Chapter 11:Reunion
Vansh was standing and was looking in his phone, when he heard a giggling voice and he thinks, “this voice… I have heard this” a unknown small smile crept on his face and he turns behind to see who is that person,but he founds no one. Agin he gets busy in his phone,while Riddhima was walking backwards, their back were facing each other. She bumps into him and his phone fell down, he bends down to take his phone and says angrily,
“What the hell”
“I’m so sorry…. I’m really very sorry” She says innocently. He smiles listening to that voice and he stands to turn back and see was she really her, whom he was thinking. He turns and both of them get stunned and says in unison,
“You? Here? How”
Nitya asked him, “what happened?”
“I told you na that girl I met in London, she is the one!!! By the way what is your name?”
She answers,
“Myself Riddhima Vyas and you”
Without even a break of seconds after listening to her name he says,
“Myself Vansh Rai Singhania”
Both gets pause for few seconds as their brain has started processing and narrowing their eyes they look at each other,
She says pointing him,
“Vansh means Mr. Nerd”
He says pointing her,
“Riddhima means wild cat”
They both murmurs together,
“Ouch!!!!” and stands together without saying a word, as their brain is still not able to digest this fact. They both have mixed feelings in their heart regarding their dislike for each other in childhood, yesterday’s meet and obviously their last meet in school, which caused adrenaline rush in them.They both smile looking at each other. Nitya was controlling her laugh looking their faces, as she is the one who has seen their arguments closely. Riddhima breaks the silence and says,
“You must be Nitya right?”
“Yes, of course” She replies.
Riddhima and Vansh look at each other and thinks what they said last thing to each other. …….
FB starts,
“So?”
“So?”
“One last time and never again………”
“Yes…….One last time and never again……”
FB ends.
Again he says with a smirk,
“So?”
She says raising both her eyebrows with smile, “So?”
Vansh moves his hand forward for a handshake and Riddhima also do the same. They both shake their hands, while Vansh says smiling,
“Here. We go again…….”
“Yes…….Here we go again……… ”
“Thanks” He says.
She was about to say something just then a guy bumps into them and says,
“Hii everyone!!!”
Vansh looks at him in disinterest and says,
“Who are you?”
Riddhima answers,
“Arey you remember in 10th standard a new student came, I told that we stay in same building, Samrat Acharya”
“Oo…. Hii” He says with a little fake smile.
Nitya says, “we all should sit and talk, right”
“Yes, sure” Riddhima answers.
They all sit together and have a casual talk,
Nitya asks, “you both are in which profession?”
Riddhima answers,”I’m a psychologist”
Vansh says laughing, “oooooo……so you are a psychologist. At last you became commander of the people of your category”
Riddhima gives a stern look to him
Nitya says, “shut up Vansh and Samrat what about you?”
Samrat says, “I’m a photographer and you both”
“I’m a interior designer and he is the owner of VR enterprises”
They all continued more with their casual talks, just then Riddhima says to Vansh,
“Mr.Nerd, it’s been so many years our schooling has got over”
“Yaa so?”
“You are still roaming in those farewell clothes”
Riddhima, Samrat and Nitya burst out laughing and Vansh was giving stern look to everyone and he looks at Nitya, while she says,
“Don’t look at me with your cold stares, I told you earlier only don’t wear these clothes” and she continues laughing.
Vansh asks Riddhima,
“It’s been so many years our schooling has got over,so how do you remember what I wore that day and that too with colour?”
She gets awkwardly silent and thinks,
“How should I tell him that not only clothes but I even remember how he looked that day, ‘handsome’!!!” and she smiles
Vansh breaks her thought and says,
“What? Answer”
She says, “How can I forget, don’t you remember that there was a theme, that boys will were formals and girls will wear saree. That’s why I remember and if we talk about colours that day we performed together, so how will I forget the colour” and she sighs
He says, “fair enough” and thinks,
“I asked you this question but even I remember what you wore that day, not only colour of the saree but I also remember how you looked that day, ‘beautiful’!!!” and he smiles.
