ONE SIDED LOVE

When two wounded people meet, something draws them towards each other. I do not say this on basis of any scientific studies or some notion of my own, but I feel that it’s human nature. The hurt in one person is sometimes mirrored by another. In the pain of others at times we see our own. When that happens it feels as if two pieces of puzzle clicked. Or that was perhaps what I had thought.

But is there anything better explained by words than experiences? Nope. Never. It so happened that I was neck deep in making my assignment to be submitted the next day. Yeah! Yeah! I get it. I am not compliant, nor do I boast to be. Or you can say people like me are like rockets. We don’t propel forward unless our ass is on fire. Like it’s said, “jheel mein toh sab nao chalate hain… par samandar ki toofaano mein chalane ka mazaa hi kuch aur hai. Oho… see what I was saying and now what I am saying. Now I won’t divert from my story. Han so where was I?

Ah yes! I, Sonali Mehra was almost drowning when I changed the tab of my net browser from the boring research paper I was reading to the savior of boredom “facebook”. As I scrolled down the newsfeed, occasionally liking and commenting on pics, I came upon an update “finally employed”. It was from Chandan Ray, my schoolmate. Though we were batch mates in school, yet we had never talked. Come on! I am not an introvert. My batch had some 400 odd students! Anyways, as common courtesy I liked the status. After a few days, he was online when I dropped a “congrats” message in the chat. I still don’t have any idea as to why I did that. Bless that day. He replied back and we ended up chatting from 9pm till 2 in the morning.

In the first chat itself I came to know about his break up that happened a year ago. In turn I told about my eventful break up 6 months ago.  Our chats continued on the next day and we exchanged numbers. Chatting on FB can be really boring sometimes I tell you, hence we switched to whatsapp. We would often chat until either of us fell asleep. It was during the chats about our pasts that brought us close.

Till I met him, I had no idea that guys can be so understanding (yes! you can almost see my eyes shining when I talk about him). One moment he would talk of philosophy and in the next will drop a pj making me laugh. He was decent, I will give him that. Not once did he try to flirt with me. We women are so anomalous, if guys flirt, we call them cheap, and when they don’t, we get apprehensive why they don’t (yes! We are complicated. To tell you a secret, we don’t know why we are so). But it so happens that the guys we want to flirt with us, turn out to be too courteous. He was a charmer. And I was so mesmerized by his aura that I had exited my empty universe and entered his orbit. Like a sun, his gravity kept me stable. I became not a star, but merely a moon, that shone through his light. I couldn’t wait for the day to end, so that I could chat with him. I would read and reread our chats. He started calling me “Sona”, saying Sonali was too long.  Life was all honey and roses.

Now, don’t put words in my mouth. I never said the “L” word. No, but I definitely liked him, much more than a friend should like a friend. And I cared not what it was. As long as we kept talking each day, I was fine with this “no classification” rapport I would ogle at his pics for hours.  He was handsome, yes and very. But it was not what kept popping in my mind. The thing that almost knocked me out of breath every time I saw his pics was his smile and his eyes. Those eyes could hold someone for all eternity and if looks could kill, I would have died a hundred deaths daily.

Whenever we spoke, I felt as if all the atoms of my body have gained a large amount of kinetic energy suddenly, and that their entropy was beyond limits. My heart would seem to beat faster and the butterflies would have Brownian movement all over my stomach… no calling them butterflies is perhaps an understatement, they were “angry birds”. These were the circumstances that made me bound to tell him that I liked him (no! not the L word you think). He denied me saying that he liked me a lot but didn’t want to hurt me and then lose me (He was scared (see! That’s what I meant. Too well-mannered). I got the clue pretty well. Our chats seemed to decline after that. Though I assured him that it wasn’t necessary that he felt the same way as I did. But somehow, he started avoiding me. I tried to reach out to him many times, but he just wouldn’t talk or text or call back.

