JOURNEY

Journey

I was recently appointed on a new project that demanded me to travel 40 Kms from my house every day. Since the distance wasn’t that huge, I decided to do up down. It was the month of May and it seemed as if the city was situated in the heart of the sun. It was so damn hot that one could feel the sun draining away all the fluids from the body. As if to compliment the heat, it was very very humid. Any clothes you wear would stick to your body and amplify the effect of the heat.

Though I loved my job, yet I hated the heat. My workplace was completely air conditioned, so was my flat (that’s another reason to come home daily. I could sleep peacefully) the only time I could feel the wrath of the sun was during the journey from home to office and vice versa. The most convenient method of transport for me was the bus and it was always crowded. The time of the day doesn’t matter, buses would always be packed. It often made me wonder where all these people come from. There would be a bus every 5minues and all of them equally packed.

Every day the journey would be the same. I come out of my house happy and clean and by the time I reach my workplace, I am drenched in my sweat as well as the passenger sitting beside me. But one day, the one hour journey to my office became worth it.

By the way, I am Arun and this is the point where an unexpected twist happened in my monotonous life. It was Monday. That day I was unfortunate firstly because I didn’t get a seat and secondly because I was already late, so I was standing and praying when the journey will be over. Just two stoppages away from mine, a girl boarded the bus. The moment I looked at her, she looked at me and I could hear the clicking of some puzzle of nature.

She was beautiful, too beautiful. Her eyes like the ocean, her hair like the darkest clouds, and her smile like blossoming flower and I became a poet. It was after a moment I realized that I had been staring her the whole time and staring at a girl was still in the bad manners list. She looked as though she was not affected by the sun like the models in sunscreen ads. She stood beside me…

After that day, every day I took the same bus, which meant every day I reached my office exactly 15mins late, but I didn’t mind that because every day I got to see her. Some days she would be in a good mood and would wear vibrant colored clothes, some days her mood would be off. Those days she preferred black and wouldn’t smile. She would regularly listen to music. On my lucky days she would sometimes smile at me. But that was that. I had noticed a whole lot of things about her. She had become my one good thing about the journey. On those days when I would miss the bus, I thought about her at the office.

One day I saw her aboard the bus with a guy, she kept talking to him the whole time and I was burning up. I noticed them coming together after that day, till the day she came alone. That day (Tuesday) she sat beside me, lucky for me, she had didn’t had change for the bus fare and I paid for her. We talked for the first time, for a whole hour!

“Thank you. I am Priya” she said with a smile.

“Hi. Arun here”

Then I came to know that she on training for her new job and that it was going to be over this week. Also I came to know that the guy wasn’t her boyfriend but a friend (phew!). On hearing the first news I was sad, but extremely happy for the 2^nd one.

  That day I kept thinking that after this week I would probably never see her again. It hurt. So I thought I would take a bold step and ask her number. The next day she didn’t come, the day after that I had to reach office early. So we arrived at her last day. Though I had to reach office early, I took my chances.

She sat beside me. “Hi Arun.”

“Hi.”

We talked for some time. I tried to ask her number a hundred times, but failed. Just a stoppage before mine, I said, “Priya I know this is highly inappropriate to tell you that too in a bus, but since it’s probably the last time we are meeting, but I would really like to see you again, this time not on a bus but some place nice. Would you please consider that and grant me one meeting? I really like you”

I said the whole thing in a go and waited for her, perhaps to slap me. But she didn’t say anything, didn’t even look at me. It was a long shot, I knew. Defeated I got down from the bus at my stoppage. I came near the window where she was seated for one last look. She didn’t look at me but started doing something. The bus was about to leave when she looked up and called me,

“Hey Arun… I never returned the money you paid for me that day” she said with a frown and shoved a Rs. 50 note in my hand through the window. I had no option but to take it, a memento from her. I chuckled. The bus left so did I.

When I took it out form my pocket, at office to keep it in my wallet, I saw something else except the smiling Gandhiji.

“You never told me where we would meet… text me the place”

Below that was a ten digit number followed by a smiley. 

SEASONS OF LOVE

Seasons of love

Looking at the flower garlands that adorned the walls of our hall, I remembered the fight I had with mom a few weeks ago.

“No! I don’t want to get married now” I yelled at mom. But she wasn’t someone who would give up easily.

She yelled back, “why not? The boy is handsome, educated, good family background and settled. What is your goddamn problem?”

“I don’t believe this! We have been settled in Sydney for the last 27years, but you still believe in the “settled, educated Indian guy” why can’t you accept that I want to get married in my 30s? I am just 27 now”

“That is because in our hearts, we are still Indian and the customs are not going to change for you. For heaven’s sake you haven’t even met that guy yet Riya. Just meet him and then make your decision”

She wasn’t someone who would surrender easily, so was I, so I stormed out of the house to the nearby park.

The park had always been an emotional shelter for me. Whenever I was upset I would go there, sometimes sit for hours and comeback with a light mood and fresh ideas. That day, when I went to sit on my “bench of wisdom”, Uncle Sam was sitting there.

