LITTLE WAYS DOWN THE ROAD- PART 6

          LITTLE WAYS DOWN THE ROAD- PART 6

    Mr. J looked at her expectantly. After a moment, Miss. D turned away her head. He could hear her breathe heavily and fast.

    "I knew this was coming," she said at last.

    "What?" Mr. J was confused.

    "I knew you would say this to me. And I have always have been afraid of that," she said, still not looking at him.

    "Why? Why were you afraid?" Mr. J was more confused.

    "Because.... because I don't want this," she said, sniffling. 

    Mr. J felt that he had heard her wrong.

    "What?" he asked.

    She looked at him, eyes brimming with tears and shook her head. Slowly she said, "Do you remember I once told you that some girls don't have the patience to undergo the same thing a second time. I don't say that I am like that. Its just that... I don't have the courage to undergo the same thing again and again."

    He looked at her in surprise and confusion.

    She sniffled and said, "I care for you. I like you. I think about you too much to make you realize that this is not a good choice at all. I don't want to change your fate because of my loser life."

    She put her diary beside her on the wall and got up to leave.

    "Wait, wait. I don't get you," Mr. J caught her forearm and stopped her.

    "Its easy Mr. J, I am not correct for you. You deserve someone better and interesting. Not a weird geek like me," she said, trying to go past him.

    "No, I don't want anyone else. No one is better than you. You are the most interesting, beautiful person I have ever met. No one has ever understood me like you did. Then why the hell will I want someone else? I want you and I deserve you."

    He stopped and then something struck his mind. Slowly he added, "Unless you feel I don't deserve a wonderful person like you. You feel I am not up to your standards?" 

    She shook her head in disapproval and said, "You are far better than that. That's why I said you don't deserve someone like me." The stress on 'me' was like she was indicating herself as useless. Arjun became serious.

    "No. I am not. If it wasn't for you, I would have been the same loser I was five months back, an idiot, aimless guy who didn't even know what he wanted or where the hell he was. I sprang back to life only after you came in. If I am still sane, successful and above all really happy, then it is because I had you with me. I can't let everything go like this."

    Miss. D was by then shedding more tears but the rain was hiding them truly. She gave a miserable half-smile and said, "But you have to. It was your tenacity to get your life back that made you spring back. No," she stopped him as he started to protest again and continued, "How much ever you say, my decisions have always been correct and even you know that. Now this is what I have decided. Not now, I have known this day would come a long time back, the day I had shown you what life is. The way you looked at me... it told me everything. That was when I knew I should choose this. You will be better off without me. It is only a matter of time. This is for the best. Trust me."

    Trust? Of course he trusted her, more than himself or anyone else. But he couldn't trust her with such an unexpected, stupid, foolish decision.

    Miss. D withdrew her hand from his and tried to go away. But Mr. J caught her arm, stopped her again and said desperately, "Don't go. Forget this. I will never ask you out again. We will remain friends like we always have. Just stay back. I will never pester you again with my lame proposals."

    "We can't stay friends after this. Even if we try, we can't. Its not possible after everything that happened today," she said decisively. Slowly, she added, "If I come into your life like how you want me to, then you will regret it one day. I don't want that your life should be full of regrets."

    "There will be only one thing that I will ever regret," he said intensely. "And that will be why I spoiled our relationship by asking you something which is unreachable for me.That will be the only regret I will ever have."

    He had meant it so seriously that Miss. D just stared at him. After a moment, she bent her head down and then tried to release her arm from Mr. J's grasp.

    Mr. J released her arm thinking why he should force her when she was so adamant about her decision.

    As she went past him, walking away down the road, she turned back and said miserably, "Its only a matter of time. Before you realize it, you will forget me and move on. You will forget this everything. You will have a good life ahead. Without me, its the best that can happen to you. You do have a really good heart."

    He shook his head and said truthfully, "It will remain empty forever. Even if you walk away like that, I will never forget everything nor will I move on. That's a promise." There was too much intensity in his words for her to handle. 

    She stared at him in pain for a moment before turning away. She walked away, wiping her tears, never looking back again.....

   Mr. J looked at her till she disappeared. He kicked at a stone that was lying on the ground in frustration, so hard that it went flying away a long distance and then tumbled away.

    He sniffled and fought back the tears, thinking he would somehow see her again, hoping for it. He sat down on the wall, staring emptily at the sea. As he turned away his head, he noticed something. Miss. D had left her diary on the wall and forgotten about it in her haste to go away.

    He picked up the diary which was by then considerably wet because of the rain, wiped away all the water on the hard bound cover and looked at it for a whole minute before tucking it away beneath the white jacket he had worn. At seven, he stood up and left to his house, the diary safe with him.

    As he entered his house, his cousins came to him eagerly, to know how it went with his Miss. D. And his expression and tear-brimmed eyes were enough to tell them that the worst had happened.

