Love Happens Only Once - Rochak Bhatnagar

Love Happens only Once…
... I Love you Rachu ...

About the Author
Rochak Bhatnagar was born in Delhi and did his schooling from Amity International
School, Saket. He is currently doing his B.Tech in Information Technology. A
voracious reader, his interests include writing, acting and playing computer games.
He aspires to make it big in the field of information technology and is working hard
at it. Love Happens only Once… is his debut novel.
Inspired by the events around his environs, his stories seem realistic. At least,
that’s what he likes to think. He loves to pen down his thoughts whenever he gets
time.
He is available at rochakbhatnagar@gmail.com or you can follow him on
facebook.

Dear Frnds pls spread this msg until its reach to my rachu
I thinks see knows my name
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Love Happens only Once…
...rest is just life
ROCHAK BHATNAGAR
GENERAL PRESS
Published by
GENERAL PRESS
4228/1, Ansari Road, Daryaganj
New Delhi – 110002
Ph. : 011 – 23282971, 9911359970
e-mail : generalpressindia@gmail.com
© Rochak Bhatnagar
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise—without the
prior written permission of the publishers.
First Edition : December 2011
ISBN : 9789380914183
Purchase our books online from:

www.flipkart.com
www.homeshop18.com
Published by Azeem Ahmad Khan for General Press

Contents
About the Author
Dedication
Acknowledgement
A few words…
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Epilogue
Dedication
To my Mom and Dad

and
the love of my life…
Acknowledgement
Before I start with my novel, please let me introduce you to the people who helped me in
completing it!!
God is the one to whom I owe this book. I am not a professional writer. I am a simple
human being but there is someone who resides within me, who prodded me to write the
book. He is none other than the Almighty Himself.
Lots and lots of love to Mom and Dad for their never-ending love and instilling in me
the confidence that I could achieve anything I wanted. The strength and courage they
provided me throughout my growing days have led me to become the person I am today.
Thanks to Apoorva Bhatt who read through the book while it was in the making and
gave me her honest opinion. She is one of the sweetest friends one can ever have. Her
presence was very critical in the completion of my book.
My friends would be burning the pages of this book, if I were not to mention their
names – four of my ‘best’ friends – Pooja, Rohit, Akash and Shwetal, who made my
writing experience truly a memorable one. I still remember how they motivated me with
their love and appreciation. Finding time from their studies, they somehow managed to
read my manuscript and make some very constructive suggestions.
Thanks to Sapna Paul and Richa di who made the comment, “Awesome, you budding
Chetan Bhagat.” It was enough to send me floating in the clouds because such a comment
was never expected from them, but what disappointed me was the use of the suffix, “It
could have been better, loads better!” Poor me!
Thanks to my dearest friends Aparna, Shruti, Vinita, Mahender, Sanjay, Dushyant,
Heena, Sameha, Divya, Akritti, Shubam, Deepika and of course, Chunnu (Sarvender)
Bhaiya. All of them contributed in their own way to help me write this book.
I want to thank my family for reposing faith in the writer in me and being my biggest
source of inspiration for writing this book. Thanks to Aman Chachu for always being
there for me.
I want to acknowledge the ideas and suggestions offered by Sushant Nigam, Summi
and Ankit Bhatnagar and for sharing their insights with me. They helped to enrich my
story.
Thanks to all those who discouraged me with their ironic laughs and words of ridicule
as these strengthened my resolve to continue writing and not give up till I had completed
it.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my publisher General Press for giving the
rough manuscript a book form which you hold in your hand now. Thanks for turning my
dream into a reality.
Once again, thanks to all those who have placed their faith in me. I hope I would have
made them proud…

A few words…
Before going any further with this book, first place your right hand on your heart, close
your eyes and try to concentrate and answer the following questions:
• Have you ever fallen in love or felt a kind of infatuation for someone?
• Do you believe in the existence of Almighty?
• Do you think miracles can happen?
• Do your friends constitute your entire world?
If the answer to most of the questions is ‘yes’, then my dear friend, this book is for
you!
I never really knew you, you were just another friend
But when I got to know you, I let my heart unbend.
I didn’t delve in memories for they would only make me cry
I had to forget everything and give love another try.
So I fell in love with you and will never let you go.
I love you more than anything,
I just had to let you know…
Prologue
Some things have changed, some never will…not in this lifetime.

I looked into the mirror of my room to see my reflection and discover the changes I
have gone through the past one year of my college. One year has flown so fast, bringing
in its wake new friends, new achievements, new professors and of course, a loving and
caring girlfriend in a great relationship.
I stepped out of the shower and buttoned my black formal shirt that had always been
my favourite, wore the faded pair of Pepe and black blazer to complete the perfect
gentleman look. Then I combed my hair and as they say, I was tiptop as a British sahib –
ready for the party. Just then my phone beeped.
“You coming for the freshers’ party or not?”
“Yes, in another one hour I will be there.”
“And are you prepared for the inaugural speech?”
“Yes, I am!”
“Awesome! See you soon.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
As I bent down to tie my shoelaces, I tried to think of one good reason for Mr Dixit
selecting me to give the inaugural speech. Was it because of my handsome looks or my
high marks in studies or my speaking skill? May be due to all of above!! But, why
bother!
There was one thing I knew – I just loved such parties, where you got to know your
juniors, new guys and pretty girls!!
I reached college an hour before the scheduled time (as I had to practice my speech)
and to my dismay, saw utter chaos all around me. There were students running from one
corner to another, some shouting and some practicing dancing or singing. The college
band was trying out some new melodies. It took me five minutes to adjust to the
environment!!
“Rishi, come here. Where were you? Why are you so late?”
“Ma’am, actually……”
“Okay, leave it. Have you got your speech ready?” she asked and before I could give
her a response, she turned to go away.
“Yes ma’am,” I replied and took out my speech from my jeans’ pocket.
“Good, go and meet Mr Dixit. He is waiting for you backstage. The freshers’ party is
about to begin in another (she looked at her wrist-watch) thirty minutes,” she said.
“Yeah, sure ma’am.”
The juniors, that is, the freshers started entering the auditorium, looking somewhat
cautious but wary. They were welcomed with flower petals being showered upon them.
This reminded me of my freshers’ party and made me feel nostalgic of my days.
The party began and everyone sat down on the chairs. It was time for me to give the
inaugural speech!
I climbed the steps leading to the stage, took the mike and began:
“Good afternoon, everyone, don’t worry; I will not bore you for more than fifteen
minutes. So you will have to bear with me for these few minutes and I assure you,
we will have lots of fun after that. Guys, when I entered college, it seemed to me
that my life was about to begin – real life – a life full of adventures, fun and of
course, love and relationships. But, there was always some impediment on the way
which had to be tackled first; some unfinished business, a debt to be paid. At last, it
dawned upon me that these obstacles constituted my life!!
“We never negotiate with God for this, though he makes us go through tough
endurance tests, which cause us unbearable pain. It could be failure in exams,
break in a precious friendship or pain in a love relationship, but, my dear friends,
failure is the key to success. A time will come when you will have to make certain
decisions and let me make it clear, the decisions you make in life will not only
reveal what sort of a person you are but also pave the way for the choices you make
in your future life. Thus take decisions in such a manner that you have no regrets in
later life. Whatever happens – your heart may break, or you may fail, but remember,
don’t ever stop. It’s just that you will have to pass through different phases – some
good and some bad. The happy moments, whether shortlived or durable, will pass
away like lightning, but after leaving a mark. So wait for the lightning to strike!
“So friends, rock on, have fun, make girlfriends, and enjoy your four years of
excitement and joy in this college. And yeah, don’t forget your studies. As they say,
‘Study hard, party harder!’, you too can do the same. Okay, I will stop here as Mr
Dixit is giving me a ‘what is this?’ look.
“Thank you!!”
With this I ended my speech which was followed by a series of dance, drama and
musical performances before everyone headed towards the lunch laid down on the table.
I too followed behind them. (I was damn hungry!!)
I sat with my friends, having my lunch, when a girl (seemed to be a junior) came up to
me. “Excuse me, sir,” she said.
“Yes?”
I looked at her. She was wearing a formal white shirt and a jacket. Her shoulder length
hair had been shampooed and brushed till every strand shone bright.
“Hi! I am Kritika. I am Pavitra’s younger cousin. I heard your speech. It was just
fantabulous!”
“Thanks!” I said.
“Can I have a talk with you, but not here. Can we go somewhere alone?”
“Yeah, sure.”
My friends started whistling. I gave them a look of disgust and headed out with
Kritika, wondering what the girl was up to!
“Sir, Pavitra di told me that you have the most romantic yet painful love story. Is it
true? She even told me that you are the perfect boyfriend any girl could get.”
“Oh really? It’s nothing like that yaar. It’s just…”
“Please sir, I am all ears. Tell me your story naa…” she encouraged.
“No, I don’t really like to discuss this with anyone.”
“Please sir, please. Only me. Please, please,” she begged.
“Okay fine,” I said.
“The story started the day I was born…”
Chapter 1
The Day a Shaitan was Born
“Please doctor, do something. Save the child.”

“Yeah, we are trying our level best. We have a fantastic and senior doctor here in Mrs
Anjali. She works night and day trying to save the lives of hundreds of mothers and
newborns. Don’t worry Mr Sinha, everything will be alright. Have faith in God.”
“Doctor, we have bad news.”
“What?”
“Doctor Anjali is already occupied with another patient in Operation Theatre 3. So,
it’s totally up to us to handle this case and do what we can.”
“Oh God! Doctor, please do something. Save my wife and my baby.”
“Calm down Mr Sinha. We are here to save her.”
“Nurse, get ready for action,” the doctor instructed his nurse.
An hour passed before the nurse came out of the operation theatre, holding an infant in
her arms.
“Congratulations Mr Sinha! You have become the father of a son,” the nurse said.
“Mr Sinha, this was my first high-risk delivery today! I was really petrified on seeing
Mrs Sinha’s condition. I had seen it done many times, but hadn’t really thought that I
would ever be at the end of the vacuum, trying to pull your son out. But, when that foetal
heart dropped below 50 bpm and failed to recover and with the senior doctor busy, there
was no other option left but to have faith in God. And look, your wife and child are safe
now. It’s been a miracle. Surviving in such difficult conditions is indeed a miracle. You
can now go and meet your wife,” the doctor said.
Mr Sinha went inside the operation theatre to meet his wife.
“Thanks for giving me such a beautiful child. What should we name him?” asked Mr
Sinha.
“Rishi.”
“And why so?”
“Because, just like the ancient sages and seers, he has come into this world after so
much trouble and difficulty. He is our angel. We will give him all the happiness in the
world.”
So, facing many hardships and difficulties besides causing, excruciating pain to my
Mom, I, Rishi Sinha, was born in Delhi on 17th November 1991.
I have been a decent, calm, sincere, honest, shy (especially with girls) kind of guy,
who believes in true love and can be considered as Mamma’s boy. This is my character
sketch that my parents believe describes me the best.
WRONG. ABSOLUTELY WRONG! Truly, I was the exact opposite.
Fun loving, a total flirt, who took up love as timepass, who didn’t believe in true love
and all this crap and who subscribed to the belief, ‘continue to love someone until you
find someone better.’ Just like Raj of Dilwale Dulhaniya le Jayenge, I believed, “kisi
ke honth ache hain to kisi ki aankhen.”
My friends could corroborate what a blast I was capable of having with them.
But a girl came into my life and changed me forever. My views about true love, my
attitude towards life and my regard for love and true feelings – all underwent a marked
change.
But then, fate had something else in store for me!
Chapter 2
The Bare Truth and Dare
“There are different types of animals in the world. Many animals are quite similar to
each other (yes, and you are one of them) and can be classified according to their
similarities as protozons, as fishes, as Echinoderms such as starfish, as Annelids, as
Amphibians or as reptiles such as crocodiles, snakes and octopus and as birds. There
are many more, but they are not included, so we will not concentrate on them,” Mrs Garg
was going on and on about the animal kingdom.
Biology was my not-so-favourite subject and the only topic I liked the most in the
subject was the reproduction system (I can bet even you must have liked studying it!). I
was continuously looking at my watch, waiting for the period to get over. One minute
was left and it was these last 60 seconds that seemed to me like 60 hours!
Tringggg…the bell rang and the period got over.
“Okay children, we will stop here. At home, revise what I have taught you today. We
will be having a test tomorrow and the topic is Animal Kingdom,” Mrs Garg said.
‘As if I care,’ I thought.
So with this stupid announcement, the period got over. It was now lunch break and my
stomach was growling with hunger. “Hey, Latika, what have you brought for lunch?” I
asked.
“Maggi!” she replied.
“Awesome!”
“And you Anuj?”
“Curd rice,” he replied.
“Arey yaar, kabhi to kuch different le aaya kar!” I said.
“Ha, ha, ha!” Latika started laughing at my comment.
“Rishi, how’s everything going with Ishika?” Latika turned to me.
“Cool!” I replied.
“You are such a whiz Rishi, I mean such a sweet girl like Ishika is your girlfriend!”
“Yeah, she is just a timepass. For me nothing is impossible and I am with her only till I
get someone better than her. And then she will be out of my life,” I said and winked.
“You are such a…”
“Bastard. I know that.”
“Okay you said nothing is impossible for you?” she asked.
“Yes, nothing is,” I replied.
“Okay, let me dare you.”
“I accept.”
“Great!”
“The dare is that you have to go and kiss Lavanya,” said Latika.
“Are you mad?” said Anuj.
“Yeah Latika, seriously. How can I? She will not tolerate this and kill me,” I said,
trying to back off.
“Kyon, darr gaya?”
“Come on Rishi. You can do this.”
I thought for a moment before agreeing, “Okay, done.”
“Good! Go for it,” she said, showing me the thumbs up sign.
I took a deep breath, went straight towards Lavanya, took her in my arms, looked into
her eyes and planted a kiss on her cheek. Yes, you got it right – I kissed her!
The whole class looked shocked. I looked at Latika, to give her a I-have-done-it-kind
of look. She looked agape at me, her eyes wide open and mouth dropped.
Then I looked at Lavanya who was still in my arms. Her eyes filled with tears and
anger. I had the premonition that something terrible was about to happen.
Phattakkkk…! Lavanya gave me a tight slap, imprinting a carbon, no, red copy, of her
five fingers on my cheek.
“How dare you, Rishi?” she screamed and planted another slap onto my face.
“Lavanya, I am sorry. It was just a dare. Stop overreacting,” I tried to calm her down.
“Cut down the crap, Rishi. I am going to the HM. Now explain all this to her and I
will make sure that you get expelled from the school,” she said, heading towards the HM
room.
The Next Period

“Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National
Socialist German Workers Party. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945 and
served as…”
“Sir, sorry to interrupt you, but I need to talk to Lavanya and Rishi. Can I take them
with me?” asked the HM, Mrs Goel, who stood at the door of our classroom.
“Yes ma’am, sure,” said Mr Singh, our history teacher.
I was in for trouble – deep, deep trouble.
We both were summoned to Mrs Goel’s room and she looked at me with angry eyes.
“Rishi, whatever Lavanya has told me, is it correct?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“How dare you Rishi? Don’t you have any respect for girls? Who do you think you
are?” she screamed at me.
“Ma’am, it was just a dare and a simple kiss. But, she slapped me so hard that my jaw
is still paining!” I said.
“Oh, then what should I have done? Kissed you back?” intervened Lavanya.
“I would have loved that,” I replied.
“Just shut up, you both,” screamed Mrs Goel. “Rishi, I want your parents to be present
here tomorrow morning,” she said.
“Please ma’am, I am really sorry. I promise this will not happen again,” I pleaded for
forgiveness.
“You are such a bright student, Rishi – good in studies, sports, extra-curricular
activities, but, this callous and unruly behaviour of yours will be responsible for your
downfall some day. Apologise to Lavanya and I want an apology letter on my desk
before the school over. Have you understood?”
“Yes ma’am. I am sorry, Lavanya; it was totally my mistake. I assure you, this will not
happen again,” I apologised.
We both came out of the office.
“Lavanya?”
“What now?”
“Don’t think it’s over.”
“What do you mean?” she asked angrily.
“You spoiled my image in front of the HM. Do you think that I will let you go scot-
free? I will return the favour with interest one day. Just wait and watch.”
“Rishi, you are such a…”
“Bastard. I know that,” I winked and entered the class to find Ishika waiting for me
with blazing eyes.
Chapter 3
I am a Bastard, and I know That
Thank God, Mrs Goel didn’t ring up my parents, else I would have been in serious
trouble. My Mom would have killed me or burnt me alive.
So, this was me – a total jerk, ready to take up any challenge to prove himself in front
of others. A wannabe!
The period got over and the next one was of English. The English teacher arrived
fifteen minutes late.
“Rishi, is it true what the others are saying about you?” Ishika asked.
“What?” I replied.
“Don’t act innocent, Rishi. How can you do something like that?”
“Oh, come on. Don’t over-react. It was just a kiss. Chill!”
“My so-called boyfriend flirts and kisses a girl and asks me to chill? Great! I can’t
tolerate this, Rishi.”
“Then break up,” I shot back.
“What? But I love you Rishi!”
“That’s not my problem.”
“Bastard. I know that. Will you please excuse me now?”
“Rishi, when one day the same happens with you, then you will realise how it hurts.
You will fall in love with someone and when you find your love not being reciprocated,
you will realise how painful it is then!”
“We will see,” I said callously.
“Bastard. I know that yaar!”
She left with tears in her eyes.
Next day in school

