Its been a month that I chanced upon the magical world of Manik and Nandini. It's such a pity that the personal equations between the cast turned so sour that an epic story of love and friendship had to untimely die out. However, I feel they (Manik...
He was fidgeting with his spoon on the dining table when his cell buzzed.
He picked it up in a flash. 'Hi MnM' He read the WhatsApp message and kept his phone down on the table, upside down.
His dad was almost done while his plate was still untouched.
"Manik beta kya hua, tum kha kyun nahi rahe ho? Aaj to tumhare favourite dishes bane hain."
"Woooo... zyada bhook nahi hai" His cell vibrated again.
'No reply!!.... Busy??'
'Wanna c something??' Came her back to back to back replies and then this image popped up on his chat window.
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Again, he put the phone back on the table, this time face up. A tiny smile escaped from the corner of his lips.
This time she rang. At once, he rejected the call.
His father was observing him from the opposite end of the colossal dining table. "Koi important call hoga beta, le le"
His eyes fixed on his mobile screen, Manik distractedly nodded. He got up to leave when his father called him from behind "Beta plate lekar ja, room mein kha lena."
Manik nodded once more. He picked up his plate and quickly disappeared to his room. Mr. Malhotra knew it couldn't have been an important official call. Manik had barely stepped into his office. His gut feeling was that, this was Manik's new friend from Panchgani and if his behaviour was any indication, this was going good. He felt a huge surge of relief. He was glad, things were shaping up well, just the way he had hoped. Finally, Manik was beginning to move on. He had shifted to Pune, started coming to office and was making new friends. He was relieved that Manik was far far away from his toxic friends in Mumbai who only ever caused him pain. Manik's memory loss had been a blessing in disguise. Thanking God for his little mercies, he retired to his bedroom.
The moment he stepped inside his room, he dialed her number.
"Kya hua, kyun bar bar ping kar rahi ho?" He yelled at her even before she could utter a 'hello'.
Surprised, she softly asked "Kyun nahi karna chahiye tha kya? Who maine thanks bolne ke liye..."
He didn't let her finish "Oh to finally tumhe time mil hi gaya, Thanks bolne ka." He had been waiting for 6 hours. He must have checked his cell a million times, waiting for her one message which never came, not until now, 9 pm in the night.
"Kya matlab, maine bheja to tha.. Class se."
"Nandini Murthy, why don't you accept that you conveniently forgot. Yeh sab bahane banane ki zarurat nahi hai."
"Maine sach mein bheja tha.. Acha hold on, don't disconnect ok??" She quickly checked her text outbox and what do you think she saw, 'Thanks but no thanks, all I wanna say is...I loooove you for this.' in her drafts. She had forgotten to press the 'Send' button. 'Aiyappa, why do you always do this to me' she cursed herself.
