Season 2: Episode VII

Project details!

            Finally the daylight showed mercy and let the sun rise up from the horizon. I never felt so eager to go to college. As soon as I got there, my eyes were searching for Adi. I grabbed the “project details” from him. I had no idea what it contained.

In the morning, I was just waiting to get to the college and now, I couldn’t wait for college to get over. I hated having four lectures that day. Four long lectures. Why do they have to make attendance compulsory? Those were the longest lectures I have ever attended. I was just waiting for the bell to ring and as soon as it announced end of the class, I was out of there, on the way to home.

            Spying in my own house, to confirm that everyone is busy in their own work, I slowly and carefully I opened the package. I am sure, if you were there, it must have appeared to you as if I was diffusing a bomb. I never believed movies could be so close to reality. Wasn’t I behaving stupid?

The bomb was diffused; I opened the package! And I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I must have been stunned at that place for more than half an hour I guess. All those sketches! I was just staring at those sketches. I could see nothing else. Is that really me? Was I so lucky to find someone who loves me so much? He did all this for me? How did I feel looking at myself through his eyes? Blessed!!! I thought, maybe this is what they call love.

            And then, if the sketches were not enough, the small book of poems. I must have read that hundreds of times. Again, I went through his mail. I was feeling so weird, so good.  Honestly, I just can’t explain that feeling.

            Another anxious, sleepless night.

            I spent the next day trying to write my answer. I accepted all my feelings and without thinking of anything else, I just thought about what my heart felt, and penned that down. Telling him everything, all the truth that I hid for so long, it was such a huge relief for me, except many butterflies in my stomach. I swear you won’t understand this phrase unless you experience it, butterflies in stomach.

            Another sleepless, lonely night. Lonely, yet crowded with hundreds of memories.

            Next day, before leaving for college I pressed the send button and millions of electrons travelled hundreds of miles to Mihir, carrying the message of my heart. I don’t remember anything what I did that day in college. I wasn’t in best of my senses, neither was I living in the real world. I was just floating in my dream world.

But, how stupid is he? No message yet? At least he could have messaged me. Has he read the mail yet or not? At least something from him. Was the mail sent successfully? Should I call him? Uhhmmm…

            The bell rung again and I rushed back to home, jumped on the computer and checked my mailbox. No new mails… It’s been hours. Really? I feel like years have passed already. Has he read or he hasn’t? Should I message him, or just wait till he reads th……..

            Tring tring… Tring tring…

My cell phone screamed again. Is it Mihir? It has to be. What am I going to say? What is he going to say? What should I do? What should I say? I ran towards my cell phone,

‘Akriti calling’, the screen said. Hmmm! So, it’s not over. This long wait is still not over. What is he doing? Why hasn’t he replied yet? I was getting just so angry.

“Hello…”, I picked up the call and said.

            “Hey! Tanvi! Guess what… Mihir is here. He wants to meet you…………”

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

Season 2: Episode VI

18^th July

Tinntin! Tinntin! My phone screams out, ‘One new message!’

Mihir Doot… Hmmm. Again, the same feeling. Increased heartbeats of nervous heart with a little fear, eager yet reluctant brain and angel-devil minds battling each other. Wasn’t everything going well, since we were in no contact for last 10 days now?

            So, open it? NO. I don’t want to. Obviously, I want to. Press any of the buttons right now! Exit or Open! Enough is enough and I opened the message, saying, “Check your email. I’ve sent you some information about a project & Adi has the material related to that.”

 Confusion! What project? I asked him what he was talking about. But, he seemed much more confused than me. J. Both of us knew, we hadn’t talked about any such thing. And for every question, he was repeating only one line, ‘just check it out’.

I was in college, attending lectures then. And as soon as the bell rang, I rushed home, eager to read the mail. Thanks to the inventor of broadband. I din have to wait much longer after turning on the computer. Inbox! Title, “Read it when you are alone…”

What is this? Schematics of nuclear bomb? India’s strategic plan? Or ISI hit list? Ahhh!!! My dad was sitting right there behind me. I was counting each and every passing second, desperately waiting for my dad to leave the room. Tick tock, tick tock. Clock running ahead, teasing me with the theory of relativity. Finally, after ages of waiting, dad left the room. And like a hungry tigress, I jumped to open the mail.

Why can’t you ? ?

Why can’t you see, I want you . .

Why can’t you ? ?

Why can’t you see, I love you . .

 

Is this real? Is this what I am thinking it is? Is this what I was hoping for? I knew, I should read further to know, but I kept reading these lines tonnes of times. Trying to find out if it is a dream??????

