“Alright alright, I don’t want to
force you for anything”, Sagnik said.
“Thank you”, Dipanita replied.
“Well, in that case you please
continue your story”, Bidya said to Sagnik.
“Oh yes”, he said and smiled.
……
……
……
“Wh..aa..at, ar..e y..ouu…”
“You??? Oh my God, you are mr. S? What
were you talking about Anchal?” she enquired, totally astounded. Sagnik looked
back to the text but till then his cell got discharged, he was totally
confused.
Suddenly Smitha got a call; it was
Aditi on the other side. At first she got no pluck to pick up the call hence
she disconnected the line. Once again Aditi gave her a call and then finally
she got to receive it.
“Hi”, Smitha said timidly.
“What’s wrong with you? Where were
you? I was calling you since long.”
“Actually… umm…”
“Anyways, I wanted to say that I’m
very happy”, Aditi said merrily.
“Why???” she pretended. So I guess there
problem got solved, Sagnik and she got committed. I wish…
“We exchanged number yesterday night
and we talked over the phone the whole night and it was awesome talking to
him”, she did sound very happy.
“That’s sounds great. What about your
date with Sagnik?”
“Date??? Sagnik??? I couldn’t get
you”, she said.
“Today you were about to meet your
internet guy, isn’t?”
“No, we are going to meet next
Friday”, she said.
“What???”
For a moment Sagnik gazed at her and
couldn’t think of composing any sentence, the weirdest thing had happened to
him. The girl he couldn’t get out of his mind was standing infront of him, he
almost forgot about Smitha’s text.
“Anchal??? But … Oh, my god”, he said.
“Mr. S??? You???” she was surprised too.
“Ms. A??? You???”
“Hold on a second, what did you just
say?” she enquired.
“Well, I am freaked out myself, you
are ms. A?” What
did Smitha text? She said about Aditi…
“Well, you were talking about… Anchal,
is that Anchal me or someone else?” she winked at him and he blushed. Later
Sagnik said her everything, how he felt for Anchal and he even apologized; she
got convinced too. Sagnik was very happy that his ‘Ms. A’ was none but Anchal
herself but at the same time he was terrified about Smitha’s text. After their
meeting got over, they decided to chat at night and ofcourse they exchanged
their numbers. As soon as Sagnik reached home, he called back Smitha and
enquired what the matter was?
“Hi”, she said.
“I couldn’t get your text regarding
Aditi.”
“Oh, I heard that your meeting got
cancelled, so excited about next Friday?”
“Cancelled?? Who told you??? I had my
date with ‘ms. A’, infact I had an awesome day”, he said.
“What? But Aditi said your meeting got
cancelled…”
“No, how did she come to know about my
date?”
“Isn’t she your ‘ms. A’?”
“No, my ‘ms. A’ is my Anchal”, he
giggled.
“Who is this Anchal?” Smitha enquired
and then she told Sagnik the entire conversation with Aditi and her internet
guy. For an instant, Sagnik couldn’t believe his ears, he then decided to give
a call to Aditi and ask her the entire matter. He disconnected the line and
rang Aditi and whereas Smitha, she was completely confounded after hearing
Sagnik’s part of story.
“Hello, Aditi”, Sagnik said.
“Yup, say…”
“What’s the matter regarding the
internet guy? I’m confused.”
“Who told you?”
“Lizard, ofcourse, she was almost
crying”, he said and narrated the entire thing including his story, Anchal and
ofcourse the date.
“What?? Oh, my God”, she laughed hard.
“I can’t believe this…”
“Arrey, why are you laughing?”
“Sorry… sorry”, she giggled. “Actually
I was imagining if what Smitha said is true, means you and me…”
“Shut up, Aditi”, Sagnik mocked.
“Well, you never said about your internet guy…”
“I tried to confess, you remembered my
birthday party and I wanted to say something…”
“Oh! Yes.”
“My internet guy was not from our
locality, he is from Delhi and we never met each-other but we exchanged our
photos”, she said.
“Aditi, I’m very happy. I met my ‘ms.
A’ and she is my angel”, he blushed.
“Aww… our life is so very same isn’t
it? I mean our love story is so much same”, she said innocently.
“Ya, ofcourse and that’s the reason we
are best friends.”
They chatted for a while and then
called Smitha and were talking in conference. They cleared every mess and
laughed very hard, though it was difficult for Smitha to digest everything but
she didn’t grumble at all. Everything was moving so smooth, Sagnik and Anchal
started conversing over the telephone late into nights. Love was in the air,
the innocent love just learnt to fly high. Both of them planned their first
date, they were about to meet near the some Mandir. J
“I’m coming, just wait for few minutes,
please”, Sagnik said.
“Ya, come soon”, Anchal replied. She
waited nearly for forty-five minutes; Sagnik somehow reached the spot and he
managed to bring sweets for her. When Sagnik was standing at the other side of
the road, he saw Anchal wearing a red churidar and indeed she looked stunning.
“Hi, I’m sorry for being late”, he
said.