“The following quiz carries 10 marks and contains ten objective type of questions. Each
question carries one mark. The marks you obtain will be added in your final assessment,
so, do them carefully. All the best!” said Mrs Garg.
I was sitting in the right-hand corner row, in the centre was Lavanya and Latika sat
next to to me while Anuj was behind me.
Q1) a
Q2) c
Q3) don’t know
Q4) b
Q5) don’t know
Q6) a
Q7) d
Q8) Latika has marked (a), Anuj (b) and Lavanya (c)! What the hell!! Let’s mark ‘c’.
Q9) a
Q10) b
So, with this my quiz was over. I was surprised to see that half the class was still deep
into it and there were yet 10 more minutes to go.
I wondered what I could do? How to pass time? Suddenly I had an idea! I took out my
biology textbook (of course, my name was not written on it!) and kept it besides
Lavanya’s seat, without her noticing it. She was engrossed in the questions, quite
unaware of her surrounding.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” I said, raising up my hand.
“Yes, Rishi? Any doubt about the quiz?”
“No ma’am, no doubts, but, I think Lavanya is cheating.”
Everyone looked up from their paper, to stare at me. Lavanya turned back.
“What are you saying, Rishi? Ma’am, I am not cheating!” said Lavanya.
“Oh, you are not! Then why have you kept this book beside you?”
“Lavanya, you were cheating? I didn’t expect this from you,” said Mrs Garg.
“No ma’am, this is not my book. I know all the answers. I was not cheating,” she
replied with tears in her eyes.
“Just shut up, Lavanya. You will get a zero in the quiz, plus I want to meet your parents
tomorrow.”
“But ma’am, I didn’t cheat.”
“ENOUGH,” Mrs Garg screamed.
Lavanya sat down, tears streaming down her eyes. She looked at me.
“I have just returned the favour and that too with interest,” I said.
“Bastard. I know that,” I winked.
Chapter 4
First Encounter with My Angel
Ninth and tenth classes went well. Somehow I managed to score 92 per cent marks in the
Class X, CBSE Board Examination. UNPREDICTABLE!
My parents were more than happy.
The most beautiful thing in this world is to see your parents smile proudly at you and
the next best thing is to know that you are the reason behind that smile.
I took science in Class XI.
One fine day, I received a letter from the principal. I opened it with a sinking heart. It
read.
Dear Rishi,
Your appointment as member of the Students Council (house captain has been
approved by the selection committee).
I write to congratulate you on becoming a member of the Students Council.
Together with the privileges and recognition you will enjoy, the position that you
will now hold will carry a great many responsibilities (as if I cared!). The reputation
of the school and its performance on many fronts will depend to a large extent on
how well you are able to discharge your duties (Oh, really!).
I would advise you, first of all, to ensure that you serve as a role model for your
peers as well as your juniors. If you yourself were to follow the rules (‘What? Me
follow rules? Rules are made to be broken.’) judiciously, the entire school will come
to respect you.
With love and blessings,
B. Ahluvalia
(Principal)
I was shocked, amazed and surprised. House Captain? I re-read the whole letter
twice, checking for any printing mistake, but, no errors were apparent.
Everyone congratulated me, though, some warned, “With big powers come big
responsibilities.”
So even I had a responsibility – the responsibility of working hard and making my
house win the Best House Trophy.
Four days later, Ritwik, my junior and house prefect, came to me with the news that
the inter-house skit competition was scheduled to be held after one week and the topic
was Romeo and Juliet.
“What the hell!” I said, I hated love stories. True love was nothing but bullshit for me.
But I had no other alternative except to perform and win.
So, I started with the auditions. Thank God! Anuj was in my house. He was a member
of the school’s dramatic club! So he got busy with the auditions and direction while I
flirted with the girls.
“What does true love mean to you?” he asked a girl.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not believe in envy; it does not, boast; it is not
loud; it is not rude; it is not self-seeking; it is not easily angered and it keeps no record
of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with truth. It always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, always preserves. Love never fails,” she replied.
Everyone went numb. Silence descended on the class. Even I looked up to see who
this girl was.
“Awesome!” we all said in unison.
“Wow!” said Latika. She was in my house.
“You will act as Juliet,” said Anuj.
“No, I am not good at acting.”
“Okay then, help me with the script.”
“Yeah, I will. Thanks,” she said.
I looked at her face. She was gorgeous, simple, cute and smiling – her smile was as
innocent as that of a small child.
“Who is she?” I asked Latika.
“Rehne de. She is not your type.”
“Shut up. Tell me, who is she?”
“Ananya Tripathi; a new admission in the commerce section,” she informed me.
Chapter 5
Beauty at its Best!
She stood two metres ahead of me in the school canteen. I checked her out from the
corner of my eye, wondering why there was such a big fuss over this girl.
Her hair rippled as she took the steel plate containing rajma chawal from the canteen,
and began to eat.
Lavanya has told me that all my male friends had a crush on her and wanted to
befriend her, but, no one had the guts to approach her. To tell the truth, even I had a crush
on her. I also wanted to talk to her, to befriend her and take her out, but someone had
warned me that these pretty girls were generally obnoxious and more so when they
received excessive male attention in their life.
“Hey Rishi, want to have a bite?” asked Vinay, my friend, tapping on my shoulder
from behind and thus jolting me out of the reverie I was caught in.
“No bro, you have it,” said I, still staring at her. How can one keep his eyes away
from a girl of his dreams, especially when she is standing just two metres away from
you?
“At whom are you staring? Oh, Ananya!”
“You know her?” I asked, totally surprised but pleased too.
“Of course, she is one of my best friends. Hey, come with me, I will introduce you to
her,” he replied.
It occurred to me as if someone was asking me to meet Aishwarya Rai. I couldn’t
believe my ears. In a minute or two I was going to meet the girl whom I wanted to meet
from the very first day I set eyes on her (and that was one month before! At the time of
auditioning. I didn’t get time to talk to her subsequently).
“Yeah sure! Let’s go,” I said, highly excited.
So finally I was going to meet the girl I was smitten with, but I felt self-conscious as I
didn’t know what I would say to her. Deep inside, I wanted to go up to her, embrace her
tight in my arms and say, ‘I love you Ananya,’ even if I were to receive a tight slap on my
face in return. Oh my God, I wanted the introductions to go well and not be too formal. I
wanted it to be very casual, something that could serve as a first step to developing
friendship.
I took a deep breath and proceeded towards her with Vinay.
“Hey, Ananya. What’s up?” said Vinay.
“Hi! How are you, Vinay? How did your paper go?”
Oh, I forgot to tell you, that day it was our last paper and that too in maths. My paper
went well even though I was not prepared.
“It was pathetic. How was yours?” asked Vinay with a sad expression on his face.
“It was good. Expecting ninety-four or so,” she said, smiling.
“Ninety-four? Cool!!” said Vinay with surprise writ large on his face.
Pretty girls look prettier when they smile. The dimples on their cheeks look so
amazing. So, this conversation between the two of them (yes I had not been introduced
till now), gave me the chance to see she was intelligent and good in studies. So I
decided to act a little studious in front of her in order to impress her. But all this could
have happened only if Vinay had introduced me to her and which he was not doing. The
wait was killing my patience. I stood there as if someone has borrowed the invisibility
cloak from Harry Potter and made me disappear! ‘Come on Vinay, at least introduce me
to her,’ I thought.
“Hey, Vinay, come here dude. Want to talk to you,” came a female voice from
somewhere behind the three of us.
We turned back and saw Snigdha walking towards us.
“Oh sorry, Ananya, have to go. She would kill me if I don’t and yeah, I have forgotten
to introduce you to Rishi. Ananya this is Rishi and Rishi this is Ananya. You guys carry
on; we will join you in a minute or two,” he said and walked away with Snigdha in tow,
leaving the two of us alone.
So, I stood in front of her, totally numb. How dumb it was of me to let such a golden
chance to befriend her and to talk to her go waste. Why was I not talking, standing there
like a dumb fool?
“So, Rishi, how did your paper go? You seem to be an intelligent guy. It should have
gone well?” she started the conversation.
“Yeah, it was good but not as good as yours.”
We fell silent again.
“They look great together, don’t they?” she asked me.
“Who? Vinay and Snigdha?’
“Yeah,” she said.
“Oh, yes. They are a ‘made for each other’ couple,” I replied, smiling.
Great joke! Snigdha looked so pedestrian in front of Ananya, who was like a goddess
from heaven.
“Do you think they are serious about this relationship?”
“Yeah, may be,” I said.
“Hmmm...”
“Do you believe in true love, love at first sight, long relationships and commitment?”
she asked me.
“No, I don’t!”
“But, I do!!” she replied and we both started laughing without any reason.
“And we too!!” Vinay and Snigdha added, coming from behind us.
I wanted to spend more time with Ananya, but my bad luck was not allowing me to.
“Hey, we are planning to go to ‘Disc’ today. Do you want to come?” asked Vinay.
“Yeah, sure,” I said excitedly.
I could go anywhere as long as Ananya was with me; even to hell!
I had received a golden opportunity to be with her one whole day, though a tough task
lay ahead of me – how to convince my parents to allow me to go to Disc? Definitely, I
would have to tell a lie to them, but the question was how?
Chapter 6
A Memorable Day with Ananya
It took me one full hour to convince my Mom to allow me to go. Of course, I had to tell a
lie to her. I told her that we guys were meeting up at Vinay’s place and planned to hang
out till late at night. Obviously I didn’t tell her about the visit to ‘Disc’.
Now arose a second task waiting to be finished and a more important one – what to
wear, so as to leave an everlasting impact on Ananya. After half an hour of struggle with
my wardrobe, I finally pulled out a black shirt.
At 5:30 in the evening, Vinay came in his car with Ananya and Snigdha to pick me up.
We greeted each other with a smile, hoping to spend a wonderful evening ahead. Ananya
was seated on the back seat of the car. My eyes met hers and stuck like Fevicol to her
face.
She looked breathtakingly beautiful, simple, cute, pure, eternal as eternity itself. She
was so hard to describe. Those black eyes and a charming face reflected moonlight,
which seemed to be the only source of light brightening up the area. Those pink lips and
milky white complexion could hold anyone spellbound.
Gosh, I caught her looking at me!
“Hi, Rishi. How are you?” she said in a musical voice. I was still deep into her hazel
dark eyes. I told myself, ‘Relax Rishi. It’s just a dream. It will be over in a while and
you will find yourself in your bedroom, asleep.”
“Helloooo!” spoke Ananya a bit more loudly, bringing me to life.
“Oh! I am fine and you?” I asked. It took me three attempts to finally speak those
words, to realise that it all was real and not just a dream.
“I am good too. And you are looking really handsome in black.”
I felt on top of the world on hearing this.
“You too are looking gorgeous!” I said, still looking into her beautiful eyes.
“Can we move now?” interrupted Vinay.
“Yeah, of course,” I said and sat down beside Ananya.
We reached ‘Disc’ at around 7:00 in the evening. It had become dark by that time, as it
was the winter month of December when days are shorter than nights.
We entered the disco and promptly Vinay and Snigdha ordered the drinks, asking
Ananya and me to join in the dance with them. We both refused. They went to dance,
leaving the two of us alone once again.
“Hey, you want to dance?” I asked as the strong smell of alcohol entered my nostrils.
This disco in Noida was a nice place to hang out with so many hot and cool girls
dancing on the dance floor, especially when the most beautiful girl alive was standing by
my side.
“No, I don’t feel like dancing. You can go and dance, if you want to.”
“No, it’s okay,” I said and we again fell into deep silence.
“Do you drink?”she asked after some time.
“No, I have never felt like drinking. The taste has never appealed to me. And you?”
“Never ever tried it,” she replied.
“Want to try?”
“No!” she said and started laughing.
Just as it would happen to any guy on earth, I was falling in love with her more deeply
with every passing second. Deep within my heart I wanted to dance with her, follow her
steps, draw close to her and take her in my arms.
“I think we should go now. My Mom would kill me,” said Ananya.
“You are so boring, Ananya. Grow up girl!” said Vinay.
“I think she is right. We should leave now, bro,” I said appealingly.
“Okay, okay let’s go,” said Vinay, taking the car keys out of his pocket.
As soon as we sat down on the back seat, it took Ananya just a second to doze off with
her head on my shoulder.
Oh man, that wasn’t bad, as I could get to see her beautiful eyes, deep in slumber.
We reached home and I woke her up (although I didn’t want to).
“Oh sorry!” she said, waking up in a fluster.
“It’s alright, we have reached home.”
“Bye, Rishi. It was nice hanging out with you,” she said.
“Same here.”
We waved to each other and went our own way. With some sweet memories in my
mind, I reached home at 1:30 a.m. I saw my Mom waiting for me with hundreds of
questions to ask, but the only thing which I could think of was Ananya and only Ananya.
That was my first and last meeting with her at school.
Chapter 7
Another Encounter with My Angel
Then came Class XII. I got lost in studies and I couldn’t find time to talk to Ananya even
once. It felt so strange how studies had managed to make me forget her so easily. Could
be because we had hardly met or talked. This continued for one full year.
Then came the results! I scored 87 per cent, with 89 per cent in PCM. It felt so great
that despite being woken up at 5 a.m. by the sound of temple bells which used to irritate
me earlier for making it impossible to get back to sleep, they sounded like music to my
ears.
It was cold and I had been forced out of bed only to discover what I had been missing
out on, since the last six weeks. The perfect sunrise coupled with mocha coffee made for
a perfect morning! I again went to sleep after having my coffee.
“Rishi, get up beta, it’s high time now. You have to reach Delhi University by 10!”
“Yeah, coming. Just 15 minutes.”
I said, got ready and headed towards Delhi University, north campus.
I wanted to pursue B.Sc Computer Science (Honours) from north campus, but was
doubtful of getting admission with the percentage I had. There was no harm in trying my
luck for who knows a miracle could happen!!
I filled the admission form, submitted it to the campus authority and when I was
coming out of the college campus, a familiar yet strange voice called out my name at the
main entrance.
“Rishi!!”
I turned back to check which female could be calling out to me and lo and behold, it
was Ananya!!
I looked at her, who was looking as beautiful as she did when I had first seen her in
the school canteen. Her hair was looking raven black and flowed in waves to adorn her
glowing, porcelain skin. Her dark eyes were so bright as if brightening the world. She
seemed to me a picture of perfection created by God with his own hands. Had she
smiled, the world would have smiled too in response. Had she laughed, the world would
have laughed with her. Such was the beauty of her soul.
“Hey Ananya, long time yaar. How have you been?”
“I am good. And what about you? You were so busy in school that you didn’t get time
to talk to me even once!!” she said in a complaining tone.
“No yaar, it’s not like that. I was busy with my studies. These engineering entrance
exams can drive you off, you know,” I said, still staring at her beautiful face. She was the
girl whose presence could give peace and comfort; a girl whose glittering eyes could
even lighten up the darkest sky!
“Oh! Then, what are you doing at Delhi University?” she asked, looking surprised.
“I want to do CS (Honours), if I don’t get into any of the engineering colleges.”
“You will surely get into one!”
“Hope so,” I said.
She was with her friend, whom I didn’t even notice. The truth was that every other
person disappeared into nothingness when she came in front of me. Her gorgeous,
stunning and delightful face could make you forget every other living or inanimate being.
“Rishi, I think we should leave now. Dad is waiting for us in the car outside,” she
said.
Huh! We were meeting after three long years but our meeting was going to last just ten
minutes? I wanted this meeting to continue forever. I wanted to lose myself in the deep
pool of her dark eyes.
“Okay, no problem. Hey, can I have your number?” I asked.
“Yeah, sure. Why not!”
I wanted to talk to her, to understand her much better and finally ask her out. Anyway,
we exchanged our numbers and our facebook ids before bidding goodbye to each other
in the hope of meeting again. She left, leaving me behind still deep in thoughts about her.
Chapter 8
Internet: My Biggest Addiction!
“Rishi, when the hell will you clean the room? Just look at the mess here,” my Mom
screamed.
Ting tong…! The doorbell rang. I went towards the door and noticed a white envelope
lying on the floor. The postman had slid my internet bill under the door. I picked it up
and tore open the envelope.
God! One thousand three hundred and twenty-four rupees and forty-six paise! ‘Mom is
sure to kill me now!’ I thought.
The clock struck 5.30 in the evening and I thought of going online to check out on any
recent updates by my friends. Five friends online!
Wow! Ananya Tripathi online!
‘Should I send her a ‘hi’ or not? How would I start the conversation? Should I keep it
formal or casual?’ I contemplated for almost thirty minutes. ‘Go for it Rishi. You are a
champ!’ my inner voice boosted my morale.
I began to type.
Me: Hi!
Ananya: Ananya just signed off and left.
‘What the f!’ Anyway, better luck next time. I too signed off.
9:00 p.m., after dinner
I again went online.
Twenty-three friends online.
Ananya online! Great!
Me: Hi!
I typed and waited for her reply.
10 minutes – no reply.
15 minutes – no reply.
‘Where is she? Why is she not replying? Is she unwell?’
20 minutes – I decided to sign off and the moment I clicked on the offline button, I
received her reply. What a timing!
Ananya: Hey! Sorry, for late reply…Having dinner…Anyways, wassup?
Me: Oh! Nothing much…
Ananya: Hmmm…
Me: Tell me one thing Ananya. How do you feel about proving all the philosophers
wrong?
Ananya: Sorry, I didn’t get you.
Me: People say the moon is the most beautiful thing in the universe, but, ur display pic
proves dem wrong!
Ananya: He! He!... Try something new, you flirt…
Me: No am not flirting. Am just telling you the truth!
Ananya: Hmmmm…Rishi, in school you said na that you don’t believe in true love?
Why is this so?
Me: Yeah, I don’t. True love doesn’t exist. How can you love a single girl and be with
her forever? Will you not get bored?
Ananya: Lol! It’s not like that Rishi. It is best seen as devotion and not as an emotion.
Love is simply based on how we feel. It demands true devotion from us.
Me: Hmmm…then, tell me how can I know if am in true love or not?
Ananya: True love is based on the word of God. When we treat our relationship
according to what our heart says, we are prepared to make a lifelong commitment to that
person and then we can say that we are truly in love.
Me: Great! So have you ever been in love? Have you got a boyfriend?
Ananya: No.
‘Wow!!! She is single!!’ I thought.
Me: What type of guy do you want?
Ananya: Someone who shares my joys and sorrows, someone who remains with me
throughout the highs and lows, thick and thin of life; someone who provides me a
shoulder to cry on and most importantly, someone whom I can call mine!
Me: Wow! A very long wish list!
Ananya: Yeah. Lol! Okay Rishi.g2g. It was nice tokin 2 u! And true love does exist.
You just have to believe in it.
Me: k
Biii
Ananya: Offline.
Chapter 9
The Love Letter
When it comes to beauty, some say beauty comes from within, some say, it comes from
without and some say, from both. But I have never thought that beauty could be such a
phenomenon that it could make you forget everything else in the world. And that is what
was my case after the day I saw her.
I realised it was her alone whom I loved; it was she whom I looked forward to
meeting; it was her whom I thought and dreamt about. I cursed myself for not keeping in
touch with her for one long year and thus wasting such valuable time.
We chatted on facebook and on the phone for hours almost every single day. We met,
hung out, sometimes us two and sometimes with Vinay and Snigdha. The more I talked to
her, the more I began to love her. Her beauty and the purity of heart made me fall in love
with her more deeply.
Love is like relentless rain of eternal happiness which makes one forget the dry spell
of sadness in life to make you blossom like a flower and spread the fragrance of love in
your environs.
To my dismay, I discovered that every single thing began to make me miss her, whether
it be the rain, or the fragrance of the wet sand, or a song, or a dream. I never really knew
her; she was just another friend or another crush, but when I talked and got to know the
other side which was as pure as a river, that I began to lose control over my heart.
I fall in love with her and decided never to lose her or let her go. I began to love her
more than anything else in life but I just did not know how to tell her this. Neither did I
know what to say to her, how to express my feelings for her or how to convince her how
much I loved her. How could I tell her that I loved her more than the stars in the sky,
more than the blades of grass, more than the leaves on the trees, more than she could
ever guess? After pondering for long, I decided to ask her out but through a love letter.
It took me three full days in writing what is given below:
Ananya,
It’s taken me three full years to finally reach the point. After these three years of
feeling lost or scared of exploring anything deeper, I have now resigned myself to
this bond that has developed between you and me and I can no longer deny the
attraction I have for you. It is magnetic almost, inexplicable, unnatural even…
I remember the first time I met you. I was nervous, unsure of what to expect and
how to react. We got to know each other better, but never felt rushed. It was slow
and gradual. With you around, there was such a lot happening in my life that you
somehow made everything seem better.
Thoughts about you consume me from inside, making it impossible for me to keep
away from you. Every second, every minute, every day I keep thinking about you
because I feel that with a pure heart like yours, you are the one that I have been
looking for so far.
And on my part, I promise you that if you were to ever feel alone, I’ll be your
shadow; if you were to want to cry, my shoulder would always be there for you;
when life would seem like a long journey through a dark tunnel, I will stand by you.
I don’t promise to lead you to light but I can assure you that you will not face the
dark alone…
My love for you has taught me a lot of things, most importantly how to live for
what I love…
I think I am irrevocably in love with you…Will you be my Valentine…forever?
Waiting for your reply,
Yours
Rishi
Chapter 10
Rejection can be Painful…
I invited her to meet me at Saket complex where I gave her my letter with the hope that
she would accept me. I asked her to read it at home, away from my presence. She agreed
and we bid each other goodbye before leaving the place.
She didn’t message me or call me up that day. I passed the day stricken with fear and
tensed up actually. We often fear loving the person closest to us because we are afraid of
losing that person as a friend. I hadn’t realised so far that if true love existed between
two people, then no earthly power could separate the two hearts from becoming one
soul.
Every time my phone beeped, I would rush to it, hoping it would be from Ananya, but
it was all in vain. I was not able to sleep that night; every second seemed like a century
to me.
The next morning my phone buzzed – one new message. I checked it out. It was
Ananya.
My heartbeats rose to a million per minute!! I clicked on the show button and it read…
Hi Rishi,
Whatever you have written is really impressive…any girl would fall for it and I am
really surprised that someone actually has done this for me…but yaar, I have to tell
you one thing – I don’t have any such feelings for you right now…I am really
sorry…
And please make sure that you don’t drop a single tear for me plzzz…and don’t let
it affect you in any way becoz you will find someone really special in your life…
trust me; becoz you are a really nice guy and someone is out there for you…
I am sorry again…I didn’t mean to hurt you. And thanks for saying all this to
me…It was really nice…
Muah!! Tc.
Ananya!!
Numb as I was, my mouth remained open with shock. I re-read her message a million
times in that hope that the ‘no’ would alter into a ‘yes’. I even pinched myself to check if
it was not just a bad dream. But it was not!
Tears began to flow from my eyes as if raining cats and dogs, but not from the sky this
time. Just then my phone beeped again…
Another message from Ananya. Hey. You okay?? I am really sorry, Rishi…
Why? Plzz give me a reason for this, I replied.
I had a lot of unanswered questions, Coz I have always seen you as my closest and
dearest friend; nothing more than that. Can we still be good friends? came her reply
with a question which hurt me the most.
But I can’t be just friends with you, Ananya!!!! I love you…I have always loved
you…and will always love you. Every time you come near me, I am not able to stop
myself from loving you even more! Please tell me why you don’t consider me good
enough to be your boyfriend??? I sent her this message with tears in my eyes and pain
in my heart.
I have no trust left in you, after what all I have heard about your flirtatious
behaviour with girls and using them for fun. I just can’t, she replied.
I was shocked at her reply. I messaged her, “But I am a changed person now, Ananya.
My love for you has changed me. I don’t have words to make you feel better or convince
you because I am not a good speaker. But I do have a heart which loves you, arms which
long to hug you, ears to listen to your sweet voice whenever it’s in pain and my company
to make you feel good! Please don’t do this to me. Please.”
Rishi, I am sorry I will not be able to talk to you in future. Bye, came her reply.
I dialled her number but came the reply from an unknown voice, “The number you are
trying to call has been switched off at the moment. Please try again later.”
I laughed at the irony of life. When I was not serious and just passing my time, I had a
sweet girlfriend in Ishika and now when I found myself truly in love with someone and
was desperate to be with her, I had to face rejection! Strange indeed!
Could falling in true love with someone be so painful?
That day I realised that if somebody loves you truly, you should not use his or her
emotions for your enjoyment, because the day you are truly in love, that day you would
learn how painful it is to face your love getting rejected.
It was then that I felt the pain hidden behind true love. I cursed myself for listening to
Ananya and beginning to believe in the existence of love.
‘Me pehle hi achcha tha,’ I thought.
The next moment I remembered Ishika. She was right because now I was in the same
position as she was when I had dumped her, the only difference being that Ananya hadn’t
dumped me (but rejected my love), though pain and misunderstanding existed in both the
cases.
I thought of dialling Ishika’s number to apologise. I dialled her number. “Hello,” she
picked up my call.
I remained silent. I didn’t know what to say.
“Hello! Who is it?”
“Hello, Ishika,” finally I spoke up.
“Rishi? Is this really you?”
“Yes, it’s me only. You still remember my voice?” I said.
“O my God, Rishi! Am listening to your voice after three years! Where have you
been?”
“I just called up to say sorry to you.”
“Sorry for what, Rishi?”
‘What? Why is she behaving so casually as if nothing has happened between the two
of us,’ I thought.
“Sorry for whatever I did to you; sorry for being the worst human being; sorry for not
realising how much you loved me; sorry for everything Ishika. Am really sorry!”
“Oh, good that you have realised your mistake. Rishi, you made me feel like cheap
trash thrown by you on the road that day. I cried for days thinking about you,” she said. I
could sense she was crying at the other end.
“I am sorry, Ishika. Am really sorry.”
“It’s okay. Subha ka bhula agar shaam ko vapas aa jaye, to usey bhula nahi kehte,”
she said, using a Hindi proverb.
“Thanks Ishika. You are such a nice girl. You will definitely find someone special in
your life and not a cheapster like me!” I said and we both laughed at my statement.
“Thanks Rishi. You are such a…”
“Bastard. I know that.”
“No stupid, You are such a sweetheart. Bye…take care.”
“Bye,” I said and disconnected the phone.
I felt really good after doing this, but yet I had to forget my love for Ananya and move
on.
After a proposal from you is rejected by the girl of your dreams, the only thing left for
you is to move on. You just can’t force someone to develop the same feelings as you
have for her.
When you really love someone from the bottom of your heart and she rejects you, it is
often difficult to move on and let go of hope. I wanted to give myself some time to let my
heart heal, but this could be possible only if I cut off all my contacts with Ananya
because I knew the more I talked to her, the more I would be attracted towards her.
Her angelic face was magnetic and running away from it was next to impossible. I had
to let her go away from my life.
Rejection could be painful as I had not yet got over my tears. She was so amazing that
no other girl could compare to her. But I knew nothing adverse would ever happen
between the two of us and I didn’t want to aggravate my pain, nor did I wish to bother
her any more…
Chapter 11
Time to Move On…Well, Almost!
For the sun, everything is its sunlight…for the moon, everything is its moonlight…for
flowers, everything is their fragrance…for chocolates, everything is their sweetness…
for birds, everything is their wings…but for me, everything was her.
I wished life would give me a second chance to transform myself, so I could transform
my heart which loved her so much. Secondly I had to transform my feelings for her
which made me think about her all twenty-four hours of the day.
Love is so strange – sometimes it gives you the reason to live and sometimes the
reason to leave life. I was craving for death, but at the same time I kept consoling my
heart that this was not the end – may be someone much better was waiting for me
somewhere.
Day after day, time passed away. She cut off all contacts with me, blocked me from
her facebook account, changed her number.
Even I did the same…
Doing all this was necessary in order to forget her completely. Though it hurt, I had no
other choice…
I took admission in GBTU and was really happy. Four years of hard work and then I
would be called an engineer – the very thought made me smile that day, for the very first
time in three months.
My First Day at College
My Mom packed all kinds of eatables, ranging from parantha to salad to even sweet
dish in my tiffin, which were not at all required.
What could I do? After all she was a mother; the care and concern of a mother can
never be forgotten because she is the one who gives birth to you and cares for you the
most. And I loved my Mom!
I left home to go towards GBTU. It took me one hour to reach college.
When I reached the college gate, I noticed two securitymen standing like two big
wrestlers, guarding the college.
Everyone wants to see heaven, but without dying. I saw heaven here in the form of
beautiful girls roaming around the college campus. I took the cell phone out of my pocket
and clicked some pictures of the institute. It was a perfect day.
A journey of thousand miles began with my single step, which I took in the institute
building and then after every subsequent step, I felt much happier. As a result, I was
plastered with a cute smile on my face.
I headed towards the ‘D’ block, the computer science department, which had been my
home for four long years of fun and achievements!
I saw students creeping into the class through the front door. I was looking at them and
noting how they were making themselves comfortable by finding the best place to sit.
Some students opted for the front seat, behaving as if they were the future Bill Gates.
Some students opted for the back seat, so they could sleep in class whenever possible.
Some students like me chose the middle seats because they and I always wanted to be
the centre of attraction! Everyone was looking at each other and coming to his or her
own conclusion about everyone else.
I didn’t see when our Head of Department Mr Dixit entered.
We all stood up to greet him with a ‘good morning.’
“Good morning students, I am Mr S. Dixit, your head of department or HoD. It’s good
to see new faces. On behalf of the Director, I welcome you all to the family.”
He then launched on a lecture about encouragement and continued with a long list of
instructions to be followed – what to do and what not to do at GBTU.
The rules were as follows:
Rule one: ‘Everyone should be on time in class, i.e. at sharp 9:30.’
Rule two: ‘If anyone fails, he or she will not be allowed to attend that particular
class.’
Rule three: “Any kind of ‘misbehaviour’ or ‘disobedience’ will not be tolerated.”
Rule four: And indeed the most important one: ‘No cell phones in the class. If
anybody’s cell rings during the class, it will be confiscated and returned only after seven
days and that too after consultation with the student’s parents.’
‘SEVEN DAYS!!!’ I thought just as the others might have, “Yaar pure saal vaat
lagegi!”
Finally Mr Dixit ended with the list and the class got over.
I made new friends, got busy in college life, studies, all of which helped to make me
forget Ananya, forget my love for her, forget my affection for her…
Days passed and I managed to forget her, not completely but enough to make me move
on.
Since school itself I had been proficient in C language programming and in our first
semester, C language was one of our subjects.
One day, the head of the department of computer science called me to his room. I was
really worried, or worse still I was scared of what lay in store for me. As far as I knew I
had not done anything wrong that could have made him call me. Then what was the
matter?
I went to his room at the scheduled time. “Good morning, sir! May I come in?”
“Yeah, Rishi please come in,” he said.
I sat down, trembling with fear.
“Rishi. I called you to my office to give you some good news.”
I looked at him, totally surprised at his statement.
“Our college is organising a C programming competition in which students from
different colleges will participate and we have chosen you to represent our college.”
I was shocked, surprised and happy at the same time. I could not decide what to say or
how to react, when Mr Dixit spoke up, “Excited?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Go to Mrs Wadhwa, as she will brief you on all the details regarding the competition.
Best of luck! I hope you will make us proud.”
“Yes sir, I surely will,” I said and left the place.
I was shouting and dancing in the corridor without even bothering about the looks
being exchanged between students and professors.
Representing your college is a big thing! I went to Mrs Wadhwa, took all the details
from her and started working on the project. I had to make a C programme on any one of
the topics given already to us. I chose ‘Railway Management System’.
Soon, the final day came and I was ready for it. All prepared. Prepared for the
showdown!!
My presentation went well. I answered almost all the questions and queries put forth
by the judges and the participants to me.
Huh! I felt good and relieved too!
