Mi amor-part 2

The driver was a tough looking guy. He had already gone out of his car and marched towards us. But before he could grab the hold of Shaggy’s color. He drove the  vehicle to maximum limit.

He was greeted with warm welcome by my family. He had charmed my family with his happy go lucky attitude ( I don’t know where he gets that. I am hundred percent sure that it was not from his family’s genes. I once visited his family. Contrary to his flamboyant nature, they were more reserved and conservative.) He instantly became a part of the family.

“So when are you giving me the grand tour of the city? I have not come here to sit all day long.”, he said. Twenty four hours had passed since he had come. He was no longer jet lagged. “ Where do you get that energy from?” I asked. “ Come on you lazy bump! I don’t have time to answer all of your questions.”, he said and dragged me out of my bed.

Ah! I had to carry a history literature books with me to explain him every places and it’s significance. Why , how and what was his infamous questions for which I had no answer. He made me look like the founder of 

my city.

At last we halted at the café. I was dead tired of answering his nonsensical questions. Thank god! He didn’t 

ask the history behind the existence of the café. So we ordered for sandwiches and lemonade- a perfect combo to relive us from heat emitted from the sun.

“ So what next?”,he asked. “ Aren’t you tired?” I replied back. “ No … the day isn’t over. What about the
night life?”he said. “Oh lord! Do you want to see everything today itself? Let’s go slowly.”, I said calmly. He nodded his hand forcefully like a child who has been forbidden to buy a candy.

I wished for the hours to go slowly. But it didn’t. I saw Shaggy,the grown up child jumping around me during the evening. “ It’s still 4 pm. All the clubs and discs are only open by 8.”I said. He kept quiet for some time and pulled my hand all of a sudden.

It wasn’t still 8 and more than 15 minutes were left for the club Enigma to open. I kept complaining to him about his stupidity in not listening to me. We stood in front of the club looking like beggars. The security guard took pity on us and let us inside the club.

Few hours had passed when he asked me a question, “Are you ok? You are not yourself from past few days.” “ What makes you think I am not myself?” I asked back. “You used to love being outdoors. Here I find you so confined to your solitary life. You keep complaining about going out.”, he said, sounding concerned about my well being. This stunned me.

Did I really stopped liking outdoors? Did I enjoy being alone? Why do I feel so irritated when he said that I confined myself to solitary life? What was the cause of all these feelings? I had no answer for all this questions. It was wandering around my head like the scavangers.

(To be continued)

Mi Amor-part 1

The airport was busy as usual. There were many people walking in and out of the airport. I stood with a crowd of people waiting for their closed one or strangers or whoever it is coming out of the ‘arrival’ entrance. An hour had passed since my friend called. He had said that he was at the baggage counter. 

Where was he?  Ah ! These customs stuff! They are so time consuming activities. It’s a era of technology. I don’t understand why they use the usual manual check ups when there are detectors that can do these mundane jobs.

“ Hey Lee!” he waved his hand and called out my name. Ah! My devilish friend had arrived at last. I gave him a huge hug. “ So Mr. Shaggy, how was your flight?” I asked. “ Not the usual boring and long! Fortunately I had a hot and sexy lass in my company…”, he started rattling a tale of his so called hot co passenger.  These guys I tell you! They only care about sports and hot girls. When we chide them about their habit, they would blame us for being too jealous.

Mr Shaggy a.k.a Santino Lopez had been my best buddy since the time I moved to California. We didn’t share good rapport when I first met him. He seemed to be a snob. But one stupid incident bought two different poles together. My name was misspelled from Leelavati to Lee due to one of college administrator’s mistake. That one mistake had changed my gender and I had to share the room with Shaggy in boy’s hostel for a week until I was shifted. Thus this started our journey towards the beautiful friendship.

Now we had decided to spend vacation at my place.  Well ! I never wanted to come  back to India for some reason. However Shaggy’s pestering need to come to my country took a toll on me. I had to say yes to be his tour guide.

As we reached the parking spot, he snatched my car keys. “ Let me drive!”, he said. I gave him a disgusted look. “ But this isn’t America! People drive from every corner.”, I said. He ignored me and simply started the engine.

