Just another Love Story

Chapter 10

2017

DING DONG!

I rang the Raj's doorbell. It had become a habit, now that we lived so nearby, to drop at each- other's homes; quite frequently too. But this time, I was in for a surprise.

The door opened, and in front of me was not Raj but instead a lady in her mid sixties. But I can tell because I know it, otherwise looking at her face you can't say she is a day older than 40. Her hair dyed red with henna, wearing a bright pink-coloured suit with an even brighter smile, Raj's mother welcomed me.

'Oh! Namaste, Aunty!' I bent down and touched her feet, the posture to seek for the blessings and well-wishes from those elder to you, according to the hindu tradition.

'How are you Jheel? It's been a long time since I saw you.' 

I blushed, 'Yes Aunty....I am fine. You say?'

'Just dancing to the tunes of life, my son. And it seems to be playing the music of your generation now. I don't even understand a word of it.'

I smiled nervously, confused if that meant she was in good health or if she was saying that things weren't going so well.

'Will you send him back him from the doorway itself? At least let him in, Laxmi!' Came a heavy voice from inside. It definitely belonged to the man Raj was most afraid of- his dad.

And soon enough, he came by in a purple kurta over a serene white pyjama, his walk dignified as ever.

'Namaste Uncle!' I touched his feet, 'say, what brings both of you here?'

'Why? Our son, of course! What else?' he chuckled.

'Ah...yes, yes,' I nodded. So dumb of you, Jheel!  'Where is he, anyway?'

'Inside, snoring like an ass! Go, wake him up!'

I walked into his bedroom, rubbing my hands. Waking him up was not an easy task. I knew it well, having had the experience from the night-stays we had after our exams. And that is why, at first, I was glad to see him awake sitting on his bed wrapped in blankets, staring at something on the ground in front of him with a completely blank expression.

But that was my first impression. A few moments into it and I was reminded of quite similar incident which happened seven years ago:

The two of us were staying the night at his place. We didn't talk much, so it was quite a boring night-stay. One would expect instead to stay up all night talking about stuff or watch movies or something. But I really can't blame the guy. He was still not over his break-up, and it occupied most of his attention, most of the time. Maybe even less than half of him was actually aware of what was happening around him; the rest of him was...well, busy, reliving those days, those memories, perhaps trying to figure out what went wrong. 

I had asked him innumerable times to tell me what was it that he had done that made her do this, but all he would say was, 'It was something terrible,' and then to himself, 'must have been,' and then again to me, 'I can't tell you. Sorry.'

'But WHY, Raj? Are we not friends?' I would argue.

'Yes, we are,' He would reply, his voice heavy, in almost a whisper, 'And that is why I have the audacity to ask you, please, stop asking that question. Please?' and then he would have that desperate look on his face, and that thing in his eyes when he looked at me....oh dear. I don't want to remember that face. I almost hated her for doing this to him, to my dear friend. But he always held her in such high esteem....the way he used to talk about her, describing the cute little memories they both had, it just...made me unable to hate her. It all just made me ask myself, again and again, what the hell went wrong?