Moments

Infatuated Friendship.... :/

"Shashank proposed me," Sneha said in low voice, sitting next to me at that left back canteen table.

I spit the water, which I was drinking, as she said that.

"Sorry....what?" I coughed.

"Really...when?" Soumya too asked.

"Yesterday, when I was with Sanisha, after school," she clarified.

I, as for my tradition, was silent but from inside I wanted to say a lot of things but all I did was, took another roti roll out of my lunch box and stuff it in my mouth. She saw me doing that and snatched my box from under my hands.

"Can you stop for a while," she requested in an angry tone, which was more like an order.

"What happened?" I asked as I chewed my food.

"I am saying something to you two and you are busy with your works, idiots..." she growled.

"Okay, what did you say to him?" Soumya helped me out by asking her.

"I said him, that I want one day time to decide,"

"Say yes, what's big deal?" I suggested in an irritated voice.

She saw me for a couple of minutes and easily made out that something was wrong with my behaviour. "What happened to you?" she asked.

"Nothing...what will happen to me? He proposed you, not me?" I replied.

She waited a little before saying, trying to make out what I said, but failed to do so.

"Ehh...What does that even mean?" she asked in a doubt.

Soumya was also staring at me, trying to make out what really happened. They both shared glances with each other after seeing me in such a dilemma of words. Frankly, I too was unaware of what I spoke. My mind went blank soon after I heard her first line. Then I thought, if I continue to behave in this manner then they would know about my secret admiration towards Sneha, so I slowly came back to my senses and controlled my tongue.

"Sorry, family problem...leave all that...what were you saying? Oh yes, about proposal...I think it's up to you, if you like him or not," I babbled as a fortune teller's parrot.

"Oh...Yeah, l like him but..." she cleared my doubts.

'Now say bye-bye to her, she can never be yours anymore', I said to myself.

That conversation went for more 30 minutes. Soumya too supported her to say 'yes' to Shashank. Even after that, during class she asked me no less than 20 times about my final suggestion and every time by placing weight on my heart I had to say 'say yes to him'.

............................................................................

Winter arrived. Lot of things changed in between. Our seating arrangement changed and Sneha was now sitting far away from me and with that physical gap came a gap in our friendship too. She was in relation with Shashank, as Soumya and I insisted her to do so. She started spending her lunch time with Shashank and not with us anymore. She changed a lot. I too started maintaining a distance so as to stop thinking about her. Once she asked me, in between these months, if I wanted to sit with her and Shashank for lunch, but I gave some lame reason to stay in class. She didn't insist me as she left the class. I wish she'd turn back and look at me. But she didn't. I dodged her next few weeks which resulted in 99% dilution of our friendship.

Meanwhile I happened to enrol myself in a private tuition at Abhi's place. That group included me, Sarthak, Piyush and of course, Abhi. It was for maths. We were very poor in that subject and still are, if I am not wrong. Our tutor was a 44 years old mathematics genius, his name, Mr Samaresh Mohanty, a very famous tutor all over the town. Every ex-student of his praised about his teachings, but I found it really difficult to understand him.