We were on the road within minutes. He was speeding even after I asked him to drive safely. He didn’t pay any heed to my advice. He didn’t look at the vehicle coming from the other side and took a screeching turn. Unfortunately the car ended banging the other vehicle. I gave him a ‘told you so ‘ look. He hadn’t stepped out on the grounds of India and there he was, already in trouble.

(To be continued) 

Crushed-part 5

I stared with bewilderment at her father and couldn’t believe what he just said now,“ She has decided to go for  group study with her friends. I don’t know what is wrong with her. It was so much better when you were teaching her. Oh! I don’t know who induced her to do group study. Never mind! Anything is fine unless she is studying. Hope you don’t feel bad.”

I nodded, assuring him that I didn’t feel bad. But I felt bad deep inside my heart. I knew the reason of her well planned ‘group study’. She did read the letter and now she was avoiding me. Many days had passed since that incident and she didn’t reply back. This meant that she never treated me like as I did.

I was heartbroken- I knew this would happen before I fell in love. But love is something that makes you follow impossible dreams. It manipulates your heart with beautiful lies. In the end, you end up with disillusion sight of everything in life.

I tried to divert my mind towards work and mundane things in life. I would stay out till wee hours in the night. Initially my mother became too anxious about my daily outings. She would scold and accuse me for my indifferent behaviour. But I would emotionally blackmail her that I was doing this for the bright future of the family.

Preeti had pushed me out of her life. She would preoccupy herself at her room whenever I came to her house. Her innocent dad would give various reasons for her absence. I had heard from my mother that Preeti was keeping unwell for past few days. She had reduced her weight drastically since I last saw her. Everyone around her blamed her ill health on the academic pressure. But  I knew the real reason behind her sickness. I had to do something to keep her from worrying about us.

Finally an opportunity came at my doorstep. I was called by an eminent personality in wildlife photography to be his intern. I grabbed it after too much thought on it. I didn’t want to get away from her. But I had no other option. I had to get away from her in order to help her come out of this mess.

************** 10 Years later*********

I was surprised that she hadn’t forgotten me. I saw her with same gleaming eyes. She looked more beautiful than she was at her blossoming years. She stood next to her husband while she was being congratulated for the new life. “ Hi Rahul anna, I am so pleased to see you here.”, she said. For the first time I didn’t feel the pain. I was happy with the decision I made that time. Maybe my heart did heal within these years. Maybe I fell out of love with her. Maybe it was called growing up. Whatever it was called, I was happy that we had moved on with her lives.

**************  The end***************

Crushed -part 4

Atlast I was done with the impossible task-writing a letter. I could recall the words I had written after redrafting it many times.  The words were like this:

“ Dearest Preeti

I know what you would do after you have read the letter. You would probably not want to see me. You have given me respect and loved me like a brother. But I never considered you one since the day I first saw you. How could I forget that day? You were waiting for the bus with your friends. I felt my whole word turn 

upside down when I saw your beautiful eyes and breathtaking smile.

I know you are quite young for all this. You are not mature enough to understand all this. But I am ready to wait until you are old enough.

You must be wondering why am I telling you all this. I don’t have answer for this. I don’t know why am I writing this. But I feel that you should know how I feel about you. I don’t want to scare you. I am not forcing you into any relationship. I just want to be close to you. I always want the good for you. So it’s your choice to accept my love or ignore me.

But you will always be in my heart irrespective of any decision you make. You  are the sweetest thing that ever happened in my life. I will always love you.

Hope you don’t neglect your studies because of all this. I want you focus on your studies. As I said I always want good for you, you can come to me for any advices. I am ready to help you. Hope this doesn’t change anything between us.

Love

Rahul”

A dilemma began on how to hand the letter to her. I had scrapped all the ways of delivering the letter. If I had handed it through her friend, she would be a hot topic for gossip for girls. Obviously I couldn’t hand it to her father! So I had to give it to her directly. But whenever I tried to give her the letter, I would develop a cold feet.

One fine day I was in hurry. I had to visit my friend who was admitted in the hospital. I had planned to give her a test on algebra. I quickly handed her question paper with all trust on her that she wouldn’t copy when I was away. I wasn’t very far when I realised that I had given the letter instead of the question paper. I hurried to her house. But it was too late.

