ArShi FF~Dawn Noon and Dusk~Note of page 86 and 87 - Page 58

Chapter - 9

Life Goes on

Three years later

Chennai

""There is nothing permanent except change,"" said Payal Sharma with a sigh, as she followed Khushi and Anya through the college gates. "Whoever came up with that profound take on life deserved a Nobel Prize, no?" She asked her friends, who seemed too preoccupied with reaching their destination.

Maris Stella College by no means had the best looking campus in the city. Yet, where it lacked in architectural splendour, the campus came alive with the vivaciousness of the environment. The bright oranges, yellows, pinks and reds of the Gulmohars, Laburnums, Tabebuias and Exoras instantly elevated the spirit of the grey, nondescript buildings dotting the grounds. Most of all, the splendorous reputation of the college must be attributed to the brilliant student body, both past and present.

"You just quoted a Greek philosopher, who wrote those timeless words several centuries ago; whereas Nobel prize was first awarded a little over a hundred years ago," said Anya, one of the many multi-dimensional and immensely talented students' of the college.

"Really? I didn't know that the Nobel ..."

Payal was cut off by an annoyed Khushi. "For God's sake, lets postpone the philosophical discussion for later. I hope the cast and crew haven't packed up and left. We are so late. Could you both walk any faster?" She half-walked and half-ran towards the open-air auditorium behind the central tower that housed administrative offices and some Arts Departments.

"I know you are in a rush to meet your love but slow down, will ya," said Payal, unable to stop herself from pulling Khushi's leg, even as she continued on with her banter. "In my defence, I was nostalgic about our wonderful times on this campus. It's all going to end soon when you finish your exams next month. I'll be back one last time for your graduation ceremony and that's about it. I'll miss this place, you know. Perhaps, its time I spent some time on my campus hanging with my batch mates, instead of running halfway across town." Her words had a sobering effect on both her friends.

Instantly slowing down to walk beside Payal, Khushi said, "Pal, you being there with us for every special event on this campus is what made the last three years extra special." She wrapped an arm around her friend.

Anya agreed with Khushi. "None of it would have been as memorable or meaningful without you, Pal. College years are supposedly the best time of your life and boy, was it true, was it true!" She sighed.

Entering the quadrangle, Khushi and Anya exclaimed in distress, "Oh my God; it's packed to the hilt."

All they could see was a large gathering of young women garbed in their Sunday best, forming a semi-circular wall. The view beyond was blocked but the self-proclaimed three musketeers knew what exactly was happening, for it was the very reason they had made this special trip to college on a Saturday afternoon. They walked along the edge of the gathering, to eventually find a vantage point in the open corridor by the library, to watch Varun Rahi, the Indian television heartthrob, filming an advertisement in the quad. The very same Varun Rahi, who made millions of young women's hearts race twice as fast as they normally do, just as Khushi's was galloping in that moment.

No matter how accustomed one was to Chennai weather, the intolerable humidity levels never fail to annoy the city residents. For the unaccustomed visitors, it was far worse than dreadful. As the minutes turned to hours, the atmosphere continued to grow sultry. Sweat and frayed tempers exploded on the set.

"Cut! That was a great shot, Varun!" The way the director yelled, one would believe Varun gave his worst shot.

The crew began moving the cameras, lights and large pieces of filming equipment to the opposite end of the quad, to set up for the next shot.

The heroine - a slim, tall, light skinned girl with typically delicate facial features, walked back to her vanity chair under the canopy. The makeup artist immediately began fussing over her; he misted her face with spray, dabbed it with a fluffy towel and began reviving her makeup with quick touch ups. A young boy stood beside her chair with a handheld fan, while he continued sweating buckets.

Varun Rahi walked towards a large group of girls who had patiently been waiting for his autograph for well over three hours. After obliging his fans requests, he walked back to the director to prepare for his next scene. The director's hands flailed around violently, explaining the nuances of the next scene to the hero, the light and sound technicians.

Khushi watched her favourite hero, of course next only to Shahrukh Khan, smile at something the director said. Her heart flipped.

Stop staring; go and talk to him.

I don't want him to think I'm a groupie.

Just ask for an autograph.

He just signed about fifty of them.

That's the point. He won't refuse.

But I don't want to be one of the fifty.