    Arjun didn't go anywhere that day. He kept himself locked in his room the whole day. No matter how much his cousins tried to make him come around, they were unsuccessful. They kept blaming themselves that   they had done the damage, that they had spoiled everything by encouraging Arjun in the wrong way. They felt a lot guilty and awful.

    As Arjun sat in his room, he took out Miss. D's diary. It was a light blue colored one with the picture of a single golden key indicating the lines "Key to happiness is always within you. You have to find it for it is the one with the tendency to play hide and seek with you."

    Arjun knew that reading someone else's diary was not courteous and an indication of ill-manners. But he had to find out the answers to his questions and doubts. He pondered for a moment before opening the diary.

    Apprehensively, he opened it. The first page in a light crimson colour had the best handwriting he had ever seen.                 

                "An ensemble of thoughts, feelings and moments...

                  Letters to a friend beyond friend....

                  (Now that's exaggeration, isn't it? I am writing to myself afterall... Hahaha.....)"

    A smile eased its way onto Arjun's face as he noticed how she enjoyed everything and found happiness in small, silly things.

    He turned the personal information page. Only a single letter  'A' was inscribed elegantly in the place of name.

    As he turned the pages and started reading the entries, he learnt the untold stories of Miss. D's life which he had never seen for himself.

    She was an MBA student, but didn't mention the name of her college anywhere in her diary. She loved working hard, she loved keeping everything in order and then mess up everything. She always did things in a hurry, jump to decisions and choices in a jiffy and then think if that was correct or not. She never thought about anything before doing it. Whatever she felt like doing, whatever came to her mind, she did that without second thoughts. She never regretted her choices or what she did. Somewhere she had an unbelievable confidence that everything would be for her own good. Arjun smiled reading how even her diary entries were written as if she was talking to her best friend.

             "A, tell me, was that correct?

               Of course yes, you idiot. You are a good genius. You do everything correctly."

    Arjun chuckled reading it.

    But the thing that caught his attention was that a name kept popping up in between in every entry. It was the name of a guy- Rohit.

             "You know, Rohit said something about my carefree attitude today. I mean, if he likes me, then he should like my attitude too, shouldn't he?       Wait, maybe I should really try to be like how he wants me to to.

              But that's bad. I can't go on being serious, official-looking like him. That will look awful with the way I carry myself.

              Okay, I will try to do it. I will change my attitude. 

              Tell me, A, am i doing the correct thing?

               Of course you are, stupid. You are supposed to like him. And we always change for people whom we like."

    The next few entries of her diary didn't have the colour and energy she usually had. She didn't like her new appearance. But she was doing it for Rohit. And she wanted to do it as much as she hated it.

TO BE CONTINUED..............!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

LITTLE WAYS DOWN THE ROAD- PART 5

        LITTLE WAYS DOWN THE ROAD- PART-5 

    "Surprised bro?" Abhinav asked cheerfully.

    Helplessly, Arjun nodded. He realized that they had followed him throughout his jog. He understood that he could no longer hide the truth. That would make everything really complicated.

    "Who is she?" Nihita asked.

    "My best friend," Arjun replied.

    "And her name?" Chaitra asked.

    Arjiun sighed, shook his head and said, "Don't know."

    "What do you mean 'don't know'?" Abhinav was confused.

    "I don't know her name," Arjun confessed. "Not only her name, I don't know any of her details." He looked slightly irksome.

    "Now, this is some news," Chaitra murmured. 

    The three of his cousins dragged him to the lawn and made him sit in between them. "So, boss, tell us everything from the start," Nihita demanded.

    He recounted to them everything that had happened between him and Miss. D; how he had thought her to be a strange girl, how she had given the idea of hiding their identities, how she had inspired him with her ideology, how she had made him take life changing decision, how she had shown him what real life meant. How she had totally changed him.

    "If I am stable, happy, successful and content today, then it is because of her. I don't want to disturb her space by trying to know who she is. So I didn't," he concluded.

    "I can't believe this," Abhinav exclaimed. "You both are so natural together and still don't know who is who? I mean what kind of relation is that?"

    Arjun smiled benevolently to himself and said, "It's a strange relation."

    "I don't understand this," Nihita started. "Look, you like her. It is so evident from your words. Then why are you still being a stranger to her?"

    "We are not strangers Nihi," Arjun said. "Just because we didn't tell each other who we are, it doesn't make us strangers."

    "Really? How, may I ask?" Chaitra asked seriously.

