Love...Not just Another Word!!!
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| Designing Courtesy: Raghavendra.G.Yadav |
You can never forget some days in your life.
They become an important day in your calendar. Year after year when you reach
the date, you start remembering everything special about that day. 13th
February was one such day for Neetha...
It was 10 PM and Neetha finally had reached back
home driving her car. As she had a packed day meeting clients one
after the other, she was completely exhausted. She checked the post box and
found what she was looking for: Monthly journal from ISRO. By the time she
grabbed a bite of the chapatis in her plate, her mom was more than excited to
narrate about the marriage proposals which had come by Neetha’s way and show
the photos of those three guys whom she thought were the BEST in the Marriage
market. Neetha as usual was not
interested in the conversation which remained one sided. It had become like a
part of her daily routine. Her mom had a point in being persistent on Neetha’s
marriage. She had turned down all marriage proposals from past 2 years and the
fact that she will be turning 26 this February had made her more worried. Neetha
walked away from the place when her mom had asked this unusual question, “What
is wrong with you? Tell me if you have someone in your mind. Reduces our work
actually...” She just said, “Good Night Mom” and came to her room.
She lay on her bed, trying to sleep
forcefully. Her mom’s question had triggered a lot of other questions in her
mind. Her efforts to fall asleep bear no fruits as her thoughts now traversed
to the past. A past which had made her smile, a past which had made her cry, a
past which was responsible for her present, a past which had made her
understand what is love & a past which had made her very close to HIM. Her
mind now flashed his images in front of her. She looked at her mobile and
realized that it was 13th February 2015. Years ago, it was a day
which had made a difference in her life. All his words started echoing in her
mind for a number of times. A slideshow of his images had started running in
her mind.... It was Rehaan who completely occupied her mind right now.
The first time they saw each other was on the
first day of their Engineering course in St.Peters College of Engineering. Neetha
was a perfect blend of Beauty, Elegance and a good presence of mind. On a scale
of 10, guys in her college had rated her at 7. While 3 months of college had
elapsed, Neetha’s proposal count in college had gone upto 14 and she had
rejected all of them. When guys in her class were creating opportunities to
speak to her, this guy did not even care. Rehaan was very different from the
rest of the guys in the college. Engineering was never her cup of tea whereas he
had a dying passion towards Science. It somehow ended up in these two coming together for a group
assignment. Though initially there were some inhibitions in getting along, she
realized that he was very supportive and she was surprised with the passion and
energy with which he used to work. Whenever she had a doubt, he used to explain
things so clearly to her that she used to travel to an imaginary world and it
used to register in her mind so well. With every day that passed by, they
became very good friends.
Sooner, she realized that he was actually a
wonderful person & appears as a BIG puzzle to every other person who looks
at him standing out from his circle. Though a matured man by his thoughts, he
was still a kid at heart. His eyes always had a sparkle when he was explaining
about something which excites him. Whenever he used to present, people were all
ears because his words came straight from his heart and his eyes used to light
up with a sparkle like a little kid. It
so happens that when you start discovering a person, eventually you end up
thinking more about that person. Her eyes always told a different story and he
slowly started realizing that.... Neetha was falling for Rehaan and so was he.
They say when you love someone, how much ever you hide it, your eyes give it
out.
First Love is always beautiful. It seems like
Love is in the air. Everything in life feels so Fresh and every moment becomes
exciting. Neetha knew that Rehaan is not what he portrays himself to the world.
He is altogether a different person. She also realized that it is easy to
reject a proposal but more difficult to propose the love of your life. Even after
days of practice in front of her mirror, she could not tell him those 3 magical
words. They used to spend most of their time in college together. They used to
talk for hours in the college canteen. Neetha was the only person to whom
Rehaan used to open up. They knew something MAGICAL was between them. He had
become her favourite soul and she had become his favourite soul. But expressing
love was still a difficult task to both.
One evening when they were sitting in the
cafeteria after class, they had a wonderful conversation with each other.
Sometimes some conversations add so much value to your life, that they strike
you deep down and haunt you every time. This was one such conversation between
them. Neetha now turned pages of her diary and stopped to the page where she
had written the whole conversation. As she read through the conversation, her
thoughts now travelled back to the last day of her First Semester just after
her exams....
Neetha: Stop Dreaming Rehaan. Talk to me. You will
always be in your own world.
Rehaan: Dream is not just a word to me Neetha. Its an important part of my Life. By the way what are your Dreams in Life?