Then the time came for the declaration of results. With my heartbeats racing against
time, I expectantly looked up at Mrs Wadhwa when she came to the podium to announce
the results. I was really tense and my best buddies, Rajesh, Sumit and Pavitra, were
trying to cheer me up. Pavitra was a talkative, fun-loving, cute and curious girl who was
a little too sensitive at times.
Rajesh was a silent, deep guy, intelligent and who didn’t believe in entering into a
relationship even for timepass! The reason he cited was that he couldn’t bear girls’
‘nakhre’! Huh! Rajesh and his excuses.
Reebok, Addidas, Pepe, Levis, Mufti, Nike, Puma were some of the brands Sumit
loved to wear. He was a total brand freak, fun loving and not much into studies.
So, they were my best buddies and my life revolved around them. Without them I had
no existence.
“All izz well!!” announced Sumit.
They had full faith in me and my capabilities.
“And the first prize goes to Rishi from our very own college!” Mrs Wadhwa
announced proudly.
At first I couldn’t believe my ears. My friends came running towards me and lifted me
up, while a few hugged or congratulated me.
“We are really proud of you, my son. Well done,” said Mr Dixit.
“Thanks, sir!” I replied, with a smile (big one!) on my face. Now I stood alone with
Rajesh, Sumit and Pavitra surrounding me.
“Congrats!!!” they all wished me in one voice.
“Thanks!”
“Treat kab de raha hai? And this time, no excuses,” said Rajesh.
“Hey! Let’s go to a nearby disco and celebrate. What says everyone?” asked Sumit.
“Yeah, that would be great fun!” added Pavitra.
They were my best friends and saying ‘no’ to them was next to impossible.
“Okay, let’s go, but no drinks for me.”
“Okay boss! No problem,” said Rajesh.
“But I have another competition to take part in.”
“The painting contest?” enquired Pavitra.
“Exactly!”
“Even I am participating! Do you know the venue?”
“Yes. Amphitheatre-2. I think we should move fast, Pavitra. We are already late by ten
minutes.”
We both rushed to the venue. I was happy that I had bagged the first prize in
programming, but the painting competition was not going to be any cakewalk. We were
to prepare a landscape depicting the beauty of Nature. I looked at Pavitra and she looked
at me and winked. An idea had struck her mind already and she had already got down to
working on her drawing.
Conceiving the idea was not difficult – water flowing through the river, mountains,
trees and all the greenery, but drawing the sketch was not that easy, and painting it was
all the more tough! I had never painted seriously before and was only good at sketching
with the charcoal pencil or canvas sketching. I hadn’t ever tried my hand at water
colours and knew not how one could paint!
Anyhow I managed to complete the painting, which was looking rather abominable.
The guy seated next to me seemed very happy, though God knows why. May be on
looking at my painting he was relieved that it meant at least I was out of the competition.
I gave the finishing touch with glitter pens and cleaned the wet paint slightly with a
cloth. Believe it or not, I won the third prize!!
The story of Rishi and his prize reached almost every single ear in the college.
We four were scheduled to meet at 5:30 p.m. So we reached promptly the room where
we were scheduled to discuss our plans for the disco.
The phone rang and I picked it up. I kept it on speaker phone as my hands were dirty
with paint!
“Hello,” a girl’s voice spoke out.
“Yes?”
“Am I speaking to Rishi?”
“Speaking. May I know who is on the line?”
“My name is Sakshi.”
“Oh. Do I know you Sakshi?”
“No, you don’t really know me as such. We have never met. Don’t worry, I just want
to meet you once. You are such a talented guy and I want you to be my boyfriend!”
Everyone looked shocked when they glanced at me (the phone was on speaker!!).
“WHAT?” I nearly screamed.
“Yeah, I have started liking you Rishi. Can we meet once?”
“Okay, we will see but don’t call me again,” I said and put down the receiver.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” asked Rajesh.
I gave him a blank look.
“A girl just proposed to you, Rishi over the phone and you put the phone down!! You
are a dumbo!”
“I don’t want to enter into a relationship, Rajesh,” I replied.
“Are you gay, by any chance?” asked Pavitra.
“SHUT UP!!!”
They all burst out laughing…
We entered the disco at 6:30 in the evening. As soon as we entered, a huge roar arose
from inside. I saw couples dancing and enjoying on the floor.
Memories of the past flashed through my mind.
This was the only place where I had first come with Ananya. The very thought of her
made me cry and tears began to roll down from my eyes.
“Hey bro! Come on yaar. It’s your day! Let’s go and dance,” said Sumit who was
dancing to the beats of ‘Dhan te den…’ from the movie ‘Kaminey’.
“Yeah, you guys go. I’ll join you in a minute.”
He went to dance with Rajesh.
I wiped my tears and tried to force a smile on my face. Pavitra came towards me with
someone. “Hey Rishi, meet my friend Pragya,” she said.
Chapter 12
Let’s give Love another Chance
I looked at Pragya and that one look made me forget everything. I drew closer in order to
bask in her beauty. Her eyes were beautiful. She had a fresh milky complexion and her
black dress suited her perfectly as if it was made for her only. She looked stunning,
bright and her skin seemed flawless. She had shiny black hair, which kept on creeping on
to her face, so she lifted them up and tucked them behind her ears. She was beautiful…
gorgeous…magnificent…and perfect…!
“Hi, Pragya!”
“Hey!”
She extended her hand. I shook it. Her hand felt so warm and soft. I smiled at her as
she was smiling at me. She had beautiful pink lips, which were really kissable.
“So you are the one who has won the programming competition? Congrats, dude!!” she
said.
“Oh, yeah, thanks!”
“Hey, you guys continue. I will join you in a minute or two,” said Pavitra and left the
two of us alone.
We stood there, feeling numb and looking dumb.
‘Talk, idiot!’ I said to myself.
“You are from our college?” I managed to ask.
“Yeah, the electrical branch,” she replied.
What?? She was in our college and I hadn’t ever seen her! How stupid of me it was.
“Oh, great!” I said.
“Hey! You want to dance?” she asked me.
“Hmmmm…okay,” I agreed. “But, I want to confess something first,” I added.
She looked at me with surprise as if I was about to ask her out. “I don’t know how to
dance. So don’t laugh at me please,” I said in a childish voice.
She began to laugh and I loved to see that million-dollar smile on her face.
Finally we were on the dance floor. I kept on looking at her while we danced. I was
having the best time of my life and we were enjoying each other’s company. I couldn’t
believe my luck that I was dancing with the most beautiful fresher in college!
“You have picked up the steps so easily! Look at your steps,” she said.
I just smiled at her.
We kept on dancing for another one hour till it was time for her to leave. I tried to stop
her but she said she couldn’t delay any further.
Such a beautiful evening came to an abrupt end. We exchanged goodbyes and left. I left
the place with Rajesh and as it was late, I had to spend the night at his place.
On my bed, many strange thoughts came to my mind. Pragya and her beauty, her
charming face, her purity could make me forget Ananya. But it has been rightly said that
the best way to mend a broken heart is to fall in love again.
And I realised I had fallen in love with her. It was love at first sight! But, I wanted to
learn more about her. So I took her number from Pavitra and ended up calling her.
“Hello, who is this?” she picked up my call. Her voice was as melodious as it was
when I had first heard it.
“Hey, it’s me, Rishi. Remember me? I am sorry I took your number from Pavitra. I
hope you don’t mind?”
“No it’s fine, dear. You could have taken it from me only. Anyways, what’s up?” she
asked.
“Nothing yaar. Just looking forward to a very good and close friendship,” I said.
“Yeah, sure dear, we will become very close and naughty friends,” she said in a
mischievous tone.
I could feel her smile at the other end.
“Naughty?” I asked her.
“Hey, leave it yaar. You are way too sweet and simple,” she said.
“So, what are you doing?” I asked her.
“Just sitting idle and remembering the moments we had spent together on the dance
floor,” she said, smiling.
“Oh really? You must be kidding, no?”
“No dear. I am serious,” she said. So she was thinking about me! Was I so good on the
dance floor as to have left an everlasting impact on her? I wondered.
“You were looking really sweet and cute today,” I said.
“Just sweet and cute?” she flirted.
“Gorgeous.”
“Hmmm…these words are way too common. Try using some original words,” she
said.
“Okay. So you want to test my vocabulary skill?” I asked her.
She started to laugh.
“Okay listen, you looked like a goddess, an angel from heaven. Your beauty reminded
me of shining stars in the sky and the tiny drops of morning dew, fresh and so pure. Your
eyes were magnetic. To sum it all, you looked magnificent and perfect,” I said, smiling.
Describing her beauty was a difficult task, but I had managed to say something.
“Wow yaar! I have never received such awesome compliments from anyone
throughout my life. I am impressed,” she said.
“Oh, thanks,” I replied.
“And you know what? You were looking handsome and I felt really comfortable
dancing with a nice guy like you,” she said. “So Rishi, tell me about your interests, your
hobbies.”
“Hmmm…nothing as such. I love reading and my guitar is my best friend,” I said.
“What? You know how to play the guitar?” she asked, sounding almost shocked.
“Yes, I do,” I said.
“Wow! That’s cool. Hey, will you please play it for me whenever possible? I would
love to hear you,” she said excitedly.
“Positively ma’am, I will,” I said and we both started to laugh.
“Rishi, it’s too late now. I think we should go to sleep now, else we would be late for
college tomorrow,” she said.
“Oh yeah. Goodnight then,” I shot back.
“Goodnight dear. See you,” she said and hung up. With this our conversation came to
an end.
I felt I had fallen in love with her, her beauty, her complete self. I just didn’t know
how it was so! Was it because I wanted to run away from memories of Ananya or was I
seriously in love with Pragya? I had no clue, but I decided to repose my faith in the
second one and give love a second chance. And this time there were to be no mistakes.
Befriending and understanding the girl you are out to get had to be the next important step
and that is what I did.
You have to understand that every girl loves to be loved, adores to be adored and
needs to be needed and by revealing the best in yourself, you can make her create a room
in her heart for you. I was in love with her and my feelings for her could be
communicated, not through words but only through my heart.
I got to know that all the senior guys were out to befriend her and it was going to be
difficult for me to win her over with so much competition to face.
I decided to do something that no one has ever done before. Something special.
Something ‘hatke’.
And something cropped up in my mind, which would draw her attention towards me.
Chapter 13
Sorry, I Love Someone Else
The college canteen was almost empty! I wondered what that girl wanted from me. Why
was she so desperate to meet me? I had already told her that I was not interested in her,
but she still wanted to meet me!
After a wait of five minutes, Sakshi entered the canteen with the cell pressed on her
left ear. I looked at her. ‘Man, she is not that bad!’ She is no a patch on Pragya but.
On seeing her, I was caught in the same state of confusion that I had been trapped in for
the past few days. She came and sat down next to me. I greeted her and picked up my
notebook, pretending to be studying. After some time our coffee arrived. Suraj, the
canteen boy, gave me a smile as he placed the cup on the table. I smiled back. She
picked up the cup and took a sip. We kept sitting in silence for some fifteen minutes.
“Gosh, studying mechanics is sure to kill me – friction, etc. and the pulley system just
go straight above my head!” I said, trying my level best to make the situation seem casual
and comfortable, though without success.
“Your talking like this will not improve the situation,” she interrupted me with a
straight face.
I closed my books and placed them inside my bag. I sat up straight in the chair and
looked at her, “I am sorry.”
“For what?” she demanded.
“For everything. I am sorry I hurt you.”
“How?” she demanded.
“I said ‘no’ to your proposal.”
“Is that all?” she asked very softly.
“Sakshi…,” I stammered.
“It’s okay Rishi, you don’t have to be hesitant about rejecting me,” she said with tears
in her eyes. It was too much. I could not see a girl cry like this.
“Sakshi, look at me. You are a good friend of mine. Your presence is precious to me,
but I don’t feel like that about you. I am sorry if I have hurt you. I never ever intended to
do that, not even in my dreams!”
She continued to cry.
“I am sorry,” I repeated again.
I took out the Bourville I had hidden all the time in my pocket and gave it to her.
She took the chocolate and smiled. “It’s okay,” she said.
And I heaved a sigh of relief. “So, we are cool? Everything settled?” I asked, bringing
a baby-like expression to my face.
She smiled, “Yes.”
“Cool,” I said.
“So, have you seen any new movie?”
“No, didn’t get time to watch one.”
“Are you free right now?”
“Yes.”
“Good! We are going for a movie right now.”
“What?”
“What’s what?”
“Come on. Hurry up, we are getting late for the show,” I said.
“Okay, okay!” she said as we both packed our bags and rushed to the movie hall…
Chapter 14
Where were You when God Distributed Brains?
“Hey! Can you do me a small favour. Pragya teri friend hai na? Just ask her what she
thinks about me? And don’t take my name.”
I had instructed Ajay, my classmate, reminding him a zillion times not to take my name
and deep within I had a premonition that the plan would go wrong. I could not trust this
guy on serious issues like this, but I had no other option. I was desperate to find out what
Pragya thought about me. It was a challenge for me and this time I did not want to be a
loser. I had to conquer her heart and this time my love had to succeed.
I was expecting a reply from Ajay by late evening and looked at the clock. I saw that
only a few hours were left and there was no way to beat the time!
I was nervous as to what Pragya would say and when such issues involve a girl, the
dilemma of a boy cannot be described.
There are two categories of girls in the world – one, who openly admit that they like
the guy or not, though some are apt to say, “We are just friends. He will find someone
better than I.” Then the boy would ask, “Better than you? If I wanted someone better than
you, I wouldn’t have proposed to you in the first place!!!” “But still,” the girl would
answer.
The second type is a bit dangerous species as she will keep her feelings bottled within
and give some mild indication to convey whether you pass or fail. But, whatever kind
she is, it’s always the guy who suffers!
I know I am going off the track but you can Google for ‘Types of Women’ if you want
more information.
Finally I received a phone call from Ajay. “I don’t know, maybe she likes you or
maybe she doesn’t,” he said from the other end.
“Don’t scare me, pal…saaf saaf bata,” I barely managed to say, thinking that my story
was going to end here. THE END!!
“Did you ask her personally? I mean did you take my name?”
“Listen, I went downstairs to have some talk with my friend. Pragya was sitting on the
bench with her friends. On seeing her, I went to her and asked and I quote, ‘Rishi asked
me to ask you whether you like him or not?’ Just like you had said. Initially she didn’t
react but later she just smiled and walked off with her friends.”
What a damn fool! I felt an overpowering urge to punch him hard in his stomach so that
he would never show his face again.
“You moron! Who told you to take my NAME!? I asked you not to do that and you did
exactly what I forbade you from doing. Are you deaf by any chance??” Checking my
anger, I apologised for my tone and continued further, “What exactly was her reaction?”
“She just smiled at me and left; which means, may be she likes you.”
Yes, he was right. Otherwise she would have slapped Ajay. This meant I had a fifty-
fifty chance.
“What are further instructions for me?” Ajay asked.
“Nothing. Just stay away from her and never ever mention this to Pragya. You got me?”
“Dude, I just did whatever you told me to do!”
“Thanks for that and I need no more favours from you.”
“Okay, as you wish,” he said and the line went dead.
Everything had been messed up or maybe not, but I decided to set things right. ‘Hey
bhagwan, madad kar!’ I prayed and went for dinner…
Chapter 15
Dude, She said, Yes!
She was smart, she was sensitive to my and other people’s moods, she had a good sense
of humour and she liked to plan big but was intrigued by subtle concepts. She was a
visionary, thoughtful, compassionate, open minded, mature and filled with youthful
enthusiasm.
In short, her inner beauty, according to me, was so bright that I was completely
blinded by her outer beauty. She was perfect; perfect for me.
I decided to do something special for Pragya. I wrote three letters without disclosing
my identity and slid them into her books secretly. All I wrote was, ‘Your secret admirer.’
The first letter contained the meaning of her name, which I derived by playing with the
initials of her name – PRAGYA has P: Peaceful, R: Ravishing, A: Attractive, G:
Generous, Y: Youthful, A: Awesome!!
I told her she looked like the moon during the day when I had first seen her. I also told
her to wait for the second letter.
The second letter which I wrote was all about her beauty and smartness. In the letter I
used different words to describe her beauty. I told her, “Her face is lovely and stunning;
she is gorgeous, unique and winsome. Her captivating body is breathtaking and
enchanting. In all, she has an endearing, charming and fascinating personality.”
In the third letter I told her to be ready to receive a huge surprise from her admirer, but
only if she was kind enough to come and meet him…I mean, meet me…In the end I asked
her to call me up.
And she did call!!!
I was doing some work at home when my phone rang, dancing due to the effect of
vibration on my study table. Wondering who it could be, I rushed towards it.
“Hello,” I said.
“Hello, my admirer. What’s the surprise huh?” she said.
I was on cloud nine. She loved it; she loved whatever I had done to attract her.
I told her to meet me at Rajesh’s place, still not disclosing my identity. I told her that
the unnamed admirer would be waiting for her there.
She agreed to my terms and promised to come the day after.
Everything was going according to plan and now it was time to take the final step…
She entered the house and I stood waiting for her. I was grateful to Rajesh for helping
me in my plan and allowing me to propose to her at his place.
She looked at me, I looked at her.
“Rishi? It was you? You did all this for me!!” she almost screamed excitedly, totally
amazed, totally shocked.
“Yes,” I replied, smiling.
She hugged me, “You are a sweetheart Rishi!”
“Pragya, I want to tell you something,” I began.
“Yeah, go ahead,” she said.
“You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, Pragya.”
“Go on, Sweety!”
“I just don’t know what to say,” I got cold feet.
“Oh, then try to say something. I am ready to wait,” she said, still smiling.
Her very smile made me even more nervous. “I don’t know Pragya…but I love you a
lot. I don’t know what it is, but it feels so complete and perfect when you are around me.
Your very presence makes my life more beautiful. I love you Pragya. Love you a lot. I
really do. Will you be mine forever?” I said.
“Hmmm…,” she hummed. “Awwwee…you are so cute, Rishi. I love you too!!” she
said and pulling me near her, hugged me.
She bent over and pulled me over. Her lips touched mine and we kissed. My hands ran
through her raven black hair, which felt soft and silky. The kiss lasted till eternity. It
ended with both of us staring into each other’s eyes. We both were smiling, looking at
each other. It was the most memorable day of my life. We spent another two hours in
each other’s arms. Enjoying her warmth and beauty, I was thinking how lucky I was to
have such a beauty and an angel from heaven as my girlfriend. I promised myself that I
would treat her like a princess, for she was my princess.
“Rishi, what’s the time?”
“It’s 4:30!”
“Oh my God! Rishi, our bus will leave for Delhi in half an hour. Let’s rush,” she said,
almost running out.
“Oh yeah, let’s run,” I said, running after her.
We boarded our respective buses and went to our individual homes. I was very
excited when my phone rang. It was Rajesh.
“Hey man, she said yes!!” I blurted out excitedly as soon as I picked up the phone.
“Cool! Congrats, bro!” he said.
“Thanks!”
All the way to Delhi, I was smiling and thinking about her, her beauty, her charm, her
captivity.
I knew just one thing – I loved her; loved her more than anything else in this world…
Chapter 16
Screwed up Date with My Love
The professor entered the class. He looked so aged that it seemed as if he had just
survived a second heart attack.
“Respond to your roll number,” the professor said.
“Roll No. 1?”
“Present, sir,” Arnab said.
“Roll No. 2?”
“Present, sir,” Ashish said.
“Oh man, when will this class get over?”
“It has just started, Rishi! Full forty-five minutes are left!” said Sumit, who was seated
next to me.
“Why do you want it to get over so quickly? Anything special?” asked Pavitra.
“I have my first official date with Pragya. She must be waiting for me,” I replied.
“Wow!”
“Roll No. 32?”
“Roll No. 32?”
“Roll No. 32!!”
“Oh, yes sir. Present,” I said hastening.
He gave me a look of disgust by peeping from below his spectacles.
I was present in class physically but my mind and soul were with Pragya. I could have
bunked the class, but my seniors had told me that the professor was very particular about
attendance.
The class began. He wrote some alpha, gamma symbols which went straight over my
head. A perfect bouncer!
I decided to take a nap. I told Rajesh, who was sitting in front of me to cover me and
wake me up when the professor arrived.
I slept calmly for thirty minutes after which the vibration in my pocket broke my
slumber. It was my cell phone giving a new message.
“Hey, darling. My class is over. Cum fast. Luv u…” It was from Pragya.
“Hey Angel…I hv my lab aftr dis. Cnt bunk it…luv u 2,” I replied back.
This time Sumit decided to take a nap and asked me to monitor. The professor
unexpectedly extended the class by twenty minutes, making me wonder what satisfaction
he derived by doing so. And the worse part was his lecture on fitness, life, ethics and
other philosophical issues and that took fifteen minutes after the class had got over. It
was like third-degree torture for me.
The professor said, “I’ve discovered that the best way to begin the day is to practice
yoga. Yoga is perhaps the only form of activity which massages all the internal glands
and organs of the body, making you feel good the whole day.”
Anyway he left the class after five minutes.
Already I was late by twenty minutes when we entered the lab. And there was no
question of bunking the lab experiments as it carried precious 10 marks.
‘Whr r u sweetie? Am waiting!!!’ her SMS started coming. She was waiting for me.
We had planned for the day in advance.
‘Yeah. Half an hour more. Love u!’ I replied.
‘Ok. Cm fast!!’
We had this C programming lab. As you may remember, I was good in C logics and
coding but this time I was not interested in using my logics or applying my brain. I had a
solution in mind. I had all the programmes already saved in my pen drive. All I had to do
was to copy it from the pen drive, paste it in the new C file, compile and execute. Thus
full 10 marks could be obtained.
‘Come na baby. Am waitin…,’ came her message.
‘10 minutes,’ I replied.
“Ma’am, I am done with the programme. Can I leave now?” I said, raising up my hand
and calling her.
“Wait. Let me see,” she said, rising up from her chair and walking towards me.
“Sure, ma’am.”
I compiled the programme and executed it. It worked as expected.
“Good!” she said. “One minute,” she added before bending down and pulling out the
pen drive from the USB port.
Shit! I had forgotten to remove the pen drive. Silly of me! I was in deep trouble now.
A big one.
“What is this, Rishi? You copied it from the pen drive?”
“No ma’am.”
“Do you think I am a fool? You will do all the six programmes that I have taught you
right now in front of me, else you are getting a big zero in C lab.”
“But ma’am, I have some urgent work to do. Please can I leave?”
“Okay leave. First let me mark you a zero.”
“Okay ma’am, I will do them again.”
“Good.”
‘It’s been half an hour. Come. Am alone now. Evry frnd left.’
‘10 minutes and I will be there.’
‘10 minutes over. Whr r u???????????’
‘Last 10 minutes.’
‘,’ she replied.
Finally after 20 minutes, I finished my work. I got 8 marks from the professor and left
straight for the canteen.
She was sitting there, all alone. Her face was spewing searing flames. Waiting for
THREE long hours! That was something!
‘I am dead,’ I said to myself. “I am sorry. It was none of my fault. The professor
extended the class and then in the lab, I had to do six programmes and then…”
“Two hours, forty-five minutes and twenty-eight seconds. Know how much time it is?”
“Yeah, I know, but, try to understand.”
“What understand? We had planned to watch a movie together, Rishi. It was supposed
to be our first date and look, now the show must have got over,” she said, making a face.
“Come on. We will watch the next show.”
“The next show is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. and our buses will be leaving at 4:50,” she
said.
“No problem. It’s 3:15 right now. We have one hour thirty-five minutes left with us.
Let’s go and have a pizza. Am hungry,” I suggested.
“Okay, let’s go,” she agreed.
We had pizza at Pizza Hut and it was yummy!!
‘4:25 p.m.,’ my watch showed.
“Let’s pay the bill and leave or we will miss our buses,” she said.
I inserted my hand into my pocket to take out my wallet and what the hell!
Where was my wallet? Oh no, I had forgotten to bring my wallet to college! I looked
at her.
“What? Why are you looking so blank?”
“Pragya, I have forgotten my wallet at home,” I said sheepishly.
“Wow!” she said and started laughing. “Don’t worry, I will pay.”
“No, how can you?”
“Keep your mouth shut, Rishi,” she said and paid the full amount as I watched
helplessly.
So, this was our first official date which had been a fiasco right from the beginning. At
first I made her wait and then pay the bill also.
Our long, exhausting but amusingly ‘great’ date ended, which both of us would
remember till the rest of our lives…
Chapter 17
My Love for You has no Limits
People often wonder, ‘How can you know you are in love with someone?’
When you can be yourself without any hesitation, when that one person brings out the
best in you, when you don’t feel anything till you both are together, when you can share
the deepest of thoughts with someone, when you know that there is one person who will
never hurt you even in your wildest of dreams and when someone gives you the reason to
feel special…that is love.
And I was in deep love with Pragya! I loved her not because of what she possessed,
but because of what I felt for her.
I cared for her not because she needed care, but because I wanted to. I was always
there for her, not because I wanted her to be with me but because I wanted to be with
her.
A walk with her in the silence of the dark night, when I could feel each step, each
single sigh; when the warmth of her hand showed her emotional state and each word of
hers had a special significance for me as it revealed how much she loved me. And how
much I loved her!
If I had the power, I would have loved to wake up every morning feeling her warm
breath on my shoulder, to feel her closeness to me so that I could peer into her beautiful
eyes first thing in the sunlight; to sleep every night kissing her wonderful and charming
face and hug her close to me as we slept.
When you are in love, it is a strange feeling because we think about it, sing about it,
dream about it and lose sleep worrying about it.
When we don’t have it, we search for it. When we discover it, we fear losing it. But in
all such happenings, love is a constant source of pleasure.
And my love for Pragya was not easy to be defined. If I were to describe how much I
loved her, the whole universe would fall short!
Every time I thought of her, I thought only of how lucky I was to have her in my life –
the way she smiled when I made her laugh, the tender way she held me close, the look in
her eyes when she would tell me how she loved me – all filled me with wonder.
I thanked God every day for introducing her and her love in my life and I hoped and
dreamed of spending my future with her. I belonged to her and she to me and with the
love between us, we could be together for eternity.
The warmth of her lap could be felt in my heart. The affection of her touch would
make me forget the world. The way she ran her hands in my hair would make me love
her like crazy. It could be night for some, but for me it was as bright as morning for I
could see her shining eyes. The sweetness of her hug would carry me to a dreamland and
she could make me feel heavenly with her. For me she was my everything.
My morning would start with her and night would end with her. She was my
sweetheart, my Barbie doll and my Shakira.
I loved her a lot…more than a lot…
Chapter 18
The Bastard should be Taught a Lesson
A person may look mature and respectable by age or due to his experience, his attitude
and calibre but your perception can be wrong. After all, appearances can be very
deceptive.
Let me introduce you to my senior Vicky Bhai or ‘Vicky sir’ as we used to address
him. He was from Lucknow and considered himself to be a don, the boss of GBTU. He
was in his pre-final year and his only pastime was to make fun of us and rag us all. He
was a total jerk!
We had no choice other than to respect him and do whatever he asked us to do. He
would stop us anywhere and start his sessions. He thought that he could dominate over
any individual in the college.
He would waylay us and then resort to a negative form of behaviour, like kicking
someone’s ass through his nasty words.
Being a senior does not mean that you can rule over a junior. He would pass comments
that were so rude and hurtful that others would get irritated and frustrated.
One day he stopped me. “Oye, Idhar aa,” he shouted.
“Yes sir?” I had no choice other than to go and listen to him.
“Ye me kya sun raha hu?”
“What sir?”
“Arey, that you are going out with Pragya?”
“Yes sir,” I stammered.
“You stay away from her, else I will nail your bloody ass. Samjha?”
Now this was something beyond the limit. I couldn’t digest the insult and left the
place, fuming with rage. No matter what I would be doing, I could not forget Vicky’s
comments which prevented me from concentrating on my studies.
“What’s happened, Rishi? You look disturbed. Kisi ne kuch kaha kya?” asked Sumit.
“Nothing,” I replied.
“No, there is something wrong. Tell me, what’s the matter?”
I told him the entire story about how Vicky has provoked and insulted me.
“Now that’s the last straw. It’s high time we should teach that bastard a lesson,” he
said angrily. He dialled a few numbers and within a minute, a tall, burly guy came and
stood in front of our class.
“What’s up, Tarun bhai? Sab badiya?” asked Sumit.
Give me a few seconds to describe Tarun to you. Six feet tall, muscular built with
approximately fifteen-inch biceps, around fifty-seven-centimetre chest and looks like
that of a bouncer.
“Who is he?” I whispered in Sumit’s ears.
“Senior, final year. He is the president of Anti-ragging Society,” he said.
“Bhai, this is my friend Rishi.”
“Hello sir,” I said, trembling in my boots.
“Hello!” he replied back.
Sumit told him about Vicky and his ‘dadagiri’, asking him to do something about it.
“Hmmm…,” he hummed. “Come with me,” he commanded.
We found Vicky seated on a bench, ragging some juniors. Tarun sir went straight up to
him and held him up by his shirt. “Bohot dadagiri aa rahi hai tujhe?” he said and gave
him a tight slap.
Vicky flew in the air and landed two metres away from him. I felt he must have lost a
few of his teeth in the encounter.
A crowd gathered there.
“If I see you insulting or misbehaving with any of the juniors, you will have it from
me,” said Tarun sir and left.
We stood in the group of viewers, looking at Vicky who was still almost unconscious.
“Yaar, I think ziyada ho gaya,” I said.
“Arey, it’s fine. This asshole must be taught a lesson,” said Sumit.
We almost screwed Vicky up. I could hear him breathing heavily.
The security guards came to see, but no one had the guts to take Tarun sir’s name.
Sumit and I exchanged frightened glances.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said to Sumit, in a trembling voice. After us, the crowd too
departed, leaving Vicky all alone.
Vicky settled down after a few days of shock. He now only complimented and praised
everyone. The slap had changed him; changed him forever.
“Lato key bhoot baton se nahi mante,” said Sumit and we began to giggle.
Chapter 19
The World seems so Beautiful with My Angel
A cool night breeze was blowing. Pragya and I sat on one of the benches in the garden,
holding each other’s hand. It was an awesome experience watching the moon in the clear
night sky dotted with twinkling stars. The busy city was visible in front of us; the long,
meandering roads were overcrowded with cars, trucks and all kinds of vehicles.
We were having some snack which I had arranged from the only shop in the area, near
the Sai Baba temple, when Pragya remarked, “Look at the moon, Rishi. It’s looking so
beautiful and perfect.”
“But not more than you,” I replied, looking into her eyes.
We continued looking at the moon in utmost silence for at least the next few minutes.
“You know what, Rishi? You only realise how things have changed and how far we
have developed only when you see the city from a distance. How fast we seem to be
moving,” Pragya said, looking thoughtfully at the busy road.
“Whenever I get upset or something bothers me, I make it a point to come here and
ponder over my mistakes and reflect upon them. I always get my answers,” she turned
around and looked at me with a cute smile on her face. God had given her a cute face,
which looked even cuter with a smile on it! And I adored her smile. “And do you know
that this is the place where you can come and practice guitar? Or you can paint! You
paint, na Rishi? You told me that once.”
“Yes, I do, but only when I am in a mood to draw,” I said.
“Cool, I want my sketch to be made. Will you make it for me?”
“Of course I will. Anything for you,” I replied, smiling.
“Sounds great!” she said in an excited tone.
“Okay, let’s go to the temple. Remember why we are here?” I stood up, waiting for
her.
“Oh, yeah. I completely forgot about that. Sorry!” she said and got up.
It was a small temple, beautifully built on steep land, with lots of idols and at least
twenty or so steps leading to the inner sanctum. But the Sai idol was the most beautiful
one.
We stood in front of God with folded hands and said in unison, “We promise to love
each other throughout our life, no matter what happens.”
“Pragya, I promise to you in front of God that I will be with you until I die or you quit
the relationship.”
“So swe…eet…tt!!! I love you Rishi!” she said.
“I love you too,” said I and gave her a hug.
As we moved out of the temple, I noticed the sky had become clearly visible.
“Wow!” I heard her say.
“Look at the sky above! It’s so clear! I have not seen such a clear sky. We are very
lucky, Rishi.”
“Luck follows when you are with me,” I replied.
“HEY!!!” she almost screamed.
“What?”
“Look. The shooting star!”
“So?”
“Dumbo, shooting star!! Make a wish and it will come true!”
I closed my eyes and wished to be with the love of my life forever.
“Kya manga?” she asked me in curiosity.
“If I tell you, then it won’t come true!” I said.
She made a face.
“What’s your sun sign? Scorpio?” she asked.
“Yes,” I replied, all confused.
“I am Virgo. And you know that Scorpio and Virgo make a good pair?’
“Great!” I said.
“Come, let’s go to the Radha-Krishna temple. It’s getting late and really chilly,” I said.
“Yeah.”
We went to the temple, quickly said our prayers and turned to leave. Before leaving, I
looked up once again at the sky only to see the moon and store its beauty in my memory. I
felt that the moon was saying, ‘Why are you capturing my beauty, when a beautiful angel
stands next to you!!’

