THE PROPOSAL DESIGN OF LOVE

THE STORY SO FAR.

Prakarsh and Anushka both work at the same company and are in love with each other. However Anushka’s father is the owner of the company and does not agree to their marriage. Infact he changes the company rules stating that married couples can be transferred anytime. So Prakarsh and Anushka initially decide that Prakarsh will quit his job and look elsewhere. However all of a sudden he changes his mind and asks Anushka to quit. Anushka does quit but decides to sever all ties with Prakarsh. When Prakarsh calls at her house the maid informs him of some accident in the family.

THE PROPOSAL DESIGN OF LOVE

THE END.

As he rushed to the cardiac section of the OPD he saw a girl being consoled by Mr. Pansari. He couldn’t make out the countenance from the distance but as he drew closer, he heaved a sigh of relief. Anushka was the girl crying.

He tiptoed near her and gently put her hand on her head. He didn’t care for Mr. Pansari’s reaction. Anushka looked up , and quickly pushed him back. Prakarsh didn’t know how to react.

“Anushka , wait , I am sorry. Please listen…”

He was cut short by her.

“He had a heart attack when he heard I had resigned. When you Prakarsh Tiwari forced me to resign.”

She took a glass from the corner table and gulped some water. Prakarsh just kept looking at her.

After she had relaxed on her heavy panting, Prakarsh remarked, “ Anushka I think we need to talk.”

She looked at him straight in the eye.

“I don’t want to look at your face now. Go away.”

Prakarsh turned back and kept walking. He knew it was not the right time for her to know anything. He didn’t go to the office. The Mumbai headquarters of ACM had issued a half working day notice almost immediately after the news of Seth Ramniklal’s cardiac failure surfaced.

Prakarsh could not stop feeling responsible for all this. If he knew the price would be so heavy, he would have himself resigned. That night he messaged her twice.

“We need to talk.”

She didn’t reply. He gathered some courage and decided to ring her . But she cut the call. It was at that time Prakarsh realized the gravity of the situation.

Anushka Mittal had never ever cut Prakarsh’s call.

…………………..

1 month later.

She kept fiddling with her cell. Last time she had been at the Kolkata offices of Backwaters was for the final interview round with the Vice President of the company. She had failed to make the cut that time. The very same thought kept coming back. Last time she had been that nervous was when Prakarsh had held her hand the first time. But then Prakarsh was almost sweating too. A smile swept past her face but she quickly turned normal. Its strange how happy memories come with the bad ones. She had prayed to God, that their relationship would work. But then….

A lady entered the room where Anushka was waiting. “Anushka , you are being called now.”

Anushka stood up arranging her documents as she walked. She wondered how destiny worked. After quitting her job at ACM, she had taken Seth Ramniklal and shifted base to Mumbai. She had decided to wait for some time when one day she had got a mail asking her to come to Kolkata for the final round interview for the post of senior consultant at Backwaters. Anushka had immediately dialed the HR. After a semi formal introduction Anushka asked her the question she had found very intriguing.

“But why am I being called just for the final round?”

She could hear someone brushing through some paper at the other end, and then the HR lady answered.

“Mrs Anushka, your CV here says that you have been working as a Group leader at ACM for 21 months. Is that correct?”

She was reading my CV. Anushka just answered a feeble, “Yes”.

“Well, you have your answer then. It was nice talking to you.”

Anushka came back to the present only when the man outside the VPs cabin wished her ‘Good Afternoon’ and opened the door for her.

Anushka peeped inside.

“Come in” a voice beckoned.

“Here we go.” Anushka silently muttered herself.

The man outside the VPs cabin rushed to the corner of the wing and stopped only at her desk.

“She just entered the VP’s room Madamji.” He was panting as he said the words.

The lady offered the man a 50 rupee note and then typed something on her Blackberry.

………………………………….

Prakarsh looked at his watch. 1.50 pm. Life had changed so much in these few days. He had been assigned a new Group leader . Mr. Pansari had shifted him to the ninth floor for reasons he had never bothered to provide. Prakarsh however didn’t mind any of it . It just didn’t matter now. Life without Anushka meant nothing.

He stood up and looked around. It was lunch time and the entire 9^th floor looked deserted. He decided to take a walk around the empty desks. He wasn’t hungry. As he came to the end, he saw the same lanky boy he had met once on the 10^th floor. The boy was aimlessly typing on his keyboard.

“Won’t have lunch?” Prakarsh asked.

The boy was taken aback. He turned his head and looked at Prakarsh.

“The last time I met you, someone used to call me for lunch everytime . Now I am called by no one.”

Prakarsh realized that the ‘someone’ being referred to must be a girl.

“Will she call you back? “ Prakarsh asked. He didn’t know why he was so interested but perhaps he could identify with the man’s loneliness.

A moment of awkwardness ensued. The lanky guy remarked, “I hope so.”

“And who are you waiting for?”, this time it was the lanky guy’s turn to ask.

“The last time I met you, I used to gaze at a girl the whole time during lunch. She just quit her job.”

The lanky guy turned his head and started typing again. As Prakarsh started walking back , he heard a voice, “ Will she come back then ?”