Neetha: Dreams?... Dreams don’t work Rehaan. They are always an illusion. Even I had dreams of becoming an Interior Designer... Don’t laugh at me now :P This Engineering was never my thing. The only good thing happened to me in this college is meeting you. Or else I don’t think I would have stayed here even for a semester :P
Rehaan: Are you kidding me? I was under the impression that you like this course.
Neetha: No Rehaan. Engineering has never impressed me. I like designing. I can’t fall in love with this like you. You are crazy.
Rehaan: Then quit Engineering. (He said instantly)
Neetha: (starts laughing uncontrollably): Rehaan you can’t be kidding all the time. I told I don’t like it. That doesn’t mean I am out of my mind. I am studying in one of the top engineering colleges of this country. Once I get out of here, I will be placed with a minimum package of 6 lakhs p.a . Isn’t that a good start for a superb luxurious life? My life will be almost settled. And most importantly I have YOU with me in this college. What else do I need?
Rehaan was silent for a minute. She was
puzzled as to what was running in his mind.
Rehaan: Is this the life you want to live Neetha? Don’t you want to chase your Dreams? Why do you want to get settled in life? “Settling down” is for people who do not want to break the societal norms and try something new. It is for people who are contended being stagnant and not want to grow. It is for people whose existence gets recorded only in their Birth and Death certificate. Society calls it “Well settled life” and I call it as “Mediocrity.” Only Losers say to the World that Dreams do not work and hide their inefficiency behind that sentence. Why don’t you work towards what you love and succeed and tell to the world that “DREAMS DO WORK”
Neetha was stunned by what she actually
listened to. His matured thought process and the intensity in his voice had
puzzled her. Maybe, Rehaan had a lot of layers and every time she speaks to
him, a new person gets visible, she thought.
Neetha: In that case, what are your Dreams in Life, Rehaan?
She knew his face would light up with a
sparkle when he starts.
Rehaan: Hmmm... Dreams are everything to me Neetha. They are the reason I wake up every morning and they are the reason I sleep in the night. I want to become a Scientist.... I want to make things easy for common people. I want to join ISRO one day and be a part of its missions. I want to live every moment of my LIFE. I want to challenge myself and grow every minute. I can’t live this life of job at 22, car at 25, marriage at 27, kids at 30, a house at 40 and retirement at 60. It’s not me... They say “If you are doing what you love, you are never working.” I want to work where my passion lies. Off course I want to have a complete life with all the people whom I love and all the happiness. But whatever it is, one day you will see me on a news channel giving interviews or in the ISRO magazine on my success journey.
Neetha had not even blinked her eyes for a
second. Maybe she had not seen a person who is so PASSIONATE about Life like Rehaan. He
smiled at her again and continued...
Rehaan: Don’t think I am being over confident okay. I believe, Life is not that which happens to us but something that we create for ourselves. There is only one mantra: DREAM about it -->STRIVE for it --> GET it.... If you have a burning desire to make it, how can you even think of failing???
He looks at her in anticipation of her reply.
His enthusiasm had touched a new level.
Neetha: Scientist ji, Autograph please....!! Who knows one day I may have to stand in a long queue to get that :P
Rehaan: (Shies away) Hehe... Idiot let us leave. Too much of philosophy in one day is injurious to mind :-P
They say it’s not possible to tell which
moment made you fall in love, head over heels with a person. But if that was
false, then Neetha knew, that evening had given a new dimension to her Love. She
was crazily in love with Rehaan.
It was 13th February 2010. Love was
in the air that season. The next day was Valentine’s Day. Neetha finally had
uttered those three words and had shared her feelings for him. “I too love you
Neetha. I may not be that expressive but it’s very difficult to not love
you. You are the sweetest soul I have
ever met in my life.” he had instantly
replied. Neetha was extremely happy in hearing what she wanted to hear since
many months. Before the sky could shower
their blessings to this new couple, storm had taken its course their way.
Clenching his fist and holding back his emotions, he had said “But....” and a
long pause followed. “But... what Rehaan???” Neetha asked in confusion. She was
now a bit tensed. Every second that passed by seemed very long in that silence.
Silence always gives birth to new thoughts.