At times I wondered, if he held his phone, seeing my name flash on the screen and not pick it up. I wanted to see inside his mind as to what he felt at that instant. Or that when he was reading my texts, almost begging him to talk to me (don’t take these words too literally. Or I could go to jail for threatening to murder).  I went through a series of emotions during that strange time, first it was concern, then hurt, followed by rejection, then anger and then hurt again. It was heartbreak all over again. It didn’t sound rational, but that’s what it was. He was on my mind… day in and day out. I would stare at his pictures. Anytime my phone buzzed, I heart would beat wildly expecting it to be from him, and every time I would taste the acid in my mouth out if disappointment.

One fine day I decided, it was enough. I couldn’t bear the hurt anymore, and it was time for me to let go. The more I tried to hold him to me; I realized I was only suffocating myself. I thought the hurt from rejection that had been building up in me, will explode someday and it wouldn’t be pleasant. Plus, turning to begging wasn’t something I was proud of.  So with the last shred of my tattered self esteem and dignity along with scattered pieces of my broken heart, I decided that I would abandon all attempts to contact him. My last text to him read,

‘You gave me warmth, when I was cold,

Filled me with life, when I felt old,

You and me, like sun and moon,

With your light I shone,

I knew in my heart, u will never be my man,

But I also know you are the one”

As I stand now three years later, in a mall, I see him inside a store, he looks up at me. I am confused. Should I run? Should I wave? He smiles, calls, “Sona!!”, And I melt. We talk for some time. Only formal talks. My heart still aches for him. My solar system lacks its sun and I have forgotten to shine. A million questions in my mind. But not a word to utter. I leave as soon as I could. And then cry my eyes out. There was something between us, or was that just me? Silly me… of course it was one sided. 

LETTER TO A COMMON MAN

Dear ordinary man,

I am someone who is very jealous of your life. How can you lead such a simple life while mine is so very complicated? How can you stay happy under every circumstance?  No offence to you but I am 29 now, single, working in a multinational company and earning a hefty salary. But my life is strictly according to a routine. Each day I have to get up at 7, do my work and rush for office before 9. I don’t even get the fortune of having breakfast each day. Even on the weekends, If work commands, I have to do them and my social life is a mess. The only glance I get of people outside my office is the time I get holidays and I go to my hometown or on some vacation. The leisure moments I get is limited to the occasional movie with my colleagues or some lunch or dinner with a bunch of friends.  Whenever I visit home, my family is so madly happy that this time we will do something different, but I never become an active participant in their plans. By the time I reach home, the only thing on my mind is food cooked by mom and sleep. I never get enough of both here. As it is I get only a week off to visit home, that too in every 6-8 months. On days when I return late from office, I don’t even get dinner. What hurts is I have money in my wallet yet I am so dead tired that I don’t dare go outside again and I live on Maggie. My house feels so empty. The work load in office is so much, I feel one day I will die of it. at the end of the day, I just feel hollow. Sometimes I just wish I had a simple life, that I live with my family, to have someone waiting for me at home, to serve me dinner and ask me how my day was, that I could leave all the worries of office there only. I wish I had you life, a simple common man’s life.

From,

A jealous guy.

