Prologue Darkness scares majority of the people but still its loved by some people.

I was lost in my memories and was sleeping on my single bed in a rectangular old dark room. I had a round face, wrinkled skin, large brown eyes, grimace lips; long white hair. I was wearing pajamas and sweatshirt. I was tired of my frequent visit to hospitals and was relaxing for a while. Suddenly I started coughing badly and this time blood started oozing out from my mouth. As always Abhinav (My little prince and Romits grandson), who had come yesterday for his vacations, heard my voice and shouted no one cares about my grand pa, all are lazy here. He came and sat beside me on the bed. Aryan: Abhinav, why are you shouting? Abhinav: Why dont you care about yourself grand pa? Aryan: I do, my son. Come close to grand pa and give me a hug. I missed you a lot; you are my only medicine, except you I dont need anything. Abhinav: Grand Pa, its very cold inside. Lets go to balcony to take sun bath for some time and your room also looks very dirty, let me clean it. Aryan: Ok, give me your hand and take me outside. After taking me to the balcony, he went inside and started cleaning my room. I had forgotten my spectacles so came inside and saw my private album in Abhinav's hand. A torn black album whose name was 17th May. He had flipped through it and found pictures of three pretty girls. Aryan: Did you take my permission before holding it (loudly)? Abhinav: I am sorry Grand pa, had to hold it while cleaning. Please forgive me. Aryan: Ok, going forward never touch it. Abhinav: Grand Pa, Why do you always look sad? Aryan: No, I only look sad when you are not with me. Abhinav: Now, I have grown up and you always make me fool, I can read your eyes. Aryan: My smart grandson (Blushed). Abhinav: Going forward, I wont talk to you. Aryan: Black mailing because you know I cannot live without my grandson. So today is your birth day what do you want from your grand pa? Abhinav: Grand Pa, You cannot give me. Aryan: Except you, there is no one in this world for me. Abhinav: First promise me. Aryan: Promised, My naughty son (blushed). Abhinav: Please tell me. What is your relation with 17th may? Aryan: Ask something else. Abhinav: Since 18 years, first time I am asking something to you but still its up to you. I had never ever shouted on him and today was the first time I shouted on him and that too for the same reason"17th May. I had realized by now, I wont be there to meet my grandson until next holidays. He was not aware of the reason for my hospital trips. I was suffering from Blood cancer and was known only to Romit and his wife. Abhinav will

surely come to know in few days but before that I had to share my relation with "17th May" with someone. Aryan: I did not disclose it since 30 years but for you I will share. Get your chair closer to me and listen carefully. This Story is about five people. Shipra: She had damn innocent face, fun loving rich girl with high class attributes. A silent person but she exactly knew what to do or what not to do? There was no space for emotions in her decisions. When a small town girl comes down to a metro she doesnt know how to spend the money and when she learns then excess of money actually spoils her. It changes everything what she carried with herself. Preeti: A simple, slim, short tempered, tall girl, who is meant to sacrifice in life no matter in which form she gets an opportunity to do so. She is always ready to sacrifice no matter what it is. She is fighting to change this world and putting efforts as much as she can. Siddharth: An ethical, most sensible character. He hails from a background where people usually do not respect a woman but he was an exactly opposite from them. Some broad minded who are born in an orthodox society. They follow the society but still they keep their conscience alive. Supriya: She is a rich girl with middle class attributes. She loves sleeping and cooking. Generally such girls are sent for higher studies at different places where they start flying and once they have learnt how to fly, their wings are cut by their families. Once wings are cut, some girls do fight for their rights and walks away from that place; some live in a life time prison. Priyank: In India there is a special breed of decent men who are the most respectful people. They get admission in an elite institute after putting sincere hard work then they get a big salary job. After this, they go through an arrange marriage process where they get a bride who comes with a dowry which is in the multiples of his annual package. Such kinds of people are the most lovable people in India.

Chapter 1 Its 5.00 am on a beautiful Sunday morning. A pretty, elegant, naughty, tall and fair girl wearing a colorful traditional suit with long curly open hair knocks my door and enters the room. She wakes me up by showering my face with her silky hair. I woke up and took her in my arms and touched her lips and suddenly a bloody alarm started buzzing. Why humans created alarm clocks .When this dream will turn in to reality. Every day I used to wake up seeing the same dream and was in hunt of my fantasy. Today was my cousins wedding and I was ordered to properly dress up in traditional attire. I was sitting on a corner of a long rectangular hall and the function was getting conducted in a middle of the hall. Suddenly a girl turned her face and I stared her for a couple of minutes with my mouth wide open. I was mesmerized by her looks for few minutes. She was an absolute replica of the girl who was coming in my dreams every day. I did not realize when my sisters wedding function got over, In entire wedding I kept on chasing her on tea stall to reception hall but was always surrounded by narrow minded oldies who made impossible to get introduced to her; only thing which I got to know that she is a daughter of my uncles close family friend. Those days I was studying in 12th standard and used to live in a small city Sikar which is located in Rajasthan. Sikar used to be a city of narrow minded people so making a girlfriend was next to impossible task to do. You couldnt talk to a girl on a public place if she is not in your blood relation. As I was always weak in Physics, so I had joined a tuition classes for the same subject. At very first day, I reached late and asked permission to tutor to come inside the class. A girl in a yellow suit turned back and, as much to my surprise, my fantasy was again in front of me. She was none other then Payal. Let me introduce you to Payal. Payal: A pretty, simple, innocent middle class girl who used to come by bicycle every day. Those days her simplicity was the most impressive part of her. Gradually, I got to know she is a fantasy of whole class; entire class is trying on Payal and all stupid fellows including me in class did not know how to impress a girl. Now the competition to impress her became tougher for me. Almost three months we passed only staring her in the class room and as Month of August started, there was excitement all over for friendship week. All were enthusiast to express our feelings. I did not dare to take any further step as I was aware about the end result. Let me introduce to my close cousins. Romit: Apart from being my cousin, he is my best friend since child hood. He is a tall, smart, whitish, very talkative and straight forward person. Since child hood we used to know each others secrets. My Secrets which are not known to anyone were known to him. He was my neighbor as well.

Neeti: Apart from being my cousin, she is my best friend since child hood. She is medium height, fair, and rich girl with dark brown eyes. Romit, Neeti and I were part of a same gossip team and every day we used to share our adventures. It was the time when we all were in 12th standard and just started smelling the fresh open air. I used to be a fatty guy with worst dressing sense and used to ride on a 24 inch old bicycle of my brother. So, this time, I was badly pushed by both, to express my feelings to Payal and I was agreeing to them for this. Finally, I was outvoted had no option but to agree to them. Neeti bought a card from archies gallery and wrote it nicely. My hand writing used to be that pathetic; even at some times, I could not read what I had written. It was the time for the first friendship proposal of my life and I was that nervous as if facing an IAS exam. In the evening she used to go for physics classes and it was the right time to catch her. I wore loose clothes where I could hide my tummy and got ready for the mission impossible. I chased her for nearly a mile and finally I reached. Aryan: Payal, Please stop (I was literally shivering. Before this, I never had been in such situations). Payal: Stopped; yeah tell me. (It was more like a mouse was requesting in front of a tigress) Aryan: Can we be friends? Payal: I dont want (She was also looking scared). Aryan: Ok, Please go. I was bit disappointed after this. I came back to my home and told the entire story to my friends. Payal was a family friend of Neeti so later I got to know about many hidden facts. As per Neeti, I was still a decent guy but what I did not realize was that I proposed her in front of her home which only scared her. After this incident we never got a chance to meet each other during our school days and finally after passing senior secondary examination, we all moved to College. College life is the transition period for most of the guys in their lives. These are the following things most of us would have learnt in our college lives Flirting Leg Pulling of friends Drinking (Especially for guys) Making Proxies For me, all these things were dreams during my school days. But as Change is a part of our lives, similarly things moved on in life for me and all of us entered in our college lives. We both took admission in the same city but different colleges. First year of my college life, I entered as a bulky, fatty guy with no dressing sense. My class mates used to make fun of me because I was having no sense of talking to people. Entire year passed by

to learn how to dress and communicate with people. During the end of first educational year, we all came down to our natives and got a summer break for two months to enjoy. I decided to join programming language classes at nearby institution. After doing research on nearest available and better institution, I joined the institution with full enthusiasm. First two days went smooth and I was studying with whole dedication. Third day I sat in the first row and started studying with my maximum concentration. After a couple of minutes, I heard some noise and turned back, and I saw that Payal was sitting behind me. I put my head down on the bench and got a feeling that I cannot study now and could easily guess that this place is going to be a dating institute. After spending couple of days I realized that this institute is an ideal place for making girlfriends, as even the institute owner was in a relationship with one of our faculty so Love was in the Air. I started trying on Payal and started chasing her in lab classes as well. I shared my past link ups with some of my trustworthy batch mates, so all were supporting me as much they could and I was on a full swing for converting the call. But there was no positive signal from her end. My useless efforts were pushing me to take my step back. Let me introduce to a few more characters. Shipra: A short, very fair, sharp featured girl who used to belong to a rich known family. She had a damn innocent, charming face and most attractive twinkling eyes I have seen so far. Her most impressive part was her down to earth nature. Akash: A fair, smart chap who also used to belong to a rich known family. He was a man with very convincing communication skills. He was the kind of a guy who was too conscious for his looks and used to spend at least four hours checking out him into the mirror. Later, he joined a college in Bangalore just because of good climate out there so that his complexion wont be affected. Shipra and Akash also used to study with me. Next fifteen days, I kept on trying on Payal but there was no positive signal from her, so I lost my hope. At the other end, Shipra was also looking to hook up with someone and continuously sending signals to me which I was not interested to catch till that moment. One beautiful day I was sitting outside the institute with one of my class mate and suddenly Shipra came out of the training room. Class Mate: Shipra, your friend is not a right person. Shipra: He cannot be a wrong person. I was dumbstruck for few seconds and reacted nothing except blushing. First time in my life, a girl was defending me. What all I can say; I really felt proud and never felt like this before. That day onwards, Shipra and I started sharing personal thoughts and started sitting outside the institute kept on talking to each other for a long time. Gradually we started bunking classes and became best friends. This had become hot news in our institute that something is cooking between Shipra and Aryan. Payal also got to know this, she was bubbling with fire although there were plenty planned to put more

cooking oil on her fire. It was Payals birthday and all planned to celebrate it after the class but I had some other clever plans in my head. This was my time to show an attitude so after the class got over, I directly left for home. In whole party, People kept on asking, where is Aryan? and she almost got irritated by this question. Next day I reached institute and she came to my desk. Payal: Why did you leave early yesterday? Aryan: I had some work at home. Payal: I know everything. Am I not your friend? Aryan: I never said that and I always try to be. Payal: Ok, in the future we will never react badly with each other. Aryan: My pleasure. Now I got an option to drink cocktails but after drinking it I would have definitely vomited so I thought it was better to stick to Shipra and enjoy the relation. Two months got over like two days and it was the time to go back to college. Now again Shipra and I got into the informal link up. While leaving Sikar, Shipra told me that once she gets a contact number, she will drop me a mail. Finally we all were back to Delhi. Shipra and Payal used to stay in the same college and same hostel too. Once I reached Delhi, I sent my number on Shipra's mail id. As expected, in the evening, cell started ringing and I received a much awaited call. It was Shipra. It was a wonderful discussion and all future meetings were decided during this time .We both were gossiping, criticizing some common friends and fortunately choices were same. I could not realize when half an hour passed away and had to wrap up our call. I heaved a sigh of relief after hearing her voice. I had hoped since so many days had passed, I wouldnt remain her same friend or more than a friend. But I was still the same. In couple of days, friendship day was coming and first time not first time exactly but second time I was going to celebrate it. I bought a bracelet (with some hearts graved on it) and card from archies gallery. Finally the most awaited day came and her entire college hostel came out. She already informed me the place and time where we could catch up each other. I reached there at the same time, and the place was Connaught place in Delhi. I had to call her from back side; she was standing with her two friends and all the girls were looking damn pretty. As this was the first time in my life I was getting introduced to so many girls at one time and on the other side I was badly sweating. My confidence level was quite low too. After an introduction round to them, her understanding friends left us alone. Shipra: You know my full hostel is here; I am going to be questioned once back. Aryan: I could read their faces with big question mark but I can't help you out now (blushed).

Shipra: Why are you sweating so much? Aryan: I had to put lots of efforts to find you in such a crowded place. Shipra: Okays. Aryan: Happy friendship day. Shipra: Same to you dear. We got a call from her friends, to come inside McDonalds. After having snacks and paying an expensive bill, we all were on our way and back to our places. After this, every day we started talking to each other minimum for an hour. Making call to her, was the toughest job I had ever done in my life. She used to stay in a hostel with Three hundred girls and there were only two landline phones. After trying for an hour, it used to get connected and it was not permitted to talk for a long time. But in couple of days, I started loving engage tone of the phone as well as receptionist voice. You can imagine how many times I would have dialed that number. Even receptionist started recognizing me by my voice and we became good friends. Dont know when a month got over and I became addicted to her and got assured that my feelings have been converted now. I started asking about this trouble to my experienced friends and all advised me to share it with her rather than troubling myself a lot. Initially I decided to tell it by making call and I made a call to her. Aryan: Hi Shipra Shipra: Hi, how are you? Aryan: Not well buddy and dont even know the reason. Shipra: what happened? Aryan: I am not able to concentrate on anything. Shipra: Take a proper sleep and concentrate on study. Everything will be alright. Aryan: Tell me; is it a right age to be in a relationship with some one? Shipra: There is no specific age to love someone. Love is never bound to age. Whom have you started loving by the way? Aryan: I will tell you someday. I wanted to say but couldnt express my feelings. As per Romit , Propose should be done face to face. At least you get to know the expressions of girl which speaks more than words. Next day, Akash came down to Delhi and he advised me the same. He made a call to Shipra and told on 8th, I am flying to Bangalore so before that I wanted to meet you people. As Shipra was aware, my exams are going to start on 8th so no one was expecting my presence. Anyway historical day of my life, 7th September came up and I tried to dress at my best. Akash was boosting my level as much as he could. Exactly at 12 pm, we reached the space cinema and she was there with her six more gorgeous friends. As expected we got one more show stopper, to find a lonely place to talk but as usual Mr. Akash magic worked and he took Shipra in to a corner and called me also. Shipra: I was not expecting you here, tomorrow you have an exam. Aryan: Anyway I was not studying at home so thought of meeting you guys. Shipra: Now tell me, why were you not able to study? (Blushing)

Aryan: I know my next statement may disappoint you badly but if I wont tell it, I may regret about his all my life. Shipra, I love you. Shipra: with very tensed face and surprised expression. Is it necessary being in a love relation? Cant we be friends forever? Aryan: From my side, things have gone beyond my control although I wont force you to be in a relation with me. Please take time for your decision. Shipra: Hey Aryan, buy tickets for a movie. Wont you join us (with smile)? I sent Akash to buy tickets and I was getting introduced to her pretty friends and Akash wanted to kick my back but he had no choice there. Great People Say If girl doesnt say no firmly then its definitely going to be yes in the coming days. So, it was the time to watch a matinee show when real life had also become a matinee show. During the whole movie, I was waiting for it to end. Finally we all came out and everyone was getting introduced to each other. I dont know somebody from her friend circle popped up a million dollar question. Her Friend: Which subjects exam do you have tomorrow? I literally took 5 minutes to answer that question and everyone started laughing. Just after that they started discussing about the result of first year examination; this was the only topic where I wanted to escape. Anyways, pathetic 30 minutes with her friends got over and she bade a lovely goodbye with a very pretty smile on her. Next three days, I was quite busy with my exams. On 11th, I called her, from my college canteen. Aryan: Hi, How are you? Shipra: I had been waiting for your call since three days. Aryan: I am sorry buddy. Shipra: Could you please say again? What you said on that day in Space cinema? Aryan: I Love you (with minimum loud voice) Shipra: Say once again loudly. Aryan: My voice cannot be louder. I am in college canteen. Shipra: Ok Anyway during discussion, we decided to meet soon. This time she came out of hostel after 15 days and it was one of the most pathetic wait of my life. We decided to meet at Birla temple this time and I was assured, for a positive reply and was desperate to hear those three beautiful words. She was half an hour late from the decided time but it didnt matter because being a boy I had no other choice. At last, she came down to temple and discussion began. Aryan: What is your decision? Shipra: (With tears in her eyes) I cannot say yes to you but I always want to be with you as a lifelong friend. Aryan: Shocked (speechless). May I know the reason?

