Forever yours

First Love Letter

So dearies, here is the next part as promised. Please do read and looking forward to your comments!

Part 28

"Yeh un dinon ki baat hai jab log fursat se farvary ki sardiyon mein subah ki dhoop senk rahe the. Background mein sama khoobsurat tha aur Maine Pyar Kiya ke gaane use aur khushnuma bana rahe the jab ek solah saal ki deewani danadan cycle pe pedal maarti hui school ja rahi thi. Aaj exam ka result aanewala tha aur hamesha ki tarah use yakeen tha ki wo top karegi. Apni padhayi ko lekar use itna atmavishvas tha ki koi usse ek number bhi zyaada le le yeh ho hi nahi sakta tha. Par uss deewani ko kya pataa tha ki aaj uski zindagi badalne wali thi hamesha ke liye. Ganeet ke sawal chutakiyon mein hal karnewali ko yeh ehsaas hi nahi hua ki school ke corridor mein hui ek takkar ne uski ab tak ki aur aanewali poori zindagi ka hisaab ulat pulat kar diya.

Wo anjaana bilkul mujhse ulat vyaktitva wala tha. Naak pe gussa, chehre pe rosh, aur apni jaan ko hatheli pe leke chalnewala tha. Par uski aankhen...isse pehle kabhi samundar nahi dekha tha...par uski aankhen samundar se bhi gehri thi. Unmein ek bholapan, ek masoomiyat thi. Sabne use ladaku aur shararti samjha par main unn kaali gehri aakhon mein khudko doobne se ronk hi nahi paayi. Maine toh kabhi "Prem" ke bhi sapne nahi dekhe the jitna wo mere dil dimaag pe chaa gaya tha. Jab wo class mein meri bagal wali seat par aakar baitha, toh kuch palon ke liye main saans lena bhool gayi. Aisa laga jaise aas paas aur kuch nahi, sirf main aur woh, ek dusre mein khoye hue, sirf ek dusre ke liye. Kuch samajh hi nahi pa rahi thi ki kya hua, 16 saalon mein kabhi aisa anubhav nahi kiya par dil se uski tasveer ja hi nahi rahi thi. Wo samne ho ya na ho, aankhen bandh karti toh uska hi chehra samne aa jata. Saari duniya achanak khoobsurat ho gayi aur uss budhdhu si jhalli deewani ko uss anjane se pyar ho gaya. Pehli nazar ka pehla pyar".

Sameer paused it here and was dumbstruck. He knew their first meet but never had Naina voiced it in so many words. He knew she cared for him always but their repeated fights and accusations hurled at him by her Papa had never allowed him to know her feelings for him on day one. He knew he too had been lost for a moment in those deep orbs and his world had come to a standstill but he had jerked out of it and run behind Pankaj to make him pay for his abusive language towards his mom. And later, the turn of events had let him think of Naina as a khadoos and teacher's pet until he had got to know her in true sense after trying to come close to her to fulfill his bet. He had then realised the genuine pure soul she was and that she had already fallen for him while for him it was a gradual process when her each gesture made him fall for her a bit more. And now he was madly and irrevocably in love with her.

He had a gleeful smile plastered on his face. He absolutely loved that she narrated their story as her first written venture and he was the first audience. Now he was eager to know the entire allegory from her perspective and how she had defined their relationship, especially after what happened recently and what was the climax. With a newfound zeal, he doned the headphones back and restarted the cassette and got lost reminiscing all the lovely moments that he had unknowingly spent with her in school, library, ground, classroom, water tap, and the most important part of his life, the Mt. Abu trip when he realized his true feelings for her. She had described everything from her perspective, even the difficult times he faced in school but how the destiny had played Cupid to her and made her to believe that he was in love with her too.

It again pained his heart to hear the bet revealation when she described her feeling of hurt and betrayal. How he wished all over again that it was the one thing he so desperately wanted to change if he could turn back the time. But, while he was waiting eagerly to know the next, the narrative ended abruptly stating that some relationships are not meant to be and that fate is a cruel  tease.

He waited and waited but the cassette ultimately stopped rolling and he felt bereft. He quickly reversed to the B side in hopes of hearing further. The B side was blank even after his repeated attempts at FFing and scanning the whole side.