There’s a ray of hope…

“I will be the happiest person on earth ever if I could see these two together in my lifetime, where one chose the recluse and the other went for isolation. Still there is no clarity regarding how long they both will be living like this or when life will come to them nice and fine, wrapping itself as a gift that is already unwrapped but yet to be felt and lived,” said Aratrika.

There was a sense of excitement in them including Amrita and Vikram, but questions too were inevitable as Aratrika initiated asking, “What brings you here Amrita?”

There was a certain fear on her face as Amrita was about to tell the whole scenario because she knew it will be a jolt for them to know that Kul is fighting for his life. Amid she felt Vikram’s hand resting on hers and they both exchanged a glance from each other making it suffice for her to proceed.

“What brings me here is something not good, but a duty that is required to be fulfilled and a piece of paper that is meant to be delivered. Kul met with an incident and this might be his last outing as an officer in the Indian Army and he has not much time left. Glad if I am wrong but situation seems unfair.

My father gave me this letter that Kul always kept with himself in left pocket of his shirt. He wanted this to be delivered to Rumi and it was difficult for me to read this, as in this paper are the words that might well be his last to the world, a world that included only few good people viz. my father and Nirdosh, Shelja, Aratrika and Rumi. “

 There was an expected silence and to Nirdosh, Shelja and Aratrika who always prayed for the ones they loved and wanted them to be together, this was not what they were expecting.

Nirdosh said, “I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to react at this point of time. I have lost my faith in life today. The boy who I used to know, the young blood who always walked with this regard; who would never hurt anyone and a man who himself went for the recluse, never appeared and always gave his blessing which I felt every time I stepped on a successful venture. He cannot go like this, he can’t.”

Throughout Aratrika held everybody around, she could see Shelja present there yet absent and holding back her tears.

Shelja uttered, “There must be some place on this planet where truth has a home and if it has an address, to me that means a lot. It means that Kul has the life left in him, he has. The thread that once held all of us together cannot disappear like this and time till we all are together he will live. He will live.”

Amrita and Vikram were actually running out of words. They were living in such a place far up North where they were oblivious to fevi-quicked human relationships in today’s Urban India and yet in front of them were a group of people that were together with each other without any expectations.

Silence sometimes is all we need and sometimes the last thing we even think we will ask for. Aratrika stepped ahead and said, “We will be leaving tomorrow to meet Rumi.”

 Drive through the Dev Bhoomi Himachal

A small yet meaningful journey that will end a chapter only to begin a fresh one, they all went together to meet Rumi. Aratrika said, “Last time I met her was three years go when she was in Delhi for some work.

She is an example that the world is yours for one moment and another moment you are its tenant. Rumi was always there for me whenever I felt I needed her and I was there for her. A phone call in a month or two, a hand written piece of paper with inked smiles every fortnight was always there to bridge the two ends.”

“We both were opposite from each other. I was a dreamer and he used to be the person who lived in the moment. He used to wait for sleep to see if dreams were available and I used to tailor the sleep movies aka dreams. He was my teacher throughout and a holy book for me ever since I took a step forward to know him.

They say love happens at first sight and music tunes up inside in collaboration with your heart beats and we affirm that yes we have found love. But with Kul I learnt love is not a long lost thing that is needed to be found by anyone. I remember his words, “Some things in life take time to happen viz. friendship to a relationship and affection to love.

They just don’t happen instantly, they take time. And love doesn’t mean that we have to live together. If we are meant to be together, we will be; may be for a day or for the rest of our life.” In nostalgia were Shelja and Aratrika amid remembering words from Rumi.

Travelling across the snow capped mountains on one side and gigantic hammered stones on the other, the small road in between helped the purpose of travelling. It helped them to relocate the lost memories of their past. Although there were no blasts from the past, but some things did pop up at the right time.

“So do you love each other? I mean are you seeing each other?” Nirdosh asked Amrita and Vikram. Some questions are a risqué and for both of them this was one of those. If one says no, it may stop the hidden yes in another and the only answer that can save them was a mutual no. Amrita thought, a half no means a half yes. Amid her eye contact with Vikram spanning for five seconds they said in unison, “We don’t know.”

“Where are we going?” Amrita asked Aratrika .

“We are going to Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh and travelling a little distance from there, we will finally meet Rumi in NIFT, where she is working as faculty.”

Amid the journey everyone was busy in themselves, taking a detour of the past and occasionally griming about the just remembered incident, exchanging glances with nature and suddenly breathing in a new atmosphere while enjoying the window seat occupancy.

There were worries yet there was faith that held them together as they were about to meet Rumi but what after that? And for Nirdosh and Shelja it was next to impossible for them to believe that Kul was actually battling for his life. And for Amrita, it was no less than a lesson of life that she thoroughly enjoyed and learnt.

Yet she was confused that life is best lived when one believes in the present moment. And she tried to conclude the same while looking at everybody around sipping hot tea.

To be continued…

This is the Fourth Chapter of the story. Links to the rest – Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter Three (Part One), Chapter Three (Part Two).