Shipra: my family will never accept it. Please understand. Anyways discussion got over in couple of minutes and we were on our separate ways. When I reached home, I started getting calls from her on my cousin's cell. Shipra: Are you OK? I am too much worried about you. Aryan: I am alright. Don't worry. Think again, Take some time and get back to me. Shipra: OK. Definitely this was a turning point of our relation. She wanted to be with me in the different form of a relation which I could not accept now. I was left with no choice and started avoiding her. But possessiveness from her side was also quite noticeable from few days. One day I made a call at on one of her friends cell and that time all girls from their group were in the same room. She picked up the call and had a chat outside the room. Once she came inside the room. Payal: whose call was it? Shipra: Aryan Call. Payal: Did he ask about me? Shipra: Having anger in eyes, he never asks about you. Confession about this incident was done by her and I was damn happy to know about cats fight for me but I was really enjoying that period. As per my opinion, this is the most proud moment of any boy's life when two girls are fighting for him. In month of October, I stopped calling Shipra and started focusing on my study. I did not want to waste my time any more for a girl who wanted to be in different form of relation. My sudden avoidance irritated her badly and in couple of days, I received a call from her. Shipra: why have you stopped talking to me? Aryan: you know the reason. Now to be honest, I want to wrap up this relation. We are neither friends nor in a love relation now. Being friends again will not solve this problem. Shipra: Ok. After 15 days, During Diwali vacation, I again got a call from her. Shipra: I love you and I need you in my life. I cannot live without you anymore. Aryan: I love you too dear. I will plan a date once back to Delhi. So finally I achieved my first mile stone, first time I was finding my vacations very boring at home and was eagerly waiting to come back to Delhi. In first week of November, we planned our first date by having lunch and watching movie. Around 11 a.m., she came out of hostel and I took her to a nearby restaurant for a lunch. She started showing some family pictures and first time I was getting introduced to an entire family. We ordered some Italian and Indian cuisines because she was a big fond off Italian cuisine. After having lunch, I seriously wanted to get down to the main reason of being

there instead of hearing her family history so I had to interrupt her in between. I held her both hands gently and pressing softly. Aryan: Shipra, Do you really love me? Shipra: Aryan, Shall I (blushing)? Aryan: Do you have any other choice now (blushing)? Shipra: I love you very much. Aryan: I love you too dear. If there would have not been a table between us and plenty of restaurant staff then I would have definitely hugged her that moment. We finished off our lunch in an hour and I could clearly see the wastage of food on my table. I gave 20 rupees to waiter as a tip; trust me this amount used to cost my breakfast of two days. We started a ride to Movie Theater. I could not say this thing to her but my friends bikes breaks were not working properly and I was not having driving license too but God was with us that day and we safely landed to the movie hall. There was a long queue for boys but for girls, only small queue was there so she bought movie tickets and this time she did not allow me to pay. As far as I remember, this was first and last payment made by her. Before movie began, we got half an hour to talk, during this time I told her the entire story between Payal and me because I never wanted any clashes afterwards and she was quite convinced by my excuses too. Movie began and it was her favorite Shahrukh Khan. Shipra: Shahrukh still looks very attractive. I am a big fan of him. Aryan: I dont have the same feelings. I seriously was speechless and wanted to slap her. Why person sitting next to you and whom you have proposed an hour back, you are not finding attractive? I seriously got to know that Why Shahrukh is hated by committed guys. It was a chilling cold inside cinema hall. Who the hell, switched on the A.C on full. In couple of minutes, I hold her hand and started moving my palm on her soft hand so I started feeling soft heat which I never felt before. Now I was saying thanks to A.C. operator. After an interval, Shahrukh Khan emotional scene started and she was crying with him in Chorus by keeping her head on my shoulder. My feelings for Shahrukh immediately got reverted and started saying thanks to him. Conclusion was that you should take some time, to make up your mind for some one. Even I could realize when movie got over and I dropped her at her friends place with a beautiful hug to her. This was one of happiest day of my life and I was on dancing on the sky that day. So finally at the end of November, we were in a relation. Every relation starts with plenty of promises, flows with emotions and for most of the promises, couples are unaware what they are doing. Our relation was more of a telephonic relation as we hardly used to meet each other. There were a number of reasons behind it. 1) She used to stay in a girls hostel. 2) I used to get an average pocket money from home so I could afford only one date in a month. 3) In those days, we both didnt have cell phones so there was a lack of communication.

4) Most of the time she used to come out in a group and I was not interested in a group meeting. I think I dont need to tell you why guys are never interested in group meetings. Initial phase of our relation was very smooth and we both used to care for each other a lot. Sometimes she used to get emotional and started showing affection to me. We had a very romantic discussion on 31st night. Aryan: So you had a rocking 31st night in your hostel. Shipra: Yeah, there were only couple dance so I had to choose a partner from boys hostel. I wish you would have been there. Aryan: I am a pathetic dancer. When I dance I am the only one left on floor, and the DJ tries to wrap up his show early (smiled). Shipra: Ok, I will teach you some day. Do you know? One of my friends is a palmist and she saw my palm and told me that my marriage will be a love marriage. Aryan: Ok, Good for us. Those days, I never used to believe in palmistry, but didnt want to argue on her faith. It was my first love and I was fully devoted to her, like every typical Indian boy is devoted towards his girlfriend. Those days I used to get 3000 bucks from my home as pocket money. After paying 1000 rupees in rent, I used to have 2000 bucks left and I used to spend1000 bucks on my date. So all I was left with to spend my entire month were 1000 bucks but still I was extremely happy in that life. In my college circle, I could say I have a girlfriend and she looks pretty that was the biggest status symbol in those days. All my friends knew that my girlfriend had lots of pretty friends so they all used to approach me to arrange a meeting with them. All were interested in knowing, Have you done with her?, and I did not know what to reply. I only used to say that I am not that cheap and really love her. For me those days, it was a sin. I was a true believer of long lasting relation and for me she was very decent girl. Anyway things moved on and I never demanded anything from Shipra except more than meeting with her but time changes some humans rapidly and spoiled air of hostel started changing her. In six months of relations, few things came out as a conclusion. 1) I was never able to adjust with her rich friend circle, because I didnt know how to show off in a real life. I was still fighting with myself to change my middle class values. 2) Her expectation level was quite high and she was getting converted in to a typical rich hostel girl by being with her friends. 3) Day by day I was getting attached to her but at the other end I was not getting the same response which was driving me crazy. In next three months we hardly met each other. It was the end of April, my final semester exams started and her ignorance made me totally frustrated, and every day I started drinking even during exams. Even after exam I used to go to her college to meet her, to get a glimpse of her. During exams, we got a long break and I decided to meet her. Around 11 a.m., she came down in a white suit; she was looking like a true angel. That restaurant was particularly meant for couples because it was a cabin restaurant. We went

inside our cabin .As usual I was holding her hand and pressing gently and discussion started with grievances to each other, and got converted in to an emotional one. Suddenly I crossed my limitation and hugged her, in those few seconds, my brain became unconscious and I was in the heaven. I could feel her heart beats, could smell her breath and could see through in her pretty eyes. After doing this, relaxation to brain was more than thirty days of Yoga. After this meeting we were back to our places and as always I was dreaming, and she was concentrating on her studies. In couple of days, exams got over and we all were back to home. After two days, I made a call to her. Aryan: Hi Shipra Shipra: Hi Aryan (quite rudely) Aryan: Whts up? You did not call me? Shipra: I am sorry Aryan but I cannot continue going forward. Aryan: Ok, may I know the reason? Shipra: I dont have any reason but I dont see any future in you. Aryan: Ok, no Problem. This was the most disappointing day so far in my life. Some questions were unanswered in my mind which was sending negative vibes to me. 1) Did she really loved me or I was just an entertainment for six months? 2) Cant a middle class person love a rich girl unintentionally? 3) In spite of getting many chances, I never made any physical relation to her because from my side it was a true love. Is it a blunder which I have made? She left me in the middle of a cyclone and I have no one to take me out. But real fun of life begins when everything has got screwed up and you are the only one to sort it out.

Chapter 2 After couple days of disappointment, I tried to cope up with the situation. I was devastated but realized that this is not my age to give hopes for such a lame reason. After completion of my fourth semester, my summer vacation began and I indulged myself in industrial training. For couple of days, Mom came down to Delhi. I started being least interactive with people and used to be irritated with everyone, this was noticeable too. One day, in the evening, Mom was feeling tired so I was giving foot massage to her; usually I used to do it, to get my pocket money increased. Mom: Whom are you dating nowadays? Aryan: No one. Mom: Tell me honestly, I can read your eyes. I am your mother. Again silence. Mom: OK, if you dont want to say, we have no issues but dont spoil your career. My decision will always be in your favor so dont worry and just concentrate on your studies. In the end of July, results came out and my mark sheet was full of red marks. Out of six, I failed in three subjects. Already Mom knew everything and this blast happened on top of that. Let me introduce some more characters: Ashish Verma: A sincere, dark complexioned, nice natured person who came from a rural background. So far he never had been in any relationship. Verma and I were neighbors and used to stay with a Gurjar family. That family stayed on the ground floor and we used to stay on the first floor. Sometimes we have had bad experiences with some people and made the wrong mindset for whole community. I also used to have wrong mindset for their community but after staying with my landlord, I got a huge respect for Gurjar community. That home was more like an open fort for us. Uncle had two long rifles and used to serve for Rajasthan police earlier. When Mom got to know about my back papers, she immediately called Verma and informed him about this and she also said Take him for a movie and some parties, he shouldnt be upset. This was the most embarrassing party in my life and whole time I was feeling regrets on whatever I did wrong with my career. Even after failing in three subjects, my mother told verma to make sure I shouldnt be upset. I had disappointed her. In the evening, I got an unexpected call from Shipra. Shipra: Got to know about your back papers. Im really sorry; I should be blamed for it. Aryan: what is your result? Is everything alright? Shipra: This time, I got passed. Suddenly my pain got multiplied hundred times and became unbearable. Aryan: Could you please do me one favor? Shipra: Yes. Aryan: Please stop talking to me.

Now it was my formal break up from both ends and time to bounce back in life too. This call made me strong to take a difficult decision and sudden changes began. Following things which were not part of my life in last two years suddenly became part of it. I started going to College every day and attended all lectures. Every day I used to study at home and started making friends who were among the toppers. Had almost quit alcohol and became a career oriented person. These efforts were visible when Fifth semester exams came and I had enough content to write on answer sheet for the first time. In first month of February, fifth semester result got declared and I was among the top five students in my college. This was one of the shocking news on every tea stall near in my college. Even many students were personally asking the faculties, Has it really happened? After a week, Valentines Day came and I dont know but I was badly missing her. I knew after putting so much efforts I bounced back in life, so again didnt want to go back to that hell. After spending a day in my college, I came back home and was about to sleep. Suddenly my phone started ringing and it was an unexpected call from her. Shipra: Hi, Happy Valentines Day. Aryan: Same to you dear. Long time, is there any reason to call me? Shipra: As such no reason. Just want to talk to you. Aryan: I am sorry but Im not interested in talking to you. She hung up the call with a sad voice. I dont know but I guess she could smell the beginning of my good time. Today only I felt few drops of happiness and I got a call from her. Although I also felt bad; I had never reacted in such a way with any girl so far. For couple of minutes, she reminded me of all the moments which I spent with her and again she refreshed my injury. In couple of days, I became normal and I was back to normal life. Time can only give you relief but it cannot fully cure emotional injuries. After a month, I again got a call from her. Now I knew, she was desperately looking for my company again and being a boy this time I could not resist myself and I was in a relationship again. During this period, one of my cousins came down to Delhi, to appear for his postgraduation examination. Let me introduce to him. Ricky: A tall, fatty, round face guy. He used to stay in Delhi those days and had been in such situations long back. Those days, he was very famous amongst all of my friends because he always used to carry a bottle of whisky and vodka. In his college days, he had a break up which screwed up his life also. Nowadays he used to give lectures to youngsters like us on these issues. After having a lunch together, he started asking about my story. I told him from the beginning to end. Now he started with his expert advices before saying anything. He asked me to answer couple of questions. Ricky: Do you still love her? Aryan: I don't know but I still miss her. I have not forgotten the moments which I spent with her. Ricky: It means that you still love her. Do you want to be in a long lasting relation? Aryan: If possible, I would love to go for it.

Now listen to me carefully. You have made plenty of mistakes in your past and this is the time to rule in this relation. Following things are must for you. 1) Stop being possessive in this relation. 2) Don't take her on the top most priority in your life. If you want her to run after you, get into a physical relationship with her; already you have run enough after her. Usually after being in a relationship for a long time, you reach the saturation point of sharing thoughts that you have already reached. Now you need to do experiment in your relationship which will make her possessive towards you. Stop thinking about marriage, just enjoy the relationship. We will think about it when she runs after you. I want to see you dominate in this relation. I was quite convinced by his thoughts because I was a wounded lover and long back I got fed up of running after her and badly thrown out at the end. It was more than conversion of my religion because I was converting my soul and changing my belief. Next big challenge was finding a lonely place to date. My neighbor Verma and I had a discussion and come to a conclusion that only Mom can help me out. Next day, I made a call to Mom that Vermas friend is coming to our place for a project development and as computer is in my room so she will have to stay until evening in my room. Please tell Aunty that Aryans cousin is coming to meet so please allow them. As usual Mom was easily convinced. Mom passed on the same message to landlord aunty. Around 10 a.m. she came down to my place. After introducing her to my landlord aunty, I took her to the first floor where Verma and I used to stay and I directly took her inside my room. As we were meeting each other after nine months so discussion got started with my grievances and as usual she had no convincing reply except saying that earlier it was my mistake. I used to stay in a medium sized room which was decorated with plenty of windows. Before she came down I made sure that every single small hole was covered. I already ordered food and got with me one bottle of Vodka. We were eating from each others hands and constantly looking into each others eyes. Still I could feel that attraction in her eyes which could drive any man crazy. After finishing exotic lunch, at the time of having dessert, I made two pegs of vodka, one for myself and one for her. She had two sips and she started getting high. Shipra: Now no one will drink. Aryan: OK, let me finish my peg. I wont make any more. Shipra: I said no so please dont do. Aryan: What will I get if I dont drink? Shipra: What do you want? Aryan: I want to fall in your arms until the sun sets and explore your beauty. I want to touch your eyes, smell your breath, and want to disappear in you. Shipra: OK, Its your day. Everything is allowed but limit will be decided by me. We kept our pegs on the table and she fell in my arms. I gently started moving my hand on her back and touching her hair smoothly and kissing on her entire face. I started caressing her lips and it was quite red. I was totally lost and I dont know when my lips touched her soft lips and I started smooch her. For some time, I touched a heaven and we

both were lost in each other. As the limit was decided by her so I did not want to disappoint her by crossing it but whole day she was in my arms and we were lying down on each other. First time I realized a man force which was provoking me to cross limits again and again. Now it was crystal clear in my mind that physical relation is also one of the most important parts of survival in a relationship which is done before marriage by most of the people in India and accepted by one percent of them. Those who dare to accept it are called character less. I feel, Character less is the word which is most debatable and cannot be defined in any dictionary and cannot be described by any great philosopher. So that beautiful day ended nicely and I dropped her to college hostel. I think the most troubled and jealous guy was Verma that day. He wanted to use my computer system to complete his major project which had to be submitted by the next day. Second thing, I was spending my whole day with a girl, which was Vermas fantasy since his childhood. Around 8 p.m., in the night, I got a call from her. Shipra: I am missing you. Aryan: Ok, how can I help you being far away from you? Shipra: I love you too much Aryan. Aryan: Same here, when are you coming again? Shipra: Soon, but I dont want to lose my virginity before marriage. Aryan: who asked you to lose your virginity? Its your wish. Shipra: Ok, by this month end, I will plan a trip to your place. Once you break the line of getting physically close to each other; it can neither stop by a boy nor by any girl. After this incident we had plenty of dates and in all we had a physical relationship as well as, some hang outs. In short, it became a need of me and she also started enjoying it up to some extent. Moreover I should day it was some kind of addiction as even I started pretending to her by sleeping and again my reality as well as dreams were in full control of her. She started dominating my brain and this time we both were getting possessive of each other. After some time there was a great Indian festival KarwaChawth, this festival is a symbol of devotion in true love to each other and one day before we had a talk with each other. Shipra: Today is KarwaChawth, do you want me to keep a fast for you? Aryan: Its my pleasure dear. This can be a true pleasure for anyone who is in a relation. Shipra: But you also have to follow one instruction from my side, you wont eat as well. Aryan: what? I will be hungry for the whole day. Ok, I will do this time (blushed). I used to hardly break promises in my life so this time I did not eat and drink the whole day. As she could not come out of her hostel so we had a phone conversation when moon started shining. It was a nice day with mixed feelings. These small things make you possessive towards each other. We were following Indian traditions in a western style but who cares, just enjoy the present in college life.

God was helping us out again and again. After couple of days, my land lord attended a wedding outside station and entire home was under our control and this was the right time to plan a date. I made a call to her and asked her to come out of the hostel. Aryan: Could you please come out of the hostel tomorrow and ask your warden that you will stay with local guardian? Shipra: Coming outside is not a big deal but staying back will be tough. Still I will try. Aryan: Ok. Next day early morning I started cleaning my dirtiest room. My roommate was also helping me out as I promised him, for a decent cocktail party. In the afternoon, I got a call to pick her up from the hostel. I reached there in a couple of minutes; she was in without sleeves white mini skirt and was looking like a sexy angel, she sat behind my bike and we reached the theater. This was again Sharukh Khans movie and I was strictly advised, Dont touch, kiss and hug me during the movie, you have a whole night this time. Unfortunately, in this movie, there was no emotional scene which would have helped me out. After three boring hours, movie got over and we were back to my room, I already advised my roommate to leave the room empty and go somewhere else. It was a small room with attached kitchen. First she went inside and then I went and checked whether neighbors are watching us or not. It was the first whole night we were spending together and no one was at home. She sat on the bed and I kept my head on her lap; suddenly she started running her finger through my hair and started kissing on the entire face, neck etc. My every uncovered part was kissed by her. Dont know why but first time she initiated. Shipra: I love you dear, today is your day, my entire soul and body is yours. Although this was never my destiny; but to hear this statement, I almost spent three years. Aryan: I know. She asked me to switch off the rooms light and keep the kitchen light switched on. When I went inside the kitchen, my roomie boiled the milk for me. It was quite expected from him; it was my first night and he was helping me out so he did whatever he saw in bollywood movies. I had a glass of milk and went inside the room. She already lay down on the bed; I sat on the bed and started hugging and kissing her. In couple of minutes we both were nude and I could feel the warmth of human body in the winter and got to know why most of the Indian weddings are planned in the winter. Her body was softer than any costliest silky wool I touched so far. I started touching the sensitive parts of her body, in couple of minutes she got excited like anything and wanted to me to have sex with her. I was OK with everything but this was the only step I did not want to take before marriage but could not resist myself after some time and started supporting her for an entire night. She got the most beautiful eyes, in the dim light they were shining like a diamond. Now she lay on top of me and running her hand on my chest. Aryan: Do you love me? Shipra: I belong to one of the most repudiated family, in spite of that I am sleeping with you. Isn't it enough to prove?