(To be continued)

Crushed -part 3

I looked at my geeky self in the mirror.  Love was written all over my face. I tried to compose myself. But whenever I tried that, my deepest feelings would surface on my face. How was I going teach her? What if she reads my deepest emotions and feelings during the course?  My heart pulled me back from going. But I had given my word to my landlord.

I was right on time at their place. “ Hi son! I am so glad you came. She will be here in a minute.”, my landlord greeted me with a big smile. “Preeti”, he called out her name. My conscious screamed loudly that it was a mistake coming here. My heart beat slowly with every passing minute.

There she was dressed in casual tee and jeans. She looked pretty even in her plain Jain attire. “ Hi, I am Rahul” I said softly. “Hi… I know”, she said shyly, her eyes bent down. “Ok kid! You can keep yourself comfortable. Let me know if you need something, Rahul.”, landlord said.

“ So where do we start? Algebra or geometry! I heard you hate Math.”, I said trying to sound calm. She nodded yes. “ Ok… let’s start with easiest. Which one do you find easy?” I asked. “Geometry..I love the diagrams.”, she said.  We started with geometry with easiest problems first and then slowly to difficult ones.

She was amazingly smart and quick learner too.  Beauty with brains!  Every day I got to know something new about her. She was mystery revealing new colours daily.

I knew she treated me with respect and seen a brother in me. But my feelings for her was different …special. It was something more. I had to express it someway. I decided to write a letter.

It took me days to draft a letter that expressed my feelings. I felt it was the dumbest thing I ever did. I started writing. I didn’t know how to start. Should I begin with dearest or simply her name-Preeti?  What should I say? Should I say that her beautiful eyes and innocent face had captured my heart? Wouldn’t it sound a bit romantic? I had wasted around fifteen pages to write one simple letter.

(To be continued)

Crushed-part 2

 It was Diwali – time for celebration and happiness. However it didn’t bring any happiness except my fear closer to me.

I was sitting at the worn out leather sofa, staring at my dream girl. She happened to be the daughter of my landlord. She was serving lemonade and homemade sweets.  As she served me, I struggled to hold it. My hands became sweaty and shivering. This was the first time I was so nervous. I didn’t look at her beautiful brown eyes because I was so focused on calming down myself.

Gosh! Fear ruins even the sweetest moments of our life. I was so close to her and I couldn’t speak to her. 

Why? I was scared… I was scared that my true feelings would surface on my face. I didn’t want her to think I was desperate.

We were there for an hour. But that hour seemed to pass very slowly. I looked at my watch continuously. It seemed like as if I had an urgent appointment. “ Are you getting late for some meeting, Rahul anna?”, she asked. What! Did I hear right? She called me ‘Anna’? I wasn’t that old. I was ..maybe five or six years elder to her. I nodded my head left to right , suggesting no. My tongue was tied and words stayed deep inside my heart. We bid them goodbye and visited the next house.

I would always meet her due to coincidence. It was not that I wanted to be close to her. I tried my best to stay away from her. But God had other plans for me. He would use his magic wand and make me meet her in some way.

I was walking home from playing cricket with my friends. I saw a car stop by and driver (none other than my landlord) peeping out of the window of the car. “ Hi! Come inside, son. I am taking same route to home.”, he said.  I hopped into his car.

We started chatting about life and everything else. I didn’t expect that my landlord had interesting personality behind his cold exterior. I learnt something valuable- Never judge a book from its cover. I discovered his fun loving personality from our conversation. His advices on life seemed so simple and clear.

“ So… I heard you were good in math and science. I was thinking about you helping my daughter in these areas. She’s not weak. But she seems to be disinterested in them. So a bit of help is needed to make her focus on them. Could you help her?”, he asked out of blue.

Teaching! I did teach my friends and few from my old neighbourhood. But I don’t think I could teach her. I wanted to say no. But I blurted out ‘yes’. My fear to say ‘no’ had landed me into trouble.

