Part Three

Like most people, he woke up in the morning to his phone. 7 missed calls. He narrowed his eyes to take a good look at the name. It was his friend. He immediately called her back. “Come to St. Joseph’s hospital. Room No 52. Now!” She disconnected the phone. A chill ran down his spine! Was it because of her? Had something happened to her? He got up from his bed and quickly got ready. Never in his life had he been in such a rush. 

He met his friend who was standing outside the room. She looked calm, staring at some invisible spot on the ground. He put his hand on her shoulder. The minute he looked at her, she burst into tears, hiding her face in his broad chest. He was equally scared because although he didn’t know what was happening, he sure knew it was really bad. He let her cry, fighting his own fears. What was happening? He was getting restless. Just then he saw the beautiful girl walking towards them. She looked older now, with her hair tied back and her eyes swollen from all the crying. He was relieved in a way that she was safe. But then, something was wrong. She walked towards them and put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. It brushed his hand and even between all the tensions around him, he felt a current pass through his body. She signalled him to wait while she took her friend to the waiting room beside. She emerged out in a while and sat beside him.

He could smell her fragrance. She was nervously playing with the corner of her kurta. In a reflex move, his hand covered hers and he gently squeezed it. She looked up at him; her eyes sparkling with tears. Finally, she managed to speak up. “We were going to the beach. It was early morning and the roads were quiet and empty. We were crossing the road at our own ease when suddenly a car came by at full speed. Before we could realise anything, it had hit her. She’s in a bad...very bad condition. The doctors aren’t even sure if she’s going to...” Her words got lost in the tears. He held her in his arms. “Everything will be fine, don’t worry”. “I hope so”, she said, looking him right in the eyes. She looked beautiful like this also, he noticed. He wanted her, he badly wanted her.

The doctor came by, talking to an elder man and his wailing wife. “Her parents,” she said. The doctor and the couple talked a little more before the couple came towards them. She got up and the lady hugged her, not giving a break to her tears. There was silence for a while, broken only when the father spoke, “They are going to observe her for few more hours. But, I’m sure my daughter is going to be okay. We will pray for her, and be positive. Sab theek ho jayega, hena beta?” he looked at her. She nodded her head and more silence followed...

Part Two

The group of girls returned from their shopping spree which might’ve qualified to be the quickest one in history! He looked for her among them, but she wasn’t there! Where was she? What was going on? His thoughts took off once again and he got desperate. Equally puzzled as he was, his friend inquired about the girl. They got to know she wasn’t feeling too well and had retired to the hotel. Surprisingly, he couldn’t hold back his concern. “Is she fine? Does she need medicines? Shouldn’t we take her to a Doctor?” The girls giggled again, like the last time. 

“Relax, she’s fine. Just tired I guess”, one of the girls replied. Phew, he was relieved. But, he couldn’t see her and he badly wanted to. In his mind, he already started making plans. The girls said goodbye and started walking back to their hotel. He immediately offered to walk with them, under the pretence of “protecting them”. His friend looked at him, and he knew she was thinking about his actions. Her eyes were full of questions and confusions. He was shocked by his behaviour himself. But, he had to see her.

They reached the hotel and good nights were exchanged. He looked up at the windows of the building; some dark, some lit up and wondered which one of them was hers. He walked back to his apartment and his phone started vibrating. Wi-Fi in the house, no data pack on the phone does this to you. He saw his mobile - 124 messages from 14 conversations on his WhatsApp, 6 unread emails on Gmail, 2 friend requests and 5 notifications on Facebook. Facebook! How can he forget it? He quickly started his laptop and went to his friend’s profile. Like he had guessed, the girls had put up pictures from the trip so far. There, he spotted her! And a beautiful smile replaced the wrinkles created by the concern. 

He easily found her and spent the next 15 minutes completely stalking her public profile. His cursor kept hovering over ‘send a friend request’. He was about to send her a request when his phone beeped playing “1 thing 2 do 3 words 4 you...” Of course, right timing! It was his girl friend. “Hey”, he said in a low voice. “Where have you been all this while? Koi aur toh nahi mil gayi na?” She asked the most cliched questions. “I am not feeling well, let me sleep. I’ll call you later.” “Oh my God, kya hua? You want me to come over? You never take care of yourself!” He could imagine the face she was making on the other side of the phone. He smiled and said, “It’s alright. I’m just tired. Goodnight.” “Goodnight, love you” she replied.