Aryan: that's not my answer. You are sleeping with me because we have got closer to each other after spending three years together. Lust is a part of love but it's not love. Shipra: I cannot prove more than this to you. Aryan: Alright, I won't ask you further; tell me one thing what if I get out of your life now? Shipra: Are you crazy? I need you, I love you dear. First time I could see that craziness in her eyes for me which I used to have when she got out of my life without any reason. Morning we woke up and got ready for our colleges. She was getting damn possessive in the morning like she never had been before. Whatever a boy dreams in his college, all things were in my hand. I was looking for a love and was getting a human body to fulfill my physical desires. This was the point; I started thinking of wrapping up this relationship. It was a dark rainy night and I came back to my room. My roommate was not in the room; I did not change my clothes and lied down on the bed and started thinking answers to many troubled questions. 1) What if I continue with this relation? 2) What if I tell her that I cannot continue anymore? I could get out of this relation at any moment but wanted to ask her once more before getting out of this relation. Aryan: Want to ask you couple of questions. Shipra: ask. Aryan: Will you marry me after college? Shipra: I will try but cannot commit because it can spoil my family image in the society. Aryan: Ok, thanks. Still in India, sleeping with your girlfriend is quite easier than getting married to her. Even I didnt want to get married to her because I always had a big doubt on her loyalty. Break up with her, probably would have been punishment for couple of days but I wanted to do beyond, about which she was scared of from beginning of our relation. So finally I did it whose outcome could be unexpected and dangerous also but that day I listened to my heart and did what I wanted to do. Around 11 p.m., I sent a SMS to Mr. Rahul. Let me introduce to Rahul. Rahul: Her elder brother, who was running his dads business those days. All guys who tried on her; they were badly beaten by him. Aryan: Hi, this is Aryan and I have been dating your sister since three years. In couple of minutes, my phone started ringing and I didn't want to know what to do? Those days I was very famous among my drunkard friends so I also started making calls to my friends. In couple of minutes, around thirty friends gathered and we had a big meeting in our famous bar with a glass of beer. So all came to a conclusion that we will meet her brother after two days, till the time you get underground to some place. After two days we will call him and meet.

First time I realized alcohol bonding is almost equivalent to blood bonding. For those two days, he got frustrated searching for me. As decided, third day I picked his call. Rahul: Aryan, I only want to meet you before I go back. Aryan: OK, Come to my place and will meet today in the evening. Although my entire college was with me but everyone was scared too. My friends: Her brother is a wild animal, father is a super-rich person, and most of the politicians are her relatives although you have committed this relation. Some day you will die and we have to join you. Aryan: I will go alone to meet him; no one will join. My friends: Sister Fucker, if her father would have been prime minister still we would have not left you alone. We all will join you so keep your bloody mouth shut. In the evening, I went with one of my friend at the meeting place, rests were watching from 100 meter distance. In couple of minutes, two guys came on Yamaha bike and asked me. Biker: Are you Aryan? Aryan: Yes. Biker: Rahul here, Shipra's brother. I am just here to say you two statements; whatever went forget it. Don't dare to meet her again. You all are students and I don't want to spoil your life. Aryan: Ok, I also want to get out of this relation. This meeting was smoother than I expected. Although this was my decision to get out of this relation but dont know why? Every moment I missed her even I got some mails from her also but again going back would have been a bigger mistake. You hardly forget your first love, first break up, first date, first kiss and first time sex and in my case; she was part of all activities so how could I forget her. As expected next three months, maximum time I spent in the bar and couldn't realize when college got over. Finally we got out of college with an achievement of completing degree in the given time but the most irrespectively word "Unemployed" got attached to me. Here the next journey of searching a job in a country with a population of 100 million begins!!!!

Chapter 3 It was the beginning of a tough time and I was one among many who were going to be a part of it. Not many years ago, getting into an engineering college was a herculean task, but nowadays; it is the easiest thing to lay your hands on. Thanks to the mushrooming of engineering colleges all across the country. People struggle to get a decent job. In many engineering colleges in northern part of India, college placements are hardly 20 percent and for other chaps, it is the beginning of struggle even after having an engineering degree under their belt. There were lots of discussions before taking a decision for a place to search jobs and finally we made a group and started a journey to Bangalore with lots of hope in our heart to achieve our destiny. Long back when Akash took an admission in Bangalore, he used to brag a lot about it - A damn hot place, the happening crowd with awesome dressing sense, lots of enthusiasm everywhere. Even finding a girl on a bike sitting with cross legs was a very common sight. Awesome weather with sunshine most of the time followed by drizzling. Apart from all these things, it was a city of pubs where you could enjoy night life at full. Whenever Akash used to discuss about the city, we always used to dream about it. Anyways, it was the time to go and feel the city about which we heard a lot from Akash. As we were new to this place, Akash was coming to pick us in Bangalore. We reached Bangalore after two days of journey and once we landed in the city, I made a call to Akash. Aryan: Bro, where are you? Akash: Dude, I am busy with my college festival. Please come to my college, I am staying nearby. Aryan: Sure, Ill come, text me your address. During my journey to his place in Bangalore, I was thinking that I was going to meet one of my best friends after a long time. He was staying in a separate room on the top floor of a building and he had almost all the essential stuff. Having had the dinner together, we started the discussion. Akash: Dude, you have to struggle to find a place to stay over here. I will suggest you to go for paying guests (so called PGs in colloquial) where initial deposit amount will be less. Probably, you can find good paying guests in BTM area and please speed up your search on your own. I am occupied with my CAT examination preparations so I wont be able to help out much. Aryan: OK, I will. First time, I had some very straight professional talks with my friend. A thought came to my mind that it was really the start of a bad phase. I made a call to all my college buddies and asked them to get ready for tomorrow. Next day, we were on our way hunting for a decent place to stay. First time, we realized that the real state price was sky high and even a decent room to stay, was not less than 10K bucks. After putting in efforts for two days, we finally got a decent place to stay. It was a paying guest (PG) and we got a room to stay. It was a medium size with four cots

and for each cot on offer, owner was charging 3000 bucks. Next morning, guys were all ready with their resumes and started exchanging/sharing cell numbers. This was one of the phases of life where you make really good friends and needless to say, I too made a few good friends there. Here is the introAmit: An intelligent, round faced, black eyed tall chap wearing thick broad glasses, who hailed from a Marwari family. He already had offer letters from a decent company but he came down to Bangalore for better opportunities. As we had some common friends so he joined our paying guest. Fakruddin: A humorous engineering graduate with thick belly, straight face, thick beard, hailed from western Rajasthan. He used to be a fond off of eating chicken. When we used to go out for dinner, he always preferred his starter as chicken, in main course - butter chicken and, at the end, in the dessert- a chicken lollipop. A complete chicken freak. All the chicken must certainly be afraid of him. He only had one wish in life- A visit to Karachi in Pakistan to eat delicious chicken over there. Very soon, I got a group in Bangalore as well. Next morning, we were ready with our curriculum to begin the struggle to get a job. Fakru and I were sitting outside a grand office of an IT company. Fakru: Show me your CV. Aryan: OK. Fakru: It seems, you have mentioned your original marks over here. Aryan: Yes, what happened? Fakru: Listen brother, prepare two CVs. One with fake marks (minimum 80 %) to send it to the companies and second one with original marks. First one will be required to fetch you an interview call. Aryan: May I know the reason of this requirement? Fakru: In short, reason is unity in diversity. In Bangalore, people do come from different states but companies dont bother about it. Ideally, percentage criteria should vary state wise as does education system. For e.g., in Maharashtra universities are not big hearted and the highest percentage marks hovers around 75%, which is minimum in Karnataka universities. Aryan: OK, I will surely do as you suggested. I agreed as I saw logic behind his argument. Fakru: One more thing, on weekends, you will have to get ready by 5AM as major walkins happen on these days only. Rest, we need to leave on God. This is the place where luck is actually needed. Gradually, we learnt the tricks to get interview calls but none of us could convert a call mainly because of two major reasons. 1) Lack of technical knowledge.

2)

Weak communication skills.

I used to discuss with Amit about any help he could offer which could help us pass an interview stage. Amit: Basic things are required and every company does expect at least those things in a prospective candidate. Fine communication skills and refreshing engineering basics would help. Aryan: Do you really think that it is required while doing engineering. I believe, in India except few elite institutes, it is required nowhere. How many students do you think fail in practical examination? If colleges would have followed the university curriculum properly, more than 50% of folks would have found it difficult to clear practical exams. Amit: Agreed bro, lets go with basics which are expected from a fresher. Sooner, we were in a better position and started getting calls from companies and some of the folks from our group got placed. It was one afternoon and as usual, I was taking a nap after a heavy lunch and my phone started ringing. Caller: Hi, am I talking to Aryan? Aryan: Yes, May I know who is this? Caller: Aryan, this is regarding job openings with our company. Could you please come to our office on Saturday for an interview? I have also dropped an email on your id regarding the same. Aryan: Sure, thanks a lot. Caller: See you on Saturday. Next couple of days; I gave my best efforts to prepare myself to convert this important call. Finally, the day came and I wore a formal dress with a folder in my hand. Once I reached there, I had to go through couple of rounds of interviews. At last, we were in the final round of discussion where we had to go through both technical and HR rounds of interviews. Mine was very impressive and I was almost assured for a positive feedback. I started waiting for a reply from the HR. It had been five days and I had not received any call from them. Next day, I made a call to HR. Aryan: Hi, this is Aryan here. I have gone through an interview process last week. HR: Yes Aryan, Congratulations, you have been selected. We are just waiting for our vice president to come down to Bangalore. Aryan: OK Sir, thanks a lot. I was on cloud nine and we all were celebrating the moment. Next couple of days; I didnt get any call from HR. Finally, I decided to meet him. Next day, I reached their office and I was asked on the reception to call the HR. HR came down to reception and took me for a coffee.

HR: Aryan, definitely this thing will disappoint you but this happens quite often over here. Aryan: No sir, please tell me. HR: Your selection is put on hold. Aryan: Why? HR: There are some reasons which I cannot disclose, being a HR. Aryan: Alright sir. Thank you. Amit had some good contacts in the industry and that really helped us out to know the truth. As the company was looking for 14 candidates and 12 out of fourteen were north Indians, VP and HR had some heated arguments on this matter. As per VP, North Indians could not out number South Indians in his company. VP had asked HR to suspend the recruitments because of this reason. This incident started driving me crazy about South Indians but soon I realized that this was the way things do happen in our country. Migrated poor Biharis were never respected in any state of India and now, we also migrated to look for jobs in some other parts of India. Sometimes, it seemed that Unity in diversity was a slogan only. From East to West, South to North, people were hardly connected. There were a few states which were growing and people were migrating towards them because they did not have any other choice. It was very tough to change peoples mentality so we had to look out for an option of equal growth opportunity in all the states. Anyway, my life became hell again and I was back to square one and completely fed up. Next morning, as usual, all were ready for the hunt. Fakru came and knocked my door. Fakru: What happened? You are not joining us today. Aryan: Bro, I am not in a mood. You guys carry on. Fakru: I will see you in the evening. In the evening, I came back from my walk-in and as expected, guys were waiting for me. Amit: Why didnt you go for the walk-ins today? Aryan: I thought a lot about my last rejection and conclusion is that somewhere I am lacking something so I dont want to keep on trying my luck. Every day, I feel as if I am begging in front of someone. Its purely hit and trial over here. Try at hundreds of places and someday, may be, you will succeed. Gradually, I am losing my self-respect and if it keeps on repeating, I will break down one day. Amit: So, what will be your next step? Aryan: I dont know. Amit: If you feel that you are not prepared yet, and then start preparing right now. Aryan: Suggest me how to do it. Amit: I have decided for you. There are some very good institutes in Pune and my friends are also there. They will get everything ready for you.

Aryan: Ok, There is one more issue that I am being pressurized off, from home - to come back and join some jobs through reference. Amit, I never wanted to do this. I can be unemployed but I cant do this. Your first job is one of biggest achievement in your life and I dont want to share this. Amit: Dude, I understand your point. You go and achieve your dream and we all are with you.

First time, against my family wishes, I took the train to Pune and changed myself. In the next six months, I studied round the clock and achieved my goal- A job offer in my hand. What I did in those six months was what I should have done during my college days. Finally, I had many offer letters in my hand and I took a train home with a well deserving job and self-respect. It was the beginning of my corporate life.

Chapter 4 It was the beginning of a bad phase. I came to Pune with plenty of Referrals in different companies and some money in my pocket. After struggling for a few months, I got a decent job in an MNC. As always I started my career with a low pace but gradually I became a star in two years. I was an alcoholic, a great friend for my alcoholic colleagues and new joiners. They treated me with great respect. I was Mr. Know All to them. In these two years, I had plenty of friends; girls as well but nothing were serious. Whenever I used to feel lonely, I always had a supporting one, with whom I could share, with who I could be myself. But apart from this, nothing was serious. I was all time high and everything was going above expectations in every aspect of life. I had money to fulfill all my desires. I had money to send home and earn respect from my relatives. I was sharing a luxurious apartment with all amenities with one guy from my hometown. God could have not seen me happy for few more days and sudden changes began interfering with my smooth flowing life. Thats how life is - Life is Difficult because we never appreciate anything that is easy. Since few years, problems came looking for me. I didn't have to sit and find them. I became a close friend of a colleague and her name was Preeti. Preeti: She was an angel of simplicity. A fair slim, black sharp featured eyes, and long straight hair girl who used to wear broad rectangular specs. She was one of the strongest female I had ever met in my life. She was a true believer of Indian culture and used to strongly oppose ediction in our society. Apart from helping her family in their basic needs, she used to do lots of social work and also used to donate half of her salary to orphans. I was really proud to have a kind hearted and supportive friend like her. I always hoped she gets the best. We both used to bitch about other colleagues in the team. We enjoyed each other's company all the time, be it lunch or breakfast or supper. After few days, she started getting distracted from her work. She was frequently on phone with her relatives or parents. I did understand the reason but had no desire to ask and enter in any discussion related to her personal life. Somewhere in mid-October, Preeti called me. Preeti: Hi Aryan, I am passing through an arrange marriage process; have met a couple of guys in a few days. One guy is earning well but I didnt find him suitable for me and the other one is earning less but I found him a genuine person and it seems like I can spend my life easily with him. Aryan replied with a smirk laugh: I think, both contestants are unknown to you as of now, so getting married to a guy who is earning more decent salary will be good for you. Human nature cannot be judged in a couple of meetings.

Preeti: But I cannot adjust with him. Aryan: Without knowing someone how can you say like that? I wont recommend you but if you feel so, please do it. I always used to make fun of her, that you are the first engineer from your native. In reply, she always used to say irritably Aryan, someday I will kill you. Somewhere at the end of October, Preeti had a trip to her native place (Gadarwara). A town of most fanatic Brahmins on earth; who still believes in the protocols, defined by their ancestors 100 years back. In Gadarwara, major source of income is farming but majority of the farmers are quite rich. Society is purely male dominating and still people are true followers of dowry, honor killing, and religionist etc. While coming back from Gadarwara, around 10 p.m., she made a call to me. Preeti: Aryan, I am engaged. I am so happy; my dads mission is completed. Aryan: Hey buddy, congratulations, I am so happy for you. That day, we had a talk for more than two hours. First time I felt, she had no realization yet, but may have feelings for me." Next day, we all met in the office and everyone was congratulating her and I was also really happy for her. Still I got an intuition; she is going to have a tough time soon. Whenever I used to ask for any help, she always used to tease me by a statement Are you getting married to me? and I used to say why should I? Please call your fianc. "When a girl starts flirting in this way with her very good friend, her smile narrates everything Couple of days passed peacefully. Around 9 p.m.; she called me and said in disappointing voice," I dont want to get married to that fellow. Her family is asking my dad for too much dowry; whatever was promised by us, they are asking for more than that". She could not hold back her tears any longer and started crying badly over the phone. I got an intuition that something wrong might happen at this point of time and immediately took my roommates bike and reached her home. After knocking the door plenty of times, she opened it. I came inside and I saw that there were plenty of sleeping pills on table. Aryan: What the fuck are you doing with yourself? Do you have any sense and value for your life? Preeti: My life is ruined; parents are embarrassed because of me. What should I do now? Aryan: Its not because of you, but because of a crap society. And definitely you have come out of a bigger problem. Please control yourself. These things happen in life. If this would have got disclosed later, it would have definitely screwed up your life. Please assume what is happening, is good for you and stop crying. Once everything seemed normal, I came back to my place. Same day around 11 p.m., I got a message from her. You are worth a friend. Thanks a lot. This is a universal truth, woman always look for a mans support when she gets stuck in any tough situation.