    "Look, I know it kind of sounds weird, I mean my relationship with her- identities unknown, no details known. But I like it that way," Arjun was certain. He sighed and continued with his whole heart in his words, "When I am with her, I don't have to be this sophisticated businessman I am now. I don't have to behave like how others want me to. I get a chance to be what I am. I get to be the real person I am, get to live like how I want. I can just be Mr. J, a good guy who likes to jog and pour out his heart to the sea. I solve all my problems when I am there. No matter how bad the situation is, I get a solution to my troubles. I am happy, satisfied and content when I am with her. She makes me realize who I am, she makes me know what I want. She cares about me like no one does and knows things about me which no one does. She showed me to myself in a completely new light, gave the inspiration to be successful." He became  serious at the end. "She makes me feel like no one does. I don't care if it is one hour or what so ever time I spend with her. I just want to be with her always. I want to hear her talk, I want to sit with her and make discussions about life, nature or anything. I know what she is for real and she knows me, what I am for true. And I would love to stay this way forever. And if it takes that I should be silent, then I will be. I won't ask her her name or anything else or tell her about me until she wants me to. I will respect her space and wish."

    By the time he had completed, all three of his cousins stared at him with open mouths, wide-eyed, surprised by his sudden but truthful outburst.

    "Oh my God!!! You are in love with her," Nihita said at last, breaking the silence that had ensued.

    Arjun looked at her in confusion and said, "No! I just like her."

    "No, you idiot, you seriously love her," Abhinav spoke up. "It is so evident in what you said till now."

    "Come on brother. Accept your feelings for her. You can't keep them hidden in yourself like this," Chaitra said.

    Arjun remained silent for a while, analyzing everything. Of course he knew it that he loved Miss. D, more than anyone else. He had known it all along and remembered every moment where he had felt his feelings for her light a bulb in his mind that he was madly in love with her. But he had never wanted to accept it. And he knew the reason for it.

    "Dude, you should accept it," Abhinav tried to make him own up.

    Arjun closed his eyes for a moment, opened them and said, "Okay. I do love her... I love her really."

    "Woo-hoo," the three of his cousins chorused in excitement and went for high-fives.

    "So bro... Party!!!" Chaitra exclaimed. 

    "Wait, what's there to party for?" Arjun asked.

    "Why, our brother has done something good in all these years. He is in love with a really cool girl," Nihita said. "God, how much I hated your last girl friend," Chaitra put in.

    "This is not about having a girl friend Chaitra," Arjun said.

    "Then? What is your problem?" Abhinav asked.

    "Look, this should be a secret. I can't tell this to her. So it's not going to be anything like a party at all," Arjun said.

    "What do you mean? You won't tell her that you love her like crazy? Are you not going to propose?" Abhinav asked curiously.

    "No. I am not. Because she is not going to accept any of this. Never. She is gonna say 'No' straight away. I can't risk that," Arjun replied vehemently.

    "Try first, brother. From what you said about her, I am sure that she likes you. She loves you too. She is not going to turn you down," his cousins began together. "Look at the way she spends time with you, how she treats you."

    "Yeah, she treats me like a good friend, alright?"

    "Oh yeah, a special friend. We have seen her and we surely know how she must be feeling about you."

    "Still, what if she doesn't like me proposing to her? What if she goes away? I can't bear that. I will better stay like this forever." Arjun was decisive.

    As Abhinav and Chaitra began complaining again, Nihita raised her hand to stop them and spoke to Arjun, "See brother, Will you stay like this forever? It's not possible at all. In a few months, your dad will marry you off to someone else and the same will happen to that girl. What if she marries and goes off somewhere else? Before that, can you imagine yourself with someone else your whole life? After a few years, even if you both sit there, things will never be the same. You both will be leading two different lives and worlds and you may or may not be in each others' worlds. Will you like that? Are you okay with these things?"

    It was a straight question. But a complicated one. Arjun understood the depth of the question.

    "So its worth trying right?" Abhinav asked.

    "Come on bro, no girl is gonna refuse you. Alright? Just tell her the truth. That's the best choice." Chaitra prodded.

    Arjun took the whole day to decide the correct option. Nihita had correctly pointed out the drawbacks. There was no guarantee at all that he and Miss. D would spend every day of their lives, every morning sitting together at the beach. It was practically impossible. So, it was better to ask her if she would spend her whole life with him. If she said 'No', then he would convince her to stay as the unknown friends as they had been doing all along and forget his proposal. Finally, he made up his mind to propose to her.

    The next morning, he got up, dressed up in white clothes and set out on his jog. It was drizzling slightly.

    "Good morning Mr. J," Miss. D greeted him as he dropped onto the wall next to her.

    "Good morning," he wished and gave an unusual smile.

    "So, whats up?" she asked, continuing with her writing.

    "Well, tough time at home again," Mr. J said, feeling unsure and nervous.

    "What happened?" Miss. D asked with concern. Mr. J smiled at how much she cared for him.

    "Well, everyone of my family, especially my dad, wants me to settle down," he said.

    Diagonally, he saw her hand shiver briefly, out of nervousness.

    He continued, "They want me to get married."

    "So?" she asked, voice faltering. 

    He looked at her nervously and said, "I don't want to spend my life with someone whom I don't know or someone who doesn't know me. I want to be with a person who knows me better than others, who cares about me, who is with me in every obstacle shaded phase of my life. And someone whom I love."

