Gandhinagar Chourasta:
With a bag in one hand and his set of travel documents in the other, Raj was anxiously waiting for Sarita to arrive. He glanced at his watch, to check the time for the umpteenth time. It was still 00:40 hours on the clock. But it seemed like time was standing still tonight. Every minute felt like an hour, every second like a minute.
He decided to sit on a bench in the nearby park, since he felt his knees would give in, with all the nervousness he was experiencing. He had a strange feeling, like a vice gripped around his neck, choking him. What was happening to him? He wondered. He must be happy with excitement and anticipation. Instead he felt uneasy and unsure of things. He felt unhappy deep within. That was not how he was supposed to feel, especially when he was about to start afresh with a person whom he loved. Atleast that was what he thought.
He pondered on how life changed from one instant to the next. One instant he was eager with excitement to start his life with his college sweetheart, the love of his life and the next instant was pushed into a loveless marriage with Sarita. He wanted to do the noble thing by getting Sarita remarried, only to discover that he loved her. One instant he was ready to get Sarita married to Vikrant and the next instant was confessing his love to her at the eleventh hour. He was happy when she reciprocated. But she married Vikrant anyway, for love and money, she said. Until he came to know that her marriage was a deal to save his sister. Hence he resolved to pursue her. But was this resolve out of love he had for her as a friend or as a life partner? Or was this out of guilt that she had been pushed to marry Vikrant indirectly because of him? Or was this resolve in someway to set her free from the bindings of a sham of a marriage, as a gratitude for saving his sister? "By eloping with her? By leaving a small child motherless? By deeply hurting a person whom you have loved half your life?" asked the inner voice laced with contempt.
He hatched the plan of eloping and Sarita went with it, did she not? Then why was he feeling so unsure now? "Stop this nonsense before things go out of control and you lose everyone, before you lose Divya!" screamed his inner self. He did not make any attempt to stop it now. But before he could even weigh or cross examine the feelings he held for Divya or could ponder upon his confused emotions, he heard hurried footsteps from across the lawn.
He looked up to see Sarita walking towards him in a brisk pace. He noticed the absence of her bag and was wondering whether she was playing him. And out flew all the heart-to-heart he was having with his inner self. He was filled with anger and rage. He stood up as she drew nearer, exhibiting a huge amount of self control.
As she approached RajJi from across the lawn, she saw him seated on the bench, hunched over. It felt like he was in acute pain. There were so many emotions playing across his face, which she could see with the help of the park lamps. Was she sensing uncertainity in him? She wondered. She only hoped that he got back to his sane self. He really needed to, for his own sake. As the saying went, better late than never. But when he stood up, she found that he was awfully calm.
She came to a halt in front of him and did not understand how to start the conversation. Just when she was about to say something, she heard him say something totally unexpected, that made her do a double take.
"I do not want to elope with you, SaritaJi!" he said.
She could not believe her ears and said "What?"
"You heard me right. I do not want to elope with you to Dubai" he said.
She felt relief rush through her system when she heard it. But then he looked angry saying that. Now this puzzled her. She somehow felt compelled to know the reason behind this sudden change in his stance. "Why?" She asked
