Parallel Lines

There was a bunch of school students waiting outside the college campus. They were feeling nervous and jittery. No, it was not the day of admission. It was a much grander day. Casus belli, the most popular college fest of the city was being held and the high school kids just hoped to get entry even if it were for a few minutes. Their favorite band was supposed to play and they had turned up hoping that they will be allowed to witness history.

But the gatekeeper had strict instructions to allow only those with gate passes and these kids had not managed to get the passes from anywhere.

Shireen was one among these children. She had put on chalky make-up on her face and worn the lowest permissible neckline. But her hopes of getting in were dwindling.

Her friend Rohan saw the opportunity and pulled her aside.

“I can get 2 passes. My cousin goes to this college.”

“What? And you never told us this?”

“Shh!! Firstly I don’t know if he will agree to let us in. Secondly I can definitely not ask him to arrange for 21 passes. Slowly detach yourself from the group and meet me at the back entrance. I will call Gaurav meanwhile.”

Shireen knew that Rohan had a crush on her and on any other day she would not take a favor from him. But today she needed to go in just to see her idol Maverick Matthews perform.

She went up to her friends and said apologetically, “I’ve to start for home. I don’t think they will let us in. If it gets too late I will get into trouble at home.”

Some of her friends were dismayed; others were hopeful that diminishing numbers might help the waiting ones to get in.

She went round the campus and met Rohan at the other entrance. He was holding 2 passes and sporting the biggest grin ever. Shireen spontaneously smiled at him and ran up to him.

“Gaurav sent these 2 for me.”

“Oh…you are a genius Rohan!!!”

Shireen was liberal with compliments and Rohan’s heart danced as they entered the campus together.

However Maverick Matthews had not reached the grounds yet and only performances by college students were taking place.

Shireen didn’t mind waiting. Besides this was a college fest and hence 10 times cooler than anything she had done so far. She felt so grown up and happy to be a part of this world.

A girl was dancing to a fast number on stage when Shireen and Rohan reached the performance area. A bunch of students in weird costumes were waiting for their turn at the side.

“That’s my brother,” said Rohan pointing to a tall guy in torn jeans and black vest. He had brownish wavy hair and a face that reminded her of Shahid Afridi in his hey days. His muscular shoulders tapered down to a narrow hip and his pants seemed to conceal a pair of sturdy legs. Shireen gulped unintentionally and kept on staring. Garuav smiled to reveal dimpled smile that added a boyish charm to his strong features.

“Hi! I am Gaurav,” he said as he held out his hand.

Shireen mumbled her name as she shakily stuck her hand out.

Gaurav held her hands and shook them firmly.

His hands were warm. Suddenly in the chilly evening of November Shireen started to sweat.

“Gaurav is performing tonight,” Rohan chipped in and his voice zapped Shireen back to her senses.

“Ohh…thank you Gaurav…I mean for the passes…you are very generous…” Shireen managed to say.

“I sure don’t regret my generosity today,” Gaurav left with a wink.

He went up on stage and danced with a group of outrageously flashy guys. Honestly it was more like coordinated calisthenics and certainly nothing like “dance”.

But the energy of the boys was high and the background music was a popular Bollywood hit and no one really cared to see the subtle nuances of artistic dance.

When Gaurav and his team were done the crowd erupted in claps and appreciative hoots.

Gaurave bowed and suddenly grabbed the mike from the anchor who had walked in to announce the next performance.

To the surprise of everyone he said he started to sing…

 “Some day, when I'm awfully low
When the world is cold
I will feel a glow just thinking of you
And the way you look tonight

Yes, you're lovely
With your smile so warm
And your cheeks so soft
There is nothing for me but to love you
And the way you look tonight ”

The entire time he maintained eye contact with Shireen. He bowed a little and left the stage with a mysterious smile. The crowd cheered even louder and there were thundering claps.

Shireen was blushing furiously although no one apart from Rohan had understood what just happened.

“You should know that Gaurav is a bit flirtatious. He didn’t mean anything…so don’t get ideas.” Rohan quickly said.

“Hey you think I am stupid?”

“You do have a stupid look on your face.”

The rest of the evening immediately became a glum for Rohan and irrelevant for Shireen. They realized after a while that Maverick might appear on stage past midnight and that was no way an accepted time at their homes.

