From the diary of An Author.... Part 2

Aarushi was still smiling broadly when her friends took their seats on either side of her.

‘It’s been a long tiring night for a poor soul like me’, Harshita called out, ending her sentence with a long drowsy yawn. She dropped her head on the desk, using her hefty pile books as a pillow.

‘Who told you to burn midnight oil then?’ Anjali commented, rolling her eyes at the dramatic play put on by the former.

Anjali and Harshita, were one of the closest mates Aarushi had ever had. Aarushi had always been surrounded by many acquaintances owing to her intellectual abilities, but there were only a few whom she would address as friends. Anjali and Harshita were two of those few.

They had met during their exam preparation days, three of them were strikingly different, but they had bonded well. Their bond was slow to develop, but the longer it simmered in heat, tougher it became. Fortunately enough, they had been accepted in same university.

Harshita wailed dramatically, shooting a few curses on the day she decided to become a medical practitioner. Aarushi and Anjali laughed at her performance.

Soon after, their professor entered causing the girls to fall silent, after that they did not get much chance to speak for next three hours. Aarushi stretched her arms and back which had gone stiff from long hours sitting.

‘We have an hour before next one, wanna grab a bite, girls?’ Anjali asked.

‘Whose treat?’ Harshita enquired attempting rather poorly to disguise her enthusiasm.

‘Mine’, answered Aarushi, not letting any emotion escape.

Her friends eyed her suspiciously; it was rare for Aarushi to treat them or even accept a treat. She was a person who would usually suggest an equal split up or immediately pay off her share. Her treats customarily included delicacies cooked by her; treats at a restaurant were as rare as a sunflower in desert. Last time she had treated them to an outdoor meal was when they had been allotted same colleges.

After five minutes they were seated around the round table at the cafeteria in front of their campus. Harshita and Anjali exchanged looks, something was not right here, this wasn’t like Aarushi.

‘Order whatever you want’, Aarushi commanded, inscrutable and calm.

Something was definitely not right!

Harshita looked over at Anjali, bewildered; both of them shared the same expression though.

‘Are you sure?’ Harshita was still trying to convince her brain and vestibular system that it was not malfunctioning.

Aarushi nodded, raising an eyebrow questioning their quirky attitude.

‘We are ready to order’, Aarushi called out to the waiter nearby. She eyed her friends, conjecturing their behavior. Both of the girls were huddled behind the menu, going through a mental conversation.

‘Two vegetable and cheese sandwiches’, Harshita spoke, disbelief lining her voice.

‘That’s it?’ Aarushi asked, encouraging them to order more. Anjali’s mouth dropped open while Harshita’s eyes popped out in shock. They regained their conscious and looked at each other.

Aarushi was smirking at their expressions. They had another brief mental conversation and seemed to reach a conclusion.

‘We won’t be shy then’, Anjali responded still skeptical.

‘Hm, go ahead’, Aarushi answered, restraining her laughter with great difficulty. Anjali nodded briefly and grabbed the once in a blue moon chance.

‘Okay, so… three frappuccinos, fries and choco cookies… ’, on and on went the list.

Waiter jotted down their order and went away to prepare it. As soon as he left, her friends turned to face her. Aarushi was grinning.

‘Speak’

‘I have news to announce’, Aarushi said, no longer controlling her exhilaration. Her friends raised their brows, probing her to continue.

Aarushi opened her phone and pushed it towards them. They bent their heads to get a clear view of picture. Their eyes almost left the sockets in amazement.

‘It’s… It’s here…’ Anjali was the first one to speak, Harshita nodded vigorously in agreement. They looked up. Aarushi was grinning widely, excitement dancing in her deep black eyes.

‘When? ’

‘This morning’

‘So now?’

‘Weather the storm and move mountain’

Her friends smiled a hearty smile and nodded in agreement. They ate to their heart’s content and made their way back to the campus for upcoming class.

‘How long has it been since you last saw each other?’ Harshita enquired, as they crossed the stone path to academic building.

‘Three years’ Aarushi replied.

‘And you still love him the same?’

‘My love for him never withered’, Aarushi responded and winked at them playfully.

Anjali scoffed at her cheesy comment while Harshita snorted. They had known about Ajay and his story. Though they had never met him in person, they were pretty confident that the guy must be special to infatuate their friend for whole eleven years. Aarushi was sure a difficult to please person, they had known this themselves, and if someone could captivate her he must have some notable nerve!

Aarushi rolled her eyes at their responses and paced ahead of them.

‘I won’t give in this time, Ajay… And if I am supposed to, I’ll just be grateful for this second chance…’

She thought to herself, smiling all the while. She looked straight ahead, the black deep wound in her heart was starting to mend gradually, the light ray at the end of her dark tunnel was approaching closer and she was determined to catch it this once.

-----xxxx-----

Aarushi was praying feverishly. Today was the day for rearrangement of seats in class. Aarushi was making mental prayers to let Ajay be her desk-mate. A year had passed since that fateful day when she had seen him for first time, or rather she thought she had. After that there wasn’t much interaction except some friendly banter. Somehow, Ajay loved to annoy her!

He would be pulling her leg or playing childish pranks. Though he loved to do that to almost everyone, but Aarushi was somehow the favorite victim of his jokes. He could annoy the hell out of her and Aarushi wasn’t very famed for her good temper!

But still she wished to be friends with him and that’s why she had been hoping secretly for Ajay to become her desk-mate for this session.

