Rajeev: Neeru had been my best friend for the last two years. When she joined my group two years back, I did not like her much. But as the time passed by, both of us became good friends. She was a lean and tall attractive girl, with an evergreen smile on her face. With whatever charm she arrive in morning, she would leave the office with the same enthusiasm in the evening as well. Everybody in the office was little envy of her, as we have to honestly accept, she did change the work attitude in our group. After she joined, we started learning little customer orientation. As far as our friendship concerned, I like to share everything with her. In fact she played a major role in making me join the distance education program towards my masters.
Neeru: Rajeev was a funny guy to watch. He was little smart and intelligent when compared to all others in the office. But he was not really aware of his talent. One has to boost him up to bring his real potential out. In the initial days of my joining the group, he didn’t help me quite. But, later I understood that to be his shyness rather than dislike. I took little liberty and used to attack him quite often, to make him straight. Later he became quite a good friend of mine. I believe, we both were good friends. Other colleagues often comment that we both were in love with each other, but neither of us took it serious anytime.
“Hey Rajeev! What happened yesterday?” Neeru barged into Rajeev’s office. As soon as Rajeev saw her coming in, he tried to get up and acted as if he was about to escape her attack. Laughing at his feats, Neeru held him by shoulders and pushed him back into his chair. “You think, you can escape from me that easily?” she pretended little anger. “No” Rajeev hissed and laughed.
“Do you think I have guts to escape from you?” he raised his eyebrows.
“Come on! I am watching you from morning. Are you not trying to elude me?”
“No way! You know I am too busy with the work” he giggled.
“Ok! Let us argue over this later. Now, tell me what happened yesterday?”
He broke his lips indicating ‘Negative sign’. “Again?” she almost shouted. He put his finger cross the mouth, signing her to slow down in pitch.
“Yes. I didn’t like the girl” he quipped and sat calmly. “In the photograph she was looking different and in real, quite different.”
“That’s it. You want to marry Urmila. Am I right?” Neeru clapped her hands in excitement. She had the habit of teasing him for being a fan of Urmila.
Rajeev glanced at his watch and said, “I got to go for a meeting now. We will meet at lunch.” He got up from his seat. “Ok! See you at lunch time then” Neeru also left for her seat.
Rajeev was planning to get married and looking out for a good girl. He always wanted to marry a girl of his dreams. Neeru often makes fun of his taste, by telling him that he might not get married in the lifetime.
***
“I am going to my native village tonight” Rajeev told Neeru across the table, while they were having lunch. “What for?” she asked.
“My parents saw two alliances. Anyway they wanted me to visit my native place once” he tried to explain, “It’s been almost four months since I went to my village.”
“So, what’s going to happen this time” she started smiling.
“You don’t have anything else to do other than pulling my leg” he tried to show his anger.
“Ok Ok! No more teasing, I wish you all the best this time” she tried to calm him down.
Vivek, their colleague, entered the restaurant just then. Noticing Rajeev and Neeru, he walked down to their table. “May I join you guys?” he requested. Rajeev pulled out a chair for him. Neeru asked, “Hey Vivek, didn’t find you in your seat in the morning, think you are quite busy?”
“As a matter of fact, I was. There were some important papers which had to be sent out immediately.”
“But how come you are here now, you always get your lunch from home, isn’t it?” Rajeev said.
“Everybody in the office was wondering where the two love birds had vanished. So, they sent me to find them and so here I am.” Vivek laughed.
Noticing anger on Neeru’s face, he added “Just kidding. I did not bring my lunch box today.”
“Oh God! Is that what everybody think about us in office?” Rajeev cursed in despair.
“You guys! Please calm down. Nothing of that sort really happened. I added it just for fun” Vivek offered excuses.
That day before leaving to home, Neeru dropped into Rajeev’s office and wished him luck for the upcoming venture. Rajeev laughed at her wishes saying he might not like these alliances as well. She warned him for being skeptical even before knowing about the alliances. She gave some tips to him about what to ask the girl on his first personal interview and requested him to bring the photographs of the girls, if he happened to like them.
***
At his village, Rajeev’s mother was showing him the photographs of the girls. She was explaining him their family details and how those families were distantly related to them. Somehow he did not like both the photographs and he said he needed some more time to decide upon the matter. His mother was little upset with him, as this was not the first time he was doing that. She told him that the girls really look different from the photographs and in fact they would look even better in real. Rajeev slowly got up and walked out of the house without saying anything at all.
Outside, his younger cousins were playing cricket. He greeted them with smile. They invited him to play, but he refused. He watched them for sometime. His grandfather came and stood beside him and started telling more details about the two alliances. Rajeev casually asked him couple of questions, for he did not want to hurt the old man. After some time, he decided to take a walk down to the fields to get away from the tensions.
