Farishta

It was the year 1979. Radhika had just completed her graduation and wanted to work for sometime before getting married. She enrolled herself in an institution which prepared students for Company Secretary course. 

There in the institution, she came across a man, who was polite, helpful and appeared to be a gentleman. She was drawn to him.Gradually they started talking to each other. Once after the classes, he insisted for a cup of coffee at a nearby restaurant and she agreed to it. They used to talk to their heart's content about the course, about future prospects of the course , about life in general. She told him that she lost her father when she was just twelve years old and she wants to work to support her family. 

Time passed by and she completed the course and started searching for a job. Finally she got a job in a company which used to manufacture and sell Televisions. That was the time of black and white Tv. She was in sales department and was working as a secretary to a Regional sales Manager. 

After her office hours, she used to meet her friend, the one whom she met at the institution. One day he revealed that he is married and to have a platonic relationship was not a sin at all. 

There was a Kashmiri boy in her office, who used to observe that a man comes after office hours to meet her. Once just out of curiosity he asked her about her relationship with that man, she frankly told him that he was a friend.  

Days passed by. Sometimes her manager used to detain her for extra official correspondence work after the office hours and she used to feel scared but Raju, the kashmiri boy, always supported her and used to say, "Don't worry, I am sitting at the reception". 

She was 22 years old and one day her uncle brought a proposal of a boy,who was an engineer and belonged to a decent family. She told this to her friend whom she used to meet after her office hours literally every day. She thought he will be happy to know this but to her utter dismay, he just turned turtle and got furious. He said, " what is the need to marry?, You are earning, you are independent and can always stay like this". She told him that she needs to settle down. He said , " if you decide to settle down, I will ruin your life and will not let this happen". She was devastated. She didn't know what to do. She had sleepless nights and started looking pale, sad and gloomy. 

One day, somehow, he contacted her uncle and threatened him that if he tried to fix her marriage, he will ruin the whole family. 

She didn't go to the office for two days and on the third day when she attended the office, she looked disturbed and confused. Raju, the Kashmiri boy asked her if she was not well. She narrated everything to him.

He said, love is not about destroying somebody or possessing somebody. All relationships cannot be culminated into a marriage but instead one should let other person try her wings with independent pride. He advised her to try to forget her bitter past and move on in her life and create a beautiful future He revealed that day that he had a soft corner in his heart for her since the very first day she entered the office. Love is not all about possessing somebody. 

Later, that man created lot of problems and with the family consent, she was sent to a distant relative and later on there she was married. A year and a half passed by and she gave birth to a son. She came to visit her mother alongwith her son. 

She wanted to tell Raju that she has settled down and was happy in her. life. Those days, there was no existence of mobile phones so she had to contact one of her office colleague to know about Raju. She told her that a year back he passed away in an accident. 

Life goes on , some leave a scar and some leave a beautiful memory. The way he advised and comforted her in her bad times, he seemed to be a Farishta to her. Four decades have passed since then but Raju has a prestigious place in her heart .