A Full Circle

Dariya was seated in front of the mirror doing her hair while her husband Rishi waited for her on the comfy leather sofa with an air of apparent calm.

It was like a silent game between Dariya and Rishi. Any sign of restlessness from Rishi would make Dariya slower than she already was. Inside Rishi was fuming because the movie that they had planned to watch was about to start in less than 10 minutes and the multiplex was 30 minutes away from their home.

Dariya could smell the angst in her husband and she secretly felt very happy. Her shade of lipstick seemed to match perfectly with the highlights in her hair but she suddenly wanted to erase it off and apply a new shade that went well with her scarlet outfit.

Some very rude words almost flew out of Rishi's lips but with extreme restraint he shut his mouth. Pleased Dariya applied the new colour quickly and presented herself in front of Rishi.

“How do I look?” she asked him.

“Like a princess out of an exotic fairy tale.” Rishi answered truthfully as he sprayed a musky perfume all over himself. Dariya was not happy with the answer. But she could not fight a technically correct answer so they both had to settle for a draw that day.

Dariya and Rishi had started off as a happy couple who got married out of their own will. But they now got pleasure only from enraging each other and in proving each other wrong. It was a marriage that had started with heavy duty passion and none of them had any idea that things would go so wrong one day.

Dariya used to be the class queen in her college days. She was the girl everyone wanted to be with. A hand-picked bunch of tall and sculpted boys had been allowed by Dariya to be a part of her friends’ circle. Many of them had come to realize that it was just too much work to have Dariya as a girlfriend and had given up on that dream. But there was one El Kay who became Dariya’s boyfriend. His original name was Lokesh Kumar but he conveniently abbreviated it to make it sound cooler.

El Kay and Dariya made quite an adorable couple and for a long time they were very much in love. Rishi also went to the same college but he was a year senior and also studied in a different department. Initially they were unaware of each other’s presence.

Rishi and Dariya had first met in the crowded college canteen. The students were scattered in random bunches all over the place. Some were humming new tunes while some were playing cards. Others were quite content with being aimlessly loud and boisterous.

Dariya entered the canteen and looked around for her friends. None of the known faces were present. Feeling off already Dariya walked up to the middle of the canteen. She never loved corners. She had this unquenchable need to be at the centre point of everything. A boy was writing something at the corner of a rather long table. Dariya looked around for an empty table but all the other tables were already taken by other groups who were already casting appreciative glances at her. Pleased with the attention Dariya sat herself at the long table and pretended to be aloof to the very palpable excitement in the air caused by her presence.

But a cursory glance around told her that she had gotten the attention of all but one. The one boy with whom she was sharing the table was still focused on his exercise copy.

He was Rishi. Now Rishi was an average guy in all respects. He looked average, thought average and even aimed to blend into the multitudes of average. The thought of standing out in a crowd made Rish panic and unlike many others he was quite happy by the mediocrity allotted to him by nature.

He was trying to write a poem for Manisha. Manisha had been his friend for around a year and throughout this whole year they had both tried to pretend that they were not interested in exploring anything that cannot be termed as platonic. But then came a point when they both just gave in to human physiology and admitted their feelings for each other.

Rishi often composed songs and poetry for Manisha. She too was an average looking girl with average ambitions out of life. When she found Rishi, her senses experienced perfection for the first time in the effortless blending of their personalities.

Dariya’s first emotion at seeing Rishi was probably the truest. His refusal to be stunned by her presence enraged her. She inched closer to him seeking a suitable moment to start a conversation.

Rishi never looked up from his exercise copy. Forgetting all her manners she started to read the poem. It was beautiful one comparing the beauty of a river to an unnamed woman. She was in the middle of the second stanza when Rishi audibly cleared his throat.

Dariya looked up and found Rishi looking at her with an offended countenance.

“I’m sorry…I just love poetry and hence I peeped over without asking,” Dariya decided to become a poetry lover instantly.

“You write really well. Actually I’m not sorry that I read your poem. I’m glad that I did.” Dariya said with a voice that sounded the musical bells of a temple.

Rishi thanked her in an uncomfortable tone. He also added that he was trying to write a poem for his girlfriend.