Chapter 20
The Romantic Night Talks…

(Part 1)
I took out my phone and dialled Pragya’s number, but there was no response from her
side. I dialled again. This time she disconnected and switched off her phone. I wondered
what the matter was.
Tring…tring…
My phone beeped. One o’clock at night. Rubbing my eyes and half asleep, I took the
receiver in my hand.
“Pragya calling,” flashed on the screen.
“Hello.”
“Hey, were you sleeping?”
“Yeah, kind of. Why did you call so late at night? And why were you not picking up
my call?”
“Arey I did not get a chance. Mom doesn’t like me talking to guys. Now Mom is
asleep and I am upstairs.”
“Great. I was waiting for your call, sweety.”
“I know. Am sorry!”
“So, what’s up?” she said.
“Nothing. Was dreaming about you.”
“Oh, really! And don’t forget to pay my two hundred and forty-five rupees back.
Stupid. How can you forget to bring your wallet, that too when you were on your first
official date!!” she said, laughing.
“Oh Pragya. Please, that was really embarrassing and please don’t embarrass me any
more.”
“Oho, my baby to bura maan gaya! Relax Rishi, I was just pulling your leg,” she said,
still laughing.
I hated the word baby which she used to address me. But, it was good on the other
hand because it was Pragya’s sensuous voice which had called me that!
That was our first ever talk so late at night. From that day onwards the midnight
became time for our talks. Beginning with alternate days, our talks soon increased to
daily talks and then the time came when the whole day long we would be waiting for
midnight to arrive!
Most of our talks were late at night, the time when her Mom was asleep. In all, it was
a romantic setting with the moonlight flashing upon me from the window as I talked to
my angel.
She was the girl who broke my vow of ‘never ready to mingle’. It was a rule enforced
upon me by myself as I felt that love only meant suffering. This had been proved
fallacious and now I felt that I had been wrong.
As days passed, the frequency of our calls increased exponentially and Pragya
invented some new methods to talk to her ‘baby’ even when her Mom was awake. After
one month of utilising my Airtel night plan, I concluded she was the one for me – my
sweetheart, my destiny!
Chapter 21
The Romantic Night Talks…

(Part 2)
“Hey, sweetie! What’s up?”

