Soulmate

Never worry about meeting soulmates. Such meetings are a matter of destiny. They will occur.

Sanjana was leading a routine life until she met Sanjay. It is a story about how destiny entwined souls together.

Sanjana is full of life, charming and has a pure heart. She is very friendly, down to earth and lives with her parents. Her parents are very protective of her as she is their only child and gives her freedom to do whatever she wants to. She loves shopping, is a voracious reader, adventurous and an ambitious girl.

Everything was going well for the Happy-go-lucky girl.

One day, Sanjana is spending her time with her parents watching a movie at home. Suddenly, there is a knock at the door. She opens the door and finds a courier guy who hands over a letter to her. After reading the letter, she jumps with joy as her dreams to be an engineer has come true. She has to join the Don Bosco Institute of Technology, Mumbai within a span of 20 days.

She is in a dilemma. She has mixed emotions within her- Happy and Sad. Happy that her dreams have come true and sad as she has to move to another city away from where parents stay. She spoke with her father about her feelings that night. Her father supports her to follow her dreams and promises that they would come to spend time with her and explore Mumbai very soon so that she won’t miss them.

When the day of parting had come, she was so emotional to leave her parents and was in tears. Even the parents were emotional but hid their tears as they do not want to show her how much they are going to miss her - the apple of their eye.

2

Mumbai, a bustling city famous for Vada Pavs. There is something about the city, which attracts many.

Sanjana got adjusted to the city and made a lot of friends. She lived in a rented apartment in Kurla near to her college. She calls her parents whenever she gets free time and longs to be with them.

She is a brilliant student in her college and liked by her lecturers. She excelled in academics as well as in inter-collegiate activities. During the final year, she gets placed in TCS.

She with her friends plans for get-together during weekends and have loads of fun. She gave equal importance to both her personal and professional life.

After her college is over, she went home to spend time with her parents before she enters the corporate world. She came back to Mumbai with her parents and had a wonderful time exploring Mumbai by watching Movies, shopping, visiting Malls and attractions like Appu Ghar, Bandra Sea link, Gateway of India, Siddhivinayak temple, Mahalakshmi Temple, Essel World and enjoying yummy delicacies from Hotel Taj, J W Marriott, and Chaats from roadside.

Sanjana joins TCS as a project lead of a team consisting of 8 persons and works under a Manager who is very strict. She has to meet the targets and deadlines for each day which has been assigned to her and no deviations can be taken from it. She is coping with work pressures and hectic schedules with no time to sleep. Her favourite past time on weekends is to get a good sleep. As work pressures are on, she was feeling lazy to meet her friends or to call her parents. All day work and no play was making Sanjana a dull girl. She succeeded in the project assigned to her and got promoted as Senior Manager.

On her 25th birthday, she had a wonderful party hosted by her friends and colleagues. She had jolly time with them after a very long time. Her parents asked her to think about marriage as all her friends were getting married and they want to see her settled in life too. She had neither boyfriends nor lovers and no belief in marriage or love as she could see how her friends are making adjustments and compromises in both. As she is very straight forward and talks upfront no matter what people thinks, some men won’t like her.

One day at work, she was assigned a new project to manage a big client of a reputed company. Boss is going on a family vacation for few days. He gives a letter to her and asks to give to a person who will come from the company which she is handling.

At noon, her company intercom rings.

It was a call from the reception desk.

'Madam, Sanjay has come to meet you'.

Sanjana: ' Who, Sanjay'

Girl at the reception: ' Sanjay from ABC Company'

She asks the girl to make him sit in the lobby and she will join him soon.

She was irritated and restless as she has to finish the project in 2 days. Attending a client in the middle of her busy schedule will take much of her time and delays her work.

She went to meet Sanjay with frustration.

3

She didn’t bother about how she looked. Her eyes traced his tall slender figure, from his messy brown hair down to his worn combat boots two sizes too big. His eyes warm, a range of soft colours reminding her of sweet caramel. She took a deep breath, inhaling his overly strong cologne. She found herself nearly gagging on the powerful scent. However, his broad smile prevented that.

Sanjay was talking over the phone. He looks at her and asks her to excuse him for a minute as it's an important call.

She waits for him to finish. After his call, both exchanged 'Hello', and had a brief conversation. She hands the letter to him and tells that she need to go as she has a deadline to meet.

As she walks, she felt eyes burning a hole in the back of her head. She looked over her shoulder to see him staring at her. It felt surreal, a guy as cute as that couldn’t be staring at her; could he? She wanted to look around to see if he was staring at someone behind her, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away; what’s not to like? As she looked into his eyes again, they held a hint of something she couldn’t quite place; protectiveness? A mysterious edge? She carries on with her office work brushing off her thoughts about him.

