When its just shadows – Niket

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“One week max” – one K articulates another.

The other K was not persuaded, “No, it might take longer this time, bet?”

Hundred bucks, done.

Few meters away Niket was speaking to a girl whom we categories as ‘Behenji’. She had potentials, but denied to use them to lure lads, she was rather in love with those fat books and Shakespeare may be. Pretty opposite to Niket.

Did recession just hit our college? Why the inferno would he tête-à-tête with a girl with no scope?

We used to call him iceberg, you never realize how arcane his roots were, at a time when we were struggling to have a ‘full time girl-friend’, and our lips still virgin he had scored double digits, thanks to his knacks and schooling in Delhi. He never named anyone, but we knew he didn’t fib, we have seen his expertise and heard his adventures from his old friends.

In our back folks used to call him “Playboy”, believe me they were jealous and green-eyed. He was copious more that that. He had a charisma in him, after sometime girls couldn’t stay away from him. He was electromagnet, both north and South pole together.

As the ‘chasmish’ Sonal leaves to her way towards library, both Ks hassled to Niket to ask what’s wrong. One K catechized directly “Boss, you are lowering your levels”. “Kuch to chor do hamare liye”. Other K backs him.

“Why Sonal, except her name she is all from 80’s era, dupatta, churidar, chasma and loads of books.  Have you saw her in jeans anytime, forget skirts? Niket have you become vegetarian?” Both Ks were much disheartened with this incident.

Niket smirks and aforesaid “She is cousin of my school friend, only yesterday came to know, and it was not tough to spot her. I asked a junior and he requested me to check at library. I knew most of them there, so odd girl out, there she was.”

KB asks, “Are you surefire, nothing else? We even had a bet of hundred bucks that you will make her fall for you within one week.”

Niket laughs and three musketeers heads to cafeteria.

8 years ago, same September month none of us could guess Niket’s life was going to transform downright.

Present Day

He always craved to visit London, stay there, get a ride in London Eye and see the Tower Bridge, the primogenital dream of his. Today he was there, by looking the tower bridge, the Thames looks so picturesque, Its just like the wallpaper he had in his room for years. Being there was an aboriginal feeling but he couldn’t share his joy with anybody.

Since he saw Sonal, the dream had developed bigger. Persistently he had imagined themselves snapping pictures there, lots of, asking someone to take a photo of both of them and repeating the same thing at multiple locations, at multiple angles. Today the dream almost got accomplished minus Sonal from the picture perfect.

Niket came to London to attend a workshop, he had been working at New York for last two years. He was earning well, was quite handsome and employed at a top company, which added some extra cream in his bio data. There was no dearth of girls in his community and college, but why he felt for Sonal? The then typical ‘Behenji’? Does love happens like that? All of a sudden, without a forewarning?

They say marriages happen in heaven, so it happened to him, she walked into his life and he followed her wherever she travelled like the ‘Five years of Engagement’, but then too somewhere he failed. I guess he should have been himself and no one else. By trying to make her glad he already had changed himself ample.

Some day he would have sought to prizefight her, slap her, argue with her why she did this with them, someday he just wanted to hold her hand and sit silent or hug her and kiss her forehead. The feelings changed time to time but no day passed when he didn’t reminisce her. He used to keep three clocks in his desktop, one in GMT, one for IST and one EST (NY time, as his office).

Time conversion had become his favorite time pass. His mind could do the four and half hour math so well that if he were writing CAT, IIM was definite him. At daybreak he used to think Sonal must be at office waiting for lunch time, at breakfast table he thought what she must have cooked that day for lunch. The taste of her so so cooking was zillion times better than his bread omelet. Finally he said her good bye when it used to me 11 o clock at night in India. He kept on missing her and time kept flying , soon it was ‘their’ third marriage anniversary. Sonal, technically his wife was still large in his mind even after almost a year of split-up. They were husband-wife only in paper.

Niket had been in tremendous Catch-22, whether to call it their or his anniversary? She had walked away from the relation, but only due to dad’s intervention they didn’t file the divorce paper, since then for like eleven months they didn’t talk. Was the term ‘we’ still applicable for him and Sonal?

But he never did call her, he says let live with a hope, if he calls her and she cuts it that would be all end of it. He lived with a hope of one phone call. In the hope of one little ‘Hi’ from her end. Was this same Niket who could roughly tell every stat of a girl just by seeing them. Was it really the same Iceberg? Have the iceberg melted of global warming?

Finally the day comes when he decided to toss his hope and dialed her number and waited for it to connect. Uff those thirty seconds of beep beep were the longest time of his life, but her cell was off. He tried for next one hour, but it didn’t change the result of first time. Ultimately dropped one liner mail to her “Happy Anniversary” for which he never got a reply.

In last eight years, since that day of September, Niket’s count incremented only once with Sonal. I never through love could happen to Niket, the iceberg aka playboy of our college. But once the cupid strikes you are never the same person again. With time Niket started avoiding all girls except Sonal. He would be going lunch with her, long walk after dinner and talking to phone all night. To our amusement he one day gave me his entire po*n CD collection, he conveyed he don’t watch them anymore. We were totally fused. Many other boys were benefited by Niket’s withdrawal from the market. With time he started becoming one woman’s man and Sonal changed from churidar laden Behenji to a contemporary girl. The big frame was replaced by colored contact lens. The shoes replaced by more trendy pairs, hairs got straightened. By end of college who would say this girl was once a bookworm?

I understood that love allows people to change themselves how their love wants to see them. Niket became a Bhaiyaji like Sonal was, and she became a bombshell how Niket was. What a wrong placement and timing. Differences were obvious. The more she saw the world more independent she became, while Niket still considered her a like a child, how she used to be in first year, scared, emotional and sentimental. But she was no more the same. If you have seen the ‘Devil wears Prada’ you would undoubtedly know why and how people transmute.  We do something because we wanted to do that; there was always an option of not doing that.

For him she never grew, for her he was acting weird and protective. For him she was the world, and for her the world had just opened the doors. So finally after two years of marriage and lots of fight plus tensions they decided to get divorced. If not his had intervened they would have been formally separated. Sonal agreed to live separately without a divorce. Niket goes to New York for work, the coldness increased dramatically. And today when he did call her finally her cell was off. His email was never replied.

For Niket, the faith finally slumped and one day he found himself in a Strip club .In two months he was again famed, infamous among the ladies, they all knew about the new playboy out there.

Same Anniversary Night – India

She baked a cake and put two pieces in two plates and a candle in middle.

She sits on one of those chairs and raises one piece of cake and smiles.

What happens next ?

Find in IInd part – “When its just shadows – Sonal”