8 minutes of your present. (thank you all)

Again it has been very long since I have written and posted anything. Nor I have planned the length of this write-up. Perhaps if you have patience and love my writing I request you to read it all. It was just that I wanted to try a few things that required my time. It was nothing new but just an old

incomplete dream (GUITAR), which is still very much incomplete.


Before we begin  I wish to thank Tanvi maam and debu sir. Anyone who has given me any kind of knowledge is similar to GOD for me. It is my faith and you are no lesser. A guru is imitation of god, I was taught by my teacher. If a challenge doesn’t lets you sleep at night perhaps it’s a challenge worth taking. Thank you for giving me this challenge and pushing me to find my true potential.

Blame it to the time I would say again. But there is no one except me to blame. Its really strange when you somehow put time into perspective the dynamics of life change so quickly.

I always felt that time was running faster than me or maybe the pace at which others are running was faster than me. Various times I also felt that I was running a race that I had already lost. Some wounds of past are so deep that time and again the pain keeps up coming. Although you want to, but no matter how hard you try time just keeps getting faster than your life.

Yes indeed the perspectives of life change once you put time into it.

“Life is too short to live with regrets”. Those who know me often find me repeating this sentence time and again. And indeed its a fact that I came across just few months back. Specially when regret is about something or someone who will never come back. Time is one such thing.

A lot of great and deep influential thing are already written about value of time and present moment and I am not a person who suddenly had and enlightened vision about it. It was something that came across in my life and kept coming over and over again until it was clearly clear to my mind.

It was the same reason, I decided to dance again. I knew there will be people criticizing it. There will be people envying it. There will be people sarcastic about it. But most importantly there will be people who will not value it and respect this thing in me. Dance was something that happened very late in my life. Like many things in my life taking up dancing and continuing it was my decision.

Maybe I wanted to get rid of stage fear, trying a new dynamic of creativity or just to impress someone I don’t quite remember now. But after a certain point i guess everything got aligned with motivation creativity and inspiration. And since, I had always found myself as a performer rather than an audience. It is tough to imagine myself otherwise. You may feel that there is always a next time.

But TIME makes you realize that its not true. For a performer never knows when could be his last performance. Weather you would get to get on the stage again and perform again. This is something that I realized just few months back. life and time are not to be predicted. When you see people close to you and your friends walk away never to return, things do go to a different level.

Perhaps this could be the ultimate motivation for any performer like me. There was indeed a time just few days before my AEM 2016 performance when I thought of giving up dancing henceforth. Honestly speaking I just wanted to dance so that people who knew me felt proud to know me. And that they don’t feel embarrassed to tell that they knew me, that I am no mediocre in what I am doing, that if not all then at least those few could clap and cheer for me when I am under the spotlight.

But there were indeed few only, but there was one who I felt mattered a bit more. I say so because most of the people I knew were going to be on that very stage with me. I was leading them in some routine and following them in remaining. This was the first time when I was going to be in center stage. But something was missing and that thing was impacting me so much that I was dancing like a zombie. No expressions, no joy, no excitement.  And should there be one I asked myself? Would it matter to that person as well. As there were only few in the crowd for whom I wish to smile and give expressions. I thought it may feel like mobbed pair of hundreds of unknown eyes.

It was the very reason why I thought about giving it up. I was hardly sleeping 4 hours daily and at time even less. Maybe it was a tired body that was making me think like this or maybe it was just too much of learning. I have gone through this earlier as well but at those times I had a motivation, a goal, some pair of eyes in the audience that would become bright when I land all my moves perfectly and shout and cheer for every smile and expression that radiates out of my body.

As the days built up that thing seemed to be becoming more and more impossible. But that is how a life of a performer is. No matter what goes on in your mind once you are on the stage you are visible to the world. It’s the show in the end that matters. Pain, cramps, tension, sweat, lunch less days, hollow nights, nothing matters. Everyone has issue, the whole point of life is issues. But once you begin the first move of your final performance nothing and no one matters.

