SanDhir SS: WTSGB! *SS Of The Week :')* Chapter 5 & Prologue - Page 12

Originally posted by: PrussianBlue

Prachi! You sweet child! I had said 5 days or a week, na? Be patient! xD *evil smirk*

Originally posted by: barauni

Very interesting!
Plz update asap!

Originally posted by: Prachijainn

Di!!!
6 days completed!

Originally posted by: G.R.

Hey...awesome prologue.

Recently, i read ur The Grease Story nd it was fantastic.

Thn, i came across this SS of urs nd

its interesting...cn't wait for u to strt with it.

Update Soon...

nd if u cn thn plzz PM me wen u update nxt

Foram

The author of this post has chosen to restrict the content of this post to members only.

Hello again, everyone! As promised, 5 days are up and here is the 1st chapter! This is an introduction to the two characters and the people around them! I'm sorry if this bores the life out of you but it is essential to the story! There is a bit in the end, which will interest you hopefully! xD

This one is for Prachi (Prachijainn) because of all the pestering she indulges in for an update and all my KBGs: Pririri (who doesn't unres till men turn into werewolves), Taneeya (who is adorably crajee), Pari (my Gujju ben forever), Ipip (who can't be described in words), NidsPids (who is ever so beautifully arbitrary), Tich (the guiding beacon of our lives), Ananya (who is lukhi and velli all the time), Aadya (who has not come online in so long :(), Payal (who is mast magan because of exams), Anu (who is immensely multi-talented *wink wink*), Himani (who is SO kind with praise) and Sweta (the coolest Bong ever)! IF would be so boring if not for you guys! Yeh lo chumme! :* :* :*

PS. The Fault In Our Stars is a book by John Green. Please, please read it if you do read and haven't had the chance to read it yet. No intentions of intellectual property infringement.

Chapter 1: The Fault In Our Stars

"The thing about beginnings is that they could either be just that, only beginnings; or conclusions to other endings. What they are depends on who we are and how we see them."

Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. His smile never saw the light of day or the frost of night. Sanyukta and Randhir, two perfect paradigms of the diversity of the youth in India in the 21^st century, were diverse yet similar. They were born minutes apart from each other on a stormy July night but in places relatively far apart. She was from an affluent, well-to-do but conservative and orthodox family and he belonged to an underprivileged, hapless household. The only disparity between them was their standard of living. Both were insanely intelligent, alone amongst friends and perfectly imperfect. They weren't that difficult on the eyes either. Sanyukta studied mechanical engineering at FITE, India's premier engineering institute while Randhir ran between various odd jobs to obliterate his family's hand-to-mouth existence.

Sanyukta's father and elder brother ran a lucrative business, which was under the severe scrutiny of many families of eligible suitors for her. All that mattered to them was the value of the dahej that Sanyukta would bring to their home, lest their son be permitted by the strict Mr. Agarwal to marry his darling daughter. Her mother was a sincere and loving housewife, mother and wife, precisely in that order. Sanyukta was adored by her family, loved by her teachers for being the best student at school and befriended by each person she met, for she was such an easy person to be with, and yet she never had any airs about any of it. She was just another happy girl in another happy world until her family, her life was snatched away from her in a car accident when she was eleven. The four Agarwals had taken a trip to Mount Abu from New Delhi, at the return of which was a landslide that took away three of her dearest people. Her mother's family then took over the responsibility of looking after her since her father had no relatives. She asked no entity in particular as to why she was the only one who had survived that landslide. Why didn't the rest of her family survive, why was she the only one still living? When she received no answers other than the explanation that the fault was in her stars, she grew into a resentful, remorseful and irate young lady. She had only one friend since childhood who remained with her after the accident and continued to love and support her. She was Kaustuki Sherpa. Kaustuki studied engineering with Sanyukta at FITE.