So they headed home together. Shireen in a happy trance and Rohan feeling completely mad about his mistake.

That night Shireen found it hard to fall asleep. And even when she did sleep she continued to think of Gaurav in her dreams.

But the next morning was different. The bright sun was out and in the prudish starchy daylight the experience of the previous night seemed ludicrous and impossible. Shireen quickly took her bath, had her breakfast and started for school. Her mother once asked her if anything was wrong but she said nothing. Shireen had no wish to tell her mother about the dreamy evening she had the day before. It would be her precious unreal evening forever.

However a big surprise was waiting at her school gate.

“Hey you look prettier without make up,” Gaurav flashed his smile. Dressed in white tee shirt and blue jeans (that was not torn) he looked more real today. The sun light did take away some of his cool quotient. But it made him more within Shireen’s reach and she liked it.

 “Hi! How did you know? I mean…you are here…how…why…”

Shireen was visibly happy.

“Aren’t you relieved that I found you out?” Gaurav had a look of mock astonishment on his face. 

And it led way to nervous exchanges of broad smiles and phone numbers.

Gaurav and Shireen fell in love like that and they fell into it in a rather intense and perhaps irreversible manner.

Shireen spent every night stalking Gaurav’s online accounts just to make sure that he truly belonged to her. Though Rohan tried to convince Shireen otherwise Shireen found no trace of Gaurav’s promiscuity. He was a popular guy in college whom girls happened to like a lot but that was it.

To Gaurav, Shireen was a breath of fresh air. A kind soul who never asked him about his future plans nor calculated his money potential. She was still in the process of growing up and was in no way calculative. Her love was pure unlike the fake girls he had at his disposal at his college.

Both Gaurav and Shireen felt addicted to each other. They talked in the mornings and again in the evenings and again at nights till it was impossible to stave off sleep. Eating, sleeping and other routine activities seemed so unnecessary and they felt this huge need to be with each other.

Love in its purest form can give you a high that no other narcotic can simulate and these two young lovers now felt this insane and immeasurable joy in their hearts.

But there has to be a “but” in all love stories. And in this case the “but” happened to be Rohan. He knew this was wrong. He did not know why but he knew that he had to do all that he could to prevent this from going on.

And he started his research. 

He found out that Shireen came from a conservative family and she had not disclosed about her new found love at home. Very good.

Gaurav too had not told his parents about it. Even better.

Also though every one in Gaurav’s college knew about them as love birds there was no official confirmation of this fact from Gaurav. Awesome!

Rohan worked on his material and set the plot.

It happened like this. Gaurav being the cool college boy used to have sleepovers at his place when his parents were away. It used to be a typical all nighter for the boys with plenty of alcohol and food. And of course they talked. They talked about everything under the sun and they felt this easy connection with each other which made them feel very reassured and happy about life. Their conversations made no sense but they all felt ready to die for each other (if the situation demands). And this gave immense fulfillment to the boys.

On one such night Rohan had obtained invitation to such a booze party at Gaurav’s place. He went there with a plan and executed it well.

The next day Rohan went up to Shireen with a nonchalant face and asked her to listen to a voice recording in his phone.

“She is just a friend…No…no…I don’t love Shireen.”

This is all that Shireen could hear and the voice belonged to Gaurav.

Shireen cheeks became red at once...she had no idea if it was grief or embarrassment that stung her heart at the moment.

She got up and ran away. Rohan had hoped to lend her his shoulder but he had started to realize that his plans do not quite work the way he plans them.

He did not give up though and on his seventh try in the evening Shireen picked up the phone. They talked for long and Rohan told her in many ways that Gaurav was a guy with loose morals who had never intended to be with Shireen in the long term.

Shireen went to bed with swollen eyes and avoided her mother saying that she had a headache. These days Shireen talked very less to her and she had given the excuse of ever surmounting pressure of studies. Her mother had somehow bought the excuses and today also she left her after making her a bowl of hot chicken soup.

It was 2am in the morning when she called Gaurav. She had reasoned with herself that she will wait till next morning but her tears refused to stop and she had to get an answer now.

Gaurav profusely apologized and readily admitted that he had said so under the influence of alcohol.

“But alcohol makes men say the truth…” Shireen countered.

