The Last Letter-- Part-II

Priyansh sat opposite to her and Shanaya glared at him blankly not knowing how to react next. It’s been 5years since he had left and from then, they never met again. Their paths never crossed each other, as Priyansh had decided. Unlike today. He never thought of coming across her, not this way, this place. Shanaya, lost in her own world of happiness, never gave it much thought but deep inside, she missed her best friend, she missed Priyansh.

“I thought you were as talkative as before, but all you are doing is to ogle at me. Do I look bad?” said Priyansh casually. As if they had never parted, as if they were the same old besties.

“uh? Oh yeah, Sorry. And I have turned out to be more talkative these days I guess, so don’t worry I am not going to bore you. And about looks? You have grown old.” Shanaya winked and laughed. He saw her smiling and he smiled seeing her sparkling face after years and that soothed his pain like never before. There was awkwardness between them, yet they shared words and laughed their heart out reliving those good days and remembering their school friends. In between the talks, Priyansh kept looking at her face, her eyes, the smile, the chirpy voice that he had been missing all these years. Shanaya caught his stare and moved her eyes and blushed like a kid.

After their dinner, Shanaya got back with her book and Priyansh tuned into his playlist and there was a silence between the two again.                                                                                                                                  “So, what’s going on in your life?” said Priyansh, breaking the wry silence.                                                             “Nothing much. Good as always. Getting Married next week and going for a short holiday with Rishab before our marital status change.” She said with an excitement but then turned conscious with her words looking at him.                                                                                                                                         “whoa. Great. Congratulations to both of you and wish u all the happiness in the world.” He said with a fake smile. Rishab didn’t expect it certainly, and his wounds seemed new and fresh all over again. The pain was even more intense. He looked away from her, looked out of the window trying to ignore the words that were ringing in his ear.. “ Getting married next week…”                                                                      “What about you, by the way? What’s going on in your life?” Shanaya asked him excitedly trying to change the cloudy mood. “ Me? Ah! Having a good job, a good salary, a big house to live in and same routine every day. Sounds good. Isn’t it?” he smiled at her sarcastically.                                                             “wow Mr. Richie Rich, sounds cool. Girls must be drooling over you. Any Girl Friend?” Shanaya was happy and excited but she must have not expected such a reply.                                                                 “No, I forgot to add, an empty life with a heart already filled with love. Love for my Shanaya. I am done with my share of love.” He smiled at her innocently.                                                                                                   She looked into his eyes, for the first time since their sudden meet, she couldn’t smile back.  She did not expect it. Wishing him good night, she placed herself comfortably on her berth and closed her eyes. She remembered all those days she had spent with Priyansh, she remembered how strong their bond was and how every single second, they dedicated to each other. She realized life has changed for her and she has moved a lot far but somewhere Priyansh was still loving her silently, just like before. With thoughts clouding her mind, slowly she fell asleep. The night came to an end but the impact of the night was still there. Shanaya’s sleep was disturbed by the different irritating sounds on the train and she woke up realizing, her destination was quite near. Opening her eyes, she started looking for Priyansh on the berths beside but she couldn’t find him. He was no where near to be seen. Her face dropped of disappointment. Something struck her suddenly. It was a white folded sheet placed over her luggage.  It was a letter. A letter from Priyansh.

Shanaya,

I never thought I would come across you again in my life, not this way at least. Though I missed your presence in my life, I had decided to stay away. Your company added happiness to my life, added colors to it. My life seemed complete in those days when I was your one and only partner- with whom you shared your tears, smile, laughter, joy and every single thing. I never thought of being without you, I never thought I would lose you someday. I know, I was being a fool but I could never imagine you with someone else and so I never did. When you told me about Rishab, I couldn’t stand those words but I knew you loved him a lot and you were happy. Your happiness always mattered to me and so I decided to go away from you. I left with a heavy heart but somewhere I knew you would miss me as I had left you with enough memories. I was afraid to look back and so I never came back and never let our paths cross. Today, fate brought me back to you but not for any good. I won’t say I am happy to know that you are getting married but am happy to see you happy with him. You were excited to know about my love life. I would say, am happily in love with you and I don’t mind doing that. I never stopped loving you and I never will. We promised to be there for each other forever no matter what. But, we both broke the promise. I left you and you never needed me. Life has moved on for both of us but my love is still the same, fresh and new. But I always preferred your happiness and I still do. I wish you a happy married life with Rishab and I wish to never meet you again because I still cannot imagine you with anyone else. On the last day of our exam, I wrote you a good-bye letter and believed it was the last one. But today am writing again to you, and I promise, this will be the “last letter” from me to you. I bid you a final good-bye. You look cute while sleeping and I didn’t want to disturb your sleep. I am leaving, all over again. We are departing, all over again. And yeah, I love you, just like before. Take care

“Your” Priyansh.

