Dear readers,
I have always been nervous while trying something new.
However, the fear of failure somehow is overcome by the desire of success. I
have tried my hand for the first time in story writing. Hope to get your
valuable suggestions and feedbacks. Do let me know how you find it! J
Time changed or she did?-Part I
5:05 A.M., weekday, Iksha was already cursing
herself on losing those precious five minutes when Rishabh opened his beautiful
eyes that drove her crazy even today, after 8 years of their marriage! She
hated the idea of leaving the bed and heading for kitchen and Rishabh’s
playfulness was making it more difficult. His idea of romance never faded and
she loved him for that (too!). He held her waist and planted a cute peck on her
cheek. Iksha was now loaded with enthusiasm that normally lasted for the whole
day. She finished off cleaning, cooking, packing lunch for the family and then
went to Jiggi’s room. She woke her up with a kiss and held her exactly as she
did 6 years back in the hospital when she was born. She carried her to the
washroom and beheld Rishabh helping Jiggi brush. She just stopped her tears
from rolling out of the simplest joy, life. Sometimes she herself couldn’t
believe that she was capable of the amount of love she showered upon her little
angel.
They left Jiggi at the bus stop while Rishabh
drove Iksha to work before leaving for his own. The drive was a routine one,
but Rishabh never let her feel the same. He was a breeze of fresh air every
time he talked, looked, smiled or loved her. She was early for the office and Rishabh
decided to stay on for few minutes in the cafeteria. She felt something
different in the air and her husband too. But somehow nothing mattered when he
was around. She kept looking at him with the madness of a girlfriend. He came
closer and she felt distracted as her heart beat quickened. A bouquet of red
roses and a red envelope was snap in front of her eyes as he displayed the best
of his smiles. “Ohh no!!” was all she could usher and rushed in to hug him as
her colleagues passed by. How could she miss this? Come on! It was exactly 8
years today, it was her marriage anniversary! She felt instantly guilty but
didn’t find a speck of complaint in his eyes. She tried to say, “Rishu, I am so
irresponsible, I don’t know how I missed it, I’m…..”, while he hugged her
tighter and erased all needs of speech. He then drove away leaving her feeling
lucky to have found perfect love in an arranged marriage.
As she reached her cabin, carrying an unusual
payload, she looked at the envelope decorated in Rishabh’s ornate handwriting
which stated, “Happy marriage anniversary, Mrs. Iksha Agarwal”. He was someone
who didn’t speak much but she understood all he didn’t say. He made sure that
she received a greeting card on every occasion as he knew her fascination for
the same. Iksha rushed in to see the greeting card and a look at it, and all of
Rishabh’s efforts went in vain. It was the same card…yes the same card…that had
once been her favorite since childhood, one that Aparikshit gave her, one that
she showed Ritwik, one with which Ritwik made her come to life again with, one
that haunted her, one that lied in the corner of her cupboard, even today,
without a name on it, a card, specklessly clean card, very unlike her past. She
unwontedly started ruffling through the pages of past.
College days are the best part of life and if
not for few instances, Iksha’s was a dream come true. She was one of those
geeks in the first year who are noticed by every teacher and hated by every
student. The sophomore year turned out to be almost the same except some
friends who took the risk of befriending her and some science projects that she
managed to get into. Hers was a life very few wanted but many desired for. Lost
in books, thoughts, lectures and libraries, she was never popular among peers.
She was just an average looking girl and not many boys showed interest, the
ones who showed even a bit were welcomed with the wrath Iksha was known for. She
had fought with boys since her school days for reasons unknown and
unreasonable. In a gist, she was a boring, proud, emotionless, selfish and nerd
gal who was mentally imbalanced and programmed to study. This was what she
always portrayed and had successfully made that impression. However, life
changed a bit too much in the second half of her college life.
Iksha was hurt from few instances of child
abuse and couldn’t ever gather the courage to trust anyone, leave alone think
of a relationship. Iksha had hated boys who enjoyed being boys, just because
they could down show girls. The attitude of prominence rendered to boys had
implanted the seed of tom boyishness in her, apart from the non-discrimination
that she experienced at home. She remained convinced that a spinster’s life
will be the best for her. While many wondered if she was actually immune to the
Cupid’s arrows, she had not admitted it even to herself that she had a crush on
Ritwik, ever since the end of the first semester when she noticed him. Ritwik
was a different boy in every sense. In a campus studded with ‘studs’, he was
someone who still chose trousers over jeans, mustard oil over hair-gels, tucked
in check shirts over the flamboyant tees and lassi over alcohol. Iksha didn’t
take much time in gathering that if she kept stealing looks at him during
classes, she would lose out on studies and worse fall in love with him. Still,
the play of love for the first time is quite a difficulty in life and she
underwent a transformation within. She didn’t hate all boys anymore. The
stirrings in her heart didn’t pay heed to her constant reminders. But one day,
around 2 weeks after she had felt her heart skip a beat when Ritwik entered the
class, she came to know that he loved someone already. She knew all she
supposed to have felt was a deep burning jealousy for the girl but how many
times Iksha did what she was supposed to do?
She had lived every second on her own terms, terms that were decided and
transformed only by her. All she felt was a sense of hollowness and further
reinforcement of the feeling that love was not possible in her case. She felt a
fear and insecurity, a sense of deep pain and wet her pillow all through the
night. The next day, she was the same old Iksha who was not affected by any
boyish charm and was as stone hearted as ever. She was back to studies and
being alone while disregarding her interest in Ritwik just as a crush. The only
thing that kept haunting her was the reason behind her crush. However, a
changing Ritwik through the months made forgetting really easy.
It was a phone call in the third year that
changed everything for her. It was 11:30 PM, night of her birthday. She was
hell tired from the proceedings of the day and was least expecting someone to
wish so late. An unknown number further encouraged her to sleep. The phone kept
ringing for another 15 minutes and when it became unbearable, she picked up.
All she could utter was, “Apri, u??? Can’t believe...” when she was cut short
with warm wishes and a lot of questions. It was Aparikshit, a childhood friend,
family friend and someone who liked her but never confessed. They talked for
another 4 hours about the long lost friendship, life afterwards, college,
course and every other thing they could think of. “Ikki, stupid to ask this,
but do you finally have a boyfriend?” She murmured, “Apri, you know me” and
they broke into laughter. After college the next day, she waited for his call
which was sure to come. They discussed few things after which it was
Aparikshit’s turn to open up. To Iksha’s never ending queries, he finally said,
“Yes Ikki, there is someone in my life”
…..to be continued