This was the point where he truly managed to capture Dariya’s fancy. In her experience men usually looked up when she was in close proximity. Secondly, whenever she had introduced herself to a man, she had always found them claiming to be single.

Dariya could not get her thoughts off Rishi ever since their first meeting. The first whiff of challenge made Dariya’s primal hunting instincts come alive.

Rishi on the other hand forgot completely about Dariya the moment she left. To him she was a very beautiful and somewhat weird girl who was most definitely out of his league. Moreover he was truly happy with Manisha.

But he had no idea what being happier felt like…

Dariya turned up at the most unexpected moments to catch up with Rishi and despite his best efforts to resist the invasion, Rishi started to enjoy her company.

Then a day came when Dariya sadly confessed to Rishi that no one has ever written a poem for her. Rishi stayed up that night writing the most beautiful poem for Dariya.

There is nothing quite intoxicating as the hint of new love and that night Rishi let his feelings pour freely into the cast of poetry.

The next day Rishi waited for Dariya in the desolate lane behind their college. A gentle breeze seemed to soothe Rishi’s nerves as Dariya joined him. The fragrance of some unknown flowers combined with the mellow wintry sun to cast a spell on Rishi. He forgot all about his commitment to Manisha and told Dariya that he loved her.

In reply Dariya stared at him for a long while without a word. And then she guided Rishi through the meandering lane to a pond and sat him down on an abandoned log. She herself then sat by his legs and rested her head on his lap and uttered just one word, “Yes.”

The joy that Rish felt at that moment was incomparable to anything else in the whole world.

El Kay and Manisha were broken up with the very next day. El Kay was rude and sore about the episode while Manisha reserved her tears for the hours beyond midnight.

El Kay was actually an honest guy with a good heart and a frail ego. Within a week of the unceremonious dumping he used his family contacts and got himself engaged to a beautiful coy maiden which promptly erased the potential tarnish on his social image.

Manisha was an introverted woman who never let anyone know what the snub felt like to her. She did not keep in touch with Rishi and he was kind of relieved to know that he would not have to deal with the burden guilt over and over again.

Rishi and Dariya were quite jubilant as a couple. Rishi realized that he could achieve so much more than just average with Dariya by his side. May be it was the lack of motivation that made him lead a lack lustre existence.

His career path shone and he went on to bag one of the most prestigious jobs. Dariya too was elated to be with Rishi. His love was something that she had to fight and earn for herself. Everything else had come to her too easily except for Rishi’s adulation. That she had to work for and that brought the maximum pleasure to her.

Years passed and Dariya and Rishi had gotten married too. Problems started when Dariya’s high from acquiring Rishi started to wear off. She needed the next challenge and Rishi failed to provide one.

Rishi too was unhappy in certain ways. Yes, he had won a trophy wife who pulled him out of his comfort zone and pushed him beyond it but there were times when he wished to be pampered as well. But Dariya could never understand that need.

Whenever Rishi complained of an illness Dariya talked about another illness of her own; whenever he suggested a trip to somewhere Dariya managed to edit her preferences into it and whenever he suggested a new position Dariya certainly decided against it due to some kind of life threatening risk.

Resentment started to build up although they kept on pretending that nothing was amiss.

Then one day Rishi came back from work unhappy and sullen. The promotion due for him had been given over to the guy he hated the most.

And all Dariya that could offer was a hug and the words, “I will always be there for you.”

The right answer was, “You are so much better than him.”

And from that point onward Rishi too decided to stop fuelling her ego. He cut off his doses of compliments and decided to be truthful all the time.

Honesty can be quite a dreadful thing for a marriage. And when the little compulsory lies went missing from their marriage, Rishi and Dariya slowly turned into foes who fought mind games day and night.

It was at this point of time that Rishi happened to run into Manisha. He walking upto his office on a cool and bright morning when an attractive face caught his eyes. Within a few seconds he got a big shock to realize that it was Manisha. She was dressed in a pair of trendy jeans and cold shoulders top. The streaks of red in her hair gave her a fancy appeal that Rishi could not trace back to the past. Manisha seemed to look straight at him from behind her photochromatic glasses.

After the first few moments of hesitation they started to walk together towards a tea stall. A cup of tea and a lot of shared laughs…that was what their past was like. They talked a bit about routine stuff and Rishi found out that she was currently working in the building next to his office. Standing by her side Rishi looked around. Screeching cars, beeping phones and rushing people were seen in all directions. Amidst such chaos the presence of Manisha seemed to wash over him like waves of peace and calm.