(To be continued) 

Crushed-part 1

I was crushed by love when I first saw her. She was at the bus stand waiting for the bus like any other school girls. She was no more than fifteen. But she looked mature for her age. Her innocent chocolate brown eyes gleamed with pride. Her face was perfectly round like an orange. She had long and shiny black hair that swayed as she moved. Her lips curved into a smile at every joke of her friends.

Ah! Was this love? I never believed in love at first sight. But her demure personality was attracting me. I felt like an honey bee , thirsty for the nectar of the flower.

“ Rahul! Are you dreaming again? Get your ass here and help me to carry these luggage!” my brother shouted. I quickly got out of my temporary numbness caused by this sweet feeling. I walked up to my brother and helped him to carry his bags.

We were moving into a new locality. My brother wanted us to move into good neighborhood before travelling to London for work. I had no responsibility till now. My brother and mother solely took care of the family. Suddenly I was given duty to take care of the family as my mother was aging and brother was leaving.

Few days had passed. We were getting used to the new environment. We stayed at the first floor of the two storey house while our landlord were staying at the ground floor. Everything was going smooth. However I felt that something was missing. I blamed it on my dependency on my brother. I was not used to him not being around. Later I realized it wasn't about my brother. It was that girl. I missed looking at her. I hadn't seen her for many days since I first saw her.

But I controlled my feeling. I didn't know her name or where she stayed or who she was. How could I develop feelings for a stranger? Why I was yearning for someone whom I didn't know…who didn't know I existed.

A first glance at her had triggered such feelings. I wondered what it would be like if I saw her daily. I feared that it might crush me more.

(To be continued)

A strange love story-part 8

Anisha bought the tea cups- one for herself and other too her husband. She had poured one drop of the deadly rat poison and mixed well with the tea. They settled with their last tea together. It didn’t take minutes for poison to impact their system. As the poison made it’s way into their heart, they started showing the symptoms- it started with the fits and then white foamy liquid started pouring from their mouth. They lay lifeless and cold within few minutes.

No one suspected their absence. They were already dead to their family. Their neighbours believed that they had gone for the pilgrimage.

 After few days, Varun’s family complained about the foul smell emitting from Srinivasan’s house. First they thought that it was coming from the garbage. However the smell continued to remain even after the garbage was cleared.

“This is it! I am going to take a look at Raghu’s place. The smell has been increasing over the days.”, Varun’s dad said and marched towards the Srinivasan’s house. He checked the veranda to see where the smell was coming. There was nothing- no sign of garbage or decaying carcass of animal.  “ Any clue from where this smell is coming from?” a neighbor asked. “ I don’t know. But the smell is coming from here itself.”, Varun’s dad said. “ Let’s check inside the house.”, the neighbor said. Varun’s dad agreed. They broke the door open and got inside. They found the source of the smell.

They looked shocked at the corpse of the couple. As soon as the police was called, the whole neighborhood surrounded the scene to understand what had happened to the loving couple. No one could ever believe that Srinivasans were no longer there. The postmortem was done and the case was closed stating that it was suicide case. Their bodies stayed at the morgue. Their families were notified about their death. But they didn't come to claim their bodies.

The cause of their death became hot topic for gossip for the people. They made up causes such as Srinivasans were crazy couple or they had died due to wife or husband’s affair or family got them killed. However the rumors died in thin air.

The truth behind their death was clear and white. People knew it, but they chose to remain quiet. It wasn’t about their craziness or adultery or family getting them killed. It was due to loneliness and bitter fact that they had no one to care after their death. They were never accepted by their family or society. They were treated as misfits in the society. The only reason was because they had chosen soul mates for each other without the consent of their family and also because Anisha couldn't bear a child.

Now they could stay peacefully together in heaven. They don’t have to bother about the society’s rules. They were away from all those binding. They were free at last.

                                                      ***** End*******

A strange love story-part 7

They were known for their good deeds in the neighbourhood. They were always helping their neighbours in fixing their lives. They would lend anything that people asked for, without expecting them to return back. Kindness, helpful and friendliness were tagged to their names.

No one knew Srinivasan’s painful secrets behind their smile. They made their life look perfect like a glass house. They were the sole witness of their painful life. The only way they could forget the sadness was to bring smile in other’s life. The void in their seemingly perfect life was hideous to the outer world. But they were contented with their life.