And we did it finally, I did it finally. It was never easy for me and for all of us. I never expected it to be easy, I never wanted it to be easy. It is because once A PERFORMER ALWAYS A PERFORMER. And that’s me for you.

All I wished was of your acceptance. Be it good or bad performance. For your acceptance was the reward for all my hard work. It did matter to me a lot.. It did hurt sharply when amongst the few people i expect to come up to me with a bright smile and shiny face to acknowledge my effort and hard work, one doesn’t show up eventually. All that required was willingness and perseverance to do the same. But it doesn’t matter now.

Like I said “life is too short to live with regrets”. I have realize it and I wished that person too would realize someday. And this very line was the only thing that kept me pushing on and going beyond my physical and mental barriers everyday through pain and fatigue. It was a choice that I took and I don’t regret it even one bit.

I never planned this write up. I wish to express my feeling in details hence taking the liberty to increase the word count as much as I want. A superb support system of friends and colleagues for which I have no words to thank the almighty. But most importantly both critic and motivator for your perceptions, as it made us what we are.  Lastly to the entire team of AEM 2016 my soul and life goes to you. Because if this indeed happens to be my last AEM 2016 MUMBAI performance, it will be memorable for a life time to me.

Kal ka koi bharosa nai… na he waqt ka… aur na he kismat ka. But I promise you that I will not give up on dancing as doing so would be an insult to god’s gift to me.

Words is all I have to express my feeling and blessing and best wishes is all I have of my own to give you in return.  Ending with a few line from my own poem….

Kal me bhi aaj hoga fasla yeh yakin kar,

Mazil na sahi par waida-eh-safar hasin kar,

Tham le hath fir rasta na dekh….

Tez si chalti zindagi zara ruk ke dekh.

Always remember life is too short to live with regrets of thing unsaid and undone. Say it now, do it now.

Remembering all the near and dear once who are no more amongst us…….this performance is dedicated to them.

Happy Independence Day.

Feedback and comments are welcome.

Just Another Day.

It has been long since I have written something on my blog. I don’t want to complain about it as well. I have no one to blame but myself for it. And would rather not want to blame myself for it as well. Probably I was having very little motivation or inspiration to do the same too. I still don’t have a very good motivation to do the same now as well but it is just that i am being reminded by an event. 

Again this isn’t a good occasion or a bad occasion but it is just an occasion. To be brutally honest with myself and you all it is nothing more than just a date. And I know not many people will be in agreement with me doing this especially now and this would probably won’t matter anything to rest. 

Yes initially it was tough for me to accept this. That it doesn’t matter to people. I still find it hard to believe that a something as important as someone’s feeling doesn’t matter to you. Not just any someone, but that someone who believed to have found a sense of direction in life because of you.

Is it really that tough to accept that you love someone? Is it really that easy to ignore this truth? Is accepting this acceptance really so difficult? 

Maybe its because of ignorance. Maybe it is just because of ego. Or maybe your stubbornness ends up making you feel impenetrable. And then someone decodes and breaks this which makes you doubtful about your own self. But instead of accepting it you doubt it even more. And if we speak a bit more frankly peoples mentality today is so fucked up that they feel everything the other person is saying or doing is with an intention to find a way into their pants.

Or maybe it is just that you lying to yourself about your own self or maybe because you are afraid  of the world. And it is perfectly fine to be scared of a world and society that has failed in love. But that is not what worries me and troubles me. What worries me is the fact that you are lying to yourself about a certain emotion that is as pure as love. 

How can someone be scared of their own self? How can someone lie to their own self? How can you be so ignorant and hollow? 

Because these are the only two words I get in answer to all these questions. You had to be ignorant for not seeing and accepting it. And you had to be hollow as well, for feeling it and yet not accepting it, the love and respect of that someone. And they are so egoistic and stubborn and stupid that they are neither willing to acknowledge nor are willing to let go. More so frustrating is this person is not even willing to give an opportunity. Not to others but to their own self.