Wake up Tanvi… WAKE UPPP!!!

I started reading further. After reading a few lines, I thought, is this a prank? Maybe, another one of his jokes? I swear I would have killed him if that was the case. Shit, Shit, Shit! I cursed myself with every passing word. I knew all this! I knew each and everything! His visits, his messages, and all those poems… Everything, everything was for me…

            He simply summarized the gist of everything like,

 

I just wanna know
if you feel the same…
I just wanna know
do you feel my pain??
I just wanna know
in this shower, in the rain,
I just wanna know
Will you say it, when??

 

& finally, now that I know you know everything… I’ll be waiting for the answer to that when…

 

            Turmoil of thoughts! But why? I was expecting this, right? I knew all this beforehand.

‘No, it was just an illusion. I didn’t like him.’ All my efforts, all the reasons I produced to satisfy my brain, have everything failed? What am I feeling exactly? And why am I feeling this? Why exactly all this happened? Who is responsible for this? From the start, till the end, all flashback went through my mind. So many indications from his side that I never understood, so many little sweet incidents, so many ups and downs. What was I thinking all this while?

And now, why am I feeling so, so, so, so happy??? Confusion! Joy! Fear! Happiness! Love! What is it?

I read that mail again and again, again and again, till I was sure I wasn’t day dreaming, till I was sure that it was not a joke, till every little thing between us made clear sense to me, how much he loved me.

            Wow, wow, wow!!!!! I clicked on reply immediately & first I assured him that whatever happens, nothing can ever break our friendship now.

I wanted some time for myself. Because I didn’t know how to react. It was really overwhelming and I was clearly in a shock. I was still afraid of making any decision. I knew my family would never accept this. I badly needed to talk to somebody.

            Akriti, the right person for this moment; one of my best friends, who is always calm, who can always think clearly, someone who could process anything and everything with a cool mind.

            I told her everything. Right from the beginning, till the end. And in return, she only asked, “Then what are you waiting for?”

            What was I waiting for? Does she really thinks I know the answer or what? What was I waiting for?

‘Mihir, why did you come in my life? You brought so many questions with you, which are still unanswered.’ 

            That night, I just couldn’t sleep. Grrr, kkkrik, grrr, krrrik. All the machines in my brain were being utilized to their maximum capacity. Trying to process each and every small event, chats, little discussions, messages, all the meetings with him, this mail… The question now was, what do I want, and not what everybody else wanted. Why have I been so ignorant towards my own feelings for so long? Why? Sometimes I feel, my problem is that I think too much.

            Well, yet the ‘project details’ were waiting for me and as the time was passing by, the moon was the only lone, silent witness in that anxious night…

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

Season 2: Episode V

Let’s get back to 18^th July!

It was really getting complicated. Was it? Clearly, I liked Mihir. But now, I wasn’t sure whether he still liked me or not.

With all the confusion, or whatever that was, Mihir’s story and my story had combined chapters again and again. During the winter holidays, during his visits to Pune, completely unexpected encounter at technical festival of PICT, and lots of other incidents. All those encounters… They used to make me crazy. Trying to keep calm, hiding surge of emotions, controlling my heartbeat, stopping my eyes from chasing him… It was a torture. Everytime he came, he brought all the emotions with him that my heart wanted to avoid desperately.

Sometimes, it was just so difficult to face him. At moments, I could not help my heart at all. He came to my college once, giving a stupid reason that he was there to pick up Adi. Whom was he kidding? Was there a chauffeur for Adi to pick him up everyday, who took a leave for the day? And if so, then why did he tell me thrice that he’ll be coming?

But, calendar moves on. And then came the Valentine’s Day. Tinntinn! Tinntinn! ‘1 message received’. Obviously Mihir’s. What’s coming with this message now? Another storm? Another ‘maybe he does, maybe he does not’? Another ‘is it possible’? Another duel of mind and heart? Can’t wait anymore. Let’s clear it out.

Ouch! With every line my heart was beating so hard that I felt it’ll explode. The message! A simple and very sweet rhyme… Did he write it for me? It was about Valentine’s Day, describing the beauty of a rose and friendship (that we shared?), Reminding me of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai - ‘Pyaar dosti hai.’ His words made me understand the heart of this movie in an instant.

And at the end of that rhyme a small note pouring out his heart… ‘A rose for this beautiful rose……’ Yet, he did not complete the sentence mentioning what he should have.