Uncle Sam, Mr. John Samuel, was our neighbor. He lived with his wife. His two sons were married and lived away. Though his name sounded foreign, yet he was of Indian origin. I had always wondered about it. They were Christians, yet his wife, Jasmine prayed in front of lord Krishna. I always wanted to ask, but never did thinking that it was none of my business.

“Hello uncle” I said.

“Hello sweetheart. How are you?”

“Not good. Not at all”

“What’s wrong? You mind sharing with me?”

“Its mom. I don’t know why she is after me to get married? That too arranged. For all I know that guy could be a serial killer”

Uncle nodded, “right. That can happen. Though it s rare, still a possibility. BTW do you like someone else?”

“No. I don’t. But I might, in future”

“Have you talked to the guy your parents have picked?”

“Only over phone”

“Did he sound like “serial killer” types?”

“I don’t know… he sounded extra nice.”

“Ok. Would you mind telling me what is it that you are against? Is it the guy?”

“No. the whole concept of arranged marriage is something I am against. I mean how can I spend my whole life with someone I hardly know? I mean look at my parents, what good did arranged marriage do to them? They can’t even agree on the same ice cream flavor. On the contrary, look at you and Jasmine aunty. I want someone who would make such a pair with me”

He thought for a moment. And then said, “Do you have some time to spare Riya? If yes I would like to tell you a story, at the end of which you might change your mind about arranged marriages”

“I hardly think so. But yes, I would give it a shot”

“The story dates back to 1970s and took place in India. The prime characters of our story are Samir and Jasminder. Our guy, Samir was working as an engineer and when it was time for him to get married, his parents picked up Jasminder for him.”

“Back in those days, guys and girls were not allowed to go out for dates even after their parents met. Samir had just seen Jasminder once when he went to visit their house, and fell in love with her.”

“There was no way by which they could talk. But there was a phone at Jasminder’s house. On the day of their engagement, Samir asked Jasminder for the number. Boy! She did play had to get even after the engagement. But Samir wasn’t someone who would give up easily. He told her that he loved her, to which she smiled. While Samir and his family were returning home after the ceremony, Jasminder slipped a piece of paper into Samir’s hand. On the paper was a number followed by a few instructions:”

“Call me only on Tuesdays between 5-7pm. If anyone picks up the phone except me, don’t say a word. If it’s me, I will refer to you as Sonia. If I call you by some other name that means someone is beside me and I can’t talk. And yes, I like you”

“Samir’s happiness knew no limits. Finally his story was coming on track. She was a dream come true. And that face of hers was brighter that a million moons shining together. Her eyes were like the deepest oceans and her laughter was like a wind chime. All in all she was gorgeous.”

I felt the necessity to intervene, “so they lived happily ever after?”

“Not just yet my dear. Twist comes soon” uncle smiled.

“So where were we? Ah yes! Everything was going great. They would talk over phone on Tuesdays and slowly they started talking every day. They met a few times even and they were like two love birds, made for each other. The love they had burned in their eyes.”

“Problem came, a big one. Just before a week a marriage, Samir’s family came to know that Jasminder was manglik that is she was born on a new moon day. It’s considered unlucky, and believed to prove fatal for the spouse’s life.”

“Samir’s parents were so holding on to the word “manglik” that they decided to call off the marriage. Nothing would change their mind. Both Samir and Jasminder were broken. They both knew they couldn’t live without each other. When Samir knew there was no way that they could be together, he made a decision”

“He prepared visa for himself and Jasminder and left India with her, with a note saying, “I am taking her to someplace where manglik doesn’t matter. I love her and she is the one for me.”

“And then they moved to Sydney, changed their religion so that no one ever bothers about her being manglik”

“Wow! That was some story. Stuff like that can’t exist for real” I said.

“Is that so? Do you know that I was once called Samir?” uncle said with a smile on his face.

“That was your story? And Jasminder is jasmine aunty? Your marriage was arranged and then you had love marriage? Why?”

“Because I love her, so does she. There is no difference in arranged and love marriage if two hearts love each other” he said.

 After that day, I talked to Gaurav, the boy my parents had picked for me, and today is the day we are getting married. Not to mention that we love each other.

LOVE STORY

It probably won’t sound like a love story if there is no hero, heroine and a situation. Well, all love stories have that ingredient in common which are cooked in a different way to make an array of cuisines.

Well my story is not an exception to the “rules” of love stories.

It all began when I met Roshan for the first time after ten long years. All these years I had seldom thought of him. Though we were “friends” on facebook, yet we never had a chat and we remained as one of the hundreds of “facebook friends”

Had it not been for the school reunion, I would probably never got a chance to see him again. But when I did, it was as if time hadn’t moved since school days, as if I wasn’t working as a teacher, as if he wasn’t working at a MNC. For that brief moment when our eyes met, and he nodded lightly in my direction, I felt like a school girl, again!