He walked to the village tank and sat on a rock bench facing the waters. Most of the tank was filled with lotus leaves and flowers. Here and there he saw other weeds intertwined with the flowers. At the farther end of the tank, he saw couple of boys swimming in merry.
He sat there for an hour or so. He remembered all the old memories like what all he did around that tank in his childhood. He had grown up in that village till he was ten. After that he went to the town for high school and he used to visit the village only for the summer holidays. Now, only very few friends of his were left in the village.
He peered into the water down below and saw couple of small fishes playing. The sunshine was falling on them and they were glowing like gems in the water. The green leaves and the lotus flowers surrounding them reflected the glare on them and the whole picture was so beautiful to watch. He watched it for a long time.
Then suddenly he remembered Neeru. He remembered her wishes and worried what excuses he had got to offer her. She might scold him if he reject these two alliances also. But what to do, somehow things were not favorable to him. He felt he missed Neeru very much to share his feelings now. He wished she was around to share his feelings.
As he was thinking, he felt how much he had got addicted to her. He loved to share each and everything with her and how he wanted her opinion in every decision he would make. He felt that it was very strange. And he was not thinking ‘that feeling’ to be ‘love’.
He felt he had been cheating himself all the time. For long, he was very much in love with her and he never accepted that. Must have been the same with her as well. All the while, they had been in love with each other and they were escaping to accept the reality. Despite many comments from his colleagues, he always tried to push the idea from his mind. This must have been the strong reason behind his rejections of all the marriage alliances. He cursed himself for being so blind.
At once, the world appeared to be very beautiful to Rajeev. He felt as if he got enlightened. The truth, which was hiding in his own heart just, got revealed to him. He felt very happy and his heart was content and his vagrant mind settled down. He thanked God for making him realize what he was really missing. He sighed and looked at the tank, the flowers and the fishes looked more beautiful than earlier.
He discovered the love of his life, which was there with him all the way. In his walk, there was that confidence, which was bestowed upon the earth by the mountains, asserting their love for the world by their very existence from eons.
Sunday
Life after..................
For most people in India, love stories generally happen to people (characters) in Hindi or Indian language movies which involve far fetched love stories, love songs and garish costumes; but I know of a girl whose life was far more exciting than a standard Bollywood film, much more complex and deep. She had elements in her life that only I can narrate to you. Care to listen?
She came from an upper middle class family of eastern India. She loved life like a bee loves honey, and was ever zestful. She had brown hair, brown eyes, coffee cream skin and beautiful lips. But no she wasn’t beautiful. In India we have this notion, like you know what I mean, the Fair and Lovely types- the ones that consider fair as beautiful and the rest ugly. The types that pervade the countryside no matter which side it is.
She was a romantic soul with love in her eyes. Born in a city, she had all the advantages any urban young girl could ask for and then one day she heard her father was going abroad, and lo and behold she was in a new place called the Middle East where she started on her beautiful journey of life, of love.
She was 8 years old when she first fell in love. He was this wonderful 8-year-old boy, in her class. Yes, I’m sure of what I am saying. It was love at first sight and she had never known this feeling before. She never mentioned it to anyone, and never told the boy. Perhaps that was her greatest mistake and her agony. But then time passed by, she grew older and for the first time felt pangs of joy, of hate, of despair, of love, of lust and of anguish. She wanted to be with him so bad. She was 10 then, when all the dreams broke suddenly. Her parents were going back to India. Oh! The rotten pain, she didn’t know what to do. She was so afraid of losing her first love, but then what is there to loose when it’s not yours. At least she knew she loved him but didn’t have the courage to tell him. She didn’t know if he loved her.
She went to India and didn’t know where he was.. Then the story begins. She searched for him. For 9 years she searched for him, every school alumni, every email service provider, every search engine, every common friend she remembered. Still she didn’t find him.
Life went on, considering she was a young woman now, she had her second love coming around the corner, her first boyfriend in high school. She thought she was going to be the luckiest woman but she never forgot her 1st love. The relationship with her boyfriend didn’t last long and they split ways. She graduated from high school and went to college, after the break up, the last thing she needed was another love affair but it happened, very unexpectedly in the form of a colleague during training. She was happy, with this man and slowly it became the best thing in her life…. almost perfect. Notice how I said almost. It’s because she still missed her first love, longed to see him. Ten years had passed searching for her first love and then one fine day….
She found his mailing address and mailed him. He mailed back and they started keeping in touch. That was great, now she had her love, her friend and her happiness, but that’s not the end of it my friends. That was the beginning.