But, surely, surely he likes me! He still likes me! That message was a clear sign spilling his heart out.

Now what? I know it. But now what? What should I do? Nothing! The truth was, I was afraid to fall in a relationship again. What if I am cheating myself again? What if I’m making a wrong choice again? ‘What if’... This question became a part of my life, always making things worse for me.

And now, throwing this ‘what if’ out of my life, after a summer of little avoiding each other and some encounters, suddenly, that was it. Finally, everything was clear in front of my eyes. No more secrets and everything, crystal clear.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

Season 2: Episode IV

Some things change and some things don’t!

 

            Mihir was out of my life and I thought that it’ll be very easy to forget him now, and one day, a friend of mine, Omkar, told me that he likes me. I had no idea what was happening in this universe. What should I do? Do I like him? Do I like Mihir? What about him? What to do?

            ‘Oh come on Tanvi! Mihir is a lightyear away from you and maybe, he has forgotten about you already.’

            ‘But then, he does message me everyday, even though I’m trying to stick to my decision to stop being in contact with him. He still thinks about me.’

            ‘Are you stupid? There is no way in heaven to know what’s in his heart and there is hardly any chance with two of you thousands of miles apart from each other to know it. Nothing is possible now.’

            ‘But, what if he feels the same way about me?’

            ‘Same way? You cannot have feelings for him. You have no feelings for him. You cannot like Mihir.’

            ‘Really? Then why am I thinking about him so much?’

            ‘Tanvi, get back to your senses. There is a guy who is knocking at your heart, who is saying he likes you and how could all you can think of is Mihir?’

            ‘Then certainly there is something wrong, isn’t it?’

            Duel! Illogical or Dillogical? The duel went on and on in my mind. What to do, what to do? I had no idea what was I supposed to do, what I wanted. And…

            And finally I said YES. And yet, I was not really sure whether I really liked him or not. It was a reaction given by my rebellion mind. My confused heart. Rebellion, as I wanted to break the rules, get revenge with my parents for what happened during admissions. My family is what is most important for me, closest to me. And they betrayed me and now it was my turn to betray them. Confused! I knew Omkar for as long as I knew Mihir. But whether I like Mihir? Whether Mihir likes me? Whether I like Omkar?

            All those questions were still unanswered. I thought, it’s the best way to forget Mihir completely. Days passed and I thought I was happy with my life and everything was great again… There was hardly any contact between both of us, between Mihir and me.

One day, he sent me some kind of ‘survey form’ to me. A survey form asking, do you believe in love? Have you ever been in love? And other questions like this. I was surprised and a little doubtful, but when Mihir insisted, I decided to fill the form and I hoped that Mihir would read this form. I wanted him to know that I’m in a relationship. And I’m really happy with it. It was not something that I would do. I hardly told anyone anything about us, but I wanted Mihir to know this. I really did not know why I wanted to do that.

            One day, suddenly, as if struck by a lightning bolt, I remembered Akshata saying something, when we were in junior college. She used to give me clues about Mihir. She told me once, that there was some guy who waited outside our class for a long time just to see me. She never really told me who it was. And now, I really needed to know who that guy was. I had too. I called up Akshata. At that moment I had no idea what I wanted to hear. Somehow I asked her about that so called rumour.

            Mihir. That mystery guy was Mihir. I was kicking myself. I should have been angry on him after knowing this, and yet I was feeling happy to know that, that guy was him. Come on Tanvi, you accept the truth now. You like him. All this time you know it and yet you kept neglecting this fact.

            It was pretty clear that he liked me. But, now how can I know whether he still likes me? Maybe he does, maybe does not. It was so stupid of me in the first place to say yes to Omkar. And now when I knew that Mihir also liked me and maybe still likes me, how could I forget him? I certainly needed to talk to Omkar.

            Next day, we talked and I was imagining what Mihir would have answered here. Again and again he was coming into my mind. It made me realize, I was cheating all three of us by staying in this relationship. I cannot be with someone, when I had someone else on my mind all the time.

            Finally, in an attempt to bring back peace of my mind, I broke up with Omkar… And yet again, I was back to the square one…

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

Season 2: Episode III

The chapter of Tanvi!

I think, you guys are getting as confused as I am right now. For you, to understand my position, I should tell you something about myself.

Two to three years back, if someone of you had known me, you wouldn’t have accepted at all that I’m the same person today. This love-thing, it was crap and perfect example of extreme stupidity to me. I was so against it, that when my best friend found the perfect love for her, I betted her that it’s just hopeless and she’ll have to face a break-up within no time.