Perhaps something that I would say was not a case amongst us. Unlike now at least we were honest enough to accept it. If not at least i was given an opportunity. To try, convince and discuss. It is something i am still scrambling for since.

Frankly speaking there is no point in looking back and comparing it with something even further before but like i said it is an occasion. It is tough to pull yourself out of a certain perspective and think rationally about something totally different. Blame it to the date if at all you want to blame anyone. It is like your forget about this date for 363 days of the year and somehow remember about it on the 364^th day and then it just becomes more than just an occasion. 

I wish to wish you the best of the day. But like i was told so many times none of this matters to anyone. Even if it does i have been made to feel that it doesn’t.  But since it is an occasion its apt we utilize it, to redo something that I love to do. Or the apt way to say, re-begin something that expresses myself. It helps you to contemplate on your belief, faith and trust on something known as love.

If its your birthday today and if you are reading it, there is nothing for me to tell you because it is just another day, its just another birthday and its is just another write-up from just another guy struggling to have his faith in love and he is doubting it because of another random girl who is ignorant enough to lie to herself.

It has become just another day from a special day. The only reason you are remembered this day is because even though you were far you were close, and people near now are unimaginably distant away.

It’s really thoughtful that holding her hands would be something I’ll be missing the most.

back then; and now too.

Baki like i was told so many times it the past... kisi ko koi farak nai padta hai.

Khud ki nadani hatakar dekh
Ishq bhi tu... izhaar bhi tu...
Na dekh sake Jo mere jazbat ko..
Fareb bhi tu aur dagabaz bhi tu.

Second Chance.... (#oSoS story-7)

"Can we talk for 2 mins on the phone before?" was one of the first lines Ankit said to me on WhatsApp. I initially denied talking because even if we did talk, it would be hard for me to remember all of it. But I felt if he needs to talk it must be something very important for him. So I eagerly awaited his call in the midst of my packing.

And upon calling the first thing he said was "well it’s a bit complicated..... ".

Ankit meet barkha through one of the many online marriage portals. Since both knew their individual purposes and intentions of registering, there were no surprises. They both knew why the other person was talking to them. Before meeting each other on the portal both barkha and aniket had been doing partner hunting since some time. until....

Until they saw each others profile and initiated a conversation. Just like every other conversation this too began on a very formal note. But this formal conversation was going to be much much more than just a general hello hi...

It took them just 10 days to get rid of any doubts about each other. It was during the last week of February 2015 they formally dashed into each others profile on shadi.com and it took them merely 10days to feel confident about each others intentions. In the first week of March they meet face to face for the first time.

 
It was in the serene and colourful ambiance of CCD andheri where they meet for the very first time. Although it was the first time they were meeting ankit for once was very sure that he would like to see more of barkha. According to Ankit the best thing he remembered about their first meet was that barkha was very beautiful and very mature at the same time. These two qualities just sank into him.  Their first meeting was followed up by talks on phones. The more they became comfortable, the more they began to meet. The curiosity about the other person and the willingness to share more about themself triggered the increase in the frequency of their meets. From every other weekend to every weekend and even sometimes on weekdays after work hours. 

In less than a months’ time they felt that they have reached the end of their search. In the mean while at least Ankit stopped his life partner search on portal. According to Ankit since both were looking for a long term stable relationship they decided to take it slow and one step at a time. 

It was indeed a very obvious decision take. He liked her maturity and simple hearted personality whereas she too liked Ankits straight forward ness and willingness to allways be there for her. Yet it took them 4 months of dating that too with initially not involving their parents to give a 100% commitment to each other about each other. 

But they both eventually did and after sometime notified there parent about each other and their intentions about each other as well. Surprisingly both their parents agreed to it.
But you must be wondering how a story that is sounding so flawless and simply prefect could be assumed to be 'complicated'. 
And if it is so, why have they decided to go ahead with their marriage?