Rehaan
answered, “I am afraid that I may not be able to handle a relationship. I can never
be your typical boy friend types. I can never tell you “I Love you” 10 times in
a day just for formality sake. I told you about my dreams. There is so much to
do in life.... Lets say we enter into a relationship now, things will be very
beautiful in the beginning, we will have a great time together, in getting
closer to each other we will start losing every other persons in our lives,
College ends and we will be in different places altogether, someday we will
have a fight that I am not able to give quality time to you, someday I may
start telling u “Give me some space”, someday you may start telling me “I don’t
care for you enough and I have changed.”, someday we may regret our own
decisions & someday it may end up in a Break up. I do not want such an
ending to this Magical relationship we have. I am not being a pessimist. But we
are in such an Age that when we look at the same thing 5 years later we feel we
were so immature. I don’t want that to happen between you and me. It is fine if
we don’t end up together but we should never end up thinking why we are
together. That doesn’t mean I don’t care for you. May be right now, I may not
be able to give you the care that you deserve. That’s my worry.”
Even when she had tears rolling down her
cheeks, one thought crossed her mind: How can a person think in this way? His
thoughts are so matured. Maybe in any other case, she would have tried to
convince him. But maybe even she felt he made sense in what he just said.
Sometimes & only sometimes does the Heart and the Brain go hand in hand. She wiped her tears and finally said, “I will
wait for you, Rehaan.” “But How long?” Rehaan asked. “Till the time you realize that you can give me the love and care I
deserve.” Neetha instantly replied. “I don’t want you to wait Neetha. It’s
not practical. I don’t want to create any uncertainty in your life. Life always
offers us its surprises. Someday someone better than Rehaan can come into your
life. I just want to leave it to TIME, Neetha.” She looked into his eyes. It was
moist. His hands were shivering. She held his hands firmly, looked into his
eyes and said, “Its very difficult for me. But I will assure you that I won’t
bother you again. Go, chase your Dreams Rehaan. I will follow my heart too.
Remember that I will be happy for every achievement of yours. If we are meant
to be together, someday we will meet up. Let us just leave it to TIME.” and
hugged him tight for the first and the last time. With tears rolling down their
cheeks, they had parted their ways. Every moment of walking back felt so long
that day...
Love
makes you weak, Love makes you strong, Love makes you sad, Love makes you
happy. Love makes you do so many things. Ultimately, it transforms you altogether as a new person. The last thing
Rehaan heard about Neetha was that she quit Engineering and left the college.
Neetha had turned an introvert and lived in her isolated world. She missed
Rehaan like crazy. An introvert by nature, Rehaan had recently opened up to
Neetha and now that she is gone, he became a lonely soul once again. Sometimes
some decisions in life cost you so much.... Whenever Rehaan feels like sharing
something with Neetha, he used to text her on her previous number even after
knowing the fact that she had changed her mobile number and destroyed her
previous sim card. It used to give him an immense satisfaction. Whenever Neetha missed Rehaan, she used to
place his photo on her table and start speaking to him. She used to cry like a
small kid, she used to share important happenings in her life, she used to
scold him for being so stubborn & ultimately wish him for his future
endeavour. Though she knew that Rehaan in the photo won’t be able to console
her, speak to her, share coffee with her, she used to talk to his photo for
hours. “Is it possible to love a person to this extent?” she used to ask
herself. Even after a year, they made no attempts to meet each other. The only
means of checking what was happening in each other’s life was through their
Facebook Profiles. Years passed and things changed but the HOPE still stayed.
They got busier with work but somewhere they crossed each other’s mind at least
once a day. Five years had passed. Rehaan had sent almost 6,630 messages in
those 5 years to Neetha though he knew that she could not be able to read any
of them. Neetha always had Rehaan in all her daily prayers. They still didn’t know
what Destiny has in store for them.
5 years had elapsed and they had not seen
each others face or talked a single word. Even though they had hundred reasons
to forget each other, deep inside their love had only grown stronger. They say only absence can make you feel the
REAL PRESENCE of the person. Neetha now run her own Interior Designing
Company called “Art to Heart Designs Consultancy Pvt Ltd.” with 126 employees
working under her supervision. Deciding to quit Engineering became the best
decision in her life. She owe every bit of her success to Rehaan. Just
when she rewinded the whole episode once again, she was left with a tear in her
eyes and a smile on her face. She opened the ISRO magazine and turned pages to
the usual “Scientists Desk” column in Page 16 and felt happy seeing Rehaan’s
photo and his write up. It was Rehaan’s column and that was the only page she
used to read in the entire magazine. He used to write for this column from past
1 year. His unending passion had taken him to where he is now. His summer
internship in ISRO had given him a job offer which he always dreamt of. He was now a part of India’s pride: ISRO.
