Proposal

For a change Raksha came to the Cafe 10 minutes earlier. She was very excited about what was going to happen next. She started to imagine all the sorts of things that Ritvesh would do once she told him. She also imagined her getting embarrassed when he goes crazy. She was getting herself mentally prepared for that moment. She even looked around hoping for a lesser crowd which would mean lesser stares and lesser embarrassment. She was in one dreamy world, where she new no sorrow, no pain. The only thing that she knew was happiness. And she was indeed very happy.

Coming out of the dreamy world she glanced at her watch. They were supposed to meet at 7. The watch was showing 7.10. This seemed a little strange. He was the one who used to come early before. And she was the one with the delay. Today the roles seemed to have swapped. But she was so very happy that anger feared to linger in her mind. But every passing moment made her more anxious, more nervous and above all anger gained courage and take control of the happiness. 

After about 300 glances the clock showed 8 and in between those 300 glances she tried calling him about 20 times. But to no avail. He never answered her calls. And everytime she kept consoling herself that he might driving. But after the 300th glance and one hour of impatient waiting anger took complete control of her mind. She left the place all dejected, disgusted and angry. After she reached her place she thought of giving one last call. She called and was waiting for him to answer. One ring.. two rings... three rings.,.. she was about to disconnect when the call was answered. Even before he could say something she started off

"Ritvesh, where the hell have you been? I was waiting there for one hour all alone. You did not even care to turn up" and before she could say more 

"Hey, I am not Ritvesh. I am his friend, Param"

"I am sorry. Where is Ritvesh?"

"Well right now he is in the hospital"

"Why? What happened? How? When? Where"

"Relax. He met with a small accident while he was on his way to meet you. But now he has been admitted and the doctor says that the injuries are minor and external. Nothing much to worry about. He will be out of the hospital in a day or two."

"OK. Where is he? I want to come over and see him."

He gave her the details and asked her to come the next day as it was very late in the night. 

She could not sleep all night because she was very worried. Next day morning she went off she see him. The sight of him on the bed with so many wounds made her eyes wet. She gained control of herself and went closer to him. 

"How are you feeling?"

"I am fine. Just that the doc doesnt allow me to go home now."

"Oh, really?" and she touched a wound. He shrieked in pain. 

"Ok. Not fine. But I ll be fine in a few days."

She looked at him thoroughly now. His left ankle was bandaged. 

"What happened to your ankle?"

"It got twisted when i fell from my bike and the bike's weight was on the twisted ankle."

"Is there any dislocation?"

"Nope"

Now she could not control herself anymore. 

"Ritvesh, stupid fellow, why did you have to drive so fast. What if something bad had happened?I was waiting there to tell you about the way I feel about you. And you did this. What if the same thing had happened to me? How would you feel?" and she burst into tears.

The only thing that Ritvesh really heard in the whole thing was her feelings about him. His face suddenly lit up. 

"You said something about feelings. What is it?"

"Yes, I think I have fallen for you."

He was ecstatic but at that moment he had to console her. 

He put his hand on her shoulder and told her "Dearie, dont worry. I am fine. And I ll be back to my normal self in a few days. But right now I dont feel the pain. Every part of my body is jubilant. Had I been well I would have jumped but may be god wanted it this way only. Even if I was on my deathbed now I would have come back. You have made my day and you dont even know the amount of happiness you have given me now. These cuts and bruises dont matter anymore to me. The twisted ankle doesnt seem to hurt me anymore because one part is safe. My heart, which is with you. You have no idea as to how I felt when I was home. I felt as if I left something here."

"Ya. Thats my next question. Why the hell did you not call me?"

"I was wondering whether it would matter to you if I call or not."

"It did you stupid. But I guess I would have never known how I feel about you if you had called me"

"Is it? Thank you NOKIA, you really do connect people even with damaged phones. Now I have no qualms."

"Ok Ritvesh, I need to go now. I have work. I will come as soon as possible in the evening"

"Do you really have to go? You have come just now. Cant you stay back?"