"Roll camera! Scene twelve! Take one! Action!"

Khushi was startled out of her reverie.

"Both of you were desperate to meet this guy. You plotted and planned on unique ways to ask him for an autograph and a photo. Are we going to stand around here forever or are you planning to act on it?" asked Payal, whose patience soon wore thin.

"How? It's packed, he's busy and I'm nervous. I'll forget my words if I get any closer to him. I may even swoon." Khushi sighed dramatically. "Palpal, please, please, I beg you. Nothing affects you. At least, he doesn't. Can you get him to sign an autograph in my name; pretty please." Khushi implored her friend.

"Are you kidding me? You want me to stand in line for an autograph from Varun Rahi? A television star? I wouldn't have minded helping you, if it was Amitabh Bachchan. Now, he is the true God of Indian cinema," gushed Payal.

"He is old and wrinkled," Khushi and Anya said together. "Jinx," they said together again and then burst into laughter.

"Shhh!" People around them shushed loudly.

The director of the movie yelled, "cut, cut, cut!" Lifting his head from the viewfinder of the camera, he looked in the general direction where Khushi, Anya and Payal stood, pointed at them with his finger and said, "you three there, could you not talk? We are trying to can some shots here before the sun starts descending."

Embarrassment turned the cheeks of all three friends to ripe tomatoes. This was worse than getting caught by Sister Teresa, the Principal, while trying to sneak into campus around midday and being pulled up for it next day during a cultural gathering. Suddenly, they found everybody including Varun looking in their direction.

They ducked down swiftly and the three musketeers slunk out of the place wishing they had an invisibility cloak to hide them from public view. Slipping out of the quad, they headed towards the Fine Arts building, to finally settle down on the stairs leading up to the indoor auditorium.

That Khushi Gupta was upset would be the understatement of the year. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she was terribly angry with her favourite Goddess for not protecting her from this particular embarrassment.

Are you punishing me for not coming to the temple to see you?

I was busy studying.

You know I always think of you as my friend.

Is this anyway to treat your friend?

Next in line were her friends. So, Khushi unleashed her rant on them; in particular, one of them. "God! It was embarrassing. I wanted to die. You started it; how could you?" She looked at Payal accusingly.

"Don't even try to put the blame on me. Blame it on the charade they call shooting, which by the way, was bloody boring. Blame it on the weather that was hot as hell. Who would want to stand around there forever? Good we got out when we did." Payal was absolutely unapologetic.

Anya looked on quietly, bracing herself to play the referee, incase the ever-practical Payal Sharma and very emotional Khushi Gupta clashed again over another infamous argument.

"So, what's the plan now? Shall we go back to hostel, freshen up before heading for the movie or should we hang around here for a while, watch the movie and then go back to the hostel? Maybe it's not worth going all the way to change." Anya tried to diffuse the tension by rehashing their plan aloud.

Before either of her friends could answer, a dreamy voice interrupted. "Hello there!"

Varun Rahi!

Indeed, it was Varun getting out of his SUV and walking towards them. He had changed into light blue washed denims and white crew neck T-shirt.

Oh! My! God!

Frozen to the spot, fangirls, Khushi and Anya, gawked.

"This is marvelous. What does he want now?" Payal's sarcastic voice travelled the distance.

Khushi and Anya flinched at their friend's tone. After all, he was an actor who understood the nuances of voice modulation.

Varun heard but was undeterred. He took his time covering the distance between the car and the stairs where the girls sat moments ago but were now scrambling to their feet except one of them.

The girl who remained seated was dressed in a pair of dark denims and floral kurti but what she wore most prominently was her frown. Her beautiful limpid eyes were throwing daggers at him. She clearly wasn't a fan and he couldn't fault her displeasure, given the public embarrassment the trio had faced.

The tallest girl amongst them was dressed in a long Indo-Western skirt and short sleeveless top. She could be mistaken for a model with her sharp features, imposing height and stylish dressing. Varun instinctively knew she was a fan; her eyes remained glued to his face while she smiled at him with unmistakable glee.

However, it was the girl who had paired the pale blue top with cropped khaki pants that remained the focus of his attention. He was sub-consciously drawn to her. In fact, he had noticed her standing by the library earlier that afternoon, when the shoot was in progress. Despite the sweltering heat, she had looked ethereal; almost angelic in her gleaming translucent skin and delicate features. He could tell that his presence had unnerved her.

