I yelled. She yawned. And, my Youth revived.

Hundred times probably I said the same thing to her on phone…my dukhbhari kahani…. Today, she invited me her home to listen to my story again….

“Truth is, my life is nothing like what I thought it would be.” I opened my chapter again….

“Did I tell you how hard I worked – infact, how hard we worked -- to keep it together?” I continued….

Sweta was indifferent. I yelled. She yawned. 

She asked me to stop my story for a while…..I got angry. 

She went to an another room and came back with someone…..I was shocked. My eyes became bulging….Un-believable…..What Raj was doing there? He just entered the room and smiled at me, asked me, “How are you Ronita?”

I stood up….with my blank eyes and lips…..

Raj was a guitarist. We did few programs together. He was adorable, he was good looking. I fell for him… he fell for me too.  We had been going around for two years. 

I was not great in study, but I was popular as a singer. And people used to bring lots of marriage proposals for me as I was beautiful, popular and kind-hearted. My family was a well-established one, people used to refer as ‘aristocratic family’.

My parents started taking interest in all those proposals when I was 24. My marriage got almost fixed with a guy who used to work in the USA. I started discussing all these stuff with my best friend Sweta. Raj and I met at her home couple of times to discuss about our future. Raj was not established, he was still a student as he was just one year senior to me. And he had no one except his mom who was a tailor.

We were helpless.  What to do. I proposed to elope. But, Raj said, that he wanted to approach my parents once, before taking any step...And he did. But, my dad directly refused, without even listening to him fully, so did my mom too.

My parents took a strong step of not allowing me to go out at all, till my marriage. I cried. I cried for many days. One day, Sweta came home. She carried one letter for me from Raj. He had written a detailed plan how we could elope.

Accordingly, action started. Early morning, I started walking in my garden regularly for three days.  My mom used get up early too, but she generally used to take bath immediately. My dad used to get up a bit late. So, when the day came, I was ready with all my certificates and some money. Exactly at 6:30 am, one ambassador car came and stopped in front of our gate. I ran towards it quickly….and yes, Raj was already there. The driver drove like the hero of fast and furious. I was almost sure that probably, no one had seen me……but unfortunately, my dad informed all the police stations so quickly that they caught us on our way.

I had to get married to the guy my parents had chosen and move to USA. Now, I came back with my 5 year old kid as things were not working out properly in between us. At last, we had the divorce.

“You guys talk…..let me make some coffee for you two…..”, I came to my reality with Sweta’s voice.

“I am good, Raj. How are you?” I answered to Raj’s question. 

“I was good…..better now – meeting you after almost ten years…”

“What about your family….Sorry, I never searched you on facebook or any other social media….nor asked any of our common friends…” I told him clearly…

“But, I know almost everything about you. I am established now….have 20 music institutes. I have not married yet….could not erase my first love from my heart and soul. Thought of being an ever-green bachelor…but, if you say 'yes' – I can revive my youth…infact our youth…..”

Raj looked serious; I could see brightness in his face and twinkle in his eyes.

Xerox Copy turned out to be lucky for me

We had a love marriage. We struggled a lot to get married. Yes! Literally, we wriggled with our parents. My hubby was tall, handsome, smart, well educated, ambitious guy. But, I was short, dark, and loved simple living, normal thinking.  And, above and all, we were from different religions. Many a times, I had been feeling insecure….and many a times, I wonder why he had fallen for me…..

In fact, I asked this question to him many a times…..But, he used to be silent…never replied to this question.

Now, it’s the 25^th years of our wedding. In a way, we have a successful married life with two kids. Kids planned to have a celebration. We all were excited…..

On our anniversary day, I got up early….I kept looking at his face for a while….He became quite old. But, he still carried the same charm. He got up after a while. He wished me happy anniversary….kissing on my forehead…

“Only a wish?” I said.

“No, No, wait….I have something to give…..”

He took out a diamond pendant with a gold chain and earrings. I was happy to see that but, was not greatly excited. 

“What else you want? Ask me, I will give you whatever you want today my love!”  He understood looking at my expression that I wanted something more.

“Promise?” I immediately replied.

 “Yes!” He hugged me tight.

“Tell me the truth…..why you married me?” I utilized the opportunity.

He was silent again….

“Now, we are already 60’s…..just few years we will live…..my soul will not get rest if you would not tell me the truth…. I promise you, I would not react…..I promise…”

He was silent for a while……

“I will tell you tonite….”

I kept patience for the whole day, whole evening…..eagerly waiting for the end of the celebration….

He was standing in the balcony, after having dinner. I went ahead and stood beside him….

“You want the answer?” He said without looking at me.

“Yes!”

“I fell for you as you were the Xerox copy of my dream girl….who was a teacher of mine in school.”

I just laughed and thanked my Xerox copy for giving me my so lovely hubby.

Wild in Wood

Decades back. It was summer vacation. I went to my grand parents’ village like every year. I loved the village as there were so many boys like me. I think I was 13 or 14 years old then. It was our time to reconnoiter the jungle, make robotic stuff, fishing, and create new stories everyday.

One day, we all boys planned to explore the nearby forest, which was adjacent to a hill. After having early breakfast, we started our journey……We walked almost four kilometers to reach the forest. We entered the jungle…..It was different kind of experience for me as I used to live in a concrete jungle – buildings all around.  My friends started writing their names on the trees, some guys wrote their girl friend or secret lover’s names covering with a heart sign. 

One guy proposed, “Let’s play one game! We will divide ourselves into two groups and gather fruits from the jungle. We will have one hour of time limit.”

Everyone agreed. Unfortunately, I and another guy – both had to stay in the same place , wait and check who would come back first and then, declare the winner. 

All proceeded in their expedition. Almost half an hour was over. 

Suddenly, I heard few people running towards our side with dow, axe, sickle and stick… We were horrified, brought our souls to our pockets…..looking at our dying moments so close….

“Run! Run! Boys….GajaRaj’s troupe is coming towards this side…..Save yourself!”  Oops! Thank God! They were wood cutters, alarmed us about the elephants’ expected movement.

We were clueless what to do now. How to inform our friends about this news…

I thought of shouting loud and call them. But, my friend asked me not to shout as it might harm us. We were trying to think of a way to inform them…

Suddenly, we heard some sound of  breaking trees. We looked back…..Oh My God! What was that! A spectacular scene…..almost 50 elephants were walking one after another…..along with few calves. A scene to cherish…unexplainable. I remembered the saying that when elephants walk, no one hear their footsteps…..And I could see and feel that…Both of us were awestruck. Quickly, we hide ourselves behind a bush and kept ourselves with pin-drop silence.

Suddenly, I could feel some soft touch from behind. I was about to shout……I looked back with courage….All our friends were standing behind us silently…..watching that spectacular scene.