She wanted to meet him and so did he. And more importantly he loved her! But never had the chance to tell her, imagine her shock, the first love of her life was in love with her too but it was too late. She had a love, a man she was about to marry.
But then God was kind, and they met, in the most unexpected of ways, the strangest time, the unlikely meeting. But they met, to be parted again. She took a plane landed in his town and surprised him. Imagine meeting your first love after ten years, can you imagine the happiness she went through? It was love revisited for her. But it was so confusing, two men in love with her and she loving both. But she had to choose one. She chose her other love. One would be surprised; I mean, think about it, if you were given a choice what would you choose? Most of you would say first love.
Try and see the logic though, that’s what I saw, because I never had the chance to ask her why she choose the second, but I know this much that she let it be felt that despite the fact that the first man had taught her what love was, the other taught her the meaning of it and what it took to be in love and fight for it. She’s a married woman now, with two children, she meets her old love now and then and tells me about him. She tells me to make a movie about her, she wants to be a star, but I guess it never will happen. A love that spans more than 2 decades is not new, but then its unique, it’s the story of a woman who fought for her love, overcame her emotions to be with her true love.
She hurt the first man, but he understood. At least I hope he did! Anyway to continue what I was telling you about this woman, who fought for her love and learnt how to keep it without it being hers. I learnt a life’s lesson from her, didn’t you?
I plan to make her life story famous one day, I want to see her happy. I want to be happy myself by seeing her happy. She’s a woman of exceptional beauty; deep within her I saw that charm, to leave what’s important to her so that others could be happy. I wish all of you could meet her. You would enjoy her company and of course her two little babies are lovely. But then you don’t need to, ‘cause you’ve been reading her life
She came from an upper middle class family of eastern India. She loved life like a bee loves honey, and was ever zestful. She had brown hair, brown eyes, coffee cream skin and beautiful lips. But no she wasn’t beautiful. In India we have this notion, like you know what I mean, the Fair and Lovely types- the ones that consider fair as beautiful and the rest ugly. The types that pervade the countryside no matter which side it is.
She was a romantic soul with love in her eyes. Born in a city, she had all the advantages any urban young girl could ask for and then one day she heard her father was going abroad, and lo and behold she was in a new place called the Middle East where she started on her beautiful journey of life, of love.
She was 8 years old when she first fell in love. He was this wonderful 8-year-old boy, in her class. Yes, I’m sure of what I am saying. It was love at first sight and she had never known this feeling before. She never mentioned it to anyone, and never told the boy. Perhaps that was her greatest mistake and her agony. But then time passed by, she grew older and for the first time felt pangs of joy, of hate, of despair, of love, of lust and of anguish. She wanted to be with him so bad. She was 10 then, when all the dreams broke suddenly. Her parents were going back to India. Oh! The rotten pain, she didn’t know what to do. She was so afraid of losing her first love, but then what is there to loose when it’s not yours. At least she knew she loved him but didn’t have the courage to tell him. She didn’t know if he loved her.
She went to India and didn’t know where he was.. Then the story begins. She searched for him. For 9 years she searched for him, every school alumni, every email service provider, every search engine, every common friend she remembered. Still she didn’t find him.
Life went on, considering she was a young woman now, she had her second love coming around the corner, her first boyfriend in high school. She thought she was going to be the luckiest woman but she never forgot her 1st love. The relationship with her boyfriend didn’t last long and they split ways. She graduated from high school and went to college, after the break up, the last thing she needed was another love affair but it happened, very unexpectedly in the form of a colleague during training. She was happy, with this man and slowly it became the best thing in her life…. almost perfect. Notice how I said almost. It’s because she still missed her first love, longed to see him. Ten years had passed searching for her first love and then one fine day….
She found his mailing address and mailed him. He mailed back and they started keeping in touch. That was great, now she had her love, her friend and her happiness, but that’s not the end of it my friends. That was the beginning.
She wanted to meet him and so did he. And more importantly he loved her! But never had the chance to tell her, imagine her shock, the first love of her life was in love with her too but it was too late. She had a love, a man she was about to marry.
But then God was kind, and they met, in the most unexpected of ways, the strangest time, the unlikely meeting. But they met, to be parted again. She took a plane landed in his town and surprised him. Imagine meeting your first love after ten years, can you imagine the happiness she went through? It was love revisited for her. But it was so confusing, two men in love with her and she loving both. But she had to choose one. She chose her other love. One would be surprised; I mean, think about it, if you were given a choice what would you choose? Most of you would say first love.
Try and see the logic though, that’s what I saw, because I never had the chance to ask her why she choose the second, but I know this much that she let it be felt that despite the fact that the first man had taught her what love was, the other taught her the meaning of it and what it took to be in love and fight for it. She’s a married woman now, with two children, she meets her old love now and then and tells me about him. She tells me to make a movie about her, she wants to be a star, but I guess it never will happen. A love that spans more than 2 decades is not new, but then its unique, it’s the story of a woman who fought for her love, overcame her emotions to be with her true love.