Shanaya wiped her tears that were flowing down from a long time. She looked up and the train had already reached the station. Keeping the letter safely inside her bag, she walked towards the door and saw Rishab standing there and waiting for a glance of her. She saw him grin widely and just as the train stopped, they ran to each other and Rishab hugged her tightly and her happiness was beyond limits again. Comforting herself in his arms, she wiped the last tear drop and smiled like a little kid who had found a chocolate factory. Rishab held her hand and started narrating his plans excitedly. Shanaya was back to her world of happiness and hopped and laughed with Rishab describing her own plans. Things went on… But the journey surly had an impression on her.. 

The Last Letter---

Light rays entered the room peeping through the window like a nasty neighbor trying to eavesdrop  the gossip going nearby, and succeeded in unsettling her peaceful journey in her dreamland. She twisted sides, but her dream was already shattered and her eyes, even though closed, could reciprocate to the shining day-light, waiting for her consent to enter completely and lit up the entire room. Finally diminishing the urge to hug her blanket tight, she decided to wake up and begin her day. Sitting on her bed, she looked out of the window… and the sun rays, like an obedient apprentice, shone even brighter and her evenly tanned skin was glowing a bit more giving her the perfect silk look and to add to it was her innocent fresh smile like a newly bloomed flower with water-drops adding more beauty to it.

Amidst her dream-world, she realized, she has a train to catch in the afternoon.. and holy shit! It was 8.30 am and she had bags to pack, certainly not an easy and fast task for a girl.. a girl like Shanaya. She is a girl living in her own world of happiness and colors. With darkness, she meant night and which further described- Party, lights, music, dance..  She had her own dictionary with her own creation of synonyms. People around, envied her as they never saw her crying or complaining about life which was not at all perfect but which she treated like a perfect gift to her from God. But little did they know, her smile was too influencing and her tears were too opaque. She believed, Life is how you see it, take it, and enjoy it. She loved being chirpy, loud, crazy and people couldn’t not love her. She believed in extremities, creating her own boundary. She loved her friends beyond limits and she hated her enemies, even though very few, to the extreme.   “Love” was always a fantasy to her. From all sorts of romantic movies to books, she never resisted the concept of love.. Loving and being loved! Dream dates to surprises…  A Prince charming and a Grand wedding, she had it all in her mind. Not once, but hundreds of times. 5 years back she found her “Mr. Perfect”… Yes, with all his flaws, he was still her perfect guy as she loved him with all her heart and her “extreme-ness” reached to a new level. A perfect-couple, as people said and they were nothing less. Rishab was “the guy” she realized and they decided to fulfill the dream of a grand wedding of theirs.

In a week, Shanaya would be living her dream in a gorgeous designer lehenga and jewelries in a perfectly set stage for their grand wedding  .. She and Rishab would tie their knots forever. Before that, both of them planned to spend a two-day Pre-marriage Holiday, together. Nothing would change after a week, they knew, yet, they decided over a lame excuse to be together. Shanaya decided to travel to Rishab’s place and that too by a train, unlike always. She always believed in being different and crazy. 

But little did she knew, the journey would leave a different impact on her ..  With memories flashing back and promises she couldn’t keep. Even though the impact was for a short period, memories came back only for a moment, but the intensity was beyond limits..                                                                                                                                                                                               

Coach S-4 Berth-7, Shanaya Rawat. She was struggling with her luggage- big enough for a two-day trip. Finally she reached her destination after a lot of hard work and relaxed on her window-side seat. With a smile glued to her face, like always, she was waiting for the train to start and experience a journey new to her and above all, the happiness of meeting Rishab after hours of waiting and travelling. She rested on her seat with a playlist of her all-time-fav songs in her I-pod and the Train began to move. She looked out of the window and let the breeze play with her hair like those in her favorite Hindi-movies. Shattering her perfect scene of a romantic movie, out of the blue, she heard her name being called by someone. She detached her ear-phones and instantly looked up, and to her surprise, she met a known-stranger amidst the crowd.

Shanaya must have never thought of coming across him, again, not this way at least. It was Priyansh, her Best-Friend from school. They were buddies meant to be forever, or that is what everyone thought like and they shared Friendship, everyone envied of. Not a single day people could see them detached, even during their fights, they stayed together without talking .. though for a short time always. They were BFF’s and they promised to be together forever..  Little did they knew….                                                        Life was perfect. Till, one fine day, Shanaya told him about the guy in her life, the one she considered to be her “forever”.. Rishab. With her innocent smile and chirpy voice, like every single thing, she shared this happiness of her with Priyansh but she had never expected a reaction full of rage and hatred. The guy she considered to be her best friend since years, was silently falling in love with her each day and a bit more every passing moment. But the very thought of losing Shanaya, an important part of him, stopped him from speaking out his heart. It was their last year of school when Shanaya informed him about her newly found love, Rishab and he couldn’t tolerate her words, words of love for Rishab. Recovering from her shock, Shanaya had asked for an explanation for his rude behavior and that was the day, Priyansh finally confessed his love towards her. There was no Proposal, no acceptance, no rejection.. rather followed a broken friendship, tears and misunderstandings. They never talked about it again, never tried to sort it out because Priyansh’s love for Shanaya was beyond words, explanations and Shanaya was head-over heels in Love with “her” Rishab and distanced herself from her “Best-friend”. Nobody was at fault, it was Cupid who was at wrong. Few months of their “last-school-year” passed and they never met after school ended. But on the last day of their school, Priyansh gathered some courage and walked towards Shanaya to talk. Seeing him approach, she got conscious but even she was dying to hear his voice since long. He told her that he is leaving the city after the exams and certainly they are never going to meet again, until fate decides and gave her a letter. She blinked rapidly to stop her tear from flowing but in vain.

