Last Part
As days passed, I tried hard to convince Nupur that things will be alright and we can together plan our lives better… But it is not easy to repair a broken heart….Disappointments need to be addressed in budding stage..Or else they will magnify themselves and make life miserable…That is what was happening in our lives…Somewhere deep down, I felt guilty for not fulfilling Nupur 's dreams so far…I did try but I should have done better…I should have pushed myself the way I push myself at work…I know the feeling of being neglected is one of the worst feelings one can deal with…and Nupur has been putting up with that feeling for quite some time…
I noticed remarkable changes in Nupur 's behavior ever since I came back from the last trip…My once bubbly Nupur was hardly opening up with me…Her eyes, which were usually full of mischief have now stopped revealing any emotions…She was upset…I could see that, but could hardly do anything about it…God..How I wished I could transform my Nupur into those boyfriend-girlfriend days..No worries..No hassles…Just love…and nothing else..They were indeed very beautiful days…I wished we could both relive those days...I wished we could undo what has happened post marriage…I tried hard but Nupur had gone too far….
Whenever I attempted to bring this topic to discussion, Nupur would go silent…Her sadness would become more conspicuous and she would turn into a rock…God…Why did I allow matters to come to this stage? I cursed myself for not being more mature and understanding…I tried desperately to take her to a movie or to a park but she showed no interest…I had no clue how to make my dear one enjoy her life again…I never thought she would take life so seriously…Somehow I felt my understanding of Nupur so far was incomplete…Because I always thought she could face anything in life easily because of her happy-go-lucky attitude…But my perception was wrong…Nupur does take things seriously…And the happenings in the last few years had a profound impact on her…
I was desperate to take back Nupur to pre-marriage days…I wanted her to be jovial again..I wanted her to pull my leg again…I wanted her to poke back when I poked her…Agreed that things have gone wrong, but they can be repaired….It was not all over…I wished Nupur echoed my feelings…She was no more the Nupur I knew…I wanted her back…
I tried involving her parents but my hopes that they can transform her mood went in vain..They were as helpless as I was…Whatever had to be done had to be done by me…There was no other option…
One day when I was in Office, I got a call from a friend who was my ex-colleague…He was Nupur 's friend as well…He called me to inform that he was getting married and he wanted me and Nupur to attend his marriage without fail…His marriage was to be in Araku in Vishakhapatnam in a couple of weeks…As he was a close friend, I told him what I was going through in my personal life and told him that attending his marriage might be difficult for me and Nupur …He understood the situation but requested me to try and make it to his marriage...I assured him that I will try…
Once I put the phone down, I thought how wonderful it would be if I could manage to somehow convince Nupur to attend Ram's marriage…I could possibly involve some colleagues who are well known to Nupur and ask them to convince her…It would be a wonderful opportunity to try and take her to a different world…I would probably succeed in injecting some optimism in my sweetheart with the help of our common friends…I decided to give it a try… I asked some of our common friends – Ashok, Mrudula and Sanjeev to try and persuade Nupur to attend Ram's marriage…I explained them the whole situation and asked them to be extra careful with Nupur …They assured me that will do their best..
That Saturday, as usual, I was watching TV staring hopelessly at Nupur who was busy cutting vegetables for Lunch…I chose to watch "Tom and Jerry" hoping that either Tom or Jerry would be more successful than I was in tickling Nupur 's funny bone…But she paid no attention to the duo and continued to cut vegetables as if it was the sole purpose of her life at that moment…I had already requested her to attend the marriage but she refused without even giving it a thought…Suddenly the door bell rang...I was happy to see Ashok, Mrudula and Sanjeev at the door…I welcomed them in and announced to Nupur that our friends had come to see us…She was also happy to see them but only her eyes were revealing her happiness…She managed to control the smile from reaching her lips…She greeted them and welcomed them in…
When Nupur went to kitchen to get some drinks for our guests, I was busy communicating with them in gestures…I was requesting them to somehow convince her to attend the marriage when she came back to the hall with drinks…I hoped she did not spot me gesturing to them…She offered drinks and sat down on the sofa…"Hi Nupur …How are you?" Mrudula kicked off the conversation…"I am doing good…How about you guys" replied my Love..I was able to see some change in her mood and thoroughly enjoyed the feeling that my plan would probably work…The conversation went on for a while and it involved Mrudula's boyfriend, Ashok's recent accident and Sanjeev's strange policy of not watching movies in Theatres… I chose to remain silent for most of the time as I was spying on Nupur more than talking to our guests..