"If I stay here I might cry every five minutes. Do you really want me to do that?"

"No. But..."

"I shall be back. Pleaseeee..."

"Ok fine. Bye..."

After one eventful day of pain and pills and injections another eventful day of getting what he had desperately hoped for made Ritvesh smile in pain!!!

Realization

Somewhere deep down in his heart, Ritvesh knew that Raksha had feelings for him. He was thinking that either she did not know that she had them or she did not want to express them. He felt like giving up on her because the 'Friendship' thing was killing him. Roaming around with Raksha and not being able to hold her hand was killing him. Trying to console her with his words and not with a hug was killing him. Being just a friend and nothing more was killing him. He decided to go home for a vacation. He wanted to go as much as he did not want to. He would miss her but then being with her just as a friend was also as bad. He finally made up his mind and decided to go home. He wanted to inform Raksha so he called her up.

"Hi Raksha"

"Hey Ritvesh. Tell me whats up?"

"Nothing much. I will be going home tomorrow."

"Oh!! Ok. Have a great time."

"Ok. Bye"

"Bye"

He was sad that she was not feeling sad that he was going. She did not even bother to ask him how long the vacation would be. Sadness made him more resolute. Off he went.

Ritvesh was with his friends. A party was going on. Everyone burst into laughter. Even he did. But something was holding him back, the thought of Raksha not being with him at that moment. It was four days since he came home but he avoided calling her. Actually there was a reason behind his not calling her. His mobile stopped working for some strange reason. So he could not call her from his mobile. He did not want to call from any other place and create an impression of him being desperate. He could not blame Raksha also for not having called him because she did not have any other number apart from his mobile number.

All was not well at Raksha's end either. She was doing pretty well for the first two days of Ritvesh's absence. Third day somehow she was feeling wierd. She thought that he would call her by the end of the second day which did not happen. Third day morning she was expecting a call, even that did not happen. She was starting to miss him. She tried calling him on the fourth day morning but he was not reachable. By the end of the seventh day there was a restlessness in her. She was hoping to see him the next day and talk to him and even scold him for not having called her. She thought that Ritvesh had taken a vacation for a week. She was sure even though she never asked him. 

Ten days passed and Raksha did not hear from Ritvesh. The restlessness turned into fear now. She was scared about his safety. But she had no means to contact him. Two more days passed and nothing happened. Now she started to think as to why she is so restless when he is just a friend. She doesn't talk to other friends and feel sad if she did not. Why is it so very different with Ritvesh? It did not take long before she realized that even she had feelings for him. Her desperation to meet him and let him know about her feelings knew no bounds now. Time seemed to be the villain of her story, not letting them meet.

14 days, 14 long fought days, fight between ego and love, fight between confusion and clarity, fight against time and distance, fight against technology and networking had finally ended. Ritvesh came back. And the first thing that he did was to get his mobile repaired. And the next thing that he immediately did was to call her. 

Raksha was surprised to see her mobile buzz with Ritvesh's name. She had been waiting for this for long now. There were times when she used to stare at her mobile blankly hoping that he would call. The wait seemed to be over. 

"Hi Ritvesh"

"Hey Raksha, how are you? How have you been doing?"

"I am fine. How about you? How was your vacation?"

"Vacation was good, nothing spectacular happened. It was just OK."

"I want to ask more and talk more but I need to go now. Shall we meet up today evening?"

"Sure!!"

"Ok then. You know the place and time right?"

"Nope. Where and when?"

"Huh!!!"

"Yep, you got me. I was kidding. I will see you then"

"Bye"

Raksha did not have any work but she did not want spoil the moment by telling him about her feelings over the phone. She wanted to see the look on his face when she would propose to him. She wanted to see the joy, the exuberation when she told him. She wanted the clock to tick, the time to fly and for the moment to come. 

