SHORT STORY #3 – LOVE DISTINGUISHED

“Could this be happening? And surprisingly in my life! Choice was never a choice to me”. I was talking to myself again. It was late at night. I was lying on my cot, trying to recall what had happened today.

Six hours earlier. .

“This is strange!”, I told myself, watching my bus leave as I got down from it. I re-read the text message that I had received from Prerna a few minutes back.

gt dwn frm d bus. m in d cntn.

As I walked towards the canteen, I recalled the time I realized I had a crush on her. After six months of complete gazing, I took the courage of introducing myself to her (just because she noticed me the previous day).

“Hey hi! I have been wondering if you’d be interested in acting, because I take short films and I think you’ll be suitable for a particular role in my next film”! I was surprised I wasn’t nervous while talking to her the first time.

Well! She turned all pink. She hardly knew who I was. Though she refused to act in the film, we stayed in touch and became good friends in the next few months, until I asked her if she was interested in a closer relationship. Well! This time she turned all red and said, “Is this why you asked me if I could act in your film? To get close to me”?

“No! No! I . . . that was. . .”, I mumbled.“I never guessed you, to be like this, Kevin”. She reacted immediately and walked off.

After three days now, she has texted me, when all the buses had started from college. I was re-reading the same text message while I walked to the canteen. Near the gate, I picked some white flowers but hid them behind and then entered the deserted canteen. I saw Prerna sitting near the left canteen table with a coke bottle in her hand. As I walked towards her, I noticed her playing with her hair which I have enjoyed watching always. She looked stunning in her white salwar and she was looking right into my eyes like an iron piercing through my marrow.

“Hi Kevin”! She said.

“Hi Prerna! This is for you”. I showed the white flowers.

She looked at the flowers, then back at me and said, “That’s flattering!.. First sit!.. Have some”! She passed me a fresh coke bottle that was on the table. “White is my favorite color, Kevin. I love everything that is White”.

“I know”! I said smiling.

“I like to wear my White salwar only at very special occasions. And today, here I am, in my White salwar, with you”, smiling at me, she said.

“Does that mean, you. . .  . . and me. . . . “, I staggered in state of shock.

“She picked up the white flowers and said, “I prefer white rose to other white flowers, Kevin”. She was blushing like never and ran out of the canteen.

“Hey Prerna. . . “ I ran behind her jumping with joy like never before.

I spent the whole evening with her and then departed with a plan to meet for a movie tomorrow afternoon.

Filled with Prerna thoughts, I was walking home from my bus stop when I got a call from the least expected person on this planet. Screen showed,

Lavanya calling. . .

Memories of Lavanya flashed by.

Lavanya was the first girl in my life, I fell for. The question of love or crush was left unanswered even though the feeling of love or affection or whatever it was, lasted for more than two years. I had no clue why she did not want to be my girlfriend until I found out that she was in a relationship with some other guy. Friends advised me to forget her and move on, which was the hardest thing I had ever done. And now she suddenly calls me.

I pressed the ‘Answer’ button.

“Hey Lavanya! How are you”? I asked with a tone of surprise.

“Hi Kevin! Am good. I thought I saw you in bus stop a few minutes back. Where are you now”? She enquired.

“Yeah! I just walked from there. Are you in Chennai”? I asked curiously.

“Yes! Hey Kevin! Can I meet you now? If it’s possible”? She said.

I was a bit taken aback. Usually I used to ask her that. Now everything seems to be changing. “Yea yea! Sure Lavanya”, I consented.

“Okay then I’ll be waiting in the Arun Ice cream parlor. Come asap”. She said and ended the call.

“These girls are really bossy”! I said to myself and walked to the ice cream parlor. As I entered the parlor, I saw her, as beautiful as always, along with some additional decorations of course.

“Hey Kevin! Nice to see you”, she smiled. “Have some ice cream”, and she passed me the iCone.

I accepted the offer and said, “It has been a long time Lavanya. Good to see you too”. I smiled back. “So whats up”? I asked, as I watched her watch me lick the cream.

“Do you still have feelings for me, Kevin”? She asked.

I stopped dead and stared at her. She looked into me like having a last-ditch attempt. “I . . . I . . “. I stammered.

“Can we be together”? She opened up coolly. I was shocked as if I plunged my hand on a live wire carrying eleven thousand volts.

“I really. . . Don’t know what to say”. I struggled to find any word.