I know these questions are in your mind as well.

The 'complicated' part of the story is that it not the first marriage for either of them. 

I was a bit worried and hesitant while asking questions related to their first marriage but again it was something that has to done and I am so glad that even Ankit didn't mind opening up about it and sharing it as well. he began...

"well its 'complicated' beause its not our first marriage. Our first marriage ended in divorce. we both initially got married via the arranged marriage route and it didn't worked out either for us. Mine ended in just 3 months but her first marriage took a lot of emotional toll on her as her marriage ended after one year. But although it took me just 18month to get out of it, hers took more than 3 years, mainly because her husband was an NRI. You know these things take prolonged time in our judicial system."

Now I started to understand why they wanted to take things slowly. it was the scars of the past that made them doubtful even of a good thing.

upon asking why did things went south on their first marriage he replied.
"both the partners are equally responsible. I had my signals initially but I still went ahead with it. Mainly because my parents had chosen my partner, which is how things are done, for which even they might have felt responsible and bad at some point of time."

"do u feel that divorce is the new deep, dark and hidden truth of Indian arrange marriage system?” I asked him hesitantly.

“Yes it is…..and it is increasing by the time. I met around 10 to 15 such divorcee… its tough that once you met parents quickly get you engaged and once engaged it difficult for both to get out in case they felt so.. specially for girls… once you go ahead and things don’t work out, it’s the only way out.”

“is it because of the generation gap or because of education which has given both partners financial independence and self-reliance?” I asked.

“Both I would say.. Since family are involved and there is pressure partners don’t get much time to explore each other plus the financial independence too is a major factor.. These things are there they are changing as well…. But still I believe that it happens mostly because of our Karma…”

“do you feel your bad first marriage robbed your romance?” it is what mostly people assume about broken marriage so I had to ask it.

“well it actually it did not rob me if you ask….i was a different person back then… I guess emotionally weak .... as far as my romantic element is concern it is there… it is still there minus all the stupidity part….  I guess we both are matured enough to skip it as well… but still I like to give her that special someone wala feeling too. She is a very beautiful girl and has a very humble family background.. We have so many thing similar amongst us, from education to passions, like we both explore new places, both of us likes to experiment with drinks… aur music toh hai he. So the romantic element is there but in a different dimension”

I was amazed to see the belongingness he had for barkha has transpired into something even I was finding hard to compile into words

“how do you show your romantic side to her?”  I asked hoping that it would bring out something exciting and it did.

“well it was her first birthday that we celebrated together. It was on 4^th October . I tried to make it very special… like kept gifting her throughout the day…took her to a nice restaurant, gave her many surprises there as well… and ended the night by bringing all her family members to the restaurant together and also a guitarist which played all her favourite songs. It seemed liked her face was not enough to withstand the lengths of her smile.. I guess she needed it as well.. it was high time that she too felt loved. ”

I was awestruck by this story. It’s the stories like this that inspires people to still have faith in love and god. Ankit and Barkha are set to get married on 16^th of April 2016. And I am so glad that they chose to share their story with me.

Lastly Ankit has two messages….

For Barkha:- I know you will keep my happiness ahead of yours… we had our downs. Life has given us a second chance….and it’s in our hands to take it to a different level.

For all those who don’t believe in second chance:- Love is beautiful. Whatever is gone is done. Give love another chance with learning from previous ones. At the end of the day it’s good to have someone besides you emotionally, physically and mentally as well.

All the Best Ankit & Barkha… 

Since this is the last write-up of OneStoryOnesketch I would like to extend my sincerest and abundant thank you to all for showing you faith in the idea. All I could share with you is my time, my siddhi and my prayers, because they are the only thing I consider as mine. I just hope people who drive inspiration and strength to listen to their hearts from all your stories.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all and all the best to all 14 individuals

God bless you all.

