Valentine Gift

Sujata had been jilted in love. Not once but twice. So she had lost faith in the institution of the emotion called love. The first love had come accidentally like it does generally. She had met Ravi in the tuition classes for Physics. Long hours at the class would sap all the energy. So after the tedious class a little bit of a juvenile company with a good friend would revive Sujata back to life. So Ravi fit into that groove perfectly. He could talk endlessly on any subject with effortless ease. This quality made Sujata attract towards Ravi naturally.

Their friendship deepened, although Ravi was not of the romantic mould. But Sujata was deeply romantic. She imagined all sorts of stories with Ravi. In fact, Sujata went the extra mile to derive that extra bit of attention. So when a new romantic movie came to town, Sujata asked Ravi if he would accompany her to view it. Hesitant at first, but later Ravi accepted the offer. Sujata felt very nice and happy when she was in the cinema hall sitting beside Ravi. When any romantic scene appeared, Sujata would automatically hold Ravi's hand in hers tightly. But she didn't have the courage to advance any further when the hero and the heroine were involved in a tight lip lock. Though she felt a slight tingling in her stomach. This romantic interlude continued for few months till someone observed the two together and reported the matter to their guardians. Sujata was severely reprimanded by her parents and same must have been the fate of Ravi. Because he stopped coming to the tuition classes altogether. Then in a few months Ravi's family moved to a different city so Sujata was left alone.

Couple of years passed for Sujata to overcome the void created by Ravi. Sujata was now in medical school. There she had made friendship with some of her male classmates. But the one with Anil went beyond friendship. Now Sujata had grown up and was living in a different city from her parents. So she had her freedom and there was no secret detective to track her whereabouts and report ahead. Anil was also living in a hostel and so he was also free from overzealous relatives keeping a tab on his movements. Sujata found Anil more receptive than Ravi and so she was happy with him. Anil also seemed happy and contented with Sujata. Their relationship seemed complete. They spent some quality time together watching movies. The movies made them catalytic and helped them charge up their love life.

But the love would not last long unfortunately. There was a sudden mind change for Anil. He seemed to have forgotten Sujata and very soon married a girl who had been selected by his family. Later it came to light that Anil had married a rich tycoon's daughter and the marriage had helped him bag a big fat dowry. The girl's father had helped Anil start a nursing home of his own with his investments. This was the second jilt in her love life.

Now, Sujata had promised to stay single in her life. Nothing would influence her emotions any more.

But destiny had other designs on her. Her mother had uploaded Sujata 's profile on a matrimonial site. The would be groom was a non resident doctor working with a reputed hospital chain abroad. Sujata would get an opportunity to work with a state of the art hospital. She was finally engaged to Dr. Siddharth on the day which was the Valentine's day. Destiny had set up a wonderful valentine's day gift for Sujata. She now kept her fingers crossed and prayed to St. Valentine, pleading to make her third time lucky.