“I understand, Kevin. And I can see that you are very tired. So you head back home. We’ll meet tomorrow here at 3pm”. She told without a break anywhere. I was numb.  She stood up and picked up the red rose from the vase on the table and said, “I love red roses, Kevin”. She smiled and walked out.

My eyes followed her out. She turned back and looked at me for every step. I had always wished she would do that. “Is this a dream come true”? I asked myself.

Back to present. . .

This is the strangest day of my life.

The girl (Prerna) whom I asked out after a six month long gazing, accepts me into her life and the girl (Lavanya) whom I was ‘practically’ in love with, asks me to be in her life now.

“Wow! Girls have finally started noticing you”, my mind said.

“Well! Hats off! But now, you got to choose between them. Is it going to be your recent crush or your first one”? My heart said.

“That is going to be pretty hard to choose between”. I said.

“Go for the prettier one”, my mind gave a devilish smile.

“That’s insane”. My heart started. “Kevin, you know whom you want. Lavanya! You loved her for so long”.

“Yes! You are probably right”. I accepted.

“But Prerna is the first girl to understand your feelings, Kevin. So, Prerna is the one for you”. My mind argued.

“That sounds logical”, I said.

“This is LOVE we are talking about. Logic has no role here”. My heart didn’t give up.

“How did Lavanya suddenly come to you? She was in a relationship with some other guy, remember”? My brain heated up the conversation.

“Oh my God! Yea! I totally forgot about that. What could have happened”? I asked.

“Obviously they broke up”, my mind concluded.

“So am I her second choice”? I asked.

“Yea dude! Totally. Chuck her and go to Prerna”, my mind advised.

“Prerna is your second choice too. Don’t forget that Kevin”. My heart confused me again with a valid point.

“Oh God! This is getting harder than I imagined. Who do I go with”? I banged my head on the wall.

“Ouch! That hurts man”! My mind spat at me. “I think you should listen to what your heart says. I am not any sentimental. But I have one last piece of advice. Don’t choose the best one. Choose the right one”. My mind signed out.

“Your mind is right. So who do you think is the right one for you”? My heart asked.

“I have decided whom I’m going to be with... Prerna has had no relationship with any guy until I came into her life. So my relationship with her will last hopefully... Lavanya, on the other hand, since her first relationship didn’t work out, she’ll try hard to make the second one work or otherwise can get back with her primary love... Either way I will make sure to have a lasting relationship, because...”

“You are a good guy who is not looking for girlfriend and then fall in love with someone else and later search for a life partner, but see the same girl as all the three”! My heart said.

I smiled.

Next day, almost 3pm. . . .

I walked to the florist on the roadside. It was actually right opposite to the Ice cream parlor, where I now saw Lavanya sitting on a chair, looking at the menu card. Though she was not looking at me, I was literally smiling at her, feeling happy about the decision I have made.

“Which flower do you wish to buy, sir”? The florist asked.

‘White rose”. I paid and walked off.

*******

SHORT STORY #1 - LOVE REINFORCED

“So! Where did I stop yesterday, my dear baby”? I asked my nine year old daughter as she sat down beside me on the sofa.

“You were going to meet Sarah, daddy”! She said closing in, keenly to listen to the rest of my story.

“Yeah right. So, after four years, I met her in the same school we had studied together in. I was standing right in front of her looking into her eyes and I proposed for the third time to her in my lifetime.

“I love you, Sarah”. I said from my heart.

“Oh James! Not again. I thought you were over me. Don’t do it, please”. She begged me.

“It’s been four years and there isn’t any change in the way I look at you. I want to be with you, Sarah. Why won’t you understand that”? I cried.

“You are my good friend, James. I don’t feel the same way you do. But even if I do fall in love with you, I cannot marry you”. She opened up.

“But why? Religion isn’t an issue here. Then why”? I said.

“My father, he would definitely not agree”. She sighed.

“Why? Is it because I’m from a middle-class family”? My temper was rising.

She let out a big no.

“Then what”? I raised my voice.

“The same reason why I wouldn’t want to marry you”. She said.

I was shocked. “And that would be”?

“Engineer and doctor don’t make a good match”. She spat at me.

That was a double shock. “What! That’s ridiculous! What makes you think like that”? I said.

“It has always been like that James. Accept it”. Sarah said.

“Look! I love ‘YOU’, not your ‘DOCTOR’ profession. And by the way it’s a bond between two hearts, not two professions. Understand that”. I blurted out.

Sarah stood there, staring at me, speechless.

“James, I really like you. But practically speaking, there will be a lot of problems in future because of our profession”. She said calmly.

“Like what”? I said instantly.