High on love (#oSoS story-6)

It was the first day of my college. My MBA College. Doing MBA was always a huge personal ambition rather than a dream for me. It was something that was also a very obvious choice since I had done my Bachelors in Commerce. Going through the entire Mba screening process was a very interesting experience. I must mention here that IBSAT was one of the toughest. But I am glad I did considered it in the beginning itself. You know how this CAT scores are roofing up. Cracking IBSAT was tough but getting through GD and PI was simple. So at the end of, it was the only best thing I had with me. But I believe that it was suppose to happen the way it did happened in the end.

So many things were on my head as I drove my Yamaha FZ through the narrow shaded roads inside Hiranandani complex in Powai. The entire complex is cozy and cool at the same time. The tall building gives a new definition to architecture and in one such beautiful building was situated my college. IBS Mumbai it was, a three floored building with a huge open space in the reception area. The college campus is just enough for the purpose it serves. Neither too big nor too small, Just the appropriate size. Just like the space in my heart. It is just the right size. Walking through the glass gates filled my lungs with the air of achievement, content and ambitions. Somehow I already knew that my life is no longer going to be same.

And I saw the first signs of it when I opened the doors to class room LH3. She was sitting there neatly dressed in formals, a pony tail hairdo and my eyes were just stuck on to her. Deep down a voice echoed, everything in my life was about to change, rather than changing it was going to become better. And my life just changed, it was 17^th June 2013.

I would deliberately sit in front of her; I wanted her to notice me. More over I wanted her to notice me noticing her. There was really something special going on between us. But our shyness was coming between us. That awkwardness that by default appears when, your intentions about the other person are much more than friends. It remained the same for another month.

Getting her number was not a very big task specially now in the times of Whatsapp and other socialization apps. We were on the same class group on whatapp and we started to talk on personal chats. It stayed this way for some time. Although we talked for hours on whatspp we were really shy to talk each other in front of college (probably bcoz of our shyness). But i broke the ice one day by giving her a chocolate. Since then we talked in person as well.

I was going through a tough emotional phase at that time. I found a very genuine friend and a trusted person in Ishitaa (with a double aa...). She not only helped me in getting over it quickly but i found a beautiful person in her during that phase. Even though we both had brown eyes, her eyes are much cuter and far better than mine. I would easily get lost in them while we would talk. Those blackish brown eyes would just take me to another place. A place I wished to get lost never to be found again. She had one of the most beautiful brown eyes.

We began to sit next to each other in class. All of our friends knew from our strange behaviour that there was something fishy going on between us. I guess friends know it before you know. So it was on 27^th August I formally proposed her. Well it wasn’t an actual proposal; it was something very unique or rather special I would say.

We were having a nice evening dinner at TimBaktoo’s a very cool hangout place which is situated just near to our college in Powai. We decided to have some drinks you know just to feel a bit easy and relax. But what started with an intention of relaxing therapy ended up in something else. I was initially surprised to see this side of her personality; it was the first time I saw her this way. I guess it was the only way in which she could loosen her minds grip over her heart. Perhaps the best way some may say. Finally when she was totally drunk and on clouds-9 she her heart finally conquered her mind and all she said was “from now on we are a couple!!!!”

To which my obvious reply was “alright!!”.

I think she needed to get high to say it, and I am glad that we did it. It isn’t that it was never gonna happen but would have happened a bit late. I was very happy initially but as time went by I realise I was losing my significance in her life. Somehow I felt she was taking me for granted and won’t give me enough attention. I never had any fancy expectation when I say about attention but atleast enough to say that we are still together. Things were dily-dolly for a year or so.

I felt that she was suddenly starting to become bhav khau. I know it sounds very rude but thing were actually starting to become tough to manage. Mainly because my conscious wasn’t allowing me to be in such a thing were i wasn’t being respected. A point came where things seemed like going above the threshold. Although it was tough, and sounds rude now but it was something that had to be done.

