Silhouette of the Past!

“Will you be home this afternoon?”-  The text blinked on my phone. This was the fifth time she asked the same question in a week and I did not have a positive reply. How could I? I was busy with my table tennis practice for the upcoming tournament. Table Tennis is my second love after Akansha. But this time nature also took her side. The morning had been gloomy and it was raining all through. I was going to miss out on the day’s practice. So, I finally had something good to reply after a month’s carelessness.

“Yes honey! Come over for a coffee”- I replied.  Seems a different me right? Breaking the walls of shyness and overcoming the self-seeking crowd of the city, it has been a new me, over the year. The girl had a lot to contribute, or the most I must say. I felt sorry each time I had to offer her a NO for an answer. But even after all these things, she did not stop loving me. How could I forget those moments when she used to stay over phone the whole night and prepare with me for the exams; the days when she did not go to a party and came over to my place just because I had nothing to do?  But for the past few days, she had been a bit silent. May be because, I had a little time for her. But finally I had a whole day to spend with her and sort out things, say sorry, and do whatever it needed to make her smile again.

The doorbell rang. I jumped off the bed to open the door and there she was! I was seeing her after almost a month. We hugged; she smiled and entered into the room. She handed over a gift box. It was a table tennis bat. She said – “play with it throughout the tournament”. Oh God! Even if she did not tell me, I was definitely going to play with that. I was very happy, hugged her again, and kissed her. But somewhere I felt a sense of unrest on her face. Not caring much, I went into the kitchen for coffee and snacks. Living alone at a place teaches you two things for sure- building a creative mind out of boredom and good coffee/tea brewer. Thankfully I had a girlfriend so I could not try my hand at the former but was very good at the latter. Anyway, I had made us coffee, sat at the balcony and started talking to each other. It was dusk but I still did not dare to ask her the reason of being upset. Suddenly breaking the silence she said “I had to say something to you”. Various thoughts crossed my mind at the blink of an eye. I replied “Yes! Tell me what it is”.

 She said “Sayantan called me a week before”.

“Sayantan? Who is he? “- I uttered out of total surprise. “My ex”- she said.

“You have an ex? I mean, it is no unusual to have an ex, but you did not tell me before”. It has been a year with her and I know almost everything but this, about her.  

“I never wanted to”- she said. I already knew the perks of having an ex but still kept myself calm and tried to figure out what exactly she was trying to say. Was she again in love with her ex? She wants to leave me? All these very usual thoughts came up.

“We were in a relationship for 4 years and then one day Sayantan broke up. I still could not decipher the reason. But according to my friends, my family and a little bit to me, I had to move on. But I joined college and found you on the very first day. You look just like him. Every time I looked at you, reminded me of Sayantan”.

“All these days, you were with me just because I look like him?”- I asked both myself and her. She had no answer. Stood silent with her head down. She hugged me and started weeping. Everything was in doldrums, but I tried to solace myself, took her inside the room and asked her not to cry. “I am really sorry”- she stated this line repeatedly.

“So you are going to leave me now, right?”-I asked her with a heavy heart.

She looked up to me and said- “No! Never! How can I do that? All these days I have been in love with you. I love you Sayantan. I really love you.”

“Anupam. My name is Anupam”- I replied with tears rolling down my cheeks! 

# What hs happened before? - Click here

MAARG 2014 @ IISWBM

How much sad or depressed you may be, but a sight of children playing, singing, dancing and laughing their heart out, is always a treat for the eyes.  The energy and joy they radiate is sure to bring upon a smile on your face.  Pretty much the same happened to me when I entered the auditorium of IISWBM on 6^th March 14. It was MAARG ’14- An event, to make a difference to the orphans of Chandanngore Prayas Society.   

The day before, I had my group discussion and personal interview at IISWBM, where I heard about the event from my roommate Koushik Debnath! Yes, he is currently a student there. I was pretty excited about the same. Though the event was only for the college students, still I had an urge to experience and be a part of MAARG! Sayantan, also a student at IISWBM, had invited me to be a part of his team in the Intra-College T-shirt painting competition!  Phew, that almost was going to kill me and him. Why? Let’s keep that a secret! ;)

When I was at the college, the cultural program had already started.  The children were performing various activities viz. dancing, singing, drama etc. That’s where I saw two little girls performing a dance on one of my favorite song – “Aisi Deewangi” from the movie Deewana. I was grooving on the music and the performance till the end.  What an engaging performance it was.  It was followed by many more drama, singing and recitation performance.  A quiz competition came up after this. The kids were asked a question coming up on the screen and the one with correct answer was given a chocolate bar.

Next was the sit and draw competition for the children. They were guided to a classroom 404 where they were asked to draw anything that came up to their mind. It was bliss to see those kids express their mirth on a sheet of paper. The vivid sight had made me travel back to my childhood days when I used to take part in these kinds of competitions.  I wished someone could have discovered a time machine and I could really fly back to those good old days. Anyway, the next room 405 had a t-shirt painting competition in store. And it was for the students of the college.  Sayantan had already considered me in his team. We were given a yellow tee, a few colors and brushes to paint. Sayantan had an exclusive yet fashionable idea of illustrating ‘Blue Eyes’- a famous song by Honey Singh, in a creative way.  Others also had very exciting, colorful and brilliant ideas imprinted on the tees.

By this time, we were hungry and went to the SAC- Student’s Activity Corner, where the students had given food stalls. The tagline put up outside the SAC was very interesting- “Forget Canteen! Visit SAC” The total income of the stalls was to be donated to the kids. That was again a very noble cause.

“Chal lets go the auditorium. The magic show is about to begin”- I heard a guy saying it. A magic show? Wow! That was a just awesome. I don’t even remember when the last time I saw a magic show was.  Joyous and excited, I went along with Sayantan. The show had just begun.  The kids were enthralled by the magic show.  The magician was too good! We have all seen the magic; he was delivering, in our childhood. But the funny way of delivering and his act of engaging the spectators had still kept the charm. No surprise, the kids were so much excited.  Finally it was time to end a beautiful day. All the kids were given a bag, books, copies and toys. The winners of sit and draw and t-shirt painting competition were given away mementos.

When I asked a kid about how he felt about the day, the way he answered was heart touching. As if it was one of his best days. Though they lost their parents, still they live each day as it comes and stay together as a family.There was a sense of cooperation, love and selflessness among everyone. I wanted to speak a thousand words but nothing came out.  I was overwhelmed.

As I sit down to write this, I am thankful to IISWBM to let me experience such a wonderful event.  Thanks to Koushik Debnath, Sayantan Chakrborty, and Parama Bhattacharya for their sweet time. And thanks to Ashmita Pal for letting me use the photographs she took at MAARG 14.