Kahin Ankahin Baatein

A story of Preeti Rawal.

She walked down the isle and thought to herself, that today during the flight will she have a lonely four hour flight, with the fleeting memories of her sad state of affairs, or will she meet someone interesting!.

Quietly she was sitting in her window seat, wearing a sky blue chiffon saree and sleeveless blouse, with the drape around her slim, arms, thrown carelessly and every time she pushed her hair back, one could catch a hint of tears, in her large brown eyes, which had long lashes, flashing with sorrow. She was epitome of ethereal beauty and no wonder, she was catching the attention of other handsome men on the neighbouring seats, but she was so immersed in her own thoughts, that she didn’t pay attention to anyone around.

She was lost in the thoughts of her life , where years of neglect to her desires, were now coming to the forefront, She was a single woman, of just about twenty-eight and she had recently been of out a bitter break up from her live-in partner of five years! She had given it all to the relationship, her time money and all the affection and care she could, but, to no avail and suddenly one fine day she found her so called partner in bed with another lissom beauty, in a compromising position, she was shattered and broken to umpteen pieces.

She was beside herself with anger and when she asked for an explanation, he plainly told her , that he had lost interest in her and he wanted to move on! It was beyond her comprehension, as to how can a person be so demeaning and deplorable in his thoughts and not think about all the feelings of love and passion, which they had shared all these years!

She was shattered beyond repair and was totally disillusioned about life and felt that there was a total pall of gloom around her, when suddenly she turned around and on the adjacent seat she saw her long lost college friend on the same flight.

She was pleasantly surprised and for a moment all the sorrow vanished in thin air! She called out to Rahul and when he saw her, he was also joyous to find his long lost friend, so suddenly! They sat together and chatted away to glory, refreshing each other, about their lives, but, Meenakshi, was quite defensive of her latest heart-break and hardly told him much about her life.

But, there was an effortless camaraderie , between the two and she was surprised, that years of being away from each other, had not affected it a wee bit! Rahul had himself had a miserable break- up from his girl friend of two years, due to irreparable differences and henceforth, Rahul was also single.

The flight about to land in Bangalore and Meenakshi excitedly asked for Rahul’s contact details, so that they could be in touch, but surprisingly , Rahul abstained from doing so, as he was coming to India, to get married, now this was another bummer for Meenakshi, where as she felt that things could be rekindled between the two of them, but they didn’t, so she remorsefully bid him adieu and set off from the airport, to her lonely home in the city.

The biggest surprise was waiting for her at home, where she met all her relatives , extremely happy about something, but , none of them were actually tell her, as what was the happy news all about. Her mother came to her and kissed her on the forehead and told her that she can rest for the night and then they will be going to a friends place for an engagement ceremony. She quietly admitted that she would tag along, but little did she know , that what good news was waiting for her , the next day.

She woke and quickly dress in an ethnic magenta and blue lehenga choli and she was look absolutely stunning! Her mother gave her a set of gold ornaments and she dressed quickly and rushed downstairs, to find the entire family joyous and enthusiastic about something, but no one was actually telling her anything.

She sat in the car lost in her thoughts, about Rahul and how handsome he looked in flight, with a tall lean body and ruffled black hair, with the same deep dark eyes, which always stirred a feeling of love within her, but as she was young and aspiring to achieve a lot, her unspoken words, never got a meaning.

She always felt, that one day she might meet him and tell him, as to how much she cared for him, but the, moment, never came and when she met him on the flight , she felt that she could tell him, what she had felt for years, but her unspoken words, just remained as they were and her feelings were one- sided, that’s what she decide upon.Now when she was going to the engagement party, she was in a morose mood and totally dejected.

When they reached the farmhouse, she got off and moved towards the dais and saw a familiar figure on the stage, with his back towards her and when he turned around, it was none other than Rahul, her first love! She felt a clench in her stomach, when she realised, that she will herself see him getting engaged to another lovely woman.

She sat on a nearby bench quietly sipping her orange juice, when there was flutter in the crowd and everyone whispered that the groom to be, is making an announcement, she varily, looked over her shoulder and tried to see on the stage, as to who the girl is, when suddenly all eyes were on her! And lo and behold, Rahul, walked towards her, looking, as handsome as ever, with the gait of a prince and he held out his hand and said.”Meenakshi, will you marry me?”, for a moment she was dumb-founded, happy exhilarated and flummoxed, as what she should do.

She could only see her prince charming and when she found some words, she said a quiet yes and there a deafening applause, all around her and for a moment, she felt , that she was on top of the world!

She turned around and quietly looked into Rahul’s eyes and she saw those unspoken words of love and affection, which she had missed out on seeing, when she was younger and she considered herself fortunate to meet him again in the present and was filled with the joy of the moment.

She held his hand and promised him a life of contentment and care throughout and felt warm tears flowing down her cheeks and when Rahul wiped them away, she felt so complete and secure in his warm embrace.