Egoist

Three months passed. Ritvesh and Raksha had become great buddies. There would not be a day without them talking to each other. They had reached a point where they knew almost everything about each other. But there was a problem. During the three month period they never met each other. Ritvesh sometimes got annoyed with the whole 'NOT MEETING' thing but even he never asked Raksha to meet him. He wanted to but his ego never allowed him to. On the other hand Raksha also never really talked about meeting. It was a sort of mutual understanding they had. But that did not affect their talking over the phone. It proved to be a blessing in disguise for Ritvesh. 

Ritvesh was sitting in corridor with a strange feeling. All these days passed very smoothly. But Raksha's birthday was impending and it was the very next day. He had decided to call her at around 12 am but was unable to decide whether he should meet her or not. He was confused because of the tug-of-war between his heart and his ego. His ego seemed to have got the edge because last time when he listened to his heart he almost became a beggar. He started to be a little skeptic when it came to his heart. 

Egoistic Ritvesh ending up calling Raksha at 12 am and wishing her. Nothing much happened apart from the usual wishes and thank-yous. He slept off after wishing her. He woke up to a cacophonous sound that his mobile started making early in the morning. He disconnected the call without even looking at the name of the caller. The cacophony started again. This time he got frustrated to the core and looked at the caller's name. It was Raksha. He answered the call 

"Hey Raksha. Whats so damn wrong that you decided to wake me up so early?"

"Ritvesh, today's my birthday. Firstly you cant be speaking to a birthday girl like that and secondly its 9 am and every chicken in the town is awake except you."

"What? You called me a chicken. How dare you?"

"If you dont change the tone in which you are speaking I am disconnecting the call."

"OK OK. I am sorry. Just that I am not used being awake so soon. Anyways tell me whats the matter?"

"Lets meet for dinner. My treat."

"Why? Whats the occasion?"

"Are you kidding me?"

"No. I am not."

"Ok. Bye"

"Wait wait wait. I was kidding. Your birthday treat right"

"Yes"

She gave him the details as to when and where to meet. He went back to sleep. 

Confusion was the buzzword for Ritvesh. He was confused as to what gift he should be giving her. The previous night he had decided that he wouldnt gift her. His reasoning was that she rejected everything when he had proposed to her. But now that he was going to the treat he did not want to go empty hand. He did not want to take anything from the collection that he had. The egoist did not allow him to. He did not want to buy anything new because he did not have any options. Finally he decided to buy some art-piece irrespective of her liking. 

He reached the location exactly on time. She was waiting for him. He joined her at the table and started a normal conversation. He saw a good looking girl pass by and his head suddenly turned. After checking her out his head returned to its normal position to find something unusual. Raksha was fuming. The egoist inside Ritvesh started jumping with joy. His heart also started beating faster. Not many times were the egoist and heart happy at the same time. This was one such rare moment. He started off saying

"Anything wrong Raksha. You seemed to be troubled by something."

"Yes. I am leaving. I need to go."

"But we did not have dinner yet."

"I am not hungry. I need to go."

"Atleast give me company then."

"Ask the girl whom you were looking at to give you company. You were drooling over her."

"I think she is cute. Anyways what is your problem if I look at her? You have rejected me."

She remained silent for a moment and replied

"I am leaving. Bye." And she walked off. 

Under normal circumstances Ritvesh would have been upset if Raksha had walked off. But sitting there watching her leave made him happy. He was happy when he has seen her fuming. He was ecstatic now. Many thoughts started crossing his mind. And he finally came to a conclusion that "She likes me as much as I like her but she is scared of a commitment right now. I need to give her time and space and in the process make her realise that she indeed loves me."

Friends???

Raksha had decided that she would not keep Ritvesh in the dark any longer. She wanted him to know the truth and then let him decide what he wants to do next. She liked him as a friend, she admired him as a person and she respected him for his integrity. Above all she liked his company. It was great to have him around. He was a person full of life. He had a great sense of humour and sometimes he would make her laugh till she had tears in her eyes. She was sad the whole of last week about the way she walked off on him. He certainly did not deserve that. May be she should have handled the situation better. May be that was the best way to handle the situation. Anyways she had decided to meet him and keep their freindship intact. 