I sent her a message at about 11 p.m. and another one asking her to reply fast. Due to
restlessness I kept on staring at my mobile screen. The date showed 2nd September. One
month completed in our relationship. One month completed the day I said the three
golden words, ‘I LOVE YOU’ to her. And on that day I realised, it didn’t matter if you
failed once, you can succeed one day if you learn to follow your instincts…
“Hey! You remember, what’s the date today?” came her reply.
“Yeah. How can I forget the day when I asked you out?” I replied back.
“Wowwww! Can’t believe it! One month complete! Chalo kahin celebrate karte
hain…”
I smiled, reading her last statement.
“Okay, let’s go somewhere. Think of a place where we could be alone, just you and
me and of course, love between the two of us,” I replied back.
“Is The Royal Kitchen acceptable to you? I just love the food served there… ”
I thought about it for a second and then said, “I could go anywhere as long as you are
with me.”
We exchanged messages late into the night and after sending almost a hundred
messages, my fingers got tired.
“Can you call?” she sent me a message.
Tring…tring…
“Hell…oh…h!” she whispered from the other end.
“Why did you ask me to call? Is your Mom not around?” I asked in a soft tone. “I got
tired of typing and don’t worry, everyone is asleep.”
“So what’s the plan for today? You have completed one month with this dumbo!”
“But, I love this dumbo the way he is!”
I felt like getting into the phone line, converting my words into signals, reach her by
any possible means and cuddle her in my arms.
“I love you too…ooo…oo!!! You know, I will make it a point to hear these three
words from you every single day.”
“Hmmmm…okay Rishi. Can you describe me in one word, one single word…,” she
said.
“Oh! That’s a difficult one,” I said mockingly.
“Haan! Is it?”
We remained silent for few seconds. I could not repeat the same words like gorgeous,
beautiful, and stunning or such adjectives.
I finally broke the silence, “In one word…MINE…”
Silence.
“Hello! Pragya, are you there?”
“I LOVE YOU, Rishi!!!” she replied. I could feel the excitement in her voice. I was
damn sure that if I had been present in front of her, she would have given me a bear hug.
Shit! I missed the golden chance of embracing my angel in my arms.
“Accha listen, I have to go now and promise me that we will not talk at this time of
night in the future. I don’t like playing with danger. What if I get caught? I have lied a lot;
I don’t know what I am doing. But anything, as long as you are with me.”
“Goodnight! See you tomorrow and I love you.”
“Hmmm…I love you too…ooo…see you tomorrow and now end the call,” she
stressed on the last sentence.
“Bye…e! Bye…e! My angel, I love you!!” I pressed the end call button after a few
seconds.
It was 2:45 in the morning and sleep was the only source of meeting my angel…
meeting her in my dreams…
Chapter 22
An Impossible Task!
It was unusually gloomy that day. No one could have expected a visit from the Rain-god
in early September. A perfect Sunday evening, with dark grey clouds covering the sun
and making the day a bit darker than normal.
“Where are you Angel?” I messaged Pragya.
“On my way. Five minutes more,” came her reply.
I was waiting for her to arrive when someone in the heavens opened the taps and it
started to rain furiously. I was fortunate enough to find shelter in a restaurant where we
were supposed to meet and stood there for five whole minutes till she finally arrived.
She was looking out of this world in her pink T-shirt and denim jeans. Every bit of her
personality seemed so appealing to me that it is beyond description.
Why did I love her so much? I didn’t have any idea but the fact that she loved me was
enough to make me happy every single minute.
I greeted her with a kiss on her cheeks.
She came and sat down next to me. I greeted her and picked up the menu card. After
approximately four minutes, our food arrived. We kept sitting there in silence for about
six minutes.
While having our food, she asked me, “Rishi, do you love me?”
“What kind of a question is this, Pragya? Of course, I do love you. Love you a lot!” I
replied.
“Okay, prove it.”
“What? Please don’t say I have to jump from the tenth floor to prove my love for you!”
“No, jaan. You just have to follow me to the ladies washroom. It’s a dare.”
“WHAT??”
“Yes. I know you are a very daring person and this is the time to prove it.”
“Are you out of your mind?” I asked.
“Come on. Say yes na, Rishi. It would be fun!” she said with a wicked smile on her
face.
“FUN!! This is insane!”
She made a face, “You are such a spoilsport, Rishi!”
I thought for a moment and finally after two minutes of thinking, I gave up.
“Okay, fine, let’s go.”
“Wow, I love you!”
She entered the washroom and signalled to me to follow her.
Luckily there was no one inside. Just the two of us.
“Happy? Now can we go outside?”
She started kissing me passionately.
“Pragya, someone can come anytime. You can continue kissing me outside,” I said
logically but surprisingly, she laughed.
“Okay, let’s go.”
As soon as we walked out of the washroom, the security guard shouted at us, “Stop
right there.”
He was tall and his moustache reached his earlobes on both sides.
“We are gone,” I whispered in Pragya’s ears. “What do you mean by stop?” I asked
him while Pragya stood with concern writ large on her face.
“You two were in the washroom and that too together, weren’t you? What were you
two doing?” the security guard questioned. “Were you two having s…?”
“What? Just stop right there. Now you are crossing your limits,” we both shouted in
chorus.
“Yes, you were,” his argument tickled me, but I controlled myself.
“ENOUGH!! Control your tongue,” I said sharply.
Pragya stood there quietly but smiling slightly.
“You control your…”
“Excuse me! Control what?”
“Nothing. Wait. I will call and inform the manager. Stay right here,” he commanded.
“Arey bhaiya, relax,” I tried to cool him down.
“Aise nahi chalega. Kuch kharcha pani…” he demanded.
Pragya looked at him all puzzled as to what he meant by ‘kharcha pani’. I took out my
wallet and handed him a hundred-rupee note. Before he could even pocket it, we were
out of the restaurant.
Pragya was laughing her head out. “Ho gaya tumhara dare??”
“Ha, ha, ha, ha…,” she was uncontrollable.
I made a face.
“You know what, Rishi?”
“What?”
“I love you more than anything in this world!!” She came close, kissed my cheeks and
gave me a hug…
Chapter 23
Rajesh’s not so Perfect Love Story (Part 1)
Tring…Tring…
“Hello, who is this?”
“Arey, Rishi, it’s me, Rajesh. We need to talk. Where are you?”
“Why does your bloody phone always show up as an unknown number? Kitne number
change karega?? Anyway, can’t talk right now. I’m with Pragya.”
“Look, it’s urgent.”
“Fine! Will chat in the evening.”
I was about to hang up when Rajesh said, “Wait…wait…we can’t talk later. Please
it’s urgent. Reach the canteen in five minutes.”
“What’s the catch, buddy?” I asked suspiciously.
“Nothing. I just need your help,” he replied.
“Okay, fine,” I agreed to be there.
“Jaan, Rajesh has got some problem. Need to go. Will see you in half an hour or so.
Am sorry,” I said, making a face.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
“Don’t know.”
“Okay, but come fast.”
“Yeah, I will,” I said and ran towards the college canteen which was a fifteen-minute
walk from the college ground, where I was sitting with Pragya.
Rajesh was calling me again and again. Patience was one thing that Rajesh lacked. So,
I braved the wind and reached the canteen on time, only to see Rajesh furious and tense.
“I am hungry. Pehle kuch khila,” I said as soon I entered the canteen.
He ordered chowmein for me.
“So what’s up, bro? And how many times I need to tell you not to disturb me when I
am with Pragya?” I asked, concentrating on the food more than on what he had to say.
“Okay leave. Go to your girlfriend. Have fun with her,” he said in frustration. He got
up to walk away. I grabbed his hand and ordered him to sit down.
“Accha, tell me what’s the matter?” I asked him finally. “And I eat with my mouth, not
ears, okay? So go on; am listening.”
He continued, “I was checking out some random profiles on facebook, where I came
across this profile of a girl named Anjika. Her profile picture was damn gorgeous. I sent
her a friend request and luckily she accepted it.”
“So is this your problem?” I interrupted.
“Shut up yaar. Aagey to sun.”
“Yeah, continue.”
“She lives in Bangaluru and is doing her Bachelors in Economics. I chatted with her
and we exchanged our numbers.”
“What? You chatted with an unknown girl!” I almost shouted.
“Arrey, it’s not like that. She is very sweet. I even talked to her on the phone. I think I
am in love with her!!” he said.
“So this is your problem.”
“Arrey nahi!!”
“Arrey, then what is your problem, man?” I asked, completely frustrated.
“Even she has started liking me and now we have decided to enter into a relationship.
So I want to meet her and set everything right.”
“Haan, so what’s the big deal? Go up and meet her.”
“Dude, she lives in Bangaluru. My Mom and Dad would never allow me to go there
and that too on my own. Got it?”
“Awesome! First you make friends with an unknown girl, then you fall for her when
you haven’t even set eyes on her and now you want to meet her. Someone has rightly said
that pyaar andha hota hai!!”
“Shut up, yaar. Keep your philosophies to yourself only and come up with a plan.”
“You are a psycho and I was obviously wrong, wasting my time sitting here, talking to
you, moron.”
“Oye, you want to help me or not?”
I had finished my meal by now and was picking on my teeth, trying to dislodge some
food remnants with my tongue.
Rajesh was not pleased with my casual attitude to his problem. I took the last sip of
the coke, making a slurping sound which ensured nothing was left in the glass and said,
“Okay, I first need to think about what it is that you want to do. And one more thing, does
she know that you are going to meet her? And do you know her address?”
“No, I will give her a surprise!” he said.
“EXCELLENT!! And what about her address? Don’t tell me you don’t even have her
Bangaluru address?”
“Yeah, I do have it with me. I asked for it once, promising to send her a bunch of roses
one day.”
“Thank God!”
“But, the thing is there’s no way my Mom and Dad would let me go to Bangaluru and
that too on my own. Moreover, I don’t even have the money.”
I thought for a while and then motioned to him to get me an ice cream. He obliged.
Meanwhile I had a plan up my sleeves. When Rajesh returned with the ice cream, I
wore a cunning smile on my face, “If I tell you that I cannot only get your Mom and Dad
to give you permission to go to Bangaluru, but even get them to pay your fare, then?”
Rajesh knew I had a plan ready but he also knew it was going to cost him something.
“So, what’s your price?”
“You have to lend me your room on the 18th.”
“Why?”
“You okay or not?”
“Okay, done. What’s the plan?” he asked hesitantly.
And I narrated the plan in detail. “Look, there is some Swami Annapurna Maharaj
who is in Bangaluru to set up his ashram there.”
“So?”
“So, my dear friend, your parents are super-duper conservative and old fashioned. Just
tell them, you want to go to Bangaluru to meet him. It’s a lifetime opportunity to go to
him and seek gyan! They will not only allow you, but even pay for your bills! What say
you?”
“But, what if they decide to come with me?”
“Arrey, they will not.”
“How can you be so sure about it? I know my parents.”
“Arrey, bhul gaya? You only told me na that your Dad has a very important meeting
on Thursday. And you will leave for Bangaluru on Wednesday. So that will not be a
problem. Got it?”
“Wow! You are a genius man!” he exclaimed.
“Okay, okay, we have a lot of work to do, mere majnu,” I said and we both smiled at
each other.
The next couple of days were spent mostly in organising flights, train tickets, hotel
booking, etc.
Love can be so strange!
Internet chatting was not really Rajesh’s forte till he came across Anjika, his cyber
girlfriend! They had been chatting for almost six months by now. Rajesh had grown very
fond of Anjika and this was the perfect opportunity to meet her and figure out if they
could take their relationship to the next stage. They had spoken a few times over the
phone and discussed meeting one another, but somehow their plan always failed, owing
to the logistics involved between the two cities. But, now he was all set to go and meet
her.
Although Rajesh was not happy about lying to his parents, the thought of travelling to
Bangaluru and meeting Anjika made him forget everything and look forward to meeting
his girlfriend. His parents along with me dropped him off at the airport.
“Best of luck, buddy. I wish everything goes fine and you come back with good news.”
“Thanks bro, I owe you one.”
I wished him luck and asked him to look after himself…
Chapter 24
All is Fair in Love and War!
My angel’s birthday was just one week away and I was planning to do something big, but
the problem was money. Money was what I needed.
I called up Sumit, “Bro, can we meet? I need your help.”
“Okay in fifteen minutes. At Civil Department.”
I reached there and found Sumit waiting for me.
“Yeah, tell. What’s the matter?”
“I need money.”
“How much?” he asked, taking out his wallet from his pocket.
“Approximately fifteen thousand bucks.”
“What?”
“I need to buy an iPod for Pragya.”
“You have gone mad. I think you need treatment!”
“Please, Sumit, only you can help me.”
“Okay, I have a plan, but it’s a bit risky.”
“Anything for my angel.”
“If the plan is successful, then we will have not only fifteen thousand in hand but fifty-
five thousand!”
“Note chapne ki machine kharid li hai kya?”
“No, we will rob a house.”
“Sumit, I have no time for jokes.”
“Am not joking, Rishi. I have seen my landlord stow away an amount of fifty-five
thousand in his almirah. I have a plan. We can go and steal that money.”
“My conscience doesn’t allow me to steal. Think of something else.”
“Arrey, that is just black money, which he is hiding from the income-tax department.
So it’s not stealing, alright?”
“What about the society security? And what if we get caught?”
“If you go as per my plan, nothing will happen to you.”
“What’s the plan?”
“Look…” he continued with his atrocious plan.
The day finally came for committing the theft. I asked God to forgive me, as everything
is considered fair in love and war (Rajesh, you were right, bro!).
‘Mom, I will be staying at Sumit’s place. I need to study for an exam tomorrow,’ I
messaged my Mom, so as to avoid any kind of trouble from her side.
Never before had I enjoyed more my journey to a particular place. One robbery and
approximately fifty thousand rupees in my pocket!
We decided to take a shorter route through greenfields which was developing at a fast
pace. On my right were the highrises touching the sky while on the left I could see a
sewage canal stretching on a vast empty land. The buildings had their block names
written upon them in bold letters. Almost every second apartment in those buildings had
a dish TV satellite, symbolising the advancement in technology that India has undergone
in the past few years.
A strong dusty wind blew across the area, coating my eyes with dust. The speed of our
bike dropped due to poor visibility on account of the dust and darkness of the night sky.
Sumit had to put in some extra effort in his driving in order to move quickly. Throughout
our entire journey, I constantly kept on revising my plan. On passing the bridge
connecting our destination blocks, I was greeted with a waft of fresh air. The road ahead
forked in two directions. We took the second one, passing the Shakuntalam Society
towards Block A and Block B. The road adjacent to Shakuntalam Society was
comparatively narrow as per Noida’s standards and besides that, garbage had been
deposited on the right side, adding to the problems of the commuters. Further ahead lay
yet another diversion of road and we took the first one, while the rest of the traffic was
going on the second one to take a right turn towards the main road connecting the
highway. We speeded up. I found that our average speed was 66 km/h which was not bad
considering the state of the road. Going down the lane, we took a right turn and smartly
rode into Shantiniketan Society on my left-hand side.
Passing the guard at Gate No.1 at night was a bit difficult but Sumit handled it smartly.
We crossed the front lane and stopped right in front of House No. 46B.
Now we had to creep inside, rob the money and enjoy!
After parking our bike in the back area, we looked around to make sure no one
watched us.
Sumit had the keys to the apartment. The landlord had locked the door as Sumit had
informed him that he would not be coming home that night since he was going to sleep in
another room with his friend. I waited for him to unlock the door and he did so, keeping
a watch in the surrounding area. The door unlocked.
We went inside the apartment, rushed towards the almirah, took out the money, kept it
inside our bag, came out of the apartment, locked the door and ran – ran at full speed
towards the bike. Sumit kick started it and we sped towards the back gate of the society,
heading straight for Rajesh’s room whose keys were with me (remember the promise!).
All this running and riding was completed in mere fifteen minutes!
We covered a full forty-five minutes’ journey within fifteen minutes! Hats off to
Sumit’s biking! So we had full fifty thousand in cash with us.
FIFTY THOUSAND!
“Here is your share – twenty-five thousand bucks. Go and have fun with Pragya.”
“No bro, I need only fifteen.”
“Arrey take it na,” he insisted.
“Okay,” I said and we went to sleep.
The next morning Sumit’s phone beeped, “Hello.”
“Hello. Sumit beta, where are you? Someone stole fifty thousand rupees from my
almirah.”
“What? Bhaiya, why don’t you lodge a police complaint?”
“No I can’t,” he said and disconnected the phone.
Sumit looked at me with a smile on his face.
Only we two knew where the money was and why the landlord couldn’t file a police
complaint…
Chapter 25
The Day I was so Desperate About
18th September – the most important day of my life. It was Pragya’s birthday. I had
started planning for the day a couple of weeks ago as I wanted to make my princess’s
birthday the most memorable and special day of her life.
The first thing to decide was what could be a perfect gift to give her. Every girl is
different. So the type of present you give to your girl depends a lot on her choice and
personality. And I had planned everything. Of course, I had to seek help from Sumit and
Pavitra as I needed a place to take her to and celebrate there without any disturbance;
just the two of us and the beauty of love between us.
And once again Rajesh proved my saviour as promised. So, after much hard work,
running here and there, everything had been perfectly arranged. Every single thing
according to the plan was ready for the final day. Came 18th September. At 12 midnight,
I called my princess.
“Hello,” she said.
“Eighteen years ago, a doll was born, cuter than any girl, prettier than anything in this
world. Nature saluted God for creating such a masterpiece, with perfect eyes, an
amazing smile and made of gold. Soon she grew up to be as pretty as a princess. When I
got to know her, she was nothing else but an angel from heaven, descended from the
skies to be my girlfriend and make my life worth living. She was my soul, my angel, my
princess. She was Pragya. A happy birthday, sweetie! I love you. Love you a lot,” I said
in one go!
“Thanks dear. And you know what, Rishi? I am so lucky and proud to have a boyfriend
who can coin such beautiful words. I love you two, three, four…muah! So, Rishi, what
are you gifting me tomorrow?” she asked.
“Oh! It’s a surprise for you.”
“Hmmm…I like it! Because I know you are good in giving surprises,” she replied and
started laughing.
“Okay then, see you tomorrow. Happy birthday once again. May God bless you. Love
you. Goodnight,” I said.
“Yeah, love you too. Bye,” she said and hung up.
Now it was time for me to wait for the morning to arrive. I called up Sumit to check if
everything was ready or not.
“Perfect,” he said.
Hoping for a beautiful and lovely day ahead, I went to sleep.
Next morning, I reached college at 9:00 a.m. and waited for her to arrive at the
college’s main gate.
At 9:25 came my angel.
She was looking out of this world in her red T-shirt. I would not waste time in
describing her beauty to you, as it would take one full chapter!
She looked at me and smiled. I looked at her, went to her, gave her a red rose and
wished her a very happy birthday. I asked her to accompany me as we were celebrating
her birthday at Rajesh’s place, just she and I.
She agreed and we both went to Rajesh’s house. Deep within my heart, I was happy
and excited.
“A big surprise awaits you, sweetie,” I said. “A really big one!”
We entered Rajesh’s place. I told Pragya to close her eyes and just follow behind. Her
eyes were closed as I opened the main door.
The beautiful fragrance of red roses which were arranged on the floor around lighted
candles wafted in the drawing room when we entered it.
What Sumit and I had done was to make a pathway leading towards the main room
with candles and rose petals. It was Sumit’s idea. (Thanks buddy!). I told her to open her
eyes. She opened them and was pleasantly surprised – surprised to see what I had done
for her.
“Wow Rishi! Thanks. You are a sweetheart. I love you like anything. This is just
amazing,” she said, looking at me. I could see the love in her eyes for no one but me.
“This is just the beginning, dear. There is still more to come. I would make my angel’s
birthday the most wonderful one,” I said.
“Oh Rishi!” she said and came running towards me and hugged me.
“Hey! This one’s for you.” I gave her a flower arrangement in a small margarita glass.
“Thank you!” she came close, smiled and kissed me.
“Come,” I said.
I took her to the kitchen.
I was not a wizard in the kitchen and neither was Sumit, nor Pavitra. Not a single
person among the three of us knew how to bake a cake. Sumit had suggested buying a
black forest (Pragya’s favourite flavour) cake from a bakery and gift it to her, but I had
refused, saying we could make it ourselves and thus earn some bonus points from her. So
I chose a simple recipe…cookies and fudge. I made these from chocolate, condensed
milk and added some nuts and raisins to them. I gave the cookies to her. She ate them.
“You made these?” she asked me.
“Yes I did. Why? You don’t like them?” I asked her, nervously.
“No Rishi, it’s the yummiest thing I have ever had in my entire life! I love you for
this,” she said, almost screaming with delight before hugging me (this time a little
tighter).
“One more thing for you, dear.”
“One more?” she asked excitedly.
I gave her a birthday card made by me. Her pencil sketch was on the cover page. She
took it from me and opened it. Inside it was written – “You are the one reason I wake up
for in the morning. You are the one reason which makes me smile. You are the one
person who can change everything around when things go wrong. You are the best thing
that could happen in my life.”
“Happy birthday, Pragya. Love you!!”
“Lovely, magnificent,” she said excitedly.
“Remember, you asked me to play the guitar for you and I promised to do so. So here I
go, princess.”
I took out my guitar and played ‘Tumse hi…’ from the movie ‘Jab We Met’ and
‘Sonio…’ from ‘Raaz 2’ for her.
“Rishi, let me tell you one thing. Among all the beautiful gifts that you gave me today,
this was the best one!!” she said.
“Oho! To bekaar me itni mehnat ki! I would have played the guitar only.”
“Ha, ha, ha,” she started laughing.
“Listen Pragya.”
“Yeah, tell.”
“I wish I could see through your eyes, so I would know what you really like to see. I
wish I knew your wishes, so I could give you everything you want. I wish I could dream
the same dreams as you do and together we could make them come true. I wish I knew
what makes you happy, so that I could make you the happiest person in the whole
world…and lastly, I wish I were a cell in your blood, so that I could be sure I was
somewhere in your heart forever. I love you Pragya!”
“Rishi, you know what? This was my best birthday ever. I can never forget this one in
my whole life. Thanks for doing all this for me. Thanks a lot. I love you.”
“My pleasure dear and I love you too,” I said and embraced her in my arms.
So, the beautiful evening came to an end, with some awesome memories to remain
with us forever.
People often resist telling their friend what he or she means to them as they are
apprehensive of expressing their love, their deepest of feelings, not realising that it’s not
every other day you come across this moment when you can express your emotions to the
one who holds a special place in your heart.
The world would be a better place to live if we could learn to show what our heart
contains, after all, words and expressions are a great treasure bestowed upon us by God
for expressing our feelings!!
Chapter 26
I just can’t Stop Loving You
Whenever I was near her, I felt my heart telling me that she was meant for me alone. But
why this was so I could never comprehend. All I knew was that it was meant to be so.
When I looked into her beautiful eyes, whenever we were together, I felt she was
everything that I had been searching for. All I knew was that the feeling for her was
growing more and more intense within me with every passing day.
I trusted her blindly.
Lying awake at night and thinking about her had become a routine for me. My life
seemed to flow smoothly since the time she had come in my life. She had made it so
beautiful that I myself was amazed. She would hug me so tightly that nobody else could
ever do. Her passion for me made me feel that nobody could ever love me like her. For
me there was nothing better than being in love with her. She was the only one for me.
Her emotional feelings would fill me with elation, taking me to a state of levitation.
Love is a feeling which can be felt in the heart, making both the stomach and the body
tingle. Yes, these were psychological manifestations of love.
True bonding is not measured by the time one spends together with one’s love or the
favour one does to the other; it depends on the feeling of comfort one finds in the belief
that they have each other.
Chapter 27
Rajesh’s not so Perfect Story (Part 2)
Rajesh had come back from Bangaluru, but he was no longer the same Rajesh that I
knew. However, I felt he had some good news to give.
I went up to him and asked about his trip. He started narrating his tale – the tale of his
journey to Bangaluru!!
“Bangaluru – a place where people come to fulfil their dreams… At 2 p.m., my
flight landed at Bangaluru airport. I was actually shocked to see the reckless
behaviour of some of the passengers who had stood up from their seats even before
the seatbelt lights had been switched off and the flight had come to a halt. I could
smell the stale air in the hot and humid environment. There was a huge queue at the
immigration counter.
The monitor on the wall showed that my baggage would arrive on Counter No. 4. I
reached the counter only to notice the airport staff taking them off the conveyer belt.
They needed to empty one belt quickly, before the next flight arrived.
As soon as I came out of the airport, I was approached by cab drivers offering me a
ride to wherever I wanted to go. With Anjika’s address in my hand, I was experiencing
a high state of exhilaration. I was about to give her the surprise of her life and that
made me a bit nervous as well.
On my way to Anjika’s house, I saw skyscrapers on one side of the road and slums
on the other. I could not help smiling at the irony of life!
By the time I reached Anjika’s place, it was 5 in the evening. I paid the taxi fare and
looked at the huge building that stood in front of me. The complex which Anjika lived
in comprised of eight or nine multi-storeyed buildings. I walked up to the guard and
showed him the address.
“Rahul Saab ke ghar jana hai?” he asked. “Aagey se right.” He came out and
pointed at the building which was on the address.
I walked up to Anjika’s building, entered the lift and pressed the 5th floor button.
The lady standing next to me looked curiously at me on seeing the flowers in my hand
and asked inquisitively, “Beautiful flowers!”
“Thanks,” I replied proudly.
I reached Anjika’s apartment, my heart pounding wildly and my body sweating. My
fingers trembled as I nervously rang the doorbell.
Ding! Dong!
“Coming!” a woman called out from inside.
I patiently waited at the door. A girl wearing a pink T-shirt stood at the door. I
wondered if I was standing in front of the wrong house!!
Both Anjika and I had exchanged photographs when chatting, but the girl standing
in front of me looked different from the photo! She looked at least three year older to
me and was 5 feet 3 inches tall. I assumed that perhaps my tired mind was not
functioning properly.
I introduced myself, “Hi Anjika! Rajesh…Delhi.”
She looked up. Her eyes opened wide and she seemed more baffled than surprised.
It took her a few seconds to register what was happening before she spoke, “O shit!
What the hell are you doing here?”
“When I said I wanted to give you flowers, I actually thought of delivering them
personally. So I am here. Can I come in now?” I asked politely.
Just then, a man called out from inside, “Preeti…who is at the door?”
“No one Dad…just someone with the wrong address.”
“Are you the same girl I have been chatting with? You don’t look familiar. What’s
happening? Who are you?”
The girl bit her lip and replied nervously, “Okay, listen, my name is Preeti. There is
no Anjika. Will tell you everything, but for now, just leave before my Dad sees you.”
“What?”
“Please, just go. Please, for heaven’s sake, go. Just leave,” she hurriedly shut the
door on my face.”
“What? Oh God! Then what did you do?” I asked Rajesh, confused and worried for
him.
“Arrey, the story is not over yet. There is more to come!!” he said.
“Okay, continue then.”
“Listen…,” he began.
“I stood there for a few seconds, not knowing where to go and what to do next. I
then took the elevator and came down. I threw the flower bunch in the dustbin and
slowly made my way towards the main gate.
I had no option other than to go to the hotel and spend three days all by myself.
As soon as I reached my room, feeling uncomfortable and disillusioned at the
happenings of the day, I took out my shoes and dropped on the bed. I tried to shut my
eyes and relax, but just then, my phone rang.
The caller was Anjika.”
“You mean, Preeti?” I enquired.
“Arrey haan, Preeti!!”
“Oho! It’s too confusing, man! Anyway, continue,” I prodded him.
I picked up the phone.
“Rajesh, I am sorry for my behaviour. Dad was at home and your visit was
unexpected,” she said.
“First tell me, who are you? I mean, are you Anjika or Preeti or someone else?
What the fuck is going on?”
“Look, why don’t you meet me near my building tomorrow at 8 a.m. Will explain
everything to you,” she said and disconnected the phone.
I wondered what she was up to now.
‘Somebody wants you…somebody needs you…’ I was singing this song at the top of
my voice while taking a shower in the bathroom and scrubbing my body till every
grain of dirt had been removed which had deposited on my body as a result of the
journey.
Finally, after an unending washing of my body, I finally emerged from the bathroom
with water dripping from my hair.
I went to my cupboard and after a minute of debating on what to wear to please
Anjika, I mean Preeti, I finally decided on a black T-shirt and my favourite Levi jeans.
Dressing up took at least fifteen minutes and I was ready to go and meet Preeti.
She was waiting for me at the entrance of her housing society.
“How are you, Preeti?” I asked casually.
She didn’t even look at my face and kept looking down at the floor below.
“Rajesh, I am really really sorry for everything. I am three year older than you and
I work with a bank. I had put up a fake profile under the name Anjika on facebook and
added some male friends into the profile to bring some fun and spice to my life. And
you happened to be one of them. It was supposed to be a harmless joke but I didn’t
know you would land up at my place, searching for me!”
It seemed like she had rehearsed that speech several times before actually
delivering it to me. And without waiting for me to speak, she continued, “I did not
want to lie to you and certainly did not want to break your heart, but I never
anticipated that things would take such a turn,” she said.
“Oh, shit!” were the only words to come out of my mouth.
He continued, “I still had no doubt what to say and how to react.
“But I love you, Preeti and I have come so far only for you!”
“I know that and that’s why I have come to meet you. I am impressed with you and
your love. Yes Rajesh, I have started liking you, and my liking for you has reached
such a height that when I saw you at my doorstep and that a guy could take the
trouble to come to Bangaluru to meet me from an entirely different city, really would
have to love me a lot. I love you too Rajesh,” she said.
He finished his tale with a smile on his face.
“WHAT??”
“You are in a relationship with a girl who is three year older than you, works in a
bank, I mean, is getting a decent salary, who lied to you and with whom you have no
future? Are you out of your fucking mind?” I asked, looking aghast and shaken.
“No dude, she is an awesome girl and love sees no age bar. Everything is fair in love
and war,” he replied, still smiling.
“Great! So what’s next?”
“Nothing – a life full of love with my angel.”
“Cool…you are unbelievable man!!” I said and we both left the class to go to the
canteen to meet Sumit and Pavitra…
Chapter 28
A 440-Volt Shock!
I was having my lunch in the class when Sumit came to me and sat down next to me.
“Hey buddy! What’s up?”
“Nothing, bro. You tell,” I replied.
“Nothing yaar. Wanted to talk to you in private. It’s something really important, but
every time I try, you are with Pragya or someone else. But finally I have found you alone.
Rishi, don’t get me wrong but listen to me very carefully. I don’t want you to suffer,” he
said, looking worried.
It seemed to me that something had gone terribly wrong which was bothering him.
Really, really wrong!
“Yeah, go ahead,” I prompted.
“Look, whatever I am going to tell you may shock you and you may not be able to
accept it but you have to. And listen, I don’t want to hurt you or upset you, but as a
friend, it is my responsibility to stop you and warn you that you are heading towards the
wrong path,” he said with a worried look on his face.
“Sumit, what’s the matter? Please come to the point. You are testing my patience.”
“Okay, listen, leave Pragya. She is not good for you. Just leave her for good,” he said.
His words pierced my heart as if shot by a bullet, causing immense and excruciating
pain.
“What? Dude, are you out of your mind?”
“I knew it would take some time for you to digest it, but just do it. It’s for your own
good only,” he said.
“Sumit, leaving Pragya would be like leaving my soul. I can’t think of leaving her even
in my dreams!”
“Yeah, I know that, but she is not good for you, bro. Trust me,” he said.
“Look Sumit, it’s enough. And why should I leave her? Do you have any reason to
justify that?” I asked.
“Okay, listen. I think Pragya is fooling you. She is seeing someone else too. There’s
another guy in her life,” he said.
“What the fuck are you saying? In future, don’t you dare say a word against her.”
“Dude, listen to me first. I saw her with another guy at Ansal’s, not once but thrice!”
he said.
“So what? He could be one of her friends. Even I hang out with my female friends.
That doesn’t mean she is cheating on me!” I argued.
“But, you don’t get cosy and kiss them, damn it!” he screamed.
“Look Sumit, you are my friend. That’s why I am tolerating this entire nonsense you
are speaking about Pragya. You won’t be standing here alive, if I hear another word
against Pragya,” I said angrily.
“Look Rishi, she is not good for you. Believe me,” he said sadly.
“ENOUGH!” I shouted at the top of my voice. “Just go away. I don’t want to hear a
word from you now. Just leave.”
“Okay, I am leaving but you ask Pragya where she was last Tuesday and with whom.”
“Just leave, Sumit.”
“Ek to logon ke liye concern karo, or vo apko hi sunate hain,” he said and left the
classroom, shutting the door loudly on to my face and leaving me alone with tears in my
eyes.
‘How could Sumit say this to me? I totally trust Pragya. She can’t cheat on me. She
loves me a lot,’ I thought. ‘But then, Sumit could be telling the truth for he is my best
friend. He can’t lie to me.’ Oh God! I was caught in the middle of a storm of thoughts
with nowhere to go. I just didn’t know whom to believe, whom not to trust, whom to turn
to…
Chapter 29
Something was Wrong! Very, very Wrong
Days passed, but they were never the same as they used to be before my encounter with
Sumit. We were friends no more!
A month passed following Pragya’s birthday. I could sense a drastic change in her
attitude towards me. Our relationship seemed to have lost its charm. She started ignoring
me and spending less and less time with me. Every time I would ask her to come out
with me, she would refuse or make an excuse. If I ever persisted, she would hesitate to
answer me or become defensive and inconsistent.
She used to enjoy talking to me for hours – talking about herself and sharing minute
details about her life. But, now she had stopped sharing. Whenever I would ask how she
had spent her day, she would be reluctant to share, or sometimes offer a one-sentence
answer, saying she was busy and would call me later. But would never call!
Earlier she used to enjoy holding my hands whenever we were together, kissing me or
cuddling close to me, but, now things had changed. I could not help wondering what had
changed her so much in such a short span of time!
‘Could Sumit be right? Is she really cheating on me? How can she cheat me, when I
love her so much? But her behaviour indicates that she is not interested in me any more,
which means she is seeing someone else. Is there anyone else in her life other than me?
No, it is not possible. But, what if it is?’ Such thoughts began to plague my mind, making
my thoughts, my concentration, my aims and objectives in life go haywire.
The best way to find if your girl is cheating on you is to confront her face to face. Then
she would either get angry or threaten to break up the relationship with you! But, you
have to take the risk if you want to get to know the truth!
One day I decided to ask her directly in college. I met her at the college canteen,
where we ordered coffee and sat in our favourite corner in the canteen.
“How are you, princess?” I asked.
“I am fine,” she said, sipping her coffee. I didn’t expect a one-sentence answer from
her as if she was doing me a favour by replying.
“Good!” I replied.
I kept wondering what to ask her next? Why was she behaving so strangely with me?
But finally I spoke out, “Pragya, I am noticing that our relationship is not the same as it
used to be four months ago. It has lost its charm and beauty. Is there something wrong?
Have I done something wrong? Are you upset with me or has someone else come into
your life?”
She looked at me with shock. I could gauge from her look that she did not expect such
a question from me. “Oh no, Rishi, how can you even ask such a thing? You know I love
you and only you, baby. I am just busy, that’s it! Nothing more than that and I can’t even
think of going out with anyone else other than you,” she said.
“Oh. I am sorry Pragya. I didn’t mean to hurt you at all. I love you too.” How stupid of
me to doubt her! I cursed myself for it.
“Rishi, I should leave now to attend Mrs Sinha’s lecture. I don’t want to miss it,” she
said, kissed me, and whispered in my ear, “I love you and will always do,” and left.
I sat there, taking the last sip of coffee, when something vibrated on the chair on which
Pragya had sat moments earlier.
‘Avi calling’ flashed on the phone’s screen.
It was Pragya’s N-72. She had forgotten it there. I wondered who this Avi was!
I finally picked up the phone.
“Hello,” I said.
As soon as the person on the other side heard a male voice, he hung up.
‘Who is this Avi? Why did he called up Pragya? Why did he disconnect the call when
he heard my voice instead of Pragya’s?’ These were some of the queries that began to
haunt my mind.
I opened her message inbox and was shocked to see it filled with Avi’s messages
ranging from ‘missing you’ to ‘love you’!
I checked on her call history. It read: Dialled numbers:
Avi 2:13:45
Avi 3:35:07
…………………
Received numbers:
Avi 1:25:09
Avi 1:45:35
…………………
Two hours! Three hours! The two talked for hours and that too not once, but twice,
thrice…almost every single day! Now this was a turning point.
It created serious doubts in my mind. I thought of dialling Avi’s number to ask him
directly, but dropped the idea. Instead, I decided to talk to Pavitra, who was our
common friend and who first introduced me to her.
I handed over the phone to one of her classmates, telling her that Pragya had left it in
the canteen. I proceeded towards my class…
It was Mr Bakshi’s class. I knew I would not be allowed to enter the class because I
was late by fifteen minutes. But, still I decided to give it a try.
“You are fifteen minutes late. No need to attend the class. Go and enjoy,” he said, as
expected.
I had no choice but to spend my time in the canteen. I found Pavitra sitting there all
alone and studying.
Pavitra was one of the cutest girls I had ever met. When I had first seen her make her
way on the first day of the college, I hadn’t known she would become my best friend one
day. No matter how much she resisted or how much she cried, but my friends and I never
stopped pulling her leg or making fun of her by pairing her with random boys. But she
was the soul of friendship, if there was one. She was trustworthy, faithful and always
there when you needed her. Whatever you did, no matter how offensive the act, she
would eventually forgive you. She was one of those girls who could never hold a grudge
for more than a few hours. And this pretty and charming girl was one of my best friends!
“Hey, what are you doing here? Bunking?” I asked her out of surprise.
“Yeah, how come you are here?”
“Bakshi kicked me out. Was fifteen minutes late for class.”
“FIFTEEN minutes late? Cool! Anyway, now I have got company,” she winked at me.
I wanted to ask her about Avi and his relationship with Pragya as I felt it a perfect
opportunity to do so. I had full fifty minutes with her to clear all my doubts and
misunderstandings.
“Pavitra, I want to ask you something, but first promise you will not lie to me and keep
this confidential,” I began.
“Yeah sure, Rishi. Go ahead.”
“Do you know who this Avi is and what is going on between him and Pragya?”
She looked at me confused as if unable to decide what to say. After a long pause, she
said, “Yeah, I know him. First, you tell me what has happened? How has this Avi entered
the picture?”
I told her everything, the messages, the calls, everything…
“Okay Rishi, the thing is Avi is Pragya’s ex-boyfriend,” she said.
“But, she didn’t tell me about him!” I asked in a shocked voice.
“She didn’t tell you a lot of things, Rishi.”
“Tell me everything, every single thing Pavitra,” I said, practically on the verge of
tears. I was curious to know what was going on in Pragya’s mind and what was in her
heart.
“Look Rishi, Avi was her boyfriend. They had a break up three months before the two
of you got into a relationship. Now he is back in her life and the two are kind of going
out again. One more thing, whatever Sumit has told you is cent per cent correct. Pragya
is hiding a lot of things from you, Rishi. More than a lot. Trust me, she is not good for
you,” she said, holding my hand in her hand and trying to convince me.
I was completely in tears. I couldn’t believe a single word and was numb with shock.
After two minutes, she broke the silence, “One more thing, Rishi, please calm down,”
she said, looking straight into my eyes.
I wondered what else was left to come, “Yeah, tell.”
“Pragya is not a virgin,” she said.
“WHAT?”
“Pragya and Avi were in a physical relationship.”
I was shocked. I lapsed into silence as I didn’t know how to react to the situation.
“Why did she do this to me? Why?”
“You okay, Rishi? Say something,” Pavitra entreated.
I didn’t speak a word.
“Hello, Rishi. You fine?”
I didn’t answer her, but stood up and walked out of the canteen. I took out my phone
and dialled Pragya’s number.
She disconnected the call.
“Am in class. Will call you later,” came her reply.
Her class got over at 3:20 p.m. She found me waiting for her right in front of her class.
“Just come with me,” I almost dragged her with me.
“What has happened Rishi? You are hurting me,” she complained.
“You have hurt me more than that.”
“Rishi, what’s the matter?” she queried.
“We have something to clear out.”
I took her to the class, which was entirely empty as the college was over. It seemed to
be the right place for getting all my answers from her.
“What has happened, Rishi? Tell me. Why are you behaving so strangely?”
“Who is this Avi? What is going on between the two of you?” I asked her.
“Who Avi? What are you talking about, Rishi?” she went on the defensive.
“Do not lie to me, Pragya. I know everything. Every damn thing,” I said.
“You know what, Rishi?”
“Oh, do not act so innocent Pragya, as if you don’t know what I am talking about. I am
talking about your ex-boyfriend Avi, with whom you have slept in your room! Pavitra
has told me everything about you,” I screamed with rage.
She slapped me hard on my face, “How dare you Rishi? How dare you speak all this
bullshit about me? Yeah, Avi is my ex-boyfriend but I didn’t have any physical
relationship with him. And Pavitra told you all this? Ha, ha. Let me clear one thing. She
is jealous of our relationship. She has had a crush on you from the very beginning, but
since you love me, she is jealous and wants to break our relationship. Have you got
that?” she retaliated angrily and began to cry.
“But why didn’t you tell me about Avi?” I asked her.
“Because he was my past and you are my present and future, Rishi,” she replied.
“Then why is he back in your life? I have checked all your phone calls and messages.
You talk to him for hours almost every single day!”
“You checked my phone? How can you be so cheap, Rishi? And yeah, I talk to him, but
just as a friend. And nothing more than that. I have loved you so much and you don’t have
any trust in me.” She began to cry, tears flowing down her beautiful face.
‘Oh God! What have I done? I doubted the love of my life. How stupid of me it was.
Without even thinking and without even proof, I doubted her. Shame on me,’ I thought. I
felt guilty of having committed a crime. Yeah, it was a crime and I cursed myself for it. I
had hurt her.
“I am sorry, Pragya. I did not mean to hurt you, but, I was feeling insecure. So I
confronted you. Please forgive me,” I begged for forgiveness.
“No Rishi, I think if you can’t trust me, our relationship has no future. We should end it
right now.”
“No Pragya, don’t say this please. Don’t even think of breaking up with me. I love
you.”
“It’s all over, Rishi,” she said and left the canteen, still crying. I sat all alone, with
tears in my eyes and guilt in my heart…
Chapter 30
The Regret
It was hard to swallow; it was a tough situation for me, but it was something that had to
happen. It was the regret, which was the worst kind of pain. Yeah, guilt is bad and
sadness is bad too, but regret over your mistake is a sickly combination of both,
especially if that mistake means losing the person you love.
I have committed many mistakes in life, but now I was suffering from the pain of
regret. The difference was that the weight of my earlier mistakes weighed just an ounce
in comparison to the regret which weighed a ton!
I decided to go to Pragya and apologise for my mistake – the mistake of not trusting
her but doubting her without any evidence.
An apology may seem a sign of weakness to some people, but having the courage to
admit you are sorry means strength. “It is all over Rishi” – these words kept on echoing
in my ears and making me go mad.
Someone has rightly said, ‘When one door closes, another door opens but we often
take so long feeling sorry upon the closed door that we do not see the one which opens
to us.”
I decided to talk to Pragya. So I called her up, but she disconnected the call. Then I
decided to message her instead…
“As I feel the tear go down my cheek,