After a couple of days, engagement broke because of family clashes. Broken engagements do always become a reason of new relations. It was a beginning of a new relation which was decided by none of us. Since that day, every day I started getting a call from her. Break ups are always beginning of a new relation which you always have with closet pal with whom you can share what you cannot share with the entire world. It is the rebound phase. In couple of days, we became best friends, started having coffee in cafeteria, sharing personal life, having late night talks. Soon we became a part of each others life. It was an irresistible force which was driving a relation. Sooner I also shared some part of my personal life which I could not share with anyone else. We became strength of each other; she used to realize it but I could not. In the end of January, she made a call to me. Aryan: Hi Preeti Preeti: Hi Aryan Aryan: How are you? Seems tensed about something? Preeti: I dont know buddy but not feeling well and not able to understand the reason. Aryan: Think and share with me. I was sure she knew the reason; just feeling scared of sharing it with me. I started pushing her, to get the reason. Preeti: she started crying badly and said hesitantly I Love you". But please dont bother about it, I know you dont love me at all. Aryan: Please stop crying. When did you realize it? Preeti: few days back, I am not able to think anything else except you. Aryan: Now please go to sleep; we will talk about it tomorrow. There is always a slight line of difference between a boyfriend and best male friend. If you cross that line, you can never be a best friend again. Although we both tried to pretend to each other as a friend again but when you try to run away from the things, it actually runs after you. Finally after avoiding each other for a decent amount of time, discussion began once again. Aryan: OK, if you love me so much then convince your family and my family as well. As its your call, be brave and take responsibility. Preeti: No, I will convince my family and you will convince yours. Although she was completely broken in life but attitude level was still at Mount Everest. Aryan: for me, its 2 minutes job, to convince my family. In my life I only have to convince only two people My mom and sister. Rest I am not scared of anyone in this world. Preeti: Aryan, what if I go out of your life? Aryan: will search a new girl on Orkut. Preeti: Aryan, you are a disgusting fellow, have no respect for love and kept the phone down. After 15 days, we both wanted to buy the same book so she joined me to the book shop. Journey started with a good note; we were sharing jokes as always and enjoying each

others company. We did the shopping entire evening. Around 7 p.m., she wanted to buy jewelry for Nibhas wedding. It was a very crowded place; no one could drive two wheelers so we had to walk. She did a shopping for an hour and we hired an auto to comeback. That journey changed everything. On the way, she put her head on my shoulder and broke down completely and said, I cannot live without you. Aryan: Please stop crying and started pressing her back gently and took her in my arms and kissed on her forehead. Sometimes destiny decides and you just follow that. You are left with no choices. Her second time acceptance of Love; finally made me free. I stopped the auto rickshaw nearby some park. It was my first date with her and I didnt know what was wrong with her but she was crying on the first date. I could clearly see the love in her eyes which could not be in my eyes. Someone who always initiates a relationship loves the counterpart more; other part just gets attached after a significant amount of time. For some reason, at that moment, I could not hear anything except her soft crying noise. First time I touched her hands and they were soft like silk. Her eyes got red due to crying but still they looked beautiful. Her eye lashes were long, black and wet too. I never observed her so closely. Preeti: Aryan, I will suggest you to go for an arrange marriage where you can get the pretty better half. Why are you accepting my proposal? She knew me totally in and out. She was one of the few people who have understood my perception of Life. She knew that in my college days I used to run after pretty girls, buying expensive things, and being friends with powerful people so far. It was an obvious question that every simple middle class girl would ask, whether will she be able to sustain a relationship with me or not? Aryan: I dont know the reason but I just want it. We ate at a nearby restaurant and then I dropped her home. Entire night I was thinking about what I saw in her eyes True Love. I told myself -Although she is not that beautiful which I always dreamed of my life partner but she loves you. .Why God me again Why you always choose me for difficult situations like this. Let me introduce you to some new characters who were our colleagues as well as friends. Nibha: A common friend and colleague of Preeti and me. She is a short, simple, and believer of a persistent relation. She used to treat me as a younger brother and was the best friend to Preeti. She was senior to me too and had helped me a lot during my initial days in the project. I used to discuss many things about my career with her and she was kind enough to guide me throughout. Shikha: A common friend and colleague of us. She is a girl with attractive sharp features. She was a famous person because of her outstanding dance and communication skills. She was the only one apart from me who could handle the project smartly. She was

committed to Chatur. He used to work in a different company. God only knows why a smart girl like her would go after this dumb orthodox fellow. Both of them were more than colleague to me. Nibhas wedding was scheduled after a couple of days and Shikha, Preeti and I were invited. Finally I booked four tickets to Allahabad for Preeti, Shikha and Chatur (Shikhas boyfriend) and me. Two days before the journey, my cell started ringing and it was none other than Shikha. Shikha: Aryan, I cannot attend the wedding. I am strongly opposed by my family, not to attend this function because of my family function. Aryan: Fine. Then even I am cancelling my tickets. Shikha: why Preeti and you are not going there? Please go, else Nibha will feel bad. Aryan: Ok, I will talk to her. Next day, Preeti and I had a discussion on the coffee table. One more thing, Preetis native was on the same route and she was planning to take us to her native place. Aryan: As Shikha is not coming, I am also canceling my trip. I did not want to meet Preetis family so early unless I am assured about my decision to take it as a long lasting decision. This decision will not only affect me but will affect my family as well as her family. I had thought many times about this relation yet I was not so certain. Preeti : If you dont want to come to my native then dont come but at least come to Nibhas wedding. If you want to come to my native then you are most welcome, may be my parents will start liking you and she started blushing. Aryan: Ok, I am in and smiled back at her half-heartedly. Here the most emotional journey began; the journey which helped me makes my decision. We were sitting in Mumbai CST Junction and were waiting for our train. I was carrying my laptop with data card. She took my laptop and started browsing Orkut and shown me the picture of a guy whom she used to like in her college days. Actually she could never admit her likeness for him and few days back, he died because of some disease. Aryan: I am the second one in your life whom you have started liking. Suppose if I also die because of your love. Preeti: Then I will stop loving people. Suddenly, the atmosphere got emotional and she looked serious. Her eyes turned moist and she avoided eye contact with me. I could not understand how to react in this situation. I was just trying to change the direction of discussion then. Thank God, I did not start showing my Girl Friends pictures then we would have definitely missed the train and Railway police would have come down to wipe her tears. Its rare in India but fortunately train was on time and arrived at the junction around 10.30 p.m.

In the compartment, there were two Nigerian damn scary citizens traveling with us. Their appearance was causing others to maintain a safe distance from all the sides and definitely not falling in each others arms. She got a lower birth and I got a middle birth in A.C. 3 tier. Like a usual Indian crowd, we were making fun of them in Hindi. In the middle of the journey, around 1 p.m., Nigerian citizens got down and at the end he said a statement in pure Hindi. It was a 440 volts shock to me. After few minutes, she started coughing badly and I had to come down and rub her back gently. Our other two copassengers were in deep sleep on upper birth. Silence with darkness says something which can be heard by those only who are actually falling in love. It was the first formal hug to each other and better I should call it was a beginning of indefinite journey of hugs. Suddenly my lips touched her lips gently and started caressing and smooching her with full swing. I think, this was one of the craziest moment in a running train and got repeated plenty of times. My brain jammed for a few minutes. Surely, it was the first kiss for her and she was enjoying the hell out of it. When I came back to sense and excitement came down for both then I could see tears in her eyes and I really didnt know, was it because of happiness or fear of loosing me some day? After this none of us wanted to sleep so since morning she was sleeping under my arms. In the Morning, we woke up at around 8 am and she popped up a million dollar request to me. Preeti: Aryan, I want you to take to my home. As the last night hang over was not over so I said yes. Aryan: Ok, I am in for it. Around 1 p.m., we reached her Native place (Gadarwara). My arrival was already communicated to her family. We came out of the Railway Station and there was no proper auto facility on stand, so we had to take a sharing auto. Finally we reached her home and her mother was at home, for our warm welcoming. I was introduced as a friend cum colleague. I had tea and went to after noon sleep. As there were not so many rooms so I had to sleep in the drawing room. She went to her uncles home who was staying in the same city. In the evening she came back from her uncles place with her uncle. He entered the drawing room and woke me up. As far as I remember he was the first person who made an attempt to wake me up from a deep sleep and I didnt shout. I had a tea with him and got to know some information about his relatives in Rajasthan. In a quick conversation got to know, her uncle is a very cunning person and I am under suspect so I started maintaining a safe distance from him. Finally Preetis dad came back from office and I got introduced to him. He was around sixty years old and was looking older because of his dressing sense and thick beard. My first impression about him was typical middle class person who is burdened with so many responsibilities. He sat on a sofa and rapid question round began with me. Just like he was Karan Johar(from coffee with Karan) and I was none other than small artist whose only first film is released. Karan Johar has invited to make fun of me.

He popped up the most expected question. Her Dad: What is your caste? Aryan: I blushed and replied Kayastha Her Dad: you mean Lala. Aryan: Yes. I made few more assumptions about him after that meeting. He is a cast fanatic person and I am being suspected as Preetis boyfriend. After a couple of minutes, a discussion happened among their family members on her marriage. There was a huge beliefs difference among her parents and her which could be judged by anyone in couple of minutes. I kept myself away from all these non-sense and carried on with net surfing. Next morning begins with a cup of tea with her mother. Actually I wanted to make a tea for her but didnt get the chance. Anyways it was a good tea time as well as I was teaching his farmer cousin how to operate a laptop and he was showing a least interest. After some time, Preeti asked me to start with a daily routine. That home had an amazing bath room. I entered inside the bath room and hung my clothes on iron pole and it immediately collapsed on my head. I can still feel the pain of it. Around 12 pm, we started getting ready for the journey and I went to a nearby barber shop to get my beard shaved. Preeti: Where did you go? Aryan: To barber shop. Preeti: Did you pay him? Aryan: Yes, What happened? Preeti: He belongs to a lower caste and comes to our place and touches my dads feet to get blessings. I didnt know what to say after hearing this much. Before coming over here I read everything about this place and got to know this is a birth place of the great Osho but ground reality was totally different. I could find nothing except cruel followers of cast system who were still living in the seventh century. In the Afternoon, we took a train to Allahabad after having heavy lunch. At the Gadarwara junction, we again had a discussion. Preeti: Will my family ever agree for a marriage? Aryan: No. What opinion does your mother has about me? Preeti: A nice guy. He was taking care of himself on his own and got familiar very soon. Finally we got in to the train and reached Allahabad in an hour. Nibha already sent a car to pick us from the station to the marriage hall. When we reached marriage hall, that time Nibha had to go somewhere but her sister was there for our welcome. She showed us our rooms. Fortunately my stay was with her brothers medical college friends and Preeti was staying with Nibha only. It was a very nice resort in a huge area and was surrounded by some famous temples. After some time, Nibha came back to marriage hall and we had snacks together.

In the evening, we all dressed up for Ladies Sangeet. I think, I dressed up better than Nibhas brother and I was standing with bride and Preeti so I was being noticed as a brides brother. Even I was asked by many people, Are you in Nibhas relation? That function was rocked by MBBS students; all drunken fellows made that function unforgettable and thrilled the dance floor till last song. I also tried to do some remarkable dance steps but non-alcoholic dance performances are rarely good if you are not used to. Finally, function gets over at around 10 p.m. Preeti and I decided to go for a walk. We both wanted to have a serious discussion about future of our relation and this was the best time as per our opinion. Aryan: As per my opinion in my last relation, she got a better guy than me and moved on in her life and she had very straight forward thoughts. She could not see future in me because I was unsettled middle class chap those days. Preeti: There must have been some conditions with her otherwise girls never does that. Aryan: I dont think so because I didnt even get a single call, not even before her marriage. I understand; there could have been conditions but still as far as I understand; no condition can stop being caring for each other. Preeti: In Indian society; girls have some social restrictions as well which men can never understand in their lives. Discussion ended in a win-win situation. No one was able to convince each other and had to come back from walk. Next morning we were invited by her uncle. His nick name was Tiwari ji for a lunch. Tiwari ji was also one more true believer of cast system and arrange marriage. His family was a nice family and had four people, Tiwari ji, his wife, younger son who used to stay with them, and elder one was working in IT industry in Pune. So discussion begins with the importance of an arrange marriage in this society. Aunty: Maximum, we can allow a love marriage to a Brahmin girl. More than this cannot be allowed by us at any cost. Uncle: Why love marriage? Arrange marriage should be the only choice. I also give my acceptance to it. I always knew that guest should never give an annoying opinion. Actually they were looking for a perfect package (Nice bride, Heavy dowry with social respect) which is an impossible scenario in love marriage. Tiwari ji was one of the ideals of Preetis dad and very much inspired by his way of being prosperous and his fanatic thoughts as well. When Preeti was flying to UK then he advised his father to pack 10 K.G. of grocery because it was very expensive in U.K. He could definitely give a lecture in IIMs on, How to save money? Finally we all had lunch and came back to the wedding place. I already showed my potential on Ladies Sangeet day by dressing up so nicely and it was her turn. As far as I remember she entered in to the makeup room at 6.30 P.M. and came out at 8.30 in sky blue traditional Indian Saree with required jewelries. I can firmly say that she was looking pretty that day. Some of Nibhas younger cousins could sense it that something was cooking. In entire wedding we were roaming with each other like a newly wedding

couple. I did not say thanks to Nibha but later I realized I should have, because she booked a huge place where we could find many lonely corners to get closer to each other. Next day, we took a train from Allahabad to Pune. During train journey she again popped up a million dollar girly question. Preeti: Do you love me? I wanted to say yes but acceptance cannot be clearly seen in my eyes so better I kept silence for some time. She started crying badly again and finally I had to make a call to my sister, to make her realize that I was not cheating. She said hello to my sister and hung up the call. I was feeling very tired so took a sleep for 3 hours. When I woke up, I saw that she had been still crying. Finally it was the time to assure my affection to her. I also went to upper birth and started convincing her. Aryan: Preeti, I dont know; how much I love you at this point of time. But one thing I can assure you that I will never cheat on you in my entire life. Once again we had an extreme emotional hug after this statement. Preeti: You know Aryan, we will care aunty not as our mother, and I will take care of her as my own daughter. I will pamper her entire life. Making promises in life is an easiest thing but being stuck to it, is the toughest job. She did not allow me to get down from our birth and fell in my arms during the entire journey. Two days continuously I had no sleep but my gesture at least comforted her and she could sleep calmly. My heart was asking the same question again and again Is this the girl with whom I want to spend my entire life? Only questions and Questions but not a satisfied answer came up. One old couple was also traveling with us. Next morning, old lady asked us that are you newly married couple and we could not react anything else except blushing. Finally we reached Pune at 9 a.m. after a memorable journey.

Chapter 5 Our office was just like a set of a TV serial. We all used to sit around two cubicles. Apart from usual work we used to do Flirting, Leg pulling etc. Cricket matches, football tournaments and Night Out parties were still part of our project group and we used to enjoy more than any college going students. After the long, tiring but memorable journey, thinking about going to office was awful. Next day we reached office on time and everyone was curious to know "what happened in the wedding"? As usual I was making hype of things and made everyone realize that they really missed a very wonderful wedding. Especially the alcoholic male teammates were quiet disappointed when I told them about various cocktail parties, delicious food and Nibhas good looking female cousins. I was strictly advised by Preeti, not to make fun of her place but still made fun of his uncle as I could not control my habits. Now let me introduce to some more interesting characters. Asha: Preetis elder sister. As per her opinion, she was the only one who could help her out in her love mission. There used to be strong sisterhood bonding among them before Asha got married. Preeti was always more concerned for her sisters future as she became a house wife after getting married to a government employee in a small city. She was gold medalist during her academics but ended up being a House wife. Preeti always asked her to do some work to get her self-confidence back but Asha used to reply I am done with my life, what destiny has decided for me and I dont want to fight now. Preeti couldnt see her sisters studies being of no use and few differences popped between them. Somya: Preetis younger sister. As per my opinion only broad minded person in their family and someone who used to really bother her. She was working in Mumbai. Devina: Preetis roommate. She is a slim, fair, tall, talkative, fun loving and attractive girl with beautiful brown eyes. She was working as a HR in our company and she used to be very famous person in our project group because of her attractive Personality and stunning looks. As per Preeti, she was the least interfering roommate and used to help Preeti in taking decisions. She was the most amazing cook I ever met in my life. Kalrav: Our reporting manager. He is a tall, attractive, and fair guy with an extra ordinary quality of making girlfriends and very impressive Personality. He was a living Casanova. He has an innocent face and used to get dimples when he smiled. He was a practical chap but ethical too. He never got to know about our relation because I never wanted to make this a gossip. So it was the time to confess and getting some support from family and convert this relation in to marriage. For me it was the easiest thing to do but for her, it was one of the toughest milestones to achieve, tougher than to get an admission in IIM College in India. So next day she made a call to Asha and asked for her help for a mission impossible and got totally expected reaction.

Blood relations are the most unpredictable and only god knows, will it be in favor or against? Preeti: Di, I need one favor from your end. Asha: Regarding what? Preeti: I like Aryan and I want to get married to him. Asha: which cast does he belong? Preeti: Kayastha(Lala) Asha: Do you know? We are the successor of Rishi Vishmamitra. Dad will never agree for this relation. Please dont even dare to discuss it with dad and started crying. Around 11 pm, she made a call and asked me to meet last time. In couple of minutes, I reached there. She was very much disappointed and badly crying outside her society. For me, this was one of the complex situations I ever had in my life. After train journey, I was accustomed to her crying but this time, situation was serious. I was not allowed to continue with lifelong relation and I did not want to break up too after getting this much closer. Anyways, two hours discussions got over and I was able to convince her to have patience for some time. After listening about her sisters thoughts, two questions rose in my mind. Should I read the whole history to understand this complex situation? Who the hell is Rishi Vishmamitra? Next Day we reached office on time and She started avoiding me and crying silently but it was literally irritating me. I had been talking to her since two years and this was the first time we were avoiding each other in the office. I realized that going for love marriage is easy but there are heavy roadblocks at all stages and you need to be on guard all the time. She was the part of a big gossip group in our projects and her tears were noticeable to them. They took her to a lonely place and asked her, Why are you crying since morning? Preeti: Some problems are going on in professional life so I was very much disturbed because of them so could not stop my tears. Actually she wanted to share everything with them but this would have become biggest news in our department. After pushing and convincing from my side, she again started talking to me. As scheduled, same day, I caught a train to Sikar in the evening. I was literally finding it quite boring after the most romantic journey a week back. The only way to get entertained, was to make call to her but there was a big network problem in the running train. My every call was making her crying but talking to each other was literally unavoidable too. Finally I reached home next evening. Mom was eagerly waiting for me and we had a yummy homemade food.