    Miss. D looked at him in disbelief.

    He took her hand slowly into his and said, "I love this one hour I spend with you every morning, I love the relationship we have and I so badly want to spend my entire life sitting with you. I so want to be with you every moment. I never had anyone who has guided me like you did or spoke to me like you did, showed me what life is like you did. I want to spend my whole life with someone like you Miss. D." After a pause, he looked straight into her eyes and said, "I love you."

    Miss. D just stared at him in shock and surprise, unable to say anything, her hands quivering, lips trembling, her face shining wet with the drizzling rain drops...

TO BE CONTINUED...............!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LITTLE WAYS DOWN THE ROAD- PART 4

                     LITTLE WAYS DOWN THE ROAD- PART 4

    Days went slow after that. Arjun started liking Miss. D more than before. He would just sit with her, looking at her in silence, with an unknown affection. He would just wait for her to talk and listen to whatever she said. He loved her laugh, loved the way how her eyes gave all the expressions exactly like her words. He couldn't turn away his glance from her face.

    Maybe Miss. D sensed the change in him. She would remain silent for a long time before she could say something, unable to live in the absence of words. She wouldn't look directly into his eyes. She would something unimportant or some of her weird ideology. The more she talked, the more he liked her. He loved the one hour he spent with her every morning. And he would look forward to that time. Every night, he would close his eyes with a refreshing thought, that he would wake up to see her again.....

    Almost a month passed in the same fashion. Then his cousins arrived from Delhi. His uncle's daughters- Nihita and Chaitra and their brother Abhinav. They arrived by the morning flight and so, Arjun didn't go to the airport to receive them. He was too absorbed by Miss. D.

    He went home to find the three of them sitting with angry faces.

    "Hey, when did you all arrive?" Arjun asked them, surprised.

    "Great bro! You even forgot that we were coming this morning? That's too bad," Chaitra said angrily.

    "Since two days I have been telling you about our plans and you forgot everything," Abhinav started.

    "Where were you till now bro?" Nihita asked.

    Arjun stared at his cousins who were standing around him, left, right and abreast in confusion, surprised by their combined anger.

    "I... I went jogging," he managed at last.

    "You went jogging? When we were supposed to arrive?" the three of them shouted together in unison. Arjun closed his ears with hands, frightened by the volume of their voices.

    "Sorry... Sorry. I am really sorry I forgot. My mind was somewhere else..." he tried to pacify them.

    "Where?" they asked, again in unison.

    "Please stop shouting yaar," Arjun protested.

    It took him half-an hour to pacify them and ask them to forgive him. He was careful enough not to tell them about Miss. D. That day, they celebrated Arjun's new success as an entrepreneur, accompanied him to his office, went out together to hang out near the beach. And that reminded Arjun of his girl again. Unintentionally, he became silent again and tried looking in all directions, searching for her. Of course, he didn't see her. But his cousins observed that he was distracted.

    "What happened?" Nihita asked.

    "Nothing," Arjun replied and tried to keep track with his cousins.

    The nexxt morning as he woke up, dressed and started for his jog, Abhinav, who had been sleeping in his room, woke up because of the sounds.

    "Hey bro, what are you doing at 5 in the morning?" Abhinav asked sleepily, getting up from the bed.

    "Going for a jog," Arjun replied, slipping his t-shirt on.

    "So early?" Abhinav almost complained.

    "Yeah."

    "Wait, I'll come with you," Abhinav flexed his muscles and got up.

    "Hey, no no. You sleep. I will come back by 7:!5." Arjun was caught off-guard.

    "No problem yaar. I too love jogging. Anyways, I need some fresh, morning air." Abhinav started dressing up.

    "Please Abhi, please. For this once. I love jogging alone. Please yaar. Don't mind it.I will go now. You go jogging with Nihi and Chaitra later. Please Abhi," Arjun pleaded.

    Abhinav was really confused why his best brother was turning him down. Unable to say anything else, he let Arjun go.

    "You are late," Miss. D remarked as Arjun sat down beside her, at the beach.

    "Yeah. I was warding off my cousins from accompanying me to the jog here. It took some time," Mr. J explained.

    "Why didn't you bring them with you?" Miss. D asked.

    "Because I thought you might not like it. They would want to know your name and details. But you are always against revealing identities. In any case, if they come, it will lead to a totally new confusion," Arjun explained.

    She understood the complexity his cousins would have caused. She smiled, thinking how correctly Mr. J had thought and did. She felt an unknown liking rising in her as she realized how much he had respected her idea, space and her wish.

    "Thank you," she said softly.

    "Oh come on, you said we will leave all these things for the judgement day. Meanwhile, lets delete such words in our relation," he suggested.

    She laughed and playfully punched his arm. He looked at her, absorbing her laugh, getting lost in it. 

    Two days passed in much the same fashion. Arjun dodged his cousins while going for the jog and hoped they might not take it seriously.