No. I was not extremist. But, after spending 18 years of my life in metropolitan areas of Hyd, Mumbai and Pune, I saw many break-ups and casual relationships. And obviously I never believed in it or never trusted that really someone could love someone for no reason.

Until… This guy, Mihir Doot, came into my life. Don’t be surprised, but his first impression on me was not the best certainly. What will be your opinion about a guy who has never attended a single lecture in a whole year? Isn’t it the proof of carelessness, no sincerity towards own future and neglecting responsibilities? About him, the same opinion was mine. And yet, just after talking to him a couple of times, made my mind changed opinions about him without any reason.

I never got to know, how the time ran so fast whenever I used to talk with him. I could talk to him for hours and never once I felt like saying goodbye. But, jealous clock used to ding-dong announcing the time. Soon, I realized, that I used to come online only to find out whether he’s online or not. And that was a shock to me!

How could I have a liking towards someone, without approval of myself? Why did I want to talk to him? As I’ve already said, it has to be my decision that whom should I like. And this was certainly not my decision this time. Certainly something different was happening to me. No. I can’t let this happen. That’s it. And I decided, I’ll stop talking to Mihir. That’s the best way. And I tried my best to do that. But, like Saif in Hum Tum says, Har kisi ki kahani hoti hai, aur jaise jaise hum aur logo se milte hai, unki kahani humari kahani se jud jati hai. Isliye Hum-Tum fir se milenge to zaroor, kyunki ye life bahut lambi hai.

And really, Hum-Tum, I mean we always came across each other no matter how hard I tried not to. And everytime, it was getting harder not talking to him. For nearly a year, I tried and failed at this experiment again and again. My god, I’m so happy that it wasn’t an exam. Else, I would never ever have passed it.

It might be a very straight forward situation for many of you, but it wasn’t for me. For a girl, who never understood what the hell is this love, who had her career at the top of her priority list, belonging to a family who never ever would accept such a relationship. I just wasn’t able to accept that I really liked this guy. How is it possible to like a guy with whom I’ve never talked face to face, about whom I knew hardly anything. After all, so far we were just texting friends and we heard news about each other through friends.

I always felt that Mihir likes me. He must be thinking about me. All the poems he writes, he does it for me. And as soon as that moment used to pass, I used to turn my back on these thoughts. Maybe, it’s me. Maybe, I want him to think about me, write poems for me. Maybe he has never thought about ‘we’ as ‘us’. Maybe he is just as friendly to everyone. What was that really?

Then, after 12^th, he was going to BITS for his Engineering. And even I was gearing up for the same, until…

Until, my parents decided NO. Imagine the scenario. All the hard work I put for last two years was going in the garbage. After saying no to IITs and NITs, a no for BITS as well. A big fight at home. I was really heartbroken and a little depressed. It was a hard time for me.

When he left for Pilani, I felt really bad. I was all confused, angry, depressed, rebellious… Bad times they were. But again, I was a little relieved too. All that Mihir chapter was over from my life. Maybe, I was trying to find something positive in all that chaos.

Life goes on. So true. Sun came up every day without any mistake, changing the date of calendar, taking Mihir out of my mind slowly. I started to feel as if Mihir’s chapter was out of my life now.

            And when I thought everything was coming back to normal, out of nowhere, a storm came into my life. Here enters a new character – Omkar.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

Season 2: Episode II

It’s me, Tanvi!

18^th July, 2008

‘OH MY GOD!!!!!’

My first words after reading so called ‘Project Details’! Finally! Wow! Shit! It can’t be! It’s not possible! Is it? I know this. Do I? Is it a joke? No! What? Is it real? Wow! No! Wait a minute. Let me read it again.

Finally I understood how the infinite loop taught in computer programming can be so frustrating. I was reading that again & again and same questions were popping in my mind again. I was so happy, so scared, so relieved, and so confused. All the feelings were playing tug of war with my heart being the rope. Why am I so shocked? I knew this was going to happen. I knew what he felt for me. I knew everything. Didn’t I?

But, why now? Finally I made myself believe that what I felt was ‘nothing’. After more than a year of fighting with myself I made it clear for myself that it’s just an illusion. I don’t like him neither do he likes me. I don’t have feelings for him; rather I can’t have feelings for him.

Thinking about him all the time, waiting for his messages all the time, check again and again if he is online, waiting for just another visit... But, I can control my feelings. Obviously. Those are my feelings. And I’ll decide if I want to like someone or not, if I love someone or not. It’s my decision. It should be. But, what is this feeling I’m having in the pit of my stomach now? Why am I feeling so confused and yet so jubilant?