“It’s not like that. I was not that high…just a few pegs down and stupid.” Gaurav said.

“You don’t love me or are you embarrassed of me?” Shireen was direct.

“I love you Shireen.”

“So you are embarrassed of me.”

“No! You don’t know how college boys are. They kept on teasing me and called me hen pecked and what not. I just felt that I needed to reinstate myself as a person who is not a fool.”

“And being with me makes you look like a fool.”

“That’s not what I meant. I am truly sorry…I’d have felt bad too if you did it. But please forgive me. Let’s not break our hearts over this.”

Shireen softened a bit and a part of her wanted to accept this apology and end it there. But Rohan’s words came back to her mind. So went on.

“And are you really planning to sit for GRE?” Shireen asked.

“Yes. How does that matter?”

“You never told me.”

“I told no one apart from my parents. It’s in the planning stage only.”

“So you don’t wish to take up the job that you landed from campus placement?”

“Why are you talking so coldly? Maybe no. I wish to explore other stuff in life…like going abroad to do a master’s program.”

“And you never told me because it’d be easier to leave me.”

“Look Shireen…this is ridiculous. I am sorry about what I said. But this is unrelated to that. I have ambitions in life and it is not a big crime if I don’t tell you about a dream of mine.”

Shireen sighed.

“You told all your friends…that’s how I found out. Rohan told me about your GRE plans.”

“That BC knows nothing. He will go and prattle when and where not needed. See I didn’t tell you because I wanted to surprise you. I don’t know if I will get accepted or not. I wanted to break the news after making it.”

Shireen laughed sarcastically.

“You wanted to leave me and surprise me.”

“It’s not so.”

“Do your parents know about me?”

“No. But you requested to keep things off the parents because your family is strict.”

“No…I said my family is strict and I am still in school. So I need time. But you have a job and are in college. Plus your parents are liberal. You could have at least given a hint about me.”

The reasoning went on for 3 hours. But Gaurav was talking to a wall. Shireen was inflexible today. 

He did not know that Rohan had sealed every single loophole in the evening. Gaurav was saying all the wrong answers that Rohan had predicted and Shireen’s resolve was getting stronger.

The night ended in a break up. It was also another chilly November night and Shireen had never felt lonelier in life.

Years flew on. Shireen and Gaurav had gone along separate paths. Shireen is now a doctor. 

The experience with Gaurav had shaken her for life and made her more careful with her feelings. She had finally found structure and happiness in life. She had found love too but may be the definition of love had changed forever.

She no longer thinks of Gaurav. Her present is beautiful. Plus after managing home and work she hardly had any time left for romanticizing her past. Life was wholesome and happy, a tad boring but there was no risk of a painful heartbreak anymore. And that made Shireen very feel good.

All was fine and Shireen had accepted life as it is but then one night she had a dream. In her dream Gaurav and she were travelling in a train. They were sitting side by side but both angry with each other and looking at opposite directions.

She woke up. And she terribly longed to live that moment. The anger that she felt in her dream, the kind of anger that you can only share with someone you love, the kind of anger that needs a premise of lasting love to feel. She felt a gnawing pain inside knowing that it was impossible to live that dream.

Today she did the chores at home a bit slowly and set for work unmindful. She was walking slowly towards the bus stop wondering why she had to have the strangely disconcerting dream after ages.

And when she reached the bus stop she suddenly saw Gaurav at the bus stop. For a while she thought that she was hallucinating but she was not. Gaurav was truly there. He had grown older and perhaps his handsomeness had diminished a bit with the passing years. But Shireen was immune to that. She stared at him blushing furiously like she had done a long time back.

Gaurav smiled uncomfortably. He was surprised too. He did not know whether Shireen would even acknowledge him or would walk away.

But she responded with a smile. It turned out that they were headed towards the same direction.

So they boarded the bus and sat side by side inside the bus. Shireen could not believe that this was happening. Her heart was racing after a long time and she did not know how she could feel a sense of relief at such an awkward moment.

“So are you married?” Gaurav started.

“Yes.” Shireen replied. Gaurav was still as direct as before.

“Oh…too bad. I’m still single.” Gaurav turned his lips. And they both smiled. But they could not laugh out aloud...they felt a kind of discomfort.

They both tried to do small talk but the conversation hung in mid sentences.