They both walked away with smiles and without exchanging numbers. Rishi was absolutely against any affairs and with her it was never going to be just friendship.

Around the same time Dariya received a friend request from El Kay, who she was surprised to found out, had been recently divorced. Dariya too was not keen on having an affair. It looked nice to have a stable marriage. But at the same time she could not resist the temptation of the potential barrage of compliments that she could get from El Kay.

A few months went by.

Rishi began to meet Manisha for lunch every day. They were obviously in love again but like earlier they pretended that they could stay just supportive friends to each other.

Dariya and El Kay too talked on the phone every day and had gone out exclusively for a couple of times. Each time Dariya complained to El Kay how Rishi had changed and how he blatantly neglected his marital duties. El Kay’s shoulders were very comforting in these trying times. He too told her how wrong his past wife had been and how she could never fill the emptiness in his heart left by Dariya.

Rishi knew from the beginning that Dariya had started talking to El Kay again. After all anything started over social media is known to the whole world. It made him angry on various levels and at the same time it also empowered him to meet Manisha regularly.

Dariya too did her research about Rishi. But Rishi’s recent online searches all showed up random males. She decided that he must be networking with these men in search of new career options and went back to her life in peace. What she did not know was that these men were not random at all. They were all men from Manisha’s current friendlist.

The two parallel affairs went on for a few months till it reached the point when both Rishi and Dariya wished to end their marriage and were only searching for a plausible pretext. It came soon.

Rishi being the more informed person in this case almost pushed Dariya to create the exit-situation.

Dariya had decided to give her marriage one last chance. So one day she recreated her look from the past. Blunt cut hair with fringes at the front. A fitted black top paired with a gypsy skirt. And she truly looked like the flawless queen from years ago. Satisfied she went up to Rishi hoping to see a sparkle of surprise in his eyes.

But she only saw a glare that scared her and scarred her deeply. Rishi saw his perfect looking wife and remembered the treacherous girl from his past that had willfully destroyed the peace of his life and had made him her own. He felt a seething hatred towards Dariya and the injustice done to Manisha years ago began to burn him.

That day a tearful Dariya ran to seek refuge in El Kay’s open arms and did with him what became the reason for divorce between Rishi and Dariya. It was a mutual divorce and both of them left with no regret. Dariya’s happiness stemmed from the fact that she had cuckolded Rishi successfully while Rishi’s joy came from the fact that he would not have to pay her any alimony at all. He was truly free again.

He sat in his balcony having a hearty breakfast of chicken chowmein and chilled beer. There was no Dariya to lecture him about the inappropriateness of such a meal at such a time. The view from the balcony presented an orderly array of large trees. The buds in the branches looked ready to burst into colours. The chirping birds among them looked free and content.

It was the same view for the last 3 years but today they seemed to echo freedom and order at the same time. It was an unlikely and precious combination and it made Rishi very happy.

His phone started to sing the newly set ring tone in between. It was Manisha. Rishi’s face broke into a smile as he picked up the phone.

There was no exchange of sugary sweet mush. They both talked about normal stuff and it still felt cuter than the tiniest pup. Before hanging up Rishi decided to alert Manisha about one important thing.

“Listen Manisha we will have to be extra careful now. I’ve just divorced from Dariya and getting caught now will simply undo the work we have done in the past few months. We need to be patient for around 5-6 months. After that we will get married.”

“And what should we do in these few months?” Manisha asked.

“Think of a viable story about how you counseled me out of depression after my wife dumped me!”

They both laughed a cunning laughter.

Manisha disconnected the call and looked back into her computer screen. Rishi had no clue how she had devoted 5 years of her life into meticulous planning. Breaking El Kay’s marriage was the hardest. Getting the job by Rishi’s office was the easiest. There were many small tasks that she had accomplished and many people that she had hired to stitch together the final story. Some of it was easy…some of it was hard. And then there was luck who had decided to be in her favor this time. She has waited years to see this happen…she would happily wait out the proposed six months too.

Manisha took a sip of coffee and proceeded to format the computer.