Just then Samrat goes to talk to other people, while Nitya receives a call, Riddhima was just sitting and Vansh was busy in his phone then he asks Riddhima,
“You were saying something but then Acharya came in between”
“Oh nothing just random things”
“Ooo”
“They both went to talk to someone else and we are just sitting let’s roam in the campus”
“Ok”
They both were roaming in the campus silently, only noise which was there is of Vansh’s ringtone. In every two minutes he is taking his phone out of his pocket to text or to call. Riddhima looks at him and says,
“Stop it man”
He looks at her in confusion and says,
“What happened? You only told to roam and now you are telling to stop”
“You are just busy in your mobile, you nerd. Not even looking here and there, have you noticed that we are roaming in the same floor for last 15 minutes. I’m thinking that now you’ll notice, now you’ll notice, but no. You and your phone calls. In tram also you were busy in laptop and now here in mobile”
“I’m so sorry but I have an important work”
“Oh really!! If the work is important then right now I guess, you would have been in the office and not in school reunion. I’m still saying the same the thing, no work is that important that you’ll not live your life. Vansh ‘Time and Tide waits for none’ I’m sure that you have heard about this phrase”
“Yes I know, that ‘Time and Tide wait for none” that’s why I’m doing my work right now”
“Ya that’s what’s the difference is, your point of view is completely opposite to mine. Time and Tide wait for none, it’s job of time to keep going on. Time can’t stop for anyone and we can’t change this fact, this thing is inevitable. Time cannot stop,but we can…..always running, what is this. Work is just a part of our life, not the life. Learn to live in the moment. Even I love my work, my job, that doesn’t mean I’ll bring my patient everywhere. I’m not in support of wasting time, but when it’s time to work, give your 100% in it. But this is not a place to work”
“You are still like a wild cat always ready to fight”
“You think or call whatever you want. But I said what I said, that’s it. ‘Theraav’ (stillness) is important. Even a continuously flowing water gets still for sometime Vansh.”
Vansh looks at her in defeat and keeps his phone in pocket. They both again starts roaming and meet some old faculties of school. Then they comes near the playground where they see some students are painting the walls and Riddhima says him with a broad smile,
“You remember?”
He laughs nodding his head.
FB starts,
10th standard batch were painting walls of school. Riddhima was standing on a staircase and she hanged the bucket of paint on the tip of the stair. While Vansh was sitting on the ground and painting the bottom part of the wall. When Riddhima was painting the wall, by mistakenly she pushes the bucket and whole paint gets spill on Vansh. But to his good luck, only his clothes gets painted and not the whole face,because the bucket was not completely filled. She gets down from the staircase and says,
“I’m so sorry”
“You always do a mistake and then comes to me and says sorry”
“But I did it by mistakenly”
“Oo… So wait”
He takes paint bucket which was beside him and splash whole paint on her and says,
“Now even I’m sorry”
Principal sees the whole incident and calls them in his cabin and says,
“You both are suspended for 1 week”
“But sir…. “
“Now leave”
FB ends.
They both laugh remembering that day. While Riddhima says,
“I have an idea, come”
They both goes to the children who were painting and she says to them,
“Can you please give us paints to paint the wall?”
They agrees to her. Vansh and Riddhima both start painting the walls, while he says teasing her,
“Now again don’t spill that paint on me”
“Oh hello!!! I didn’t spill that ok. It was just a mistake”
They again start laughing. After they finish painting the walls, they reach near the office where all the 10th standard toppers name were written on the board. They both smiles seeing the board and proudly says in unison,
“Look my name is still there” and again they laugh.
He says, “I still remember it was first academic year in our school, in which 2 students scored same marks in 10th standard”
“Yes!!! Two students topped with same score. Also at that time it was not common, there were less competitions”
“Yes” He sighs.
She says, “Isn’t it so weird that we used to argue for no reason”
“Yes like seriously today when I remember those days, I’m laughing like mad”
“Exactly”
They both again starts laughing. Just then Nitya and Samrat comes there and she says,
“Where were you both? From when we are searching”
Vansh says, “nothing we were just roaming in campus”
“Oo, ok then let’s go now”
“Ok then”
Riddhima to Nitya,
“Can I have your number?”
“Ya sure”
They both share their number with each other. Nitya along with Vansh and Riddhima along with Samrat leave for their house.
Happiness is only in present,
Neither in past nor in future,
Reliving good memories,
Is also a present and pleasant.
~By author