LOST LOVE REGAINED

It was still dawn when I stepped out of the cab and walked towards the entry gate of the Delhi airport. The early morning February air was pleasantly cold. I was travelling to Bengaluru to attend a college friend's wedding. It had been four years since we graduated from the same college. This wedding was also going to be a reunion of our batch mates. But what I didn't know was that the reunion would begin much ahead of time; right in the queue in front of the airline counter. I was almost sure it was she. Same height! Same long hair! Same complexion! Curiosity had my eyes glued to her. And then about 60-odd seconds later, when she turned, she proved me right. My ex-girlfriend stood two places ahead of me in that queue. We had never met after the college farewell.

Our eyes met and stood startled. What to say? Our bodies were still but it seemed that our hearts were conversing with each other. Time had rewound our lives four years back. We both had a lump in our throats. Does love die? Has it the quality of being reborn? After all it was our first love.

It was a strange feeling. I tried to show an outward expression of not being perturbed. However, inwardly, my heart was beating very fast.

‘How are you Abhay?’

I was listening to the voice of a person who had been my soul mate for three long years. Our crush began in the first year itself.

Someone has rightly said – “When people fall in love, they burst into flames.”

She was the most beautiful women I had ever imagined. It was actually love at first sight. It was of course the greatest day of our lives when we expressed our love for each other. I gave her roses and her favourite chocolates. Suddenly it seemed I was flying and not walking on the ground. The weather had turned awesome. Quite rightly, when you have a gorgeous woman as your girlfriend the weather is bound to get lovely.

Each day, after classes, we would go for an outing. Either it would be a movie, the mall or sometimes even to a nearby park. Kissing and cuddling had become a daily affair. When we would depart each evening it used to be the saddest part of the day. The nights would be spent chatting or conversing on the phone. In the mornings we would get ready and speed towards the college to have the first glimpse of each other that day. The world had ceased to exist for us. What mattered to us was each other’s company.

My friends were jealous of me. Why wouldn’t they? She was the prettiest girl in the college.

‘You are lucky Abhay,’ said Rohan.

Rohan was my best buddy. A tall, good-looking hunk. Girls would swoon over him. Manaswi was a different girl altogether. She liked men who were caring and of course good-looking. Looking muscular did not matter to her much. She wanted to grow old with me. I still remember that’s what she had said when we were in each other’s arms sitting in the shade of a tree in a park.

Lovers have only two types of endings to their story. Either they become life partners or end up in breakups. When they become life partners it is like “they lived happily ever after”. On the other hand, if they face a break up in a relationship, it is very tormenting in the beginning. Not finding your lover around is like living on a lonely planet. There are people around you but still you find yourself very lonely and upset. Life in itself becomes a burden. You search for your lover in every place you visit, even though you know that he or she would not be there for you anymore.

All was going well in our relationship. Till the day Manaswi’s parents overheard her talking to me on the phone. We were to meet at the T.S. Mall on the outskirts of the city. Her parents followed her. Probably they wanted to check who I was. On phone, while Manaswi was talking to me, they couldn’t figure out whether the person on the other hand was a boy or a girl. They had grown suspicious. We hugged each other at the entrance of the mall quite oblivious of the fact that prying eyes were watching us. We entered the coffee shop hand in hand and found a corner for ourselves where we could be in privacy which was about to shatter in a few moments. The closeness led to a hug and kiss. Suddenly we heard a voice and got into our senses. Her parents were standing there, seething in anger.

Manaswi’s father shouted at me. She was immediately taken away. All I was left with was insult. I tried to call Manaswi that day and even on the subsequent day, but the phone was switched off. I tried to contact Suchi who was a very dear friend of Manaswi. Suchi knew everything about the latest incident. Perhaps Manaswi might have called her at a time when her parents were not at home. She had told Suchi to convey to me that she would not be able to meet me anymore. Her parents had decided to send her to a college in another city. When I heard this I was taken aback. How would I live without Manaswi? Suchi even told me that Manaswi was crying on the phone.

As days passed by all I was left was with the memories of Manaswi. Her beautiful face when she laughed was in front of me every minute. I even risked meeting her at her home. At the door, I found a board on which TO-LET was written. On further verification from a neighbor, I got to know that their family had left for another city. The person even did not know where they had gone and what their new number was. This made me more dejected. I had tears in my eyes. My last hope of reuniting with Manaswi had also been dashed to the ground.