She hurt the first man, but he understood. At least I hope he did! Anyway to continue what I was telling you about this woman, who fought for her love and learnt how to keep it without it being hers. I learnt a life’s lesson from her, didn’t you?
I plan to make her life story famous one day, I want to see her happy. I want to be happy myself by seeing her happy. She’s a woman of exceptional beauty; deep within her I saw that charm, to leave what’s important to her so that others could be happy. I wish all of you could meet her. You would enjoy her company and of course her two little babies are lovely. But then you don’t need to, ‘cause you’ve been reading her life
I should have told him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Those were the golden days of my life. Higher studies, job, nice friends circle, my perfect looks and what not. I was enjoying life and learning the creativity of movements. The environment in my office was a bit orthodox. The family culture, one-man reporting etc., as it was the office was with 80% married workers, so what else one could expect about the atmosphere!
Then one day “he” arrived! Owner of a pleasing personality, good height and impressive communication skills were some of the noted positive aspects of him by me at the very first meeting. He was Rohit, the fresh postgraduate and son of our general manager’s best friend. He was in the same rank as I was and there was no doubt a daily chance to talk, play, eat and pass time with him.
Rohit as he told me later, was impressed with me at the very first glance. We started working together. One of my co-workers Seema was impressed with Rohit, as she told me later “it was love at first sight.”
Gradually we grew up with our friendship. Seema, Rohit and myself were the youngest group in the office. As we had to work together, things like going to city and discussions about office matters were always there. All the while there was no doubt that Seema was taking too much of interest in Rohit. Whenever she got a chance to go out with him she used to behave like something was going to happen that day.
“You know Tolly (as she use to call me by this name) today at least I am expecting that he would say something about what he feels about me. Should I go over with my make up again? Or is my dress okay to go out with him?” Those were some of the common questions she used to ask me before she visited him outside the office.
And one day something happened, I was enjoying my Sunday afternoon when I got a phone call. It was Rohit. I wasn’t expecting him to call as we had spent the whole day before together. We were having separate friends circle for Sundays or evenings after the office hours.
“Tolly this is Rohit.”
“What happened dear?”
“I just want to tell you something.”
“Yeah! Come up”’
“That Seema …she..”
“…”
“She crossed her limits today”
“What?”
“Yeah”
“What you want to say exactly?”
“Tolly! She sent me a flower bouquet of red roses and few chocolates with a proposal card…”
“Ha ha ha nice move. So what is it that you want to do? Just have fun!”
“Tolly you don’t understand...”
“What’s there to understand, she likes you.”
“The thing is… I”
“I like….”
“Someone else?”
“O yeah”
“Who is she?”
“……….”
“Come on Rohit you can tell me. What's your problem?”
“I just don’t know Tolly but I am not going to have Seema in my life…”
“Fine then, just tell her what you think. But you better do it calmly, you know how sensitive she is.”
“Yeah! I will do that. Do you think I should call her right now and tell everything?”
“May be.”
“Thanks Tolly, I will see you tomorrow.”
“Bye dear”.
We found next day that Seema had resigned and got a job in another city. We both knew what had happened. Rohit was really confused. We used to talk about this matter almost daily for a long long time.
Then I found a noticeable change in Rohit’s behavior. He was taking too much care of me. Whether I had my lunch on time, my tea breaks, and my parcels and off course he did half of my work as if it was his own responsibility.
I was feeling uncomfortable working on my system at my desk, as I was able to notice that he is constantly staring at me from his desk. Then he started to accompany me while leaving office. Our residences were in totally opposite directions but he found an excuse. One day it would be, “I just want to meet one of my friend in that area” or “my moms bank is near your place”.
Then slowly he started saying, “I just want to spend more time with you”.
Rohit was a perfect person in many ways but I had Shivam in my life. He was my collage mate. We studied together and now he was working in another city. We were in love for about 2 yrs and he never missed to call me even for a day in those 2 yrs. My parents were not agreeing our love, so we were trying to convince them for our marriage. Shivam had been recently promoted to a higher rank and that meant good income. So, things seemed little better with my parents.
Daily I wanted to clear the matter with Rohit but he was coming up with such an innocent argument, which made things difficult for me. So many times in our phone conversations he used to say, “hay Tolly, how foolish of that Seema to have resigned like that! Suppose I say that Tolly I love you and you say no then would I leave the office? Say Tolly, what would you do if I say something like that?”