                                          ********** 3 days before the present day********

“ Thanks Uncle Raghu! But you didn’t have to do all this for me. I mean.. this was your personal laptop.”, Varun, Srinivasan’s neighbour’s son said. “ You are like our son. This laptop … is of no use where we are going. You would require this more than me.”, Raghu said. “ Where are you going?” Varun’s mother asked anxiously. “ We would be leaving for redemption yatra in 3 days.” , Raghu said. “ Oh! That’s good! Everyone needs to go to pilgrimage for soul purification.”, Varun’s mother said. “ When are you coming back? “ Varun asked. “ I don’t know, son. It is going to be long stay.” Raghu replied. “ Gosh! We are going to miss you a lot. Especially those math classes you used to take.”Varun said softly. Srinivasan’s heart melted with his words. None had ever expressed such kind of feelings for them. For one second, they wanted to stay. But it was too late as they had already decided.

                                                                           ******* Present day*******

The house looked empty with only little furniture. They had donated most of them to their neighbour. It was difficult for them to come to this conclusion for their life. They were ready to leave. They had resigned their work last week. They wanted to spend few days in completing the chores. 

After they were done with all the work, they had decided to visit their parents one last time. But they were never welcomed. They were abused and pushed out at the door. They had tried to convince their families to accept them. But nothing worked. They came back home heartbroken.

They sold out their house at good price. The money they got from selling was transferred for Varun and other neighborhood children’s education. They made a will where they had promised to give their wealth to a deserving charitable organization. They sold their precious books to old library next to their house.

They were ready to take their planned step. They sat peacefully at the dining area. Their mind took them to happy moments when they had first met… whey they fell in love....when they would meet secretly without anyone suspecting them. They wished that those happy moments would have stayed for longer time. They dreamed that their parents had accepted them with open hands. They also imagined that they had a child of their own. But these dreams were far cry from reality.

(To be continued)

A strange love story-part 6

They visited every doctor in the city. Everyone gave the same opinion. “ Sorry Mrs. Srinivasan, you won’t be able to conceive.” . Some doctors did suggest some treatment. They tried every possible solution, nothing worked. As the years passed, they accepted their destiny.

Life in this heavenly small city of America had become monotonous. The old memories at their home town reminded them about their roots. This made them long for to revive their past lives. They missed their families a lot. They wanted to go back. However they both knew that they wouldn’t be accepted by their families. They kept their desire to go back home in back seat of their lives.

Everything that used to be fun got boring and dull. Life in whole was colourless to them. They thought that their lives would be complete with a kid. But it seemed like a lost dream. They had many options. However they were tired of implementing them. Being foster parents to an orphan was not an option to them. They wanted a kid of their own.

One fine day, Raghu resigned his dream job. He sold his car and house for a  good price. He simply told Anisha that they were leaving. Anisha didn’t question him. She did as he said- followed him.

They moved to peace locality in Goa. It was a perfect neighbourhood to start a new life. Raghu got  a new job as professor at the reputed college. Anisha worked as freelance researcher from home. They were getting used to their new life. However this didn’t remain same for long time. Their past resurfaced after many years.

As usual, they were shopping at the vegetable market. To their astonishment, they  saw Raghu’s elder brother and his wife at the market. Raghu like a dutiful younger brother politely greeted his brother. Anisha followed the suit. “…What are you doing here? You have already created too much trouble for us. Now what do you want?” Raghu’s elder brother said.

“ Anna, I am sorry for whatever we have done. Why don’t we mend our older relationship? “ , Raghu said. “ Oh! So you want us to forget whatever you have done!  The shame… the dreadful life… you never got to see this… we had to face the brunt of all your actions. We cannot forgive you! You caused too much of pain to us.”, Raghu’s elder brother mocked at him.

They left before Raghu could speak anything. Anisha was grief stricken. “ I.. am cause of all this… You were so close to your brother. Now… he doesn’t want to see you because of me.”she cried out of guilt. “ Don’t you ever blame yourself! You aren’t the cause of all these things. Think positive- I have you! I don’t need anyone when I have you!” he consoled her.