Season 2: Episode I (:-P)

Destiny!

Destiny! Fate! Luck! Kismet! Bhagya!

Whatever you call it, but I’m sure it does exist. When something is destined to happen, you and I cannot stop it from happening. No! My friends, I’m not trying to hammer any heavy philosophies on your intelligent brains. Maybe, it’s one of those ‘Pyaar ke side effects’, that everything seems, means, a little different than what it used to be. Meaningless songs become deeply meaningful, boring flowers blossom in a way that they look beautiful, wandering clouds arrange themselves to shape your dreams, the cool breeze in the morning tickles you…….. It does sound filmy, but believe me, it happens.

Tanvi, the queen of angels misplaced by the heavens and dropped from clouds to this mere land of humans called Earth. Ever wondered how Mr. Mihir did find her out, out of six billion other human beings? Isn’t it the game of destiny that two people living in different worlds, far away from each other were brought together without giving them any signal or clue? I mean, come on people. You know it. There should be some lightning or some storm or something, right?

None of us were from Pune and yet everything arranged itself in a manner to bring us together. You guys read ‘what’ happened. And sorry to disappoint you, but it’s impossible to explain ‘why’ it happened. Anyhow, ever wondered ‘how’ the stage was set by ‘the game of destiny’? We had no common friends, no way of knowing each other, living far away from each other, busy with own lives and none of us ever believed in the thing that was known as something called ‘Love’.

You know, why I appeared in the stage of action. The purpose was ‘Education’.

Flashback!!! Summer, 2005. I was sitting on the sofa, with legs on the coffee tables, nuts in one hand and remote control in other, at my aunt’s place in Pune. After screwing up my NTS exam, careless about the world, I was surfing from cartoon network to ESPN to Aaj tak to……… Careless, because it was obvious. I did not touch any book for so many days, just to protest my parents’ decision. They wanted me to attend a class in Pune during vacations for the NTSE, and if that was not enough, they decided that I should stay in Pune, complete my junior college and prepare for engineering entrance exams.

Now, I’m sure, many of you, at that moment would have been very happy to finally get out there in the real world. But, I certainly was not… I was in my hometown for all sixteen years of my life with all friends, family, home and my life there. So many plans and pranks with friends were still to reach their destination. So many games were still on the board. So many corners still unexplored. So, it was certainly, surprise for me.

It was three weeks that the cold war between me and my parents was going on. I hardly talked to them, to protest and show my objection. And my parents knew that was going to happen, so, though they were not happy about it, but a little relaxed.

Finally, they decided to have a round table conference with me and asked what my objection was actually?

“It’s very straightforward. I don’t want to go to Pune. That’s my objection. I told you guys that I’ll go outside after my 12^th and I can study from home. So, why should I go to Pune?”, I replied quickly.

Maybe, within 10 minutes I started to think, do I have a valid point here? 15 minutes and I started thinking; my side is certainly getting weaker. 20 minutes, I started to think, do I have a point at all? And as I kept talking, I thought, aren’t I talking rubbish? There was no point to defend, right? Then, what’s the matter really? What am I protesting for? I’m sure there’s some reason. I can feel it from inside. But, then what is it?

And we went on talking and talking. And suddenly I said, “How can you decide something about my life, without asking me even once?”

That was it. That was the reason, I realized. See, my parents, which I can say are the coolest parents one can have, did not even bother to ask me what I wanted then. For all these years, my parents always let me take decisions for myself. And they always supported my decisions, correct as well as wrong ones. And that’s what was bothering me. They took this decision on my behalf and did not take my opinion. It was so simple.

And then within minutes, it was all resolved. I had no dissent now. And Mihir Doot was all set for Pune. That’s how my ticket was booked for Pune.

But Tanvi… From a family belonging to Marwar, Rajasthan, born in Hyd and brought up in Mumbai. Isn’t it ‘Game of Destiny’, my friends, that her family shifted to Pune just a couple of years ago?

Even after coming to Pune, she had made up her mind to go for Fergusson College for her plus two education. And at the last moment, because of just a phone call before entering the admission cell, she ended up with a admit card in SP College. Dice rolled again and I came out of admission cell with the last admit card for the same class.

Believe me or not guys, though we did not knew each other then, the destiny knew what the game is and the dice were in place to roll again and again.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

Episode VIII

You’re crazy!