As always Mom and I had late night talks. Long back I wanted to confess about girlfriends and drinking habits but could not dare because was jobless those days. I wanted to talk about college time affair also. So finally late night talks begin with Mom and I started confessing things. Aryan: Mom, do you know? I had a girlfriend in my college days. Mom: since second year of your college? Aryan: Yes, How do you know this? Mom: In first year, your monthly expenditure was 3000 and in the second year it reached 5000 and gradually in the third year it reached 7000 and in the final year it touched the sky. If parents dont stop that doesnt mean, they never understand. Aryan: Yes Mom, I had a girl friend since second year and had a break up in the final year. I could not complete the relation because of social constraint and she was assured that she can get a better guy than me in arrange marriage. So, I was also left with no choice except breaking up. Mom: OK. Then forget it and why are you discussing now? Aryan: I am an occasional drinker but I make sure its not frequent. In office parties, its unavoidable now days. Although I was lying, I was doing it since college days. Mom: You are a true successor and these all things are in your blood (with smile). Do it in limit please. Aryan: One more thing, still I am in a relationship with my colleague. She proposed me 2 weeks back. Being from small town, my mom was shocked to hear that girls also have started proposing guys these days. I dont think my mom is aware about gays and lesbians and I never wanted to discuss about them right now. Mom: There is no issue with love marriage in our family but this time, it shouldnt be a time pass. Aryan: She is not my type but still I feel that I can adjust my life with her very well. Tomorrow morning, I will show you her picture. As I expected, there was a positive sign from my family front. Next morning, I showed her picture to Mom. Mom: She is not so pretty but looks from a decent family. I have to convince entire family but I will manage. Now from one side, I was assured that things have been worked out. I missed her so much and messaged her I love you . My mother was in my favor so there was no stopping from taking a decision. Same day, Preeti also had a trip to meet her friends in Mumbai. Let me introduce to her best friends. Smriti: A fair complexion, average height, sharp features broad black eyes, round face and emotional girl. She used to be her best friend since her college days. In my

perception, her relation to Preeti was far better than any blood relation. As per Preeti, she was her sister not friend. Preeti could discuss anything with her without even thinking once. Rohit: A slim, impressive, dynamic, tall and dark complexion guy. He was Smritis husband and Preetis best friend. All three were class mates in college days. In college time, all their class mates used to feel, Preeti and Rohit are couple. Even I also strongly feel if there would have not been Smriti, Preeti must have been in a relation with Rohit. Jokes apart, both were actually concerned about her. In the evening, Preeti discussed the matter with them. Smriti: are you crazy? I know your family since many years. They will never agree to it. Could you please stop this nonsense? Finally I got a message from her that I cannot continue with this relation. After few minutes I got a call from her. Preeti: Hi Aryan, Smriti wants to talk to you. Smriti: Hi Aryan, How are you doing? Aryan: Doing well. Smriti: why are you resigning? You people can still be friends. Aryan: I will try to retain a normal relation. Once you cross the line in your relation, you can never be friends again so it will be good if someone leaves the job and get out of that place. Smriti: We also want a loving husband for her; but her family wont accept it at any cost. I agreed to Smritis statement but as there is low tide after high tide, in the same way there can only be a break up after link up. Aryan: Preeti, I had a discussion regarding you with Mom. Now she knows everything. Could you help me out to come out of this mess? Preeti: Give me aunts number. I will talk to her. In the morning I already informed Mom that Preeti will talk to you. Next morning, she made a call to Mom. Preeti: Hello Aunty, How are you? Mom: I am good. Preeti: Aryan has made no mistake aunty. Its all because of me. I only prompted him. My Family will never agree for it so I am taking my step back. Please excuse me aunty and there was a silence. Mom: Its Ok. I have no objection if this happens with agreement of all people. After this discussion, Mom went to school as always. She could not work for an entire day; again and again, she was thinking about her. In the evening she came back home. Mom: I liked this girl. Dont do any anything wrong with her. Aryan: I wont do anything wrong this time.

Finally my weekend got over and I was back to Pune. In spite of all my efforts, I could not stop myself to call her. This time I wanted to know the reason that why are you getting out of the relation which you initiated? Aryan: Tell me the exact reason which can convince me. Preeti: OK, listen. Let me tell you the complete story. I have tried to commit suicide in my childhood. Do you want to know the reason? Why? Aryan: Yes, Please tell. Preeti: We are five sisters and we were born in the expectation of a baby boy. Our births were celebrated like a funeral. When my fifth sister was born then Mom was hospitalized for some time. All relatives were at home and we sisters were seen as a sins rather than own babies. I tried to hang myself that time but I could not. My family is the most educated among all our relatives. If I get married to you then I may spoil others life. No one from our family will be sent to colleges for study. My parents will be always looked down by society for this act and I am assured that I wont be allowed to meet my family till my death. Aryan: Ok, as it was initiated by you so before ending it up so I want to spend a last day with you. Preeti: Ok, tomorrow morning, Devina (Preetis roommate) is leaving for New Delhi. You can spend a day at my place. Next morning, Preeti and I went to see off Devina to airport at sharp 5.30 a.m. and after that we were back to Preetis place. If a single day is given with your girlfriend to spend, then 99 percent boys will definitely go with an option of physical relation. Other side Girls ratio wont be more than 10 percent. I was definitely joining the club of an ordinary boys but it was a mile stone to achieve with her. She was a typical ethical middle class girl. Although she used to love me; still she wanted to keep relation in limits. I spent my whole day in her arms. In the evening I was asked to leave the place and never meet again. If you are a drug addict, it can be cured in rehabilitation Centre but if you have an addiction of a girl it can only be cured by that girl and still you know, this may spoil both peoples life. Devina was off to Delhi, for four days and every day I could not stop myself. Day by day we were coming closer to each other and she also started seeing some hope from her family side and we decided that at least we will fight till last moment. Very soon, she was called to come down, to her native for a week. In the evening, she took a train to her native. She doesnt used to like my drinking habits and I was strictly advised not to drink if she is with me. As she was out of town then Kalrav (My manager) and I had a liquor party in the evening till 11 pm. Once I came back home then like a daily routine I made a call to her. Aryan: I love you dear (If you start your discussion with this statement then your girlfriend can smell that you are drunk).

Preeti: I love you 1, 2, 3.infinite, infinite to the power infinite times. What are you doing? Aryan: I and Kalrav just had a party. Preeti: some day, I will kill Kalrav. Aryan: Ok then kill him. I have no issues. Now, take a sleep, will talk tomorrows morning. Next morning, she reached her native. In the afternoon, her mother asked her to get dressed up properly because some guests were coming. Preeti: Why are they coming? Mom: They are coming to see you, for their son. Preeti: I dont want to meet them. Mom: why? Preeti: I like Aryan. Mom: Its not possible in our family. Do you know? In your uncles family, someone did love marriage and they were thrown out of our society and your grandmother criticized them till death. I am begging in front of you; please dont proceed. This will spoil many people lives. You swear on me, You will quit this relation. Preeti: Yes, I will. There were tears in her eyes and sign of being not capable to fight against society. As per Preeti, her mother only cried twice in her entire life and second time was because of her. Her mother asked her to resign from the job here only and dont go back to Pune. Somehow she convinced her mother to come back. When she was coming back then her mother again forced her to take promise. Mom: Swear on me again, you will never talk to Aryan ever. Preeti: Yes, I wont. During this period I made a plenty of calls to her but got no response from her because her every activity was being tracked. In spite of all difficulties she took a train to Pune and reached by 9 am and she reached office around 10 am and asked me to meet for lunch in the cafeteria. As always she started convincing what her mother told and all the social constraints were explained to me as well. I could convince myself for a day but break up was an impossible thing if you are sitting next to each other every day. She decided to resign from the current job. I wanted her to complete her four years and did not want her to resign without having any offer letter in the hand. In spite of all the quarrels, we kept on chatting throughout the day and in the evening we decided to have dinner in pizza hut. Around 8.30 pm, we reached there and ordered a medium size pizza. I was just having a first bite of pizza suddenly her phone started ringing again.

Mom: Where are you? Are you not with Aryan? Preeti: No Mom. I am at home only. Her mother took a relaxed breathe and disconnected the phone. Love and drug addiction can drive your life in the way which you would have never ever expected. First time she was lying in front of me although she was talking to her mother. Any way dinner got over and we started walking to her place with holding each others hand again. Were we really breaking up? Whenever we thought of doing it suddenly we started feeling some hopes. At least we will give one more chance. Every day I used to reach her place around 7 pm after office and come back around 11 p.m. During this time we used to have dinner together and share everything. Generally I used to sit in the society garden and she used to serve coffee with four slices of bread in the garden itself. Even I became a known person for society people sooner. Devina used to tease her that nowadays you are providing a garden service. Altogether we were having an amazing time. Preeti, Devina and I used to roam on Punes road and we explored almost all the exotic places during that time. For some time, we were in heaven. Life started rolling among very few and sweet people. I had many spoiled party freaks cousins in Pune. When they got to know about my girlfriend and her farms then they started dreaming about sitting on tractor in her dads farm and drinking beer cans. In April first week, her dad made a visit to Pune for 2-3 days and same time my cousins also landed to Pune so we were having a boozing time as always. Her dad was here seeing some guys for her. In the evening, one guys dad came down to her place. He was working as a chief manager in state bank of India. Preetis dad: My daughter has been working in corporate organization and had been in UK also. Please tell me your expectations. Uncle: We will think about marriage later. We have got a very busy schedule and just came to meet you. He was not finding him OK and trying to insult her dad in all the ways. She was in the kitchen with her mother and having discussion regarding the same. Preeti: Why you people are getting insulted by others when Aryans family is agreed for everything. Mom: We understand your concern but I cannot do anything. Your dad and society will not understand anything. In India, people are ready to get insulted in arrange marriage but getting ready for love marriage with respect actually make them embarrassing. In the evening, I got drunk with my cousins and made a call to her.

Aryan: Why are you meeting other guys with your dad? Why dont you stop this nonsense? Preeti: I cannot do anything. I have to do what my dad says. Aryan: Then why running after me always? Preeti: Started crying, no one understands my problem, neither you nor dad. I am fed up and I want to die. She started crying badly so finally I had to make call to Somya (her sister) who was with her that time. Aryan: Hi Somya, Preeti has been crying badly in the next room. She likes me and nonsense is going on in your family. Please take care of her. Somya: I will take care of her. As I was 4 pegs down so this was my last statement. From next day we again started avoiding each other. It went OK for two days. Next day evening, I went to the same society garden and I found her crying on the same bench where we used to sit. What all I can say is, what we were trying to do, was an impossible thing. So that day we decided to give up an idea of break up and take a firm decision that we will try to convert this relation till last. Second week of April, my project manager asked me for my passport, for UK Visa processing and I was literally not having it. Few months back I applied for a passport and since last one month on Website it was showing message Due to unavoidable circumstances, we cannot not dispatch your passport and it will be dispatched in a weeks time. In spite of dropping several mails to the passport office, I could not get any satisfactory mail from them. I was given seven days to get a passport otherwise someone else will be sent. So finally I landed to Jaipur by an immediate flight. Jaipur passport office was the most pathetic government office I had ever seen in my life. There was only one enquiry window and people used to form a queue since 4 am. I think almost first 40 people used to get response and 400 people used to reach every day. Anyway I knew this reality already so I reached at 5 a.m. in the morning over there. That was literally a scary line and got to know some people were not able to get their passports even they were trying since 1 or 2 years. Finally its all was a luck game whether I will go to London or not? With great struggle, I reached the enquiry window and was asked to submit police enquiry forms again and then he will fix my appointment, to a passport officer. After discussion, I got to know, my case is a double passport case because I applied for a passport earlier that reference I did not mention in the new passport application. If there would have been police enquiry, again then I would have got it after 2 months and definitely my trip would have been cancelled.

Any way I was still keeping my fingers crossed. Next day I went through the same tough process to reach the enquiry window and after submitting police verification forms, I was allowed to meet passport officer. Before entering in to the office, local people told me that passport officer is one of the rudest people on the planet. It was a 2 minutes meeting with him and he asked me to submit a double passport penalty and come day after tomorrow. In my office, all were almost expecting that my trip has been cancelled. So day after tomorrow, I again met a passport officer after submitting fee and he was Ok with police verification and gave an order to dispatch my passport. I still dont understand what passport officer saw in me but in enquiry window line there were many who were facing same issue and were not able to get it since a long time. Finally I came back to Pune with my passport. So there was a next challenge waiting for me, UK Visa processing. In April only, Visa rules got changed and there was a need of graduation degree, to get a year work Visa in UK, earlier it used to work with provisional degree as well. Finally my application was sent with provisional degree only. I applied for it. I got a longest luck line on my palm. I always believe in that. By looking at that, I always used to think; no matter how tough it is, finally things will happen in my favor and it used to happen. In my office, my colleagues started betting on my trip. I started shopping for my trip and bought expensive Van-Heusen formal shirts and trousers, American Tourister bag and my credit card balance reached around 30000 bucks and I still did not had my visa permit in hand. Preeti was helping me out as she had already been to London and it was my first trip. From the other end, I was able to convince Somya about our relation and she was ready to help us out. First week of May, Smriti and rohit planned a trip to Pune and I was also invited at Preetis flat. Devina (Preetis roommate), smriti, rohit and Preeti were already there and I also reached there. After introduction we started with casual funny talks and Devina was suggesting a rich fatty shrivastava girl for me who was her class mate in college days. Smriti was continuously noticing me and trying to make a judgment on Preetis choice. I was on a full swing that day so was able to entertain everyone and I was appreciating Devinas famous lassi. I think, I only had sweet lassi once in my entire life and it was because Devina was scaring me. Woman always love appreciation, no matter its fake or truth. Finally in the evening, smriti and rohit left for Mumbai, we both went to see off them. After this we came back to Preetis flat and she fell in my arms and I started moving my fingers into her hair. Aryan: I know, they were observing me. Did they like me? Preeti: Yes, very much. As per them, you are a jolly fellow and just opposite to me who always cries and sometimes without any reason. Aryan: Thank God, now I have got the support of three people. We both blushed with a sigh of relief. Next day Devina was leaving for her home town, for a week. I was also having only last seven days to spend with her because luckily I got a UK visa for an year and I was flying to UK on 17th may 2010.

In those seven days, I wanted to spend every second with her every day and she wanted to fulfill every wish of mine. Preeti: I am not doing justice with any relation. My justice is neither with you nor with my family. Aryan: Now its purely your call. I can only stand by you. In those last seven days, every day we used to have breakfast together, lunch in the office and in the evening she used to cook food for me, of my choice. Sooner our patience broke down and we got very close to each other and finally became one soul in two bodies. Those seven days were the most romantic days of my life. Seven days got over and on 13th May her mother, with her elder sister came down to Pune with lots of groom proposals for her. On 13th morning, we had a breakfast together and she was very much concerned and depressed about our relation, and I was still taking it lightly. Preeti: Every day, new proposal is knocking my door. Mom is not ready to listen to anything. She is saying, Choose among family or Aryan. Aryan: Now you have to handle this with your intelligence. Its purely your family matter so I cannot interfere. Preeti: I dont know; what to do? Aryan: You have to stick to your decision and have patience too. Thats the only way to bring your family down and stop crying in front of them, this shows your weakness and nothing else. As always, discussion again ended with no conclusion. In the evening, I went to her place and she took me to meet her mother. Aryan: Hello Aunty, how are you doing? Aunty: Hello, I am good. I got to know that you are leaving for London. Aryan: Yes Aunty. Aunty: Your trip may get extended also. Aryan: Dont know aunty. It depends. Literally, I could not sense her intension and I left the place because Baman was waiting for me, for a final shopping. In couple of minutes, I reached M.G.Road and bought a Van Heusen suit, for my trip. While shopping I got a call from Somya (Preetis sister). Somya: Hi Bhaiya, all the best for your trip. Aryan: Thanks Somya, take care of Preeti. Somya: Dont forget to buy the list which is handed over to you. Aryan: Okays, done. This call almost assured me that things are in my favor now. Let me introduce to one more character.

Vikas (Baman): One of my best friends. He is a strong built guy from Haryana with very aggressive thoughts. When I used to indulge in any heated arguments; I used to say that I will call baman. So finally Baman, and I were at M.G. Road and decided to bash at Magic. Magic is a very famous pub among Punes youngsters. Before party, Preeti and I had a SMS exchange. Aryan: Was I OK? Preeti: Yes, you acted well. So it was the time to get drunk. When I was one beer down then baman put a question. Preeti and you have been in relation since six months. Whats the future plan? Aryan: Yes, I will marry her (This was my first firm decision so far, before that I was always in dilemma). Baman: If you have decided something then you must have thought of everything. As far as I know, baman never liked Preeti but he did not want to disappoint me. Next day on 15th may I took a flight to my native place. As this was my first foreign travel so I started making calls to all my relatives and friends. On 16th evening, I was packing my luggage and Mom started asking about her. Mom: How is she? What was decided? Aryan: She is OK. Her mother has come down for few days. Everything is up to her now. I am ok in both cases. If her family agrees, I will get married to her otherwise I have to move on. Mom: She cooks every day for you, washes your clothes. I am not concerned about you. But what if her family does not get agreed? You should have completed this story before leaving. I should have at least heard what my mom wanted to convey. Aryan: What could I do? I have already done. I cannot beg in front of them. Next day on 17th May, I was going to New Delhi international airport by car. During journey, I was remembering her and first time I felt some tears in my eyes too. I was having UK Ticket and did not want to go to UK. Again Preeti and I had a message conversation. Aryan: Leaving to UK in couple of hours; take care of yourself. Preeti: Give your best there and take care too. My whole family came with me to see off. After saying bye to them I went inside the airport. After taking boarding pass I was in immigration check and still I was thinking to move out of airport and taking a domestic flight to Pune to meet her again. As usual I could not disappoint a plenty of people for a single girl and took a flight to UK on 17th May with tears in my eyes and in the hope of completing my story once I was back to India.

Chapter 6 On 17th May 2010, I landed on Heathrow Airport with lots of expectations to myself for giving my best performance. I came out of the airport, quite confused and tensed and then I saw an amazing clean, planned and most beautiful city which I used to see in my dreams. It was not that difficult to reach to my service apartment by asking minimum questions to citizens very conveniently. Immediately after reaching there, I made a call to Mom and Preeti; both were still awake. On 18th may 2010, I joined my London office and I was warmly welcomed by my Londons team and got introduced to all my colleagues whom I used to know by name so far. My office was on Bank Street and I was sitting on the 30th floor. Window seat was allocated to me and from my desk I could clearly see the beautiful view of Thames River that is Ganges of London. In couple of minutes system got allocated to me and I logged on to my system. From other side, she was waiting for me, to log in to same time. Preeti: Aryan, I have taken a decision and I will go with my family. Aryan: Its OK; finally you took a firm decision. I was upset but did not want to comment at that point of time. Couple of days I got busy to settle down in London and understood my work as well. My apartment was quite near to office. It was thirty five floor building and I was staying on 28th floor. As there were no other Indian colleagues flying to India so I had to stay with a Chinese colleague but we rarely used to interact because of communication gap. My apartment used to have a big balcony, from where I could see whole London. As every journey in life gives you good friends, memories and experiences so let me share some part of it and glad to introduce my best friends during London visit. Shreya: She is a short, whitish, fun loving, emotional, amazing cook, very supporting and very talkative girl. I used to know her earlier in India too as she used to sit in the next cubicle in Pune. But we became good friends in UK. We used to call her Jadu because in black dress she used to look like a magician. Sachin: He is a tall, dark complexion, intelligent, worst cook, practical, good listener and the most important bloody guy (most important attribute of being my friend). I used to call him Tyagi. There were three reasons of pulling his leg all the time. First, he got a dark complexion which he never realized. Second, his brother was an aluminous of an IIM and he was Only an engineer. Third, he was a migrated Bihari who settled in Mumbai. On 24th of May, I was having dinner and suddenly a message popped up in my cell phone; I am getting engaged day after tomorrow. I dont know what I am doing spoiling someones life and I want to die. It was none other than Preeti. This message blew up my mind and I made a call to her.

Aryan: Why are you doing this nonsense with me? Am I not from good family? Am I not earning? Am I a cheap fellow? I started crying badly and first time I felt someone is taking my child from me. Preeti: No one understands my problem. I have not been sleeping since ten days and every day I am crying. No one bothers about me. Even Somya tried to support me but she also got scolded by Mom. All are happy because I am getting married to a rich fellow but no one understands my pain. Aryan: I dont know. What to do? Give me aunts mobile number. Let me put my last effort. Preeti: Ok, I will give you but promise me you wont take any wrong steps. Aryan: Tell me your fianc name also so I will get some information about him also. Preeti: Guys name is Siddhartha Sharma. I trust you. Please dont break it. As I have always been a late step taker so this was a time to act. I made a call at my home; it was 5o clock in the India. Aryan: Mom, I need one favor. Preeti is getting married, Could you please talk to her family? Mom: I have no expectations but still if you are saying then I will talk to them once. After couple of hours, Mom made a call to Preetis mother . Mom: Hello, I am Aryans mother. Aunty: Who is Aryan? We dont know him. How did you get our number? Mom: If you dont know Aryan then why have you given so much freedom to your child that your daughter keeps on proposing others son? Finally heated discussion ended and I was strictly advised by Mom to forget her and get out of this relation. In my college days I used to be the most expert fellow on finding girls on social networking site with limited information. This was the time to find Siddhartha and I took a fraction of seconds. I could not get his personal information but still left a message to talk to me. He used to work in Mumbai and so I asked all of my close friends to get his number at any cost in coming six hours and it got arranged for me. I informed Preeti as well that I am going to talk to him, to stop this nonsense. Preeti conveyed the same message to her sisters that Aryan is going to do this. On 24th after noon when I was in London office and crying in front of my laptop by remembering all the moments we spent, suddenly my phone rang and Somya was on the other end. She asked me to be online and was connecting it to Asha. Asha: Hi Aryan, Please dont talk to Siddhartha. Aryan: Why is this nonsense is happening?

Asha: If there would have been a minor chance of converting this relationship into marriage then I myself would have supported both of you. Trust me, there are no chances. If this engagement does not happen then there will be a huge impact on our familys image, we will be thrown out of the society. My dad has promised Siddharthas dad. In our society once something is committed then it cannot be rolled back and if it happens then it happens at the cost of peoples lives. Aryan: Its OK; I will try to control myself. I cant promise because its almost impossible. Asha: I am requesting Aryan. Thats all I can say. For some time, I was able to convince myself and ready to sacrifice. In the evening, I came back to my flat, and kept four bottles of beers near my table and for releasing mental pressure I started getting drunk. That day only Sachin had to shift with me because his office accommodations time got over. He was sitting next to me and he was watching some movies on you tube. I was four beers of bottle down and listening to old sad songs. Suddenly I started crying badly and Sachin got scared of me because we were staying on 28th floor of a building and it was rented on my name and flat was having Terrace as well. Sachin: Bro, promise me that you wont jump. If you jump down then UK police will screw me up as I am illegally staying with you. I got drunk badly and made a call to Preeti who was traveling from Pune to Mumbai with Shikha (Our Colleague), to catch the train for her native. I started crying by keeping myself on mute and she also started crying by keeping herself on mute. Now silence was saying more than what we could say. First time we both touched the sky high emotions and got crazy together. Preeti: I will talk to my family again; please dont cry. I will go mad. She kept on crying badly with hiccups. Even in the bus, people started supporting her and all started looking at her. Even people in the bus were interested to know the reason but somehow Shikha managed it. After this, somehow Sachin convinced me to sleep. He was damn scared so after sleeping he even locked the Terrace and kept the keys with himself. Next Day she reached Mumbai. Smriti and Rohit also came down to meet her but they were also helpless. Finally I lost my patience and got crazy and said If you get engaged to someone else then I may commit suicide and please dont bother me. I switched off my phone and stopped talking to people. Alok: One of my best friends from the Punes group. He is Cunning, bloody and smart chap but he was loyal to his friends. Before coming to London, I told my entire story to

him and made a call from London also about this incident. Preeti also knew him through me. She was having Aloks number and made a call to him. Preeti: Aryan is not OK, please take care of him. He can do anything. Alok: OK, I will talk to him. Alok immediately made a call to me. Alok: Bro, she loves you. Please dont create a scene. I dont know about you but she can definitely commit suicide. Aryan: Ok, I will talk to her. 25th morning, I made a call to her. She was in her native and was hiring an Auto to her place. Aryan: Where are you? Preeti: I have just reached here. I am happy that you are OK and I will talk to everyone one more time. She reached home and just after reaching there dialogue begins among Asha di, her mother and her. She was badly crying and begging in front of them but still all were against her because as per them I was not a decent social guy (In Hindi Sanskari boy) who follows the social customs. Her dad was not even talking to her and big engagement function was organized without even asking her. Almost all her relative were there. After all these nonsense talks, she sent a sms to Neha which by mistake hit my inbox. Neha, Please take care of Aryan. No mercy here for all my requests. I am sacrificing my life for my family. So finally engagement function happened and I was too much disturbed because of that. I sent a message. In my entire life I paid my loyalty to all my relations. Now you have broken it so you will also pay for being disloyal. This message got received by Asha instead of her. Finally I got a call after engagement ceremony. Asha: Your mother made a call which really made us upset. Aryan: I think that you people deserve it. Give me answer of one question. What if after this marriage she pays for an entire life? Asha: She has made a blunder. Its Ok for us if she pays for an entire life but she wont be allowed to break our rituals. This statement made me speechless. There were no reasons of any more discussion. I lost respect for her sister after this discussion if she would have been my sister then definitely

I would have ended up my relation with her that moment only. In all my discussions with Preeti, she was always bothered about Ashas career but now I could firmly say now that she was wrong at her place. In couple of minutes my cell phone again started ringing, this time it was Preeti. Preeti: Please forget me. Now nothing can happen, if I step back then many people will die. Aryan: OK. Preeti: You know Aryan; I am living in a strange guilt. All the time, would be mother in law was talking about strong character in our society but her sons wife has spent her each and every moment with some other guy. What kind of injustice in this society? We build a socially accepted relation but we never share the truth. Aryan: What can I do? I am left with no choice except accepting this fact. Preeti: You know what? But I will tell the truth to Siddhartha. Aryan: Do you really know? What are you saying? This may screw your whole life. Preeti: Everyone has done what they want to do? Now its my turn. Just after an engagement, Siddhartha saw my message and he realized Something wrong is cooking. There were two reasons; I wanted to talk to Siddhartha before marriage. First, I knew, Preeti wont be able to control her emotions and things will definitely turn wrong later and second, suppose if they have a break up then I wont be in a position to accept a married woman. In the first week of June, I decided to talk to Siddhartha. Last night I wanted this relation to break but I knew if I do this now then consequences will be worst. I did not sleep whole night and I was assured if I put things in a wrong manner then there will be a definite break up and she will have no choice except committing suicide. I think, very few people would have gone through this phase that they have talked to girlfriends fianc just before her marriage. Next morning around 10 am, I made a call to Siddhartha. Aryan: Hi Siddhartha Siddhartha: Hi Aryan Aryan: As I have already been introduced to you by her so just wanted to talk to you to know your views. Siddhartha: Yes, Last night she made a call and told me she was in a close relation with you since six months and left the decision on me just ten days before the wedding. Do you know? I have made no mistake but still from last 3 days I am not able to sleep properly and feeling like appearing for an I.A.S. Examination. I am getting married to a girl after 10 days who still loves someone else but says that she will try to forget that person. Will I ever able to get deserving affection from her? Aryan: The only promise that I can make, if you proceed with this relation is that I wont disturb your life going forward. Siddhartha: I dont want to back out now. Even wedding cards have been distributed. This is a matter of my family respect as well.

Aryan: you people can have couple of meetings and pass on your decision to me. Siddhartha: Ok. He was the most positive attitude guy I have ever met in my life. Talking to fiancs boyfriend with patience is one of the impossible tasks which very few people would have done in their lives. Usually people start with warnings in such types of cases. I was still not happy with it, but not having any choice except keeping myself silent. Now finally things were crystal clear to me. You cannot trespass a fort without army and I was definitely alone. Next day I got a friend request from Siddhartha with a message I never leave good people alone. I could not accept it because I wanted to keep myself away from this relation going forward. Next day when I reached office, I did not logon to chat system, to focus on my office work. Preeti made a ping to Jadu and told her to ask me to logon. When you actually start running away from these things; they never leave you till the time you actually get fully screwed up. I logged on and she started asking silly typical Indian girls question. Preeti: How are you? Aryan: I am Ok. Ideally I would have said that I am dying. Do you have poison to help me out? How the person can be OK if he has been fucked off from all the fronts. Her sympathy was literally killing me because in my entire life I always ruled the relations in my own way and I had no place for these social dramas. First time I tried my level best but not able to get things in my favor. I passed on my message to her not to ping me going forward. Thanks to Sachin who kept me engaged in other activities. Every day after coming back from office we started drinking expensive scotches and cooking delicious food although all things were sponsored by me only. He was turning a serious life in to a casual one. Sachin: Do you know Aryan, which is the best way to keep happy in life? Aryan: Seriously dont know. Sachin: Eat delicious lentils with rice and take a deep sleep and forget everything (blushed). The day you will start living for yourself then you will be the happiest person. People will call you a mean guy but still they will knock your door for help. Aryan: What about emotional stupid people? They are also part of this world. Sachin: Everyone is emotional but your emotions should flow for a right person always. In India love is very complicated thing if you flirt then girl is not happy and if you dont flirt then her family is not happy so better go with a majority; make the family happy, this is the reason I have stopped believing in real love. Aryan: Have you ever fallen in love? Sachin: What will you do after knowing this? Aryan: I feel, person like you would have never fallen in this.

Sachin: I have, in college days but just after the college she got married to a NRI and I changed my beliefs in life. Aryan: Now go and sleep. You are already four pegs down. Sachin: God never gives everything to anyone. What you are doing here must have been dream of many people. You are earning in pounds, watching sexy British chicks and drinking expensive scotch. Going forward no one will discuss about past, we will enjoy Londons summer, will spend pound like a dollar excluding me. Aryan: Sister Fucker, how big miser you are? Where will you take this much money? Sachin: I have got a dark complexion so saving for my dowry (Blushed). With moving hand around his black tummy now give me your shoulder and take me to my bed room. Next five days I was able to focus on my work and sixth day one amazing mail popped up in my mail box and subject line was Wedding Invitation. This mail was sent by Siddhartha. I actually didnt know how to react. What exactly he was also trying to achieve? I must have asked to him, but I missed the chance. Did he really know the meaning of inviting me? Someone should have definitely lost his/her life, and chances of me were highest. Finally I convinced my heart and mind both to get out of this torture. Just after few days, Preeti was taking off from the office, for attending her own wedding. Before leaving she pings me again with a million dollar statement. Preeti: Aryan, take care. How could I Fucking care about me? I took seven days to control my emotional tsunami and she actually took 7 seconds to covert a low tide in to high tide again, but everything is fair if you are on an upper end and she was definitely. Finally wedding happened on 23rd June but I was not having anything except crying and talking to my best buddies on phone. Shreya and Sachin really helped me out and kept me busy in other works, although it was an unforgettable drama but slowly I was finding myself capable of handling it. After that I enjoyed my Londons life and never tried to remember it, though it was an unforgettable time in my life. After this incident, in London I just kept on trying on my favorite girls. A serious break up may lead you towards many other link ups which are unavoidable natural calls. Almost a month I was always low but Jadu and Tyagi were able to take my life back on track. We started enjoying one of the most beautiful places in the world. We used to roam on Oxford Street, Bond Street and Leicester square in the mid night and almost surf each and every casino and pubs of the London. It was summer in London and you could see the prettiest girls in the shorts which could drive every man crazy. It was my last month in London and we started with the final shopping, almost visited each and every shop and tried most expensive things which we only heard in news by bollywood stars and to see the real British beauty , we almost visited each and every nearby sandy beaches. In London, Pretty English woman on white sand looks like God has sent the angels to earth

to show off their beauty to desperate men and drive them crazy. It was my last week in London and Tyagi and I were sitting on a bench beside Thames River. Aryan: We had all the fun what we could do. Do you think we missed anything? Tyagi: Yeah, One thing is missing and blushed. His white teeth on black face were shining. Aryan: Tell me, what is missing? Tyagi: Think, What we cannot do in India? Aryan: Yes, I also blushed. Lets go tomorrow. There were mandatory things which most of the Indians do in their first trip to London. Proposal photo with a luxurious car. Test of luck in the casino. Try to taste variety of scotches Last but the most important is, visit to a striptease club. In our journey last one was remaining which Tyagi pointed out. In London this is called gentle mans club and you should be in a proper suit so Next day we communicated to all bachelors boys and we made an amazing group to explore. We all got proper suited and caught the bus to Old Street; it is a very famous place in London for striptease club. It was a very scary narrow street and after putting some effort and lots of discussion with drunken people on the street finally we found it. There was an entry charge so we both had to pay 20 pounds. When we went inside then it was an amazing scene which is a fantasy for many of us. There was pole dance going on and it was very much organized. There were girls in a queue to perform it and after each dance they were coming to meet customers and asking for to pay one pound with lovely hug. There were some girls also who were prompting the customers for a personal lap dance. Initially we were getting scared in such dark environment but after getting two pegs down of jack Daniel, all were in a decent mood to enjoy. All were questioning each other who will go first for a lap dance and finally as always I took an initiative to take a personal lap dance. Tyagi could not control his curiosity and he also joined the league later. It was a two minute show and she made herself nude by removing clothes one by one and did all gymnastic with pole what maximum she could do. Apart from the dance, some hugs and kisses were complementary to attract other customers. Tiwari was so happy after coming back because first time a girl said that you look very smart even his girlfriend never said this. This was our last wish in London which we enjoyed fully and on 17th august 2010, I was back to India.

Chapter 7 On 17th August, I was coming back to India to see my ruined world and I was damn scared to face this reality. I landed to Delhi international airport and as I did not meet my family since three months so directly came down to my native place for five days. I have carried along with me four bottles of scotch and lots of chocolates. When I reached home, Mom was eagerly waiting for me with my relatives. Everyone was interested to know about my trip experiences but just few I could share with them. Five days passed away like a few moments and it was the time to get back to work. Before leaving for Pune, I had a discussion with mom. Mom: You seem to be upset; is everything alright? Aryan: I dont want to face this reality and now I have to, no chance to escape. Mom: Just take it as what went, was good for everyone and stop feeling regret. Everything will seem to be easy if u think it is. Always remember, at the end humans live for him so be stronger and live for yourself. I know that my son has the courage to handle all the hurdles in life. Aryan: Ok. I resumed my work on 22nd of august and I entered inside the same floor where I left everything alive. As training was assigned to me so immediately early morning I got engaged in a training session. When I came back to my desk during the break, suddenly I saw a lady wearing Managalsutra and sindoor in her mang , and guess what she was the same girl who used to be mine three months ago. I seriously did not know how to react, so I silently passed by keeping my head down. As I promised to Siddhartha, I started avoiding her even I dropped chocolates mail to all my colleagues except her. It was an uneasy situation for me that was clearly visible as a mark of tension line on my forehead and changes in my gesture. Around seven days, we kept avoiding each other in all the ways we can? Then finally on eighth day, I went in cafeteria, to grab a cup of coffee. I just put my cup on coffee machine and she suddenly came in front of me and again popped up a ridiculous question. Preeti: How are you? Aryan: Please get lost and focus on your work. What a fucking moment that was. Neither I could avoid her nor I could talk. She left that place with wet eyes and rushed towards wash room to continue crying. After going back to my desk, I realized that I was quite rude than required. Suddenly my chat window popped up with message and as expected she was again chatting with me with her grievances and puzzled questions. Preeti: I shouldnt have talked to you. I am extremely sorry.

I was finding it impossible to avoid her because our activities were getting noticed by our colleagues. So then I decided to ping her, for a coffee in cafeteria and she quickly got agreed. So here the discussion begins between Mrs. Siddhartha and me. She was still looking dull. Preeti: So you have got one more story to share with your friends. Aryan: I have started maintaining an excel sheet for it (both blushed). Preeti: Excel sheet only has 5000 lines and your list is increasing day by day. Aryan: I am not the only reason of the increment in that list. Tell me, how is everyone at home? Preeti: Everyone is happy at home. Now I have done what they wanted me to do. In my whole life I raised a voice for all my own people but when I was raising it for myself; no one was standing by me. Aryan: Ok, how is Siddhartha? Preeti: He is OK, the only person who accepted me with social and personal respect after all this mess. I was not aware of some facts and when you flew to UK I got to know. Dad was hospitalized and he could not get retirement funds because some cases were going on in his office. I did not want to trouble him more so I had to take this decision. Aryan: Its Ok. Preeti: My life is equally screwed up. I am eagerly looking for a job change but I am not able to convert any call now days although appeared for all the MNCs. Aryan: Give yourself time. Things will be alright. Preeti: How is Aunty? Aryan: She is OK. Preeti: I have left no image in front of her eyes. Aryan: Its alright, she understands. How is Asha di? Preeti: She is Ok. Now we have only formal relation after all these incidents. Aryan: She was the rudest with me that day. Preeti: you were also talking rudely. You got a last chance to convince and still you were showing attitude. I dont know what kind of fucking chance I got after her engagement. Any way her statement frustrated me and I did not want to react. Aryan: When did you tell the whole story to Siddhartha? Preeti: At very first night with him, he wanted to know the whole story so I told him. He is the only one who supported even after the marriage. One more thing, I have resigned from this job, my last day will be mid of October. Aryan: Ok. If you really want to understand your relation with a woman then meet her after break up, you will see all the colors of life. After this moment, we started talking to each other and I was bit tensed about her as she resigned without having any offer letter in the hand. This is a situation when you can

neither help nor avoid her. I wanted to help her but I could not because I was again getting closer to her. On the other side, I could not avoid her because she was sitting in the next cubicle so every day I was seeing her face thousand times which were reminding everything and was screwing my brain. Amazingly she was also feeling the same thing and after some days I got a ping from her again. Preeti: Your closeness reminds me of our past so we will not talk to each other going forward. Aryan: Alright. Because of her presence in the office I was not able to work even for a minute. Every single moment I started thinking about those moments which we had spent together and the tension that was built up between us was noticeable to all my colleagues. But I was not in a position to discuss or share anything with anyone. If you discuss your personal life with your colleagues in the corporate world; soon you start living on their mercy. My restlessness was getting unbearable, so I am in need of a genuine advisor because I wanted to resign and get out of this hell. As Kalrav already resigned from this job and he was having last seven days in the office so I found him the best person to take an advice. Next day I called him in the cafeteria. Aryan: Kalrav, I need one advise from you and please make sure this should not be disclosed. Kalrav: Dont take the load and tell me. Aryan: Do you know Preeti was in worst situation before her marriage? She used to love someone else. Kalrav: Yeah, I know and that guy was in United States that time. Aryan: No, that guy was in London and he was none other than me. Kalrav: What the hell are you talking? You people had this much serious relation and no one among us had any clue. When she was going for her engagement then I was searching psychiatrist for her. Even we were not assured she will survive in her life. I am disappointed with you bro, you should have shared with me at the right time. Now tell me what do you want? Aryan: I am finding this place really uncomfortable now and want to resign and go somewhere else. Kalrav: As per the policies, you cannot resign before six months as you have come back from onsite recently and one more thing, she has already resigned so you have to bear with this situation only for next two months. Aryan: Ok. Kalrav: whatever went was good, forget it. As per my opinion you people were not compatible to each other. One more thing, this is now the worst phase for you and you have to handle it with patience. She has already paid and compromised with her life. Girls usually have an extra ordinary capability of comprising and accepting life in the way it comes to them so she has accepted it. I will suggest you to focus on other things in life. Usually parents go in the childrens favor after this much opposed but if they dont, then this would have been blunder if you people would have got married and your marriage would have never been accepted by her family. Here the social respect was

more than death of many people even they are their own children. Have you heard word Honor Killing? It still exists in maximum parts of India even educated people are part of this ediction even those people love their children a lot but inter cast marriage is a sin in their eyes which they not allowed to happen at the cost of their lives. Aryan: OK. It is always better to get flirted in life rather than being true love of a weak person. After these convincing thoughts, I was silent for next couple of days but the emotional outburst that was slowly developing inside has to come out. Someday it got erupted and same time (chat messenger) discussion begins between me and her. Aryan: Why the hell you came in my life? Have I invited you? Preeti: Listen Aryan, dont get impatient. Aryan: Then what can I do? I am totally frustrated. I am screwed up, neither sleeping nor working. Preeti: If you want then you can exhaust your frustration on me. Aryan: Ok, lets talk, Meet in cafeteria.

In next 5 minutes, we both reached in the cafeteria and were sitting on a two different corners of a table and discussion begins. Aryan: Why did you make my life hell? Preeti: Do you think? You are the only one whose life is hell? Aryan: I dont know. Preeti: Now listen, when you were in London then I was worried about three people. First, my dad got hospitalized; second, you may take wrong steps at any point of time; third, Siddhartha may take his steps back. When I was on my decorated wedding stage and everyone was smiling and celebrating the moment then I was thinking about you and crying, and all guests were thinking its because I am leaving my home forever next day. Next day on my final send off from my home, my entire family was crying except me and I would have been first Indian bride to do so and my father did not come to meet me even that moment also. There were plenty of nights I spent with Siddhartha just after marriage discussing about you and everyday he used to feel guilty. There is a limit someone can give his shoulder to cry and I have already touched that limit. There is no respect for me at home, they only kept formal relations with me and on the other end I have already lost my self-respect in Siddharthas eyes. Every day when I go back to my home, and see that garden where we used to sit, talk to each other holding each others hand for hours and I start crying. When I walk inside the flat I feel you will be coming from my back and holding me. When I cook for myself I feel, I am cooking for you also. Now tell me Aryan, have you paid more than me? I used to be an ideal girl for many of my friends and their parents and now I have been in three relations in last six months and I feel that I have broken records of all the character less girls. Do you still think Aryan; I have paid less in my life. Please stop talking to me, and we will get nothing except ruining many people lives. One more thing about my family,

you were only thing which I requested from my family since I born but still my request got refused. Aryan: OK. Her many points were valid but I could not correct the past and dont want to spoil the future so kept myself silent. Going forward every day we were ignoring each other and time was passing on a slowest pace. My personal and professional almost got ruined and did not know when star becomes unknown to people. Finally the most awaited send off day of Preeti comes and I knew this is my last day so wanted to catch all her glimpses in my eyes. Since morning I was only thinking about her and my mind was revolving like anything. At 4 pm I called my manager and told him that I am not feeling well so I am going home. When I reached, no one was there and for next one and half hours I kept on thinking about my last six months and decided to make a call to her. Aryan: Hi Preeti. Preeti: you have still not forgotten my number. Aryan: For forgetting these six months, I will take sixty years probably till my death. Preeti: I cannot correct what mistakes I have made in my life but only I can say my apologies to aunty and you. Aryan: Tell Siddhartha that I am not the worst guy in this world only situations went wrong with me and one more thing I cannot be a good guy going forward and wont even try to be like this. This was my last effort for being like this which got funeral with end of our relation. Preeti: you have a misconception that you are a worst guy. Your entire family support is behind you. Please live for them and take care of them. If I can sacrifice my love for my family still I dont know whether they really love me then your family deserves a loyalty from your end. Most important thing, my one mistake has ruined your life which I cannot correct but I dont want to spoil Siddharthas life as he has made no mistake. Aryan: Hey, one day, on garments shop, you asked me to buy a saree but those days I was running short of money but now I want to buy for you. Preeti: Aryan, Now I cannot accept it. Please let me loyal for at least for a single relation. Promise me, you will take care of Aunty always (with tear in her eyes). Aryan: Yes, I will .How the hell this happened in our lives? How will I forget many things in my life? Bye, take care of yourself (with tear in my eyes).

Chapter 8 It was 10 o clock in the night and as usual I was watching television and feeling dizzy when suddenly my phone started ringing. It was bloody Alok, Aryan: Where the hell you were Bloody? I was trying to call you since a long time. Alok: Hey man, I was damn occupied in the work but there is news we may come up to Rajasthan day after tomorrow. Do you remember Shefali? She is getting married. Aryan: Whose life is getting screwed up? Alok: Her long time college boyfriend. Aryan: Go and enjoy man and Give my best wishes too.

One fine Saturday night around one and half year back while I was working on my laptop. As it was getting boring to do the technical work over and over again, so I started surfing some old friends profile suddenly I noticed that Romit has uploaded some new pictures of his friends marriage. After seeing three pictures, I could not move my cursor for fourth picture. It was a group picture and on the right most side of a stage and next to bride, I saw a prettiest, elegant, Angelic, and Dreamlike girl was sitting. For couple of minutes I stared at that photo and immediately I made a call to Romit. Aryan: Hi Romit, I got a job for you. Romit: This is mid night bro why the hell are you disturbing me? Tell me now for whom you have got a crush? Aryan: I dont know her [Only described the photo to him]. Romit: I have no information about her as of now. Give me two days, I will get something for you. Aryan: your time starts now (with smiley). Go back to your bitchs dream. After two days, Romit got back to me with her email ID and told me thats all I have bro now your work begins. God always blesses people by some talent and I was expert in finding people on net. I typed her email id on search button on Orkut and within a fraction of second I could see her profile. Her profile picture was in a pink color dress and her body was reclined so she was looking like a mermaid. Immediately I sent a request to her and that rude girl rejected my request six times and this time I left a scrap on her wall, Hi Supriya, Its been a long time. How are you doing? and Immediately I got a reply, Do we know each other? Somehow I convinced her to come online on a chat messenger and this was the beginning of our friendship. As we were from same place so it was very easy to find common friends and interests. For couple of days we kept on sharing about our common friends. Two days were sufficient to make her realize that I am decent chap and to win her trust, on third day I asked her cell number and she easily gave it to me. It was 11 pm in my clock; I was drinking a beer in my balcony and as usual, enjoying my loneliness. Suddenly I thought of sharing it with someone and made a call to Supriya.

Aryan: Hi Supriya. Supriya: Hi Aryan She was having a bit heavy but not boyish voice. Aryan: So how are you doing? Supriya: I am doing great buddy. I am pursuing M.Tech as well as working as a lecturer over here. Aryan: Great. I am working as a software engineer in some corporate organization. Supriya: When did you leave our native? Aryan: Just after passing senior secondary examination. Supriya: Do you miss your native? Aryan: Not much now. Do you? Supriya: I always wanted to come out of that place. Being beautiful girl of a small town is a curse; you got very restricted life there so I find more decent life over here but obviously I miss my family a lot. Aryan: Who told you that you are a pretty girl? Supriya: Shut up. It was a very first call which lasted for around three hours. We shared about our place, friends, and family. Very soon every day we started chatting with each other; started sharing pictures, thoughts and became close friends. If I describe her in detail then she was a typical small town girl who came out of prison and was breathing in open air as well as trying to fly too. Those days she used to have couple of phone of friends. Sooner I also became one of them. I also got a time slot in her busy schedule. Every day she used to be busy in college since 5 pm and after that she used to talk to her phone of friends and as far as I remember, we used to talk around 8 to 9 pm. Gradually my expectations to her started increasing and I became more demanding, in short started being possessive in relation. I used to get many engage tones from her side during call that used to irritate me a lot. Slowly I used to get irritate by her thoughts which were nowhere matching with my thoughts. I feel every human has a saturation point of sharing thoughts; that is the reason sometimes we find some people very interesting and later on after knowing them we start avoiding the same people. Sooner we reached that point; there were plenty of reasons of stopped talking to each other. Usually we used to have arguments between corporate life and teaching life but one day we had final arguments. It was a late evening and no one was at home; after couple of days I was making call to her. Aryan: Hi, how is life? Supriya: Life is good. Finally you got some time from your busy schedule. Aryan: Yeah, I was damn busy. Supriya: What do you get at the end while making so much money? Aryan: My ancestors have not left any treasure for me so I have no choice.

Supriya: I always find teaching line better than corporate one. You get a sufficient money as well as time to have fun. Aryan: You cannot understand my perception until unless you pass through a phase of life which I have seen. Gradually our conversations were increasing day by day and suddenly her cousin Shefali got to know about our relation and she puts the oil in fire and proves me a characterless chap who always looks out for new relations. In short if I summarize, following would have been the reason of this separation. She was least career oriented person and I was just opposite to her. She was entertaining many at one time and I was looking for a one to one relationship moreover I was not interested in long distance relation. At that point of time, I was finding it just a sheer wastage of money and time. Shefali already used to hate me and she got to know about our closeness so she put the oil in fire and proved me a character less fellow in her eyes. Altogether after being a closest phone of friend for two months we stopped talking to each other but this did not affect anyones life as it was at very early stage and both were having plenty of other choices. Aloks call to me reminded about Supriya and I still remembered everything about her including cell phone number. As I was already curious to know about her present life so I made a call to her. Aryan: Hi Supriya Supriya: Aryan (Surprised)? Aryan: You didnt tell me that Shefali is getting married. Supriya: When? Aryan: You didnt know about your cousins wedding. She is getting married day after tomorrow. Supriya: She invited me but busy with exams so I could not join. Hey, I had a look at your facebook profile. How was your trip to London? Aryan: It was an awesome trip and enjoyed at fullest. As you know me then how come the person like me, cannot be happy in London summer. I joined an amazing bachelor group there and explored everything. I think, in few sentences I cannot describe whole trip to you Supriya: Good to hear, you enjoyed a lot. Aryan, its time to sleep, I am at home and many eyes are looking at me. Aryan: Ok dear, its time to sleep, take care of you and keep in touch. As I was desperately looking for a close friend to come out of everything and for a beginning of a new life so for keeping myself engaged I kept on exchanging messages with her. Initially response was pathetic but slowly it got increased and after some time it became a regular. In couple of days I got to know she is in a prison house. Gradually she

also started making calls to me and again sharing personal things. Almost all her phone of friends stopped entertaining her because of her restricted life and strong character. In this society, most of the men are like hungry Lion if they keep a close watch on their prey but if there is no chance of prey to come out in an open air then they definitely move on to the other one. Almost every evening she used to call me. One fortunate day around 9 pm, she made a call to me. Supriya: Do you know Aryan, last six months were the worst time of my life. Aryan: Hey, please dont hide anything and tell me whatever went wrong in the last six months. Supriya: A year back, Shefali broke her engagement and did court marriage with her boyfriend. Because of this, grand pa got insulted in the whole society and we all sisters were asked to come back to home. Still Shefali revenge to grand pa was not over, she did a proper Indian traditional marriage to that guy and all relatives were invited in that wedding. None of us attended it but this act has totally screwed up life of us; we all sisters are in prison house. I am not allowed to work; whole day I sit at home and keep on watching TV. If I talk to someone for such a long time then everyone looks at me with suspicion. My life is more like a flying bird whose wings have been cut in the air. Aryan: Time is a biggest healer of all wounds; so give time to you. Everything will be alright soon. She was in a situation when you are surrounded by many people but no one is closer to your heart and you feel like a breathless. Anyway we both were emotionally broken by some reasons and this was the best time to get closer to each other. Now every day we started sharing thoughts to each other. She was damn addicted of longer nap so I started teasing her by calling kumbhakarna. Even I was strictly advised not to make call in the afternoon. Her presence in my life was curing my wounds slowly and on the other side, she started feeling happy even in that prison. It was mid of January and one of my cousin sisters was getting married in my native place. So I invited her also and as expected she agreed to attend the function. End of the January, I landed to my native to attend my cousins wedding. Aryan: Landed to your place dear. Where you are for my garland welcome (Smiling)? Supriya: I am sorry dear, your bad luck, I am occupied with other family work but I definitely catch you soon. Aryan: When are you coming? Supriya: Dad did not allow me to attend late night function so I will come to your place in the day to meet di and everyone in the family. This was going to be my first meeting with her, although we used to know each other since two years and I was damn excited to meet her. In the afternoon she again made a call to me. Supriya: Aryan, I will reach your place by 3 pm. Please make sure di should be there.

Aryan: Oh my god kumbhakarna, you are sacrificing after nap for me now I am highly flattered (with smiley).My sister is at home so you can come home directly. I made sure that everyone was at wedding place that time so we could find an empty place for a personal talk. On 3 P.M., she reached to my place by her vehicle and she was wearing pink color stripes churidar suit. No doubt her appearance was thousand times better than her pictures which were not allowing me to even move my eye balls. She came inside the home and I introduced her to sis and aunty. I gave a brief introduction of her to everyone. Di: How do you know each other? Supriya: We are internet buddy. Di: (Started blushing) It sounds interesting. I was assured that her one answer have raised thousand questions to me. I asked aunty to get a coffee and snacks for her. Once we finished coffee then unfortunately some of my relatives came down to home from wedding place so I had to take her to bed room. It was a nice decorated bedroom; she came inside and sat on one corner of a double bed which was exactly opposite to me. As weather was cold so she covered herself with blanket. Sooner sis asked for a dinner as we recently had snacks so everyone was having a light hunger so we told sis to bring food in a one plate and we all will share. In couple of minutes sis came inside the room and sat in middle of us. Sis was carrying a plate and three of us were eating from the same plate. Every relative was coming inside, staring at her with surprise and going back. Once we finished with our dinner she started sharing personal issues with me. Supriya: Do you know Aryan? Couple of week ago, a proposal came for me from United States. Guys family liked me so much but later we got to know he was already in a relation with a girl in United States. Aryan: These things are very common in case of NRI. Supriya: I dont want to get married to a rich guy; I am looking for simple corporate employee who earns enough to run a family. I asked the same question to myself, Do I have all these qualities? and answer was yes. She wanted to spend some more time with me but as many relatives were peeping from windows then I had to say bye to her. When I was in Pune then she asked me to get the chocolates. When she started her two wheeler and was about to accelerate it then I gave the chocolates to her. There was happiness with surprise in her flashy broad eyes. Supriya: I asked you a month back still you remembered. Aryan: This is a single thing you asked Kumbhkarana. How could I forget it?

If that would have not been my native and many people were not peeping from windows then I would have definitely made the most romantic day of her life. After this I came back to my place and in couple of minutes, SMS popped up in my cell phone, It was really nice meeting you and I did not feel like as my first meeting to you. You are a nice humorous person. In the next minute, my cell phone again started ringing and it was my sis. She forgot her purse at siss home. As per everyones perception, she left the reason to come another day. I made a call to her and asked to meet tomorrow. As already I was badly teased by my family members the last day and everyone was prompting me to know about our relation so next day I asked her to meet somewhere outside. This time she came for two minutes and went back as it was a running road and many of our known were surrounding us. After these meetings dont know why but she started digging my past and as we became closest pals, so I also started sharing some information about my life. After attending I was back to Pune. This meeting changed the meaning of our relation and now we were the closest pals. To be more precise, I was the only closest pal of her who knows about her from her color of tooth brush to her fathers balance sheet. Every day we started talking to each other. She used to be quite tensed for career as it was getting ruined because of family constraints. Time passes quickly and valentine day came. One day before valentine day we had a phone conversation. Supriya: So tomorrow is your favorite day. You would have celebrated it plenty of times. Aryan: Its every free animals favorite day. Yup, I did it many times. This time I am not going to celebrate it. Supriya: Why? Aryan: I dont have a girlfriend. Whom should I wish then? Supriya: Call me. We will wish each other. Aryan: Ok, I will (blushed). It was Valentines Day and since morning I was trying her number and her fucking phone was out of reach. Luckily in the afternoon it got connected to her. Aryan: Hey, almost got fed up dear to call you. Supriya: We were traveling to Delhi so there were some network issues on highway. Aryan: Happy Valentines Day. Supriya: Same to you dear. How did you celebrate it? Aryan: This is my first wish since morning. Supriya: How come play boy getting converted in to a saint (Laughed)? Listen, dad is coming so I have to disconnect. Aryan: OK, bye. Take care. After this call, I got some level of confidence and assurance to move ahead in a relation but still I wanted to take some opinion. Finally I made a call to my sister. Aryan: Sis, my life is in trouble again.