His words made sense to her. He was right to a quite an extent. Somewhere deep down , she knew that family bond was greater than love.

(To be continued)

A strange love story-part 5

The rituals took place on time. The bride and groom were bought forward for their family communion. Everyone looked happy and excited for their wedding. As the procession took place smoothly, the bride’s aggressive lover barged into wedding and broke the peace.

He grabbed her hand and took her away from being someone else wife. The bride’s dad was furious at this young lad. “ Hey… leave my daughter alone!! How dare you pull her out from the mandap?”, he said scornfully. “Dad, Please let me go with him. I have already considered him as my soul mate. I cannot give that place to anyone.”, Anisha pleaded. Her dad looked at her with disgust.

“ Do whatever you want! Remember one thing: If you walk out of this house with this guy, you will no longer be my daughter.”, her dad said. They walked away without uttering any word. Anisha took one glance at her father’s disappointed face before they left. It was last day after which they never stepped into that house.

The whole incident had become talk of the town. It had become difficult for both family ( Raghu and Anisha) stay as neighbors. Thus they moved to different cities. It also had become impossible for the young lover to start a new chapter in their life. Raghu’s parents disowned their son. Therefore they got married with consent from the court. Later they flew to the US … a foreign country where they were accepted by strangers.

Raghu and Anisha lives had started with a good note. They both had steady jobs- he was promoted to global head of the company and she took up job as professor in a reputed college. They had built a house with love , trust and happiness. They were contented with everything they had. The only thing that they really wanted now was a child of their own. They had all the happiness that they wanted to share with their kid.

It was normal bright Monday morning at Beaverton. Raghu and Anisha waited eagerly for the results. They prayed for hope of new life. Doctor called them inside her cabin. “ …. Ummm…. I have some bad news for you…. You are not…going to be a mother, Mrs.Srinivasan. You have infertile eggs.”, Dr. Smith said in solemn voice.

\(To be continued)

A strange love story -part 4

Her dad was furious at her. He slapped her hard. This changed the colour of her face from pink to rosy red.

“ This is how you gift us after we have invested so much in you. I believed you and given you complete freedom. I thought you would treasure it. Instead you broke our trust! And you didn't think about us when doing this sin.”, he ridiculed her.

She wept like a small child in front of her parents. She knew she had broken their trust. But what could she do? No one ever won against tricks of heart. Love doesn't knock your door and say ‘could you open the door?’ It happens. It is like an uninvited visitor who wouldn't mind barging into your life. Her dad wouldn't understand that.

“ Has Raghu spoken to his family about you?”,her mother asked softly. “Mala!” her dad raised his voice. “No.. he hasn't. He wanted to prove his worth to you people.” , she said meekly. She was scared to fight for her love against the people who taught her how to love. Her body shivered and her voice had become feeble. “ Raghu… that liar’son! He is lying to you. His parents are using him as bait to catch rich girls. Why would he want you? You are a poor guy’s daughter. He was only flirting with you.”, he coaxed her to believing love was a mirage.

“ Dad! Stop it! Your words hurt! He’s not like anyone else. He’s my love who has been sacrificing everything that he has for me… to able to look after me just like you.” , she argued. “ Enough! You will get married to one I choose. This is all because of letting you free. From tomorrow onwards, you will not go to office. You will stay here until I get you married.”, he said firmly.  She ran up to her room and closed it shut. She cried the whole night.

It was 12 am. Raghu was sound asleep and was already weaving the dreams of Anisha and him. Suddenly his phone rang, disrupting his sleep. He picked the receiver with sleepiness. “ Hello…”he said in drowsy voice. “…(sniff) They are getting me married! Please come back soon…. They know about us. Please do something… (sniff)” she cried. “ Anisha…. Nothing will happen to us. I will take the first flight to India and speak to my parents.”, he consoled her. “ I don’t think that will work…. My dad won’t speak to you… He might even tear you apart if he sees you.”, she said.

It was her wedding day. Everyone was happy except her. Brides glowed during this day. However Anisha was not glowing. She had become poker face. Both Raghu and she tried to convince their parents. Nothing worked. They didn’t want to run away. But with their parents staying dead against their relationship, they had nothing else to do. They had to accept their destiny.