“Ego”! There was the quick answer from her.

Now I was standing speechless.

“I know about you. You are so short tempered. So am I. And added to this, ego will thrash our relationship”. She said anxiously.

“No Sarah, it won’t. I have faith in my love. I have waited so long for you, that I wouldn’t let ‘ego’ spoil our relationship”. I swore to her.

“Really easy to say it James. As far as I know, none of such relationships lasted”. She told.

“Sarah! Don’t go by what you see or hear. There is always an exception in everything”. I told her, provoking her to come back to her senses. But she was just so stubborn.

“No James! That is not possible in real time world”. She said.

“Sarah! Please! I love you”!

“I am sorry. Terribly sorry. This is not going to happen”. She said with tears in her eyes.

“So like in all films, you are going to push me into a situation where I name my daughter with yours”? I told her as my eyes became wet too.

“Oh my God! Dad! Is that why you named me Sarah”? My daughter asked curiously. I smiled at her and said, “Let me finish, baby”.

She just plainly looked back at me and said, “Good bye, James. I don’t think I’ll be seeing you again”. She walked off as I stood there numb.

“That’s it for today, baby! Off to sleep now”. I stood up and took my daughter in my arms and walked towards the bedroom.

“Okay, daddy”. Sarah said yawning.

“Let me ask you something, Sarah. So now what do you want to be? An engineer..”? I asked.

“Or a doctor..”? Her mother, who was standing by the door, said raising her left eyebrow.

“I want to be a doctor like you, mommy”, saying she ran down to her mother.

Both Sarahs smiled back at me as I hugged them.

LIVING WONDERS

My New Short Story! Click the below link to read it.
http://firstblogofrsk.blogspot.in/p/living-wonders.html

CHAPTER 1 PART I

2007-2008

PART 1

            The long Cart-Track Street is the only road I can speed up to forty kilometers per hour and this July morning was no exception. As usual I was late for school. As I drove past a sleepy cyclist, I realized that I missed to greet Lord Ganesh at the first apartments in the right side of the road. He was given a special place in the entrance of the apartments facing the road. It is my silly habit that I greet him every morning when I cycle to school and also during the evening. It’s natural that I got this habit because I have seen my father do it. I am as pious as my father, as calm as my mother and as truthful as my name, Sathya. My mother used to say that, as an infant I never used to cry unnecessarily and would be so quiet that she had doubted my presence sometimes. I did not change. I am still a calm person. But there was a disappointing quality that grew along. Shyness. I don't talk much. I am pretty famous among the teachers in my school because I am silent in class and of course I am good in studies. I don’t have many friends but the few I had are very close to me. Aakash is my closest friend. He is with me for the past two years. I share everything with him. He is tall, very fair and handsome fellow. He talks a lot and sometime makes silly, non-funny jokes. But still, he is more handsome than me.

            I had to dodge a small pit in the middle of the road as I lost track when I greeted Lord Ganesh in the second apartments. I suppose I should re-consider greeting him when I'm cycling. It seems dangerous at times. I should tell my father too. But I'm too frustrated to talk him on general issues because, all he would say is, "You are too young to suggest me what to do and what not to do". I feel pushed down.

            The main road was packed with all kinds of vehicles like bikes, cycles, auto rickshaws, vans, buses, cars. Crossing the road was one big challenge. The long Cart-Track Street ended at the main road making a T-junction. There were neither electronic signals nor a traffic policeman to ease the traffic flow.

            So, one had to cross at his own risk. Since I got used to crossing the junction, it was not a big deal for me. After two kilometer long pedaling I reached IIT Madras. The campus is the best place for education in Chennai. Not because it is in IIT or Indian Institute of Technology, but because of the environment. The campus is in a forest. No other school in Chennai would probably be having a zoo outside their classes (Except Kendriya Vidyalaya which is also in IIT). Deer, monkeys, snakes, mongooses were the common visitors. They are not really harmful (except for the snakes), but with monkeys around, along with the kids, it’s a lot of fun.

            The roads did not have my other schoolmates on cycles because I am late by ten minutes, i.e., half way through the morning assembly. I needed almost ten more minutes to reach school. So I decided to reach after the session was over.

 *****

"School attention! School disperse!” the Head Boy's voice echoed all over the school's premises and students started dispersing according to the class order.

"Aakash! Aakash!", someone called out to me in a whispering tone. The voice seemed to be coming from the front part of the row of boys in which I was standing. The line hadn’t started moving. I peeped over my neighbor’s shoulder and looked at the front. It was Koushik.

