The end (?) of a beautiful period

He waited for 5 years, 5 long years before he could draw enough courage to do what he had thought. And such was the case that, when he did, he already knew the reply!

It all started as all such stories start: when he saw her. He thought he was hallucinating for he never did think that there would be real fairies in the world. He did not have chance to do anything then. He went home that day, thinking only about her all the way home. To his mother’s surprise, he ate his least favourite dish with pleasure. Next day, he went back and saw her again. He remained speechless by her beauty. While she stood first in class in unit test, he did not do as well as he would have normally liked. He heard his friends talking about her on the day of result. That day he heard her name for the first time – the most beautiful name, he thought. He gathered more information about her without having to ask any question for she was a natural topic of discussion that day.

Then came a fateful day. He spoke to her for the first time. So naïve, he thought later, getting smitten even by a word or two she said. ‘Thank you!’ was all she said and he listened to it over and over again that whole night. It went on for many days. He remained as tongue-tied as ever and busy with tuitions and studies.

First year passed in this manner. Second year started with a bad news for him – she had been shifted to some other class! He thought it was over, nothing doing now. But how wrong he was! In second year everyone started preparing for different entrance examinations. He soon found out she was going to do medical – even though she was a maths topper of his class. It came as a surprise for him for he was thinking she will be trying for engineering like him. One day, he bunked the class to study for the test. The test was scheduled for that evening in his tuition. He sat in a chair and started studying. To his great pleasure, she came in after some time with her friends and sat opposite him. He thought this as a sign of good luck – and he was right! He did do well in his test that day and got selected for the special batch! After that day, he started bunking more and more lectures just to get a glimpse of her. He figured it out that she comes on the days when she has practicals. He did not have his practices on those days, but he still decided to come on those days just to study in library for whole day. From time to time his wish was granted by the God and she used to come to library (though usually late in the day) One day he found her I-card at the book issue counter. She had left it there while she had taken out a book from library. He picked it up and read it. He memorized her birth-date and her address. He had no idea where her home was even after that except for some vague idea. One day, he left library at closing time and found face to face with her and her friends deciding to go to railway station by auto-rickshaw. They needed one more to complete three to share the rickshaw. He asked them whether he could be of any help. He spoke to her again that day, about general topics, just like he was doing for many times before. At station they said bye and parted.

This kind of thing happened many times, sometimes just two of them getting same rickshaw, or even walking to the station together. He asked her about her studies and other things and got little back. He did not know what to say to her, how to impress her, how to make her laugh and ended up getting more and more uncomfortable during those walks. May be she also felt something of this but she kept her composure (as only girls can do!) More he got to know her, more he liked her and vowed to himself, whatever happens, when he will tell her the truth, he will make sure he won’t lose her as a friend then. One day he asked her for some notes to study. She said they were at her home. She took him home, where he met her mother and brother. He got her phone number that day. At the end of second year, the results of entrance exams were out. She got more marks in maths than biology to her utter dismay. Nevertheless she got admission for medical and he got for engineering. Both went out of their hometown. He went into different state altogether. He had her email address by then and they had mailed each other during those difficult times till they got admissions. Both were trying to comfort each other saying, ‘You are a scholar! You will get admission easily!’

After the second year, the contact between them reduced significantly. He used to call her whenever he had time and balance in his mobile account. She hardly called back. His friends laughed at this but he kept calling her just for the sake of talking to her. It went on till one day he finally told her what he felt. He told her that he liked her – but in vane! She did not reply him anything. She just said, ‘ok’, they bade each other good night and disconnected the call. He switched to previous routine of calling her from time to time. Her attitude never changed. She remained as friendly as ever and spoke with same enthusiasm, happiness and modesty. He never lost hope, though he knew that it was hopeless.

He used to laugh at poets who wrote romantic poems, but one night, he himself ended up in their league. He was surprised at what he had typed out on his mobile for it was, he thought, the safest place to store such a private data. It was true of course. He completed his first literary creation one fine day, having included her beautiful name in its lines. He deleted the name from his mobile (as he knew any safe place is safe until someone reaches there!) He then proudly showed the poem, which did not contain her name, to his friends. They liked it and asked him for his ‘inspiration’. He dogged their questions and jokes by laughing along with them but kept his secret to his heart. He later typed it out on computer and sent her an e-mail.

He met her sometimes after that at her home. They talked about many things, laughed, told about their college, about professors, and other things. He could for once stop thinking that she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. This belief had strengthened over time. At the end he decided he had do it now and asked her again. She smiled and said, ‘I think you know my answer!’ He gave a painful smile and agreed the he did. They still remained on best of terms and bade each other good bye and best wishes for the exams both had soon. He left and walked out into the heat of noon. He was oblivious to it. For it was the end a beautiful period for him. He had put up a brave face but from inside he was burning. He went home spoke little, showed that he was just plain hungry though he could not eat much. After lunch, he tried to read some book he had started recently but with all the blood having gone to his stomach his brave face was crumbling. He decided something, got up and sat down and wrote whatever came to his mind. When he finished he felt better.

A beautiful period had ended, he thought, but not without giving something to treasure for life, something to hold on to, something as a souvenir – her friendship. He smiled to himself, having decided not to lose her as a friend, throughout this period and having accomplished it, he thought he has not lost anything, but gained!