Saturday, October 17, 2020

DARE TO LIVE A SECOND CHANCE

         


        A fair, petite girl was sitting in the metro scribbling continuously in her spiral-bound diary. Her honey brown ivory hair was tied up with a hair-band yet a few strands managed to fall over her face. She hardly lifted her head to see the passengers changing nearby. It was as if she was now very well acquainted with the route and the timings. Finally, she closed down her diary and kept it aside. She lifted her head to see which station had arrived. It was still time for her station. She looked at the watch and got lost in her thoughts. Rajat Khanna, a charming, smooth shaved fair guy, clearly in his early 30s, was keenly observing her. He could see her aspirations and dreams being suppressed due to the burden of obligations. Rajat Khanna was the owner and chief editor of the famous magazine, "The Metro Life", in Mumbai. Being a writer, it was his hobby to study different people. This girl was an exception. She had an attractive aura. Rajat wanted to go and talk to her. He stood up from his seat to sit beside that girl. But before he could do that, the metro stopped at Noida sector 15 and the girl stepped out of the metro. It was not Rajat's stop so he didn't bother to step out. But he saw the diary that the girl left behind. He took the diary and rushed out of the metro just when the doors were about to shut.

        Rajat rushed to chase the girl. Rajat wasn't aware that he was famous in Delhi too. Spotting him, several youngsters crowded around him and cajoled "Sir, I'm a huge fan of yours. Can we take a selfie with you?." Rajat couldn't but agree. He let the youngsters take a selfie with him. All of a sudden there was a blackout, "BOOM!" was the loud noise that made everyone deaf with sharp ringing ears.

        Everyone hustled to & fro frantically to save their own lives. Rajat ran towards the affected area to have a look at the scene. Basically, his dark fearless eyes were searching for that girl. Fortunately, the girl was not present in the business hub where the explosion took place. Rajat found her lying near a parked car where no one noticed her. He rushed her to the nearby hospital.

        A serious-looking spectacled fellow in a white apron came out of the examination room, muttered some medications and treatments to the nurse, and then talked to him, "I'm sorry, you did not mention the patient's name." Rajat realized that he doesn't know her name. He opened the girl's diary to see the name and informed, "It's Gaurangi Sharma. I found her near the bomb blast area." Rajat was unaware of her family members, so he chose to take up the expenses of her treatment. It was long enough to wait for Rajat until Gaurangi gained consciousness. Meanwhile, Rajat chose to be bad-mannered and read Gaurangi's diary. He was right. This girl was a writer. Each of her writings had her deepest desires to be fulfilled but none had happened in real.

        After 2 days Gaurangi gained consciousness, but the only thing that was lost was her memory. The neuro physician informed, "She's into amnesia. Sooner or later she would gain back her memory but slowly and steadily. She might remember some episodes of her past life. Talk to her if she knows you."

        Rajat knew it was in vain talking to her as they were strangers to each other. Rajat did not want to leave her alone in such a condition. So he decided to take her along with him. He entered the room and faced the perplexed yet pretty face of Gaurangi. He stated, "Hi Gaurangi. I'm Rajat Khanna. You might not recognize me. We are companions. It's time to go home." Gaurangi couldn't recall a single thing, not her name, her age, her parents, any relatives. She was blank. Gaurangi asked Rajat, "Who am I?" The instant reply Rajat could think was, "You're a writer. You write articles for my magazine. And before you ask, a couple of days back there was a bomb blast and your parents died in that. You survived but lost your memory. And now we are going back to Mumbai.

        Rajat's mom was surprised to see him accompanied by a girl. Rajat gestures her to be quiet & introduces her, "Mom, this is Gaurangi, our fabulous writer about whom I keep on talking. She'll be staying with us for some time until she finds herself a new home." Rajat's mom was cool enough to understand his gesture. Mrs. Shraddha Khanna warmly welcomed her & lead her to her room. Rajat explained to her whether whatever he did was right or not. Shraddha agreed to him.