Eye Opener

All his girlfriends have been consistently jealous of me. And I in turn have secretly hated them all. What I had with Ricky was the most confusing thing of my life. But that does not stop it from being a special part of my life.

I have known Ricky since the time when we were practically children. We were actually in the seventh grade when we had first met but looking back those years seem to be like extended childhood to me.

I had just moved to the idyllic town of Pulakganj with my parents. It all started on the day of a local festival. There was a large gathering in front of a puja pandal and people were jostling to get on to the podium to offer pushpanjali to the goddess. That is when I saw Ricky for the first time. He too was rushing towards the podium meaning to secure a place before the podium was all filled up. The sunlight seeping through the huge trees created a delicious pattern on his athletic frame. Locks of stray hair fell into his eyes and a pair of vivid dimples had taken shape on his cheeks due to his pursed lips.

 I gulped and without any further wastage of time I started to run in his direction. There was space for just one person left when we reached the podium at the exact same time. We both relinquished our claim to it in favour of another elderly lady.

Ricky smiled at me and said, “Aren’t you in Simmi’s class?”

“Yes,” I happily returned the smile. He had no idea that the elaborate ruse to compete for the space was just to get his attention. I was an atheist but god seemed to not mind my ploy at all. My wish was granted that day.

It turned out that Ricky was Simmi’s cousin and I had befriended Simmi a few days earlier.

Pulakganj was a small place and soon we all became a large family of good friends. But the rapport between me and Ricky was more than what I had with anyone else.

We loved the exact same books, the exact same movies and the exact same songs. And when we talked it seemed like the rest of the world had fallen silent. It was as if time had decided to stop to hear us exchange our thoughts.

We were mostly on the combative mode when we spoke. Once Ricky had picked a side I knew that I had to defend the other side. It was like a quaint ritual that we went through in the most simplistic ways. We teased each other, and sometimes even enraged each other. But we also knew the joy of losing to each other.

Simmi had warned me once to not fall for Ricky. Perhaps she had seen the fire smoulder within me.

“He is a bit of a player…don’t get hurt Sujata,” Simmi had told me.

And then she had added in a conspiracy laced tone that Ricky had broken up recently. Her intentions were to keep me safe from him. But my stupid heart leaped up at the information. If he was single it just meant that he could be mine soon.

But my rosy dreams got a cruel shock when I found out that Ricky was already pursuing another girl.

I sighed but decided to wait. My friendship with Ricky was strong and sound. It was me with whom he shared all his secrets and it was me who got invited to all his special occasions. “The girlfriend of Ricky” was a variable position which would change with time but I was there to stay in his life.

However there were days when Ricky’s refusal to hit on me cut through my heart. I was called “Sooji” by him. I did not mind being his “Sooji” but it hurt me when his girlfriends got names like “Cupcake” and “Strawberry muffin.”

Nevertheless my knowledge of the Hindi movies had given me confidence to go through the pain and wait. Sooner or later the best friend gets picked, I used to tell myself.

We grew closer as friends as we grew up together. However my turn in his love life was yet to come.

Ricky’s mother had grown quite fond of me and I knew from her kindness that she could envisage me as her future daughter-in-law. Two generations earlier this would have meant striking gold. Ricky would not have been able to refuse his mother’s command.

But in the current context it was only a mere consolation to me.

Ricky’s girls were all very beautiful. I was nothing in comparison to them. Yes, I had very pretty eyes and a pair of cute dimples to match with Ricky’s but they were lookers of a different league altogether…they looked like they have won beauty pageants across the world.

We moved to college from school and to jobs from college. As soon as I got financial freedom I decided to splurge on a makeover. The movies had promised me that the best friend can take any girl hands down after a makeover.

So after a week of expensive visits to the spas and parlours I decided to present the revamped me to Ricky.

That day every one took a second look at me and every one was liberal with their praises. I was very pleased with the reactions.

And then it was Ricky’s turn. He took one look at me and stopped in his steps.

“Sooji!!! Oh my goodness, Sooji!!! You like a million bucks!!!” His words were genuine and they reflected the happiness he felt at my transformation.

But…as he spoke I could clearly hear the sound of my heart break inside me.

He was truly happy for his friend…but his voice did not have any hint of awkwardness. I had failed to make him feel aware of the fact that we belonged to opposite sexes.