    Unknown to him, his cousins had observed other strange things about him. The distraction, the sudden smiles on his face when he sat deep in thought, the new energy in him, the way he arrived home after the jog, all ecstatic and lively, the way his thinking had changed, the way he was dodging them every morning, almost every change in him.

    "Something is wrong with him," Abhinav observed.

    "Yeah," Nihita seconded.

    The three of them were sitting together in the lawn. It was evening time and Arjun wasn't back home from office.

    "What must have happened?" Chaitra asked thoughtfully. 

    "No idea yaar. Should find out what's happened to him," Abhinav said.

    "Why is he going so alone for jogging? Doesn't even take his phone or i-pod or anything with him. He is being so secretive lately. I have never seen him behave so strange, discrete," Nihita observed.

    "Hey, lets follow him tomorrow and see what he is doing," Chaitra suggested suddenly.

    "Sure. That's a good idea." Abhinav and Nihita obviously liked the idea. The three of them excitedly planned everything. They were careful enough not to rise any suspicions in Arjun when they were with him that night.
    The next morning as Arjun got ready, Abhinav observed him unnoticed, lying on the bed and pretending that he is fast asleep. But under the covers of his quilt, he gave a ring to Nihita's phone. The sound woke up Nihita and Chaitra, who were staying in the guest room. Silently, they dressed up and got ready.
    As soon as Arjun stepped out of the house, Abhinav, Chaitra and Nihita started following him silently, keeping themselves at a good distance.
    They watched him jog at the beach pavement, as they themselves started jogging at a distance, following him. After a half-an hour of jog, when the three of them started grumbling with each other that nothing was going to happen, Arjun stopped. The three of them came to a halt and watched him sit on the wall facing the sea, beside a girl. Then their mouths dropped.
    Arjun and that girl were talking like some old friends, laughing, she punched his arm and then started writing something. Arjun was watching her intently.
    "Who is she?" Abhinav asked his sisters as they watched them from a distance.
    "New girl-friend I suppose," Chaitra answered.
    "But he would have told us if it was true," Nihita said.
    "We will find it out soon," Abhinav stated.
    They watched Arjun and that girl walk together, the girl pulling her cycle along, stand at the junction and talk, then they waved to each other and the girl went off on her cycle in another way. Arjun watched her till she disappeared and then started back home.
    He reached home to find his cousins missing. After shouting out their names half a dozen times all around the house, his man-servant answered him, "They all went out after you left sir."
    Arjun assumed that they must have gone jogging. But somewhere a doubt lingered.
    "Good morning bro," Abhinav called from behind. Arjun turned to see his cousins standing with arms folded and crooked smiles.
    "Hey, where did you all go?" he asked them.
    "Jogging," Nihita replied sarcastically.
    "That's cool," Arjun remarked, trying to hide his suspicions and fear.
    "The girl you talked to was also really cool," Chaitra said, raising her eyebrows in sarcasm.
    Arjun's heart skipped a beat.
    "Who is she?" Abhinav asked.
    "Your girl-friend?" Nihita was next.
   Arjun stood there, facing his cousins.



TO BE CONTINUED................!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LITTLE WAYS DOWN THE ROAD- PART 3

            LITTLE WAYS DOWN THE ROAD- PART 3 

    It took Arjun less than five minutes to reach his home. As the car halted in front of the house, he got off and turned back to see his father sitting in a chair in the lawn, reading a newspaper. 

    "Hey dad," he called out to his father, sprinting across the lawn.

    His father looked at him, put the newspaper away and said grimly, "Good morning."

    "Oh, come on dad," Arjun pulled his father up from his chair, gave him a one-arm hug and said grinning, "Don't be so angry with me?"  

