Love, Frustration, Friendship

It was a Monday morning. Cheerful and sunny. Birds were chirping in the tall cedars lining the sides of the road to the local bazaar. A cool breeze was also there adding to the beauty of the morning. The cars usually plying on the road on weekdays were few and far between. Was it a festival day? 

I also saw no groups of school students that crowded the road during that time of the day. I reached the hairdresser's shop and was happy to see that there was only one young man whose hair the barber was cutting and trimming. When the barber had finished with him,he looked at me and smiled cheerfully and I literally froze. My goodness. . !Who is this strange youth? His teeth had something repulsive with unsightly gaps. But when he smiled and talked to me my sense of repulsion disappeared. He was unassuming and informal. He revealed that he was my batch mate in college. While I was doing English he was doing political science. But how come I forgot him. . . ? He gave me endless details to confirm that he knew me well. I felt compelled to pretend familiarity with him. He kept sitting and talked about other classmates when the barber was busy cutting my hair.  

He was Ramesh Chandra Sahani. I had never heard of him in college during my graduate years.

But he was not a liar. I was deeply entranced to hear him sing. He sang the old Bollywood hits with tremendous talent and magnificence. We had talked a good deal that day. I had just left university and was preparing for competitive exams. I encouraged him to come and stay with me. I had rented a big room and thought it would be better if I shared it with another boy. He agreed to shift to my residence bag and baggage. This was because his maternal uncle and aunt didn't want him there. Sahani and I became best friends.  

He had nobody in the world except his uncle and aunt. His father had renounced the world after his mother's death in an accident. However he was not an irresponsible father. Sahani himself told me his father had given his uncle all his property and bank balance. I used to assure him he could land a good job and earn much more than his father.  

After I had landed my current bank job,I began to think of Sucharita constantly. My sweetheart at university. She was now teaching English at a prestigious college in Andhra Pradesh. We did correspond with each other by post and sometimes over phone. Phone calls were expensive those days. Getting my cherished job was a dream come true. But I didn't ignore my friend Sahani. We were good friends. No we were best friends.  

When I went to Bangalore on probation, he stayed back in Bhubaneswar. I was restless to get married. I even became cross with her accusing her of callousness. Her only obsession was getting her Phd done. "What is the use of doing a Phd? Any fool can do it nowadays. " Her usual answer would be: "You have got your dream job. Now you have got nothing to worry about. " She thought I was a selfish person. I would complain about her to Sahani who always sided with her highlighting her career needs. She too had her dreams to pursue. I had to resist my desire calling it my selfishness reluctantly. I was embittered about Sahani since he always supported her. When I bought a cellphone in 2001,we talked to each other every evening. Sucharita also talked to Sahani. After a few months, I thought the friend whom I had provided with everything was going to be the cause of my ruin. Now Sahani was staying with me in Bangalore. I deliberately talked to him less. He didn't display any kind of reaction.  

Suchi had become a regular visitor to my house.  

"Why are you coming to me every month? Every visit means wastage of money. . You don't want to get married. I really can't figure out what you actually mean. . . " After I left home for the office they I knew indulged in chatting. What was worse,once I saw some photos in which they had posed together. Suchi had left a film magazine by mistake one day. After I saw them together I roared at Sahani,"Leave my place this instant. . . !"

He thought I was joking and laughed. Or he was full of impertinence and wanted to throw a challenge at me.  

At the bank I stayed upset and forgetful. A time came when I disclosed my suffering and pain to a senior. The girl who sat next to him at another counter often turned her face to me. She had overheard us. Now whenever I looked at her,she gave me her magical smile. She was irresistible. She loved talking to me. But I was unable to forget Suchi and cursed Sahani who was still struggling to get a job. Now my one time friend was living in a nearby hostel. He wanted to talk to me but I avoided him steadfastly.  

I had blocked Suchi's number and had sifted to another rented house.

It was around 8:30 in the evening. My doorbell rang. Once. Twice. Thrice. Then I opened the door and was astonished to see Sahani. I wondered how he managed to locate my new home. He came in and handed me some three letters. I went through the letters silently. I was crying. Suchi was in love with a Telugu lecturer. She and he were teaching at the same college but when their came to light,they had asked her lover to leave the college. He was now the Principal of an influential public school in another district.  

I recognised Suchi's handwriting and wept bitterly. My friend Sahani embraced me most lovingly and

said,"Brother, you have seen the true face of the world. Suchi's lover is the son of a leading businessman and a man of crores. He is a well-known film producer. His son is too clumsy to fit into the film business. His father has set up a chain of wine shops. He also runs a number of engineering colleges in the city. He didn't want his son to marry an obscure girl from Odia. But later he bowed to his only son's wish. "

I begged my friend to forgive my foolish behaviour. I told him about my resolve not to marry at all.

However when Sahani came to my house after a year he was happy to see my wife Savitha Rangachari,the girl who was my colleague at the bank earlier.