Sis: With a stripe pink suit girl (Blushed). Aryan: Exactly (blushed). Sis: Look, there is something from both sides and now your job is to make her realize and to make it a complete relation. Already you are famous with her in our whole family. Aryan: Got it. So this is a time to win the fort. Sis: All the best. God bless you. Since couple of months I was badly pushed by oldies of my family to tie the knot with someone and get settled in life and I always wanted to do it in an adventurous and memorable way. After this call, I asked plenty of questions to myself and decided to convert this relation to a long lasting relation. I feel; this is a right time to free pigeon in an open world. It was 10 pm in the evening and critical project release was going on. All my managers were present in the office and I took a ten minutes permission to make a call and went inside the meeting room. Aryan: Hey Supriya, I want to tell you something. Supriya: Tell me (She was in a kitchen and was helping her mother). Aryan: I have started liking you and to be honest, I have fallen in love with you. Supriya: I dont have the same feelings. I only consider you as a best friend. I thought its over and I was back to my desk with sad face and broken heart. Next day around 10 pm, my phone started ringing and it was totally unexpected call from Supriya. Supriya: Hi Aryan Aryan: Hi Supriya, I thought, everything was over. Supriya: Its nothing like that. I still want to be in a relation with you. Tell me about your past relations. There were very few relations who knew about my past but this time I wanted to tell her the truth. I confessed everything to her about past relations. The way I represented, she was quite convinced. Supriya: Ok, those relations didnt work out because things went wrong with you otherwise you would have got settled down long back. Aryan: Yes buddy. Supriya: Listen, I like you but I need some time to take a concrete decision. Aryan: I will wait. Next day I kept on trying her number throughout the day but she was not picking up. Day after tomorrow I again made a call to her and now she picked up. Aryan: Where were you? I was damn worried for you.

Supriya: Yesterday I had a forceful meeting with a guy for an arrange marriage process. Before this meeting I cried a lot in front of my family but could not convince them to delay my marriage. Now decision of marriage will be taken by a guy so it is pending from his side yet. Aryan: Good; take care of yourself. I am always with you. Whole night I kept on praying to God, to give me last chance. I want to be a decent, one woman guy. I already have a big regret from past please help me out this time. Next day 11 PM, everyone was sleeping at home and I was still awake and waiting for her message. Suddenly a message popped up in my cell phone. It was from Supriya, My marriage is fixed.

Chapter 9 To erase old memories when I came back from London I shifted to a new flat. So I was staying with interesting people. Let me introduce to my closest pal over there. Dhruv: A Fair, tall, jolly, chocolaty guy from Delhi. The biggest disappointment in his life, he never had any girlfriend so far. Whenever he used to see any pretty girl dating, he always used to say Aryan sir, Am I not man enough to date any girl? Riyan : A Dark, Tall and handsome guy with biggest mustache we have even seen in our life. He was the only committed person at our flat. Every weekend he used to travel from Pune to Hyderabad to meet his girlfriend. As per Dhruv he was only physically present with us; his soul was always with his girlfriend. Altogether he was a nice guy moreover friend. Our flat owner was a big party freak, he gave an almost bar outlook to our flat so our flat became a famous place for cocktail parties. When a human gets back to back disappointments in his life, he tries to escape facing reality of life. Same thing I also started doing. In my office also everyone used to talk about Preetys life so I was finding very difficult to wipe her memories from my life. So finally, I took a decision to resign from this job and to shift to a new place. As I used to be among top performers so everyone was eager to know about the reason of resigning. Even most of the managers tried to convince me to stay here only. A day before my last day in office, plenty of questions got raised in my mind. In my whole life, I never left anything uncompleted and never ran because of anything and it was a realization of a reality that I was going from one hell to another hell. Next day I took my resignation back and decided to face the reality. Disappointment to life can be seen crystal clear on my face those days but whenever I used to see a long luck line on my palm I used to gain my confidence back, there will be my day also. I wanted to say plenty of things to Supriya what I used to feel about her. Finally after waiting for some time I got a chance to discuss everything with her. Aryan: Hi, How are you feeling now? Supriya: Now, Everyone is happy at home thats all I can say and I am getting mixed feelings. Aryan: What does that guy do? Supriya: He is an aluminous of IIT as well as IIM and now working as a financial consultant in a leading bank. What the Fuck? This much information was enough to keep my mouth shut. When God takes you, he takes you from all the ways. As I was growing in my career I always used to get better girlfriends fiance. As a friend I cannot recommend myself over such a scholar person but love is totally blind, as I started loving her so I could not cheer this

moment so I left with no choice except avoiding her. Already I was not fully recovered from one trauma so does not want to move in to another emotional trauma. For next couple of days I kept on avoiding her phone calls. It was a mid of night and my cell phone started ringing and this time I could not avoid her. Supriya: May I know the reason of not talking to me? Aryan: Look, now you have a settled busy life and you must be busy talking to your fiance so I thought of not disturbing in your life. Supriya: So what? It means that you wont talk to me. Aryan: Its nothing like that; when you start loving someone and she is not becoming part of your life then it really pains so better maintain a safe distance. I already had bad experiences in my life which are unforgettable so I dont want to add up more stories. Supriya: Ok, what about our close friendship? Was that senseless? So you are getting out of everything. Listen, I always need you as a friend and rest is up to you. I cannot say more than this. In my life, I have rarely been this much closer to any boy so dont want to wrap up this relation in this way. Good Night and disconnected the phone rudely. Aryan: Good Night. What was the Fucking night? She made me sleepless for whole night. Whole night she was shouting close to my ear again and again with her hard voice oops soft voice and her pretty face was in front of my eyes and this much was enough to change my decision although I already knew now if I step up further then I am going to be a part of a ship which is going to sink in the middle of an ocean and you will have no lifesaving boat because by the time your life saving boat will become life of someone else. Next morning Dhruv, Riyan and I had a discussion regarding the same. Dhruv: Look Aryan Sir, No one can be blamed now and she is attached to you also as you both have been talking to each other since a long time and she want to be in touch of you and your sudden avoidance she is not able to understand. Life is like a boat in the high flowing river; either you drive the boat or it is driven by the flow of water. In my case I was trying to drive a boat but opposite flow of water was not allowing me. So now I was back to my daily routine. Every evening we used to talk to each other and Life was going on in a decent manner. She was entertaining two persons in shifts and both were known of the reality. In first week of March, there was a Holi festival and I booked a flight ticket to come down to my native. I reached home two days before Holi. As always my mother was waiting with lots of proposal for a London returned son and as expected next day mom popped up a million dollar question. Mom: What have you thought about your marriage? Aryan: So far, nothing. Its too early to get married.

Mom: Will you ever get married in your life? Aryan: Day, When I will meet the right girl. Mom: Listen, I am fed up. Stop making girlfriends and go for an arrange marriage. Aryan: Give me some more time please; right now I dont want to get married in a stupid manner. Mom: In my office, everyone asks me that when your son is getting married? Aryan: If they want a party then please give them but ask them to stop thinking about me. My all arguments to mom regarding marriage disappointed her badly. That time in this whole world, Supriya was the only one whom I was sharing everything so I sent a text to her that disappointed badly. Why do we always discuss our problems with a root cause of problem? Next morning, I woke up; just had a tea and my cell started ringing. Supriya: Why did you disappoint aunty? Aryan: She wants me to get married as soon as possible. Supriya: Why cant you do that? If I am getting married for my parents wish then why not you? Aryan: Its a relation between two souls and my soul is already attached to you. I am not in a position to keep someones happy. Supriya: Every time I feel embarrass when you say this to me. Aryan: Ok, forget it I am not in a mood of a discussion. Lets meet tomorrow. Supriya: I cannot commit but I will meet you soon. When you are eagerly waiting to meet someone then every second kills you. In India, Biggest issues in small town, you can only plan a date at home when family members are not present, hotel room even all the indecent private places but if you meet a girl at public places, plenty of eyes will be staring at you and rumors will spread in the air more than a speed of light. After two days I took an appointment for an eye checkup. There was a long queue so I got an appointment of after an hour. I met a call to her and asked her to come down to doctors clinic. Supriya: Say please to me then only I will come down. Aryan: Ok, Please come. Now you are happy. Supriya: Wait, I am reaching in next 10 minutes. In next 10 minutes, she reached to clinic by her car. When she came out of the car, she was looking ravishing, wearing yellow stripes suit with open hair which were coming to her face because of breeze. Road was not busy that day so we started talking to each other in the shadow of a tree. Like a common Indian boy, for next ten minutes, I was staring at her beautiful eyes, fair round face, and amazing well maintained body. Supriya: So Aryan, finally your wish is fulfilled so I am here. Aryan: Thanks for getting some time for this small creature.

Supriya: You were right about Priyank; as you told me he also drinks occasionally. I dont know, How many secrets he is hiding inside himself. Aryan: These are unavoidable things in corporate world; everyone does this. One more thing, you are looking damn pretty. Supriya: Thanks for the compliment. None of my friend is coming down to attend my wedding. Promise me that you will definitely attend. Aryan: Most of your friends are married and woman only has promising relation to her husband. Anyway I will be with you that day also. Supriya: I am going through a very different phase of life now days. Everyone is caring me a lot at home even those never bothered. After a month I am going to leave my own home where I spent my twenty five years. Every day I pack some of my luggage and cry; going to leave my own people very soon. Thank god, you are there to help me out. No one knows me there except you. Aryan: I will be always with you. In India, Once People start going through a bad phase they start blaming planets and running behind Priests, Magicians, astrologists and seers. It has no relation with their class although educated people do blame poor uneducated class that they do believe in superstition but somewhere almost all people do believe in it. I was also going through the bad phase so after prompting a lot by my friends and family, I decided to meet a priest who can predict the future. Next day early morning I reached there. Professionally he was working as a school lecturer in government senior secondary school but by looking at number of devotees entertained by him in a day I can clearly understand, how many classes he would have taken in his career and after meeting him I can easily understand why our education system has become hell? Anyway it was a long queue to meet him and after an hour, finally my turn came. After asking all the details from me finally he started with his advices. Priest: You have got a long life and very decent career. Have you been to abroad? Aryan: Yes, I have been to London once. Priest: There is a very strong chance of your marriage in month of May and I can clearly see, it will be a love marriage and one more thing your good time will start from month of May. Aryan: Ok In this meeting I was very impressed from him and confidentially he explained the things, he started influencing my brain also even while coming back to home, I was thinking about the same. After this meeting my trip was over and I flied back to Pune with some hope in change of life. Particularly in this phase of life, I left everything on God although I stopped making call to Supriya. After couple of days I just came back from office and my cell phone started ringing.

Supriya: Where the hell you are nowadays? Aryan: Nowhere, I was occupied with my work. Supriya: I am feeling so lonely, I am getting married after a month and I have no feeling for that guy. Aryan: It will take some time to develop. Probably In your case after marriage when you will be attached to each other. Supriya: Tell me, what is love? I have never done this so far in my life. Aryan: When you start liking every small things of someone. Even a wrong thing done by him, will be pleasure for you. Every single moment you would love to think about him and will pray to god to give a chance to meet him. Supriya: That is the reason you never felt bad even its my mistake. Aryan: Yup, you are getting intelligent now. Supriya: A day back, I was reading my kundali and as per that in month of May, because of my activity, there will be an embarrassing moment for my family. I dont know what the hell is going now? Aryan: May be these things happen in life, I have no idea as of now. But promise if anything wrong happens, you wont be taking any wrong steps. Still I was somewhere scared of suicide attempts made by Preeti in her life so I did not to see the same incidents Supriya: Ok, I wont. Hey, one more thing, my marriage date is 17th may; please get your tickets booked. This was shocking news for me. A year back my bad time also started on 17th of May and she was also getting married on the same day just after an year. Aryan: Ok, I will book. Supriya: What is your birth date? Aryan: 13th September. Supriya: Do you know? Priyank was also born on the same day. Aryan: What are you saying? There are hell lots of similarities in our lives. Supriya: I dont know why? But it seems there is a connection between our lives thats why God has sent such a lovely guy in my life. There was some relation between me and Mumbai; Supriya was the third girl in my life who was getting settled down in Mumbai before this Preeti and Shipra got settled down to Mumbai. After knowing all these things, all incidents started dominating my thoughts and I was eagerly waiting for 17th may in hope of positive change in my life. If something is incomplete in your life, some day it will definitely get completed, you just need to have patience and faith. I wanted to keep myself diverted from all these things so in first week of month, we planned a trip to Goa. As it was a summer so we could only enjoy after sun fall. In the evening, we all reached Baga beach, there was an amazing atmosphere, sizzling Russian babes were dancing, loud music, people were almost taking bath of cocktails in open sky

blue sky and cold sea water was touching the feet in brown sand. In spite of all these things, my brain was still thinking about her and our relevant coincidences. So I started sharing about her to my close friends and as per them also these coincidences hardly happen in people lives and there are chances of being true. Finally I sent a message to her.

Aryan: Hey, I am missing you. Supriya: Aryan, you are in Goa dear. At least dont miss me there (with smiley). Aryan: Ok, Good Night (with sad voice). Next day, we planned a trip to Casino in the evening. This casino was in the middle of a sea so we all reached by a boat. After reaching there, we all had a dinner and started playing games. For some times, I also played with them then I came out on the deck to smoke. I was standing by holding iron bar and looking down constantly at deep blue sea and eagerly wanted to fall down in fear of losing everything in next ten days. I dont know but some fear of losing her, was killing me inside but I wanted to see the end as well. But I could clearly see crying pictures of my mother, family members and friends; they will never get to know the reason of this stupidity. I could not say my condition to Supriya because she was deserved a better guy than me and being a friend I could not be disloyal. On the other side I could not end up my life as well because I was the only successor of my grandfathers hierarchy. I didnt know what the hell I was doing, since college days by convincing many people I changed the flow of their life but this time strong person like me was about to do this stupid act. Only hope in my life, was statements made by seers and coincides which could still change our lives if God wants to make my life heaven on the same day. Suddenly I started looking my longest luck line which could bring out some positive results in life. Anyway 17th may again became an eagerly waiting changing point of life. Some human are very promising in their life and I was one of them. It was 14th may 2011 and I flied to Jaipur to fulfill Supriyas wish to attend her wedding and in the hope, this time at least god will be with me. Neither I could be wrong with my dearest nor was I in a position to bear emotional trauma again. In the Evening I reached to Jaipur Airport and took a bus to Sikar. I reached at home and knocked the door, mom opened it and I fell down at door only. Immediately I was taken in to hospital and as per the doctor, there is a pressure, human man can bear and I have crossed that limit so I was a patient of Sevier depression and was advised for complete bed rest. For next two days, I was in a hospital only. Romit, Mom, and all relatives were with me and all were trying to know the reason but I did not want to disclose the reason and to defame her name in that small town. On 17th May 2011 morning, my phone again started ringing. Supriya: When are you reaching to Marriage hall? Aryan: I will meet you in the evening. Supriya: I am sending a cab for you.

Aryan: Please dont send; I will come by my own vehicle. In the evening, Aryan made a call to Romit. Aryan: Romit, will you do one last favor to me? Romit: Please ask. Aryan: I want to meet Supriya. Romit: I cannot do this. Why are you killing yourself? Damn it. Please for the god sake. Dont go. Aryan: Please help me. I cannot break promise which I made to her. After this, I will never ask you anything. Romit: Bloody, I am reaching there in 10 minutes and meet me outside of hospital. In next ten minutes, we reached to the Marriage hall. Preeti(Supriyas sister) guided us till her room. I knocked and went inside the room. Aryan: So finally my princess oops Priyanks princess is ready. She was looking as a picture of beauty and grace. It was looking like a Lord Indra has sent his the most beautiful angel on earth to get married to someone. Supriya: I have discussed about you to many people here, Come with me, I introduce you to everyone. Aryan: I dont have time dear. My all best wishes are with you wherever I will be; keep on praying for you (with some tears in eyes). Keep everyones happy in life specially Priyank; he deserves you. This was my last conscious moment and I went in to comma without answering many questions to many people. There are majorly two ways to learn in life; either you learn from other mistakes or learn it from your own mistakes.

Epilogue Sometimes life begins when it seems to be finished. Everyone feels my life was over when I went unconscious and came in my senses after ten years. I had nothing, neither my corporate career nor social respect; only thing which I could see was mercy in the eyes of many people which I always hated since my childhood. I lost my interest in the corporate world after seeing the reality of my nation and took a firm decision to spend the rest of my life to eliminate honor killing, blind faith in priests and caste system. May be I would have been settled in United States and would have been earning in dollars if Preeti wouldnt have entered my life but still I would have become common man who lives his entire life for his family and some day he dies and close pals and family members cry for some time and forget him in very short span of time. My defeat gives me a new destiny to change as many people I can and I take an oath to change at least my surroundings. I still remember, since my college days to corporate life, we all used to sit around coffee table and used to discuss about national issues and sometimes we used to get aggressive as well but in the end it was a useless discussion and none takes an initiative. In our nation we have a league of people who are aware of what needs to be done to cure this nation? Still we are not taking any proactive action. We started this revolution by educating old people in small towns and by sharing our experiences with young people in a convincing way. In the beginning we got a strong opposition from the people but later on things were alright. After getting popular, we realized that in India, millions of people are victims of this caste system and blind faith in priests. If we check out Indian history, India is a nation where great people have learnt from their own mistakes. Samrat Ashoka spread Buddhism across the nations after killing millions of innocent people in the war. No one in this world can change the past but changing future is in our hand and its only two steps away from us. I think, our destiny is still far and we will keep on putting efforts until we are alive. We believe some day our dream will come true.