That day I realized that there was no point in waiting for Ricky. I needed to move on.

I scheduled a confidential discussion with my manager requesting for relocation to a different city. When he asked for my preferences I had told him to pick the farthest possible city for me.

Within 3 months of this my manager offered me a position in Skopje, Macedonia. I was over the moon with joy.

I had never heard of the city before and assumed that it would give me the scope to drown myself in newness.

I was truly excited to be in Skopje. It was a completely new culture and I was looking for a fresh perspective in life. It was a perfect match.

But on my very first day at office I realized that it would not exactly be that way.

Another Indian guy Prajit was in the same team as mine. He stood up and shook my hands on meeting me.

“I’m so glad to have another Indian here,” his voice was laden with true joy. He must have been lonely for a long time I thought.

Prajit and I gelled well and I realized after the first few weeks that he was quite unabashed about his romantic interest in me.

Prajit was classically handsome and tall with a fit body. In fact I had found out that he was two inches taller than Ricky. I secretly smiled to myself. There I was running away from Ricky who could never feel a thing for me. And now a taller Prajit was showing interest in me. It felt like a personal victory to me.

The other people in our team were localites. They came to work punctually, worked well throughout the day and left with smiles in the evenings to go back to the warmth of their respective families.

And then there were Prajit and me. The whole evening ahead of us without anything specific to do. So it became obvious that we would spend all our evenings together. We grew very fond of each other and an unplanned dependency developed between us.

I had known in many ways that Prajit had someone else back in India whom he has to go back to once his assignment got over. But it did not matter to me. I was not looking to settle down with him; his role in my life was clearly defined. He would help me to get past my fixation with Ricky.

I was happier than I thought I could be. My job was enjoyable, the place was nice and there was someone wonderful to share all of this with. I finally felt that the chapter of Ricky was fading into the distance.

Ricky and I were still friends and I certainly did not wish to cut him out of my life. One day I called up Ricky impulsively; just to talk to him in the way Ricky has always talked to me; with the highest level of platonic love.

He sounded happy to hear from me. After we talked a bit, I wanted to tell him about Prajit but decided to ask him first about his relationship status. And that’s when it happened. Ricky said very casually that he had gone back to dating his first girlfriend. It felt like a physical punch across the seas.

I disconnected the call soon after he was done telling me about it. I realized the futility of my dates with Prajit. I was still hung up on Ricky who would much rather loop through his set of old girlfriends than give me a chance.

I went home and told Prajit I would be busy all evening as my family will call. And then I started to cry.

Prajit called me when it was dinner time. I received the call and said that I was ill.

Soon afterward Prajit was at my door.

“What happened to you Sujata? Anything wrong at your home?” The concern in his voice was real.

“No. They are alright. You didn’t have to come down Prajit. It’s nothing serious.”

“You have been crying all this time?” My red swollen eyes and shabby appearance gave me away immediately.

I tried a bit to make up excuses but Prajit was persistent. And perhaps a bit of me wished to pour out the pain that I had imprisoned in my heart for so many years.

He patiently heard me out and fixed me a drink. We ate a bit together; my shoulders drooping and my lips barely moving. But when I went to bed that night I could fall asleep easily and peacefully.

The next morning things seemed different. I was feeling stronger and the passage of the night already made the pain lighter for me.

At work I went up to Prajit and thanked him for being there for me.

He simply smiled.

But that evening he came again and this time he was a bit drunk.

“Sujata…I thought you are mine.” He started without any prelude, his words to the point and his voice throaty with pain.

I was taken aback for a while.

“I’m really sorry.” I quickly apologised.

His eyes were still on me, a vacant stare that was desperately searching for meaning.

I went closer and cupped his face in my hands.

“I really like you a lot. When I am with you I do not think of anyone…never have I missed Ricky while being with you…”

I told Prajit that Ricky’s refusal to love me attacked my self esteem deeply and it was that pain which had made me so sad.

“Sujata, you were inconsolable last night…you clearly are in love with Ricky and not me,” Prajit sighed.

I made another attempt at consoling him.

“You are far better than Ricky in all respects. It’s the truth.”

Prajit smiled. I don’t know if it was a sarcastic smile or the involuntary reaction of a human being on being praised.

