And then we met again and again…

Our training had commenced and the teachers cruised at full speed from morning to evening transforming us from college studs to professional nerds. I was headed to become the master of Open Systems in a few months while she was efficiently cracking .Net codes day and night.
After my first meeting with her, we met again a few times, sometimes in ECC or occasionally in food courts. Those meetings were formal, we usually discussed about grades we got, next subjects we’ve to face, the final compres etc. After a few months, I got shifted into in-house accommodation of the company which awarded me a better chance of meeting her more often, sometimes while returning from training center at night, or during my dinner at one of the food courts. We were usually hi-bye friends at that time, the cold crust of ice was still present.
One night I was playing table tennis with my colleagues. After losing my game to the experts (it was pretty usual), I went out of the TT court to refurbish myself. After revitalizing myself with some calories I lost during the last TT session, I returned back to give another shot. I saw the same girl sitting on the couch outside the TT court with one of her friend. She held the rackets in her hand and was looking at me. A thought occurred “This girl is pretty. She is a topper and she plays TT too. And look at yourself sleepyhead.” I went towards her and greeted her. We chatted for some time and then she asked me if I’d like to try some TT shots with her. I went along and also asked her friend if she’d like to join. She seemed least interested. I gave her a detested look and thought ‘What an attitude!’ We played for some time. Her TT shots were not as perfect as her grades in undergraduate but she managed to shoot back the ball back to my side. We had already decided not to keep the scoring system while we played, so that none of us gets embarrassed after losing the game. After 20 mins of non-stop session, we finally concluded the game and wished each other goodnight.
The melting of ice had begun, we started playing TT, watched our first movie together and even talked sometimes on phone. Then came Diwali and we got a 3 day break from our training. Most of my friends planned to visit their respective homes during this short vacation. I preferred to stay back. Before Diwali night, she called me again for playing TT. I came and we played a few games. Even her “not so interested” friend was showing interest in me today and she also played a few shots with me. Maybe girls are like that, mood swings are a part of their life. Suddenly a bull size guy came and started talking to these two girls. The guy looked stylo, had a strong built and was wearing typical adidas sweat shirt. By his level of comfort, I judged that he must be their college friend. He offered me to play. I accepted. I served the ball and he responded back with a daunting shot. The ball hit my chest. He gave a conceited smile. I was unable to handle his shots and he was hitting me like anything, sometimes at my chest, sometimes at arms and even once on my face. He got a sense of satisfaction everytime he hit me hard. He didn’t leave a single chance of dominating over me in front of the girls. Finally the game was over and I was smothered by him to his satisfaction. However I maintained my cool and we decided to go to FC2 for dinner. So me, my girl, “Miss not so interested” and “Mr. Stylo” headed towards FC2.
There was nothing much left for late comers in FC2. We had some meager options of dosa, a south Indian meal, sandwich and calorie puffed pizza. Everyone opted for a pizza. We started casual discussions on myriad topics ranging from the college stuffs to technical know-hows to my time pass tricks, pranks etc. I soon became the central narrator and the girls got just too interested in my narrations. We laughed every now and then. “Mr. Stylo” started feeling uncomfortable. He was quietly devouring his pizza while “my girl” and the other one paid attention to me. Finally after a good laughter session of about 30 minutes, everyone was light and bubbly except the guy. I finally beamed and thought “Mr. Stylo, you might be better at hitting me with TT balls, but when it comes to hitting with words, I’m the best.”
The next morning was Diwali and for the first time, instead of ‘preparing for the Diwali night’, I was lying on my bed surfing TV channels with air conditioner blowing like hell on my head. The yearly ritual of sending Diwali SMS was over and it included the new girl too. During afternoon I got a call on my hostel number. It was her. She wanted to have lunch with me. I said “Cool!” She wanted me to be ready in an hour for the lunch. I was ready on time and had started feeling hungry insanely. I called her up but got no response. After waiting for an extended amount of time, I decided to give preference to my stomach and therefore left for the FC alone. I got a call from her after some time when I came to know that she started taking hair bath which took a complete one hour. The hair bath and my propensity to please my stomach took our lunch away.
I met her again during Diwali night outside the campus. She’d gone to an old age home with her friends to share her happiness of Diwali. She looked pretty in her Indian dress. We decided to go out for dinner in a dhaba outside the campus. After having a full course of Punjabi meal, we returned back. I was walking with her and occasionally helped her cross the road clasping her hands with mine. I didn’t know why but I liked the company of this girl and she made my Diwali more lightful this year.
A few days passed and we continued to meet almost daily. Finally came the postings. Our training was complete. I was offered the base location Mysore while she got posted to Bangalore. She was heartbroken coz she expected Pune. We had a brief posting and transportation session in MG Auditorium at late evening. There was nothing much for me in this session. Anyways I would be here in Mysore itself. After coming out of the room I saw her again. She was standing in a corner with one of her friend. Her eyes were red and was occasionally using her handkerchief to wipe her tears. I went straight to her. I tried to console her. Bangalore after all is not a bad place but she needed Pune badly. After 15-20 mins of discussion, I succeeded in bringing the same smile back on her face. She finally got convinced that she can try for a transfer from Bangalore itself, so why not just enjoy the place for some time. We decided to have our dinner at Floating Restaurant that night to celebrate our completion of training instead of being dismal about the postings.
Finally came the day when she had to leave for Bangalore. We both had developed good friendship. Her bus was about to depart for Bangalore within 15 mins from Building no 14. She called me up. I was sitting in SDB4 sad and down. I came down to meet her. We exchanged a few goodbyes and take cares. We finally shook hands. I wanted to stop her. I wanted her to stay back with me. My face muscles were paining after being stretched enough due to the fake smile. But I couldn’t. She finally left with her head down. I turned around and went back to my office. Mysore chapter was over. She had gone.
Thoughts deluged my mind. Why was I missing her so much? After all she’s just my friend. I made so many friends during my training. I met so many girls in the training, then what’s so special about her? Why do her thoughts haunt me? Why is she always in my mind? Why? Shall we ever meet again? I had no answers. I had no clue. Emotions were at their best; didn’t let my mind rest.