"Sorry about that!" He waved his hand in the direction of the quad. "He is a rude guy and I apologize." He smiled.

Khushi and Anya gaped while Payal rolled her eyes at their stupidity.

"Varun," he said and held out his hand. "And you are ...

Left to Payal, she would have allowed his arm to dangle in mid-air forever. But her friends were too smitten with the hero to let such a thing happen.

Anya shook it first and muttered her name, followed by a grudging Payal and then a blushing Khushi.

Khushi's eyes widened slightly when Varun continued holding her hand as he queried. "Im assuming you study here. Do you live on campus like most of the girls I met this afternoon?" he enquired pleasantly.He finally let go of Khushi's hand but continued looking into her eyes, as if smitten by those hazel tinted brown orbs.

But it was Anya who answered. "Khushi and I study here. But Payal studies in City Medical College. We live in a hostel off-campus. We came to see y... OUCH!" She yelled when Payal stamped her foot rather painfully.

Varun couldn't help his grin. He could understand Payal's predicament. She was clearly the cautious one who believed actors weren't to be trusted. But that didn't mean he had to give up trying to make Khushi talk. "Could I buy you a cup of coffee?" He looked directly at Khushi. "All of you," he added after a blink-and-you-miss second.

How does one react when one of your favourite on-screen heroes offers to buy you a cup of coffee?

The two fan girls were shocked and merely gawked.

Payal took charge but decided to decline the offer. "Sorry! We have plans for the evening."

"Are you sure? What do you say, Khushi?" He looked directly at her.

Khushi was dumbstruck.

"I...um..uh..."

"Could you give us a minute, Varun?" Anya interrupted.

"Hey! Don't worry! I'm not going to kidnap you girls. Just for your information, I'm a single guy who is looking for interesting conversation. And I happen to know that there's a decent coffee shop just down this road." He chose to take the most honest route.

Payal was pleasantly surprised by his simple and straight forward approach. He seemed genuine but he was an actor, who can act like the boy next-door without much of an effort.

Varun read the scepticism in her body language when Khushi stepped back. He wasn't someone who enjoyed putting a girl in an uncomfortable situation. "Take your time to decide. I'll wait in the vehicle." He tried appealing to Khushi with a final glance before heading back to his SUV.

"He is just asking us out for coffee. All three of us. How unsafe could it be?" asked Anya excitedly.

"First of all, he was not asking us. He was asking Khushi but was left with no choice but to include us. Secondly, he is an actor and that is never a good option. So, I say no,'" said Payal. She looked determined enough to not be dissuaded.

"And I vote a yes." Anya was keen to spend some time with her favourite celebrity of the year and it showed. "Like you said, he invited her and so, Khushi gets to decide. And I think its fine to go because we would be there with her," Anya insisted.

"I'm with Pal," said Khushi, in a tone that discouraged further discussions.

Anya knew how much Khushi had looked forward to meeting Varun. She couldn't believe her friend was backing off from the one chance they had found to spend time with him.

Through unspoken understanding between friends, Khushi walked to the Ford Endeavor to turn down the offer of coffee. As she got closer to the SUV, she saw him smile, the same one she had drooled over every night since she had begun watching his show.

When his smile fell upon her refusal to join him, she felt sad. She gently bid him good-bye, turned around and walked back to her friends.

"He likes you. I could tell. From what we had read and heard from rumour mills, he seems like a decent guy. Why didn't you want to go, Khush? Whom are you waiting for?" Anya asked.

Khushi's heart came to a thundering halt. In a split second, her face turned white as a sheet. She almost choked on the words, "no one." Then said, "and you are right. We should go on that coffee date." She turned and ran towards the Jeep that was just about to move.

***

That night, Khushi Gupta lay on her twin bed looking at the ceiling. The fan went round and round, humming tunelessly, yet the breeze did nothing to cool her body. She had no fever but her skin was burning up. Her mind even more so, with memories she had locked away in a mind-box that was never to be opened.

She plugged her ears tightly with her index fingers so that she could stop hearing Anya's words. Alas! If only her fingers had the power to stop the answer reverberating through her being.

