CHAPTER TWO
Missing Beats.
After all tomorrow is another day!
Mitchell, Margaret.
Gone with the wind
So the task is assigned and all I’ve to do is to write a love letter. Not simply a love letter but a letter with some standards so that it can be used for future purposes also.
“He can do it. He is a master in writing” seems the great CA has started envying my freedom.
“For god’s sake, how come you know my dear friend?” even though writing a letter is not a Herculean task I just got irritated with that response.
“You should have some abilities man! You try, you’ll become one.” He is always funny.
In fact the problem was not the letter, as per the experience till to date I have already assumed that the task wont be that simple anyway. What will they do to complicate it?
They may ask me to write it with my left hand. Or else they may ask me to write it with….. They may even go to that extent. Help me god!
My fears were worthless. It was simply a love letter.
“But to whom?”
I never thought that will be violation of the first rule and immediately I got the reward too.
“Whom? You are gonna give it to the whole sixty three and each copy should get signed in its back and must return to me with in 24 hours!”
Enough to keep me busy for whole the day! Still seems good. Loving all of them at the same time. Sixty three girls and the one and only me! Hare Krishna!
Do they have any divine ability to read our thoughts too?
“See, what I told you is all about writing a letter and never take it as a freedom to violate the rules. They are still your sisters.”
Whatever!
Honey,
How long does it take to steal one small piece of an unknown heart?
42 hours? By that time, in minutes precisely, which comes around 2520, my heart might have beaten 2520x 72 +/- standard deviation 40 times, and to my surprise I realized some of them were missing! It was a mystery until last
So, you have been caught! You know I don’t like harassing girls, so you can keep that with you. I just need answer to this one,
“Are you gonna hold it forever?”
“Hmm. Not bad. Anyway, as a senior, just because of the love and concern that I have, I’m advising you, please please don’t attempt this anymore. What does it mean in fact? ”
I already had lost a piece of my heart and now this guy is playing with the rest! He walked away.
“Hey, that’s why I told you are a master in writing!” Now it’s my best friend’s turn.
“No one will understand, what you really meant! But I’m damn sure that your mother is teaching mathematics! ”
“My grand father was also a math teacher”
“So it’s genetic”
I smiled.
Anyway the task was still not completed and of course pramu is there to help you! He already had two thirds of the photocopies with him. I satisfied with the rest.
“Who wrote this?”
“A senior interested in you”
“What’s his name?”
“Depends!”
The job soon turned pretty boring. Every girl turned an angel receiving that letter.
They need explanations, assurance and of course some flattering before the letter got signed. I’m damn sure, if it was a legal document or something, they may not even look at the first sentence, even if it’s a trap, crap or whatever! Stupid girls!
“Tired?”
I was sitting on the last bench, alone leaving all those letters with pramu. Mind was wandering somewhere else, and it took time to come back.
“You? I mean who you are. Nope what are you doing here I mean I’m tired!”
It was much a pretty face and I wondered why I dint noticed that yet.
“You have one for me too?”
She sat beside me. As beautiful as an angel, with wide shining eyes, and long curly hairs goes some where hugging those neck n shoulders.
“You are really beautiful!”
“Well, that’s not the answer to my question.”
“Yup, of course I’ve.” I took the original copy from my pocket, stroked those ‘42 hours’, and wrote ‘you were much faster. It just took 3 seconds’ and gave it to her.
She laughed. “Can I keep it with me?”
“It was really meant to you angel!”
She continued laughing.
“Vineetha, that’s what people usually call me!”
* * * * * * * *
It was the first love letter in my life and who knows that might be the turning point in my life too. Nineteen years of bachelor life is well enough for a man to find out the reason for those missing beats. I was always reluctant, shy even though not that bad enough to draw no one’s attention. I don’t know how truthful I’ll be saying nineteen years of bachelor life. My love life had begun even earlier, say right from the age eight. Of course I was in third standard, and on a fine morning I developed crush towards her. I’m sorry that I can’t remember her name, but I still remember the frock she was wearing that day had nice roses stitched on it. After six long months of love life, even though I never talked to her after that day; I opened my heart with a big greeting card on Christmas. No loves printed on it, no words to talk for me but it was big. Definitely indicating how much I love her! Sometimes life is so cruel, even to someone like me, just turning nine, a little boy, not even grown up to face this hard life. The card I got in return was the smallest one I’ve ever seen in my life! I never knew, still I don’t know what she meant by that. Sometimes we might have the same way of thinking! Anyway that was enough to indicate her feeling towards me. You know, life is hard, and still I survived.
Then I grew from that little boy as years passed. I learned to throw flying kisses, I mastered the art of whizzing, and above all my vocabulary was improving day by day. We found the same word can have different meanings, and what is hidden is always beautiful than what is shown. I learned to imagine, and to compose theories based on that. We discussed, each came with evidences sometimes bit of an article, or else a small pic from somewhere. Still we all knew there is still plenty to learn!
By seventh I learned, simply by hugging and laying together you can’t have babies!
“For that, you have to fuck man, fuck!” I’m still thankful to our big, fat Kumar for the information.
“But how?”
“Much complicated! You won’t understand it now.” We all respected him, and no one have the courage to ask more.
Now I wonder where the love had been gone all those days! We all were, chronic bachelors and what we just had was curiosity and you know, thrush to learn.
When I turned thirteen, it started to blow again. After a long search for two years, I found one. In fact she just fell in front, as if the al mighty finally started throwing mercy up on me. I was on my way to tuition classes and suddenly a girl came to me riding a cycle just to land it in front of me right on the ground.
“Hi, I was riding my bicycle” she said, while patting dust on her salwaar.
“Well, by the way you landed; I thought it was an aero plane”
She smiled, slowly picked up that cycle and this time not attempting to ride, and moved pushing it aside.
“I know you; your mother is a teacher, right?”
Well, she knows me too. She was beautiful and what else you need. A beautiful girl is landing in front of you and says ‘I know you’!
I always kept that secret with me that I was searching for that (or someone like?) girl for the whole damn two years! I never told her that I love her, I never wrote a letter. Don’t ask me why, you know I was just afraid!
And another two years of love life ended just like that, with two friendship cards!
Well she always called me friend, and I never disagreed. After all a friendship was well enough for me, what I need was just her presence.
Even though those were just a few ‘accidental’ meetings!
Now, at nineteen, no more a teen, I’m sitting here in this last bench, wondering what just happened was a dream or not.
.