I remember we met at Sirocco. I was assuming that this would be our last meet, as it was the very intention with which I wished to meet her. Upon meeting her I explained her, my state of mind at that moment. It was tougher than it is sounding now. I told her what I was thinking about their current situation and the reasons behind his thoughts as well.

I felt it was better to part ways as both of them were not on the same tangent. Well I guess she liked things to be dramatic in life. maybe she was just confused or atleast not sure. But she cried, like all girls always do. I think it was the time when she realise that even she loved me, and perhaps my intention of moving out triggered this feeling. 

And when you realise a person who loves you is choosing to give up on love because he feels that you don’t respect that feeling pings a sense of fear. This is the fear of losing someone special in your life.

It like you are losing something good, something even better than your own self.  The evening ended on a rather opposite note with respect to how it began. We decided to give each a second chance and since then it has been the best times of our life.

It has been three years since that incident and our bond has grown stronger. Stronger than ever and there is a mutual respect that we have for each other as well. We don’t get much time to spend together, you know how the life in big city like Mumbai is. But still whenever we get we have the best times.

We like to explore new places, new hangouts and places to have cocktails and enjoy variety of food. I am surer than before that we have found our soulmates. And even caste is not an issue for us since we both are of same caste.

All lights are green for us and all we need is a go ahead from our parents. And I know that it will be a yes from them too, because ishitaa (with a double ‘a’) is the best girl for me. We are compatible in all respects and our love has stood the test of times, faced the challenges it threw on us and emerged stronger and firmer than before. I am sure our parents would acknowledge it and bless us for a 

prolonged life ahead of us together.

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Thoughts and views of Rohan Jain.

Words and sketch of Ignatius Lewis.

When distance are just numbers (#oSoS16 story-5 ).

Based on actual conversation.

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“It was one of those days when i was just trying to find something on FB”.

We started to talk awaiting our Mccafe to get ready. Our order number was 292 and i could see a number 276 being flashed on the big screen. It was a medium sized MacDonalds outlet  but the rush inside made it looked smaller.

We found ourselves a place to sit and that was all it took to him to get started.

“Actually I have no words to thank Mark for making it happen...” he began fidgeting with the credit card slip.

“A mutual friend? ” I interrupted.

“No... No...Its Mark Zukerberg....the FB wala” he corrected me. But he sounded as if he knew mark personally. But his gratitude and thanks for him was clearly visible.

“I stumbled upon her profile under ‘people you might know’ and then...” and before I could know he was lost in the memories.

“....then I saw her profile pic, in Navvari dress. I don’t clearly remember the color but I guess it was green. Initially it wasn’t easy for me to believe how someone could so graceful yet simple. I ended up starring at her pic for quiet sometime. I was not sure whether it was because of her looks or because of the Navvari or both. The dress just enhanced her looks”

“I can only imagine how it must have felt” i added.

“Yes and fortunately she replied to my messages, and then one thing lead to another. I wished to know more about her for which she responded with equal enthusiasm. Time revealed that there were many things common amongst us....” he continued.

“Like maybe what??” I interrupted.

“The one I clearly observed was loving the person who loves you...and even more than the person who hates you..hahaha...” he joked.

“....but yes it was really one of those greatest things that became a foundation stone of our relationship.” He ended as he looked back to check our order status on the big screen.

“So when did you guys first meet?” I asked.

As if he was waiting for this question from beginning. He took a long breath as if ready to plunge into those memory seas.

“For that I have to thank my chota bhai.. ..Actually she is studying in pune, and so was him and she was in her 6^th semester of engineering that time. His birthday was due on 24^th march it became an excuse to meet her.”

“So it was 24^th march?” i asked.

“Yes..It was the first day when we meet in person with each other. I found myself in the middle of a huge phoenix mall surrounded my loads of mixed emotions from curiosity to insecurity to anticipation and eagerness. But mostly I was a bit conscious about my height...”

“Your height....?” I shockingly asked.