Both looked expectantly at each other. It was obvious that the chemistry was mutually felt.

“I still miss you Shireen…and I am sorry…” started Gaurav.

“Shhh…let’s not apologize today. Let’s just enjoy this moment like the old times.”

They sat like that for a while..side by side in the bus…the silence oddly pleasing. But time was harsh…it was passing on fast and they had to decide soon if they wished to keep in touch or end it there.

“I lied to you Shireen. I am engaged. I don’t know why I lied. Just seeing you after ages shook me up,” Gaurav realized for good that keeping in touch would not be a healthy option.

Gaurav looked into her eyes and said, “I had lied to my friends on that day too…I hope you know that my love for you was true.”

The only word that Shireen heard in the sentence was “was”.

Shireen smiled. “It’s ok, I understand. When is your wedding?”

“It’s in November. Actually I had a fight with her last night and had been thinking of you all night. I was surprised beyond words to see you in person today.”

Shireen simply nodded. Her face was inscrutable. She was wondering what Gaurav had fought with her fiancee about.

“I am glad that you are married and settled. You deserve a happy life. Basically I am travelling to patch up with Sakshi.”

So his fiancee’s name too started with an “S”…she felt jealous about the unknown and named stranger. Sakshi and Gaurav will now get to relish the anger that she had dreamed of. 

“Bye Gaurav. My best wishes to you and Sakshi.” Why is it necessary to lie to Gaurav all the time, Shireen wondered. 

Gaurav smiled and alighted from the bus and walked away after a wave at Shireen.

He never got to know that Shireen had lied to him; she was still very much single.

The Woman: Part 3 (The Other Woman)

He never was and never would be mine,

You reinstate this over and over again.

I agree to this…it’s alright, it’s fine.

But when was he yours? Tell me! When? When? When?

Look at you scurrying around for support and wit,

Of course the strangers and family has taken your side.

Then you point to a paper that calls me illicit,

And by some insane rules declares you bona fide .

They have called me a witch; they have called me evil,

They have stood by your side and wiped away your tears,

But all this has never been able to kill my will.

I am deaf to the threats, immune to the jeers.

He had come to me by complete choice,

He will go back to you but with utter reluctance.

He will long for my face, body and voice,

And in you he will search for my fragrance.

The love in your bond is an established myth.

And you live with pain behind your closed doors.

Hatred, anger and malevolence I can deal with.

But never with pity. Fortunately that is all yours.

Making up

Deepak looked at his beautiful wife Nidhi looking out of the plane window. The frown in between her eyebrows was barely noticeable and a third person would have assumed that she is observing the scenic display outside as the plane was preparing to land. But Deepak knew that she was mad at him. He knew that he had done something that irked Nidhi but as usual he had no idea why she was angry. But Deepak was sure of one thing…if he did not figure out the problem soon enough it would escalate to a fight.

But as always Deepak did not have the patience to unravel the cause of her angst. He did what he was best at. He apologized.

“I am sorry Nidhi.”

Nidhi looked at him.

“Why?”

Deepak felt like a second standard student whose teacher had asked him to show the calculation process after he had managed to copy the correct answer from somewhere.

“I…well I know you are hurt…and I feel bad about that,” mumbled Deepak.

“But why?”

“I don’t know Nidhi. Tell me what it is that made you sad…I will…I will undo it.”

Nidhi huffed and looked outside again.

Well you are probably thinking that Nidhi is a difficult wife but she is not. She is just a normal woman who wishes to be understood without having to explain every single detail. Women are big time lovers of magic and if you have to explain the steps to your magician then the charm of the trick is gone!

But Nidhi knew that as always she will have to walk him through it. Her husband will not be able to arrive at the solution by himself.

“You had the time to login to Facebook during our vacation. I saw you gazing at random posts while I chattered away like a monkey. If you didn’t want to talk to me then why did you take a vacation?” Nidhi said.

“I logged in once or twice only. Really sorry…I was listening to you the whole time.”

“It is disrespectful to do that. You might as well tell me to shut up.”

“Sorry.”

But Nidhi was still silent and staring out of the window.

Deepak realized that it was just the introduction that would slowly unfold to present a bigger offence.

“We still had a great time Nidhi. You are right. No internet during vacation. I will not do it again.”