Hours changed into days and days into months. I was slowly and slowly picking up the bits of my life. I had absorbed myself into my studies and started to focus on my life. It’s very difficult to forget your first love.

Incidentally, we both had adjacent seats in the aircraft. We both were very curious to know what each other was doing presently.

‘Are you in a relationship?’ I asked.

‘No,’ she replied.

‘And what about you?’ she queried.

I replied in the negative.

She did not involve herself in any relationship after that. Neither did she marry in spite of repeated insistence from her parent’s side. Probably her parents now had realised their mistake. They should have allowed Manaswi to continue her relationship with me. Probably we could now also have been happy in our married lives. Destiny is the strongest force in this world.

I heaved a sigh of relief when she told me she is not in a relationship. The flight landed at Bengaluru airport. I helped Manaswi with her hand luggage. After reaching the belt area I picked Manaswi’s luggage. Both of us were waiting for a taxi outside the airport. It took about an hour to reach the hotel, which our common friend Avijit had booked for us to stay till his wedding. I was quite curious to know from Avijit why he had booked us a common hotel when we knew that we were no longer in a relationship anymore. I had decided that I would inquire of him when I meet him at the marriage function. Later I would come to know that this was pre-planned by Avijit and he would be the person who would unite us in the immediate future.

Avijit as we later came to know talked to each of us separately on the phone. He did not talk about me to Manaswi or about Manaswi to me whenever he conversed on phone with us individually. However after talking to us he knew one thing for sure. We both had a strong liking for each other even after four years of break up. Probably the spark of the love between us was still alive and kicking. Somebody or some incident needed to ignite that spark.

Both of us went into our respective rooms. We were to proceed to our friend’s place in the evening for a pre wedding cocktail bash. I had just changed into comfortable clothing. I received a call on my mobile. The number of Manaswi flashed on the mobile. We both had the same number for the last many years. Probably even four years after breakup we had each other’s number. Manaswi wanted to meet me at the buffet at the hotel restaurant.

We met at the pre-decided time. She looked lovely in her green top and a pair of tight jeans. I thought she had grown more attractive over the years. We sat opposite each other at the luncheon table. A lavish Buffet was laid out on one side of the restaurant. Probably the lunch menu was not on our minds. Meeting each other after a gap of so many years and sitting opposite each other in the privacy of the hotel luncheon restaurant was spelling a magic on our minds.

‘So! Manu did you miss me all these years?’

That’s what I used to call her.

She was taken aback by the sudden popping of this question from my side. She sounded very emotional and told me that she missed me a lot.

‘The initial days were too difficult to handle, Abhay.’ she said.

‘You were my life.’

‘My parents were too adamant, not to let me meet you.’

In fact her father had decided that she would be sent to another college in a different city. He knew one of the trustees in a different city and talked to him regarding my admission. The trustee had no problem in giving one seat for the admission.

I told her that she was still in my memories each day.

Perhaps no one could fill the void left by her in my life. If at all anyone could it was to be Manaswi. I held her hand in mine. We both were looking into each other’s eyes. We had a sumptuous lunch that day. After lunch it was once again time to go back to our respective rooms. After a nap, we would proceed to Avijit’s place. I asked her to come into my room. The sparkle in her eyes was enough to convince me that she would surely come to my room.

In a few moments we were in my room. The sparks of love within us and the reignited passion was making us closer with each passing moment. I pulled her to myself and within seconds we were in each other’s arms. We were kissing passionately and made love.

In the evening we attended the pre-marriage bash at Avijit’s residence. He welcomed both of us. As he was quite free at the time we met him in the evening. He seemed happy to meet both of us together. He could sense that his plan had paid off. He booked rooms for us in a common hotel so that we could meet each other. I took him to one side and asked him how come he had booked rooms in the same hotel. He had a mischievous smile on his face.

The look in his eyes said it all. Without his confirmation I knew that it was Avijit’s greatness that made life purposeful for both of us.

At last the cat was out of the bag. All this had been done purposely. Avijit had actually been a true friend. He made two lovers unite again. Very few people bother about such things. When Manaswi came to know this she hugged Avijit.

We attended all functions very happily. The weather and the surroundings had suddenly changed. Life had become full of vigour and promises.