I notice that my heart is weak.
For the love I have for you,
Will always be gold and true.
I have made some mistakes, they rest in the past,
But, my love for you will forever last.
Even though we are a distance apart,
You always have the key to my heart.
Am sorry Pragya. I love you…”
“I just do not want to talk to you, Rishi. Now it’s all over,” came her reply.
“At least talk to me once,” I messaged her again, but no reply came from her side.
Sometimes we articulate words that we actually don’t want to, but later on we realise
our mistake. Sometimes we become impolite to the other person and hurt her because
your loved one does not expect any harsh words from you. I found myself in such a state.
I had hurt her; hurt her a lot.
I decided to send her an apology letter. May be it could work?
I sent her a bunch of orchids, a big teddy bear and a box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates
with a ‘I am sorry’ card. And which read – “I know we have been going through hard
times, lately. I know you are upset with me over what all happened, but I also want
you to know how I feel. You are my world and I really feel sad to see you hurt. I am
sorry for the mistake I have committed, and I promise not to do so ever in future.
I think you are the best girl for me, and I am certainly blessed to have your
company. I am learning the hard way the price of my mistakes. You mean a lot to me
Pragya and I just can’t afford to lose you.
Please, for once, just talk to me sweetie and give me one chance to explain.
I love you…
Rishi.”
The whole day I waited for her reply and at last she called me up.
“Thanks Pragya. Thanks for calling.”
“Yeah tell, Rishi. What do you want to say?”
“I want to meet you; just once.”
“Okay, tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.,” she replied and cut the call.
I was happy that at least she had agreed to talk to me.
I rode my bike full speed in a hurry to meet her; in a hurry to solve the differences; in a
hurry to embrace her in my arms.
When I came to the end of the road, I turned into the lane leading to her housing
society. I felt exhilarated at the thought of meeting her after ages. I drove as fast as
possible, but at the intersection of the two roads stood a ‘stop’ sign. I turned into the
second lane and as I neared the intersection, a car appeared from nowhere. I applied the
brakes but lost my balance and the last sound I heard was my own voice screaming with
pain.
My left elbow was bleeding. A crowd of people had gathered around me.
“You alright, son?” asked an old man.
“Yes, uncle, I am fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
I lifted my bike up, kick started it and raced towards Pragya’s society gate.
I reached there at 6:35 p.m.. She was waiting for me. We looked at each other and
neither of us knew what to say.
“You didn’t sleep, right? Your eyes have swollen,” she said, looking into my eyes.
“And hey! Your hand is bleeding! What happened?”
“Nothing, just an accident. I am fine. I know Pragya, I made the mistake of my life by
not believing you, but I love you. I really do,” I said with tears in my eyes.
“I have a heart, Rishi and it is hurt right now,” she said.
“I know after what I did, you would be feeling that I had no heart but time alone will
tell how much I have loved you. I am sorry, Pragya. Please forgive me this time.”
She stood there silent. No reply came from her side.
“I think I should commit suicide. Then there would be no problem for anyone. I have
been the cause of tension for you and suicide is the only solution. I don’t have any right
to live,” I said.
“Please don’t say this, Rishi. I am with you, baby. Trust me I still love you. But, what
you did was not expected from you and it has hurt me a lot,” she said and placed her
hand in mine before beginning to sob.
I took her into my arms, hugged her tightly and said, “I know I have caused you loads
of pain and you have had to suffer because of me. I know a ‘sorry’ is not enough for what
I have done, for not believing in you and for not trusting you, but I promise, I will wipe
away all your tears and be with you forever. I love you dear.”
“I love you too,” she said and kissed me.
Getting a kiss from her after such a long time was amazing!
So, finally all the misunderstandings were cleared between the two of us and our
relationship was once again on an even keel. Little did I know that a twist in the tale
awaited me, which would shatter me to death!!
Chapter 31
The Breakup
17th November – my 18th birthday. I decided to celebrate it with Pragya and all my
dearest friends, at a disco in Vasant Vihar. I had planned the entire party a week earlier.
And then finally came the evening of the party. I had to pick up Pragya from her house
to go together.
I reached there five minutes earlier, though I called her every two minutes, asking her
to hurry up.
“Yeah, just two minutes, honey,” she would say every time. I wondered why girls took
so much time in dressing up.
So, finally she came after thirty minutes, sweeping up her straight shoulder length hair
into a simple knot which accentuated her slender neck. The only piece of jewellery she
wore was a pair of red dangling earrings. Her makeup was simple, except for the light
mascara on her long lashes and kohl in her beautiful eyes.
When I saw her, I just stood there for a moment looking at her. She came closer and
gave me a kiss.
I muttered, “Let’s not go anywhere. Let’s celebrate it somewhere alone.”
“Don’t be a spoilsport! You know how much I love dancing and we have not danced
for ages.”
I shrugged and said, “Just joking jaan. Come on, let’s go.”
When we reached the disco, it was already 7:30 p.m. and I noticed a missed call from
Sumit. Yeah, I had invited Pavitra and Sumit too. Although I did not want to, but I did not
want to create any bitterness between us.
“We are here,” I messaged him.
After parking our car, we reached the entrance where we met a guy, who looked dark
and handsome in his semi-formal outfit. I felt his eyes on Pragya constantly as if he had
known her before.
Pragya looked down as she walked towards the entrance with me.
“Who was he? You know him?” I asked her.
“Nope, I don’t know,” she replied.
We entered inside, a loud roar arose from inside. A birthday cake awaited me. I cut the
cake and soon afterwards, everyone was on the dance floor.
By now the party was in full swing and Pragya was tapping her feet as some of her
favourite songs were being played.
“Rishi, shall we hit the dance floor? We have come here to celebrate, to enjoy,
remember?” she asked.
“Okay, let’s go,” I replied, smiling.
Once she reached the dance floor, she lost herself completely to the sound of music.
She just closed her eyes and started dancing. She was in her own private world. This
was the kind of effect music had on her.
“Baby, even I am here with you…your boyfriend…remember me?” I mockingly asked
her.
“Sorry, you know na, how it is with me when I hear music.”
The same guy was there too, talking to the bartender while on and off gazing at
Pragya’s face. By the look on her face it seemed she was trying to avoid eye contact with
him.
“Should I go and bash up his face?” I said.
“What? Who?” she asked with surprise.
“That guy who is continuously staring at you and disturbing you?” I said.
“No one is staring at me, Rishi. Just relax, or may be I am looking too gorgeous
today!” she said and winked.
“Oh yeah!” I winked back.
Sumit came to us and took both of us to a table where all my friends were seated,
waiting for us. After everybody had ordered drinks and cocktails, I said, “Hey, Sumit,
you know na, I don’t drink.”
“Arrey yaar, it’s your birthday today, buddy! Aaj mana mat kar,” he said in an
appealing tone.
Then the bartender came up to our table and lined up tequila shots in front of us. I
wondered who was going to pay for it, but Sumit has already paid for them. Indirectly, it
was a birthday gift for me.
One shot. It hit the head. My throat burned.
Second one. The head started to lose consciousness.
Third. Fourth. I was gone, completely gone. I felt like puking. “Please excuse me,” I
said.
“Are you alright?” asked Pragya.
“Yeah, no, don’t know,” I did not even know what I was saying. I rushed towards the
washroom.
There I vomited like hell, cursing Sumit for my condition. Four tequila shots!
How irresponsible of me it was, anyway!
When I came back from the washroom, everyone was on the dance floor. Sumit and
Pavitra came up to me. “Are you okay now?” asked Sumit, looking worried.
“Yup, tune to aaj marwa hi diya tha,” I said mockingly.
“Sorry, dude.”
“It’s okay buddy. Let’s enjoy,” I said.
My eyes were searching for Pragya but she was nowhere to be found. I called her up,
but she disconnected.
Where was she, I wondered.
I came out of the disco, out into the parking lot. And then I saw her there, sitting in a
car. And she was sitting with whom?
Oh God! He was the same guy who had been constantly staring at her since the time
we had entered the disco. And what I saw next was absolutely shocking and totally
unbelievable!
That guy pulled her into his arms, grabbing her by the neck and pulling her towards
him. She grabbed his hands, drawing closer to him. He turned, kissed her, as if nobody
was watching them. The two of them were lost in their own dream world.
Tears came to my eyes and at the same time I was filled with anger. I felt like killing
the two of them.
How could she do this to me, I thought?
“PRAGYA!!” I screamed.
She looked at me with a blank look in her eyes, wondering what to say and how to
react. She had been caught redhanded.
“What were you doing with him? Can you please explain,” I barked at her.
On hearing my loud voice, Rajesh, Sumit and Pavitra came running towards me near
the parked car.
“What has happened, bro? Why are you shouting?”
“Ask her,” I pointed towards Pragya.
“Avi! What are you doing here?” said Pavitra, looking towards that guy.
“What the hell is going on? Answer me, Pragya. I need an explanation right now,” I
fumed angrily.
“Hey bro, just calm down,” Avi interrupted.
“You shut up, I am not talking to you. I am talking to my so-called girlfriend. Stay out
of this,” I wanted to kill him by stabbing a knife right into his heart.
“Answer me, Pragya. You owe me an explanation.”
“Yeah Rishi, he is Avi and we still love each other, even though we had broken up. I
was about to tell you all this but was waiting for the right time to come,” she said.
“Oh great!”
“So you don’t love me? Who am I to you?”
“Aaaah…Rishi, it’s not like that.”
“PRAGYA, do you love me or not?” I screamed.
“No. Yeah, I loved you, but now I love Avi more than you. Rishi, I am sorry,” she said.
I went numb. Tears were continuously flowing from my eyes. I banged my hand on to
the pillar next to me, with frustration. Blood gushed out from my hand. It pained, but the
pain was little in comparison to what Pragya had given me then.
“Rishi!”
“Are you mad or what?” Pavitra took my hand in hers.
“What an awesome gift you have given me on my birthday! Thanks for that. Now just
go from here and from my life too,” I told Pragya.
My hand was still bleeding.
She left the parking lot with Avi in his car as I stood crying with my hand bleeding.
Pavitra was trying to bandage it with her handkerchief…
“Are you okay, Rishi?”asked Rajesh.
“Yeah,” I said and left the place in my car.
Chapter 32
After the Breakup
I ensured that my door was locked before I broke down. I cried and pondered where I
could have gone wrong. Not a sound could be heard of my painful cries and I could not
stand it any longer. My life was incomplete without her; she was all that could complete
me.
I went to the washroom, splashed some water on my face in order to lessen my
frustration. The more I tried to curb my tears the more they appeared. I sat down in front
of the mirror, sobbing my heart out.
Coping with separation, especially when you are in love, can be a tough proposition.
For those who say separation is easy don’t really know what it means to love someone.
The intense emotional pain that comes along with it is difficult to overcome. The nights
might bid you to sleep and the mornings may greet you, yet things can never be the same.
There will always be something missing – your very soul, your life…
When feeling low or with something bothering me, I would jot it down in my personal
diary. It was not a usual diary-entry kind of thing, but it could be considered as my
dearest friend with whom I could share my deepest of thoughts when darkness engulfed
me.
I took the diary out from my cupboard, opened it and started flipping through the pages
when my eyes fell on the very last entry. It was about Ananya, her rejection of me, the
breaking up of our friendship and my love for her.
With tear-filled eyes, I began to write…
“Why God, why always me? Why is it that the girls I have loved never understood
my feelings and only gave tears? Everyone in this world prays to you for your
blessings, but there are only some who are blessed. Why is there such partiality?”
With tears flowing from my eyes, I wrote all about my feelings for Ananya and Pragya
– one rejected my proposal while the other accepted me initially but later dumped me.
I had considered Ananya as the perfect foil for me. She was an angel and would have
never cheated me like Pragya, but then, you cannot change your past. All you can do is to
cry over it.
I looked outside my window into the dark night sky and asked God to tell me why I
had been such a fool in life. When and who would guide me and take me from this
darkness to light? Would I ever be able to love or trust anyone else and give life a
second chance? With these questions in my mind and tears in my eyes, I dropped off to
sleep, getting lost in the world of dreams…
I stood all alone in a jungle, darkness engulfing me as if someone had cursed me to
an existence of loneliness, solitude and numbness. I was shouting and asking,
praying, demanding from God for a companion to stand by my side, to guide me and
help to wipe away my tears.
Then a ray of light fell from the sky, flashing on to my eyes and blinding them
momentarily. When I opened my eyes, I saw a girl standing in front of me. She looked
like an angel from heaven sent by the Almighty Himself to heal my pain and suffering.
She came closer, hugged me and wiped off my tears. She said, “Don’t worry Rishi, I
will always be there with you.”
I held her hand and walked with her towards the light. Her face became visible in
the light.
She was ANANYA…
Chapter 33
The Diary Entry
I woke up the next morning, feeling relieved that God had given me his answer. Ananya,
my first love was likely to come into my life again. I wanted to scream with frustration.
To cope up with the stress, I took out my diary and started writing about the dream I had
seen – my love for Ananya and how much I was missing her at that moment of time.
One of the best rewards for writing it all down is that sometimes you receive a sudden
insight that comes to you when you are penning it down on paper. Patterns become clear,
your grief lessens and you begin to understand life’s valuable lessons once you begin to
pour your heart out.
But this technique was not helping me out with reference to Pragya as I was feeling
like a big loser, who had lost everything in life. Yes, I had lost everything, specially my
faith in true love. But the dream of the previous night had made me feel less sad, not
because Pragya had left me or cheated me but because there was no such word as true
love in the world.
‘Why had God shown me Ananya leading me to light in my dream?’ I wondered. I
knew Ananya was not approachable for I had lost her. And Pragya…
Just the thought about her seemed a waste of time for I knew she would have been
enjoying with Avi, while I was crying my heart out for her.
Suddenly a thought came to my mind…
‘Why am I crying? A breakup may even signify a new beginning. Pondering over my
loss would only add to my woes. There was no use in holding on to heartache, regret and
hatred. Though my relationship with Pragya had got over, the time I had spent with her
had been unique and special. But, what about Ananya, my love for her and what did the
dream signify? I had to perforce congratulate myself for being brave enough to fall in
love again and give it a second chance.
‘Ananya was an angel. I cannot bring her back into my life, but it has been rightly said
that letting go, even if it hurts, doesn’t mean that you have to let go of everything. You
have to let go of the person and your feelings for her, but the memories will always come
to haunt you once in a while. It would be those memories which would bring a smile to
your lips and make you feel pleased. I decided to live with those memories and move
on…’
‘But, will I be able to love anyone else in life?’ I asked myself.
‘No. never,’ the answer came straight from my heart.
The worst was yet to come. It was time to discard Pragya’s letters and gifts. I found
love notes we had written to each other and the brought back memories of those days
when we both started going out; the empty Ferrero Rocher chocolate box that Pragya had
given me on my birthday, the cards made by her and other wonderful knick-knacks
brought tears to my eyes. This breakup had been an evil genie’s curse, may be. One
moment I could see Pragya talking, smiling, loving and the next moment I found her
disappearing from my life.
‘I am a mature person. I have to accept reality,’ said my mind.
‘I am not mature. I can’t accept it. I don’t want to live,’ said my heart.
I lay awake throughout the night, thinking, ‘We are brought up to expect a happy
ending, but there are no happy endings. We find love and happiness but these are
snatched away from us without any reason.’
It was ironic that our breakup was difficult to bear because we had such a wonderful
time together. There were so many more reasons to miss her, so many memories of things
that could never happen again.
Where are you God? Are you listening to me? Help me! Please help me!
I thought of a famous Chinese story by Marguerite titled ‘How Wan-Fo was Saved.’ A
Chinese artist is condemned to be put to death by his emperor for lying, for creating
pictures of a world whose beauty is contradicted by reality. But, the artist cheats the
emperor by painting a boat and sails away in it.
I wanted to escape, to cheat life and God, to run away from everything.
I couldn’t stand it any more.
The next moment I thought, ‘I am behaving badly, as if I am the only person in the
world suffering. God is not trying to punish me. Life is a comic grab-bag. I should not
blame it on life but move on…’
Tears can only be valued by those who have cried and they may be spent over those
who always value them…
When love gets lost, why feel low with sadness? It is better to keep your head up and
gaze into the heavens for that is where your broken heart has been sent to heal. But, often
I had the desire to become a little kid once again because I felt skinned knees were
easier to fix than a broken heart!!
With these thoughts in my mind, I headed towards my college in the hope of not seeing
Pragya again…
Chapter 34
Sumit’s Philosophy Class!
In college, while going to my class, I ran into numerous smiling faces, which made me
feel jealous of them. My happiness was far from me – distant and lost. I felt lonely and
sad. It was not fair. God had played a nasty game with me, causing a stupendous loss to
me. I became a hermit and started preferring seclusion and loneliness. I wanted to ease
my pain by myself, though it was not easy doing so.
The whole class fell empty during recess time. I began to sob quite audibly, sitting
alone in the class.
“Are you crying, Rishi? Forget it dude. Cheer up!” This was Sumit.
“Please leave me alone,” I begged.
“Hey yaar, come on,” he said and sat down beside me.
“I have lost all hope in life,” I started crying even louder. “Why me, Sumit? Why does
it have to be me always?”
“Relax, bro. Just take this in a positive fashion. May be a much better option awaits
you. It’s not some sort of a consolation; it can actually happen. There is more than 80 per
cent chance of something and someone better waiting for you round the corner. You just
need to recognise the opportunity and grab it with both hands.” His philosophical talk
did create some positive effect on my mind, as he continued, “Yaar, it’s not the end of
the world. It’s not. Things that seem momentarily important right now may appear trifle
after some time. Always keep in mind that things appear the way they do because of our
disposition and state of mind, which can change even after an hour! You are taking much
too long to recover! Come on, Rishi, it’s a very long life which will be full of
opportunities at every step. Cheer up, bro!”
His words surprisingly motivated me and I started to feel good.
The next few days, Sumit made it a point to accompany me everywhere. His company
soothed my pain as he had the innate ability to initiate an interesting conversation about
life, love and career. I, surprisingly, found myself quite interested in the subject of
philosophy!
As time passed, my pain of separation began to subside. After all, time is a great
healer of wounds. Sumit broke the monotony of my life by bringing back my two friends,
Rajesh and Pavitra, into my life and once again we were the fantastic four, happy and
together again. Time flew at an astonishing pace and the hectic class schedule could
make me forget that almost a month had passed since my worst day!!
Chapter 35
Money can Buy Everything – Even a Dad!
I was seated with my friend in the classroom, when my cell beeped.