Ritvesh had mixed feelings about all this. He did not know why Raksha wanted to meet him. Not after everything that happened past week. He knew why he wanted to meet her though. His brain was longing for answers while his eyes were longing for her sight. He did not want her to see him the way he was. That would be indicative of what he had been through. So he decided to upgrade his appearance. He went to the mirror to see what was the amount of work that he had to put in to do so. He was shocked to see a beggar staring at him. A little later he realized that the beggar was none other than him. "God!!! What have I turned myself into? This way I am sure that I would collect some change if I go onto the street." 

After about two hours of work emerged the good old Ritvesh. "Its good to be back. " he thought to himself. His appointment with Raksha was at 5 pm. This time it was Barista because he thought CCD did not bring him good fortune. The time was just 4 pm but his mind seemed to have lost control over his body which pulled him towards his bike. Off he went. He reached Barista at about 4.30 and he knew that he was in for a long wait. The wait did not last long though. As soon as he found himself a table he saw Raksha coming. "May be her body also stopped listening to her mind" he bought himself a smile.

"Hi Ritvesh"

"Hey Raksha. Please take your seat."

"Its been such a long time since we meet. So how have you been?"

"Great. Infact could not have got any better."

"Really? So how come I haven't seen you around?"

"I have changed my religion. I dont visit temples anymore."

"Great!!! Which religion?"

"Christianity."

"Why such drastic decision all of a sudden? Did your mind get confused as to whom to worship because we have many gods in Hinduism?"

"No. After you left that day I had an enlightenment and I saw Jesus. That prompted me to change my religion."

"Ok. Stop. Dont you think all this is going overboard?"

"Yes, I do. I am sorry. Not in the greatest of moods."

"Actually I am the one who should be sorry. I need to tell you something."

"You have something else also. I thought I got the worst shock of my life the other night. Do you still have something in store for me?"

"Will you please listen to what I have to say"

"Sorry again. Please go ahead."

She finished telling him whatever she had decided to tell him. After listening to the whole story Ritvesh said "Had there been no one what would your answer be?"

"Ritvesh, cant we just be good friends. Its better that we dont talk about it."

Ritvesh thought to himself "How can she be saying that when she knows that I have feelings for her." He wanted to convey the same to her but then Shah Rukh suddenly popped up in his mind and said "A very wise man once said that the first step of love is friendship and its also the last." Being wise was never Ritvesh's forte. He was always instinctive. This time though he chose to pay heed to the wise man. He replied "Sure. Why not?"

"Thanks Ritvesh!!! This means a lot to me. I need to get going now. Shall catch you later. Bye"

"Bye"

He sat there thinking whether whatever happened was good or bad. He did not know the answers yet. Only time will have to say. 

Flashback

Ritvesh was waiting for Raksha's reply. Every second seemed like an eternity, everything seemed to have stopped just waiting for her reply. He was eager, he was anxious, he was nervous and what not. Right now even death seemed like a cake walk for him. He knew that he had done all this a little too early in the relationship but he could not wait anymore. He was just waiting for her answer. His senses seemed to have stopped working before he could hear her say

"I am sorry Ritvesh. I am already committed to someone."

Ritvesh could not believe what he had just heard. He wanted to ask for an explanation but Raksha had already disappeared by then. She was gone. 

Ritvesh was still standing at the same place not knowing what to do. It seemed like life itself had evaded him. He felt as if he was in the middle of a desert not knowing which direction to go and no one to help him. He felt as if he was sinking and no one to rescue. He felt his heart beat faster and faster and wanted it to stop beating and let him die. He was drowning in the sea of agony but could not help. He could feel two tear drops roll down his cheeks but could not help. He could then see sympathy flowing from all directions. He did not want to be sympathized, he did not want to be pitied. He wanted to inflict pain upon himself. He gathered courage and collected all the stuff he had got and left home. 

