It was a very hot and humid summer day in Bhubaneswar, the
capital city of Odisha. This was the time for summer vacation, the time of the
year to go to grandparents home, to drink the very famous Lingaraj Lassi and to
have lots and lots of traditional pakhala ( rice fermented in water overnight)
.
But for Shikha, her classes for the third semester
engineering had just started. She was a
happy go-lucky and very simple looking girl. She was quite famous among her
large group of friends. She is someone, who can gel with almost everyone and
she always used to take her studies very seriously. Even though, she had many admirers in the
class, no one had the guts to approach her as she might out rightly reject
people on their face.
On that day she and her classmates were waiting for the
RDBMS teacher to come, and till now no one had come past a week for this class.
So they had all taken this class as a break and were gossiping in the class and
roaming in the corridors. Just then, a very young looking lecturer, probably
still in his early twenties, entered the class with a register. The register
was the only thing which said that he was a professor and not one among them.
He was wearing a blue checked shirt tucked into a pair of
stiffly ironed black trousers. He was sweating a lot. Either because of the
summer heat or he was too nervous to face the crowd. He looked like a fresher
and it clearly showed that it was his first lecture. He introduced himself as
Shekhar. Something about him, made Shikha to just stare at him for a few
seconds. She kept wondering, was that because of his simple innocent looks or the
pleasant smell of his perfume.
Shekhar started with the lecture on the topic “What is
RDBMS” and it seemed he started to gain back his confidence slowly and became
more of himself. The students were also attentive and the class went well. Shikha
being a good student kept asking thought provoking questions, by which not only
she but the whole class was getting benefitted. At the end, when he started
asking questions to judge the understanding of the class, again Shikha answered
quite a few. This is was their first meeting.
His classes were always good and always carried a lot of
information for the young and inquisitive minds. Shikha had those knowledge
seeking eyes which any professor would always find hard to ignore. That
happened to the new professor too. He started explaining many things, many a
times, looking at her. If she was absent someday, he would ask for her.
In this way three months passed and suddenly one day,
Shekhar announces in the class that it was his last day and from the next day,
another lecturer will be taking this class. The class was a little disappointed
as even in this small duration, Shekhar had become quite close to this batch.
He said he was going to Mumbai for his new job in a famous MNC. He said he
would be always available for them, only an email away. Anytime, they need his
help, he would always be there.
That day, as Shikha goes back home, she feels very
different. At night, in her bed, she thinks, what was it that was troubling her
suddenly? Why was she worried, if he left .He was just a lecturer. Suddenly she
was reminded of his perfume which brings a smile on her face. She thought, she
might be missing his perfume and might be his classes too.
As promised, Shekhar was always a click away. Any doubts
they had, he would quickly reply them back. Sometimes Shikha used to call him,
to further clarify her questions or to understand the replies better. Slowly
this little thing became a habit. They started calling, even when they were not
discussing any technical questions and became good friends. They started
discussing about their likes and dislikes, about their friends and sometimes
their families too.
Then came the third semester exams. Shikha, forgot
everything and started concentrating in her exams. Even after her exams, she
got busy with her project and completely forgot about Shekhar. He too never
called.
What do you think? Another sad story? NO J
Then one day, out of the blue, Shikha remembered him and
tried calling him. Shekhar seemed very upset that she had not called even once in
all these months. Shikha felt a little odd but she managed the situation well
by saying that she had been very busy with her semester exams and her project. Shikha
spoke to her friends about this and even they wondered why would Shekhar Sir be
angry and finally came to the conclusion that he might have fallen for Shikha. Shikha
didn’t agree with them at all and told them that he was her teacher and she
couldnot think of him in that way.
By this time a year had passed and Shikha was now in fifth
semester and this was the time for campus interviews. Her college had arranged
for some extra classes for all the fifth semester students who would be
attending job interviews for the first time to tell them how to present
themselves, how to talk, to correct their body language and to build their
confidence. While Shikha was going through all these, Shekhar Sir guided her at
every step. He gave her more practical tips from the IT industry point of view
and told her the interviewer’s perspective and the way he evaluates the
candidates. He not only helped her in creating a very impressive resume but also
told her how she needed to introduce herself to the interview panel.
With so much of preparation, the D-day came and the first IT
company ,a very renowned company in India, came to her campus. She qualified
the written round and her interview was scheduled the next day at 8 am. Her
interview went well for her and Shekhar was also equally anxious to know the
result. Almost the whole day had passed with neither Shikha nor Shekhar Sir
taking a bite of food and for both of them it was getting very difficult to
wait anymore. Finally at 5 pm, results came and Shikha had been selected. She
was so happy to hear the news that she was in tears. She called up Shekhar Sir
first to tell him the good news, even before she informed her parents. He was
also extremely happy for her and thanked God for everything.
This incident made them a little more closer. They started
sharing their daily routine and started taking part in each other’s life a
little more. If they didn’t talk for a day, both started missing each other. They
wanted to spend all their time talking to each other and they felt as if
nothing or no one else mattered to them more than each other. A concrete
foundation of trust and respect was laid on which their friendship was growing
very fast. There comes a phase, when we tend to cross the thin line between
friendship and love, when the other person’s happiness becomes our sole aim in
life. In most of the cases, in this phase, both the parties become fully aware
of each other’s feeling and start reciprocating them too. Just that, they are
not told and acknowledged in open. But that is the most difficult part for any
couple.
Shekhar comes to Bhubaneswar for some work and he meets Shikha.
He asked her if she was willing to be his wife. Even though Shikha was expecting
this somewhere, still she was surprised by the way he asked her, pleasantly
surprised. She didn’t say anything and left for home.
On her way back, she called up her friends and told them
what had happened. They told her they were already suspecting something like
this would come up and they told her strictly not to say him a ’yes’ before
they could complete their investigation.
She told them ok but she was hardly listening to them. After
putting the phone down, she drove her bike at full speed and she broke all the
signals on her way back home. She was extremely happy and was running up the
stairs to her house on 7th floor and felt as if she was flying. She
could not eat or sleep that day and she was only thinking about him.
The next day morning she called him up and said a yes. He
almost shouted in joy over phone and told her he was extremely happy and lucky
to have her in his life.
After nearly a week, Shikha’s friends spoke about their
investigation plan and then Shikha remembered Shekhar telling her about someone
troubling him from past few days and trying to flirt with him. He had already
told her that he was in a relationship but she was not stopping. Shikha had not
paid attention to him that time but now she knew the culprits. She was very
happy to have such friends and such a life partner too. She started laughing
loudly. Her friends told her never ever to disclose this to Sir and asked her
to say a yes.
She smiled and thought, heart never needs an investigation
to find another true one. She was happy she had accepted the right proposal.
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