    "Why shouldn't I be?" his father asked, sitting down, trying to stop his smile.
    "Because I am going to take up the development of our business here," he replied coolly.
    His father was surprised beyond himself. "How come you have suddenly on this?" he asked.
    "Never mind. Listen first. I want to take up things here, find out what I really am, run everything with my ideas. You take care of all remaining businesses except this one. After one year, see for yourself. If I feel that I am doing good and if you feel like that too, then I will take over your place and the head whole group of companies and businesses."
    "How on earth did you decide to do this? Just yesterday night you shouted your head off over the phone saying you needed time to think," his father asked, running out of words.
    "That's not the point. Are you okay with my plan?" Arjun asked expectantly.
    "Of course I am okay with it. But what's gotten into you? You seem kind of, different."
    "Different?"
    "Yeah, all happy, ecstatic, planned, satisfied."
    "Don't you like it?"
    "Of course I like it. I have always wanted you to be like this." His father gave him a warm shake-hand and grinned.
    Arjun relized how much he had missed his dad, missed his dad's smile and the shake-hand he always gave him when he achieved anything. He concluded that what he had done was the correct thing.
    The whole day, he spent time with his father, learning all the details, going around the branch offices and other sites, going over the information regarding the business and so on. That night, as he lied down on his bed, he realized how his life had taken a sudden, new turn in one day, all because of one pretty, strange girl whose name he didn't know. He smiled to himself, enjoying the change in himself.
    The next day morning, he went five minutes before the usual time, to the beach.
    "You are early," Miss. D said, mockingly.
    "That's because I have a lot to tell you," he replied, panting after the jog, sitting beside her.
    "What? Settled the score with your father?" she asked with interest.
    "That's not it." He looked straight at her and said, "You made my day."
    The smiles on their faces thinned as he said seriously and earnestly, "You have no idea how happy y dad is with me. Thank you."
    After a moment, Miss. D smiled and said, "It's not because of me. Anyone can be the source of inspiration. But it is up to you to decide whether you will follow it or not. Have you heard of the saying, "You can drag a horse to the lake but you can't make it drink the water"? It's the same here. You decided to heed my advice. It's your greatness that made your day."
    "Still, you had a part in it," he retorted.
    "Okay. Let's leave it to God to decide by the judgement day," she said mockingly. Both of them laughed.
    He observed her as she wrote her diary and asked her, "Why do you always wear white dresses?"
    "That's because it makes me feel pleasant, in good humor." She smiled.
    Later, as they parted ways, she asked him, "I guess you will be heading off for work today, right? Have fun." She grinned.
    "Sure. Thank you," he returned her smile.
    As days passed, Arjun started enjoying his work more than his expectation. He always did whatever struck his mind first, went with his instincts, believed  more in himself. And every minute, he remembered that the change in him was because of Miss. D. For every morning, she would say the most inspiring things, really casually, which always boosted him up. He never told her what work or business he was doing, nor did she. The topic of jobs and work never came up, nor did any such things.
    One morning, they had a small talk, actually a kind of bet, about life.
    "You always know what life is, but don't realize it," Miss. D said.
    "Really? I don't think so. Life is always a confusion. You can never know what it is." Mr. J argued.
    "You are wrong," Miss. D contradicted cheerfully.
    "If I ask you to show me what life is, here, right now, how will you show that to me?" he asked her, challenging her.
    She pursed her lips, thought for a moment and said, "Okay. I will show you."
    Without getting down, she stood up on the wall, facing the sea and looked down at Mr. J. She gave him her hand and said, "Get up."
    Without asking anything, he took her hand, got up and stood on the wall.
    "Face the sea," she said. He obeyed her.
    "Fold your arms," she said. He did it.
    "Now, close your eyes," she said softly. He sighed and closed his eyes.
    "Hear only the sound of the waves and nothing else," she whispered.
    He nodded and concentrated on the sound of the sea waves, the slashing of the waves; the sound of the waves hitting the shore and the rocks nearby. Within a few seconds, his mind was totally fixed on that sound.
    "Feel the mist the waves are spraying at you," she whispered. He felt the droplets spraying on his face. It felt cool.
    "Welcome the sea winds that are blowing over you," she continued. He breathed a lungful of the air, feeling the coolness of the winds, washing over him, flushing his face, soothing him.
    "Now, imagine yourself alone at the beach. Imagine the beach as you like it," she whispered softly.
    With the winds and mist washing over him and the sound of the waves filling his ears, his closed eyes saw a blue sea, radiating the morning sun's first rays, waves slashing at the shore with a rhythm, blowing the coolest and sweetest winds, spraying cool mist into the air, And he was standing alone in the sands. No, standing next to Miss. D.
    He loved his day-dream. It felt like heaven.
    After a few moments, she said, "Okay, now open your eyes."
    Slowly, Mr. J opened his eyes.
    "Look at the sea and the beach now," she said.
    It looked quite in contrast to his dream.
    "See how the water is murky and not so good, how the mist is not so cool?" she spoke slowly.
    He looked at her questioningly.
    "This is what life is," she said and continued, "Look, when you closed your eyes, you saw everything like how you wanted it to be. But when you opened your eyes, it was completely different. Still, you like coming here, you sit here, you go jogging around this very beach. Life is the same. When you remain oblivious to the reality and the world, you think that your life will be the way you like it to be, like how you imagine it would be. That's what kids do. As you grow up, as you see and realize what reality is and what the world is, you freak out. But afterwards, you try to compromise, adjust with what you have. Some people don't like that and try to escape it. They don't even give it a try. Like how some people stop coming to the beach after seeing how murky the water is. Life is never a confusion. It has all things that are different from what we expect. We make it complicated, think that it is confusing. Because we don't know how to make through it. Once we figure it out, life is a party. The best party you can ever be in. Just like how we both love sitting here and enjoy it, even though it is full of people and murky waves."
    He looked at her, absorbing everything in, comprehending what she said.
    "Did I say too much?" she asked at last, winking, grinning mischievously.
    He took a full minute and then smiled. "No, no," he said. He seemed kind of out of words. Finally, he chuckled and said, "How did you figure this out?"
    Smiling, she raised he eyebrows and shoulders, indicating that she didn't know.
    "You are...... unbelievable," he whispered and then breathing hard, he looked at the sea. He then turned back to look at her again.
    As time crossed seven, he got down the wall and gave her his hand. She took it and jumped down on to the ground. Holding hands, there, he looked with an awe into her eyes and she stared back at him, unable to say anything.
    After a few moments, Mr. J said, "You are amazing. Lets go." They went off together.
    Before parting ways, he squeezed her hand, smiled and said with a weird expression on his face, "Have a good day."
    After much deliberation, they went their ways....