“I had also logged in one day to update my cover picture but that was it.” Nidhi stated an ominous statement.

Deepak wondered if his real fault was in not updating his cover picture around the same time.

“Ok I will also put up a new picture on my cover…I just forgot,” Deepak quickly promised.

“What?” Nidhi looked at Deepak in deep annoyance. “How does you changing your cover picture help?”

Deepak kept silent. So she expected him to do something else and not change the cover picture.

“Look I saw that you found time to like and comment on other people’s pictures. When it comes to my cover picture you are strangely silent. You sure were not like this earlier. Before we got married you almost stalked my profile day and night.” Nidhi finally said what it was.

“Oh…so that’s the main reason!!!” Deepak felt as joyful as a PhD student who has defended his thesis successfully.

“Nidhi dear…before marriage I was never in your cover pictures.”

“So?”

“That’s why I could like and lavish compliments on them. Now it is a picture of you and me. I find it silly to like my own picture.” Deepak confessed. Surely this was a very reasonable argument.

Nidhi calmed down a bit and after 5 long seconds she added that it was not the real point either.

“Then what it is that is bothering you? Tell me…don’t keep it within.”

Nidhi felt an explosion of anger and sadness within her heart. This was the point that made her feel like a beggar. This having to explain what she wishes to hear. How she wished Deepak would somehow read her mind without any hint from her.

 “You never say romantic things to me anymore. You never utter a single sweet nothing. Yes it could have been a great vacation but it wasn’t. I did not feel loved at all.” Nidhi’s face looked red.

Deepak was deeply hurt too. He had planned the vacation keeping in mind Nidhi’s preferences and now she was saying that she did not feel his love.

They were now outside the airport walking towards the long queue of cabs.

“Nidhi I love you. You know I love you…” Deepak stuttered.

“My love for you is as plentiful as the stars in the sky.” Deepak made a lame attempt at showing some “romance”.

Nidhi sighed an audible sigh and gave him a sarcastic smile.

She then looked up and started to count. Though it was a clear night very few starts were visible due to the haze of the city lights.

“1 2 3…4…5…I see 5 stars in the sky. Deepak your shabby pick up line got screwed by light pollution.”

Deepak looked up and smiled as the tension started to slowly dissolve between him and his wife. At this point a high pitched female voice called out his name.

“Deepak!!!” a slightly plump but beautiful woman was smiling at Deepak with a look of happy surprise on her face.

Nidhi scanned the woman from top to bottom. Hair styled to perfection, kohl rimmed dark eyes that were not exactly beautiful, a sharp nose and a dimpled smile. Her body was full and though she was a little bit on the heavier side she still exuded a seductive vibe. Naturally Nidhi did not like her at all.

“Niharika! You have changed so much. ” Deepak was awkward.

“Oh really? Look at you…who would have known that you would have grown into this.”

This woman, Niharika was staring at Deepak’s six footer chiseled frame with open admiration.

She seemed to ignore the fact that a woman who in all probability was Deepak’s spouse was standing right next to him. Nidhi swung her head towards Deepak to observe his reaction.

But Deepak looked completely blank.

In his mind he had shifted years back to those days in South Point High School when he used to be the geeky class topper. He was a quiet boy with almost zero social skills. Coincidentally his current wife Nidhi read in the junior section of the same school at the same point of time but owing to the huge size of the school they were blissfully unaware of each other’s existence.

Deepak was the most talked about boy in his grade...but only among the ever competitive mothers of the Pointers. Everyone wanted their child to be like Deepak. Focused deeply in studies and completely cut off from all sorts of merriment in life. But that is obviously not what a guy in his mid teens would expect from life. He failed where he wanted to be discussed. Among the girls of his class he was never a hit. They did praise him a lot but ended up showering him with unsavoury adjectives like “intelligent”, “diligent” and “Mr Scientist”.

Deepak really hated his life. His bespectacled fair face looked too pale and the haircut that his mother chose for him made him look stupid despite his high IQ. His square jaws and what could have been an enchanting smile hid behind the perpetual image of the super geek.

In the evenings when the other kids were often playing Deepak had to go to his tutor Mr Nayak to keep himself sharp and ready for the exams. Mr Nayak helped his students with some extra lessons and Deepak studied in a batch of 15 boys and girls. He was clearly the brightest in the class but Mr Nayak pointed it out too many times resulting in an obvious unpopularity of Deepak.