"Did Ram call you guys?" Ashok started the actual topic…"Yes" I replied…"He invited me and Nupur to attend his marriage" I emphasized the point that Nupur was invited too…Nupur was concentrating on the efforts Jerry was making to escape from Tom..I was focusing on the efforts she was making to escape from the topic..I switched off the TV so that I and my comrades in "Operation Change of Mood" could have her attention…"Yes..It will be awesome…We are all attending the marriage..Why don't you guys join us? It will be fun…" said Sanjeev….I appreciated his courage…I remained silent as I wanted Nupur to speak.."I can't manage leave now…I have lot of work" came the excuse…"Come on Nupur …All we need is 2 days leave…We are doing something fun after ages…And isn't Ram close to all of us?" Sanjeev insisted…I was the most active spectator…Active by choice, spectator because I had no other choice…
Before we realized, we reached our destination…After a long gap, Nupur looked at me while getting down from the train…As I expected, the smile on her face faded away slowly as her eyes met with mine. just like a sunflower which slowly closes itself when the Sun takes leave for the day….How I wished her smile stayed at its place a little longer… After watching My Love laugh her Heart out throughout the journey, it was painful to see the smile slip from her lips…"It's not over yet Mayank …The plan has not been executed completely…Don't lose heart man" my Inner voice comforted me, as usual…
It was curtains down for one more couple's happiness that day…"Ankita weds Ram" read the banner outside the venue of the wedding….I felt our beloved Ram's happiness was as endangered as was the existence of the Royal Bengal Tiger on this planet…On second thought, I felt the latter stood a better chance…It was an enjoyable evening as we all made good fun of our ex-friend Ram…Yes, we put him in the "ex" list as the probability of our meeting him in the near future was very bleak…The arrangements at the venue, the gentle breeze which touched our cheeks planting a small kiss whenever it passed us, the melodious music which transported us to a different world full of serenity, all of these made our evening very pleasant and thoroughly enjoyable…In spite of my presence, Nupur was also relishing the evening, sharing light moments with the rest of the Gang, carefully avoiding any eye contact with me which would have been a spoilsport for her….Though she was very near me, I was missing her badly on such a romantic evening… "Come back to me my Love..How much more time do you need?" I said to myself…
That night, we stayed at a hotel…We slept very late as hardly anybody was in a mood to sleep that day…What a day it was…I am sure everyone of us would remember that trip for a long time….First the journey, then the marriage, both were unforgettable…After enjoying the feast ( Ankita's dad must have spent a lot of time choosing the dishes…they were awesome ), we slowly slipped under the comfort of our blankets…The next day was supposed to be sight-seeing day…We were supposed to finish off our sight –seeing by 6 in the evening and start our return journey at 6 30….It was the D Day for me as the trip was fast coming to an end…I wished myself all the best before I went into deep slumber..
The Next Day was as enjoyable and fun-filled as the day of marriage…We had no idea what it was like for Ram, but we were all having the time of our lives…We escaped to the hills and trees, away from the concrete jungle which was unfortunately our permanent abode…We did trekking for quite some time and decided to take a short break and then decide what to do next…We sat on a rock and after relaxing for some time, started planning the rest of the day…"We still have good 2 hours before we go back to the hotel and check out" said Sanjeev "Who wants to come with me up that hill" he said, showing a hill which was very steep..This was part of the plan…We knew that Nupur would say "No"…The rest of the Gang would disappear and I would stay back feigning tiresomeness…That would give me ample opportunity to try and regain my lost rapport with my sweetheart…Our plan worked, I allowed Nupur to refuse before I refused to join the rest of the Gang…This would eliminate any possibility of Nupur basing her decision on mine..
So there we were…I and the love of my Life…Seated on the same rock…Absolutely nothing to do…No TV, no computer, no other pastime…So there was no option for either of us to kill time but to talk to each other…But still, Nupur was sitting silent…Deciding to stare at the rocks and trees instead of starting a conversation with me…So, as always, the onus lied on me to break the ice…"God…What a situation you have put me in…We should have been enjoying ourselves together...Look at me..I am making plans to talk to my own wife…Change my life God..Please change it forever" I offered my prayers before I made any move in that delicate situation…
Some more time passed but neither was Nupur showing any signs of opening up nor was I able to muster the courage to start a conversation.."Come on Mayank …This is what you have been planning for..It's now or Never…It's ok to fail…At least try" It was the inner voice again which was motivating me…Understanding the gravity of the situation, I decided to let go my fears …"What an amazing trip this has been so far…I enjoyed every bit of it" I said…As usual, Nupur responded with silence…I moved close to her expecting that she would at least look at me…Instead, she chose to look at the chirping birds atop a distant tree…"Hmm…This is not going to be easy" I said to myself…
I moved a little closer to my sweetheart and braving her cold and scornful looks, gathered the courage to hold her palm…She gave me a surprised look…I had expected that she would push me off…As the reaction was milder, I thought I stood a chance…Not letting go off her palm, I said "Sweetheart…I understand what you have been through…I am determined to change the circumstances forever…Next time we have a chance, we will travel together…I will fulfill your wish…Trust me…I Love You…Please don't turn away"…This was the most convincing speech I ever offered to anyone in my life...I felt very satisfied after delivering it and awaited a hug from Nupur , but instead she retracted her palm and looked away…Somehow, Girls do have a tendency to do the opposite of what they are asked to do…I should have probably asked her not to look at me…It could have worked…
"OK Bro…Step up the intensity…Rest of the Gang will be back and once they are, your hopes of getting back your Love will be buried forever under the huge rock called Disappointment" I motivated myself to accomplish the mission…I moved a little closer to Nupur and acted as if I was very relaxed….This attracted Nupur 's attention and she gave me a puzzled look…She must have thought why this Idiot suddenly seemed so relaxed…I pulled out two tickets from my pocket and said "Sweetheart…Because we need to wait till I get the next opportunity to re-locate and I don't want my Love to wait for so long, I decided to take her on a pleasure trip…Travel date is still a month away so it should be easy for her to plan leave"…
As I uttered the last sentence, there were some positive vibrations in Nupur …She realized that I indeed understood what she wanted and was ready to fulfill her wishes…Her mood transformed totally and she came forward to give me a hug…Before she completed the hug, I said "Do you think our campus beauty Sheela will be able to manage leave next month?"….As I already told you, I never let my sense of humor relax, even in the most critical circumstances…Hearing this, Nupur chased me and started punching me playfully…This what was I wanted…We transformed ourselves to good olden days when we were girlfriend-boyfriend….We enjoyed ourselves and were lost in each other…In short, we experienced Bliss…
And I was foolish enough to think "Things have Changed"…I learnt from experience that "Few Things Never Change".
I guess the ending was good :)
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