This is the story of a dear friend. I met her in my college days. Sorry, I can’t reveal her name for obvious reasons.
A boy proposed her when she was in school, in eighth grade. She refused, as they were just kids, moreover love marriages were a taboo in her orthodox family. But the boy was persistent. He did all the filmy things to win her, even gave her love letter written with blood. Yeah, that’s crazy, I know. It became impossible for a sweet little innocent girl to not fall for a smart, intelligent boy who wouldn’t stop trying. So, one day, still confused, she accepted his proposal. Well, accepted is not even the right word. She half accepted it.
She said they were too young and must wait till they reach a marriageable age. Then they can discuss it with their respective families, but till then they will be just friends. Sort of #halfgirlfriend thing. Though, at that time, there existed no such word. Time passed and their bonding grew, but being a part of an orthodox family the girl could somehow never convince herself for love marriage. In those times using a word like boyfriend in front of parents was no less dropping a grenade on them. After about 8 years of their friendship, she wrote a letter that was so long it could compete with a novella. She wrote it over days, capturing her tangled emotions in pages over pages, asking for a break up. Long back a love letter written with blood united them and years later a letter burdened under the weight of a responsible daughter departed them. He broke up. Though she had asked for it, but still him accepting the break up broke her and she used to cry for hours. I still remember once we were travelling in bus and the song played in the background “dil deta hai ro ro duhai kisi se koi pyaar na kare” (heart is in pain and pleads not to fall in love). she cried for hours listening to that song. Till date, whenever I hear that song her face clouds my memory.
Soon she shifted to another city because of her father’s job transfer. We couldn’t talk much after that since there were no mobiles and internet wasn’t easily available. After a few years, she invited me to her marriage. I couldn’t gather the courage to ask if she was happy or if she still missed her old friend. I congratulated her and wondered if her old friend knew this or not? And if yes, how he must feel? I think a lot, even about people I have never met. May be that’s the reason I get the answers, sometimes even years later.
Years passed, and I joined a firm where I met a man whose name was same as that of the boy I am talking about. Thoughts of my friend cluttered my mind as I was being introduced to him. As soon as I was back to my cabin I checked his file. (A benefit of being in HR Dept. You can access all employee files.)
I checked his resume.
Same surname
Same school Same year of passing Married
And the file fell from my hand. It was odd, because my friend was married and it was wrong to expect he was still unmarried. A thousand thoughts cluttered my mind and the most prominent one was does he still remember her? Well, again the answer awaited me.
Our office was on outskirts of the city and one day I missed my office bus, so the same colleague offered me lift. I had no choice but to take the offer of the gentleman. When he started talking I was surprised for I never knew he was so talkative. He talked about his wife and kids.
And then…
He spoke about school. He said “I had such wonderful friends in school. One was so special”
And there was a sudden pause as he was lost in some other world. I got my answer.
Life has its strange ways. They both are at happy places, faithful to their respective partners, somewhere still preserving the precious moments lost in time. I was a witness to a beautiful story that unfolded bit by bit and I got all my answers. Answers that told me separation is not always a sad ending. Love is not only about marriage. It is about a bond that connects two people beyond time and place.
I was inspired to write this post after watching trailer of the upcoming Hindi romantic film Half Girlfriend. It is based on the novel of the bestselling author “Chetan Bhagat” and has a fabulous star cast of Arjun Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor.
The trailer successfully captures the confused mind of today’s youth. Friend or girlfriend? Sometimes people are unsure what they want. Their priorities waver between society and love, ambitions and relationships. And a havoc is created when one is sure and the other is not, what exactly happens here. Our smart but non-English speaking Madhav falls in love with the sexy and suave Riya, who is unsure of her relationship with Madhav. And hence starts the roller coaster of emotional ride that pulls you to the extremes of joy and then drags you to the depths of pain. The passion in the eyes of the hero is what I liked the most. The surety, the commitment, dipped in a wave of pain – it always attracts me and so it did this time. The movie looks promising and I will join their roller coaster ride as soon as it hits the theatre on 19th May. What about you?
It was a perfect
relationship. Of love? Friendship? I don’t know. I just know it was perfect.
They
were inseparable. So, may be yes, it was love. May be.
When
she dreamt of becoming a bird, he gave her the wings. He gave her the wand when
she wanted to be a fairy. They cried together for Cinderella and laughed
together at stupid jokes. Nothing was too small to be ignored, nothing too big
to be serious. Tears or smiles, silly questions or stupid answers; they walked
together. Always.
Oh,
I just realised I didn't introduce you to the stars of the story.
She
was childhood.
And
he was innocence.
Perfectly
entwined with each other theirs was a perfect affair. And together they could
feel everything, things they didn’t even understand. It was magic. Pure magic.
But
then time casted its spell and the magic began to fade.
Her
tiny steps strode towards a broad world and he was left behind. He tried to
follow but couldn’t keep pace, his traces getting fainter day by day. Too
desperate to hold on to her he also travelled towards a new identity.
And
they are still friends, but they can never match the relationship of childhood
and innocence.
Hey
wait, before I confuse you, let me clarify, our little child actors are now
grown up and they are;
Youth
And
ego
Their
bonding is still strong; it is just that they sometimes fail to understand each
other though they understand the outer world perfectly.
It
is like a magic show; reason overrules the concept of miracle. It is more
important to understand; feelings have taken a back seat. Oh, the difference
between magic show and pure magic :(
Sometimes
she still wants to chase the butterflies, but he won’t let her, he wants to
walk back in time, but she stops him. And when they embrace each other, they do
it just too tight and suffocate each other.
Yes,
bestowed with beauty, strength and energy youth has a lot to boast of but her
true friend was left behind somewhere in the labyrinth of time. And with its
endless affair with pride, sometimes it is at a lonely place.
The
pure magic sometimes still sparkles when it rains, and she walks our bare feet.
Rainbow is a pure magic. But then mind starts to reason, and the rainbow is a
no more a magic, it is reflection, refraction and dispersion of light. And she can’t
be stupid to dance in rain, she has more important things to do. The magic
dries with the rain and what is left behind is the void of a perfect but broken
affair.