Life trudged on and Deepak kept fetching perfect scores and though his family was very proud of him they had no idea that Deepak was actually an unhappy soul.

And then one dull evening in the coaching class of Mr Nayak his life suddenly took a positive turn when Niharika decided to join the same batch. She went to an elitist South Kolkata school that believed in making their girls snooty and proud. Niharika used to smile in the way a celebrity acknowledges her fans. Back then she exuded the sugary sweetness of a teenaged girl. The day she joined Mr Nayak’s class, Niharika wore a red top with blue jeans that flaunted her perfect figure. Her hair was tied into a pony tail but she had let a few strands hang loosely on her forehead. It made her look like the cutest Barbie doll.

Deepak was staring at her with sheer wonder and then he watched in a slow motion of surprise as Niharika scanned the entire class and then decided to saunter upto Deepak and park herself in the seat beside him. He fell in love with her instantly.

Deepak’s days were no longer boring. Interestingly it did not affect his grades. He enjoyed his studies more now that there was the motivation of impressing Niharika with his scores.

Deepak performed well in class and when there were tests he always let Niharika copy the answers from him. In return Niharika talked to him and flirted with him. Deepak felt like a hero.

But there was a problem. He was not the only guy who liked Niharika. She was very much aware of her looks and she seemed to enjoy the attention from the boys very much. She was very friendly with most of her admirers and it was hard to make out if it was flirtation or harmless friendship from her side

Then the day came when Deepak logged in to his Orkut account to find a friend request from Niharika and he was sure that he must be special in her eyes in some ways. Girls from her school maintained the protocol that in a girl-boy friendship the boy has to send the friend request first so she is taking a big step here by adding Deepak first.

The next day Deepak asked Niharika out on a gol gappa date and to his immense joy she said yes.

Deepak was happy finally. He had the love of the most beautiful girl in the world. They went for gol gappa dates every single week and it made Deepak feel like he was Superman.

But there was one annoying doubt in the bottom of his heart that often raised its head. He had never told her about his feelings nor had Niharika confessed about hers at least not in explicit terms. So the relationship was still standing on shaky grounds.

In teenage a simple exchange of “I love you” would have made that foundation solid and cemented and Deepak started planning on those lines.

He wracked his brains and tried to sum up the courage to tell her explicitly. But he needed a hint of her approval before he actually said those almost forbidden words.

One day in the middle of a sleepless night he got a wonderful idea. Orkut provided a feature where you can add a person to your crush list. If that person adds you as well a notification mail is sent to both or else it stays hidden. He knew it was not really a foolproof method but still wanted to try it. 

Then maybe he would find a friend who could go and make Niharika aware of the feature in case she had not heard about it.

He immediately got up and logged in. He took a deep breath and promoted Niharika to a “crush” and spontaneously broke into his enchanting smile in the privacy of his room. Before going to sleep he decided to check his mail…just in case.

To his sheer delight and utter amazement there was a mail from Orkut.

“Congratulations!! Your crush loves you back!” --- A simple one liner that took his breath away. Niharika had added him as a crush way before! She felt it too!

Deepak cried out in joy and threw his arms up in the air. He had won many prizes in life but no other joy equaled the joy he felt tonight.

He went back to bed feeling super happy and could not fall asleep for a long time. Then he slipped into a beautiful dream where he was solving Niharika’s sums while she was caressing his hair.

Luckily he had a class at Mr Nayak’s the next day evening. He put on his favourite black shirt and even perfumed his hair. Then off he went to the class…today he would go down on his knees and confess his love to Niharika.

As he entered the class he saw Niharika already inside. She was surrounded by a group of giggly boys and girls. It was obvious that she had already shared the story with others. Deepak felt a slight tinge of annoyance. He had wanted to talk to her first and she expected the same of her. But she seemed very happy so Deepak just brushed off the feeling.

He went ahead and took his place beside Niharika. Mr Nayak entered the class at this point and for the next one hour Deepak got all his sums wrong. Finally the class was dissolved and Niharika pretended to leave.

“Hey Niharika…wait a minute” Deepak was bold today.