So, next day, she took the ‘project details’ from Adi. It was weekend and I was sure she is going to take all those 172800 seconds of Saturday and Sunday to think. Wow! I’ll be on her mind for all this time. That did give me a sense of pleasure.

Thinking about her, reminded me a scene from Rehna hai tere dil mein. Our hero gives the heroine a beautiful art piece and and says ‘Jab tum ghar me akele baithe kuch soch rahi hogi, to bilkul aisi hi lagti hogi.’ And I could see Tanvi thinking about me at that moment.

Even though she did not say anything, I was a little relaxed compared to the last week. It was Monday already. 21^st of July. Three days after knowing that there is someone, who’ll always be caring for her, who loves her more than anything, who’ll be there to fulfill each and every wish of hers. And even after three long days I was not in hurry, though a little anxious and scared from inside.

It was a college day and so there was no chance of receiving anything from Tanvi till the evening. It was just 10 in the morning. So, I was just passing the time and casually I turned on the screen. And OH MY GOD! Just think, if you are an engineering student who’s afraid of getting a YD and now the result is handed over to you, sealed. My condition was similar to that student opening the seal of envelope.

Hiiii ,,

Really don’t know where to start from.. (I don’t write poems like you)… So let me come straight to the point… First of all, you are crazy... means you are mad...

Reading these first few lines, I had no courage to move forward. I felt, I had lost all my strength suddenly. What did go wrong, I asked myself. Did I really hurt her? But, how can I hurt the girl I love more than anything? Yes girl, I am crazy, I am mad. But, for you, and only you. Can’t you see, what is so obvious and clear, through those beautiful brown pearls of yours?

I took some moments to recover and moved forward.

Hiiii ,,

Really don’t know where to start from… (I don’t write poems like you)… So let me come straight to the point… First of all, you are crazy... means you are mad... such a dangerous mail... I’ve not been able to sleep for three days now…

I have been deciding last three days whether to call you up or mail you… But didn’t find courage to call you up… coz even I like you a lot!!!!!!

Even I LOVE YOU!!!!

Frankly speaking, somewhere in my heart I knew almost everything you wrote……..………..

If I would have participated in the olympics race or a dance competition or a scream out loud competition, at that precise moment, I bet on anything that I would certainly have won anything. I eagerly read everything she wrote again and again and again and again and…….

I clicked on reply button and before the electrons could run and reach their destination to make some flip flops active, I closed the screen. Looked here and there, picked up my phone and dialed 997……… And before the operator computer could process the request, cut! The computers must have been very angry with me that day. Anyways, cut!

I got up, jumped a few meters, picking up the keys I shouted, “Mom, I’m leaving for Pune. Going to get tickets for the next bus. Will be back in 20 minutes. Keep my lunch ready.” And without listening to any further query, I accelerated the wheeled devil. No more mails and calls now. It was my, rather our time now.

And within a couple of hours, the bus was speeding towards Pune, crossing Panchganga river, without giving a damn to the resisting, roaring winds, through the crowd of small vehicles, leaving back all the quivering sugarcane fields and those lovable Ghati toned conversations. Only a little journey away from ‘You and Me’ to ‘Us’. Nothing could stop ‘Us’ now, nothing at all.

I was on cloud nine. Ten, eleven or twelve maybe if there is such a thing. Looking out at the burning and slowly setting orange sun, in the sky spread with hues of indefinable beauty, I was moving with that high-speed bus towards Pune. But, this bus was no race to my heart, which already reached to its destination, Tanvi.

A pretty girl, origin of the beauty, wearing Black top with big white dots on it, dark blue jeans, a red and black windcheater, maybe a bag on back and a stole on the neck with a graceful smile as usual on the glossy lips, blushing, pinkish cheeks, mystical, dark hair riding on the cool breeze, gorgeous brown eyes with a pleasing, reassuring substance of her heart and soul with open arms for her Mihir, Tanvi’s crazy Mihir . . . . . .

Episode VII

Long wait!

Post 14^th July, 2008

Anyway, let’s move forward.

Back to 14^th of July. The next step was the worst. To wait! Wait till she reads everything and then Adi was supposed to meet Tanvi to give her, what we called ‘details of the robotics project’. From the second I sent the token of my love, my mailbox was acting like Chatak, a mythical bird who waits for the first rain, as he drinks only the water from the first rains. Similar was my condition, I was waiting for a mail from a specific account.

And this time, my one of my closest friend, Mr. Google, could not help me as the date kept changing and yet no mail was received. 14^th gone, 15^th gone, 16^th left, 17^th departed and yet the arrival of an awaited reply was as predictable as the arrivals of Monsoons in India.