In such a situation I used to have a really awkward feeling but then, I would change the topic towards office matters. On the other side, Shivam and my parents were ready for our marriage. Now I was in a paradox knowing that Rohit was madly in love with me while I was in love with Shivam. I maintained silence in front of Rohit. If I did not answer his questions, that meant that I was not saying an outright “no” to him, by which I am not hurting him in any way.
Things were getting worse day by day. So, suddenly I took a hard decision. I stopped talking to Rohit for two days and during that period I took my M.D. in confidence. I told him that within a month I was going to get married and may be even leave the place. So I requested him to relieve me as soon as possible. Things were done. I left the office saying that I was taking 1-month study leave. Rohit obviously had his own queries about me but I avoided him. Then I got married and happily said good-bye to my city.
It is five years long journey since then. I am now having a 3-year-old little Shivam. And I also know that Rohit is still working there, in that same office. One of my friends approached him for her cousin’s proposal in marriage and he come up that he would never marry…
My simple silence was my sin. Now I really feel sorry for him. I did injustice with his innocent feelings. I did not want to hurt him by saying the truth about Shivam. But by not doing so he must be thinking that I played with his heart knowing the fact that I won’t be able to be with him for long.
Still my moral pinches me that I should have told him…….
I am sorry Rohit !
Then one day “he” arrived! Owner of a pleasing personality, good height and impressive communication skills were some of the noted positive aspects of him by me at the very first meeting. He was Rohit, the fresh postgraduate and son of our general manager’s best friend. He was in the same rank as I was and there was no doubt a daily chance to talk, play, eat and pass time with him.
Rohit as he told me later, was impressed with me at the very first glance. We started working together. One of my co-workers Seema was impressed with Rohit, as she told me later “it was love at first sight.”
Gradually we grew up with our friendship. Seema, Rohit and myself were the youngest group in the office. As we had to work together, things like going to city and discussions about office matters were always there. All the while there was no doubt that Seema was taking too much of interest in Rohit. Whenever she got a chance to go out with him she used to behave like something was going to happen that day.
“You know Tolly (as she use to call me by this name) today at least I am expecting that he would say something about what he feels about me. Should I go over with my make up again? Or is my dress okay to go out with him?” Those were some of the common questions she used to ask me before she visited him outside the office.
And one day something happened, I was enjoying my Sunday afternoon when I got a phone call. It was Rohit. I wasn’t expecting him to call as we had spent the whole day before together. We were having separate friends circle for Sundays or evenings after the office hours.
“Tolly this is Rohit.”
“What happened dear?”
“I just want to tell you something.”
“Yeah! Come up”’
“That Seema …she..”
“…”
“She crossed her limits today”
“What?”
“Yeah”
“What you want to say exactly?”
“Tolly! She sent me a flower bouquet of red roses and few chocolates with a proposal card…”
“Ha ha ha nice move. So what is it that you want to do? Just have fun!”
“Tolly you don’t understand...”
“What’s there to understand, she likes you.”
“The thing is… I”
“I like….”
“Someone else?”
“O yeah”
“Who is she?”
“……….”
“Come on Rohit you can tell me. What's your problem?”
“I just don’t know Tolly but I am not going to have Seema in my life…”
“Fine then, just tell her what you think. But you better do it calmly, you know how sensitive she is.”
“Yeah! I will do that. Do you think I should call her right now and tell everything?”
“May be.”
“Thanks Tolly, I will see you tomorrow.”
“Bye dear”.
We found next day that Seema had resigned and got a job in another city. We both knew what had happened. Rohit was really confused. We used to talk about this matter almost daily for a long long time.
Then I found a noticeable change in Rohit’s behavior. He was taking too much care of me. Whether I had my lunch on time, my tea breaks, and my parcels and off course he did half of my work as if it was his own responsibility.
I was feeling uncomfortable working on my system at my desk, as I was able to notice that he is constantly staring at me from his desk. Then he started to accompany me while leaving office. Our residences were in totally opposite directions but he found an excuse. One day it would be, “I just want to meet one of my friend in that area” or “my moms bank is near your place”.
Then slowly he started saying, “I just want to spend more time with you”.
Rohit was a perfect person in many ways but I had Shivam in my life. He was my collage mate. We studied together and now he was working in another city. We were in love for about 2 yrs and he never missed to call me even for a day in those 2 yrs. My parents were not agreeing our love, so we were trying to convince them for our marriage. Shivam had been recently promoted to a higher rank and that meant good income. So, things seemed little better with my parents.
Daily I wanted to clear the matter with Rohit but he was coming up with such an innocent argument, which made things difficult for me. So many times in our phone conversations he used to say, “hay Tolly, how foolish of that Seema to have resigned like that! Suppose I say that Tolly I love you and you say no then would I leave the office? Say Tolly, what would you do if I say something like that?”