 He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and shut his laptop. Sleep wasn’t going to come so soon, he knew. He looked out of the window at the dark sky and the beautiful moon and stars. “What harm could one time do? Just spend some time with her, get to know her. She’ll leave soon and you can return to your normal life.” The night was really provoking some bold thoughts. “Am I insane? I have a girlfriend! It is this mere attraction and would go away with the night”, his sane mind said.  He chose sleep over everything else and closed his eyes. For a moment, everything was under control. Suddenly, he could see her coming out of the cluster, shaking hands, smiling, walking away. He got up, more wrinkles on his forehead than before. 

Walking towards his laptop, he slowly opened her profile. Staring at the screen for a few seconds, he changed ‘Add Friend’ to ‘Friend Request Sent’. Enough for a day, he realised and went back to his bed, hoping to catch some sleep.

Part One

He looked at the beautifully dressed bride walking towards the mandap. All eyes were set on her as she made her way towards the to-be husband. He just stood speechless, admiring how perfect she looked. He could hear people behind him commenting just how lucky the guy was to have such a perfect wife. 6 years back, this gorgeous woman was his, even if only for a moment, all his. And today, she was getting married to the man she loved.

Watching her walk, he went down the memory lane.. 6 years back, he met her for the first time. He had been keyed up to meet his childhood friend after quite some years and she said she was bringing some friends. They had all come to his part of the state to spend some time with nature and enjoy the beach. It was an all-girls trip, so he knew he was going to be the only male around them. Not that he was nervous or excited; he was in a relationship with a wonderful girl since two years, a happy relationship for that matter. His train of thoughts was broken by a very familiar voice as he turned around to face his friend. She looked the same after all these years he noticed. Geeky glasses, chubby cheeks and the ever-so-cute smile. He returned her cute smile with a broader one. 

She turned to introduce her friends one by one. And as she called out the last name, a slim figure came forward from the cluster of girls to shake hands with him. She had a smile that could melt any heart and little brown eyes that sparkled with excitement. She was so tiny that he probably looked like The Hulk in front of her. He tried to imagine how it would be like to hold her in his arms. He was dazed and couldn’t take his eyes off her and could’ve imagined more if it wasn’t for his friend who coughed to interrupt his day dreaming. He looked up with a smile that said I-know-you-caught-me. “She looks like one of my friends”, he managed between his urge to look back at that girl and hide his embarrassment. “Control dude. She probably thinks you’re an idiot. And oh, how can you forget? You have a girl friend!” he soliloquized. Luckily, his friend rescued him and told everyone she’ll see them later. The girls exchanged goodbyes and turned to walk the other way. He waited to see if she turned around or if he could catch a glimpse of her face again but snap, he was caught again. 

“Stop trying to do that, you have a girl friend and that’s where you must concentrate,” his friend said as she pulled him inside CCD. They sat there for about an hour talking about life and everything that had changed since they last met. He constantly kept praying she would talk about the girl whose smile had not left his mind all this while. He lost his patience and finally asked her, “So who are all these friends you’ve come with?” Who was he kidding? This girl in front of him, who was now grinning, knew him inside out. “She’s my junior. We share an apartment, all of us in fact. She is single, if that helps”, at which he smiled like a little kid eating his favourite candy. “But, you have a girlfriend and she would eat you up alive if this reaches her”, making a face at him, she finished the sentence. He knew it all along, but there was something that kept pulling him towards her. He had to be with her, even if for a few hours. He just had to. 

AFS - Another Fat Student

I'm kidding.. AFS isn't Another Fat Student.. It is just AFS. Another Fat Student is the effect of AFS on it exchange students :P

For me, AFS has not just been an organization, but a constantly encouraging family that I love the most in this world! AFS has played a major role in most of the memorable experiences of my life. This year, as we celebrate 100 years of AFS.. I wish for it to change many more lives and make many more families and students happy. This world is indeed a huge family, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam!