The complicated conversation went on for a long time. And I realized that in my quick spree of initial assumptions I had conveniently assumed that Prajit intended to break up with me once our stint abroad was over. And the incorrectness of this assumption cost him dearly.

We did not break up that night. We still spent time together, me and Prajit. But things were a lot quieter.

I could not find the courage to meet his eyes that always cast an expectant look at me.

I sat with myself for long periods of time gauging my feelings about Prajit.

Was I attracted to him? Yes.

Did I count on him? Yes.

Depend? Yes. That too.

Could he ever be an indispensable friend? He already was.

Now if you add these up, the result is supposed to be love. But the right side of my brain rejected this left brained analysis and kept on longing for Ricky.

I decided to go on a solo trip over the weekend to clear my mind. Prajit insisted at first that he should come as well and then gave up quickly realizing that I wanted privacy. The burden of guilt multiplied in my heart.

But once I started on my voyage the green trees and the fresh air seemed to assure me that it will be alright soon. I was travelling by the local subway when I noticed a rather strange couple seated opposite to me. The woman’s face seemed to be like an artist’s canvass. Deep brown hair fell on her fair face and accentuated the perfect curve of her red lips. Her nose was sharp, her forehead small and her presumably beautiful eyes hid behind large fashionable shades. It seemed like an angel had descended on earth. Her husband was completely opposite to what she was. His muscular frame made him look scary due to the huge proportions and his face had a villainous scar running across the cheek. Quite frankly he looked ugly and the mismatched couple instantly reminded me of the old tale of Beauty and the Beast.

Perhaps the woman in her teenage had married him thinking of the same fairy tale. Perhaps a part of her was still waiting for him to turn into a Prince.

I kept the insensitive train of thoughts to myself as I observed them enjoying the pleasure of each other’s presence. It was obvious that they were completely happy.

As my station came up I alighted from the train. But I looked back to take one more look at the couple. It was impossible to see such comforting love and not feel wistful about it.

As I looked back I saw the man help his wife to get up and proceed towards the door. They were preparing to get down at the next station. From their movements I realized all of a sudden that the woman was blind. As I saw her lean on her husband with complete faith I realized that I was far blinder than her. She had chosen her Prince right.

And that realization immediately triggered an unexpected outpouring of feelings. I quickly purchased the ticket to head back to Prajit. I had to tell him what I felt at that moment.

I had to tell him that I no longer had a doubt about whom I wanted in life. I wanted Prajit, in the same way he wanted me, forever.

When I reached his door he was taking his bath but I could not wait. I kept on banging so he opened the door rather hurriedly clad in just a towel.

His wet hair and still moist body made me feel very awkward. Only one thought ran in my mind and it was the basic fact that we belonged to opposite sexes.

Today I felt no inhibition to act on my impulses and proceeded softly towards him.

Well it did take some work to convince Prajit that I had fallen for him and that I truly believed that we belonged together. But in the end we were both spent and happy. At that moment we felt immune to all the problems in the world and felt an infallible faith in each other.

Prajit and I got truly serious about our relationship and decided to loop in our families as well after a few more months.

I asked Prajit if his family would approve of me since we came from different provinces of India. He simply laughed it off.

“Two generations earlier my mother would have cried a lot about it. But after Vicky Donor and Two States marrying from a different province has become so trendy! If anything she will flaunt about it to her friends.” His logic made me smile even more. I was finally in the right time and right place.

I had been waiting for Prajit to ask me to stop talking to Ricky. But he did not do it. Ricky and I simply drifted apart with passing time, slowly but steadily we became almost strangers.

Prajit and I were too full of ourselves and hardly ever did we feel the need to look beyond our happy little world. All this while I had been craving for a case of friends turned lovers and destiny had been planning it in the reverse order for me. 

A Difficult Decision

Sneha knew that it would not be easy to choose one of them. She truly loved both Anuj and Mayank. If there were a unit of measurement for love, Sneha could have shown them that their individual scores were exactly the same. May be the love was not evenly distributed over time. On some days she longed for Anuj intensely and on other days she could not spend a second without thinking of Mayank but overall if you consider the average value it would have reflected the exact same score.