"Whom are you waiting for?"

Arnav.

Khushi was furious at her traitorous heart for that unhesitant, quick reply, for it wasn't what she wanted to feel. The answer weakened and reduced her life that otherwise was in good stead. It pronounced her failure in firmly leaving behind a long ago week in her life.

Human mind has strange ways of holding onto memories, especially ones that remain dormant unless triggered by something. Anya's question had done the same to Khushi.

Memories crept up on her insidiously. If Khushi were honest, she would admit to being affected every time she encountered a guy walking a pug on the road. How else would she explain her hatred for a laburnum in full bloom or a diary milk bar for that matter? Most of all, Khushi was desperate to not see him in her dreams every time Anya brought up her brother's name. Of course, she hated herself the next morning but her mind relentlessly played back his quirky smile and liquid caramel eyes crinkled at the corners.

It's been three years Khushi!

One thousand and ninety seven days.

Forget about him.

He has long forgotten you.

As such, he was the one who suggested that you find someone unlike him.

Focus on Varun, stupid girl.

He is good looking, charming, well-mannered and made no bones about his interest in you.

Take your life back. Live life to the fullest.

Unable to sleep, Khushi got off the bed, walked to the switchboard between the door and the study table and turned on the light. Dragging the chair out impatiently, she plopped down into the wooden chair with more force than necessary.

"Ouch," She winced. Tears sprang from her eyes as if they were just waiting for a chance to make an appearance.

The small, rectangular room was done up aesthetically with limited resources. An iron bed was placed along the wall opposite the door, a small wooden armoire took up the adjacent wall and a black dhurri, black and white cushions and matching monochromatic striped curtains adorned the rest of the room. On the wall opposite the armoire, there was a four feet by three feet pin board with an array of photographs.

Sub-consciously, her eyes sought that one photo pinned at the top-right corner, where a group of people toasted to happy times with champagne. While her heart pushed her to take a closer look at the picture, her mind tugged her away. With great difficulty, she averted her gaze from the pin board, thereby turning her back on beckoning memories.

Once again, Khushi learnt that the rational mind had limited control over matters of heart.

She couldn't help recalling the first time she had met Arnav, crashing into him, the way he had held her, later yelled at her for breaking his mother's favourite figurine, and then sought her out desperately to apologize.

Her mind's eye zoomed in on their movie expedition and finally on the kiss. Feeling her lips tingle at the memory, she gasped when the images continued to swamp her. Her thoughts took a leap again.

And what did he mean by, "impossible was possible?"

Feeling something rip inside her despite the years that had lapsed, Khushi shook her head to physically clear herself of the residual feelings.

Why are you even thinking about him?

Arnav was someone you knew a long time ago.

Of course, he will always be special for evoking strong feeling inside you.

He will always be the guy who kissed you first.

He'll always be the guy who hurt you the most.

Now he has moved on and so have you.

He has even come back to India to set up his business.

And has done his darnedest to stay away, even if it came at the cost of not seeing Ana as often as possible.

He wants nothing to do with you and you shouldn't have anything to do with him.

Never forget that unvarnished truth.

Sleep may have betrayed her, but Khushi knew how to utilize that time well. Education was the key to her success and so, she picked up her Managerial Economics textbook and marched out of the room. She had to stay strong, true to herself and get ahead in life.

***

Hello there,

How'z life? Sorry for the delayed update. Much has changed at my end and I'm in a reset mode once again. But I can assure you that I do intend to complete DND. However, delays could happen.

Basically, this leaves me with the scheduling issue. Which means, where ever possible I will try to upload chapters in quick succession but sometimes there could be a delay of a week to two weeks.

I will be travelling for a couple of weeks soon but I am planning to upload the next chapter before I set off.

Hope you enjoyed the beginning of the new phase in Khushi's life. Of course, you'll meet Arnav and will see how is doing too. I know a lot of you would be impatient for their next meet. But patience and waiting, my friends, will make that scene all the more sweeter :D

Do leave your comments and don't forget to let me know you read by hitting the 'like'. It is always encouraging for a writer to know their readers are enjoying what they have read.

And once again, I appeal to those of you who have already read the story and remember the plot, do not reveal the suspense element of this story.

Thank you for your amazing support.

Cheers

Sandhya