“Ya, it’s ok”, she smiled.
“Let’s go.”
“Umm... actually I have a request to
you”, she stammered.
“What? Are you okay?”
“Actaully, could you please maintain a
distance from me, the people over here know me well”, she said.
“Oh, ya, whatever you say…” what, I can’t
even hold your hand? This is not done!!
Then they hired a taxi and went to
College Street, in the mean time Anchal gave Sagnik her pencil sketch which she
had done of her own. She was an incredible sketcher and the sketch did impress
Sagnik a lot. He was very happy to see the sketch and then he gave her some
sweets which he brought from Gangurams but she refused to take them.
“I’m sorry, I can’t take them”, she
apologized.
“Why?”
“I can’t take, that’s it”, she said
and looked away. For a moment, Sagnik felt weird about her behavior but he
didn’t say a word. He tried to be normal as he could sense something wrong with
her. They reached College Street, the place was of huge rush generally; that
day it was comparatively less. Sagnik took his camera and was busy taking
pictures of the scenario where as Anchal was busy buying Bible or Gita kind of
books. Sagnik then focused Anchal while she was busy gazing at the books; he
kept on clicking till he realized that he got enough for the moment to be
cherished. While Anchal wasn’t looking at him, he was busy looking at each
girls that passed by and then he pretended that he didn’t notice them. After
the work was done, Sagnik asked her to accompany him to the café but she
hesitated like a sulky child.
“What’s wrong with you?” Sagnik
enquired.
“Nothing”, she said and looked away.
“Please…”
Finally she agreed and they went to
the nearby café and ordered noodles. Sagnik took out his personal diary and
gave it to Anchal; she looked at him and smiled.
“I want you to write something about
me”, he said.
“Well, good-points or bad ones”, she
giggled.
“Your wish”, he winked at her. While
she was busy writing, he once again clicked few pictures of her. When he showed
his photography, Anchal was almost in tears, she was very much impressed with
his works.
“You are the best photographer I have
ever come across”, she said.
“Oh! Really, thank you so much sweet heart.”
“Please can we go somewhere else, I
want to talk to you”, she requested.
“What’s wrong with the cafe?”
“Please…”
“Okay”, he said. They went out of the
café and went to the nearby park and sat at the pool side. Sagnik looked at
Anchal and she was very restless, he tried to make her laugh but he failed at
it.
“How much do you love me?” Anchal
enquired, she wasn’t looking at him.
“A lot”, he replied and held her hand
for the first time. She looked at him and her eyes were full of tears.
“I want to give IIT”, she said.
“What? Oh…”
“But they won’t allow me to live my
life”, she sobbed.
“Who???”
“My parents… my family they are very
conservative and orthodox, they are very back-dated.”
“This is indeed sickening, what’s
wrong if you want to pursue IIT.”
“My brother…”
“What???”
“He is jealous of me in every aspect,
since we were small. I don’t know why is he so upset with me, I always tries to
please him but he always wants me to get tortured.”
“Calm down sweetheart, stop crying”,
he hugged her tightly.
“I’m afraid that he would tell mom and
dad about our relationship”, she sobbed badly.
“Stop crying baby”, he said almost in
tears.
“He came to know about us, he tracked
my account. Though my youngest brother helped me a lot but I’m still afraid. He
knew that today I was about to meet you…”
“Nothing will happen and if at all
anything happens, you are not alone. I’m always by your side, forever.”
“You don’t know my family, they will
kill me. For them their self-esteem and tradition is more valuable than their
daughter’s life”, she said.
Ring!!!
“It’s Mom, ssshhhh”, she said and
picked up the call. She talked for a while and then looked at him. She said
that her mom sounded fretful and she got to depart instantaneously. She wiped
away the tears and looked at him directly into his eyes and so did he, they
kissed each-other. After a second or two, she hurried to the bus-stand but
before she could go, Sagnik held her hand and pulled her towards himself.
“Please, take these sweets”, he
requested. At first she hesitated a bit but then finally looking at his
innocent expression she accepted her defeat. When Sagnik returned home, he
looked at her pictures which he captured the whole day long and he lost himself
in her memories. Her innocence attracted him more and at the same time he was
worried about her. He didn’t know about their future but he made himself
determined that no matter what happens he would never leave her alone. He would
be her strength and support, he would never let her dishearten. Suddenly
Sagnik’s cell beeped; it was Anchal’s text.
I
shard dos sweets wid mom, dad n wid mah bros.. dey jus luvd it.. J
Wat
about u, my luv?
I
luv u, so naturally watevr u gft me, I’l luv dem.. J
I
luv u so much mah angl, I wil nvr lev u my baby.
I’m
so happy to hv u in mah lyf… :*
“You were with that guy, isn’t it?”
the boy said.
“Oh, bhai… actually… I went to College
Street to buy those books”, she stammered.