"What's up?" I whispered back.

"Where is Sathya? Is he going to be absent today?” Koushik looked totally worried as he asked me.

"I don’t think so. He must be late again." pointing towards the main entrance of the school, where the late-comers are caught.

The line, in which I was standing, started moving finally. We walked past one of the huge banyan trees in the school. When near the main entrance, before turning left to climb a flight of stairs, I found that Sathya was not among the late-comers either. Koushik turned back and looked at me as if telling "he is not there". I shrugged. Koushik was probably worried that he had to take the Physics seminar all by himself which Sathya was supposed to do along with him. I am sure that Sathya had prepared major part of the seminar as Koushik is one of the dullest in the class. Sathya is one of the brightest nerd in the class. But he is also my close friend. Unfortunate to him, I am not as bright as he is. He talks a lot but only to those who talk with him. But since he is nerdy, the cool guys don’t talk with him much, except me of course. He is also an idiot. He never hangs out with his few friends. As soon as the three o' clock bell goes, he is off home in his bicycle and the reason he gives is always the same, "Hey! My dad won't allow me to hang out unnecessarily!" He is such a Father's son. While this was all till last year academic year, this year he seems to be coming out of his 'house', maybe because I push him too much. He has so much to learn. He is so ignorant about social networking too.

Our class teacher came in and the whole noisy class shut down and sat. She called out my name as she opened the attendance register.

"Present ma'am", I said in a cool tone raising my hand up. She continued calling the other names. I was sitting in the first bench of the last row. There were totally six rows. Actually they are columns. But we got used to calling it as rows. Teacher's desk is in front of the second row which was filled with girls.

"Sathya?" Teacher called out.

"Absent!" a few people chorused together looking at the empty place beside me.

"Ma'am, he might come late" I told the teacher who already marked 'A' in the register.

"If he comes ask him to come and meet me in the break", she said staring at me angrily with her sharp eyes. I never liked her. She takes my favorite subject, Chemistry. But now that she teaches it, I don’t listen at all.

She closed the register and moved out in two minutes.

*****

Ten minutes later.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" I said. As soon as I braked near my class entrance. I was sweating profusely because I ran all the way from the cycle parking area to my class in the second floor of the main school block also because I was a little stout. Neither fat nor thin.

"Sathya! Late again… Get in." She smiled and let me in. She continued solving the matrix problem. Everybody's eyes followed me till I took my seat.

"Hello Mr. Truth! When will you ever learn punctuality?" Aakash started teasing me as I set aside my bag and took out my math note.

"When they change my name to Mr. Punctual!" I winked.

"Oh God! Save me from this ass. Your jokes are blunt, Sathya." He spat back as he scribbled in his note whatever was on the board.

"Go to hell" I said. I drank some water and started copying from Aakash's note.

"If you don’t stop telling blunt jokes, you are never going to get a girlfriend."

"I don’t want to fall in love at all…."

"Don’t confuse love with girlfriend, Sathya. It's not the same" Cutting me short.

"Then what is the difference?" I asked looking at him and stopped abruptly. Aakash continued to write and said, "Love is the final stage of a relationship with a girl. First, you befriend the girl you like. Then you make her your girlfriend with your affection and finally maximum affection mutually, becomes love. As simple as that." He said the last few words, swiftly.

"Oh! That's a good way of getting your love! But I still don’t understand this ‘girlfriend’ stuff." I said scratching my head. Aakash sat back properly, looked at me and said, "You have to grow up my dear boy", and started laughing.

"Bloody! Stop laughing!" I stamped his foot but missed it.

He laughed more at my naivety. I turned towards the board and started copying. His laugh faded out slowly and he said, "Don’t get tensed dude! All in the game! And know what?"

"What?" I said plainly.

"Miss. Chubby cheeks was looking at you when you entered… What the…?"

Suddenly my left thigh vibrated. Since Aakash was sitting close, he felt it too. He was shocked and exclaimed. "Dude! You brought your mobile?!"

"Yeah!" I said and took out my basic model mobile out of my left trousers pocket.

The screen read: One New Message.

"Hah! A text message at this time? Who would that be?" Looking suspiciously at me Aakash snatched my mobile.

"Everyone is at school man. Would probably be from Airtel." I declared.

He pressed the 'Open' button and read out the message:

'"Thanks a lot Sathya for your timely help. Really sweet of you J

-          Akshyah "'

"Hey who is that?" He asked, astonished, with his jaw open.