In such a situation I used to have a really awkward feeling but then, I would change the topic towards office matters. On the other side, Shivam and my parents were ready for our marriage. Now I was in a paradox knowing that Rohit was madly in love with me while I was in love with Shivam. I maintained silence in front of Rohit. If I did not answer his questions, that meant that I was not saying an outright “no” to him, by which I am not hurting him in any way.
Things were getting worse day by day. So, suddenly I took a hard decision. I stopped talking to Rohit for two days and during that period I took my M.D. in confidence. I told him that within a month I was going to get married and may be even leave the place. So I requested him to relieve me as soon as possible. Things were done. I left the office saying that I was taking 1-month study leave. Rohit obviously had his own queries about me but I avoided him. Then I got married and happily said good-bye to my city.
It is five years long journey since then. I am now having a 3-year-old little Shivam. And I also know that Rohit is still working there, in that same office. One of my friends approached him for her cousin’s proposal in marriage and he come up that he would never marry…
My simple silence was my sin. Now I really feel sorry for him. I did injustice with his innocent feelings. I did not want to hurt him by saying the truth about Shivam. But by not doing so he must be thinking that I played with his heart knowing the fact that I won’t be able to be with him for long.
Still my moral pinches me that I should have told him…….
I am sorry Rohit !
Dawn of courage
Courage was another name for the family of The Great Royas. It all got established more than hundred years ago, when one of their forefathers killed the man-eating tiger, when it went on rampage over the villagers. From then onwards, the family always thrived to keep that value with them. Later, another family member stood against the British soldier's gun in the freedom fight, creating a sensation in the surrounding villages. For that matter, just twenty years back, Vilasat Roya killed a wild bear just with his bare hands when it attacked him in the near by fields.
Having born in such a family was a pride for Josheel. From his childhood, who ever he met, always praised his family. Wherever he went, he always found somebody extolling his family in one or the other way, by quoting from their history. Listening to such kind of eulogies was always a joy for Josheel. But the only problem he ever had was that he was timid and coward in his heart. And he always tried to hide it from others.
It must have been fate, for Josheel was born as a weak-hearted person. His father, Vilasat Roya tried to train him in horse riding, shooting etc., but his ardent efforts could not change his son much. He gulped his displeasure with difficulty, and decided from then onwards not to think about it anymore. His mother, Renu always backed her son, from the comments of the family members. When there was a bullock cart race in the village, he was expected to participate and prove his family’s valor. But instead, he put up an act of breaking his leg and skipped the event. Even though, his family members were aware of the truth, they never used to comment on Josheel because they were afraid of Vilasat Roya. Even though he was timid, Josheel always had a brave face to the world, mainly because he never faced any demanding circumstance.
It all happened, when Josheel went to the neighborhood village country fair. The moment he saw her, he fell in love with her. He got separated from his friends, and went in search of her. He followed her wherever she went. If she took the giant wheel ride, he was there next to her in the queue. If she bought a cup of ice cream, he also bought one for himself. Despite many of his tricks, she never appeared to have noticed him at all.
For next couple of days, he roamed here and there in that village, sometimes alone and sometimes with the friends in the anticipation of meeting the girl somewhere. At last, one day he spotted her in the village bus station. She was getting into the bus for the town. He had no guts to stop the bus and talk to her. So, he chose the other option, following the bus till the town on his motorcycle. He stopped whenever the bus took a break, he picked up when the bus was speeding and he slowed down when the bus turned sluggish.
He followed her through the town streets and saw her disappear into a two-storied building. He sighed a relief with joy in his heart, for tracing down the girl to her home successfully. Next day, he appeared again in that colony neighborhood, in the name of business. He waited around the corner of the street for hours together. His efforts yielded, when she came out alone for the temple. He followed her to the temple and when he got a chance, he greeted and smiled at her, bringing out the best in him. She smiled back, as if she recognized his efforts for her attention.
It did not take long for both of them to fall in love deeply. They met almost everyday secretly, either in the temples or in the parks. Josheel was in high sprits ever since he met her. It was like he was on the top of the world. He started skipping his friends’ circle and all other family gatherings. He lied about some new business plans and always stayed in the town. Money was never problem for him, as his mother always backed him from childhood, whenever his father tried to cut his expenses.
Couple of weeks later, he took his friends circle into trust and told them about his love affair. They felt happy for him and encouraged him in his venture. Josheel tried to tell about his love to his mother, but he never got enough courage to do so. When his lover pushed him for marriage, he started worrying whether his parents would approve the alliance. She was beautiful and well mannered. Even though she was from the middle-class background, she went to the college and was matured in thinking and behavior. But, these things would not draw approval from his family members. There was a big gap between the two families, the gap between the rich and poor.