( To be continued)

A strange love story-part 3

His job took him places. He would be in Paris in one morning and end up in Beaverton in the next evening. There were times when he couldn’t call her .. forget meeting her. He missed her scent, touch and more importantly her love. He always wished that she was there with him.  Whenever he thought about this, he would remember about the promise he made before going. Once he was stable and financially independent, he would ask her hand for marriage. “ Don’t worry about me. You go and achieve your dreams. I will wait for you, Raghu.” , Anisha had said during the last day of their togetherness. Those words still remain fresh in his mind.

Anisha felt the pang of jealousy when she saw happy couples around her. Sometimes she regretted of sending him away. Sometimes she wished that she could lie to her parents and fly to him. But she knew very well. Raghu was man of his words. He wouldn’t bend for his love. He would rather stand up and fight for his love. He wanted to prove her parents that he could take care of their daughter.

It was Friday evening. She had taken half day from her office. Her mother had called her due to some emergency at their place. She had to rush home. She took the first bus she found to her house. The huge traffic jam was delaying her to meet the impending emergency at home. As she reached home, she was greeted by her parents and few strangers. What was the emergency? Where was it?  “ Darling freshen up and come down. I would like to introduce you to your future in laws.”

Her face changed colour. She was numb and her body didn’t move for some time. When her mother nudged her to leave, she left.  “ What do I say? I don’t want to get married. I am waiting for my love who has gone away to prove his worth.” , she thought.

She walked down from her room with her face bent down. She stood with her so called ‘future in laws’ smiling at her. She opened her mouth to say something. Later she closed it. She searched for right words to disclose her secret to her parents while they were busy discussing about her wedding. She bought all courage. She took one last breath and said, “ Mum and daddy, I have something to tell you…. I don’t want to get married. … I like someone… I love Raghu and want to marry him.” They were stumped by her words. They thought that something was wrong with her.

“ Love! Patel, What am I hearing?  If you already had a boy in your mind, why did you waste our time?  I never thought you would cheat us like this. Thank you for your gratitude!” ,the strangers snapped and furiously walked out of the house.

(To be continued)

A strange love story- Part 2

They couldn't stay away from each other for long time. There was not a single moment which they didn’t share together. They would get up early to watch the sunrise together. Their good night sleep wouldn’t start without looking at the calm moon and kissing each other good night. For this impossible task, they would secretly tip toe out of their safe flats and reach to the common terrace.  Keeping their love away from the prying eyes of the world was like an dangerous adventure to them.

However this couldn’t stay for a long time. Their beloved English teacher got to know their innocent sin. He called them alone. “ So you love each other, is it?  You guys are mature. The love that you have is mere attraction. It will fizzle out once you are out of college. Love at your age is infatuation and hormone induced feeling. Nothing more!” , he adviced. “ Sir, I am not attracted to her. I just happen to love her for her imperfection. We have shared our childhood together. Now we would like to share our whole life together.”, Raghu said. “ Love is not an option to us, sir. It won’t fizzle like that. Our love is strong enough to withstand 

any kind of storm. We won’t tear apart. Our love won’t wear out.”, Anisha said.

“ Life is not a movie. You never have any happy endings. Remember kids, love never stays through out your life. Raghu and Anisha, one day youth will die and what you will be left is just wrinkled skin and diseased heart. Can you handle that?”their teacher asked. “ Yes, we are ready to handle any kind situation. But… life would be difficult if we stay apart because we can be understood only by us. Any third person may find it difficult to bear our shortcomings.”, Raghu and Anisha said together.

Their teacher was speechless. He wasn’t sure whether to believe their philosophical promises or was it their innocent belief about love? But one thing he knew that they were madly in love. “ Ok! You must promise me one thing. Both will work together to get secured jobs so that you don’t have to beg in front of anyone. 

Keep your love stronger and don’t leave each other. Love is not easily accepted here. You may face many hurdles. Don’t let them bring your love down.”, he said. They agreed.