Niharika smiled her typical coquettish smile.

“Do you want to tell me something?” she asked sweetly.

Some boys and girls gathered around them. They looked like excited cheerleaders.

Deepak felt blood rushing to his cheeks. He had planned a private affair but Niharika was obviously expecting him to make it bigger.

He looked at the beaming faces around and gathered some confidence. “They are her good friends who want to be happy for us,” he told himself.

And he went down on his knee and sang out the most perfect rendition of “If had to live my life without you need me...”

And when he was done he looked up in expectation. Everyone was suppressing a giggle like they were waiting for the punch line of the joke.

Deepak felt so nervous. He looked at Niharika sheepishly and sure enough he got some courage from her sweet smile.

“I love you Niharika” Deepak heard himself say the hallowed words.

It was Niharika’s turn to say it back. Deepak felt relieved. His job was done.

“Thank you Deepak but I am sorry…I don’t love you back.

I add everyone to my crush list. This allows me to find out which jerk is crushing on me currently under the pretext of friendship. And I avoid them from then on.”

Niharika’s face was sporting the most sadistic smile that could ever be.

Everyone erupted in a cruel laughter.

They had gotten their punch line.

The humiliation had made Deepak physically ill. He could not eat or get out of bed for 3 straight days. The word spread quickly and two boys from his school came to visit him home.

“Let go of it Deepak. You are our star…you deserve much better. This is for you.” They handed him a hand crafted card from his class which said, “Deepak…the light of our class…get well soon.”

It was not exactly classy but that simple line of cheer gave him a lot of strength. With passing time he put the incident behind and just as his childhood had shown he went on to become into an exemplary student. College life transformed him magically. His singing skills made him a hero on the campus and he found the encouragement to work out regularly and take care of his looks as well. Overnight he transformed into a hunk who sang romantic songs and scored straight A’s with equal élan.

Then life presented love to him in the form of Nidhi, his somewhat crazy but otherwise wonderful wife who loved him intensely. He was happy and settled in life. The teenaged geeky Deepak was a far cry from today’s successful and self assured Deepak.

And today after so many years life made him stand face to face with Niharika.

Deepak looked at the woman standing in front of him and felt a pang through his heart. The humiliation still felt real even after so many years and Deepak felt a cold rage towards Niharika.

Sure she had not grown into the beauty that others had expected her to but she still seemed to have that snobby air of over-confidence.

“Good to see you.” Deepak curtly said and kept walking tugging at his wife.

Niharika was a bit stunned at the snub but Deepak was in no mood to be polite to her. He simply walked past her.

“Who’s she? Why didn’t you introduce me to her?” Nidhi immediately asked as she hurried along with Deepak after taking another look at Niharika.

“She went to the same coaching class with me years ago.” Deepak simply replied.

“Why did you behave so rudely with her?” Nidhi kept on asking.

“Because I liked her a lot in those days and she had turned me down in a very humiliating way.” 

Deepak briefly explained in a somewhat snappy voice.

The look of hurt in Nidhi’s face was visible.

“Please don’t feel hurt...I didn’t want to hurt you. She is not an ex girlfriend,” said Deepak.

Nidhi came closer to Deepak as if seeking a reaffirmation of their bond as she said, “No it’s ok…I’m glad that you told the truth. It’s way back in the past…it shouldn’t affect me now.”

It was not clear if Nidhi was talking to Deepak or to herself.

“Come on…now don’t feel sad. I never loved her. I am all yours Nidhi. I love you,” Deepak tried to assure his wife.

Nidhi still looked a bit unsettled and glanced back once more at the receding the figure of Niharika.

“You felt bad even after seeing her?” Deepak said. “I had no idea that you would feel insecure after seeing that fatso…you clearly are way hotter than that evil witch…I mean did you see...”

Suddenly Nidhi threw her arms around Deepak and hugged him, “I love you.”

“What happened?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Nidhi simply smiled.

Deepak had finally uttered the right words and this time he did it with conviction and without any prodding… but it was pointless telling him so.

Deepak did not quite understand what made his wife angry in the first place and why she suddenly became happy again but he was really glad about the joy that they felt together at that instant and hugged her back tightly. Life is good with her…he happily thought.

They smiled at each other and headed home quickly...the mood had been set for a wonderful night ahead.