Sneha had met Anuj in college. It was not that she had fallen in love with him at first glance. It was not that she had fallen for him after ten glances. It was just that Anuj was absolutely fascinated and obsessed with her and she felt that it would be a crime to turn down someone who was so sure about her being the priority number one of their life.

Anuj was a simple person who considered himself to be an old fashioned romantic. His heart was looking for a muse when he came across Sneha. Sneha was kind of average in looks but she spent a good hour every day to make up her face in order to get the naturally pretty look. The gloss in her fruity lips and the flutter in her dark eyes were fake but they were sufficient to capture the fancy of Anuj.

Anuj and Sneha started off as friends or at least that is what Anuj pretended to be at first. He applied a very simple formula to befriend Sneha. He decided to love everything that Sneha liked. When Sneha wanted to discuss photography with someone Anuj was prepared. When Sneha wanted to see the trending rom-com Anuj was ready with a pirated copy of it. Even Sneha wished to find the right shade of lipstick for a special day Anuj made himself free to help her select it.

And all this was also interspersed with generous doses of cheesy compliments. Sneha could easily see through the charade but it did not matter to her. The fact that someone had done so much homework just to get her attention was sufficient to impress her.

Anuj and Sneha became inseparable friends in college. They were one of those couple who give out all signs of being a romantic couple but always deny the same officially. Anuj was happy. He was a rare person who had no fear of the friend zone. He had faith in the implicit love that Sneha and he shared.

But as college got over complications arose. Though both of them had gotten jobs in the same company they were asked to join in different batches.

Sneha got a date of joining 2 months earlier and it was in this 2 months’ space that she went on to fall for Mayank as well.

Mayank was completely different from Anuj. He did not attempt to go through an elaborate plan to get into Sneha’s heart. He was a tall and broad shouldered guy who was beaming with confidence. To be fair there was nothing truly remarkable about him but it did not stop Mayank from having a very high self esteem.

There were other lookers in the campus as well but somehow Mayank liked Sneha the most. Her style sense and ever perfect presentation won Mayank’s heart.

Mayank did not waste much time in telling Sneha that he liked her. Sneha replied with a much practiced shy smile. She looked straight into his eyes for a split second and then quickly looked down; a gesture that well compensated for the missing natural blush. They soon started to go out on dates. Mayank also took her to fancy places and publicly proclaimed his love for her. Some labeled him as a show-off but Sneha lapped up the attention and felt like a lucky cat.

But there was one thing that Mayank could never do for Sneha. In college Anuj used to help her with all the assignments and tests. But she found out soon that Mayank had an IQ far lower than that of Sneha. There was no way that he could help her to prepare for the exams of the training period.

They tried to study together but Sneha realized that she was the one who had to take charge because Mayank seemed to be completely blank about the problems they were usually assigned to. At such times Sneha wondered if she missed Anuj too much and if it was a mistake being with Mayank. But after the study session Mayank would take her out to a posh and pricey pub and pamper her in the most imaginative ways. And Sneha would slowly decide that she was enjoying the role reversal. This guy made her feel like a princess…moreover she got to be an intelligent princess to him!

Things got really complicated at the training campus when Anuj’s date of joining arrived and with it Anuj too. He went to meet Sneha with a heart full of unabashed joy. But within the first few days he got to know that he now had a competitor in Mayank.

For a few days both Anuj and Mayank were devastated to know about the wobbly status of their relationship with Sneha. Then both of then bounced back at the same time and decided not to be the one to give up.

The biggest gainer was obviously Sneha. All she had to do was assure each of them about how she liked him the most while very subtly fanning their inner insecurity.

When she was with Anuj she would talk her heart out and feel healed. Then she would tell him how important he was in her life and how comfortable she felt after a conversation with him. But as soon as an jubilant Anuj started to tell her the mundane tales of his daily life she would find a way to casually tell him that Mayank had taught her to waltz with him and it made her feel quite like a Disney princess. The shock and confusion was enough to shut Anuj up.

When she was with Mayank she would submerge herself in the frills and pomp of his signature dates. Dates with were never a casual affair for Mayank. It was an elaborately planned thing that was perhaps aimed to make a statement to those around him. But as long as the grandeur revolved around Sneha she did not mind at all.

“You are the true knight in shining armor,” Sneha would gently murmur into Mayank’s ears.

