He wore a pure white shirt and dark blue denims. He was
about five foot eight inches. He had a broad forehead, clear face, dense hair
which danced up and down as he walked forward. The light beard left untrimmed
was distinctly visible on his wheatish skin. He was walking towards her. It was
Shiv. “How could I ever forget that face?” She thought. He kept coming closer
and closer and her nervousness grew with every step of his. She could feel her
heart beat climb. It was quite fast and out of her control. Finally he was
there, right in front of her. There was less than a foot’s distance between
them. He caught hold of his breath. He was rock solid, muscular and well built. He
had some kind of magic spell that his eyes alone spoke. With that magical
spell, he looked into her eyes and she was completely lost. “Every girl would
be”, she thought. He came as close he can, and there was no more room. Anxiety
spread like a fire inside her and she was almost out of breath. She just loved
his presence more than anything else, even more than her own self. What she
feels like when she is with him is like how the sky feels, when the sun kisses
her good morning every dawn. Only the sky knows how it feels. It’s the same
here. It is not something to be written, read and comprehended. It has to
happen to you, to know what it is. “It’s amazing just to have the feeling”, she
thought to herself. He gave her so that much.
He too felt the same with her. His life, after it became theirs, had a lot of
change. He was madly in love and did everything for her.
Shiv just leaned forward and gently kissed her on her
forehead and that very instant, waves of mixed emotions just ran all over her body.
He came further down and her phone rang. She pushed him away mischievously and attended the call.It was her mom and she had to leave...
Soon they were cruising on Shiv’s bike. The evening air just
rushing through her duppatta covered face. She hugged him tight and chatted all
way through. He used to pick her from
work almost every single day and they would go somewhere or he would just drop her near her house. They worked in different offices, but on the same
complex. That’s how love nurtured. The complex was the trump card to the cupid
win.
It was just another fine day and they went to a small park nearby, their favo spot among all other places, just to
spend some time together filled with
silly chatting(s) , small fights and
lots of love. Their wave lengths matched in perfect frequency.
Shiv told her
that he had to make a presentation of his
new marketing strategy in a conference this weekend in Banglore and that, if it gets a good response from the company
heads, his promotion would soon be on the cards. She got excited on hearing the
news and wished him all luck. She knew how eagerly he waited for this day. She
wanted to be beside him on the big day and he also wished the same. She made
some excuse at home and they were all set to leave the following Friday night.
It was Friday evening and she was getting her things
packed. The land line in her house rang
and her mother picked the call. Soon, she yelled her daughter’s name aloud and
was in total tears. She took over the phone and learned that her father had met
with a tragic accident and was admitted in ‘Govt General Hospital’. She was in
total shock. This news came from out of the blue. She was perplexed and knew
she could not go with Shiv. She immediately hailed an auto and rushed to the
hospital along with her mother. On her way, she called Shiv and told him what
happened. He said he would be there in no time. She talked him through and told
him not to come. She politely told him to relax and that she would take care of
everything. He wouldn't budge, and he came to the hospital before her. She
introduced him to her mom as her friend. “Ahh…What a time for introducing her
man” she thought. The condition of her father was critical and they decided to
shift him to a private hospital for better treatment.
She finally managed to convince Shiv to go to Banglore. She managed this by threatening him, saying that it will be the end of their relationship, if he doesn’t make it to the
conference. She dint want him to miss this opportunity. He knew it was a loving
threat and finally gave in. He walked down the ramp to the exit. He stopped,
and turned to wave her bye and she looked into his magical eyes lovingly and
said to it that she would handle everything. He hated himself for leaving
her in such a bad time.
He boarded the train on time and spoke to her frequently
on the status of her father. She had transferred him to a private hospital and
he was responding well to the treatment given. He was relaxed on hearing . She was too tired and slept the
night off in the hospital. The following day, she got up and checked on her
father, He was still unconscious. She checked her phone, No texts. She just
let it pass and came to the waiting hall in the hospital. The television had
“Times Now” running and she was least interested to know what was happening in
the world around her. She thought of grabbing a coffee and went to the canteen.
She settled on a chair and started sipping her coffee. The television had the
same channel running and she was left with no choice but to watch that.
She saw the headlines and was for a second taken aback.
She looked engrossingly on the television screen for some time. And then, she
just prayed to god that whatever she was seeing was false. She could not help,
it all has already happened. All the A/c compartments of the train that left to bangalore the previous night had been
caught in fire due to some short circuit and the coaches were completely burned
down. The survivors were none as the incident took place in the night and
almost everyone were asleep to realize they were on fire. The rescue operations
were going on full swing and no survivors were found till then.
Her eyes were fixed on to the screen. She couldn’t
believe all off this was happening. She was depressed, lost, sad, and angry. Tears
flowed down her eyes unknowingly. She had lost all hope. The world around her
ceased to exist and she fell down then and there. She was rushed to the general
ward and administered drips.
She felt a hand touch her shoulder. She opened her eyes
to face the textured blue color wall. She turned to look at the clock. It was
4:05 AM. She heard a soft voice “Hey Shivangali, Are you all right?”. She then gently removed his hand from her
shoulder and turned back. ” I am fine Arun” she said. She turned right to see
her 2 year old son sleeping innocently. She then got down from her bed for some
water. While walking, these words of Shiv was just lingering in Shivangali’s
mind “Whatever happens, Life has to go on”. She drank some cold water and
looked into a wall hanging picture of her hubby and her son; One amazing reason
for which she is still breathing in this world. She thought about destiny and how
cruel god was with Shiv and, she hated God for that. Once again those words
lingered in her mind “Whatever happens life has to go on…”
She got up, went
back to bed and lay awake till the sun rose, for she knew a wonderful day was waiting for her as it had begun with a wonderful person...