Prakarsh gave the question a thought. Anushka had never messaged him back. Her friends said she had changed her number for the same reason. He didn’t even know where she had been staying for the last one month.

Prakarsh walked over to the lanky guy. Then he answered, “Yes, she will.”

He had not even finished these words when his cell phone vibrated.

He saw the message. He started praying.

…………………………………….

The interview could not have gone better. The Vice president was impressed with her profile and role at ACM , so much so that he had even asked her opinion on the viability of some projects Backwaters was considering.

As Anushka stood up waiting eagerly to take the evening flight to Mumbai, the VP remarked, “You know its funny how things work. A month ago we had actually shortlisted a guy from ACM , profile’s nothing compared to you of course, but then Rishika Basu speaks very highly of him. We called him for the first round of interview, and guess what? The goat does not show up. I was so pissed with Rishika. But then she got me your CV. I am planning to give her a raise. What say eh ?” , the man chuckled as he said it.

Something felt strange in what she just heard. ACM & Rishika Basu. But then ….

She didn’t even bother to say thank you. She went straight to the reception and asked the lady sitting there.

When she approached her desk , Rishika was about to leave for a meeting. However she stopped when she saw Anushka

“Rishika , I just need to talk with you for 5 minutes.” , Anushka pleaded.

Rishka looked at the girl who had the most coveted thing she had ever loved.

“That’s what he has been asking from you Anushka all this while. Just 5 minutes.”

………………………………

Prakarsh frantically waited for a reply but it didn’t come. He noted the time. 2 hours had passed and Rishika had not bothered replying. That was not like her. Unless something amiss…. He shuddered at the thought.

He waited for some time and then resent her the same message the 7^th time.

“Is it over?”

The reply came after 10 minutes but it dumbfounded him.

“No . It can never be over.”

…………………………………

“Jaldi kijiye bhaiya.” Anushka almost screamed at the taxi driver.

She didn’t care if the driver saw her crying. She looked at her watch. 6.00pm. He must be returning to his flat which he shared with some of his friends. Rishika told her that now he lived there alone. She could recall every line of the conversation she had with Rishika a while back.

“He had given me his CV long time back and had asked me to forward it to the HR. A month ago one of our consultants was shifted to our onsite office in London and so an opening cropped up. I didn’t even consult Prakarsh and forwarded his CV. When the VP asked me my opinion I was very positive and he was called. The moment Prakarsh knew about this he asked me to cancel his interview and arrange for your interview instead. He sent me your CV, along with an apology mail to the VP for not attending the first round.”

Anushka found it difficult to breathe. There was a lump in her throat. How could she not listen to him? He just wanted to talk. He wanted a chance to explain.

“ Prakarsh knew you would not accept this so he never told you the correct reason. But then he saw you were taking it as a completely different thing. After your father’s heart attack he wanted to come clean but you never talked.”

A speck of tear fell on Anushka’s finger. She would never forget what Rishika told her at the end.

“You know Anushka in a relationship one of two people always loves more. In your case, it was him, always and for that one reason I will envy you.”

Something came to her mind. She ruffled her bag and found out her old SIM card. She inserted it in her cell and waited for some time. 497 messages. Out of which 367 were from him. As she scrolled over the messages she felt the guilt weigh more heavily over her. 366 messages had the same thing written.

“Just need 5 minutes to explain. Please.”

But it was the last message which made her feel the luckiest person in the world.

“You always said that the biggest failure of our relationship was our fights. But you know something, fighting is not failure. Giving up is. But I can never give up on you, because I am stuck with you Anushka. And believe me I have thanked God every god damn moment for it. Love you. Miss you.”

She cried more. She just wanted to hug him.

…………………..

He reluctantly opened the door. He had not even changed.

Seeing Anushka before her, he almost felt like he would himself get a cardiac arrest.

The next few moments both stared at each other. Anushka looked at Prakarsh. He looked disheveled, unkempt and lost. His room was a mess. However in the corner she saw a framed picture of her.

“Why did you do this?” she asked, more because she didn’t know what else to say.

Prakarsh heard her voice after a month. It felt magic.

“I am sorry for everything.” Prakarsh replied.

“What are you sorry for? Why didn’t you tell me everything?”

“I sent you messages. Lots of them.”

“367 of them.”, she remarked.

Nobody talked for a while. Then she shouted, “Buddhu ek aur message bhejna tha na. Main maan jaati.”

With that she hugged him.

………………………..

EPILOGUE

Two years later

He stared at the baby boy for a while not being able to figure out what to say.

Anushka helped him, “He has you eyes.”

Prakarsh held her hands. He kissed her forehead and remarked, “I love you.”

“What should we name him?”, he asked.

“Papa wants it to be Seth Hiralal Tiwari, but I told him you would not agree.”

“You know now that Mr. Pansari has made me a group leader, I don’t think I mind.”

Both of them laughed.

Life seemed almost perfect. Prakarsh wondered if it could ever be better.

Anushka then said, “But it’s one thing that I and daddy both agree on . He will be great for ACM . Atleast I know he will be an expert at writing proposals.”

Prakarsh looked a little lost.

“And why is that?” he questioned.

Anushka pressed his hands tightly.

“Its in his genes. His father after all was an expert in writing them.”

Then she smiled.

………………………..