Here are some memories I have with AFS...

Wondering what AFS is? And how I became a part of it? Watch this video :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g1kfeQZwEg

Now, my Kizuna (Japanese Short Term Exchange Program) experience has already been shared.. But, I have few more words to how it still keeps changing my life for better good.. Keep looking for that update ;)

The most recent and one of the best experiences I have had with AFS India is YASC-AFS program organized in Kakelao, Jodhpur in the month of August. YASC stands for Yale Alumni Service Corps, an organization that serves the community and AFS, is just AFS! The details of the program have been covered by Isadora Italia in her article.. http://world.yale.edu/news/yale-alumni-service-corps-engages-india.

And my personal feelings about it couldn't be more precise than what is mentioned below..

In the words of Puneet Batra, “The first week back was life as usual physically, but mentally, I wasn’t back yet”. These simple words probably sum it all. Life changed for each person involved, after the Community Service Project in Kakelao. What began as a bunch of people wanting to help and give back to the society ended up as one big family, working tirelessly for bringing the smallest change they could in the village of Kakelao. “Community Service Project”, the words itself bring an enormous responsibility with it. But what we don’t realize is that it’s not a one-way road where only we do something for the less privileged but it’s a process by which we earn more knowledge about the world; both around and within us. It is a spiritual drive that travels into the innermost parts of our conscious, leaving us with a sense of satisfaction. Well, Kakelao not only gifted us with such satisfaction but also a huge bag of memories that is capable of bringing a smile on our faces at any point of time.

Thank you for reading this post.. Keep checking the blog for more updates about the same! :)

Poetry in the Train

It has been quite a long time that I haven't posed anything here.. I wrote lot of exams during this time span but I missed writing the blog.. And so while traveling to Delhi last week, I put my pen to work and here's the result.. Two poems!  One for all the love struck couples around and another for the feminists in my life.

 

Have you ever?
Have you ever felt love so deep,
Tough to share, tougher to keep?
Have you ever loved someone so bad,
You feel so crazy, you feel so mad?
Have you ever been so lost in love,
Out on the open, like a free dove?
Have you ever known how love heals,
Your time, your attention, all it steals.
Have you ever felt what this love does?
Deeper & deeper, you it lures.
Have you ever felt the magic happen?
Is love your drug or just a weapon?
Does love make you feel happy & strong?
That you always want to go a li'l long.
Does love feel like a soothing song?
Without which you know things are wrong.
Does love teach you to love or hate?
Or just leave your life in the hands of fate?
Does love have some boundaries built,
Is it pleasure or is it guilt?
Does love give you hope & strength?
Courage to cross the breadth & length.
Does love make you wanna shout out loud?
That you can only see your love in the crowd.
What do I now say about this wonderful feeling?
Is it healing or is it killing?
No matter what it does or results into,
Love will happen, it is meant to.

The woman

She was born, a burden to them,
It was her fate, they won't give a damn.
"Lucky I didn't kill her", her father said,
She wasn't born to be loved & cared.
Her mother cried on seeing her face,
Yet another girl would follow the trace,
No sweets were shared, no joyful cheers,
She was born among anger & tears.
She grew up as the unwanted child,
In hatred & fear, her childhood died.
Come youth with dreams anew,
It wasn't getting better, she already knew.
Right on the nib of a sharp sword,
No tune of guitar played any chord,
Her eyes opened then to the world around,
And nothing she did, but only frowned.
A girl was raped, a woman killed,
Another's life with torture filled,
One was blamed for clothes quite short,
Another burnt in a closed up fort.
One was sold in the area red,
Paid for all the clothes she shred,
They touched her, kissed her & then paid,
Never seen in day, but at night they stayed.
No school could she ever see,
Kitchen was where she was meant to be,
Enclosed in a case of crystal glass,
Left at the mercy of all people crass.
She saw the torture, she saw the pain,
She saw how women were used for gain,
Watching all this, she did but scorn,
Probably that's why "they" never wanted her born!