Dear Mr. jealous,

I can understand your sentiments. Any guy like you would obviously feel jealous of my home, family and 9 to 5 job. Its like a dream come true to all of you. I find it incredibly ironic though. Let me tell you something, the small house that I live in, that your girlfriend finds incredibly cute, is really very tight and I only reason I live there is because I cant afford a bigger one. My kid that look so adorable to you is the reason I cant sleep at night. I stay awake thinking about my kid’s future because I don’t have enough saved for her. screw college, I fear I wont be able to afford a good school for her. yes, I have a 9-5 job. The only cause I have to come home early is that I have a hell lot of work there too. Every evening my family waits for me to come home, when I do, I see expectation on their faces and I know I can never fulfill them. My wife looks at the monthly budget before we plan a dinner outside. So while you sit in your comfy chair in an air conditioned cabin, I work like an ass in an office that is loaded with obnoxious smelling people threatening to complain to my officer if I don’t do their work first and I don’t even have a fan overhead. While you go on vacations and trips in the name of recreation, I plan throughout the year to visit my parents once or buy them something. So I end up cancelling my visit, instead send the money so that they can get something useful. While you brag about having so much but feeling lonely, I feel I will never have enough. That’s the side of a common man that you never see. Our lives aren’t simple, we have a lot more problems than you. The only reason you see us laughing is that we have so much burden on ourselves that we don’t get time to howl about getting happiness. All I know is that 20 years from now I will still be having the same life, will never have enough and will try to blame it all on god for cursing me to be a common man and you will be sitting in some bunglow enjoying tea with you wife and planning holidays. If I could trade this life for yours, I would do it in a heartbeat.

Regards,

The unlucky common man.

Dear pessimists,

While you both nag about each other I come nearer each day.

With love,

Death. 

HAPPY ENDING

I had been sitting at the same table for over three hours now. Already five cups of coffee poured down my throat. People near me were starting to notice and were looking at me like I was some sort of alien. Every now and then I would meet few pairs of curious eyes trying to guess my “story”. perhaps it had something to do with the fact that i was the only person sitting there who didn't have the company of  an individual of the same species but opposite gender. Even the waiter looked at me now and somehow I got the feeling as if I had grown two horns, or i had a tail that was lurking out. Finally the waiter asked as I ordered my 6^th cup, “mam are you expecting someone?”

I looked up from the card I was holding and flashed a smile at him, “no. but I assure you I am not a nut case.”

His return smile was apologetic. The piece of paper I had in hand had got me so anxious that I couldn’t sit in my office. I had been expecting it and had been worried that it was late… now that I finally had it, I was restless. The feeling can be compared to admitting to your crush for the first time that u have a crush on him!

Well that was a bad example, considering that I had done the very mistake not so long ago. I had been madly, irrevocably, irresistibly, hopelessly and helplessly in love with Adi for the last 3 years. Finally when I mustered the courage and told him, he had rejected me. I had spent days, weeks and months crying.

Yet here I was. Holding a letter to my happiness. Feeling happy that this time my crush wasn’t some guy. I am doing a job that pays my bills, but never fills my soul. This was what led me to peruse a crazy idea that gave birth to a thought, eventually a dream which is becoming real pretty soon.

I still remember the day when some friends were having dinner at my house and spoke highly of my cooking. Among those compliments, laughter and jokes I got a crazy idea to open a restaurant.

And here I am today, holding an invitation card to my restaurant’s inauguration. The first of its lot. Soon to be distributed. It brought a smile on my face and I thought that, may be a happy ending doesn’t include a guy, may be its me! Picking up the pieces and putting them together to make a better picture out of life. 

THE THORN BIRD

“There is a legend of a bird that sings only once in its life, more beautifully than any other creature on the face of earth. From the moment it leaves its nest, it searches for a thorn tree, and doesn’t rest until it has found one. Then singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to out- carol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain.... Or so says the legend”

-        - The Thorn Birds (by  Colleen McCullough)

Jeevika stood motionless as Ashish presented her the ring. A thousand different things crossed her mind, but she held on to the most important memory.

Jeevika was only 10 when she lost both her parents. When her paternal uncle and aunt adopted her and her younger brother, she had no idea what was happening. She had never been close to them or seen them. They had appeared out of the blue and started living in her house. The social worker who looked after her after her parent’s death and before they were adopted, had told her

“As your mother was an orphan, the only relatives you have are your paternal ones and among them your uncle and aunt only came forward to adopt you. They are going to stay here with you and take care of you and your brother. If you ever face any problems, contact me. I have some other important things to discuss with you, but right now you are too young for that”

And then she was gone. After only a week she realized that their new family had no regards for her and her brother. They had become strangers in their own home. It was not that they weren’t fed or sent to school, but the quality of their life had changed.