For Sanjay, he felt like he had met the girl of his dreams. A brief meeting with her revealed her qualities and made him to fall in love with her at first sight. She has round face with a defined pointed nose, a sturdy jaw line, a prominent chin inclined. She keeps her chin up. Wide-set eyes which describes her innocence like they are windows to her soul. Her wide mouth conveyed a sense of openness. He observed to the minute details in her and he could understand what type of person she is. He got attracted to her. He opened the door and went with hands in his pocket.

Her thoughts haunted him. He meets her at least once in a week in her office to meet and talk with her. She ignores him as she don’t want to talk to her client whom she had just met a few days back.

He knows in which mood she is by just looking at her face. If she is feeling irritated or looking dull, he put his efforts by cracking jokes or pulling her leg to bring smile in her face. He was in love with her bright smile.

As days went by, she was at the ease in conversing with him and felt lively and refreshed in midst of her hectic schedule.

4

Sanjana was held up with release of her project for the next day. She received a call from her parents asking her to meet her cousin at Kurla station at 9 pm who had come for official purpose to Mumbai and he is leaving by the train at 10 pm to Bangalore. She agrees to meet. She gets engrossed in her work and completely forgets to meet her cousin.

At 9.15 pm, Sanjay walks in with a cake to surprise her. He was planning to propose his love. She looks at him and the cake.

Sanjana: “You have bought a Cake. Butterscotch is my favourite.”

She took a knife, cut the cake into two slices. She gave one piece to him and ate the other one enjoying her favourite flavour.

Sanjana: “What is so special today?”

Before he could respond, she banged her hand on her head.

Sanjay: “What happened?”

Sanjana: “I was supposed to meet my cousin at Kurla Station at 10 pm. I completely forgot about it. I don’t think I can make it up.”

Sanjay: “You can make it up.”

Sanjana: “How?”

Sanjay: “You can come in my bike. I will drop you at the destination right on time.”

Sanjana: “Are you sure?”

Sanjay: “Anything for my beautiful lady.”

She blushed by hearing his words and agreed to go.

She sat behind him on the bike. He gives her helmet to wear.

When the bike started, she kept her hand on his shoulder for balance. He smiled within.

She was chattering non-stop about her and her family during the ride.

He has not seen this side of hers. She is friendly, family-oriented and fun-loving.

He felt like proposing her. But he thought it is not the right moment.

She hugs and thanks him for his help when they reached the destination.

She was happy within that she could make it up because of him.

He in turn rejoiced the wonderful moments he had with her and felt a bit sad that he couldn’t express his feelings for her.

5

After few months, Sanjana gets a project abroad in Singapore. Sanjay’s thoughts were always about her in Mumbai.

In Singapore, she feels aloof without her friends around and missing his company too. She felt to contact him but she don’t have his contact number. She sends a message in Facebook as he is a social network savvy. She waits for his reply. She feels uneasy thinking whether he will reply or he must have forgotten her as she is in a different project.

She checks her Facebook every day after she comes back from work but in vain. After 2 days of endless wait, she receives a message “Hey Beautiful” from him. She was blushing by his flattering. She is happy that he has not forgotten her and asks him for his contact number. When he messaged his contact number, she calls him immediately. He was very excited to hear her voice and gave him a full on power which he was missing for a long time.

They talked over the phone every day and night. The talks brought out positivity, happiness and giggles in both their lives.

One day, Sanjay takes a flight from Mumbai to Singapore as he was missing her badly. He calls her from a local number. She picks up the phone and he speaks with her in a meek tone asking queries. She doesn’t recognise his voice and answers them. Suddenly he changed to his normal tone and calls her “Hey Beautiful”. By hearing his words, she was surprised and was in tears. He tells her that he is in Singapore. He wants her to meet him in a pub in the evening.

She was eagerly waiting for the evening and can’t wait to meet him.

She saw him sitting at the table waving at her to join him. She went and sat beside him. Both ordered their drinks and side-dishes and had lots to catch up. They didn’t feel like strangers. They were talking non-stop pulling each other’s leg, laughing and spending quality time together in each other’s company.

When it was time to depart, they were in silence. They were recollecting the wonderful moments spent in the Pub. They just looked at each other’s eyes. Their eyes were speaking a lot than words. They could discuss everything under the sun and be themselves as they are without any pretendence. But they couldn’t bear the separation which is to follow.

She has to go home as it was getting darker outside. He has to catch a flight to Mumbai. He slowly takes her hand, hold it tightly as he don’t want to miss her or miss this moment. She thought he is drunk and asks him to leave her hand. He hesitates. She tells him she has to go as it is already late. She takes off her hand from him, hugging him goodbye. He kept watching her leave the Pub. He was confirmed that she is his girl for life, and he needs to propose to her soon.

