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MaNan OS:
The Blue Envelope
The first time when Manik Malhotra saw Nandini Murthy, she had her nose buried deep inside a thick textbook of Signals and Systems looking adorably sweet with her brows creased tightly together scribbling furiously on a small notebook. Clad in an ankle length jeans and an over-sized SpongeBob tees with a large black rimmed glasses perched precariously at the edge of her cute button nose, she looked irresistible to Manik.
After several moments of staring at her suddenly she turned around and looked straight, directly at him. And God help him, nothing in the World could have made him look away at that moment. Her huge doe-eyes went wide while her pouty pink lips parted a little in surprise. And then she did something incredible. She smiled. A real smile. Something squeezed his heart hard. And he was a goner.
Now it's almost 3 months after that fateful meeting in the college library and Manik couldn't even gather the nerves to speak to her cause every time she comes in front of him he gets all flustered and tongue-tied like a love-sick puppy, which he actually was. Cabir, his best friend had a field day watching his 6'2" aggressive friend struggling to speak to a tiny slip of a girl. But Manik was scared that someone else will sweep her off her feet and get all her smiles while he lived with the memory of that one precious smile 3 months back. So he concocted a plan. Since he can't gather the courage to speak to her, he will let her know his feelings through letters. Yes!
But letter writing turned out to be incredibly hard. Firstly there was this matter of getting the perfect writing pad, preferably something pink with small stars or something cute scattered about since she loved cute stuffs. But, in spite of searching long and hard for 4 days he failed to acquire the perfect writing pad, his frustration reaching its peak he nearly broke his favorite guitar in anger. Not to mention he didn't get to see Nandini for the last few days and he had to make do with a silly bottle of strawberry-scented perfume. His Nandini smelled of strawberries. So he went and bought himself one since he always wanted to be surrounded by her, even if it's a poor and inadequate alternative to the original.
Cabir didn't know whether to laugh or cry at his friend's predicament. Manik's quest to find the perfect pink paper for writing a letter made him want to bang his head against the wall. His friend can be so incredibly naive sometimes!
"Manik! What's wrong with you?!Why does the color of a paper or its texture or even its design matter? Nothing matters more than your feelings for her. I'm telling you, while you roam around searching for the perfect pink pad or something, someone else will take her away! And then keep searching for your Noble worthy paper while she sends you her marriage invitation with the perfect design!"
The thought of Nandini with someone other than him was so unbearable that he sprinted back to college with a speed that would make Usain Bolt proud! He decided. He would tell Nandini that from now on they've to stay together! And he would do this directly, face-to-face, so that she doesn't have any confusion or doubts latter!
Manik was so incensed with the idea of an unknown competition that he gave a fright to half of the people in college! He was moving about frantically, kicking open doors and roughly shoving aside students, with his wild eyes searching desperately for Nandini in every possible nooks and corners. He was so focused in his search for Nandini that he almost ran over a geeky-looking guy. Shahid, Nandini's friend. He had often seen him and some other girls huddled together with his Nandini in the library. The fact that he was her only guy friend didn't escape his mind even in that moment.
"Where is Nandini?" he asked looking menacing and tightly fisting his hands.
Shahid gulped."Actually, err, she, I mean, Nan...Nandini, umm, I mean, uh, umm, err, thisisforyou", he said the last sentence in one breath and literally flew away after shoving a blue envelope at him.
"What the hell?"Manik was stupefied and was about to crumple the envelope when he smelled that alluring scent, strawberries. He sniffed the envelope, satisfied he sniffed again, and again. Then with pain-stacking slowness he opened the envelope cautiously, afraid to get even a single crease in the paper. And there in the letter were written the words in her simple handwriting which made him instantly run towards the cherry blossoms tree in the college backyard in neck-breaking speed.
"Nandiiiniii..."
Nandini turned around to see Manik panting hard trying to stand upright with the help of a tree trunk. Worried she ran towards him.
"Manik! Manik you okay!!What happened? You okay na, you..."she trailed off noticing the blue envelope clutched tightly in his hands while checking him for any injuries.
"Manik I...I...I mean, the thing is tha" she abruptly cut off when Manik hugged her hard. As if he was trying to imprint her to his very soul.
"I know. I understand", Manik said pulling her even more close to him.
Startled to the core by his words she went utterly still for a moment, then she closed her eyes and with a soft smile playing in her face hugged him back. Just as tight.
24 years later...
The Blueberry Castle, Landour
Manik watched as Nandini slept with a content smile on his face. The early morning rays playing on her face made her look even more angelic and innocent than usual. Seeing her trying to face the other side Manik frowned and pulled her closer in his arms making her face him again. Without disturbing her, he slowly opened the bedside drawer with the other hand and pulled out a tattered blue envelope placed safely inside. With a huge smile playing on his face and Nandini clutched close to his heart he started reading the letter for the umpteenth time...
Manik,
I love you. If you feel the same then please come and meet me under the Cherry blossoms now.
Nandini.
Cricket
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