Dedicated to all those with whom I have fought …. and finally reconciled. But I fear that things will never be normal again .
THE STORY SO FAR…….
Prakarsh Tiwari is doing his MBA at the Indian Institute of Welfare and Management . He is the events co-ordinator of his batch , has got a cool gang Badmaash Company which has Preety , Vibha , Nitu , Ankita as its other members . Life is almost perfect . Only trouble is that he is in love with a Brahmin girl who studied with him in Class 12. He doesn’t realize this till the third year of his graduation when he has a chance meet with Rishika who was here to do a project at ISI . When she was leaving for Delhi after completing the project, she left with two things , her project report , and Prakarsh’s heart…………

OF SOMETHING CALLED LOVE
The love story of a Brahmin boy … its complicated.

CHAPTER 3

THE OLD FLING

If asked to venture a guess , a keen observer with an eye for detail would put Shreya Dasgupta , the junior events coordinator’s weight at 47 kilos . Now as I looked at her gobbling her 5th slice of the pizza I was sure she must have added a pound or two to her kitty . Alongside her, Ishita Datta , another member of the junior events team was merrily sipping a glass of Choclate Mocha Shake . I looked at them , then at the menu , and then at the prices , and then at my cell phone calculator . INSIGHT , the first big event of our Bschool was over , and as a rule , the treat was on me . It is at times like these I don’t want to be the senior events coordinator. I had already told the junior events team that the maximum ceiling for a pauper like me at the place like Pizza Hut was Rs 1500 . Now as I looked at the bill , with Rs 2500 marked on it along with two smilies , I felt my pockets burning . I looked at Shreya , she just smiled at me as if to say , Why should boys have all the fun ? I turned around to Noor , from my senior events team , “Hapsi hai dono ke dono .” I remarked . Noor nodded . But somehow I didn’t mind . Today I couldn’t mind anything . As I was leaving Pizza Hut , my cell phone beeped . A message . “ Am waiting for you at City Centre , Rishika .” I smiled . Rishika had come home for ten days . ‘ A mini vacation , she had remarked . I was really excited . This was the first time I would be meeting her after eternity . I quickly bade my team goodbye and off I went to City Centre . The real party for me began now .

I have never liked City Centre . The place is way too sophisticated for my comfort . It took me an hour to reach there . I called Rishika . Block B , KFC. What was she doing at KFC ? Brahmins and KFC don’t go hand in hand . They sell chicken … we are not even allowed to see chicks . I entered the place and saw Rishika seated at the farthest corner of the place . She was looking like a dream . Blue suit , hairs untied , khol lining her eyes … it is at times like these I want to thank god … Good job boss… She didn’t notice me as she was busy talking with a girl whose back faced me . I went near her and she saw me , gave a great smile . Then she remembered that I was late and so the demeanor changed to a frown .
“ Yeh time hai aane ka ?”
I just gave her a guilty smile . I still could not see her friend .
Then the girl rose from her seat and turned back . As she turned , someone also pulled the ground beneath me …. Or atleast that’s how I felt .
“ Hey , meet my friend and yours too ,” she giggled. “Just called her up to join me here .”
Whether Rishika mentioned her name or not , I didn’t hear … I never needed to . Because I knew her . Priyadarshini Sinha , the girl with whom I had decided to spend the rest of my life , well almost .
……………………………………………….

In Presidency College ,every cool gang has a girl locator, one who keeps track of all the girls of the college and according to past experience and data provided to him by seniors who held the same august designation , classifies the girls as , APPROACHABLE , INACCESSIBLE , TIME WASTE. The last category catalogued only those girls who either had macho boyfriends or who looked very ordinary . Arobindo Halder was the girl locator of our Economics batch at Presidency . He had earned that post , let me tell you and he deserved it . “They say Taxonomy is difficult . wait till you do what I do ?”, he would say. But nobody ever questioned his classification and as such all the dating as well as break up plans were made after a thorough consultation with him.
Just three months had passed and we had become very close friends . Arobindo and I were sitting in the canteen , when he pushed my elbow . I followed his eyes and looked at the girl . “Priyadarshini Sinha, “ he remarked . “Isiko higest mila hai last exam mein.” I looked at her carefully . There was some story in her face . I found it pretty depressing .
“Status kya hai ?” I asked .
“INACCESSIBLE, has only one friend with whom she talks . Not a very gregarious person . Likes to keep to herself .”
I looked at her once again .
“ Chod na yaar . Koi interest nai hai mujhe .”

Next day , our seats had changed , and I found myself sitting just behind the canteen girl . After the Managerial Economic period ended , she took out her Ipod , plugged her ear phones and was lost in music . I tapped her shoulder , “ Hey what are you listening to ?”
She stared at me as if I wasn’t meant to exist .
“ Keith Urban , Sweet thing. “ she relpied and then turned away .
I looked at Aurobindo and said , “ Abbey yeh ladki zandu hai , English gaana sunti hai .”
Now it was my turn to be tapped on the shoulder .
“Tum kya sunte ho ?” she asked .
“ Bhojpuri songs . “ I replied , and then sang “ Missed call marah taru, kiss debu kaa ho” I tried to complement th e vulgarity of the song’s meaning by my vigorous lips movements . The girls sitting next to her laughed . I felt like a hero. I was about to sing the next line along with another set of exaggerated vulgar movements when she turned away.
“Mast gaana hai na ?” I asked .
She didn’t reply . Just turned and gave me a ‘ I will pretend you don’t exist’ look.
As time passed ,however , we started talking . And as time passed more , we started talking more . At nights we would spend hours chatting , doing projects together . In college we made sure that we partnered each other in making presentations . Infact a lot of people started thinking that we were a couple . I however knew perfectly well that Priyadarshini had a boyfriend , Sanjay Pandey , who was a software engineer and a good one at that . I was content with being her friend . Infact she was the closest person for me in the college. We shared our secrets , our triumphs , pains and a lot more . It was during one of the late night gtlak sessions that she told me about the problems with her love life . Sanjay Pandey was a Brahmin , and hence their family was against him getting married to her . Though few people in Sanjay’s family did agree to this marriage , most of the old people didn’t . I felt really sad for her . Perhaps because I knew her problem . Even I was a Brahimn .