Why is she not replying? No. She will surely reply as soon as she reads my mail. But what if she chooses to not care about me at all? No, no chance. She’ll never do such a thing; her caring heart will not allow her to do that. Then what is the problem? Was she committed already? No way, just no way. Anish’s words echoed, “Dude, I’m warning you. You are running out of time. Don’t expect that she’ll be waiting for you forever.” I lost a beat of my heart.

And a night of October, 2007 flashed in front of my eyes, when I forced her to fill a ‘survey form’ for me, which was supposedly going to remain ‘private and confidential’. And It did remain private and confidential, as I promised, but with me. It was about the belief in love among youngsters. And I have to accept, it was not a professional level job at all. Anyway, I deliberately put some questions, answers to which were damn important to me. Let’s take a look…

· Do you believe in love?

Yes.

· Have you ever been in love?

Yes. (And that’s when I started sweating even though the mercury was indicating single degree temperature)

· Is there any specific reason for believing or not believing in love?

I believe because I can feel it. (Now, what does that mean? Practically what I felt while reading this sentence was, Tera patta to kat gaya.)

So, you see, my fears were not baseless.

But then thinking logically, she must not have read it yet, as she did reply to my messages as usual, like nothing has happened. I’ll never understand these girls. Do they have a sixth sense? Are girls’ brains programmed to maximize boys’ anxiety? Because Tanvi always used to check her mails regularly. But, when I needed her to do that, she did not. And for that they have been gifted with, what we call, sixth sense.

Have a nice day!

18^th July, 2008

Waiting for four long days, I couldn’t take it anymore. On 18^th, it was getting too hot to handle. I had to do something. And then, without wasting another moment I messaged Tanvi, ‘check your email. I’ve sent you some information about a project & Adi has the material related to that.’

Girls! Why do they need details all the time? ‘What project? Which one? When? Why?’ All those W’s again. Isn’t it much simpler to just check the mails than interrogating me? Somehow, I faced that rapidfire round and convinced her to check it out as that will be simpler. I thanked my luck again that moment of truth TV show did not arrive in India at that time. Else, I would have won zero bucks.

Again, the queasy game of waiting. I hate Einstein at times like these. Relativity theory… shows its existence exactly at those times when you don’t want it to work at all. And this was one of those times. The clock was testing and teasing my patience. The second hand of clock was as fast as the hour hand. Damn you clock & basically aren’t these colleges supposed to declare holidays on special occasions and national holidays? This one was as important as those, right? So, why is it still going on? Come on, come on you slow-mo clock. Move like the winning horse in the race course.

After a few hours, I looked at the clock again. It was well past Tanvi’s college time. But then why is my mailbox still empty? Did she not read it? Is she not as eager to read my mail as I am to read her mails? Did she forget? Did she not care about how eagerly I was waiting for her reply? Did she…

‘You’ve got 1 new message’, the pop up declared.

‘Come on Mihir, just open it. What are you waiting for?’, I told myself after staring at the mailbox for over 10 minutes now. Is this it? Slowly I moved forward and opened the mail –

hey... i dont know what to say... can assure u we will always be frnds..

give me some time..

and sorry.. cudnt take the "project" from adi today.. airtel is giving a lot of problems.. so dint find him in college today..

bye.. hav a nice day...

That’s it??? No details, no long girly mail? And what’s this? Some time? Girl, it’s already more than two years, you remember? Couldn’t take the project? Why, why not? I hate airtel from that day and we still have a rivalry. Dint find him in college? Just go to that canteen and you’ll surely appear in no more than fifteen minutes. And now, how the hell am I supposed to have a nice day?

Hmmm. ‘Calm down Mihir, calm down. What else did you expect? You can’t expect her answer in 15 minutes right? Calm down. Let her think and just hav a nice day…’

And then thinking logically, it was the answer that I was hoping for. And the assurance, that whatever happens, we will always be friends, though I wanted to be much more than just friends.

TO BE CONCLUDED . . .

Episode VI

Click!

14^th July, 2008

So… Everything was set now. And that was the problem. This means that I really have to tell Tanvi now. That suffocating yet beautiful feeling I feel when talking to her erupted in my heart again. The feeling that I hated and yet I wanted to have again and again.

& then, just in a moment or two… Wow! It became an amazing feeling when I recalled the girl in those beautiful sketches, the girl described in all those poems. This is a feeling one can never understand until he himself has not experienced it. It is something that reminds you, that someone is out there, whom you love so much that you can do anything for her. And that’s the feeling, my friends, that’s the feeling which gives immense pleasure to your heart.

