Beyond My Reach

Chapter 17

06 September 12:54 JST
From: Gugan <gugan@geemail.com>
To: Aditi <aditi@newmail.com>
Subject: Claim Approved
▪1 Attachment

Hi Aditi,

We are happy to inform you that your claim no : 00002 has been fulfilled by your husband. He wanted us to convey you that he has landed safely in Tokyo and there is nothing to worry.

Owing to your request, he has sent hand-written letters explaining his experience during his stay in India. We have attached the scan copies of his letters.

He had also sent this message along with those letters.

"I LOVE YOU ADITI"

Please find attached the zip file "Memories for life" for his letters to you.

Hoping we have fulfilled your request. We are pleased to assist you with any future request. Kindly spare a minute to review our response providing stars with five being the highest and one being the least. Your rating matters a lot to us.

Regards,
Gugan

ADITI
Chennai, India

06 September 09:43 IST

Unzipped Memories for life.zip
Aditi began to read the letters in order

Letter No 1 - Our First Meeting
25 Aug 2022

My dear Aditi,

You are asking me write something I left post school (i.e) letters. I don't even remember which the last letter I wrote was. Might have been some leave letter for school It gives me a nostalgic feel as am penning down these words. Ignore if there are any errors in these letters.

The flight is has landed at the Chennai International Airport and already my legs are not listening to me. As a standard procedure, the passengers will be asked to wait a few minutes after the flight has landed. I am still waiting when they will allow me to get off this flight. Last time I faced this feeling was for my last exam during the twelfth CBSE board, the time was up and you know there is nothing to be written on your answer sheets. We can't really wait to jump out of the exam hall. Even the last few minutes to hand over our answer sheets to the exam invigilator feels too delayed. I am exactly in this state of mind after almost a decade.

While travelling to Tokyo, I never realized the trip was too long but now the distance from the runway to the baggage counter itself seems like a burden.

My mind is fully occupied with your thoughts and excitement which stops me from thinking anything else. Not just few, it took a day for me to even decide on the shirt I should be wearing on this day. For you it was easy to say 'I love navy blue' but to even find a perfect shirt in that colour became a process for me in Tokyo. Aftwr running over the shops, I decided on a striped shirt on this colour. Will you like it? How would our first meet me? What will your reaction be upon seeing me? Do you smile at me or wave at me? A lot of questions were running inside my head. All the answers were just minutes away from me. Isn't it an iconic moment to be cherished? I thought to myself. After weeks of chats and mails, we are finally going to meet each other. Long distance relationships too have their beauty. It took me few more minutes to collect my baggages and reach to the entrance. Fortunately my parents were already waiting for me with their faces filled with smiles. To my surprize, I also saw Uncle and Aunty who had come to receive me. It was something I never imagined. Though I conversed with them, my eyes were constantly searching for the bride. After moments, I convinced myself stating you wouldn't have come.

Suddenly, you came running from nowhere and grasped me into a tight hug. Before even I could see you, my eyes were all on your mother who too like me didnot expect this kind of a reception from you. I reciprocated your hug with my eyes glued to our families. After few seconds, you withdrew yourself from the hug and it was when I saw you for the first time. Never in my life had I imagined that the first meeting with my future wife to be so filmy. You made me think otherwise.