Chapter # 33
Mayank had an unusually busy evening that day, his semester end project was giving him a tough time, but keeping his calm, he was finally able to breath in satisfaction. Reading his hardcopy once again, he went in the mess for dinner, where he was greeted by Sam, "hey mayank!, done with the project?'
"yes finally!" Mayank gave a satisfied smile and Sam grinned, "great, then let's just go and play snooker in the club!, we badly need to relax after such a horrifying project", he sighed and Mayank pondered for a while, "umm, you give me half an hour after the dinner, I need to mark Nupur's essay, you carry on I'll join you", he said normally and earned a further grin from Sam, "yeah yeah!, why don't you just say me that you need to relax talking to your girlfriend", he sighed dramatically and Mayank giggled,. "come on Sam , you know it is not like that, It is ..
"rehne de tu .. dekh li teri dosti /.. I'll play with gaurav!", he went away sighing, leaving a grinning Mayank.
After making sure Sam found a suitable alliance for snooker, Mayank was back in his room. He checked his cell phone once again and frowned a bit at the calmness from Nupur's side, which was very unusual, because normally his cell phone was flooded with text messages.
Shrugging away the thought, he pulled the paper from his book, and unfolding it, he got in his bed with a pen. He smiled at her neat writing, and then finally started reading.
The meaning of passion has changed over the times, Jane Austen in Pride & Prejudice writes ..
"How little of permanent happiness could belong to a couple who were brought together because their passions were stronger than their virtues".
Do you agree that the condition is universal?
Pride and Prejudice, written in the Victorian era and embedded in the conventional English society, perceived this word, Passion, in the older sense, which was devoid of physical proximity. The meaning of passion in today's common usage is related to sexuality, but still the universality of the idea presented in the quote is unquestionable. No matter how backward or advanced the society turns, relationships based on the foundation of passion have a very less chance of surviving the highs and lows of life. The moment of test proves the fragility of such relations, thus exposing their weaknesses.
Virtue, if perceived as defying the family values, as Lydia did in the novel, is an unacceptable practice in society, but widening the definition of virtue to individual level, virtue can be defined as the honesty with one's own self. Finding honesty, strength and lawful companionship from a relationship based on something as weak as physical attraction would be forging one's own self, thus leading to discontentment. Two people coming close because of physical and carnal pleasures cannot compete with two people who come close due to similar interests and similar ideologies. The companionship of people coming close with a will of their hearts and mind, is on a high ecstatic level, in compared to people coming close on an impulse of physical attraction.
Happiness, which is an umbrella term, encompasses all sorts of happiness an individual may seek, and an argument can be based on the fact that satisfaction of physical needs can guarantee a large amount of happiness, but again, the peace and contentment the heart seeks cannot be fulfilled just on the basis of an aesthetic sense appeal. Physical attraction is just based on abstract visions, which are bound to wither away, as told by the law of nature, but emotional bonding sprouts from the heart and soul of people, which does not wither away in any case, and which in turn guarantee a permanent happiness.
Thus all relationships based on passion and physical proximity are bound to end up with a temporary pursuit of happiness, because what the heart seeks is much more than the praise of it's body.
Mayank read it all in one go and took a deep breath, he noticed a tear drop right next to the end full stop of the essay and rubbing his finger over it, he felt that drop falling on his heart, and prick him like a needle. He took a deep breath and grabbed his cell phone. Now he wasn't surprised why his phone was not beeping with text messages today.
Feeling uncontrollable affection contracting in his heart for that delicate and fragile princess, he was impatiently waiting through the dial tones. He couldn't wait to hear her voice.
**
Nupur felt a shiver in her hands seeing his name flashing on the cell phone, and taking a deep breath, she attended the call, "hello handsome", putting in all her energy, she tried her best t sound normal.
"crying?", he said immediately and all the tears clinging to her eyelashes flowed down her cheeks. "no", she said
Her tear filled voice hurt much more than he ever knew, but he tried maintaining his composure, "don't lie, u left evidence beautiful"
"Evidence?", her tears were distracted by his taunting tone, and listening the typical melody coming back to her voice, Mayank relaxed a bit.
"yes evidence sweetheart!, a huge drop of tear on your essay sheet", he sighed and Nupur let go of all her energy to normalize her voice, "Mayank that was ..
"you want permanent happiness with me?", he cut her and the blunt statement embarrassed Nupur.
"Mayank I wrote that essay ..
":from heart", he again interrupted, initiating a few more tears in nupur's eyes, "it was the voice of your heart, I am sorry for shattering your dream of a relation, I am sorry that our relations started from physical attraction, but we need to accept this reality Nupur, there is no other choice", he said softly.
Nupur was standing by her window, and by now, her rush of emotions was translated into her strong grip over the curtain, which was crumbled in her fists. His gentle voice was making her feel more vulnerable, and she felt herself reaching on the final vantage point of expression.
"Mayank the relation from my side didn't start from physical attraction", she almost whispered and this time Mayank closed his eyes, feeling some moistness. There wasn't a single moment when this girl hadn't made her way into the deepest chamber of his heart, forcing him to break all the barriers and come out to her with naked honesty of expression.
"Nupur", he said and paused.
"haan " .. she again whispered,
"you have made sure that I do not sleep tonight", he sighed.
"what?", she questioned quizzically, "why?",
"because", he smiled, "I am going to talk to you the whole night, telling you how my feelings for you have turned into something more than just an attraction to kiss you .."
Chapter # 34 - Page 108 - mulan.
Edited by Fantasia. - 14 years ago
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