The following piece is specially written for my very dear Chacha Nehru a.k.a The Solitary Writer. He asked me to put myself into his shoes, think like he does and write a good story loosely based on his personal life. In the beginning, I was a little scared as he's a very good writer and I, being a tyro, cannot even imagine to write something good by placing myself at his position. But his motivation helped me a lot. Thank you for that.
Though I was supposed to complete the same till Diwali, the delay is attributed to my internal exams and of course my laziness.. :D.
But today, it's his birthday and I thought it would be a good idea if I post this piece on his birthday as it holds a special part in his life.
I hope you like it Chacha Nehru as I've made some changes in the climax of the story.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY. :)
"I and my seven friend were residing in one flat during our training days. It was so much fun. You cannot even imagine the height of enjoyment we used to have. And don't you dare take it otherwise...ha-ha.." I winked.
"Well...now that you have specifically mentioned it...I think..." Just as she was about to say anything further. I interrupted her.
"No no girl...don't think much. It was nothing like that. The kine of enjoyment I'm talking about is something like..umm...okay here's an incident.
I remember we had a short session that day and were given an off early in the afternoon. It was pretty obvious that we did not want to waste that special leave just by going back home. So one of my friends, Ankur, who was also my best mate, came out with a wonderful idea to go to the famous Hookah Place. We all immediately agreed upon the same and directly headed there. the place was really costly and believe me we did not even have enough to pay the bill."
"But you and your friens would have checked the same beforehand."
"Well yeah...but then that adventurous day would not have happened. You just keep listening na."
"Okay okay...continue."
"So Nishant, another friend. told one of the staff members that he has to get some cash from the ATM to pay the bill and he would be back in half an hour or so. That person agreed and asked the rest of us to wait downstairs. And just when no one was watching us, we all slyly came out of that place and jumped into the nearest taxi. Ha-ha...that cab driver thought that we were some kind of criminals and he started blabbering incessantly to leave him alone...he has a family...don't want to die...and blah. While on the other hand we all were begging him to drive fast as we obviously did not want to get thrashed up. It was a hilarious scene and like complete idiots we laughed and laughed a lot."
"Hahahaha....it was more of a filmy scene."
"Yeah you can say that. And it is glued to the list of rib-tickling events in my life."
"I didn't know that you were so fun-loving and a crazy guy. Nice surprise." She said.
"Yeah...that's how I used to be during my training days and I have many such out-of-this-world incidents."
"But why? I mean why have you changed?"
"I haven't changed. It's just that I've gained more stability in life. May be because of the work pressure or may be something else."
"Something else?"
"yeah...umm...may be it happened because of Neha."
"Now who is this girl who has changed you immensely?"
"Don't say she changed me. She just helped me grow into a new level of maturity."
"Alright Siddharth. But I want to know about her. Who is she?"
"Neha was my friend. We were in the same team during our training days. I won't say that she was the prettiest girl that I'd ever seen but yeah she was the most beautiful girl. Hope you get the difference."
"Yeah. I got it. You continue." She smiled.
"She was not like a typical girl as far as her likes and dislikes were concerned. For example- she did not like wearing make-up, did not like shopping, she loved bikes and once even shared her desire to ride a bike. She was a vivacious and a fun-loving girl and believe me I used to forget all my tensions when was with her."
"Wow. Now that is so sweet. But what happened? Where is she now days?"
"It all happened on that fateful day when I decided to confront my feelings. We both were like best of friends and shared almost anything and everything. She once told me about her crush on one of our colleague in the office. I don't know why I took it casually. May be because my heart never accepted the fact that she could love someone else or be close to someone else other than me.
This mirage of unreasonable belief did not last long. It was shattered into pieces on the day I proposed her.
Due to some work pressure and over-time tasks, we had not properly conversed for almost two weeks. And to my surprise, a lot had happened in her life during that period."
"Umm.... Just a minute." She interrupted me to attend a call from her mother. "yeah ma, I'll be back in another half an hour. Don't worry. Alright, see you."
"I'm sorry for breaking the tempo. Anyway, you continue." She took the last sip of her coffee and waited for me to start.
"That is okay. So I was telling you that after those two weeks, things had taken a new direction. I remember her calling me around one in the morning and expressing her desire to meet me the next day to share something special. She sounded happy but I had no idea what that special thing could be. In my mind, I'd thought it was high time for me to confess my feelings for her. So it was an important day for both of us..."
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Today, after my friend left, I realized that somehow, narrating her 'The Neha incident' of my life made me feel lighter. It is for the first time that I'd shared the same with a third person. Neha's rejection of my proposal as she had already said 'Yes' for marriage to her love...that same colleague, was no less than a hard bolt for me. And what further deteriorated my situation was the fact that I'd nobody with whom I could share it. But today, I fell a lot more positive and content than before. It's like a big cloud that had over-shadowed my purpose to live and enjoy life had finally stepped aside.
Neha was a nice girl...I agree. But I guess she wasn't the right one for me. And I think that my friend is right in saying that I should not feel sad for failing once but rather be happy because there is surely someone even better for me. So I guess it's like a good deal...right? ;)