TO BE CONTINUED.....................!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LITTLE WAYS DOWN THE ROAD- PART-2

               LITTLE WAYS DOWN THE ROAD-   PART-2

    One morning, as they were in the middle of silence, Arjun thought if it would be better if he asked her name.

But the last time he had asked a girl her name, he had got too close to her only to be broken by her later. So, the initial decision to his doubt was 'NO'. Still, there was a struggle in his mind. He had been observing a girl, sitting with her, talking to her for almost two weeks without knowing her name...

    "So," he interrupted her tenacious scribbling. She looked up at him enquiringly. 

    "Do you like to keep your name a secret?" he asked her with an uncertain smile.

    She laughed shortly and said, "Well, actually, I have a logic for deciding that we shouldn't tell our names."

    "And what's that?"

    "If we tell each other our names, we will become registered in our minds by those names. It will be like another person added to our friends' list or at least acquaintances. Then we can easily search for each other in social networking sites, add to friend circles, chat the whole night away, exchange phone numbers, send and receive messages and calls. And within two days, we will run out of things to say. We will get to know about each other's personal details and if we don't like them, then maybe, it will give rise to new troubles. The relationship will become old and broken as fast as it had started. Then we won't be able to sit here like this, again, with a peace of mind and heart, drinking in this pleasantness and cool atmosphere. We will have an awkwardness, 'nothing-more-to-say' situations and another thing to worry about. Phew," she breathed out a lungful. "Is this all needed for us?" she asked at last.

    Arjun stared at her in disbelief, open mouthed, wide eyed, thinking how on earth did this somber girl get such a logic. Though it sounded funny to an extent, it was true to the core. He had an immediate recap that it was the same thing that had happened with his ex-girlfriend.

    "That's.... quite some thought," he responded at last.

    She smiled widely and warmly. "This way, we will have different place in our minds for each other. Whenever we search for some different relations, we will find ourselves as the answer. For me, it's better to be unusual rather than usual. We can talk about anything without fearing public disgrace. Even if we talk out our secrets, we don't have to worry about it. Because without knowing the name and other details, we cannot speak about them to anyone. It will be like speaking to our own shadows. We can speak what we feel like without the fear of being spoken out. Every morning we will get something new to talk about, something new to share. New problems to solve with some free advice from each other." She smiled and winked mischievously. 

    He couldn't help laughing and she joined him in the laughter. The air was filled with the joy of a new, crazy idea. Amidst the laughter, Arjun looked at the girl who had such weird ideas, ideas which were fun. At last, he managed, "I never knew hiding identities has so many advantages."

    "Ask me, I always know what's best," she said, getting a hold on her laughter.

    "It's the best idea I've ever heard," he remarked.

    "Thank you..." she said cheerfully.

    While parting their ways, they gave each other a grinning "Good day" wish.

    Arjun couldn't really get the strange girl out of his head. Whenever he remembered her, it would bring a smile to his face. He remembered how they had laughed that morning. It had been so many days since he had laughed so freely and with an open mind. At the same time, the same strange girl was also running her thoughts in the same lines...

    The next morning as she sat down writing, at her usual place, she found herself waiting for the 'name-not known' guy. He came jogging faster than usual and dropped onto the wall, next to her.

    "'Morning Miss. D," he greeted her.

    "'Morning Mr. J," she responded.

    "Mr. J? What's that?" he asked puzzled.

    "What do you mean by Miss. D?" she asked him back.

    "Miss. Diary Writer," he replied with a casual shrug.

    "Mr. Jogging Champion," she replied in turn.

    They laughed at the funny names they had given each other. 

    "You know, at first I thought you were a serious, fun-hating, somber girl. But you are so fun," he remarked.

    "Haha, people are not always the same like how they look from outside. Even you look like a proud idiot at face, but you are not. Not at all." Though she said it with a smile, there was an undertone of seriousness.

    Arjun smiled unnervingly. They spent the morning talking indistinctive, unimportant, comic issues and laughing freely. As they got up to leave, he asked her, "Do you walk back home?"

    She showed him a key-chain with a key with a key and said, "I've got a bicycle."

    "Can we at least walk together till we reach that junction. That's where we generally go along different roads."