The thing that hurt her the most was that her uncle and aunt had stated using her parent’s things. Her aunt would flaunt her mother’s clothes, jewelry, use her perfume. A first she saw it differently. She felt as if she had seen her mother come back.  That time her brother, Anuj was just six. He ran and hugged her aunt, crying, “Momma… I have missed you. Where were you?”

And in the next moment, her aunt had pushed him away saying, “I am not your mother. Don’t do this next time or else I will slap you”

Jeevika hopes had vanished.  She pulled Anuj away from her aunt and took him to their room where they both had cried their eyes out. That very day she had decided that she will be her brother’s keeper and will see to it that nothing hurts him, ever again.

When she passed her 12^th board exams, she received a full scholarship to study at a medical school. From the scholarship money she got, she would send some of it to her brother. Since she was staying in hostel, she made sure that her bother faced no problems at the house; she had stopped calling it home from a very long time.

It was during her 1^st year at med school that she had met Ashish. They had become friends instantly and she had felt something else. No, it wasn’t love at first sight. It was respect. Ashish had been so compassionate towards her that she was just drawn to him. She felt as if he could always know the exact thing she was feeling. When he met Anuj, he behaved as if he had known him for ever.

When Anuj had told her that he liked him too, she had been sure that he was the one. They had become a couple soon after. That was the time she felt that nothing could go wrong again. He was loving, caring and protective. He was the first person who made her realize that she had turned too hard on herself and that she should be taken care of.

It was during this time that she turned 18 and was informed by the social worker that she was the legal heir to all the property. She had been ecstatic as she knew what she had to do.  

But after a few months she realized something was wrong with Ashish. He had turned cold all of a sudden. He was avoiding her. Soon she came to know that he was involved with another girl. When she confronted him, he told blatantly, “you and I are over”. She simply came back, holding back the tears that were about to spill.

She passed medical school, and decided to go abroad for further studies. This time she took Anuj with him. She had told her uncle and aunt that she was the legal heir and that she shouldn’t be taken for granted.

One day while she was going to university, she saw Ashish. He came to her and said,

“Hi Jeevika. I want to talk to you”

“I am sorry but I don’t think that is going to happen” she said and left.

Each day he would wait for her and she would ignore him. One day she got tired of all this and asked,

“What do you want?”

“I am really sorry. I had been a jerk. Every day I regret for leaving you. You are still the most important person of my life. I cannot live without you. I had been searching for you for almost two years. You shouldn’t have vanished. Now that I have found you, I m not letting you go, ever again.”  And then he presented the ring.

Jeevika was silent for a long time.

Finally she spoke, “Every person in this world has to make their own journey. Nobody shares the burden. But it feels nice to walk beside someone, to hold their hand.  But sometimes it’s better to walk alone rather than with someone who never wants to walk side by side and for whom we will always have to look back and wait to catch up”

“I have let go of all the feelings I had for you, not because I do not love you, but because I have realized that I deserve better. My life has a greater meaning than holding out for you. I have responsibilities and I have to make a good life for Anuj. Go. Have a happy life. I am not going to be a part of it”

She said and walked away. Her heart broke into a million pieces, but she had to do it. Even in pain, she felt a kind of bliss as if someone was smiling down on her from above. A smile touched her lips and two tears rolled down her cheeks.

  

ALONE PART 2

When sadness pulls me into its abyss,

When a tear caresses my cheek,

When I feel my insides tuning hollow,

I think of you,

Hoping to find some solace.

Each day I fall a little deeper,

The harder it gets to rise again,

I wait for you to give me your hand,

To hold me close, just as you promised

Then I remember that you are not a promise keeper.

I burn deep within,

The flames engulf me each day,

blazing something vital in me day in and day out

I scream for help, to stop the pain,

But no one has an ear to lend,

I wait for the day to be tuned into ashes,

So that I can rise from them again,

Just as a phoenix, waiting to breathe again.

