St. Valentine Special

"Ravi is a snob, and will always be. To hell with him. I am not going to waste even a second more of my attention on him." cried Priya.

There was enough bitterness there. She immediately noticed and approved.

"Enough of her chasing the rainbow" she thought.
Infact...There is no rainbow worthy enough to be pursued. There is no pot of gold at the end. Sorry..Either ends.You spend time and effort in a faltering relationship, and all you are left with in the end.. is enough cynicism in your heart to last your whole life , but of course, in a broken heart.
She sighed as if she wanted to say all that aloud and also add" Ask me..dear. I would know".

But she knew priya too well to try and pursue a conversation. She approved of her decision and wanted her to leave it at that. She managed to tuck her under the covers before saying goodnight.

"Sleep tite, sweetie. We’ve got labs, first thing in the morning".

As she looked back at her friend from the door, she saw her cuddling onto her pillow. Ravi's photograph was jutting out from underneath it.

How I wish it could happen? There is not a soul in the college who doesn't know where my sweetie's affection lay, except for that jerk himself. What does he think he is, making her suffer like this? Reciprocating her affection aside, he wouldn't even acknowledge it."Lord, what were you thinking, when you decided to make men”

Hmmm..

Think, I will take her out tomorrow….Its valentine's day after all. I will not leave her alone with her tears.

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"Classes dismissed. Professors on strike" the notice board blared, as they reached their labs. Panting hard from their dash, they almost crashed into another group of girls walking merrily back to their hostels.

"Mufat ka chutti...Woh bhi valentine's day pe...Sahi hai" quipped one of the girls.
"Inquilab Zindabad!” shouted another.

She looked at Priya. Blank eyes stared back. She knew priya couldn't share the excitement of a "holiday out of the blue", not in her state of mind. Her own excitement sank down immediately.

It also struck her that priya wouldn't hear anything about an outing together...not with anybody. Not with her too...

Misery loves company..Ahem..Not in my priya's case. She would prefer to shut herself up in her room and if she had her way ,one would have to bring a bull-dozer to bring down the door.
She helplessly watched her trudge back to the despair of her room.

If Ravi had been around, I would have ordered execution..no jury..no trial..straight execution. Like they did it in old cowboy movies

She decided to take a walk by herself..to get her thoughts straight.

Along the comfortably-familiar alleys in the campus...under the cool shade of the huge poplars by the side...crossing the noisy cacophony of the playground nearby...winding into the small- maze- of-a-mall ahead. The walk soothed her and set her thinking.

A moment to cherish: to store up all my present sensory reactions of into tiny memory cells...to be re-called at will. Far from it
This is not one of the moments which I would want to remember 4 years yonder?
Well, was there such a moment at all? Any time, when I had been truly happy,with my friends?
Some incident which would not forego its freshness even after many re-tellings?
An imprint which is so deep and joyful that, all the smells and sights associated with it stay in a neat little package and package would never be lost , its data would never be corrupted and it would be re-called at will and desire. They do have names for such packages..don't they. Yeah..They call it nostalgia. Have i have ever been nostalgic? So nostalgic that, it would make me call up one of my dear ones and ask "Hei..Do you remember the time when..."

As her thoughts sank into the memories of her childhood and waded through the shallow waters of her brief teens only to sink further into the mire of youth, a thought suddenly struck her and she stopped.

She realized that melancholy had not just been her companion. It was her gift to the ones she loved. She was the one who had been affecting all the people who had been close to her. Why else would she not find one happy moment in her life? Because the ones close to her had been as unhappy as well. And she had been the cause, not the effect. She was contagious. And this virus knew no cure or end.

My beloved Priya, Get away from me as fast as possible. I am the crucifix that's got you stuck in this mire. Take all that's left of ur life and run away from me.

Melancholy enters one's life unawares and stays. She had been given lots of it as my birth-right and like a fool, She had shared it all.

The realization suddenly sent shivers down her body. She suddenly wanted to see somebody happy. Anybody would do.
Be it her junior walking by, who just commented on her dress “Your red dupatta is torn at the back...madam". She smiled him away.
Or the little boy who was cycling by, "Aapka dupatta fata huwa hai...didi". She shrugged

She dint realize that she had reached the mall. There was a small Archies shop by the corner, which she entered on instinct. She saw two boys checking out some cards by a corner. One of them looked very familiar. Her heart leaped at the plausibility, which had seemed a near-impossility a night ago.

Is it him? What is he doing in an Archies Gift shop…that too on a Valentine's Day? Am I sure, Its him?

She stepped closer to hear their conversation..

"Hei...Are you sure she would like it...dude? Don’t want to disappoint her man. I will be meeting her after a long time...I have been such a jerk...u know"

"I know and so does everyone" She wanted to say.

"Hei...What about this one...Would priya like this one?"

She had been waiting to hear that name. She rushed out of the shop only for the tear in her red dupaata to get stuck in the door-handle. She tore it free and was over the moon in a leap.

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She fell on the ground with a thud. The floor felt too icy and smooth to be where she thought she had fallen. She opened her eyes to find herself still in her hostel room. She checked the watch. 8:30 a.m.

Was it only a dream?

She thought of priya..Thought about the Archies shop...Her heart sank.

Well..

She opened her wardrobe to pick up her dupatta for the day….

the red one with the tear in the back..