So… The girl of my dreams, the angel of my heart, the queen of my world, will be deciding now, whether to reward the one who dared to love her, or execute. And the funny part is, the one who was being blamed for the crime of love, was himself a victim of love.

Anyway, I was in Kolhapur at that time, away from the stage of drama, as it wouldn’t have been possible to do all the preparation in Pune with Naren & other friends being there. You see, in Pune, my big bro lives with 4 other friends, including Adi and Aman. And to be honest, one of the main reasons was that, I wanted to stay away from Pune and keep myself busy with anything. And when everything was in place…

…that’s when I clicked the send button. After so many sleepless nights… For the sketches… For those words, words that were going to deliver my feelings to Tanvi… For those poems… For that darling face… And above all, the anxiety, the desire to know what is going to happen kept me awake for nights. And now I had only one thing to do - Wait, just wait patiently.

I recalled everything again and again. Last two and half years kept flashing in front of me. Adi, Aman and Neelam, always supporting me. Aman and Neelam. Though these characters are being introduced quite late and might not seem significant in this story, but they play a very important role in my life and this story too. As I believe, Aman-Neelam is the ideal couple one can find. And they did play a very important role in the whole story.

Neelam was one of the first to know about the tale of Mihir and Tanvi. Even though I did not tell Neelam that I love Tanvi, she realized it in no time. She has some supernatural powers, to know what’s hiding in the heart of the person before her. I feel so comfortable talking to her.

When I was not at all ready to accept that I really do love Tanvi, even though it was quite clear to me, Neelam used another one of her special powers – to make the person before her accept what his heart says. So you can understand how important she is, for this love story to come into existence.

Aman! This is the coolest and foolest (if there is such a word) guy I’ll ever know. He is the kind of person, kind of friend that you’ll think of as an icon. He’s my partner in many crimes and he is the one, on whom I can rely always for anything and everything. Even if I ever plan to kill someone (and that will certainly be some professor), this guy will be the one to bring the weapons.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

Episode V

Who’s that girl?

Holidays, 2008

So, with these beautiful photos of her as reference, I started my ‘artwork’. And soon, I was in no need of the photos to sketch her, as just by closing my eyes, I was able to see my dreamgirl. I was very happy when I started making those sketches. My sleepless nights got something useful to do. And to my surprise, I was not that bad at sketching. It was very easy to sketch such a perfect, flawless face. I just went on and on, and within no time I had a drawing book full of Tanvi’s sketches.

No guys, everything was not so happy, happy and so smooth. Obviously I had to keep it a secret from everyone. And is it possible that everything will proceed smoothly without anything going wrong?

So, after finishing most of those beautiful sketches, for once, in so many days, I got a relaxing, peaceful sleep. And when I woke up, my eyes just remained wide open. It was my dear cousin Priya talking to my elder bro Naren in my room, with the sketchbook in her hand. And she speaks, “Mihir, who’s this sweet girl?”

Shit! How can I be so careless, I thought. If you guys remember correctly, Naren studies in Pune, in same college as Tanvi’s. But, vacations were going on. And he came home for those last days of vacations. And Priya, of course, if I’m on vacation, she is too.

“Who? What? Uhhm, Oh, that! I… I don’t know.”, Don’t laugh you guys. If you are a soldier and you suddenly find a hand grenade in your pocket without a pin that and is ready to blow as soon as you take it out of your pocket, what will be your condition? Similar was mine.

“Ok. So, who’s this girl?”, she asked flipping the page.

“I said, I don’t know.”

“Then what about this one?”, flipping yet another page.

“Priya, I said, I don’t know. I’m not so good at sketching, so whenever I draw a face it looks the same.”, I defended myself strategically.

“Subah se koi mila nahi kya? Sketching the same face again and again is much more difficult. I’m not a fool, Mihir.”

I had nothing to answer. I just looked at her and I’m not sure what happened, but I guess she understood me. Without any further interrogation she closed the sketchbook and handed it over to me with an understanding look in her eyes. And right at that moment, thanks to my luck and thanks to my mom, who like a savior, called me at the right moment and I rushed out within a second.

I always believe that I’m certainly very lucky and thanked my luck again. But, can’t depend on him all the time, right? So, I decided one thing. Nights for my missions and in the morning everything goes in my locker. And hush, but, thereafter I faced no such difficult situations.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .