DDLJ contd.......

As is often the case, you don't realize what you have, until you lose it. This is what happened to both of them. Till only a day back, morning smiles, afternoon lunches and evening walks were part of their lives. But now, it was again a new world, unknown and terrifying. A world that was not full of her smiles and his antics. And to them it was not really what they wanted. So they decided to give it try. They began when she messaged him and told him what he always knew to be true. Yet, he wanted to hear it from her. It was important for him as it would decide where they would go with this relation.
After this they began to meet whenever they could. It felt like a dream each time they met. If they were happy when they were friends, then this was bliss. They began to understand each other better now. Now he knew why she had always built a fortress around her. Not because she afraid of getting hurt, but for the only reason that she didn't want him to suffer. He was someone she had dreamt of- funny, sensitive and warm at the same time. If you say that they were meant for each other, well you wouldn't be wrong. So their love began to blossom. There never were any demands or anxiety from either of them. Though the distance between them was great, so was the faith on which this was founded. Days turned to weeks and weeks to months, and then that happened what had always been at the back of their minds.
She was a Hindu, and he a Muslim. It's not that these two communities were very friendly in some other time, but recent events had widened the rift between these two religions even more. So when their families came to know about this, they result was as expected. There was a firm refusal to accept the relation. They were too divided to overlook the incongruity of religion in today's world. What made it worse was the fact that the families didn't consider it wrong personally. It was a knee-jerk reaction under the societal pressure. What would people say? A Hindu marrying a Muslim? How can water and oil ever mix? It gave them shudders even to think of such a possibility. So the verdict was given. They were to forget each other as if nothing ever happened. She would soon get married to a suitable guy within her religion. He was expected to go on, do his bit, albeit without her.
They obeyed the command. They tried to live without each other. The number of mails and phone calls were drastically reduced. They, who knew what the other was doing every second, were now content with just a mail in a day. But it is not easy to forget something that was so pure. Giving up on this would mean a lifetime of doubts and reminiscences. Of course, they would get married at some time in their lives. But forever, they would wonder of things that could have been. Moreover, they found each day tougher than the previous. So finally they decided to risk it all.
They got together, and made a plan. A plan that originated with a feeling of attaining whatever the wished for, or losing it all, forever.
She went to meet his parents and he went to see her folks. This was a very courageous move. And it did not go unnoticed by the parents. It made the parents realize that this was not something that would end with time. Force might make them follow their orders. But both the children would be left a yearning throughout their lives. Asking them to give up something that was so precious to them, would not be right. Nothing could justify this wrong if it was done- no religion, no society, no relatives. The had always understood that the children's happiness was more important than anything else. But after this they accepted it.
You can say that both of them were lucky to have parents like that. And I would agree with you. Without such parents it would not have been possible.
So finally things worked out for him and her. It's not that everyone was happy with this. But those who mattered were, and they didn't care about the others.
It had always flet like they were living a dream, fearful that the dream might end any moment. But after this it became a unending dream. And as they say,
They lived happily ever after.........................

Dilwale Dhulania Le Jayenge

Time didn't stop, bells didn't ring, leaves didn't flutter in the wind. In fact, none of those things that you generally associate with love happened when they met. But there was definitely a short pause when they saw each other for the first time. Don't ask me why, I really don't know the reason.
They had landed up in a small city in Southern India for a two month professional training.The kind that large Indian companies have before putting people into live projects.
She didn't like him when she saw him for the first time. To strangers he appeared to be a guy too full of himself, aloof and devil-may-care types.He noticed her while cursing the dismal Indian cricket team(ya, there was a match on that time,and as usual our "boys" were performing badly). Outwardly she looked bold, but he could sense that she was out home for the first time. She was scared to be in a new place and didn't want the world to know. But he knew, and didn't give it a second thought. He was like that. But she had a kind of sweetness about her, and this had touched him in a way even he didn't know then.
So came the night, and he asked her out for dinner. Can you believe it? The first time he talks to her, he asks her out? He was banking too much on his luck, he would get more than he had bargained for! That's what you thought would have happened. But she agreed. And they had a very pleasant time together. They laughed, told each other about their families, colleges, and lives. Never for a moment did it feel that they were talking to each other for the first time. They had a kind of easiness that develops only between old friends. They met every day from then on. He used to wait for her to come back, and have dinner with him.He never asked her out for dinner after the first day, nor did she expect him to. It was a tacit understanding. One would wait until the other arrived, and then they would have dinner together.
Slowly the friendship grew. He was not such a bad guy after all. And she was someone any guy would be proud to be with. They were seen in each other's company all the time. People started wondering and talking about them. But they seems oblivious to all of it. They were happy just being together. It seemed like precious moments stolen from the wings of time. They partied, went for walks, pulled each other's legs, laughed, and genuinely thought they had never been happier before.
But as is usually the case before it could blossom into something more, the training period was over. Both of them were moving to different cities. There was nothing concrete to fall upon. They liked each other, but then was that enough? They were just starting off with their professional careers, the stage was of uncertainty and doubt. Things were better off without getting into complications of the heart. Getting into this would mean a long distance relationship. They would not be seeing each other for months. At this moment they did not even know if they would be seeing each other again.
With these questions in mind, they bade each other good bye. And the last train left taking her with it. He was left alone on the platform, and walked back to the hostel. On the way he passed all the places they had been together- the ice-cream parlor, the junk food joint, the classroom, the bank. But nothing looked the same. Would life be the same after she had left? Was there still any hope? Did they do the right thing by not saying anything and taking the easy way out?
Meanwhile she was thinking along the same lines in the train en route to Mumbai.............................

INTERVAL