The first meeting

Life is a journey of events, a few of which are a result of our deeds while the rest are decided by our fate or destiny. While most of these events are of sublime flavor which just impact our life to a slight extent, but a few impede so hard, that life takes a new shape and a complete new course is shaped.

A similar incidence happened with me few years ago, a co-incidence bestowed upon so as to turn my life in a complete new direction. This proved to be a turning point of my life and it transformed me into a completely new person. A freelancer boy as I was, became dedicated towards someone, got an objective to achieve and finally learnt how to love. This change didn’t happen overnight. It took its time, but it transformed me into a better person.

It was around August 2007 and I was amongst the group of engineers freshly recruited by one of India’s dream IT Company. We stayed in hotels in the central Mysore city. It was a usual early morning when I was waiting for my company bus to arrive. I neatly tucked up my tie coz it was getting below my belt. Being a part of India’s finest organization, I always advocated perfect attire.

The bus came perfectly on time and me and my friend boarded it. My friend captured window seat on the third row while I took the middle one beside him. The aisle seat to my left was empty when the bus started. I smirked in my mind on the thought that I can utilize this extra space to give my body some extra comfort, stretching my legs a bit towards the free space.

But after a few hundered meters, the bus driver stopped the bus again and I saw a bunch of girls entering the bus. This was unexpected. The company had clearly segregated transportation of boys and girls, then how can these silly girls enter our bus, a thought came to my mind. I had made up my mind to continue the utilization of that extra space I got on my left, and had clear plans not to entertain anyone. But soon I heard a feminist voice ‘Please shift a bit.’ There was a girl standing next to my seat and she wanted to grab that space of mine. I felt uncomfortable, but as a sign of courtesy, I shifted and she got the space to fit herself in. She was of bright complexion with medium height. She was wearing a light-grey salwaar-kurta which was covered by dark-grey dupatta on her shoulders. She had straight hairs and was sitting quietly beside me.

Initially I thought to remain quiet, anyways we were about to reach our office in 15-20 mins. But then an unexpected urge came from inside that I should start some conversation with her. I was unsure what should I do. This uncertainty prevailed for some time, when finally I showed some guts and said “Hi, I’m Rochak”. She responded politely and said her name. Slowly and gradually our conversation began to take momentum and we started talking about plethora of topics. She was different, was not like the other girls around. She was mature. She was polite. She was from Mumbai and most of her sentences ended with typical maharashtrian syllable “re”. I felt a bit of inferiority complex on learning that she was the college topper. But the fact that she was so down to earth eased me. We developed good acquaintance in the 20 min journey to our office.

Finally we reached our office and we de-boarded the bus together. After exchanging good-byes we went away in our respective directions. This appeared a completely normal meeting to me (although un-expected). But life had some bigger plans for both of us. This was just the beginning. The field was ready; only seeds were about to be sown.