‘1 new message received.’
“Come quickly to the canteen. Urgent…Sumit!”
I ran towards the canteen, wondering what the emergency was about.
“Dude, I am in big trouble,” Sumit began.
“What has happened?” I enquired.
“The HoD is not willing to give me my admit card.”
“And why not?”
“Attendance is short!”
“But, what about the proxies?”
“Arrey, it still is 42 per cent. Mr Dixit wants to see my parents and only then will he
give me my admit card, with which I can give my exams,” he said in a sad tone. For the
first time I noticed Sumit looking tense and worried.
“Okay wait, let me think of something,” he said.
“Yeah, think fast.”
He waited for me to suggest something as he kept walking from one end to another,
biting his nails and sweating profusely!
“I have an idea!” Finally he came up with an idea.
“Yeah, tell. What’s on your mind?”
“You know Arjun bhaiya? The doodhvala in Alpha block?”
“Yes, Rajesh had told me about him. So what has he to do with your plan?”
“He is the superhero!” he smiled at his own statement. “Just do whatever I say and no
questions,” he commanded and I followed him without even thinking.
He dialled some numbers, spoke to some random people, saying to me, “I will come
in thirty minutes. Don’t go anywhere.”
“But, where are you going?”
“No questions!”
“Okay, but don’t get yourself into any kind of trouble,” and before I could finish my
sentence he had disappeared.
He returned in another forty-five minutes, but with someone following behind him. He
seemed to be his father, but I was wrong when I took a closer look.
“What the fuck is Arjun bhaiya doing here?”
“Shhhh…don’t shout. Come, I will explain everything.”
He took me to a corner and started explaining, “Look, I am going to introduce Arjun
bhaiya as my father to Mr Dixit. Then there will not be any problem as he will act as I
have told him in front of Mr Dixit. He will sign the letter, offering the necessary apology
and the admit card will be in my hands!” he said excitedly.
“Pagal ho gaya hai kya??”
“Arrey, this is the only option I have. And don’t worry; just wait and watch,” he said.
I wished both of them luck as they entered the HoD’s room.
I was caught between wanting something to happen and being scared to death that
something bad would happen to Sumit…
Finally the wait was over. Sumit came out of the cabin with a wicked smile on his
face.
“What?”
He showed me the admit card.
“Awesome. You are a real dude!”
He winked.
“Bhaiya ji mere paise.”
“Oh, sorry Arjun bhaiya. Here is your money.” He gave him a five-hundred rupee bill.
“Money can buy everything, dear. Let’s go and have something to eat. My stomach is
aching with hunger!” As he said this, we moved towards the canteen.
Chapter 36
A Police Encounter
EXAMINATIONS – the very name of examination sends a chill down the spine. We forget
what we have studied and no matter what we have learnt, all seems to be slipping out of
our brain. We bathe in perspiration as no escape is possible from this dragnet. My
condition was no different. The date-sheet for the first semester examination was out,
showing that the exams were starting from 23rd December and ending on 5th January!
They hardly gave us a maximum of two days between the two consecutive papers. That
meant I had to forget everything and study hard!
But, the examination was not the same as the one I had given in school. It was a
university examination upon which my career, my placement depended.
So, just like any other student, I too began to burn midnight oil to revise my notes,
books and papers, leaving nothing to chance. In this process of ‘preparation’, I almost
forgot about my meals, rest and sleep. I became an insomniac and was seen buried deep
in my books.
Another important thing was that the examiner had the prerogative to ask any question
and expect an answer which he himself may not be able to answer properly! Was it not
ironical?
“Rishi, get up beta! Why don’t you go out and get some fresh air? You have been
continuously studying since the past five hours!” Mom said.
“I am not in a mood, Mom; two chapters are left still,” I replied.
“No, stop now. Go outside. You will feel good.”
“Okay!”
Mom finally won in the battle of convincing me to go out for some time.
I dialled Rajesh’s number. “Where are you?”
“Home!”
“I mean, Noida or Delhi?”
“Delhi!”
“Cool. Meet me at the Saket complex in thirty minutes.”
“What for?”
“Don’t ask questions but just come.”
“Okay,” he agreed to my terms.
We met at the Saket complex. He came in his new Pulsar, gifted to him by his Dad on
his eighteenth birthday.
After killing an hour, roaming here and there, boredom became overpowering. I had
still not been able to keep myself away from alphas and betas. We had been given a two-
day gap for the Maths-1 paper.
To overcome boredom, I suggested something new, something adventurous. Rajesh
became apprehensive at the idea of being adventurous at such a point.
“Why don’t we go to ‘Rang de Basanti’ point and have some speed racing?”
‘Rang de Basanti’ was a place at India Gate. It had some of the most wonderful
architectural marvels of India.
“I hope you are not out of your mind, Rishi!” shouted Rajesh.
“Just look at the time. We have a fucking Maths paper the day after tomorrow. Let’s
plan the programme after the exams,” he said in a convincing tone.
“Dude, it would be great fun,” said I, looking straight into his eyes.
“I am going back home!” said Rajesh and stood up. “We can do something else to kill
time,” he added.
“And what’s that?” I enquired.
“We can go and study Maths!” he said.
“Shut up. Please give it a second thought. It would be great fun riding the bike at full
speed, surrounded by Nature in all its glory and the unending road before us.”
Finally Rajesh was convinced. Both of us were thrilled to rock India Gate at midnight.
I called up Mom and told her that I would be spending the night at a friend’s place to
study. Even Rajesh did the same. We were so clever!
We kick started our bikes and vrooooom! We sped at full speed.
It was pitch dark outside. I could hardly see anyone beyond the two of us at India Gate
at that point of time. That was the only reason I had chalked out this plan.
We came across some heavily-loaded trucks and some policemen patrolling. There
was complete silence. The only sound which could be heard was the sound of insects.
“Rishi, don’t you feel we have had enough and we should return back?” asked Rajesh.
“Are you afraid of the police?” I laughed.
“Arrey, it’s too late. I think we must return.”
I kept on countering each of his excuses.
As soon as we reached the end of the road, a rickshaw-puller appeared from nowhere
and my bike hit his rickshaw with full force. My headlight got broken into pieces.
Rajesh stepped down from his bike, grabbed the rickshaw-driver’s collar and slapped
him across his face a number of times. He then held his head and smashed it into the
handle. Blood spurted out of his nose.
I was shocked to see all this. All the fun was now replaced with fear.
“Rajesh, stop it,” I screamed.
He held the rickshaw driver in an elbow block as the latter was struggling to breathe.
“Leave him yaar, it was my mistake,” I pleaded.
He gripped him tighter.
“Please,” was all I could say.
He kicked the driver’s face and released him, who fell on the floor and sucked the air.
The last kick on his face smeared the blood from his nose across his face.
“Rajesh, now run! It is not safe here. Get the hell out of this place,” I said.
We started the bike and drove hard, turning around to notice a patrolling policeman
blocking our path.
According to a survey, about one per cent of the male population of India spends at
least one night in jail in his lifetime on account of drunk-driving. They charged us with
drunk-driving and for beating up a poor rickshaw-driver.
“But we are not drunk,” I said and received a tight slap on my face from the inspector.
“Band kar do inhe. Jab ek din hawalat me rahenge, to akal thikane aa jayegi,” the
inspector told his junior.
I requested for an empty cell. The inspector replied, “Nawabon ko to dekho. First you
drink and drive, than beat up a man and now you want all the luxuries. It’s your luck that
the rickshaw-driver hasn’t shown up, else you could be in big trouble.”
“Sir, but we are not drunk. Please release us. We have an exam tomorrow,” I pleaded.
Another slap landed on my face and this time a bit tighter. We were kept in quite an
empty jail, having two or three more people which made it five, including us. I made
sure that I revealed nothing to the other inmates so they would not draw any conclusion
about me and learn about my preferences.
We sat on the floor in the corner of the cell, with our backs to the wall.
“Sab teri galti hai,” said Rajesh.
“Meri!!”
“You were the one who almost killed that poor driver.”
We spent the next three hours in jail.
“Come out. Tumhari bail ho gayi hai.”
We were taken out of the prison and a sigh of relief escaped from my lips.
“Raj bhaiya! Thank God, you came to our rescue,” said Rajesh, excitedly. A tight slap
was what he got in reply.
“Sorry, sir, I will make sure they do not get into trouble again.”
“Yeah, you should.”
And we were out of the police station.
Raj bhaiya himself was a sub-inspector, so it was easy for him to get us both out of the
cell.
On that day I realised that pushing your way on a bike and racing ahead of time is one
of the most idiotic things to do. While passing or overtaking other vehicles, we should
overtake one at a time and that too in a staggered formation. This way we can avoid
accidents that may occur due to it, and never lose our temper while driving.
Motorcycling at break-neck speed can cause serious injury or even death. Hence
driving safely should be adopted as the most basic rule when riding a bike or driving a
car.
Chapter 37
An Enlivening Dinner Party
My exams went well (after all, I had prepared really hard!). 5th January was the last day
of our exams.
Each one of us were feeling relieved that it was to be our last exam. Even I was really
happy that exams were finally getting over! It was time for some fun.
I was discussing the paper with Pavitra when Sumit came from behind and snatched
the paper from my hand.
“Arrey, leave it yaar! Jo ho gaya so ho gaya. Now wait for the results,” he said.
“Hmm…,” I replied.
“Let’s go somewhere and have fun,” said Rajesh.
We began to think of every possible place to go to when I came up with an idea. “I
have an idea. Let’s not go anywhere.”
“What?”
“Look, why don’t you guys come over to my place for dinner and night-stay? My
parents will be more than happy to see and welcome you,” I suggested.
“Oh, great idea!” smiled Pavitra.
“Okay, done,” they said and we left in the hope of having a blast at my place.
A dinner party proved really enlivening, as it gave me a new lease of life. It filled me
with zest and enthusiasm, giving a new meaning to my lonely and boring life.
My best buddies came to my place at 7:30 p.m. My parents were delighted at seeing
them and welcomed them smilingly. We enjoyed an awesome dinner together and then
wanted to spend a night out, but since Pavitra was with us, we dropped the idea.
We went to my room instead and we talked and enjoyed the whole night.
Rajesh and I started playing chess while Pavitra and Sumit took out my laptop and
started browsing through my pictures.
The folder contained my pictures, ranging from when I was a small kid, with my
school friends and many more. We all had a grand time until Pavitra, by mistake, opened
the folder containing my pictures with Pragya.
Old memories came dancing before my eyes, reminding me of the awesome time we
had spent together. A teardrop fell from my eye.
“I am sorry, Rishi,” she said and closed the folder.
“It’s alright,” I said, wiping away my tear.
“Come on, dude, a breakup is just like a broken mirror. It’s better to leave it broken
rather than hurting yourself in trying to fix it,” said Rajesh.
“Yeah and if someone you love has hurt you, cry till the tears become a river, build a
bridge and cross over it. If your love does not work out with that person, it means that
someone else loves you more and is waiting for you somewhere,” added Pavitra.
“And remove those pictures,” said Rajesh.
“Nahi to hamara Devdas phir ro padega!” Sumit said and all started laughing.
This is called friendship. Friends are those who make you laugh and forget everything,
even your saddest memories.
We all had a great time before we fell sleep.
While sleeping, I thought, ‘The emotional blow is very hard to deal with when a
relationship falls apart. If you don’t want it to happen, it is still more painful. It seems
impossible to stop remembering your ex-lover and the time you have spent together.’
And then my phone beeped. It was a message from one of my schoolfriends. It read,
“Nothing is impossible in this world. Because, impossible itself says…I am
possible…”
Chapter 38
Seven Shots down the Throat!
Results of the first semester had been declared and were very strange indeed!
Rajesh scored 72 per cent, Pavitra secured 73 and I had got 75!
It was unbelievable that despite all the distractions, I had done well. Pavitra was not
satisfied with her performance. She was expecting 75+ and had really worked hard for
that. But it was bad luck!
Sumit’s result was the most awaited one at 74 per cent! A person who did not attend a
single class, watched movies every day and drank could score 74 per cent was really
appreciable. I felt good for him but Pavitra – she began to weep.
“Arrey, leave it yaar. Seventy-three per cent is an awesome score and don’t worry,
prepare hard for the next semester,” I said to cheer her up.
Now it was time to celebrate. Sumit asked me to accompany him to a bar. I agreed but
on the condition that I would not drink.
So, we headed for the disco. As we entered inside, it reminded me of the two most
gorgeous girls of my life whom I had loved the most – Ananya and Pragya!
Strange, wasn’t it?
So I thought I could meet someone who would be perfect for me and for whom I could
give love another chance. We both went towards the bar. Sumit ordered beer and I opted
for the soft drink. I was looking at the people dancing on the floor. Couples were rocking
the floor, enjoying themselves. Suddenly my eyes spotted a familiar face, dancing
intimately with a guy and the guy too looked familiar.
They were none else but Avi and Pragya!
Pragya looked at me, I looked at her and our eyes met, my eyes asking, ‘Why did you
do this to me?’
But, instead of answering me, she ignored me and continued dancing with Avi.
My eyes filled with anger and my heart with pain. Sumit’s glass of beer lay on the
table. I took it and drank it up in one go.
“Hey! What are you doing?” asked Sumit, looking shocked.
“One more please,” I ordered.
“Not beer, Vodka.”
“Are you out of your mind? Vodka! What has happened, Rishi? You said, you won’t
drink and now Vodka?”
“Yeah. Now I am saying I will,” I said emptying the shot.
2…3…4…5…6…7…7 shots went down my throat.
The bartender seemed to be spinning; no the dance floor was spinning, no the roof, oh
actually my head was spinning!
My throat was burning, making me lose my senses and yeah, my consciousness too.
“Oho! You drank because of Pragya?” Sumit asked. “Tu kab sudhrega, yaar! Look at
her, how’s she enjoying herself with Avi. She is least bothered about you, dude.”
I was not in any state to comprehend even a single word of what he was saying. I was
having difficulty in keeping my eyes open.
“You just wait here. I will come just now,” he said and ran away somewhere.
I was not able to stand properly. My legs could not support my body which seemed to
have become paralysed.
I was trying to regain my consciousness when someone placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Rishi,” a female voice took my name.
I thought it was Pragya.
I turned to look back and saw a beautiful face, a smiling one actually…
Oh my God! She was Ananya, my first love!
“Ananya!” I said and lost consciousness. All went black in front of my eyes and I
fainted. I don’t know what happened next to me…
I woke up the next morning and looked at the clock. It was 10:00 a.m. My head was
still paining. The place where I found myself in was looking strange and unfamiliar.
‘God! Where am I?’ I wondered! A girl entered the room with a Disprin in one hand
and a glass of water in the other.
“You have a bad hangover, Rishi. Take this,” she said.
I took the tablet from her and gulped it down. I began to regain my consciousness.
“Thanks,” I said, looking at her face.
“Ananya!”
I was not able to believe my eyes. ‘Oh. God! I think I really have a bad hangover. Abhi
bhi nahi utri hai. How can she be Ananya?’ I said to myself and closed my eyes.
After some time I opened my eyes and found her still standing there, in front of me
with a beautiful smile on her charming face.
“Ananya, is this really you?” I asked.
“Yeah, Rishi. It’s me only!” she said, smiling.
Her face was glowing because the sunrays were falling directly on her face through
the side window.
“Oh! What has happened to me? What am I doing in your home? How did I reach
here? Where is Sumit?” I bombarded her with questions.
“Relax, relax, relax, Rishi! You have a bad hangover. You fainted in the bar and I had
no other choice but to bring you here. Now tell me why did you drink so much? That too
Vodka? Seven shots! As far as I know, you didn’t drink, na?” she asked.
“Oh…I just…just like that.”
I didn’t have the courage to tell her about Pragya and all that I had suffered because of
her.
“Rishi, you can’t lie to me.”
“But, I am not lying Ananya.”
“Yes, you are,” she said and went towards the almirah, pulling out a diary from the
clothes placed over it.
The diary looked familiar to me…God, it was my diary – the diary in which I had
written all my feelings for her and Pragya.
“Do you remember this diary, Rishi?” she asked.
“Yeah, it’s mine! And what is it doing with you?” I asked her.
“I am thankful to God that I found it, otherwise I would not have been able to find out
how much you loved me, Rishi and how much you have suffered because of me,” she
said.
I could see a tear in her left eye. “But, who gave it to you?”
“Shhhh…,” she stopped me from speaking, keeping her finger on my lips. “Just wait. I
will tell you the whole thing…”
FLASHBACK ‘1’
Ananya started telling me the whole story.