FRIENDS???

Friends???

it was one of those moments where I wondered if time had actually stopped moving forward. And it was not so in a good sense. I felt like a kid of kindergarten who was waiting the last bell to ring and the clock never seemed to move. Only difference was that I had nowhere to go. This happened a lot lately. I was sitting in front of my laptop staring at my Facebook page. You know that your life is dull when facebook seems like hell. In plain words, I was bored of the boredom.

My work was perfect, my life… not so perfect. It was way too simple…like some abandoned house, something was missing and I could never put my finger on it. I was staring ideally at my mailbox when an unexpected mail caught my eye. The name seemed familiar, but I could hardly believe it. I opened anxious…

Hey Ishita,

It’s been a long time but can we meet someday? I am in your city, permanently. Missed you a lot.

Love,

 Rishi

It was short and I could hear the strain it must have caused him to write those few words. I could picture his hesitance. Rishi, my once best friend…I sighed.

It had been almost three years since we talked after our grand fight. It’s really been that long? I wondered. I deliberated for a moment as to what I should reply. It won’t harm…my heart said. But my brain seemed glued to “don’t you dare”. I was perplexed. So I didn’t reply that day. The next day I got another one from him.

Hi…I suppose you haven’t forgiven me. It’s ok. It was a long shot anyway. I hope we could meet. I am so very sorry for that day. I really am.

And then it was over. I replied

Hi…I guess you have nothing to apologize for. It was my fault. Let’s meet this Saturday. Our place.

And I waited. His reply was positive of course and we met after 2days. Banjaraa was a small café that had been our place since school. Rishi and I have been classmates since sixth grade and best friends since seventh. The café had changed. It was renovated and had some funk to it. A lot changed in 3years.

At first I looked at him. He was different. It was startling to see him in formal attire. I was so used to his jeans tee look. He was slim but muscular, the roundness about his face gone, a light beard and something else…he looked professional. I was in salwaar kameez. He looked like some model and I…well like a salesgirl. He smiled at me… a smile of recognition. I replied the same.

“I liked the old place. It seems alien” he said after sometime.

“Me too.” I mumbled.

He looked at me for a long time and the silence was stretching, making us uncomfortable. So I asked about his work. He answered formally. Then he asked about mine, I answered formally too. It seemed like each question I asked was mirrored back to me, like some doll who talked whatever you talk to him.

An hour passed and I ran out of questions. We sat there staring at each other. And then he said,

“Ishita are you still upset with me?”

He never ever called me Ishita, just Ishi for him and he took my name for the first time.

“No Rishi I am not. It’s good to see you” I always called him Rish, never Rishi. He looked agonized to hear that name… some best friend we were.

“How is Sneha?” I asked not looking up from my coffee. Sneha…the root cause of all evil. The very reason we fought.

“We broke up. It’s been two years” he said calmly. My head jerked up.

“What?” I said. “Yes. We are not together anymore” he said.

I had predicted that she was a bitch, I even called her that, she blamed that I said so because I was jealous of her that I could never have Rishi for myself, I had shouted at her, at which Rishi raised his hand to slap me and I swore never to see his face again. That was our last conversation. At his words I should have felt victorious that I was right, yet I somehow felt hurt. I realized it then…

“Did you say two years ago?” he nodded so I continued “then why were you not talking to me? It’s been three years!” I could feel blood rushing to my cheeks. I was angry.

He didn’t look up as he answered, “I felt ashamed, ashamed that I hurt you…so very much. I thought you would never want to see my face again”

I was so angry and then I started laughing. It took me a moment to stop…all the while he looked at me as if I was crazy. And then I said… “An idiot you will always be. Look at the royal mess we made Rish”

He was still confused, but his smile, genuine one was back. I continued “you thought I didn’t want to see you. I thought you hated me”.