There was a lot more to Raksha than Ritvesh had thought. He got it completely wrong when he thought that he knew everything about her. He did not. During the days when Raksha started smiling back at Ritvesh there was a whole lot going on in her life. Raksha did have a boyfriend who was a maniac which she realized later. First few days of her relationship with him were good. Everything seemed pretty cool. But there was one problem. He was way too possessive about her. He could not stand the fact that she had male friends. He could not stand the fact that she talks with any other guy. Soon they started to fight. And when the fights became rampant she decided that she needed some peace of mind. Temple was the answer to her woes. 

Temple was the place where Raksha found solace. After a few days temple turned out to be the place where a guy kept smiling at her. She initially tried to be indifferent but the smile was guileless so she gave in. In her topsy-turvy life temple was a great breakout. That smiling guy started saying a HI. She responded accordingly. One day she had the worst possible fight with her boyfriend when that smiling guy came and asked her for coffee. He took her by surprise. She did want to reject bluntly so she bought some time. When things got untenable with her boy friends she decided to break up with him. There was a big arguement about that but finally she came out a winner. That day she wanted to divert her mind from the chaos so she asked that smiling guy for a coffee. That is how Ritvesh got a date.

She enjoyed Ritvesh's company a lot. So she never brought the topic of her ex boyfriend. Her life was back on track because she had found a great friend in Ritvesh. When everything seemed fine Ritvesh proposed to her. She was not yet ready for another relationship not after what she had gone through. She had to get out of the situation so she bluntly lied that she was still committed.

A week later Ritvesh was sitting in his room staring into the dark. He had spent those seven days doing nothing but mere gazing and crying. He had surrounded himself with all the gifts that he had bought for Raksha. He wanted to feel the pain every time it seemed to lessen. He was successful! Not even for a single moment had he stepped foot outside. He had a dishevelled look that made even beggars look better. Having taken the help of two good friends, whisky and cigs, he had no idea of what time it was or which day it was. He had lost a track of time, lost a track of life and lost a track of himself.

He was about to sip some more whisky when something seemed to disturb the equilibrium around him. It was his phone. He took it and was about to smash it on the floor but his eyes caught a glimpse of something. It was a message from Raksha. He did not know what to do. His heart started to ache even more, his agony started to drive him crazy but his hands and eyes stopped listening to his brain. His hand opened the message and his eyes started reading it.

"I might feel sleepy tomorrow. Would you still be interested in a coffee?". He did not know how to react to that. She had denied his proposal which was the best proposal that he could have thought of. She had never told her about her boyfriend. He could not blame her for that. He had never asked her. He decided to meet her because he wanted answers to his questions. He was lying to himself. More than anything he wanted to see her. He replied back "I dont like CCD anymore. If you dont like Barista the meeting is not ON." He got a reply immediately saying "I like coffee more than the place. I am OK with anything."

1000 messages

"Beep Beep Beep" Ritvesh's mobile received a sms from Raksha. The night after Ritvesh took Raksha's mobile number he started text messaging her. The messaging started with "It was a great day. I could rate it as one of my best days." to which she replied in a similar tone. And some more messages were exchanged in the same format and it started to get boring. Ritvesh thought to himself that if was starting to get bored then Raksha would have sunk deep into the sea of boredom. He had to find a way of keeping the conversation going but in an interesting way. He wanted to his mind to put in some effort. It had gone numb because of the inactivity for some time. But then it did respond and he got an idea.

He messaged Raksha saying "I have a game. Would you like to play?" to which she replied "I am not much of an athlete but I shall try." He messaged back saying "I guess I did not put it in a good way. It does not involve physical activity. For that matter it does not even involve you being present with me. The game is called 'how much do you know me'". Raksha was a little excited this time "The name sounds lame but I like the concept. What is it about?". "The rules are pretty simple. I would ask a question about myself. If you know the answer you can say or you can take a guess. Whoever answers the higher number of questions wins. And the loser gives the winner a treat." "Sounds great. I am in. But its pretty late in the night now. We shall start tomorrow. And lets keep the count till the weekend so that we can get a decent idea." "Awesome. So tomorrow it is."