But just before he dropped her at her hostel she would make a sudden joke about how knights just get to save the queen for the king.

At this point you might be wondering if Sneha was being platonic or if she was bedding both the potentials. She has largely on the safe side of the line and though her words and gestures implicated romantic intent she had never actually done it with them. The maximum limit was a heady make out session; done exactly once with each of them. ( The score, you see, had always been perfect. ) On both the occasions it happened on a rainy day after the rain had subsided. There was a smooth and cool breeze blowing that would make the most unromantic person squirm with passion. So Sneha felt that it was the weather and not the men who deserved the credit for what had happened.

Anyway, coming back to the present dilemma Sneha herself had no idea about the future. Her traditional family had started to think about her marriage. A girl after completing her education and landing a job was to follow the natural law and find her way into marriage. One day her father casually asked her if she had anyone on her mind.

Sneha truthfully replied that she did not have any one man on her mind. Her father was given the go ahead to find a right match for her.

The first guy that her family had set up for her had been chosen primarily because their horoscopes had turned out to be a perfect match. On actually meeting the guy Sneha was furious. He had neither an impressive personality nor did he touch the lower limit of looks that Sneha had set for her future husband.

“Is this what you are capable of finding? In that case please leave it to me.” She bawled at her father.

Her father’s expression was apologetic.

“I have 2 guys who would do anything to marry me and both of them are better than this one that you have picked for me.”

That day Sneha and her parents had a long discussion or rather a presentation was given to her parents by Sneha. She described her expectations in a very articulate and tabular fashion. In case of confusions two examples were also provided. If the potential groom did not seem to outshine these two, he was clearly not the one.

Five months passed by. Sneha had given up all hopes and was reconsidering marrying either of Anuj or Mayank. But choosing one of them would always make her miss the other one too much. And she knew that no matter whom she chose, she would end up feeling that she had chosen the wrong one after a few years of marriage.

She was on the verge of starting her own religion where polyandry was permissible when her father called her up and forwarded the profile of Neeraj.

Neeraj was a muscular guy with a smiling face. His looks were good but not so good that they would trigger insecurity in the future wife. He was raised in India but was currently settled abroad, which meant that the future wife could have a culturally similar guy and more importantly she could get away with minimal interaction with the in-laws. And of course the family astrologer had approved of the match through his quaint calculations. Sneha smiled to herself as she envisaged herself slipping into the role with much ease.

They started to date normally after the first date was flagged off by their respective parents. Sneha realized that this was the guy that she had been waiting for. She did not feel anything special in her heart but then she was not stupid like those people who decide to marry for love. She had long since decided to be with those guys who showed the maximum interest in keeping her happy.

And of the three guys that Sneha had as options only Neeraj had the trump card of being an NRI.

The marriage was fixed. The parents again decided to throw a party and continue with their roles of being the cheerleaders in this auspicious event.

Sneha had this huge task of telling Anuj and Mayank of what was about to happen. But she simply did not go into too much detail. Mayank was told that that Sneha’s family will not allow an inter community marriage. And Anuj was told that her family astrologer had told her family that she would go on to die if she married Anuj.

Both the guys went into depression due to the suddenness of the incident. All this while they were preparing to relish the joy of defeating a known enemy. A little part of them was even prepared to accept defeat in the hands of this known enemy. But when a complete intruder came and ousted them both, they felt short changed and raw.

Neeraj and Sneha had an elaborate wedding. Those attending the event praised the fairy tale quotient of their marriage very much. The first few days buzzed away in frenzy and the new couple was happy to finally get some privacy as they boarded the plane to their honeymoon destination.

“You know you look like a fairy in this light,” Neeraj smiled at his new wife as the slanting rays of the setting sun lit up Sneha’s face. She broke into spontaneous laughter.

“However you could have chosen a better hairstyle that suits the shape of your face,” Neeraj added with a smile. “My ex girlfriend Poonam is a hair stylist so I have become kind of picky about hairstyles.”

Sneha’s smile vanished and she gulped involuntarily. Competition enhances service. It was supposed to be her personal secret.

As far as Anuj and Mayank are concerned, they are still drinking too much trying to forget Sneha. It is good that they never found out much about Neeraj. That would have given them instant hope for an extra marital innings with Sneha.