She still had that letter with her where Priyansh described his love with the perfect words and for the first and last time, he deciphered his eternal love towards her. He wanted her to be happy and so decided to not cross her path again as he was not unaware about the pain she received with their detachment and her disability to correct things. He couldn’t see her sad face. He decided to leave.

Continued to Part-II 

Distance Matters..Only when You want it to!

I checked myself in the mirror all over again and looked at the watch. I was dressing up so much for someone for the first time in life and all I wanted was to look good. No matter what the temperature is, a girl can always beat the cold when it comes to dressing up and I am no exception. It was the last day of the year and undoubtedly one of the coldest nights, yet I was wearing my favorite knee-length dress with matching heels on. I wanted to look perfect and special as the night was certainly special to me. It was 6.45 and my patience crossed it’s level, my nervousness was reaching its peak and I was trembling.. not due to the extreme cold 31^st night but due to anxiety and impatience. It was “our” first meet after all.

Yes, we are in a long distance relationship and we don’t know from when but it’s been months that we are in love.. truly-madly-deeply. It might sound crazy that how can you fall in love without meeting and knowing a person, but we share a different bond. We have been friends first, then turned to soul-mates and now happily being together in spite of the distance. ..

At around 7, finally I got a call from him and he was there! I was all set to meet him after those hundreds of video chats, long late night talks, 4 months of staying apart and missing each other, yet I was tensed and almost freaked out. I saw him walking towards me and all I could do was smile, blush and look away. Finally the long waited time was here, the distance disappeared and we were standing right next to each other, not virtually, but in reality! After all our chats and unstoppable talks over skype and phone, there was an awkward silence during our first meet. We both were feeling shy, we greeted each other with a hug which was way too awkward and formal… yet, it was the first one and first of everything is special. It took us a few minz to believe the reality and dilute the awkward silence between us and as always I began with my chatter, which he always likes. We felt comfortable being with each other. I was extremely happy to be with him and dint stop blabbering and smiling. Unlike always, he was quiet and shy i guess! I couldn’t stop looking at him, into his eyes.. He was looking handsome no doubt and we complemented each other. I  felt complete with him. His presence was something that enlightened me.. it was our first official meet but it seemed 2 me as if i have known him since forever. All these days i have been planning, dreaming for this day but i could think of nothing after i met him.. all i knew was, my happiness went beyond limits. I had the best ending to a year and also the best beginning of a new one. I didn’t hesitate being with him, it was a new feeling and somewhere I felt, I have been with him this way since forever, it was something known yet fresh and new. He treated me like a princess.. he treats me like one, every single day! I saw the respect, love and care in his eyes, attitude and words. We had the best days of our life but I love the way he keeps telling me, “the best ones are yet to come, just grow old with me”. I had those few days with him where there was no tension to count the time to check the time-difference, I could meet him anytime, I could be with him, not virtually but really and those were the best ones. We have lived our “Forever” in these numbered days..

Now that he’s gone, all I can do is just wait for him, wait to be with him again. The wait might be months or may be almost an year but now I believe, it’s worth waiting at times. People say distance relationships never work as distances always creep in, I myself never believed in one. But until you find that right person of your life, even being together doesn’t help. In these days, I have realized, distance actually never matters.. Love does! It’s all about how you feel and if you have the will, you always find the way. No matter how many miles apart we are, he is always the first guy I talk to after waking up and certainly the last one I talk to before sleeping. Even the time difference couldn’t disrupt us. We of course don’t get to meet every day, celebrate every occasion together, and we do miss “us” being together but we know how to begin and end each day together, and make each day count, make it special. A bond can never turn weak or it never breaks because of the distance, rather it grows stronger with trust. Distances never let people fall apart. Wrong feelings, wrong person and lies do.

To all those who said, it never works.. It does, only if you want it to. Being in a Distance relationship is cute and i believe they have the courage to fight with every obstacle.

To all those who are worried about the distance… Don’t be. At the end of the day, it’s the love that matters, it’s the trust that makes you stronger. So stop worrying and keep loving! J