They worked hard both academically and in other activities too. In the end, they shaped their career path. Both of them got jobs in reputed companies. But their love never fizzled out. It grew stronger and deeper.

(To be continued)

A strange love story- Part 1

The sun was shining bright in the sky. The beach looked calm and serene. The shore was empty with few morning walkers. There were few houses facing the sea side. A perfect neighborhood! That’s what Mr and Mrs. Srinivasan thought! But things never turn out to be what you expected it to happen. Life had become meaningless to Srinivasans. They weren’t too old to get such thoughts. They had everything in life – house , career and each other. But there was a huge vacuum in their life. A vacuum called unhappiness…complete sadness.

Whatever they tried didn’t fill that void in life. Now a dangerous step looked lucrative to them. It was a choice which was difficult. Mrs Srinivasan bought two filled tea cups of mixture of tea and rat poison. She handed the first one to her husband while she sipped the other one. Within minutes, their souls departed their bodies and embarked the journey to heaven. Their souls looked contented as if they had achieved nirvana during their time in earth. At last they were going to be together. Now, no one was going to bother them at heaven. Finally, no more abuses or gossips about them from world down. They were free at last.

********** Ten years back*********

It was a time when Mrs. Srinivasan was known as simply Anisha Patel- the daughter of middle class businessmen. She was an apple of her dad’s eyes. Her dad showered her with love and gifts. In other words, her dad believe she was a good girl who wouldn’t do sins like other girls. He had huge amount of trust on his little girl. Anisha loved her family in the same way as they did. But her heart like any other girl searched for that charming man who would sweep her from her feet. Finally she did find one. It was the boy next door cum classmate- Raghu Srinivasan. They had spent their childhood days together, sharing the most intimate feelings as kids. As they grew up, their friendship blossomed into pure emotion called love. They were deeply and madly in love.

(To be continued)

Affectus-part 6

I was outside for the first time over these few months… away from my four walled closet. I was at my cousin’s theatre production house. He had made many successful plays and was looking out for something fresh. So his quest for fresh script stopped at my footstep. I had rejected his offer to make me as official writer of his play. Crap ! Right! That’s what you might think. When opportunity knocks at your doorstep, you grab it.. you don’t bang the door on it. Yes! I was wrong about rejected his offer. But what could I do? I didn’t feel confident with myself. I had lost trust on myself. I stopped loving myself.

My family was known for their adamant nature. So my cousin didn’t leave me. He pursued me until I said yes. Now I was here with my writing. He got me to read my story to other members of his huge team.

The story was about two individuals who were deeply in love with each other. They made promise to get married after protagonist of my story leaves for the war. Unfortunately when he comes back, he sees that he had lost his love in the war. It was a story of heartbreaks and love.

The story had moved people in the room. They narrowed down to my story after looking into other scripts. They auditioned for the casts for the play. The rehearsals began quite early than their schedule. Now that I was the writer, my cousin asked me to assist him with the play. Thus I had no choice, but accept it. 

I was spending all my time with the crew of the play. Sometimes we would end up sleeping at the theatre. I was enjoying every bit of what was happening. My life was changing. Now the dullness was replaced by shining happiness. I was happy again. My heart was beginning to heal. I got a new purpose in my life. 

There were downs too like expenses would overleap the budget or the actors wouldn’t cooperate with scenes or set wasn’t decorated according to planned design. But it didn’t affect me. It would sound strange that I was the one who would get people to work together with motivational messages or at least solving their problems. I couldn’t believe it was the same me who would emotionally burst out and cling on my ex boyfriend’s shoulder.

I was back with bang as people told me. The play was ready to be showcased. Everything went well with few glitches. People liked the play. The theatre was overbooked for weeks due to word of mouth. With this , I signed a contract with my cousin to be his official writer for his plays.

And for my ex boyfriend, life wasn’t bed of roses for him. I had heard that the girl ( for whom he had dumped me) dumped him for his irresponsible and emotional outburst. The same reasons that he had used while breaking up with me. When I got to know about this, I laughed it loud. It made feel better in strange way. He did come to get me back in his life. But I didn’t accept him. I was now in love with my new life. Heartbreak did change me into a better person. It wasn’t bad after all.

                                                ******** The end********