She began, “I was checking out my facebook account, when I received a friend request
from someone. I opened it and found it was from some Sumit Bakshi. I thought he was
some guy trying to flirt with me, but there was a message also. I opened it and it read:
Hi, Ananya!
You must be wondering who I am? Right?
Hmmm…I am Sumit, friend of Rishi. You remember Rishi? The guy who loved you so
much that he proposed to you and you failed to gauge his true feelings and rejected
his proposal. He is in pain right now, Ananya.
I have something to show you and a lot more than that to tell you.
9XXXXXXXXX. This is my number. Please give me a call.
Sumit.
I was totally shocked, amazed. How come this guy knew all about it? I felt sure he was
not joking, as he knew almost everything about me and you. At first I thought of ignoring
him, but then something from inside me invoked me to call him and talk to him once.
I called him up and we decided to meet at Connaught Place the next day.
Next Day at C.P.
Sumit was waiting for me at McDonalds in the outer circle.
“Thanks for coming,” he said as we greeted each other. He seemed to me to be a nice
guy.
“Yeah Sumit? Now tell me, how do you know me? You were going to show me
something and is Rishi alright?” I asked him.
“Yes, Ananya. Just chill. I will tell you everything.”
He told me everything about Pragya, your breakup with her and gave me this diary.
“Why are you giving me this diary? Whose is this?” I asked him.
“Just read it and you will get to know the mistake you have committed in life,” he said.
He thanked me again for coming and we departed in different directions.
That night…at home, I took out the diary and began to read. With every single page
that I read, tears came to my eyes. You had loved me a lot, Rishi! Because of me, you
had to suffer a lot. I am sorry.”
With this, her part of the story ended. She had tears in her eyes. Even I was crying.
However, one thing was not clear still. How did Sumit get his hands on the diary?
Because as far as I knew, it was always kept in my cupboard. Not even my Mom was
allowed to read it. So how did he manage to find Ananya?
“Where is Sumit?” I asked her.
“Downstairs,” she said.
“Call him up,” I said.
He came to the room. “So, dude, what’s your part in the story?” I began straightaway.
And he started narrating his part of the tale…
FLASHBACK ‘2’
“6th January, at your dinner party, you all went to sleep at 1:30 p.m., but I remained
awake. I went to your cupboard and opened it up in the hope of finding something
interesting there.
But, I spotted your diary. I read it and Rishi, for the first time in my life I cried and
cried a lot!
And the dream you had about Ananya was enough to provoke me to find Ananya and
bring her back in your life. I logged on to facebook, opened up Amity’s Group, where I
searched for her and found her. The rest she has already told you.
Then I planned this meeting for you two at the disco. All was going well until Pragya
spoiled the plan. We had no other option left other than to bring you here in an
unconscious state.
But anyway, all’s well that ends well!”
With this, he finished the final part. He departed from the place, leaving the two of us
alone in the room…
Chapter 39
I Loveeee Youuuu!!!
We sat dumbly for a moment and then she spoke up, “You know Rishi, when I said ‘no’
to you and moved on with my life, I always thought of you; sometimes even missed you.
Sometimes one has to stay away from one’s loved one to realise what love means. I too
had realised it. The more I tried to forget you, the more I started loving you; the more I
started caring for you. If love is all about your partner, if it is all about sharing moments,
if it’s all about thinking about him every time, then I must say Rishi, I LOVE YOU!” she
said.
Oh! She proposed to me, “But, what I did was really wrong. You loved me so much
and what did I do? I rejected you. It was right from the time you left and moved on. I left
you with no other choice. And thanks to Sumit, I wouldn’t have realised how much you
loved me if I hadn’t read the diary. And now, loving you has become as important as
breathing for me. Today I am standing here where you stood a year ago, when I rejected
your proposal due to some misunderstanding,” she continued. Her eyes were wet and so
were mine.
Tears came rolling down her cheeks. I wiped them away. “Please don’t cry, Ananya.
This is the most special day of my life. I don’t want tears in your eyes because of me,” I
said.
“No, Rishi, it was I who brought tears to your eyes. You loved me so much and I…I
just left you. And dumbo, why did you leave me? You are simply NUTS, MAD,
PSYCHO, MANIAC. I am short of words…I mean, at least you should have tried to
convince me; done something to get me back. Stupid! ”
“I did want to, but you changed your number, blocked me on facebook and Google
talk.”
“Stupid me, but I too missed you, though I didn’t show. I wanted to talk to you but I
knew if I revealed my emotions in front of you, I’d become weak. So I had to be a little
harsh towards you. But I am confessing that I was hurt too when I tried to hurt you. But I
couldn’t control my feelings after I read the diary,” she said.
“But, I cheated on my love for you by falling for a girl like Pragya.”
“But, you had no other choice than forgetting me and giving love another chance.
Letting go of someone dear to you can be tough but holding on to someone who does not
even feel the same is much more painful. And you made the right choice,” she said.
“Yeah, whenever I thought about you, my heart skipped a beat, but later that beat could
mean a lifetime of tears I’d shed for you,” I said, with tears in my eyes.
“Oh Rishi, please forgive me for that. I want to say I love you. I love you very, very,
very, much. Be like this always. Love me like this always. Be with me always, and you
know it’s not my fault completely. But now when it’s over, let’s not talk about it.
Thankfully our love has survived such testing times.” she said.
“Ananya, I promise you, from now on nothing can alter my love for you. I will love
you till I die and even beyond that. You will be my sunshine and my angel. Please be
mine forever. I need you and will you promise me that if I give you my heart, you will
take good care of it? I am scared to trust any girl again because I was hurt twice by love.
I spent a long time over fixing my heart, picking up the broken pieces and slowly putting
them back together again. If I give you my heart, I will have to take the risk of giving
love another chance in the hope that this time it will be the winner. I am willing to take
the risk as I love you more than anything else. I have started to smile again because of
you. You have an exceptional power over me which no one else has. It is due to you that
I am willing to fall in love again. I am entrusting you my heart in the hope that you will
treat it with love and care. If I give you my heart, will you give me yours? ”
“Yes Rishi. My heart is all yours!”
I hugged her, went on my knees and stretched out my hand. She placed her beautiful
hand in mine. I took her into my arms and we kissed…
When things go wrong or they don’t happen the way you want them to happen, the
best policy is to keep faith and belief in your capabilities and in the Almighty, because
miracles do happen but only if you believe in them and strive for them…
Such is the advantage of an enlightened and optimistic mind. Pessimism is a vice
found in an undeveloped and timid mind…
Yesterday is gone forever. Why do we have to cry over it? Think about your future
and make it worth living.
But, you can make your future happier only if you make your present worth living.
I know this may have gone above your head or maybe you are thinking why I had to
write this.
So the answer is, all’s well that ends well…
Happy endings…:D
With this I ended my story to Kritika. She burst into tears, just as I had. Recollecting
some of the old times can be painful, even if some are bad and some good.
“Sir, truly this was the coolest story I have ever heard.”
“Arrey, naah, it’s just an ordinary story.”
“Why don’t you write a book on it?”
“No, I usually don’t discuss it with anyone.”
“Please sir.”
“Okay, I will think about it.”
“Okay and thanks for sharing your story with me. I admire you and your love for
Ananya.”
I smiled at her and she got lost in the crowd.
“Where are you, sweetie?” It was a message from Ananya.
“Coming.”
“Come fast, it’s our first anniversary today!”
“In one hour.”
“Okay, love you.”
“Love you too……”
Love happens only once…rest is just life…

Epilogue
Everything was planned and set. The simple, typical rooftop was decorated with flowers
and the moon in the sky added to the beauty. On a small table in the centre was kept a
chocolate cake.
Ananya was smiling, standing in front of me.
“Happy anniversary, Rishi. It’s been one year since we got together,” she said, coming
up to me to give a piece of cake in my mouth.
“Now my turn,” I said. She ate the leftover part of the cake.
“Ananya,” I said.
“Yeah.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
“Will you marry me?” I said, bending down on my knees and presenting a ring to her.
“What? Are you serious?”
“Yes, I am!”
“I will not marry you now, but in future. YES!” she said laughing gleefully. “Can I hug
my future husband?” she said and gave me a bear hug…

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Love Happens only Once…

... I Love you Rachu ...

... I Love you Rachu ...

... I Love you Rachu ...

First Edition : December 2011

Purchase our books online from:

Published by Azeem Ahmad Khan for General Press

... I Love you Rachu ...

To my Mom and Dad

... I Love you Rachu ...

Some things have changed, some never will…not in this lifetime.

The Day a Shaitan was Born

“Please doctor, do something. Save the child.”

The Bare Truth and Dare

The Next Period

I am a Bastard, and I know That

Next day in school

First Encounter with My Angel

Beauty at its Best!

A Memorable Day with Ananya

Another Encounter with My Angel

Internet: My Biggest Addiction!

The Love Letter

Rejection can be Painful…

Time to Move On…Well, Almost!

Let’s give Love another Chance

Sorry, I Love Someone Else

Where were You when God Distributed Brains?

Dude, She said, Yes!

Screwed up Date with My Love

My Love for You has no Limits

The Bastard should be Taught a Lesson

The World seems so Beautiful with My Angel

... I Love you Rachu ...

The Romantic Night Talks…

The Romantic Night Talks…

“Hey, sweetie! What’s up?”

Rajesh’s not so Perfect Love Story (Part 1)

All is Fair in Love and War!

The Day I was so Desperate About

I just can’t Stop Loving You

Rajesh’s not so Perfect Story (Part 2)

Something was Wrong! Very, very Wrong

“As I feel the tear go down my cheek,

After the Breakup

The Diary Entry

Sumit’s Philosophy Class!

Money can Buy Everything – Even a Dad!

I was seated with my friend in the classroom, when my cell beeped.

An Enlivening Dinner Party

Seven Shots down the Throat!

Ananya started telling me the whole story.

... I Love you Rachu ...

... I Love you Rachu ...

• 1984 by George Orwell

• A Lot like Love by Sumrit Shahi

• Animal Farm by George Orwell

• Gitanjali by Ranbindranath Tagore

• Love Happens only Once by Rochak Bhatnagar