Sandhir FF ~ The Long Route to Love //Chapter 13 Pg-50// - Page 21

Chapter -9

It was a bright morning and the atmosphere in the Designs Department was as bright as it had been for the last couple of days. Sanyukta and Randhir had been working with their great chemistry back in action. Even though they had been putting in the best of their efforts, they realised that they were running short of bandwidth. Thus they requested for an additional team member to share the work load.

Randhir had initially hated the idea, because that would mean less alone time with Sanyukta. He brooded when Sanyukta brought up the matter with him. But later he realised that they were left with no other option if they were to complete the project on time.

Today was the day when the new team member was to join them. While Sanyukta was looking forward to meet the new person, Randhir was very apprehensive for reasons he wanted to deny for his heart's sake.

Finally Mr. Naik summoned both of them to his cubicle. As Randhir followed Sanyukta to the cubicle, his worst fears came true. "I should've known. Female geniuses like Sanyukta in our field of work are a rare commodity. It had to be a guy only." He thought hopelessly. His worst fears were further reinforced, when Sanyukta jumped up at the sight of the new guy in their team.

"Arre! He has not even been introduced yet. Why is she so happy already?" Randhir was only processing the scene infront of him, when he realised the reason for her happiness.

"Puneet! You dam dude! What are you doing here?" Sanyukta pounced immediately placing a slight punch on the arm of the man standing infront of them.

"Hey Sanyukta! Surprised? I am your new teammate in your dream project!" Puneet said cheerfully, as Sanyukta looked at him with a wide smile.

"This is incredulous! Sanyukta, this is turning out to be a serial re-union for you. First Randhir and now Puneet. Where did you meet Puneet now?" Mr. Naik enquired of her.

Puneet turned around to Mr. Naik and explained, "Sir! We met at the weeklong orientation in complex automobile designs seminar in Paris. This was when Sanyukta was in Germany for her six months internship."

"And we were in the same slot for questions and answers. And both of us being Indians clicked immediately. And we even kept in touch post the orientation while I was in Germany." Sanyukta offered further explanation with alacrity.

Randhir was watching all this putting a lot of effort not to be very explicit at his displeasure at meeting Puneet. He was extremely cross as he compared the contrasting reactions Sanyukta had given on meeting Puneet to that of those when she had met him. "Was he such a good friend of hers? God! No this can't be happening." He resolved to himself, as he brought himself to be noticed and said, "Hello! I am Randhir. And I am the external consultant representative working on this project." he lifted his hand which was engulfed in a warm hand-shake by Puneet.

"Are you the Randhir Singh Shekhawat! From Resultrix Desings? I've heard so much about you. It"ll be a pleasure to work with you."

Randhir reacted very humbly to Puneet's eulogy even as Sanyukta looked at Randhir "And he is my friend from college too." she added beaming with pride.

"Ok! So with the introductions done, can we proceed to work. Now that there are three of you, the expectations have got raised. So waste no time and get to working. Puneet shadow Sanyukta and Randhir for a week and you will have full grip of the project goals. Then you can take up your individual responsibilities. And you two I hope that Puneet will be inducted into our organizational culture in no time with you people."

Everyone nodded and left to their work desks. While two people of trio were very happy and excited, the third one was extremely anxious and confused as to why he was anxious.

That night Randhir reached home and immediately changed and left for the gym. He was feeling extremely restless and physical rigor was the only thing that could calm him down. As he ran at a speed of 15 km/hr on the treadmill, he felt at the futility of him trying to defy his heart and attempt to run away from his past.

Next he took to doing push-ups. With every dip he exhaled the memories of his past and inhaled them back into his system as he rose back. He remembered the first time he had felt restless due to Sanyukta.

----------------Flashback--------------

It was Wednesday today, only two days since Sanyukta had left for her engagement. She had told him that the meeting with this potential match would happen today.

"Arre, Randhir ! What's up man? You havn"t left for breakfast yet. You generally leave for the canteen by this time everyday." Parth enquired of Randhir, who was sitting idle by the window of the room.

"Hmmm! Yeah! Actually Sanyukta isn't there. She has gone home for some personal reasons. So I have no reason to rush for breakfast today. There is nobody to flood me with doubts and expect answers." Randhir explained.

"I get it. You are missing her right? I mean you two are always together throughout the day that you never had time to be friends with anyone else." Parth said as if stating the obvious.

"Missing her! Why would I miss her? But yes its just that my routine is disturbed because of her not being in the campus." Randhir defended himself, "And we are no friends. We are only work-mates. It's a pact between two of us so that we can maintain our ranks and learn from each other."