        The next day at the breakfast table, Rajat stated, "Gaurangi be quick, we need to catch a flight. We have a conference in Manali & you need to cover the event. I hope you are ready to run around with me as my assistant?" and Rajat winked. Rajat told Gaurangi that she was selected amongst the top 10 interns who worked in his office.

        Gaurangi started adapting to the prevailing situation. She had lost her memory but subconsciously she started gaining peace & happiness. She travelled places with Rajat, covered the stories & started writing articles for his magazines. Gaurangi & Rajat became close friends & Gaurangi never intended to leave them. Gaurangi was typing fervently over her laptop, when Shraddha scolded her, "Put that down Gaurangi & have your breakfast. You are going mad with work." Gaurangi absent-mindedly asserted, "Mom, just a few minutes more & I'm done, promise." Rajat & Shraddha looked at each other with a sense of happiness. Gaurangi was out of her trauma. A new Gaurangi was born fearless & feisty. It was time Rajat thought to reveal her the diary & the actual scene that took place.

        Rajat shouted from his room, "Gaurangi!" Gaurangi stood up from her chair to go to Rajat's room. Rajat looked serious & in a firm tone he said, "Gaurangi, there's something I need to tell you & give you." She saw a pain arising in his eyes. Before she could ask him further there rung the doorbell. Gaurangi snapped, "It must be Mumma. Give me a minute, I'll be back." She opened the door to face two khaki uniformed men. "Gaurangi Sharma?" confirmed one of them. Gaurangi asserted, "Yes. How may I help you, sir?" As soon as she spoke the words, a tall man with a white moustache & a half-bald head faced her. Gaurangi was delighted with joy to see her dad, "Dad! You are alive! I'm so happy." She hugged him & cries of joy rolled down her eyes & shouted, "Rajat, look my dad!" Rajat hurried out of his room. Everyone in the room looked perplexed. A decent looking man came forward & hugged Gaurangi, "Oh Gaurangi! Where were you? We searched madly for you?" Gaurangi pulled away from & asked. "Excuse me! Who are you?" The man got confused & before he could reply Rajat interrupted, "Sir, Gaurangi had lost her memory in the recent bomb blast that had occurred in Delhi. She only remembers a few episodes of her life." Gaurangi's dad & that man were shocked. That man got impatient & restless, "Gaurangi, I'm Kishan, your husband." And he hugged her tight. Gaurangi was shocked & confused to see & hear whatever was going on. She looked at Rajat in confusion & demanded an explanation.

        Rajat asked each of them to take a seat & promised to give everyone all the explanations that they demanded. Rajat repeated the events that took place to everyone & explained to them the situation that had occurred. Gaurangi was furious, "How dare you? How dare you play with my life like this? Why did you lie to me?" Her whole world shattered. She realized that whatever she was living was a false life. She looked at her father & at the man who claimed to be her husband & realized she has to return to her actual life now. She rushed to her room, packed her bags & demanded, "Let's go, dad. I don't want to stay here for a minute." Rajat apologized to Gaurangi, "I'm sorry Gaurangi. This is your diary that you left back in the metro, because of which we met. It needs to be back to its original owner." Gaurangi snatched the diary from him & walked out of the house without even looking at the tears in his eyes.

        Back home in Delhi, Gaurangi was taken to the psychiatrist for the reconstruction of her memory. Slowly & steadily Gaurangi could gradually gain back her memory & recall the missed episodes of her life. She was back to her in-laws, with her husband & back to the boring job. Kishan shouted, "Gaurangi, where's my tie? I'm getting late for office!" Gaurangi rushed into the room handed him the tie. Just then her mother-in-law shouted from the kitchen, "Gaurangi where's our breakfast? You haven't yet served our plates. What are you up to? Be quick! "Guarangi was rushing here & there to cope with her household chores. After satisfying everyone's needs & demands, Gaurangi set out for her workplace. As she was sitting in the metro, she decided to read her diary. While reading her diary, she could recall each & every moment that she had spent with Rajat & his mom Shraddha. She realized Rajat made her live her life her way. Subconsciously she longed to be there again. She longed to live her life her way.