6

Once Sanjay reached Mumbai, he was in a confusion whether to confess his love for her or not. Will she say a Yes or No?

He finally found courage in himself to propose to her whatever her reply may be.

When his phone rang, she was on her way home in the bus. It was too crowded. She told him she will give a call back once she gets a seat. He waited impatiently for her call.

At last, her phone rings. He picks up the call in one ring and tells her he has a confession that he loved her the moment he met her first. He came to give her the cake and propose her. He can’t be without her and he loves her.

She listens to him patiently and replies that he is just a best friend for her who stands by her in her highs and lows. He gets disappointed but without any regrets, he gives her space.

Both continue with their regular phone talks which energizes their lives. After few months, they got busy with their hectic schedule at work and they lost in touch with each other.

After 1 year, when she was about to return to India, she tries calling him to tell that she is coming back. But she finds his phone is switched off. She tries reaching him everyday but in vain. It’s either switched off or not reachable. She is worried what has happened to him.

Sanjana arrives at Mumbai.

She tries to contact him again and again. But his phone is switched off. She gets angry as there is no response. She has her weirdest thoughts.

On one side, she is frustrated and concludes all boys are the same, as they treat love as a time-pass and she also thinks he is also behaving like them. On the other side, she scans through all his social networks for any updates. On his birthday, she finds all the wishes pouring out from many people in Facebook but there is no sign of an update from him.

On a weekend, she was watching TV to calm her mind from his whereabouts. Suddenly, news flash shocks her. It is about ABC Company. Sanjay ran away with public’s fund and Company bankruptcy. She couldn’t believe the news as she has full faith in him. She knows he is not a person who does injustice to anyone.

She prays to God every day that he should at least call her so that she could know what’s really happened and what the rumours are all about. She is lost in her own thoughts and unable to focus on her job as well as her personal life. She realises how she misses him badly and how much of importance he is in her life.

7

Two months went by without any news from him.

By seeing her depressed, her friends asked her to accompany them for shopping. She has no mood for it but she agrees. She receives a call from an unknown number. She ignores the call. Again, her phone rings. She picks it up and hears a familiar voice. She kept her ears very close to the phone to make sure whether she is hearing the voice which she had missed for ages. A feeble voice from the other side said hello.

She becomes emotional. She enquires him how he is, where he was for so long and why didn’t he contact her.

He tells her to relax first and he shares his story with her.

After his return from Singapore, there were lot of issues in his company. His MD, Sanjay Agrawal ran away with the public money. As he shares the same name as his, clients mistook him and police was after him for investigation.

His family and relatives asked him to go out of town. He kept his phone switched off at Mumbai home as the location can be tracked by the police officials. He forgot to note down her contact number in hurry. He went to Hyderabad for job prospects. He wanted to contact her but then he didn’t have her number. He thought to contact her later as he don’t want her to be worried.

Once he was sure that he is clear from his office issues, he returned back to Mumbai. He bought a new sim card and then called her as he do not want her to get into any trouble because of him.

By hearing everything he has to say, she could realise that he is a very special person for her and she loves him to the core. She tells him she wants to meet him and where he could be able to meet her.

He asks her to wait for few days until he finds a new job as he don’t want to pressurize her with his problems. And even if they meet, he don’t think he will be able to spend enough time with her. She agrees to him as he had a valid point. She confessed her feelings to him and promised that she will always be there for him. He was overjoyed.

They continued exchanging messages and calls as before. He searched for job frantically and she prayed to God every day for him to get a good job.

8

After 2 weeks of vigorous search, he is placed in a good company.

As a surprise, he comes to meet her in her office. Sanjana’s Intercom rings.

Receptionist on the other end tells her ‘Madam, Sanjay has come to meet you.’

Her happiness knew no bounds. Leaving the work she was doing, she runs to meet him. He tells her that he has got his job. She congratulates him and asks for treat. He requests her if she can join him and be with him for rest of the day. She smiles.

She asks for permission to her boss for half day off. He grants her leave.

Both go off on a long bike ride and also remembers the first time they went in bike. They have fun enjoying in each other’s company going to a pub, movie, and having a candle-light dinner.

When it was time for them to depart after he drops her at home, he holds her hand tightly and asks her ‘Will you marry me?’

She nods her head and says ‘Yes’.

Two years later:

Both are still in love as they were before. They understands each other very well even in their highs and lows and have a lovely girl child.

Sanjay was on his way to office. Sanjana had a petty argument with him that morning. He sends her a message “Don’t be angry, and don’t forget to wear your smile. One smile can’t change the world, but your smile changes mine “. Her phone beeps. She looks at his message, she smiles shyly and it brings her back to the memories of how she found her soulmate.