THE START OF SOMETHING NEW

What happens when two perfect strangers meet up on a socializing site in a quest to know each other? Ever thought of the idea that two strangers who didn’t know the other existed (until they found each other) turn out to be two people who care for each other and enjoy each other’s company, and maybe fall in love? – 8 months down the line … and counting – to eventually find out it was only 10 kms that set us apart from each other.  Strange as it may seem – Marriages are not the only relationship’s that are made in heaven (as toast-masters claim to say at weddings) – but Friendships are made there too, and its only left to us to find each other on Earth – and in “her” I found a true companion, a faithful friend and a wonderful extended family – It was about “ us “ – and our journey as it started and how it continued to move on, early as we may called it – This was our story – our new beginning – our friendship… which started in the virtual world, facing a computer screen, developed into telephone calls, and eventually blossoming into a beautiful understanding of being with each other – be it in person or having each other in thoughts, it is the pleasure of having someone you can call your ‘ own special friend ‘ your  ‘own special someone’.

I introduce you to “her” -sweet, cute, sensitive, and having an adorable smile, the elder of two sisters, mum & dad. She was one of the cutest gals I’d met, it took me 27 years to have found this ‘pearl’, hiding somewhere in the midst of a quiet & picturesque village of our very own Goa. As for myself, I resided in the midst of the hustle-bustle commercial capital of Goa, the younger of 2 siblings.

It all started on a hot lazy afternoon, it was a Sunday I recollect-logged on to the google server, logged onto the orkut network, browsed through all the pretty goan girl profiles, stumbled onto one certain profile which caught my eye, and what did I see? A display picture showing of a petite young girl, sitting by the staircase – I thought to myself  ‘we should be friends’ typed along a scrap which said

‘hi, like to be friends?’

a few days passed and I received a reply – then on what started with a single scrap reply, we exchanged mobile numbers and got talking to each other. On getting to know each other better, we got to know that the families knew each other way before we met. Call it a slice of luck, or destiny – it seemed we were meant to meet.

It was not long before, that we were to meet in person after long hours of talk, frequent exchange of sms’s – All of this thanks to the friendly AIRTEL network – which went by its then tagline “Express Yourself”. THE DAY had finally arrived – I awoke wee hours into the morning, in anticipation of how the day would unfurl, a little bit of nervousness, a little bit of excitement, filling my day with all the positive vibes. Everything seemed fine, I was now feeling a little confident as her bus neared to its halt, and there got down 2 young girls – as I watched from a corner which of the two could be “her” – then came that adorable smile from a distance, at once I knew she was the one! It seemed she recognized me, even before I could lay my eyes on her. She was this cute girl next-door type, innocent smile, and a sparkle in her eye, at that moment, it all seemed that life had come to a standstill. We spoke all the way back to her place, driving through a busy highway, lush green fields to finally reach her hometown – a good 25-minute drive from town, I didn’t speak much, I thought I’d give her a chance and I would listen.. and boy! wasn’t I not disappointed.

I met the parents and as serious as it sounded “meeting the parents”, the reality was quite the opposite. Her parents came across as people who on talking to could put anyone at ease almost immediately; it did not seem as if we were meeting for the first time. While conversations flew amidst smiles and small talk, “she” was standing beside me all the while-little did I realize….

The feeling of having someone stand really close to you… is kind of un-explainable; it surely was for me those few moments. Time surely passes by fast when you’re having a good time, we were nearing dusk.

We spoke, we met, the families met-what was next I thought? I spotted her again the coming week at Church, talk of distractions… there she was, she had left her hair lose; she looked quite the stunner! …dressed very well in an off-white blouse and skirt, walking confidently to her seat-as my eyes followed her direction.

While bumping into each other at Church services wasn’t really enough of “we” time, we thought we’d take a few time out of a day and spend it with each other. As I made a dash to the main door, dad called out. On turning back – he just smiled, I knew what that smile meant, it is after all a father-son thing! On reaching her residence to pick her up, greeted her folks and set off no sooner – her mom wished us a great time. Something about parents sensing the obvious, though we were keeping it really cool.

An evening to look forward to..

On deciding where to start off with, we thought we’d head down to the beach stretch. No sooner we reached, we were among jolly goans enjoying a Sunday evening at the beach-we decided we’d walk by the shoreline, as we walked, we talked-we were not quiet there! But as we shared, we got to know each other better… time ticked, and it seemed my tummy was asking me questions (didn’t quite know if it was just butterflies or hunger) – I took the more obvious choice, and asked “her” if she’s like to join me for dinner. We both agreed on a place  by the beach would have a lot of nosey goans trying to figure out permutations-combinations about ‘us’, hence we drove on to the more quieter  side of the village side-and parked into one such simple yet elegant restaurant – A quiet dim-lit restaurant catering to  the ‘special ones’, who liked their evening to be just perfect. The night seemed special for the simple reason that we had each other for company, the food and drink did not matter-the music played along as we ate at ease with water-melon juice to accompany. As we continued on into the night, we drove by the lonely roads of GOA, leading us from one beach road to the other. I then put my arm around her, as she laid her head by my shoulder, as the wind blew through the window, getting us into what was a now a very romantic mood setting. As we went along, what we did not realize was that time caught up on us-it was past midnight, and it was getting way past bedtime, hence we drove home to a smiling mum & dad at the gate (to my surprise), not before she gave me a kiss on my cheek to only say

‘I had a wonderful time’

No sooner than we met for the first time… Many more meetings, that brought us closer to each other in many ways than one……a few months down the line, yes! We hit it off, and we hit off so well – that anyone who saw us together would say that we were in love with each other, well we were, at times we held hands, and other times I put my arm around her-we kept sending lovey dovey sms’s to each other, exchanged feelings openly, went shopping together…. You get the picture!! Parents meet parents, questions were asked by neighbors. To an extent that even an out station trip was done especially for time to be spend together with each other, future plans were being chalked out about marriage, housing, and children and our future in general. We moved at fast pace, and in all I wasn’t even aware we went that far – Thankfully not that far that we could not return back!! To sum it all, I had to apply the brakes – Somewhere! Somehow!

I took it all out on ‘her’, I broke the heart of the girl who I was made KinG of and ruled her kingdom until that day!

Not exactly with words said, but deafening silence….with no explanations given!

It was the 1^st day of a new year!  …..

What did I do? Was I even thinking then? Wait! I wasn’t thinking at all in the first place! I surely wasn’t aware of what I did, but life went on. It was here that Life taught me the lesson, but only after the mistake was made. Could I have done it any other way – Maybe I could have, but Life does not give us a second chance, does it?

Many years have passed, and time has healed (or maybe not) many of the wounds I had left open, the world keeps ticking by, one day at a time.

She said:

“It’s difficult to go back being friends, when you meant much more than a friend to me all this while”

I did not understand those words then, when all I thought it was just a simple thing to do, REWIND and everything will come back to the way it was … How wrong was I? It happens only in the movies, Life has no re-takes! Today we are both on the same social network, yet not connected.

“Love Stories are meant to end well, mine certainly did not – Boy meets girl, Girl meets boy and they fall in Love-have their differences-get back together. But then comes reality, and I lived it at different stages in moments, with silver sprinkled all over.

Are we friends or are we not? Or do we hate each other? I do not know, I have never asked her, and never will. This was my story. Edited yet very much true.