“Don’t lie, I got my eyes on you”,
Avisek said sternly and then left. Anchal stood still, she was in trouble
because she was sure that her brother would again do something wrong. She was
getting herself mentally prepared for it, though it wasn’t a new thing for her;
whenever she tried to be happy, her brother always created some nuisances and
hurt her every time. All she was worried about Sagnik, he loved her crazily and
this time he was also involved. The relation had to end someday because
Anchal’s parents would never accept them but she never wanted it in a harsh
way. She was completely devastated because Sagnik wasn’t the only reason, her
boards were also about to knock the door and her dream of IIT would get shattered
any moment. She worked so hard for her dreams but at that point of time, she
could see only darkness. She never shared those stuffs with anyone; she was too
lonely though she was surrounded by her loved ones. Things were going smooth on
Sagnik’s side but what Anchal feared the most happened, her parents got aware
of the relationship. Avisek told everything to her mother and her mother said
the stuffs to her dad.
“Do you know this number?” Anchal’s
father shouted her, showing her the mobile bill. She was terrified and looked
helplessly at Avisek but he smiled.
“Papa, that’s my friend’s number”,
Anchal’s younger brother, Rohaan said in her support. Anchal’s father looked at
Rohaan in anger; the little boy swallowed a lump.
“No dad, Rohaan is lying, it’s his
number, you call him back”, Avisek poked in.
“I think I should complain to police”,
her dad said.
“Suniye ji, aap police mein complain
karenge, kitni badnami hogi hamari”, Anchal’s mother said.
“Aapki beti ne kuch baki rakha kya?”
“No, papa, I’m sorry. I won’t do
anything against you, I will listen to you, please don’t involve police”, she
cried.
Slap!
Slap!
Her father slapped her twice, blood
oozed out from the corner’s of her lips. She looked helplessly but he showed no
mercy.
“Aapko hum school pardne bheje the,
yeh sab kya hai?”
“Papa, she started all these stuffs
since the day you get her admitted in that coaching institute. She wanted to be
an IITian so that she can run away with her guy”, Avisek added.
“No, papa, IIT is my dream, and Sagnik,
he wasn’t involve in anyway”, she said.
“So, that’s his name”, her mother
said. “You are so unabashed; there was no one like you in our family.”
“From today no coaching institute and
no going out with friends, you only go to school and that to with the driver”;
his father said unsympathetically and turned his back towards her.
“Please don’t do this papa, I want IIT
more than anything in this world, don’t hurt me like this, I beg you.”
“Aapko pehle sochna chahiye tha…”
“Papa, please, I won’t talk to him…”
“Go to your room”, he shouted. She
stood terrified, her dreams were shattered. She stood motionless and then she
looked at her mother but she looked away. Rohaan held her hand and tried to
comfort her.
“Papa asked you to go to your room, so
go”, Avisek ordered.
“If any day I come to know that you
spoke to that guy for one more time, I will kill him; I will not spare you
even, you will be sent to our village and no more schooling for you after
that…”
Her father sentenced the worst
punishment; she ran back to her room and locked herself. She cried a lot, there
were no-one with whom she could share her pain. She couldn’t contact Sagnik as
she knew her father would do exactly what he had said; moreover she couldn’t
hurt Sagnik for her foolishness.
“I shouldn’t have said him yes, I
should have stayed alone. For the first time I felt so happy to be in his arms
but…” she cried out loud and hugged her pillow. On the other side Sagnik called
her cell-phone but it was switched off, he mailed her but she didn’t reply. He
got worried but he could do nothing; he called Aditi for help but she too got
no news of her. Anchal didn’t visit school for few days as she was afraid to
face Sagnik and moreover she got to prepare for her IIT by herself. A week
passed both Anchal and Sagnik were not in touch, and each day they missed
each-other like anything. God didn’t show His mercy on their love, the wings of
the young love was cut off before it could fly high.
“Di, you ok???” Rohaan asked naively.
“Yup”, she pretended to be very busy.
“Ap, chinta mat karo, mujhe pata hai
Sagnik bhaiya apse bohut pyaar karte hai…”
She looked at her young brother, he
was indeed so innocent. He was the only one in her family who loved her the
most; he couldn’t bear his sister crying. She pulled her brother close and
pressed his cheeks and tried hard to smile; a tear dropped from her left eye.
“Yeh chocolate main apke liye leke
aya”, he said innocently and handed her the chocolate, she couldn’t control herself
any longer and hugged him tightly.
“I love you Rohaan”, she said.
“I love you too didi”, he hugged
her back. “Infact I bought something else for you…”
“What?” she asked. Rohaan managed to
steal an old cell-phone which belonged to Avisek long time back but he didn't use the cell any longer.
“Nobody use this one and nobody cared
for it, I used to play with this but now I think you need it more than myself”,
he smiled. Anchal couldn’t believe her eyes; her brother bought her a
cell-phone.
“Thank you”, she said and wiped out
her tears.
“Di, Sagnik bhaiya bohut pareshan
honge, you must call him”, he said. She looked at the cell-phone and she felt
happy.
TO BE CONTINUED… J