Teacher started their rearrangement. Aarushi was sent to the second last bench of corner most rows of tables, it was a table for two; she continued her prayers when teacher beckoned Ajay to sit next to her. Aarushi was overwhelmed with content but she managed to keep her face straight. Her insides were squirming with joy, no matter how annoying the boy was; he still managed to bring her happiness in his own unique manner. Ajay took the seat next to Aarushi and looked over at her, a frisky and youthful smile playing around his flawless lips. His eyes were bright like twinkling stars with mischief and buoyant spirit. He greeted her animatedly.

She felt a rush of novelty and joy as she returned the greeting. She tore her eyes away from his too-perfect-to-be-true features, but the smile from her recent fortune was still there.

‘By the way Aarushi, I won’t be cramming myself inside forever, tomorrow onwards you will occupy this seat next to wall’, Ajay said, grumbling about his current position. The space on his end looked obviously stuffed while Aarushi’s was roomier.

Aarushi looked at him disapprovingly, no longer smiling.

‘No, this isn’t fair, we should take the seat alternatively, this is stated in rules’, she countered pointing sharply in the direction of billboard with a poster stating ‘class rules’ pasted on it.

Ajay grinned impishly; he won’t be letting this one go. They launched into another immature banter, with Aarushi pointing out regulations and their inevitability and Ajay stubbornly sticking to his own interpretations of rules. They were interrupted by teacher who had called for silence; Aarushi was stopped in middle of voicing the consequences of not following regulations set by elders and jerked her head straight ahead turning her attention to ongoing lesson.

For next hour she willfully neglected all of the Ajay’s snide and irksome remarks and averted him from copy pasting her work. She was still miffed up over his obstinate and unreasonable attitude. She didn’t want them to get into trouble for breaking rules; it would doubtlessly ruin her picture of a faultless pupil.

As soon as the bell for the end of lecture rang, Aarushi shoved her belongings in her bag and prepared to leave without a single glance at the boy beside her.

‘You won, we’ll take the seat alternatively’, Ajay spoke, nonchalantly.

Aarushi looked at him, smiling and appreciating his decision. He was trying to appear indifferent but about the statement, but she saw through his cute attempts. She laughed and jokingly mocked him for losing the battle.

He protested and tried to justify his actions and Aarushi laughed more effusively at his justifications. She looked at him trying to justify himself while suppressing a laughter, he looked like an innocent and carefree boy at the moment; she etched that face in her memory. She had never been this carefree and delighted; this boy had definitely opened the doors to a whole new world for her…

-----xxxx-----

Aarushi was back in her dorm room. It had been a tiresome day. Back to back lectures, they barely had time for lunch and dinner, finally the day had come to an end with an ethereal gift of solitude and peace. She was finished with her day’s revision. She stretched herself a bit. Harshita had fallen asleep right after dinner; Aarushi had stayed up to settle a few extra assignments, it was midnight till she was finished with it.

Aarushi walked to the balcony to intake some fresh breath. Their campus was plunged into pitch black darkness; it was a quiet and tranquil night. The sky was covered in star studded inky blackness with smoky grey wisps of clouds. Moon shone above, radiating silvery streaks of light, bathing the ill illuminated region in its pious and dainty moonlight. Crickets were singing the summer melody, complimenting the tranquility of nightly world around them.

Aarushi sucked in a deep breath, ingenuous and lively. She looked at the silent area before her eyes; slow breeze was blowing around, and few locks that had escaped her meticulously tied braid, danced along with the wind. She took out a piece of paper and pen and started writing her latest entry…

Dear Mr. J,

I cannot strew my feeling into words. I am gleeful that you finally made the first major step towards building your own dreamland. Interestingly, today I realized something really amusing. Destiny is the most interesting game to play with; it can turn in just a few moments. A person can turn a memory and a memory can turn an experience to live for in just mere moments.

Till yesterday, you were only a memory to live by, only a streak of light I was hoping to reach someday and today, you are just here, just a few miles from me. Juhi messaged me today, congratulations on making your way into National Technology Institute, Delhi. I wish you the success and contentment of world.

I would’ve probably become a long rusted and forgotten memory for you, but you are still youthful and fresh in my memoirs, just like that day three years ago. I had given in to my fate, when once again; it played its ruthless game. It brought you here, crashing right into my world, like a meteor crash landing in a lake, water in the lake ripples momentarily but returns back to original state, but meteor stays there, hidden but there and the lake is changed forever. For me, the meteor stroke my placid water surface twice, somehow it was the same meteor again.

People say that the meteor is poisonous, it will contaminate my crystalline water, the way it always did, but somewhere I still know the beautiful crystal hiding within the heart of meteor. My meteor is just too afraid and belittled by world to show the crystal to anyone, afraid that his crystal would be crushed down. He is guarding his heart with that false layer of toxins and poisons, terrified to get hurt.

Water knows the meteor is not perfect, it has its own harsh rocky surface and flaws, but still it allows it to rest within it. What would you call that water? Stupid? Naïve? Lovesick?

I don’t know the answer, probably I’ll never know, but I know what water craves for. It wants to cherish the meteor, its rocky surface, its crystal heart, all of it… It wants to try and encourage meteor, help him let down his guard of toxins and heat with its slow ceaseless waves, it wants to see the true meteor.

It wants to love the meteor with all his life. Fate has given me another chance; I wish to try once again. I don’t know if I am still a part of your past, but I wish to become a part of your present and future. Are you willing to give me this chance?

Aarushi