 Then he walked in my direction. With his formal attire I would definitely admit that he looked handsome, his manly features were magnified by that boyish smile of his, he had eyes that could look into anyone’s soul and you get it how it feels like when you meet your crush… yes, I had a huge crush on him when we were in school, but so did other girls. One would never see him without the company of girls, who wore plastic smiles and fake attitudes (no doubt I was jealous of them). I was the definition of nerd back then. With my glasses, and braided hair, braces, I was a no match for the “barbies” that surrounded him. I was just one of the “watch-him-in-dreams girl”

His “hello” brought me back to reality. My heart skipped a beat.

“Hi Diyali” he said again. I could just gawk at him… my mind said, “Speak to him” but my mouth was dry. Not to mention the butterflies in my stomach that screamed “he knows your name”

He cleared his throat again, “this is where you say hi back”

I broke my train of thoughts and said, “Err hello Roshan”. Then he flashed his magnificent smile at me that dazzled me like a thousand diamonds. I smiled back…

“Wow! You have the most amazing smile… I mean without the braces your smile looks fantastic” (and I was like “look who is talking”)

The rest of the evening was almost a dream come true. We talked, a lot, exchanged numbers and he even dropped me home. Before leaving, he said, “you know I was wondering if we could meet again sometime”

I was struck by lightning. With loss of words, I nodded and left… he must have thought I was impolite… or retarded.

We decided to meet up the following weekend. Though I said that I would reach there myself, he insisted on picking me up. When I came out, he was leaning on his car, wearing a pair of denim blue jeans and a white shirt that framed his perfect features. He was a breath taking scenery. I swear I could just stand there and look at him til eternity (yes people! The teenage, mushy love feeling was seeping back) Once more he saw me gawking at him. This time I felt embarrassed.

“You are looking beautiful today, I must say you look more ravishing in sari” he said with a smile.

“When did you… oh at the reunion” I said.  We went to a coffee shop and started to talk.

“So what subjects do you teach at school?”

“I don’t…” I said.

“Sorry? You work as a teacher right?”

“Yes, but I don’t teach. I work as a primary teacher. I take care of kids of nursery” I said.

“Last I remember I heard you were doing your PhD.”

“Ya I do have a PhD degree. I don’t deny that.”

“So why are you taking care of kids?”

“I like it. I have spent too much time studying. And some time as a teacher, teaching “big kids”. I need a break now. At least for some years before I again jump back into research. You see I get peace by being with those small kids who are innocent and loving and know no politics at all. I have seen the world a little. I didn’t like it much. So this is how I escape that world. ”

He just smiled at me… a mysterious smile, the explanation of which he hasn’t given me till date.

After that day, we talked almost every day, over phone, sms, Fb, mails etc. he had returned to Canada and I was in Delhi. I missed him at times, most of the time. Before I could realize, I was in love with him. It was all “stars and diamonds”

And then 0ne day while taking over phone he said, “Diya can I tell you something?”

“Yes please”

“Promise me, you won’t tell anyone”

I felt little concerned. “Ok” was all I said.

“I have decided to settle. I am in love with a girl here. And I think she likes me too. We have been on a couple of dates even. And I think she is the one.”

My heart sank. It felt like I was drowning and I couldn’t think straight.

“Hello… you there?”

“Yes” I gulped with a lump in my throat, “say”

Though I had expected the next words to follow, I had wished in my heart that he wouldn’t say them.

“Tomorrow I am going to ask her to marry me. There is no point in delaying, right?”

“Yeah. You are right. I said wiping my tears.”

“Aren’t you happy for me? I mean you are kind of my best friend now”

“Yes I am very happy for you. Lucky girl. But then again, any girl would be lucky to have you. I said and ended the call”

That night I cried my eyes out. I cursed myself for even thinking that a guy like Roshan would ever even like me that way. After all I was still that “nerd” from school and he was still the most popular guy around. We were a perfect mismatch. I never realized when it was dawn.

I got ready to go to school. In the mirror I could see my swollen eyes, and looking at myself reminded me of Roshan’s eyes. Mine were so pale. On the contrary, his eyes always had that shine. With a heavy heart, I left for school.

The classroom seemed quite… too quite. When I entered all the kids started shouting at once and pointed to the corner of the classroom.

What I saw, I could hardly believe. Roshan was standing there. There was something small in his hands. He came to me and said,

“The kids around here are the witness to the love I have for you, and by judging the swollen eyes of yours, I can proudly say that you love me too.”

And then he went on one knee, “I cannot live without you. From the day I came to know you, I have been in love with you. Would you please accept my love and do me the honor by being my wife?”

Before I know, I was crying. And once gain I couldn’t speak but nod. He got up and hugged me.

“I am sorry for making you cry last night. The moment I decided that you are the one I want, I came to Delhi. Just to know what’s in your heart, I had made that call last night. I am sorry love.  you are mine now.” And then he slipped the ring to my finger.

I looked up to see him smile. The most dazzling smile I ever saw and I will be seeing it for a long time now.