Valentines Day Eve-11:58 PM
By the time she recollected the entire story
and finished reading his article, it was already 11:58PM. The next day was
Valentines Day. Her unending determination of not bothering him had gone for a
toss, especially after recollecting the whole story and looking at his old
photos. She felt like breaking the
silence and wish Rehaan for Valentines Day. Innumerable thoughts had crossed
her mind. Does he remember me? What if he asks who I am? What if he has moved
on? What if he has a new girl in his life? What if he is already engaged and
about to get married? With all negative thoughts thrashing her, she had typed
“Happy Valentines Day my dear” and erased the same for more than 5 times now.
Finally unable to gather courage to wish him, she finally typed, “How are you,
Rehaan?” and read the 4 words for atleast ten times before pressing the ‘Send’
button.
Valentines day-12:00 AM
It was 12:00 AM and her heartbeat had increased
its pace of pumping blood. She clicked on “Send” button. Exactly, at the same
time, her Facebook messenger had displayed a big message. She couldn’t get it
in the first go. But much to her surprise it was from the person she had least
expected. It was from Rehaan. Neetha was now Awe struck. She couldn’t wait to
read what he had sent. If he had also sent a message exactly at the same time
without even seeing her message, was he also thinking about her? Did the
MAGICAL CONNECTION between them work? Her anxiety knew no bounds. She could
hear her heart beat pacing hard. She started reading his message:
“Hey Neetha wish you a Happy Valentines Day...
Its been 5 years since we met face to face. We haven’t even shared our thoughts
across. I just want to tell you that I love you from the bottom of my heart. In
my journey to follow my heart and reach my Dreams, I realized that the journey
is beautiful and its more beautiful when shared with YOU. I do not regret my
decision that day Neetha as if I had accepted it right away, maybe I would not
have understood what is True love, how is it to love someone like crazy, how is
it to wait for someone without any expectation, how is it to really miss
someone. I have MISSED YOU Neetha, like REALLY and not just for words. I have
sent you 6,630 texts sharing all my happy and sad moments with you though I knew
you could never read them. I am pretty sure you have understood how is it to
work on what you really love. Maybe in the course of getting what we really
want, sometimes a BREAK is necessary to appreciate things better. I think every
day in this 5 years, I have become closer to your soul. Will you be my soul mate Neetha? You COMPLETE me in all aspects. Let us walk
this journey of Life together. Let us dream together and embark on our journey
of life. I just want to say that I had loved you all these years, I love you
even now and I will continue to love you till my end. Tell me now. Will you be
my Valentine?”
She started typing.....
26th February 2015: 12:30 PM
The Hall was full that day. The red carpets
lead way to the stage which witnessed the Mantap decorated with flowers and
setting up the stage for the rituals. Wearing his Blue Sherwani, sporting his
spiked hair and a clean shave it was Rehaan in the centre. The last minute
tensions prevailed as it was an event fixed in a hurry. Finally it was the
moment which everyone was waiting for. She made her way to the Mantap. Their eyes met
as she walked towards him. Neetha was looking stunning in her Pink saree. As
she stood next to him, she realized this was the place she always wanted to be
in: His better half. As he stood next to her, he realized that she was the missing
puzzle in his otherwise incomplete life. He felt she now COMPLETED him. As they
exchanged rings, the crowd burst into applause. As they applauded, they only
knew that two people were getting engaged for a commitment of a lifetime. But
only they both knew the range of emotions they had gone through to reach there.
She looked at him and smiled and her eyes told him, “This one moment makes
those 5 years of wait WORTH IT...” and he understands it as always and smiles
back and holds her hand in trust.
The quest
for true love has always been in this world since the time Life started. What
is love? The answer is always subjective. But love is not just when you are
together all the time. It is when you start believing that you can hold the
other persons hands and walk the wheel of life. It is when you can stand the
test of time being apart and still have the patience to wait. It is when you
can navigate into the other person’s life and LIVE their DREAMS together. True Love is always a MAGICAL CONNECTION
between two souls. It only starts and never ends. As time passes it only gets
stronger as the physical attraction no longer stays but a deep emotional
attachment starts. It is not true when someone says love spoils life as True love only
knows Creation and not Destruction. They say Love is the basis on which the
Universe runs. Love is the binding force for any relationship.So, give
love to your Dreams and make them fly in the air because you are not just born
to settle and survive but to grow and conquer. If your dreams come from within
and your love is true, then nothing can stop them from reaching the
destination. Nothing can make this World more beautiful than by spreading love. And if you love a person, let them Go. If they come back to you, they were yours.
If they don’t, they were never yours.... Because Love is not just another word. Its something eternal....
-Naveen S N
