It was around 6 pm. That evening, it was a bit dark early as it had rained for the whole day and the weather was chilled. Neha was roaming in her garden with her favorite shawl wrapped around her which her grandma had given her years back. She wore a light blue colored jeans and a white shirt and the gentle breeze blew few strands of her loose long hair over her face. She was quite nervous about what was coming next? It had been 7 years and her relationship with Yash was still going nowhere. No doubt both of them loved each other deeply and from the very beginning they knew that there were many obstacles further in their relationship. It was the most common problem – caste difference, yet their story was different from others as Neha’s parents had no objection with their relationship while Yash’s parents had some different opinion about it. But, like most of the optimistic lovers, they both were confident about working it out sooner or later.
It had started to drizzle mildly again making her a bit wet, but she planned to stay in the garden. The sound of tiny rain drops was very clear in the silence that was spread everywhere. She curiously looked for the time in her watch every now and then. Today was the biggest day of her life – yes, for her, it was, as today Yash was going to finally tell her what would be the course of their relationship further. She was constantly thinking whether Yash would have succeeded in convincing his parents or not? If yes, what would be her first reaction…after all she had waited desperately to marry him since long. If not, would Yash take a stand for her? Yes he would, she thought, after all it was 7 long years of relationship during which they both had together seen many ups and downs of life. It was only due to his support and love that she felt lively and complete. And same was the case with Yash - Neha was his lifeline in true sense and without her, he could not think of living for even a single moment.
It was still 6:30 in the watch and she was expecting Yash to come by 7:00 pm at her home. Time was going very slow and she felt running short of breath with each and every passing moment. Suddenly, her mobile started ringing. As usual, it was the 6:30 pm alarm that she had set in her mobile since long back. Every day at that time in the evening, she and Yash used to go to a nearby coffee shop for half an hour. Today was something different as it was almost a matter of life and death for both of them. Soon her memories were drifted 7 years back and she started thinking about the series of incidents that had happened in their lives. It was in the first year of her college when she was attracted towards Yash. At first she thought it was infatuation but soon realized that she was in love with him. At that time hardly she knew about Yash’s feelings for her. Soon they became friends in the second year of their college and to her surprise, by the end of second year; she was the first to express her feelings to Yash and was happy about it. Though Yash had put all his family concerns in front of her the very first day, but as its truly said "Love conquers all", they both decided to face it together.
The next two years of college were the most memorable ones in their lives. They used to go for long walks in the evening after having their regular 6:30 pm coffee in the fixed coffee shop. They were together for most of the time in the college, and due to their shy nature (despite of the romance between them); they were considered as the cutest couple in the college. Though both were together for almost the entire day in the college, they used to talk on phones till late in the night. At times, they went for long drives on his bike and rest of the times, they spent time sitting beside each other without saying anything. Both of them hardly realized when college came to an end and they started a new journey of their life. Neha got a job and shifted to Noida and Yash decided to pursue higher studies and moved to Bangalore. Though Neha had already started thinking about taking their relationship to a concrete end, Yash was still not prepared to talk to his family regarding this as he was ambitious for his career and wanted to settle with job first. He needed three more years before discussing this matter with his parents and Neha too willingly supported him in his decision.
For the next three years, both Yash and Neha faced a new side of their life – Long distance relationship. Within these three years, they neither celebrated each others’ birthday together nor the Valentine’s day. But both were happy with the fact that their love was sufficient to keep both of them together despite of being so far. Yash too completed his post grad in two years and got a job with a descent package in Bangalore itself. On the other side, Neha was working with the same organization for the last three years, but her only motive was "Getting married with Yash", so hardly was she paying any attention to her career.
Finally, Yash put his views of getting married to Neha in front of his parents. Though Yash’s parents already knew about Neha, but they didn’t expect that their son was still in a successful long distance relationship with the same girl for the last 5 years. It was very hard to convince them and with the passage of time, it almost seemed next to impossible. This was affecting their relationship as well and majority of the times, they both ended up quarrelling together. Neha somehow sensed that it was time to stay near to each other now and face whatever comes. So she left her job, moved to Bangalore and started working in a new company. Now they were together most of the times and both started reliving their college days back, though Yash’s efforts to convince his parents seemed to go in vain.
Suddenly, Neha heard the sound of a bike in front of her gate and her heart skipped a beat. Immediately she was back to her senses and she saw Yash coming towards her in the garden. Thousands of questions were crossing her mind and she was trying to find their answers in Yash’s eyes. Somehow, she sensed what she was going to hear next. Yes, she could easily read his mind; she understood the expression on his face. Even though she had faced the same answer nth time, she was not prepared to hear it again as this was the final one. His one answer today would decide the course of her life. She moved slowly towards him. She was expecting him to say something, but he didn’t even utter a single word. Her heart was beating fast now and despite of the mild rain drops, her forehead was completely wet with perspiration. She felt as if her heart was sinking and her body was getting numb, but still she reached out her hand to touch him and collapse in his arms when suddenly she heard someone calling –
"Mama, I am very hungry. Please make something for me".
Neha noticed everywhere with the same questions in her eyes and there was no-one around. She rushed to the gate to see the bike, but there was none. It was dark everywhere. Rain had completely stopped now and she could hear the turtling of frogs. Then she saw her mobile. It was 8:00 pm and the date was 26th July, 2017. It had been 8 years since that incident – the last day when they both met in the garden of her home and Yash gave her final decision. It was impossible for her at first to accept whatever he told her, but slowly she realized that he had a choice to make – to either select his parents or her. And he went with the former one. She never came to know why he made such choice as it seemed no more important to her. The only reality was that the love of her life was no more with her and it was sufficient enough for her to spend the rest of her life in a manner which even she didn’t know was good or bad. The next two years of her life were the most terrible ones – without any aim or direction until she got married to Vivan. It was an arranged marriage, but it was beyond her expectations and she slowly started realizing that "Love is always bliss for everyone". Though she had lost her first love, her life was getting back to normal when she opened the doors of her heart for the second love in the form of her husband. Soon, she and Vivan were blessed with a baby girl whom they named Tina and with that; her life took a completely different turn.
She saw her 4-year old Tina coming towards her with her little footsteps. "Mama, I am hungry.."
Neha smiled at herself… "I am sorry sweetheart…let’s get back inside. I’ll make something for you"
Tina said "But Mama, why you were not listening to me?"
Neha glanced at her and took her in her arms… "It’s just that I forget everything when we come to my Mama’s home"…