It was about 9 in the morning and Raksha heard her mobile beep. It was Ritvesh who had messaged her. She picked up the phone curiously and read the message "I shall start the game now. What is may favorite color?". The game had begun and it went on for five days. The phone bills were soaring but they were not bothered about that. Raksha was asking the questions to which Ritvesh could not even take a guess. On the other hand Ritvesh was asking pretty simple ones. Raksha did not understand the reason behind that but was happy that she was leading. 

The game got over and Raksha had won by a huge margin. She was elated because she had not only won but also was going to get a treat for that. Her mobile starting to ring and it was Ritvesh who was calling her. She answered the call "Hey I won!!!" "Congrats. So as we had decided earlier I have to give a treat. Can I know when you would be free?" "I guess dinner would be fine." "Okay. What time?" "How about 8 pm?" "I am fine with 8 but could you come there directly. I wont be able to pick you up. I have some work so I shall come directly at 8. Could you please come by yourself. I am sorry" "Dont be. I shall be there. Not a problem at all." "Cool. So 8 it is. See you at 8 tomorrow. Bye" "Bye". Raksha put down the phone and was angry that Ritvesh would not pick her up. She said that she did not have any problem but did not mean it (like all girls). Anyways she was excited about the treat.

Raksha reached the hotel at 8 pm sharp. She went to the reception and mentioned Ritvesh's name. He had already reserved a table. So she was directed to the table. She was expecting him to be present there. But to her suprise he was not present. She started getting wild about the whole thing now. She said to herself "First he does not come to pick me up. Now he is not even present here." And as she was sulking she saw a waiter coming towards her table. She was preparing to shoo him away but he gave her a gift. She was shocked "I am not expecting any gift" "Ma'am, this is a gift from Mr. Ritvesh." Now she was relieved but annoyed at the same time "But where is he?" "He would be here in a short time. Please open the gift in the meanwhile." She put her frustration aside because she was excited about the gift. The waiter left and she started un-wrapping the gift. It was her favorite watch. Before she could think of anything she saw a whole line of waiters walking towards her table holding gifts in there hands. She got a little scared now. After the whole line of waiters gave the gifts she received a message which read "1000th message." Confusion started driving her crazy "First I am flooded with gifts. Now I get a message saying 1000th message. What does that mean and where the hell is Ritvesh?"

Ritvesh's idea had more to it than just conversation and not getting bored. He wanted to know everything about Raksha. But he did not want Raksha to think otherwise. So he came up with this idea that she should ask questions about her likes and dislikes answer them herself. That way she would never have any clue as to what was going on. She would be under the impression that its just a game. After the whole game got over he knew all about her likes and dislikes. He told Raksha that he could not pick her up because he had a lot of other stuff to do. He had gone to the hotel at 5pm and talked to all the waiters to help him. They all agreed. In the morning he was busy buying stuff that Raksha liked. From her favorite book to her favorite watch, from her favorite perfume to her favorite doll. He even bought a diamond pendant because diamond was her favorite. He had spent a fortune in one day but he knew it was worth it.

She received one more message saying "Please open all the gifts. I know its a tough ask but I cant help." "I guess you used to swim in the lake of sarcasm but right now I am taking a plunge into the sea of anger. If I dont see you after I open the gifts you will never see me again." "Sorry to keep you waiting. But I promise that it wont last long." She started opening the gifts and with even wrapper removed her happiness increased. After the last gift was opened she had a wide smile on her face and her face was pink with embarrassment.  She got one more message saying "I messaged the 1000th message because I wanted to know that I know you for more than 1000 messages. I gave you all the gifts because I wanted to tell you that I embrace all your likes and dislikes." She was looking for more in the message when a voice came and she looked up to find Ritvesh. "I LOVE YOU. I did not have any other way of saying it. If you think it is too early I can wait for a year and say the same. But the words wont change and so would I. I LOVE YOU."

Dream or Reality?

