahi sakte hain..'

astonishment crossed daya's face while niyati sat for a whole minute like a lifeless statue...daya discerned something unusual and he soon departed and came back with a plate and spoon to serve her the delicious halua...

niyati accepted it with a forced smile and very slowly finished it,having been absorbed herself in a cogitation...

daya switched the radio on to listen to news and a bulletin could assure them as it revealed that weather condition could be improved...Immediately after the news,soft international music started playing on and it started with the song...

May be it's intuition...something you just don't question...

niyati was fidgeting with restiveness and the a frisson of ache started squeezing her heart...

I know that it might sound more than a little crazy but i believe...

I knew I loved you before i met you...I think I dreamt you into life...

I knew I loved you before i met you...I have been waiting all my life...

daya switched the radio off and niyati thanked him beneath her breath for his sensitivity that rescued her from a horrible spasm of pain...