"Oh that girl!...I forgot to tell you Aakash! Something interesting happened yesterday evening and today morning!" I smiled and winked as I said.

                                                                                                            (To be continued..)

           

            

PROLOGUE

This is the beginning of my first fiction. My passion for words drove me to write something that is worth reading. I don’t know how many days or months I would take to complete this story. I don’t even know if I would complete this. But just in case I complete it, I hope to make it as entertaining as possible. If you are looking for a message here, I advise you not to read further. LOL! As I said, it is purely entertaining and also gives some facts on guys who are neither wholly handsome nor ugly either. So now you would have got an idea of what this story could probably be about. Yes! It is about a guy who struggles to face reality of achieving success in whatever he does. But ultimately ends up as nothing. He was named as Sathya. 'Sathya' meant 'truth'. He lived up to his name until he was ignorant of the outside world. That was how he was brought up.
An innocent and ignorant fellow until he entered college. His school life was promisingly good and he lived it as a shy but also a smart guy. He wasn't the best. Though usually all books have 'the best' as a protagonist, this will be quite different.

Well! I guess I'll come to what you'll come across in this story. While it is easy for any guy to get his love or to win his love, this guy, Sathya, was finding it too hard to find his love. In his quest of falling in love, the ignorant fellow comes across the term 'girlfriend' which puts him in a lot of confusion. You might as well laugh when you read that line. Any random guy would know what the term 'girlfriend' meant. But still everyone have their own definition. That’s all I can tell you for now. Read ahead!

(Just to make sure that you stay glued on, I have given a few lines from the midst of the story. *wink*)

                She was holding my guitar and sweeping the thumb across the strings as if she was strumming her favorite tune.

"Wow! Is that your favorite tune?" I said, in a sarcastic way.

"Hey! How'd you know?" Sneha said, without noticing my sarcasm.

"Well! I just made a wild guess. All I could hear is 'ting-ting-ting-tong' which makes absolutely no sense", I said, laughing at my own joke.

"Hey…." she said and playfully punched my arm.

The breeze this night is very chill. I would probably be sick the next day if I sit near the window and so dint let Sneha to sit there either. The train was coming to a halt now. The already less-crowded train became almost empty in the Perungudi station. In the next station, we would get down.

As the train started and gained some speed, I packed my guitar.

"I wish we had won it Sathya". She said.

"Yeah yeah! But still we managed a second place" I said, getting up from my seat.

"Hmmm you are right. But …"

"Chuck the prize money. I am more than happy to have you in the band". I was smiling as I said it.

She smiled back and said, "That’s sweet of you, Sathya. But I've been wondering how you knew that I am a singer. You got into touch with me only a month back, which is almost three years since we were in school". She was clenching on to the bar at the train compartment entrance. The train was slowing down near its last station.

I just smiled back to her statements. "Come one! Let's get down while the train is… ". Before I could complete, she was already out of the train. I had to jump immediately to balance as she was holding me too. I was staring at her for her unannounced jump.

"Oh my God! Are you alright? Sorry about that". She said, giving all three relevant expressions at the same time.

"It's ok! It's ok. Let's get out of here. A cop is walking towards us".

She turned to see him and then we ran, for heaven's sake, out of the station and out of his sight. We stopped near our vehicles in the parking lot. She was breathing faster because of the run.

"That compensated for the exercise I missed today morning". I said, huffing and puffing after the run.

Sneha looked flabbergasted and started hitting me with her purse. "Idiot! I thought that cop was really onto us".

 "Ha ha got you!" I said trying to block her hits.

Then I held her hands and said, "You know what, Sneha? I have crush on you. I have always had a crush on you ever since I saw you in school. Now it's been three years from then, and I don’t see any change, apart from the fact that you have become a little plump". I winked as I confessed.

Her expression changed from shock to embarrassment. I could see her cheeks redden even in the dim street lights. I was still holding her hands.

"I really don’t know what to say, Sathya". She said not trying to take her hand away. She was looking into my eye. I was too.

With a slight smile she said, "You are really a nice guy, Sathya".

Slowly I moved closer to her and the next instant I was having my first kiss.

To my surprise, she was kissing me back too, but kept her eyes closed, still holding on to my hands. The ten count long kiss made my day. Actually it's made my life.

Then suddenly she moved back. "Oh my god! What have I done?!" She said, more to herself than to me, covering her face with her hands.

"I'm sorry, Sneha! I didn’t mean to…" But before I could complete, I was standing there alone, watching her drive away in her Pep with tears in her eyes.