Last few weeks turned out to be the most wonderful weeks of Ritvesh's life. He had proposed to Raksha who inturn accepted. Things could not get any better for Ritvesh. Whats more? Ritvesh had never been abroad. Suddenly he finds himself on a flight to Bangkok along with Raksha. They both had taken a week off to go to a beautiful island near bangkok to spend some quality time together. 

Things were going perfectly as planned and in no time Ritvesh discovered how beautiful the island was. The scenic beauty of the island was good but what made it even better was the fact that he was alone there with Raksha. He told Raksha that he wanted to kiss her. He thought she would bluntly deny. But to his surprise she did not. She replied "Hand or Cheek?". Now Ritvesh got a little doubtful. "Am I dreaming? Let me pinch myself and find out. I'd rather not. Last time when I did the pain lasted for a week. I wont take a chance this time." Suddenly he found that something was disturbing him. Raksha disappeared all of a sudden. It was his alarm. "Shucks!!! that was a dream. Stupid alarm. It could have gone off atleast after the kiss." Then he realised that this dream was a result of watching 'kaho na pyaar hai' last night. He had found himself on the same island that Hrithik and Amisha dance.

He then looked at the time. It was 3.45 pm. He tried to recollect his thoughts. "Its a sunday and I had been sleeping cozily but the alarm woke me up at 3.45. Why would I set the alarm for 3.45 in the afternoon?" That is when he realised that he had to meet Raksha today at 5 pm. This was their second meeting. After the first brief meeting they had at CCD, they continued their tradition of HI's and smiles in the temple before Ritvesh decided it is time to meet again. This time Ritvesh requested, because he could not order, Raksha to be ready by 5 pm. He would go and pick her up for a movie. Raksha told him that she had been waiting to watch this movie for about a week so she wont be able to talk to him much during the movie. He was sad with this aspect but happy overall that he is taking a gaint stride by taking her to a movie. He told himself "There will be many more movies and I would have a perfect reason every time a new movie releases, to meet Raksha."

It was a decent movie but Raksha proved to be a movie buff. She was fully engrossed in the movie that Ritvesh never found even a single second to talk to her. For him it was about her but for her it was about the movie. She enjoyed the movie and he enjoyed her company. 

On their way back Raksha started "Ritvesh, I am sorry. Its just that I love movies a lot that I seem to forget people around me. You would have felt lonely but this is the way I am. If you do not feel like to coming to a movie with me I can understand. I am perfectly Ok with it." To that Ritvesh said "Are you kidding me? I am fine with the fact that you like movies so much. Atleast we got to talk during the interval. Its much better than just a glimpse in the temple. So I am game anyday anytime." Though most of whatever Ritvesh said was true he was not fine with the fact that Raksha loved movies so much. He brushed those thoughts aside and said "So what next? Dinner?" Raskha replied 

"I guess some other time."

"So you wont agree to anything the first time I guess."

 "Well, I agreed for the movie." 

"Oh ya. I almost forgot."

 "Is that sarcasm that you are engulfed in right now?"

 "Naah, I was kidding. Alright we shall fix up a dinner appointment some other time."

Ritvesh dropped Raksha at her house and when she was about to leave he said "My phone stays idle now a days. It would be great if it could get a mobile number to chat with"

"So is this your mobile phone speaking or you speaking?"

"Whom would you give your number?"

"I guess your phone"

"Then its my mobile phone asking you"

She laughed and gave him her number and left still smiling.

CCD

Ritvesh was fully excited about his meeting. He had bought a new dress for the festival. The festival was the very next day. But he was neither bothered about wearing the new dress on the festival day nor about the festival. His festival had already begun. 

He was so profusely excited that he reached CCD at 4 pm and kept waiting till 5. He would have looked at his watch for about 1000 times in one hour. People at CCD were scared whether he was some kind of anti social element waiting to blow up the CCD. His anxiety kept growing with every passing minute. Half an hour more passed and still no sight of the girl. He kept consoling himself by saying that "Girls always like making the guys wait." After what seemed like years he looked at his watch which showed 7 pm. He was depressed and frustrated, was about to leave when he saw the same elegant walk. He did not know how to react. He was obviously angry but at the same time happy that she turned up. She came and grabbed a chair and sat down next to him and started off

"Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry. I am really sorry that I made you wait for so long. Actually what happened was......"