He debated a lot in his mind, how to deal with the situation. His took the advices from his friends, but none of those appeared to be feasible. That evening he met his girl in the temple. They sat silent for quite long time. Both their minds were filled with tensions, which lay ahead of their lives. In the entire history, love stories never ended well. There was no problem from the girl side. Only problem was with his high-class parents, who never had any respect for the poor, other than showing generosity to the poor, when it was demanded. He decided to bring the issue to the notice of his parents. Both the lovers prayed God, to settle the issue peacefully.
By the time he reached home, the news had already arrived. One of his uncles had come to know about his affair and informed his parents. Everybody in the family was waiting for him at home. It was like a trial by the jury. He was demanded an explanation. ‘I love her. I wanted to marry her’ were the only few words that came out of his mouth. His heart murmurs were not heard and his love was not acknowledged. Vilasat Roya took a decision that he was no to be allowed out of the house, till he promises to forget the girl.
Josheel was kept in house arrest. His mother asked him the details of the girl. He knew very well, she would understand him. But she was of little help; she could only share his grief. He refused to eat any meal; he turned weak and was about to faint. His father never showed any signs of relenting his decision, his cousins and sisters felt badly for him. Everybody knew him as a good-hearted person, and they wanted to help him, but nobody had the guts to talk to Vilasat Roya in this issue. Since the issue was linked to the family prestige, he was the only one who was authorized to take any decision.
It was the testing time for Josheel. He never had the guts even to talk to his father face to face. In his deep heart, he wanted to debate with his father. But, he knew very well that it would not be a reality. He argued with his mother and other cousins who came down to request him to eat some food. He announced his wish to die, rather than not marrying his girl. People around him were scared that he might commit suicide. His mother was most worried than anybody else; she never left him from that moment onwards.
The more and more he thought about his love, he became crazy. He wanted to revolt against his father and other family members. He questioned again and again the values they believed in. He was ready to forgo the prestige and pride of his family for his love. In his mind, a different plan took shape.
The next morning, he expressed his wish to eat some. Everybody felt relived and thought he had agreed to forget his girl. There was the pride of winning in his father’s eyes. Josheel felt agitated, but he suppressed his feelings, showed a calm face to others. His father announced unofficially that Josheel was to be married with one of their distant relative’s daughter, whose family was equal in status with them.
Later that day, Josheel managed to send a letter to one of his friend through his cousin brother. He made plans to run away from the home that night. He decided to go ahead and marry his lover, rather than yielding to his family prestige. He requested one of his friends to go to the town and take his lover to the city. Another friend was asked by him to pick him up in the midnight behind his house.
That night when everybody was asleep, Josheel slowly got up from his bed and sneaked into their backyard. In his mind, he bid farewell to his beloved mother. He joined his friend who was waiting on a motorcycle and both of them fled for the railway station to catch a train for the city. The decision he took would be changing his family history. That would damage his family prestige forever. His father might not excuse him for life long. He might not even see his parents again in his lifetime. His heart was heavy with sorrow and at the same time bewildered by the thought that he had gone against everybody in his family. He saw the signs of the courage in his heart, the same courage that his family boasted for years long.
Having born in such a family was a pride for Josheel. From his childhood, who ever he met, always praised his family. Wherever he went, he always found somebody extolling his family in one or the other way, by quoting from their history. Listening to such kind of eulogies was always a joy for Josheel. But the only problem he ever had was that he was timid and coward in his heart. And he always tried to hide it from others.
It must have been fate, for Josheel was born as a weak-hearted person. His father, Vilasat Roya tried to train him in horse riding, shooting etc., but his ardent efforts could not change his son much. He gulped his displeasure with difficulty, and decided from then onwards not to think about it anymore. His mother, Renu always backed her son, from the comments of the family members. When there was a bullock cart race in the village, he was expected to participate and prove his family’s valor. But instead, he put up an act of breaking his leg and skipped the event. Even though, his family members were aware of the truth, they never used to comment on Josheel because they were afraid of Vilasat Roya. Even though he was timid, Josheel always had a brave face to the world, mainly because he never faced any demanding circumstance.
It all happened, when Josheel went to the neighborhood village country fair. The moment he saw her, he fell in love with her. He got separated from his friends, and went in search of her. He followed her wherever she went. If she took the giant wheel ride, he was there next to her in the queue. If she bought a cup of ice cream, he also bought one for himself. Despite many of his tricks, she never appeared to have noticed him at all.
