Posted:
Chapter one is has me alot questions... am all in for the story.. ur last two stories left me speechless n am guessing its bound to hapoen again.. i love d strong characters and powerfull story u weave..
Mark!
If Kushi had gatherd no moss over the last seven years, I wonder what has become of Arnav in that same period? Has he been standing still or rolled off in a manner characteristic of him.Let the writing happen. It goes without saying that relaxed writing or not, your words are just as always captivating.-H
Isn't it contradicting to believe in abstraction of humanity? Meaning the idea of humanity is already out there and practiced by so many, so why just remain in theory...
And they share the same birthday, what a coincidence!
To my fav!
The immigration officer looked at her face and her passport again and looked back at her face. She stood motionlessly and looked back at the man without an expression on her face.
"It's been seven years." The man noted looking at her immigration form. She let out an unintelligible sound but no words came out. "Welcome home Khushi Gupta," the man said and stamped her passport.
She felt her mouth go dry.
Her gait slowed down as she entered departure lounge. It looked strange even to her; everyone seemed to be in a hurry to get out of the airport to go home or hotels but she felt constricted in her own private cage. It was as if her heart was tied to a different place and the chains were pulling her away from exit. Gulping down the anxiety and unknown pressure, she walked out of the airport.
The city had changed to the point she couldn't recognize it anymore. 'So have you,' her mind needled her unnecessarily. She asked the taxi driver to drive slowly and take a long route to her destination. The man had given her an odd look but hadn't said anything. She placed her arm on the open window and rested her cheek on it. Memories flooded in her mind when she saw the familiar places go by. She could almost see herself in those places with her friends, her sister and sometimes even him.
She had carried five hundred and eight Polaroid photos when she left. She hadn't embraced technology like her friends and had stuck to old school film based cameras and her beloved Polaroid camera. She felt that the photos from these cameras were more honest than a digital one. She took out a book from her purse where she was using one of her photos as a bookmark. It had the two of them walking in a forest trail on a late afternoon. There were no creases of worry or stress on their faces. She ran her finger on his face and bit her lip when past tried very hard to catch up with her. She heaved a sigh so loud that the driver checked on her from the rear view mirror.
Even after seven years, the pain of losing people hadn't subdued.
"Is this the right place?" She heard the driver ask making her lift her head and look around. She nodded mutely. Voices raided her mind then making her deaf to the words her driver was saying. She heard the voice of her sister, crying about the debacle she had done. She could hear him yelling at her insensitiveness. She could hear the laughter of her family when her occasional klutziness made her fall on her dearie more often than naught.
"Excuse me ma'am?" The driver's voice was much louder this time. She snapped out of her reverie and looked at him blankly. "This is when you pay me?" He said sarcastically. She shook her head and chuckled in embarrassment. She dug out her wallet from her purse which had seen better days and handed him the money. Looking at her plight, the driver was kind enough to lug her baggage inside the compound and waved a hasty good bye.
She stood in patio for several moments before ringing the bell. Several scenarios ran through her mind and her nervous state didn't help in instigating anything happy. Chewing her lip she tapped her finger on doorbell. Before she could press the button, the door opened.
It was her mother.
"Hey ma," she said feebly at the dumbstruck face of her mother. Before she could get another syllable out, she was yanked and was in a fierce hug. She could feel the rumbling of her mother's chest and the warm tears on her shoulder. She returned the hug and inhaled the smell of spices, Ponds powder, sugar and totally her mother.
Now she was home.
*****
"You have bags under your eyes," Lavanya said looking at the tired face of Arnav Raizada.
"I am starting a new trend," he said without looking up from the file he was reading. She rolled her eyes at that.
"Let's go out for lunch," she said ignoring his jab. "My treat," she added for good measure.
"Let's order pizza and eat in here," he said blatantly refusing her order in the process of proposing his own.
Lavanya sighed. She really loved her friend very much but sometimes he would go into his douchebag mode and drive her up the wall. "Get your ass out of this cabin Arnav. We are going out in ten minutes," she ordered and walked out of his cabin. She didn't stick around to see him rubbing his temple and sighing deeply.
Thirty minutes later they were seated comfortably in cane sofas next to a pond in a high end restaurant; Lavanya's choice, of course.
"I love sea food here," she gushed looking at the menu. "Do you want to get some?" She asked not looking up from menu.
"I am a vegetarian, remember?" He said reading through descriptions of menu items and searching for a dish which didn't contain meat.
Lavanya looked up from her menu and observed her friend. Habits like these made her swallow the pain she felt when she could see that he was clearly not interested in her as she wanted him to be. It had been seven bloody years yet he was clinging on to something that clearly wasn't around anymore. "Isn't it time to let go?" She asked peering at him over the menu. His eyes which were busily reading the menu, stilled. He gripped the menu tighter for several moments and she saw him relax.
"It's a nice lifestyle choice La," he said looking up to smile at her. She didn't tell him that he had ignored her question. Truthfully she was glad that he always chose to ignore this question. She didn't know if she was ready to hear and accept his honest response if he were to give one.
"You are missing out on lot of good things in life Arnav," she said.
Arnav wasn't stupid. He knew that she wasn't talking about his vegetarianism and were already way past that. She was talking about him and her.
"La, I-" he stopped as his cell phone chose that moment to buzz. He smiled apologetically at her and looked at the phone. His eyebrows rose in surprise seeing the name displayed.
"Payal?" He said surprise still evident in his voice. Lavanya bristled when she heard the name.
Ten seconds later, the phone fell from Arnav's hand. Lavanya leaped and picked up the phone.
"What happened, Payal?" She asked hurriedly.
"La?" Payal asked softly.
"I am here," Lavanya reassured. "What's wrong? Arnav isn't responding and is visibly shocked," she said.
"Khushi is back." Payal said.
"I see." She said and hung up the phone.
She wanted to scream. The seemingly calm exterior of their fragile lives was once again up for turbulence. She wondered if this time they would get away with scars or would it consume all of them in its wretched pain.
Music selection: Only you by The PlattersK is here
Edit
I have this thing going in me and it is called stalking, so bear with me and also ramble a lot, be warned.
There is something about your writing that reminds me of a lazy Sunday morning. It is relaxed, unhurried and totally enjoyable. The thing about Khushi being home after she hugs her mom, the way you described the smell of Ponds powder and sugar. That made me think of my mom and that is such a nice feeling.
Lavanya and Arnav a lot happening there, yet nothing is happening. I like the buildup the story has and I try my best not to ask questions and annoy the author so will stick to my deal.
So much to know and so impatient also, hope this is a daily update kind off story, for my sake.
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