"Oh really! Anyways, let's go to the canteen now. There's just enough time to have breakfast, lest we will get late for the morning lecture" Parth said deciding not to push the Sanyukta matter any further with Randhir.

As Randhir ordered for his breakfast in the canteen, he realised that he was doing so after almost ages, because for last 3 semesters, Sanyukta would have their breakfast already ordered as she waited for him at the table with her books and notes scattered around for him to clear her doubts.

During the lecture again, all that Randhir was thinking and worried about was Sanyukta. "She has chosen to go on leave to get engaged when this crucial topic was to be taught in the class. Now I will only have to copy notes for her and spend time explaining these theories and concepts to her."

Parth noticed a distracted Randhir and threw a paper ball at him to attract his attention. As Randhir looked back at him, Parth signalled him to concentrate on the lecture.

During the practicals' session Randhir got the task to repair the motor. While he was engrossed analysing the problem, he called out, "Sanyukta, hand me over the screw-driver, please" and the very next moment realised that he was on his own today. He just stood at his work table with his hands crossed across his chest and sulked. Parth could see Randhir"s chest heaving heavily, which made him infer that something was seriously bothering Randhir.

For the next two days Parth noticed that Randhir's irritable behaviour was climbing new peaks making their third roommate jittery about even wishing Randhir a "Good Morning" or a "Good Night". Parth too chose to not disturb Randhir and let him sort his internal turmoil on his own.

It was Saturday night when Parth entered their hostel room to see Randhir throwing off his laptop on his bed. "What happened Randhir? Isn't the laptop working properly?" he enquired.

"Arre yaar! What will the laptop do if I have no clue of where the documents are saved. I can't find the reports of portions on which Sanyukta was working. Obviously how will I know, she would take charge of my laptop and save all the relevant documents on her own. Whenever they were required she would access all the documents and we would proceed with the work. I don;t even know if the documents that i am looking for are in my system or hers." Randhir was exasperated.

Parth picked up the water bottle and threw it in Randhir's direction. "Chill! Have some water. When did you say that she is coming back?"

"She is supposed to come back by Monday." Randhir replied as he gulped down water from the bottle that Parth had just passed on to him.

"Fine then. Its a matter of just two more days. Have some patience. You leave all this aside. All the guys from our class have planned for a night out at the bar in the town. You too tag along." Parth offered Randhir to join him as he himself sprayed the deodorant across his body.

Randhir though not very excited with the idea, just wanted to not think about all that was not right due to Sanyukta not being around. Parth's offer seemed to be a right alibi, so he got ready and went with the gang. There he had two shots of vodka on PArth's insistence and started feeling dizzy. So much so that Parth had to hold him by his shoulders as they came back to the hostel late night. As Parth helped him to his bed, he held Parth's hand and ranted, "I hope you aren't thinking that I am missing Sanyukta. I am not missing her, its just that I am feeling stuck without her being around. I've got used to working with her around me all the time and I am only feeling her absence. But I am not missing her."

Next morning Randhir woke up with a heavy head, "Urghhh! Parth I had warned you that I have never had a hard drink. You shouldn't have forced me to drink."

Parth who was already up and ready for the day looked in Randhir's direction and gave him a sly smile, "Yeah! You did get a bit tipsy."

"Did I do anything funny or uncalled for?" Randhir tilted his head and demanded a reply from Parth.

Parth who was done getting ready by now, came towards Randhir's bed, he rested his one hand on the table beside the bed and fixed his eyes on Randhir's and replied, "No, you did not do anything funny or bad. You were just repeating something again and again." Parth let out a chuckle which was only audible to Randhir.

"What?" Randhir was already dreading the reply.

"Only that you are not missing Sanyukta. You are only feeling her absence." Parth eyes were gleaming with amusement by now. He stood back straight and patted Randhir on his back. "Go and get a shower. You'll feel better. Its Sunday today and there are no extra classes and no group studies to do... as Sanyukta is not there." He left the room taking dig at his roommate.

Randhir sat their ruffling his already dishevelled hair with his fingers. He couldn't believe that he was ranting about Sanyukta in drunken state. The restlessness and confusion that had gripped him for the entire week grew further by leaps and bounds.

--------

It was Wednesday and there was no sign of Sanyukta in the college yet. Randhir was pacing across his room and trying to decide on his course of action. "If I call her she might think I am interfering in her personal life. But how do I get know about her whereabouts."

Just then Parth walked into the room, "What are you still doing in the room doing a short length relay sprint?"