One night during a chat , she put forth a question that I had never expected .
Priyadarshini :Have you ever thought of me as you girl friend .
I didn’t know what to say
Me : Umm… I guess I have .
Priyadarshini : Still you dnt get angry when I discuss Sanjay with you ?
Me : I know , you would be the happiest with him . and I want you to be happy .
We talked a little more . As I was about to log off , I asked her ,
Me : Tell me , what would your reply be if I proposed to you .
Priyadarshini : I would certainly let you knw by the third year . He he .
I didn’t know what the ‘he he’ was for .

As days passed I started giving serious thought to this question . Commitment was not a joke , moreover she was already committed . I didn’t know what to do . Did I have to do anything at all for that matter ? One day , I told her that if she ever needed me , she would find me with her .

“ Do you need a formal proposal or something ? “ I asked .
She laughed , “ No I don’t . I will let you know without that also .”
We both smiled . For some strange reason I always prayed that Sanjay’s family accept her . Somepart of me would probably feel bad , I guess . But then I always knew she would be happier with him. Always.
……………………………………
But then problems started creeping up between us . At first it started with small fights . Then the arguments turned more nastier , and the topics pettier .Probably we had become so close that we had started expecting a lot from each other . And as my life had taught me, expectation is the mother of all screw ups. Most of the days , after an argument ,we would not talk to each other . Then she would send a mail to me explaining , the problem ,and my faults . We would reconcile . But again we would find some new topic to fight over . One day things came to such a pass that I decided we needed some time off from each other . We stopped talking completely. During one of those days I had an issue with an idiot , who accused me of fighting with Priyadarshini only because I knew I had no chance with her , that she was happy with her boyfriend and so I had decided to ‘move on ‘. What the hell ? To prove that idiot wrong I showed the gtalk chats that I had with Priyadarshini , a mistake for which I have never ever forgiven myself . The idiot told Priyadarshini about me leaking the chats. They say hell hath no fury as a woman scorned … and they are damn right . Priyadarshini too showed my chats to that idiot. Told the idiot that I had indeed behaved ‘desperately’ with her sometimes . ( I have never forgiven her for that statement) Thus as you see we were behaving like kids . In the end I stopped talking with the idiot . I had already stoped talking with Priyadarshini . The next day , I found that she had deleted me from her Orkut , Facebook and gtalk list . I send her a mail trying to explain a few things but it did not work out . Thus ended a friendship that people thought would manage to go the whole distance. After that incident , all things changed for me . I went back into my shell , never wanting to come out of it . I seldom laughed , never went out with my friends or for that matter participated in any cocurricular activity . Life had almost lost its meaning when one day I met Rishika on the train . She had come here to do a project for ISI . With her around , life changed , and changed for the better .The rest as they say was planned to be.
………………………………………..
I didn’t realize I was still at KFC. I didn’t talk much during the meeting with Rishika , nor did I look at Priyadarshini . Somehow I didn’t want to be reminded of the past .
I returned home . I had an assignment to complete but I could not concentrate . I turned on the television with the hope that it would take my mind off the evening.
A movie channel was airing the movie , I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER . What the hell , I told myself , and changed the channel . The movie being played on the next channel was , I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER . I felt sick . I pressed the remote control . A hindi movie channel, EK CHOTI SI BHOOL . What?? It was as if the heavens were conspiring against me . No more movie channels .Let me watch a sitcom . I tuned to STAR WORLD . No sitcoms , but a reality show . THE MOMENT OF TRUTH…. Atleast this was better than those movies , I convinced myself . A muscular looking man was waiting for his next question . “ ARE YOU FAITHFUL TO YOU CURRENT GIRL FRIEND ? “ ……
I turned the television off and looked up at the skies. Its not helping , God , I wanted to tell him .
That night Rishika rang me up .
Rishika : Prakarsh , are you ok ?
Me : Yes , why do you ask ?
Rishika : Because you were not talking today .
Me : Nothing like it .
Rishika : And how did you like meeting your old friend , Priyadarshini .
Me : Girlfriend , who told you she was my girlfriend .
Rishika : Arrey buddhu , maine bola friend . She is in my FaceBook list . She told me once that she studied in your batch .
I didn’t probe further . Why did not I look at Rishika’s Facebook friend list before making friends with Priyadarshini. But then I never used FaceBook when I had met Priyadarshini . I cursed myself for being so technologically backward.
As I put the pillow under my head , a serious thought came in my mind . I asked myself , why was I feeing so uneasy on seeing Priyadarshini today . Was it just because of the past , or was it because I still had something for her . But that was not possible because I knew I loved Rishika . Nothing could change that . I had to do something . I thought over … and came up with two options.
When I woke up … I had decided what to do .
…………………………………………………………….
Part 4 will be coming this Thursday.
Thanks for reading.