The temperatures had been spiraling upwards for the pastcouple of days in Bhopal and people had been desperate for some blessings from the Rain Gods and he seemed to have listened to them today evening as cloudswere gathering at the horizon as the sun set. Bunty and pulled an upset and demoralized Shravan to the banks of the Upper Lake as he knew it has been always Shravan’s favorite hotspot. The smell of the tamarind water pot being churned by the local golgappan vendor or the colorful spice mix that the chat bhandar would stir up smearing the plates of aloo tikki chat, bhelpuri, samosachat and seemingly endless varieties he served were enough to cause a gastronomic orgasm for foodies Bunty and his friend Shravan. On other days both would gobble loads of the street food that lined up in the outer fringes of the lake but today was lot different. Shravan had been sad and depressed since his fallout with Suman and although Bunty had tried all the tricks in his bag but nothing had been able to bring back Shravan to his cheerful, effervescent mood.It has been more than a week now that they had not been to their favorite haunt at evenings and Bunty had emotionally blackmailed Shravan almost to come out with him. The weather was beautiful with light clouds spreading out in the sky,light winds which would sometimes bring a little drizzle as the winds blew over the lake. Bunty was terribly hungry, and he got a plate of golgappas and started munching while he looked at Shravan who held a forlorn look as he stared into oblivion.
Bunty had been trying for the last half an hour to cheer his friend and tired and exhausted he attacked the golgappas to regain all the strength he had lost. Shravan had always liked the crunchy sound of the golgappas followed by the slurp of the tamarind water which had been his heady mix but today the sound made bile come up his throat. Since that disastrous night when he was laid into a trap and had a fallout with Suman , he had been upset with himself and he has neither been able to eat, sleep or do anything with focus and excitement. He had shifted his gaze towards the clouds playing hide and seek with the moon and stars as the wind picked up speed. Bunty followed his gaze and mentioned “kya khoobsurat nazara hain bhai..tum hero aur tumhari heroine who sitare..ek dusre ko takte hue..accha hain miyan..” Shravan smiled slowly which did not reach his eyes and said “ You are right Bunty ,inspite all my best efforts to pacify Sumo , she seems not to be ready to forgive me. She is actually like the stars in the sky, bright, beautiful and glowing…welcoming you but the moment you feel they are blinking at you, the clouds hide them and make them unreachable. I probably can never reach Suman’s heart and she will be like that bright hidden star for me. Shravan wistfully looked at the clouds gathering as the wind picked up a good speed. Bunty looked at him and said “ tum kitne handsome ho tumheinto koi bhi mil jayegi, badiya se badiya “ and immediately Shravan said “mil tojayegi lekin woh Suman to nahin hogi”. Bunty now really felt sorry for his dear friend whose cheerfulness was so contagious and he almost cursed Suman for affecting him so much. Shravan intently watched a small dingy trying to balance itself in the middle of the lake as the winds now had picked up speed and were threatening to overturn the dingy. He looked at the man who refused to give up and continued his efforts to balance the dingy as now bouts of rain fell from the dark skies drenching all people who had gathered to spend a nice evening. Bunty dragged Shravan to the nearby shop to prevent themselves from getting soaked. The rain battered the temporary shade drenching the people trying to escape from its wrath. Shravan and Bunty always enjoyed the rains and they didn’t mind even today to get a little drenched.
After about an hour of heavy rain , the force had subsided and the wind speed had dwindled and the rain was almost a drizzle and the friends now stepped out to get a cup of refreshing hot tea from the shop at the corner to bring in a little warmth. As the warm liquid touched their lips, it warmed up their insides and they were thankful to the vendor for this necessary lifesaver drink. As they sipped their milky concoction Shravan noticed that the dingy had recovered its balance and the man was now nicely rowing it back to the banks and as he looked up to the sky he saw the stars were back bright, shining and beckoning. Shravan smiled this time a genuine smile lighting up his face with a determination,the dingy man had taught him perseverance is the only way to reach out to his bright and shining star-Suman. He promised himself to restart his efforts of pacifying Suman with renewed vigor because failure was just not an option for love. He gave a tight hug to Bunty for bringing him here to witness how he should reach out to his star.
Thanks for the warm welcome. I was planning to write something as I used to visit the forum frequently but with the lockdown and playing a myriad of roles-mom,daughter, dil ,wife and maid is sometimes very stressful. I have realized that being able to take some time out and write acts as a stress buster for me so will try to put some things up now and then whenever I have time.