He got up… reached across the table and hugged me, “it’s so good to see you Ishi” and we laughed. After that it was easy. We talked, teased and laughed. While walking out I swore I would kill him if he dressed like that again. He warned me the same.

When I returned home, my face was all bright and shiny. No facial treatment could do that except happiness. We made plans to meet again and again. This time more informally. Time never seemed to be enough. We had endless topics to talk about. My life was live now. I was happy all the time.

We started going out like we used to. All traces of sadness, pain all but gone. At some point I would accept to myself that I needed him, like a drug. He was my happy drug. And before I realized, it happened.

While we were returning from a movie, it rained like cats and dogs. So we took shelter under a closed shop. I didn’t exactly know what started it, whether it was me trembling due to the rain or the close proximity between us due to lack of space or the romantic movie we watched that had a scene like this the thundering and lightening, he put his hand under my chin, one hand holding my face and carefully placed his lips on mine. It might have been hours for all I knew when I realized what we were doing. Till then I had been too dazed. I abruptly moved away from him and walked into the rain. He caught my hand…

“What happened Ishi?”

I turned. Fury on my mind, “what happened? You just kissed me! That’s what happened”

“But I love you… so much. I have for a long time now. Am I too late to say my feelings out loud? Do you like someone else?” there was agony in his voice but my fury didn’t even see that.

“Just because that bitch left you, doesn’t mean you have a chance with me. And you don’t love me, you never have. You just need someone to make you feel good about yourself. I can’t be that anymore” I spitted out and left feeling the acid on my tongue from my own words.

On reaching home I cried. I have loved him… for what seemed like forever. But to be a replacement? That’s something I could never accept. He would always expect me to be like her! I wasn’t her and I wasn’t the one he really loved.

Days, weeks passed and my life returned o normal as was before him. He tried calling, texting, even pounded at my door, but I remained silent and after a few weeks, he gave up when I texted “if you ever cared about me, then leave me alone, I beg you” that was that.

But I missed him, more than I could imagine. One day while I was looking at some clothes at a store, I saw Sneha. She did recognize me and came to me.

“Hi Ishita. How is Rishi?”

I was shocked at the question. “Err hi. Why are you asking me about him?”

“Shouldn’t I? You both are together for almost two years now. Right?”

She looked at my confused face. I said, “No. we were never together. We met a few months ago (six months, two weeks and four days my mind calculated). I don’t think he meant me when he talked about relationship”

“You must be kidding! He absolutely loves you”

“And how did you end up to that conclusion?” I asked sarcasm clear in my voice.

“Because that’s what he said. After you…well left, he kept talking about you…so much so that he completely forgot I existed. After a few months I decided it was time. I couldn’t be with a person who loved another one with so much devotion. When I confronted him, he agreed with me. Thus we made a clean mutual break up. In fact I got engaged last year. My wedding is in next month. You must come and bring Romeo with you.” She said with a wink.

I could hardly believe my ears. All this time I had been so wrong about him. He actually loved me. This news sent current of ecstasy through my veins. He loved me as much I did to him. I almost hugged Sneha, congratulated her and fled.

I made a stop at my place to pick a few things and rushed to Banjaraa. On my way, I called him, “Rish meet me at Banjaraa now. No questions please.”

My urgency must have caught him off guard. We talked after a month. But the call worked and he reached just minutes after I did. I couldn’t believe, but it actually rained that day. We both were wet and when he entered, I played my guitar (one year of guitar lessons and 5000 bucks on the guitar paid off) to his favorite romantic song. When I was finished, I walked to him and hugged him. He was still confused. And then in front of probably 30 people, I said “I love you Rish, I always have, I always will and you will always remain an idiot” and then I kissed him.

From his expression I saw he wanted explanation, but the moment our lips met, we both agreed that the explanation should come later. He took me in his arms, raising me from the ground and said “I love you Ishi, always and forever”

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.