“haan na yaar... i was just hoping the she doesn’t turn out taller than me. But fortunately it turned out that we were just about the same height. Although she was wearing a simple black top and blue jeans yet she looked elegant and sweet. She quickly guessed my nervousness and joked saying ‘ab mai heels nai pehen paugi..!!’... hahaha”.he again laughed in the middle of it.

“we spend the entire afternoon playing all the games in the gamezone....” he again began.

“hmmm???” I asked sipping my coffee.

“yes every game. Probably it wasn’t the games, it was the company of each other’s that we enjoyed the most, and by the time we were done i realised that she is the one.” he answered.

“itne jaldi?” i asked

“pata nai .. it was.... I think.. I guess the voice of my true self... I took some time but before I could ask myself ‘are you sure about this?’ to that inner voice the answer stood right in front of me”. he answered.

“How did you say it?” it was a very typical question but it was the whole deal of this one story on sketch idea.

“I think there was no need for either of us to say anything. I don’t know about her but i could feel it. But I still wanted to be sure about it, mainly to avoid any confusion....so I asked her. 

We were sitting in front of a cafe on a bench i remember... side by side... initially she was surprised but her reaction assured me that it was a yes.”

“Waow that amazing.. hold on to that.. let me get our coffee.” Our number had been on the screen for quiet a while.

I left him with that beautiful though. I felt it was a height of his emotional memories. I can only assume how one would feel about remembering one of those moments that liberated your life. Falling in love is more of a choice. A choice both the person indulging makes. And if it originates from depths of your heart it will reach the other person hearts as well...

The coffee could wait.

“And then the usual silly stuffs began?” i asked as we stirred our coffee.

“Yes yes.. all the usual silly stuffs and we did all the silly stupid stuff...you know whatsapp... immo everything.... we would just look for reasons to meet each other.” he said as he took few sips from his coffee.

“And then I again went to pune two months later and we again meet at the same mall and she was wearing a beautiful black colour one piece, and OMG was she looking like and angel or what. My heart was about to fall from its place right down on her feet’s.”

“Really??” I was amazed by his excitement.

“But hum bhi kisise kam nai the... the next time I visited her dressed to impress... hahaha”  he laughed.

“What happened?” I had to ask this.

“I was suppose to attended a friends marriage all decked up full suit boot, stood in front of her college with a teddy bear in my hand and got even with her. It was like.... If you can do good.. i can do the same better. And her joy and happiness seemed priceless to me.”

“Did she like it?” I asked.

“Liked it???? She loved it” he answered.

“So only you visited her... she never came here??” I asked.

“mi pan tech mahntlo tila...mich ka yeu bhetayla tu pan yet ja....hahaha.” we laughed

“So did she...?” I asked

“Yes.... She initially cancel a pre-planned visit citing project work and the suddenly called me saying ‘ek tasat panvel pochnar ’ and I was still sitting in my short at my place...” he laughed again.

“And then it was totally filmy scene at panvel station... as we try to locate each other. Apparently it was her first visit here and on the phone we were like .... “tum kaha......mai yahan” and finally after 15 minutes we met....she looked tired and by god even more beautiful than ever....”

For a moment even I was thrown back into my visual of seeing my special person in such a situation.

“She was tired and had travelled all the form pune after her exams. I had planned a few things but had to reconsider most because of her tiredness. The journey from panvel to vashi was the best ride i had ever had. She sat in my bike hugging me from behind and almost fell asleep as she rested her head on my shoulder. Her hair occasionally tickled my neck and I could feel her fatigue from her heavy long breaths on my back. And it was December sunset which made everything even more special. I wished the clocked stopped and the road became endless...i would have given her a ride till infinity” he ended.

“Finally what message do u have for people who don’t believe in distance relationship?” I asked.

“Distance doesn’t matters... your loved one are always closer to your heart... distance makes relationship more firm and rigid” he concluded.

And I couldn’t agree more with him in this regards. Distance as they say still is a physical term, not an emotional one.

happy pappiyan te jhappiyan day...