Sanchit Prateek - World Famous Crooks & Con Men

Things I Lost Forever

T he preface of my Love-life had started and ended on a sour note. Aarti was just the beginning and I didnt know what life had for me in the bag. Talking of me, I was just walking on the pavement of life with lights on it. Outside, autumn had knocked on the door and watching it come, I decided, it was time to wash away the moments and to sustain the feelings. Coming so far, I now realised, the fault was mine. My infant mind was the one enticing the thoughts to go stronger with her every move and was making me palpate the false feeling. The more I thought of it, the more it came again. She had gone, but had left me in search of something which I could never find. I wasnt an alchemist in love-theories but my pounding heart was no less than a story to explain. I was a man with no questions and expected no answers in return. Things soon started to turn normal and I was now having the hot seat of 12th standard. With dry leaves and air tearing off the skin like razor, the atmosphere was a perfect metaphor for my life. Days went on and with each single passing day, I went on realising the fact that it was just a luring part of my life. I thought it to be something I could have it for the rest of my life but it wasnt the one but yes, indeed could have been the one for me. It was like a point where she met on the road, spent some time but finally went on where she had to, making me feel that she wasnt the one. She chose the best for her, just making me feel that I wasnt the best. It had been three months for now and I had almost washed away every attachment, but there were some glimpses which were hard to clear. I had surely come out of it, being the way I was but I should have realise that sometimes things arent the way as they pretend to be, but down the line the truth still was the same, she no more belonged to me and I was yet to fall in love. The pressure started to mount from my side for the entrance examinations I had to appear after 12th. Life was treating me in the most casual way it ever could.

The heavy books seemed to have deforested half of the land area of the Asia-Pacific. The pain giving Mathematics, the doubtful Physics, and always confusing Chemistry were ready to suck my blood. I could see the devil grinning at me. It was the grin of a winner and I was sitting on the verge of falling in the valley of differential equations and acetic acids. The integ ration seemed to differentiate my life and simple harmonic motion was forcing my head to follow the path of trajectory. The fear used to strike me, every time I saw those 1000 pages books which seemed never ending. The devil-may-care attitude of mine was making me do just fine but my family wasnt amused by it and finally, one day my father got hold of me.

You dont seem to enjoy your studies, I guess? he said making his eyes go wide open. His speculations were indeed breath taking.

I do, papa. Just taking time to settle down, I said.

And how long is it going to take for you to settle? he asked. I had no answer for the question His wide eyes were not making me feel safe for the moment.

You must have realised by now what you have next door? Its your entrances, dont you? he said.

Yes, I replied.

So? You must regulate yourself with and here it was, the lullaby which every guy falls to hear. He was right being on his part but I could never make him understand what I was feeling for the things he was so concerned for. He converted his every calorie into sound signals just to pull me up on the track but it would be wrong to say that I wasnt moved by it. He quit with a trust and I was ready to stand upon it at least for the night. I made a random pick, and it was Mathematics which came in hand and so I picked up Chemistry. I flipped the pages and the topic of organic chemistry proclaimed at the top the page. The intonation felt in the dullest way and I was just waiting for head bangs. I started flipping the pages to have a look of the topic but came to notice something. A piece of paper had been hiding since a long time. On unwrapping, it was the paper with a number written on it. It was the one on which Aarti had written her friends number. The paper appeared to be older than its age. It looked similar to reading an old page of your life, no matter how painful it is to go through that phase but it does bring a smile on your face. It wasnt the right time to go back from where Id managed to come out. I placed the paper aside and returned back to my textbook. Being impulsive wasnt making me go off the track, but making out things in haste were indeed a reason for my trouble, so it was time to slow down and to take deep breaths. Perhaps, I should have destroyed it but I landed up in dialling that number which just gave a promiscuous feeling on my part. The bell rang and it was the same feeling that seemed to strike me again from the chapters of my past. The girl answered the phone. My heart pounded more heavily.

May I know whos this? a sweet voice came from the speaker.

Do you know Aarti Gupta? I asked.

Yes, she replied.

My name is Midhansh, I said.

Midhansh! she tried to recall, and soon responded a little louder than I expected, The book store guy?.

I initially couldnt get her but soon realised from where she referred it.

Yes, I replied. With the little voice communication that I had, I came to know that Aarti had a quarrel with her guy for just a week, after which things were back to normal which made my mind even heavier. A big blow undergone but yet something which didnt repulse longer. It was just like a cherry to the topping being served to me. I couldnt pull myself, I had to finish it. She moved to Pune after she cleared her entrances. We talked for some time and she made me happy by unveiling some secrets. She was being best on her behaviour and I was just trying to know as much as I could know about things that still had curtains on them.

What does Prathysha stand for? I said.

It means Early-Morning, she blushed while saying. She sounded sweet, alike the first impression that I had of Aarti, used to chuckle every time she heard something unusual. Being from a commerce field, she was way out of my academic league but had something good to talk about. She was a complete stranger but the common topic kept us intact. She was pursuing B.Com in Delhi but to be very frank, she, not for a single second seemed to be someone who I was talking to for the first time.

Carrying a clean image sometimes does help you a lot when you start with something new, especially talking to a girl. We talked more and soon, things went to be finer for both of us. Asked upon the topic me, she informed me that Aarti had made her see me by some photographs which we clicked. She wasnt an introvert but knew how to control herself. With the little idea that I could draw about her;

I love dogs, I wish I could have had a zoo at my place. I love clicking pictures, had to do journalism but my family forced me to do B.Com., I love watching movies, I love George Clooney, I like painting but always get confused with the colour combinations, Im a soul believer of divinity, I love junk food and I can only cook Kadhai Paneer in Indian Cuisine.

I didnt realise but we soon became a part of our daily schedules. She didnt mind me asking about her and she didnt mind blowing her own trumpet. Two weeks passed away and time seemed to fly as we talked more. Two strangers were trying to know each other and luckily we seemed to be cookie-cutter. Her parents had had a love marriage and having such a big support backing her up, she didnt deny the fact that she would want to do it too. Well, things ought to charm you when the person next to you has such a wide space of choices. Her day scheduled from 9am to 3pm on weekdays after which she used to play basketball and talk to me. Initially, we used to circumvent as our conversation hardly used to last for about just few minutes because of the stranger thing but gradually putting a step forward and efforts to know each other sorted out the problem easily. She was good friend and I was in need of a friend. I had never seen her and therefore, could only portray her by the voice that she had. She sounded lovely and literally, was helping a lot to lighten me up. The talks seemed to increase everyday and we came closer with every single voice-communication. She had the habit of reacting with a baby accent which used to intensify my every single somatic cell. I had never come across a girl who was still a kid yet so matured. She made me feel perfect and I was in no mood to lose that feel.