        Six months had passed since she had returned home. Nothing had changed. Coping up with household chores, fulfilling demands & expectations, boring job, impassionate sex & crushing desires had become Gaurangi's routine. Once when Gaurangi was sitting alone on a swing at her mom's place, her dad came & sat beside her & asked, "You don't seem to be happy Gaurangi. All good?" At first, Gaurangi lied, "Of course dad. I'm good. Everything's good. I'm happy that I got my family back." These were her words like every time. She never opened up herself because she thought her views & wishes might hurt her parents' orthodox sentiments. But suddenly Rajat's words struck her, "Opening up doesn't hurt. It might hurt for an instance but at least you are free of the burden of hiding the true feelings. Leave the rest of the decision to the person." Gaurangi's father spoke as he stood up, "If you say so, my child. I'll check out on your mom." Gaurangi held her dad's hand & stated, "I'm not happy dad." Her father froze. They both glanced at each other. He sat beside her for further explanation. Gaurangi added, "I'm not happy with my life. For someone, it might seem to be a perfect life. A perfect husband, a perfect job, a perfect family but not perfect happiness for me. Honestly, dad, I miss those 2 months of my life. I miss Rajat." Gaurangi stared at her dad for a reaction. Gaurangi's dad stared blankly over the verandah. Gaurangi was expecting a scornful no from her dad. But what Rajat said was true. She suddenly felt as if a heavy burden of guilt was relieved. She didn't care about what her dad would say now. She was happy that finally, she could speak her heart out to her dad. Gaurangi nudged her dad & asked, "Dad, are you okay? I know you must be upset with what I said but that's the truth of my life. "Her dad stood up without speaking a word. Gaurangi stood up & followed him, afraid of the fact that he would tell mom & create a big melodramatic scene. Gaurangi's dad took his phone & dialed a number. Gaurangi regretted what she said. She thought her dad would call up Kishan & complain. She was imagining the big melodramatic scene when her dad spoke, "Hello Mr. Desai. I want to file a divorce case against Mr. Kishan Sharma on my daughter's behalf. When shall we meet?"….. After a pause, he continued, "Sure I'll be there at 6:00 pm." And he hung up. Gaurangi couldn't believe her ears. All she could do was run & hug her dad tight & cry loudly. Her mom rushed out of the kitchen to see the emotional scene. They were successful enough to convince her mom.

        Rajat was sitting in his cabin when his assistant entered, "Sir, a lady is sitting out there to meet you for the job. She has sent this article for you to read & call her." Rajat took the paper in his hand & read the title "My Dream Life". It was a single page article so he thought to give it a try & read. As he was going through the words, memories of episodes that he had spent with Gaurangi flashed in front of his eyes. He rushed out of his office to face Gaurangi. His happiness had got wings & he flew right towards Gaurangi to hug her tight in his arms. But suddenly he thought of her being married stopped him. Gaurangi stated, "Hello Mr. Rajat Khanna, I'm Miss Gaurangi Chauhan. Would you like to appoint me as a writer in your magazine?" The words Miss Gaurangi Chauhan were music to his ears. They hugged each other & both of them uttered the same words together, "I love you!"

        Rajat had been working on adding new segments to his magazine in the past year. He had held a press conference for throwing light over the same. Rajat addressed the press, "Today I shall throw light to new segments of our magazine. But before that, I would like to introduce all of you to our new editor-in-chief of this magazine & columnist, Mrs. Gaurangi Rajat Khanna." A round of applause filled the room as Gaurangi stood up from her chair to address the press. She walked to the podium & one of the press reporters questioned her, "Ma'am, the story that is published in this edition is it anytime related to yours?" Gaurangi replied with a smile, "Well, yes the melodramatic story relates to ours." Another press reporter asked, "So ma'am, what's your take on life?" Gaurangi thought for a while & replied, "Life is an exam where the syllabus is unknown & question papers are not set. It is you who decide which questions you want to attempt & how. Attempt those questions whose answers you know the best to pass out with flying colours." The room was filled with loud applause & a lot of appraisals.

        Rajat & Gaurangi proved to be the best pair to establish the new segments of the magazine. Also, they were successful to establish a new series of magazines too.

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LOVE ME UNORIENTED

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