"Please. Please do not say anything. Anything that you say will not make me happy. And whatever you say will indeed eat into the time we are left with. Lets just not talk about things that happened in the past and things that went wrong. Lets be happy that we atleast made it and we are here now. I am sorry if I am being a little rude."

"You are not rude but I would say that you are frank."

The conversation continued with the usual 'knowing each other' questions and answers. Raksha finally looked at her watch and it said 9 pm. It was getting late for her so she said that she had to leave. Ritvesh wanted to stop her and wanted to talk more, wanted to know her even more but something inside just stopped him from doing so. They called it a day and left.

On his way back home Ritvesh had his mind completely occupied with the thoughts of Raksha. He mind was completely cluttered with her images, images of her smile, images of her lips pursed when she was thinking about something, all the images that his mind has from the past two hours. He did not even feel that he was riding, he knew he was not. He was infact floating. He thought to himself "Is this what they call Love or Is this the general attraction that any guy usually feels when he meets a girl? I have met other girls before but never got such a strange feeling. I am confused but right now even confusion feels awesome. Let me wait till time answers my questions and clear my confusion. Till then I shall be confused."

Meeting

Where there is temptation, there is guilt. Guilt keeps pricking us but temptations forces us to make a move. The epitome of temptation is love. Love of all can happen in ways you have never imagined. Its a story of Ritvesh who is trapped in a tangle of guilt and temptation. Life was a simple equation to him. He thought he had solved it all, that he had known it all, that he had mastered it all. But he never knew what life had in store from him. 

"Where there is fear, there is a sense of responsibility. I fear that I might die not because I am afraid of death but because I might not fulfill my responsibilities. I fear, I am afraid, I am scared because I love her and I love her knowing that its the next most impossible thing on earth that should have happened. I was constrained in each and every way and I had known all of them. Heart is a complicated thing. It can love many people. Parents, friends, relatives and the special one. Now someone whom the heart loves doesnt want the same heart to love some other person. It is always a tangle, it will always be. Heart is a complicated thing. I know it better than most others. " were Ritvesh's thoughts when he was driving back home after a hectic day at the office. 

He had seen Raksha in a temple the very first time. Then it was nothing much but a stare. After a few stares a smile suddenly turned up from nowhere. He was exhilarated the first time she smiled at him. Of course he was not expecting that. After a few more smiles he mustered some courage to say a 'HI'. Few more 'HI's passed and he had gained the confidence to go and talk to her. He still remembers the conversation.

"Hi I am Ritvesh"

"So?"

Ritvesh was puzzled but he soon realized that even he had taken her by surprise. He tried again

"Hi I am Rivtesh and You are?"

"A girl."

He thought to himself "I know that and precisely thats the reason I ve approached you. Do I look gay?". But he did not say that. Instead he took a more soft appraoch.

"I was asking your name"

"Ya. I know. I am sorry. Its just that I got a little surprised. I am Raksha."

Now he was relieved. 

"I have seen you in this temple many times. So I thought... may be... we can go have a cup of coffee sometime..."

"Not now. I shall let you know" and she walked away.

He was feeling bad that she did not agree for the coffee idea. 

More days had passed by with smiles and 'HI's. It was like any other day when Ritvesh would go to the temple. He saw her and knew that he could expect a HI. He just got a smile back. He wondered whether his stand with her was deteriorating. To his surprise he saw her coming towards him. He was not sure though. She came and stood opposite to him and said

"I think I might feel sleepy tomorrow. A coffee would help." 

He did not know whether this was a dream so he pinched himself as hard as he could. Well it wasnt. He could feel the pain and his skin turn ferrari red. He could not worry about that though. He said

"What time and where?"

"5 pm, CCD would be fine."

"Great. So CCD it is"

She smiled and turned and left. She moved so elegantly and with such charm. He could not help but gaze.