For next couple of days, he roamed here and there in that village, sometimes alone and sometimes with the friends in the anticipation of meeting the girl somewhere. At last, one day he spotted her in the village bus station. She was getting into the bus for the town. He had no guts to stop the bus and talk to her. So, he chose the other option, following the bus till the town on his motorcycle. He stopped whenever the bus took a break, he picked up when the bus was speeding and he slowed down when the bus turned sluggish.
He followed her through the town streets and saw her disappear into a two-storied building. He sighed a relief with joy in his heart, for tracing down the girl to her home successfully. Next day, he appeared again in that colony neighborhood, in the name of business. He waited around the corner of the street for hours together. His efforts yielded, when she came out alone for the temple. He followed her to the temple and when he got a chance, he greeted and smiled at her, bringing out the best in him. She smiled back, as if she recognized his efforts for her attention.
It did not take long for both of them to fall in love deeply. They met almost everyday secretly, either in the temples or in the parks. Josheel was in high sprits ever since he met her. It was like he was on the top of the world. He started skipping his friends’ circle and all other family gatherings. He lied about some new business plans and always stayed in the town. Money was never problem for him, as his mother always backed him from childhood, whenever his father tried to cut his expenses.
Couple of weeks later, he took his friends circle into trust and told them about his love affair. They felt happy for him and encouraged him in his venture. Josheel tried to tell about his love to his mother, but he never got enough courage to do so. When his lover pushed him for marriage, he started worrying whether his parents would approve the alliance. She was beautiful and well mannered. Even though she was from the middle-class background, she went to the college and was matured in thinking and behavior. But, these things would not draw approval from his family members. There was a big gap between the two families, the gap between the rich and poor.
He debated a lot in his mind, how to deal with the situation. His took the advices from his friends, but none of those appeared to be feasible. That evening he met his girl in the temple. They sat silent for quite long time. Both their minds were filled with tensions, which lay ahead of their lives. In the entire history, love stories never ended well. There was no problem from the girl side. Only problem was with his high-class parents, who never had any respect for the poor, other than showing generosity to the poor, when it was demanded. He decided to bring the issue to the notice of his parents. Both the lovers prayed God, to settle the issue peacefully.
By the time he reached home, the news had already arrived. One of his uncles had come to know about his affair and informed his parents. Everybody in the family was waiting for him at home. It was like a trial by the jury. He was demanded an explanation. ‘I love her. I wanted to marry her’ were the only few words that came out of his mouth. His heart murmurs were not heard and his love was not acknowledged. Vilasat Roya took a decision that he was no to be allowed out of the house, till he promises to forget the girl.
Josheel was kept in house arrest. His mother asked him the details of the girl. He knew very well, she would understand him. But she was of little help; she could only share his grief. He refused to eat any meal; he turned weak and was about to faint. His father never showed any signs of relenting his decision, his cousins and sisters felt badly for him. Everybody knew him as a good-hearted person, and they wanted to help him, but nobody had the guts to talk to Vilasat Roya in this issue. Since the issue was linked to the family prestige, he was the only one who was authorized to take any decision.
It was the testing time for Josheel. He never had the guts even to talk to his father face to face. In his deep heart, he wanted to debate with his father. But, he knew very well that it would not be a reality. He argued with his mother and other cousins who came down to request him to eat some food. He announced his wish to die, rather than not marrying his girl. People around him were scared that he might commit suicide. His mother was most worried than anybody else; she never left him from that moment onwards.
The more and more he thought about his love, he became crazy. He wanted to revolt against his father and other family members. He questioned again and again the values they believed in. He was ready to forgo the prestige and pride of his family for his love. In his mind, a different plan took shape.
The next morning, he expressed his wish to eat some. Everybody felt relived and thought he had agreed to forget his girl. There was the pride of winning in his father’s eyes. Josheel felt agitated, but he suppressed his feelings, showed a calm face to others. His father announced unofficially that Josheel was to be married with one of their distant relative’s daughter, whose family was equal in status with them.
Later that day, Josheel managed to send a letter to one of his friend through his cousin brother. He made plans to run away from the home that night. He decided to go ahead and marry his lover, rather than yielding to his family prestige. He requested one of his friends to go to the town and take his lover to the city. Another friend was asked by him to pick him up in the midnight behind his house.
That night when everybody was asleep, Josheel slowly got up from his bed and sneaked into their backyard. In his mind, he bid farewell to his beloved mother. He joined his friend who was waiting on a motorcycle and both of them fled for the railway station to catch a train for the city. The decision he took would be changing his family history. That would damage his family prestige forever. His father might not excuse him for life long. He might not even see his parents again in his lifetime. His heart was heavy with sorrow and at the same time bewildered by the thought that he had gone against everybody in his family. He saw the signs of the courage in his heart, the same courage that his family boasted for years long.
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