Chapter 23

Part 24 – The rose garden
     The rose garden was in such an area that even if somebody was screaming at them from the other side, you couldn't hear them from the rose garden. It was so dense that nobody even bothered to trim the roses. This was why the roses weren't symmetrical or ordered into a line; they all grew wildly and naturally. Manthan hadn't even been near the rose garden before today. Now he saw that this was the perfect place for him and Nisha. He watched her cry quietly, patiently waiting for her to finish. After about 15 minutes, she slowed down the crying.

     Manthan stared at her. Even while crying, she was radiant. He took off his leather jacket and put it around Nisha. It was clearly too big for her. But just the fact that it was clothing was good enough for Nisha. She couldn't believe what had happened. She still wanted to cry and let out everything but Manthan was sitting right there. She didn't want to cry in front of him and let him think or her as a big loser. But she couldn't help it; no matter how hard she tried the tears kept falling down. Suddenly she just shifted on the bench and hugged Manthan hard. She didn't care what he'd do, but she was just happy to be there with him. Manthan, although surprised by her, hugged her back. The tears stopped.

     They sat there like that for a while, Nisha unable to move away. Finally when she was sure she wasn't going to cry anymore, she reluctantly let go of him. She looked square in his eyes and asked him one thing.

N: Kyun, Manthan? Why were they so cruel to me?
M: You want to know why? Come here…

     Manthan took her hand and let her towards a water fountain. He stopped and told her to look into the water. She did as she was told but found nothing out of the ordinary there. She looked back at Manthan, with questioning eyes. Manthan gently took his jacket off of her and looked into the water.

M: See that girl, Nisha? That's not you…Those clothes, the make up – everything. That's not you at all…
     
     Nisha opened her mouth to say that she had done all this for him but knew he was right. The reflection that she was staring at was hers but still wasn't her.

M: I should be the one asking "Why?", Nisha. Why did you change?

     Nisha, who hadn't said anything, finally spoke.

N: Manthan, I was scared…Those people are your friends, they're from your social class, they all dress a certain way, and they all talk a certain way – they fit into your high class society. And - I don't.
M: So you did this to climb the social ladder?
N: No, Manthan, I did it for you! I didn't want to embarrass you. Everyone else was there with girls in dresses and skirts and you were with me – a middle-class girl.

     Manthan stared at her. He finally realized why she had done all this. She didn't want to embarrass Manthan. And here he was thinking she did it to look classy. He wished he could just kick himself in the head for ever thinking something like that about Nisha. He looked at her sorrowful eyes. She had done it for him…

M: Nisha, you know why I like you so much?

     Nisha's stomach did a sumersault. He had just said he like her! She shook her head no.

M: Because you're different from all those girls. They have no right to talk to you like you're a low life! You are better than all of them there. Aur rahi baat class kit toh aise class mein kyun fit karna chathi ho? Jisme tumhari koi izaat hi na kare?

     Every word he was saying was making sense now. It was stupid to change herself.

M: Tumhe baldalne ki koi zaroorat naahin hai, Nisha. You're perfect the way you are…
N: I'm sorry, Manthan…I should have went with you on a date when you asked me to, at least I wouldn't have been humiliated
M: Koi baat naahin, date aab ho jaye gi…wait here

     Manthan went deeper into the rose garden and went to pick out the prefect rose. He was careful to avoid the thorns because he vividly remembered the time when Nisha had yelled at him when he was childish enough to pick up broken glass. He didn't want to repeat the same scenario. He walked back to Nisha and bend down on one knee.

M: May I have the honour to have this dance?

     He said it in a perfect British accent. Nisha couldn't help but laugh.

N: There's no music, Manthan
M: You're right…Come on

     He took her hand and led her back to the pool. There was nobody there. It was clearly well after midnight now. She guessed the girls had left when Manthan had left. And after the girls had probably gone, the guys probably had nobody to flirt with, so they'd gone too. Manthan went towards the sound system and put a slow classic piece of music on. He went back to Nisha and pulled her towards him by her waist. Even with her freezing cold and wet clothes, Nisha was warmed by Manthan's body. They both gently swayed to the soft classic music.

N: Manthan?
M: Hmm?
N: Thank you…For the best Valentine's Day ever…
                     

                                  Pooja