Lalit, it is her engagement on Wednesday” These words kept on echoing in my mind. I could think of nothing else but the fact that I had lost Anita forever. Lost her? How could you lose someone who had never really been yours? All I had was that short letter from her saying that she loved me and that did not mean she had ever been mine! Another thought which entered my mind was, how could I be sure that the letter had been written by her? I was not familiar with her handwriting so it could be anyone who could have written it. The conspiracy theory refused to leave my mind. The sight of Prakash going past my house the day Jayesh had supposedly delivered my love note to Anita flashed past my mind. If they were together on this, the question was to what purpose? Either they were playing a prank upon me or they had some sinister designs. But why have any intentions of hurting me? We had been good friends, we still were and as far as I could recollect I had not done anything to incur the wrath of either Prakash or Jayesh, so why this animosity, if there was any? All these thoughts kept going through my mind as I made my way slowly towards my home.
“What is this, Bittu? You come home after a month and instead of spending time with us, you go on a vanishing spree. What was more important than us?”
“I told you mummy I had an important message to give to Jayesh. I had met a friend of his in Srinagar and he had wanted me to ask Jayesh to ring him up immediately” I couldn’t think of a lamer excuse than this. Thankfully, I was not subjected to any further inquisition as both my parents were impatient to know about everyone and everything in Kashmir. Ravi was also keen to know about his old friends and cousins. The conversation continued till well after dinner and it also helped in keeping my mind away from Anita.
“You must be tired, Bittu, so time for you to go to sleep. We can continue our conversation tomorrow.”
“Right, Mummy, good night. Good night, Papa” With these words I went to my room. The moment I lay down on bed, Ravi entered the room.
“Bittu, tell me the truth, I know you are hiding something. You would have never come back from Kashmir unless there was serious reason. So come on, out with the truth”
“Ravi, I am really very tired. We will talk about it in the morning.” Ravi and I were good friends and normally shared our secrets but we also had a sibling rivalry going. He had been used getting all the attention from Mummy and Papa but since I had come to stay with them, the attention had got diverted and in fact, I would be showered with more affection than he would. All my demands were readily met and if he asked for anything, there would be a scolding in store for him. Naturally, this was something hard for him to digest and there were lots of times when he would enjoy my discomfiture. There were times when he would try his best that I should get a scolding. These were reasons enough for me not to confide in him about Anita. Mercifully, he left me alone and I tried my best to sleep but in spite of the fact that I was mentally and physically exhausted, sleep refused to have mercy upon me. I have no idea how long I kept on tossing and turning on bed before sleep decided it was time to be kind to me.
I got up early the next morning, spent some time talking to my parents over cups of morning tea. Ravi was a late riser and least interested in tea. Soon after, I told my parents that I was going to meet Swarn and I left before they could have time to come up with any objections.
Meeting Swarn was very important for me. He was a close family friend, a friend of her brother’s and there was every possibility that he would have all the facts. I almost ran to his house and as usual shouted out his name. Those days it was very rare for friends to knock at the door and enter the house. Parents did not welcome the idea of friends coming inside your house although this was not the way of my parents. Anyway, Swarn, finally emerged all dressed up for his college with his impeccable blue turban matching his flawlessly ironed blue shirt.
“What a surprise to see you back so soon, thought you would not come back before the end of June, didn’t like Srinagar this time?
“As a matter of fact loved it but something brought me back.”
“What brought you back from the cool climate of Kashmir to this sweltering heat, must have been something very important?”
“Yes, extremely important”
“So come on tell me, why do you make it sound like a mystery?”
“I will, I will but first tell me something about Anita”
“Oh, so you have not got over her as yet. Bittu(he was one of one of those few friends of mine who addressed me by my pet name)I had told you to stay away from her. I had warned you she would only bring heartbreak for you but it seems you never bothered to take my advice seriously”
“I am a man in love, Swarn, did you really expect me to follow your advice?”
“Honestly speaking, I did not but you cannot blame me for not trying?” It was time for me to tell him everything right from the time I had asked Jayesh to deliver my note to Anita. He listened to me very attentively with an occasional frown now and then and for sometime did not say anything.
“You know, Bittu, I don’t like Prakash, have never liked him, I developed an instant dislike for him the moment you introduced me to him”
“I know you don’t like him and I am not going to argue with you over that. We will discuss that some other time. At present I have more pressing matters to discuss. Any news of Anita?”
“Ah ha, look who is asking? She wrote to you, you came back for her so I am sure you must know more about her than I do!”
“I heard she is getting engaged, is it true?”
“Now who told you that?”
“Jayesh” I replied.
“Oh, another imbecile!”
“You can criticize my friends as much as you want but not now, I am highly disturbed at the moment. Jayesh told me the whole Suri family and gone to Chandigarh and her engagement is to take place on Wednesday. If it is true, I am sure you know about it”
“All I know Bittu, and this I told you earlier also is that her parents are on the lookout for a suitable match for her, whether they have found one or not, I have no idea”
“But, Swarn, you must be aware of the latest developments. Has the family gone to Chandigarh? I want to know if Jayesh was telling me the truth” Before, Swarn could answer, I continued.”Swarn, Anita’s letter to me has the date 21st mentioned on it. Today is the 30th. If what Jayesh told me is true, the engagement date etc must have been finalized by then. Why did she confess her love for me when her engagement had already been decided upon?”
“Bittu, all these are foolish questions of a lovelorn fool” I knew he was a cynic and I could not expect any sympathy from him.” Anyway, since I can see that you are very perturbed, I will have all the answers for you in the evening. I had gone to Delhi for a week and came back last night so I don’t know anything about what has happened in my absence. At the moment, I am in a hurry to reach college and again I am telling you, forget Anita” With these words he went back inside and I started my slow walk home. I was totally disillusioned. When I passed by Anita’s flat, I looked up but could find no signs of life. This only strengthened my belief that there was nobody at home. Jayesh was telling the truth.
The door to my flat was bolted from inside so I rang the doorbell. A few minutes passed and nobody came to open the door. I was about to press the bell again when I heard the sounds of the door being unbolted. I stood there, ready to rush inside. But that was not to be! The door opened and when my eyes fell on the person standing on the other side of the door, I almost swooned. I could not be, It just could not be. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief but there was no doubt about it. The person was none other than Anita. What was she doing at my place? My parents did not know her, they had never met her so why was she at my place? Although it was a relief to know that the Chandigarh story was false, it was a matter of great tension to see her with my parents. What was she up to? If she had come to my house, she must have come with some motive. It seemed I was in for some serious trouble….!
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