"Do you even know what are you saying? Why should I not be in the room right now?" Randhir grouched.

"Arre! That means you still don't know. I just saw Sanyukta in the canteen with Kaustuki. I thought you might want to meet her as you were feeling her absence. And now that she is present..." Parth could not complete his sarcastic comment as Randhir had already dashed out of the room.

Randhir entered the canteen and saw a very happy Sanyukta, chirping something very animatedly to her roommate Kaustuki. He shook his head in displeasure and charged towards her.

Sanyukta suddenly felt a tight grip around her arm and was pulled up on her feet with great force. "Randhir! What happened?" she winced in pain.

"What happened? You are asking me, what happened? You have any clue, its Wednesday already and we are suppose to submit our robocar by Saturday. Which I may have the pleasure to remind you is not complete because you went away from college for a very personal reason for over ten days." Randhir hissed.

"You were supposed to come by Monday, we are already 3 days late. Now if your engagement celebrations" are done, can we proceed to work." Randhir couldn't hold back his anger.

"What's wrong with you Randhir?" Sanyukta freed her arm off his grip and rubbed it vigorously to ease out the pain.

She held him by his wrist and pulled him out of the canteen to the activity area. She stood infront of Randhir and looked straight into his eyes. "I did not get engaged." The words left Sanyukta"s lips and hit hard on Randhir's ears. "As in?" Randhir"s breath stopped.

"I met the guy and the family and the engagement was scheduled for Sunday. And then it got cancelled. My dad was so upset that I decided to extend my stay and wait for him to recover from the shock." Sanyukta seemed quite unaffected by these developments, which confused Randhir further.

"And you are OK? As in aren't you upset or sad about it?" Randhir asked, concern evident in his tone.

"Are you kidding me? I would have done anything to not get engaged. I was doing it only for my family's happiness. So its been a blessing in disguise." Sanyukta's hands were lifted half up in the air and she swayed them as she spoke to reinstate her thoughts.

Randhir went numb for a moment and then the fear crept back into his heart and mind together. "How does that make a difference? Next month your father will find another match, and this time everything will work out well and you will be off again to get engaged. For your family's sake after-all." Randhir was back to seething with disgust.

Sanyukta shook a head and hands vigorously in tandem, "No no, nothing like that will happen now. After the entire debacle, my grandmom realised that by making my parents rush for my marriage she is increasing the chances of everyone making a wrong decision. Thus she has now put her foot down and directed Papa, to not interfere with my education and career. So no engagement fear now." Sanyukta flashed a wide animated smile.

"But you put all this aside for now. I know i've wasted a lot of time. I'm sorry for that, but now from tomorrow onwards till the competition, we will work extra hours to put in our best efforts." Sanyukta raised her right hand gesturing a hi-five.

Randhir was still only trying to digest what Sanyukta had just said and he rasied his hand to return the hi-five very lightly. He saw Sanyukta turn around and dance her way back to the Girl's hostel, as he stood there mesmerised by her simplicity and purity at heart. He too turned to go back to his room.

It was mid-night and there was no sign of sleep for Randhir. His heart had been thumping at a nautical pace after his encounter with Sanyukta. His lungs were struggling for oxygen as he sat up on his bed to help himself with some water. As he gulped down the water from the bottle he splashed some on his face to help him clear out his mind, but to no avail. Finally he stood up and got down to doing push-ups. "This will help me atleast catch hold of some air." He thought.

"Why? If Sanyukta's engagement got cancelled, what am i feeling so relieved and happy about? And why? I know its good that she will not be off the campus now for atleast this reason, but why should it affect me so much. What's wrong with me?" The push-ups weren't helping him clear his mind, they were rather making the questions sway around with even more intensity.

He finally stood up, heaved a deep breath and went upto to Parth's bed. "Parth! Parth!" He shouted out. Parth who had noticed Randhir's restlessness earlier when he had returned after meeting Sanyukta sat up rubbing his eyes.

"What happened? Why are you still up at this hour? All OK?"

"Nothing is OK. I can't sleep. Would you mind giving me company for a cigarette on the terrace?" Randhir asked.

Parth looked up at a complete dishevelled and vulnerable Randhir. "Why? Why do you need my company? Oh yes! I forgot, I"m sure Sanyukta doesn't smoke. Let's go." Parth said smiling sheepishly.

Randhir picked up Parth's pillow and threw it hard on Parth, "From where did Sanyukta come in all this?"

"That! You should ask yourself. I am no Uncle Sam to solve such matters." and with this Parth ran for his life breaking into a loud laughter at the same time.

--------End of Flashback---------