Randhir's family had 5 members, 4 of whom were working 14 hours a day in places more than one. His father and mother ran a lukewarm business, which accumulated all the old magazines and papers in all of Janakpuri, New Delhi. Randhir himself worked hard to keep 4 jobs: washerman, waiter at a dingy restaurant, newspaper delivery boy and clandestinely, a male escort. His first 3 jobs were, collectively, as monetarily rewarding as his furtive fourth. The pay and earnings as a washerman, waiter and delivery boy were low as it is, but the respect and admiration he earned from his loafer friends swelled his chest up into the size of the football he played around with. He was a respectable man, who loved his family, honorable even, but respect, love and honor don't win enough bread to take back home, hence he had to take up a job that wouldn't take up much of his time and yet, paid him well. He wasn't on duty every night, but only on the nights when his day jobs hadn't taken a toll on him. His younger sisters were still in school but the elder of the two, Aditi, was in the 12^th standard and gave tuitions to younger students.

Randhir was nine, unsuspecting and guileless, when his maternal uncle first assaulted him sexually. His parents were comparatively well-off then, running a school book store. His uncle kept coming to the house when Randhir was alone at home, trying to study while he was still enrolled at the local government school. He always told Randhir that it was their little secret and that he must never let his parents know about it or else an omnipotent God would punish him for being a bad boy. This little secret of theirs played itself out once a week for seven years straight. It turned him into a beast from the previously endearing boy that he was. He never knew what to do about the horror that was constantly served to him on a platter. When his uncle indulged in the dastardly act, his hand was always on Randhir's mouth, never letting him call for help. There would be scars on his body, which his uncle would apply ointment on with his filthy fingers, so his mother wouldn't notice them. Randhir would have nightmares about the day he told his parents about his uncle and the resultant godly fury that would be let loose on him.

Anger sat on the brink of his nose and threatened to burn to ashes, any person that dared to do something he didn't will to happen. The day he turned sixteen, he incriminated his uncle to his parents and his sixteenth birthday would be the most memorable for him, albeit in the most hateful and heinous of ways. His parents decided on moving from Lucknow to New Delhi with their three children to help Randhir forget the horrid memories of his ordeal, which culminated in the falling of their fortunes. Their income wasn't covetous to begin with and moving cities only added to their troubles. The search for a comfortable house and meeting daily expenses brought them to the roads at a point of time. Only Randhir and his parents knew how they pulled through that predicament, as the two younger sisters were too infantile to remember it. Running between jobs, consuming only one meal a day, wearing the same clothes for weeks and sleeping in the open, chilled Delhi winter air were some sacrifices they had to make.

After watching his family suffering abject indigence, Randhir swore he would never let it happen again. He only didn't see what he put on the line for his family. He put himself. He gave up any dreams of school that still remained in his agonized heart and toiled day and night, being a chai-wallah, boot polish karne wala, roadside florist and bar singer, all in one day for the next four years. Now, he was twenty, brazenly bold, insanely handsome for one who couldn't afford three meals a day at a point of time and a ladies' man. As an escort, he only made sure that his "clients" forgot their troubles momentarily and gave in to his charms. He rarely indulged in sexual acts, as he didn't want to sell himself short in the ephemeral world that male escorting is. He stuck to stripping, making sure people at parties returned to their homes profoundly inebriated while not drinking a single drop of alcohol himself and the usual dinner dates. His English, which was supposed to be studied and improved in school, was taught to him at his agency instead. In this line of work, it was all about appearance, behavior and materialism. His agency didn't want clients to be disappointed in him because he didn't know how to converse in English. Randhir's life had been difficult and he would be thankful for it turning out that way for, perhaps, the first time.

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Sanyukta Agarwal requests and pleasure and awesomeness of your company on the occasion of her best friend, Kaustuki Sherpa's 20^th birthday on the 23^rd of September, 2012 at F Bar and Lounge, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. Please feel free to bring along a date or a friend as a +1.

Hope to see you there!

RSVP: Sanyukta Agarwal, +919833610518, +919879549200

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Always,

Arushi