“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.
*******