Dear Diary,
Today is
his birthday. It seems unbelievable that I have not heard from him in the
last five years. How did the person who was the warmest presence in my
life, become a non-entity. What should I tell you about him?
It was almost twenty years ago that I had
first met him. Amidst the scared howling kids, I had seen a single smiling and angelic face that seemed amused but unperturbed by the cacophony around. When
our eyes met, he had smiled at me. I still remember forgetting immediately that
my mother had left me among strangers, that too with bawling kids of my age at an intimidating place, and had wiped off the tears that had started to pour down my
eyes. I had gone to sit near him and he had shared a candy with me. Our
friendship had begun then, on that first day at kindergarten.
Over
the years, we had grown closer and he had become my best friend. “Boys and
girls can never be best friends,” was the constant tease around in our teenage
years but we both dared to ignore it.
Then fate had struck its ominous sword
and over a shared lunch one day, Manav had tearfully told me about his father’s
transfer to Bangalore. The thought had made me numb, being separated from the friend I was so addicted to like chocolate was a terrible shock. Throughout the tense board
exam days and later on through the entrance examinations, both of us reassured
each other that the distance will not matter.
As
always, time has a way to heal even the deepest wound and I slowly taught
myself to live without Manav. He was selected in a reputed business school in
Bangalore for BBM and I for engineering in a nearby Government college.
Initially
we exchanged mails regularly, but caught in the daily grind of our studies, we
slowly forgot each other.
Then
came the advent of the social networking and very soon we re-kindled our
friendship. The frequent photo uploads and the comments that followed, told me
he had changed. He was quite a flirt in college and girls literally drooled
over him. I missed my old friend and the virtual image of his filled me with
pain and hatred. I slowly backed off from the networking site and deleted my
profile midway through my engineering.
“Arti… Are you not ready yet?
Hurry up lest we end up missing the train.” It was Mum acting like usual. The
train was at twelve noon and it was just eight in the morning. We usually ended
up at the station barely five kilometers away, minimum an hour before the train
was to arrive. I closed my diary fearing her dramatic entry.
I had taken a week long break
from work especially for this marriage we were going to attend. I suspected more
plans involving me were afoot. Mum had never shown this much interest in my
wardrobe.
“Haven’t you packed that
sunflower yellow Anarkali?!! You look lovely in that.”
“Do pack your Jeans and that
white lace top..We might need it if an outing is planned.”
The marriage we were
planning to attend was that of the daughter of a distant friend of my father. Something which could be cancelled without much of a regret. They lived in
Ernakulam too, requiring us to travel eight hours by train.
At the train station, I
watched a short video by British Airways in an email send by a friend, which
set me thinking how nice it would be to be happily married.
“Go Further To Get
Closer”..The tagline appeared so romantic.
I surprised myself when Manav’s smiling face
appeared without much ado when I thought about whom I would like to get married
to eventually.
Whoa… When did I start thinking about him in that manner?
At Madhavan uncle’s house,
it was all glitter and lights. Maidens dressed at their best and anxious
parents on the lookout for prospective grooms and brides were everywhere. It is
a headache to be an unmarried female at a marriage function.
“Arti… Remember me?!!”
said a voice and I turned back to look into the face of the beloved friend who
was on my mind the whole day today.
“Manav… What a surprise?!!
Lovely meeting you here,” I manage and join Manav at a table loaded with snacks.
Between sharing the news
and hogging snacks, I find that we still share the easy rapport we shared years
before.
“ So where is your girl
friend ?” I ask and he assures me he had only one all along and the one was
sitting in front of him hogging cookies.
“When did I become your
girl friend?” I ask in between nervous giggles.
“When I started missing
you … when you stopped remembering me… when you vanished from my world without
a trace. Why did you do that Arti? Do you know how much I tried to contact you?
” asked Manav suddenly grabbing my hand.
“We had changed houses,” I say sheepishly though I know
he is referring to how I had simply stopped contacting him. I had even stopped
using the mail id that I had given him.
"Why didn't you
answer my mails?” Manav was fuming and I confess how hurt I felt by his changed
ways in Bangalore and how much I hated his online image.
“ Whoa, and here I was
thinking of making you jealous….,” says Manav releasing my hands and looking
defeated.
“Hey..Cheer up..All is Well.
Destiny made us meet again. Didn't it?” I ask beaming.
“Destiny?? Oh..so you
want to credit destiny for the hours that I spend to track you down. For all my
efforts to go further to get closer??” asked Manav with a mischievous smile on
his face.
“Don’t tell me Priya is
the Cupid,” I say when the idea dawns on me, referring to the mutual friend who
had sent me the British Airways ad.
Manav’s smile does not
contradict my thought.
Little do I know that his
co-conspirators were all around until my parents and his parents joined us to
enquire how far things had progressed?!!
Everyone had gone
further to bring us closer.
Manav now worked with
British Airways in the procurement division and was currently posted at the Bangalore International Airport. Therefore,
he had taken upon himself to act upon the inspiration provided by his employer’s ad.
Love was indeed a many splendored thing!!!
*This story is written as part of a contest organised by Indiblogger in association with British Airways.
Beautiful! Enjoyed reading this Preethi...all the best for the contest :)
ReplyDeleteThank You Nabanita for the wishes...
DeleteThat was such a beautiful and descriptive post! I loved it, every bit of it :)
ReplyDeleteBest wishes!
Thank you Bhavya Kaushik... Loved your post too..
DeleteQuite a creative tale you weave! Very nice.
ReplyDeleteThank you Beloo.. Keep visiting..
DeleteNice one..enjoyed it Preethi....great read... All the best..
ReplyDeleteThank you Maniparna...Happy you liked it..
DeleteNice one Preethi!
ReplyDeleteThank you Mridula..
DeleteYou write so nicely! All the best for the contest dear! may you win!
ReplyDeleteThank you Sindhu for the complement.. I really don't want to be the winner..What will I do with a ticket to london??..I want to be the runner-up...:P
DeleteGood one. Very sweet. :)
ReplyDeleteThank You Indrani...
DeleteReally a lovely story, Preethi!
ReplyDeleteTracking & Meeting in place! Happy ending too! :) *Smiles*
Best wishes for the contest!
Interesting. I so much enjoyed reading. All the very best for the contest Preethi. :)
ReplyDelete