    She considered it for a moment and then said, "Okay, let me get my cycle first." She turned, went down along the road the other way towards the parking lot, got out a purple ladies' cycle, put her diary and pen in the basket and came towards him, bringing her cycle with her. Then walked away together towards the junction where they parted ways and went in different directions.

    This continued for a few days. They could never keep a track of time when they were together. They would joke, laugh, remain silent when she wrote her diary, walk away together towards the junction. Sometimes he would bring along a newspaper and they would discuss various things printed in it.

    "Why do you write diary early in the morning? One generally writes it before sleep, isn't it?" he once asked her.

    She chuckled and said, "It is not a rule that you should write a diary before sleep. Diary is something in which you can pour thoughts and feelings whenever you feel like it. Secrets and thoughts you can't tell anyone except yourself, always find place in diaries. When I am alone," she paused uncertainly for a moment and then continued, "I just get to realize how I really feel, what I really want. All the dampened ideas in my mind, everything resurface. And that's what I feel like writing."

    "But with me here, are you able to write without any, you know, any disturbance?" he asked doubtfully.

    "Your presence is different," she said truthfully. "It makes me laugh and I can still remain freely. I don't have to hide what I am writing because you are not the one who peeks and reads others' diaries. Mostly, I don't have to think about serious situations like I did before."

    He smiled. Both looked at the sea for a while and then resorted back to their usual fun.

    As days passed, slowly Arjun started telling her things he had never shared with anyone. He told her about his broken relationship. "I mean, she didn't even think twice about it. No second chances, nothing. There was a time when I used to think, "Why did that happen?"" He was grim.

    She looked at him with concern and thought for a moment. "Look, some girls don't have the patience to do the same thing a second time. Besides, they have their own reasons which they can't tell you. Who knows, maybe that second chance might have made things worse. Mr.J, remember one thing. Never think, "Why didn't it happen that way?" Because nothing is predictable. Whatever happens, has it's own reasons for happening that way. We can't stop it. That's what destiny is. If we go on thinking about it, we can't live in the present. Every moment will be a misery. Think it this way, hadn't you both broken up, you wouldn't have come here searching for a different happiness. You wouldn't have realized what you want or who you really are. Anyways, be happy for whatever happens. If you have no malice in your heart, then finally, it will be only good that will happen to you."

    She said with a chuckle, "Live in present, enjoy it. Figure out your future and just head out for what you really want. Be unstoppable and unquestionable, positive and radiant." There was an energy in her words.

    He grinned and said, "You do know more about what to do. How do you get such correct ideas?"

    "That's an inbuilt character." she winked mischievously.

    A few days later, Arjun was again at the steps of solemness.

    "What happened this time?" Miss. D asked quite cheerfully. 

    Arjun blew out a lungful and said, "Dad's angry with me. He wants me to take his place now. But I don't want to. I need to figure out what I want. If I now make a mistake in dad's business, then everything will go boom."

    "Come on Mr. J, you are doing the same mistake again."

    Arjun looked at her, puzzled.

    "The longer we think, the more confused we will be. Even after an year, you will be at the same, sticky spot, unable to decide what you really want to do. Just go for the first thing that strikes your mind. And now, don't think about making a mistake. No one can rise without any mistake. It's absurd. If life goes on as it is planned, flat, without any bends or bumps, then it will be boring. Take risks, make mistakes, learn from them, do things no one has ever done. Be different. Remember what I said, be unstoppable and unquestionable. One more thing," she became serious. "When we don't know what to do for ourselves, then it is better to do what others want from us, especially parents. Satisfy them. If we can make them proud of us, the happiness in their face the, it's priceless. We can never get anything like that."

    Arjun bent his head down, analyzing the truth of what she said, the inspiration she was giving him.

    "Sir," someone called from behind.

    Both of them turned back to see a man in a driver's suit, looking expectantly at Arjun.

    "That's my driver," Arjun said to Miss. D and then asked his driver, "What are you doing here?"

    "Sir, your father just came home from Delhi. He wants to meet you right now."

    Arjun nodded and turned to Miss. D. Before he could say anything, she whispered, "Just head out and be unstoppable."

    He took her hand in his and with a grinning face, looking grateful, said, "I will. Thank you."

    He got up and almost raced back to his car. Going off, he waved at her...   

                                  TO BE CONTINUED............................

LITTLE WAYS DOWN THE ROAD

                     LITTLE WAYS DOWN THE ROAD

    It had been well past two years. Still, he never altered his time-table. Even if it rained or ran low temperatures, even if fog blocked the roads, he didn't stop doing what he loved...

    The sea-beach area in Visakhapatnam is famous for the number of morning joggers it attracts. All along the Beach road runs a footpath adjoining the beach sands, with a nearly two feet high, one and a half feet wide wall running between the beach and the pavement. The sea waves always seem closer and the mist it sprays feels heavenly. People of almost all age groups come for morning walks and jogging, small games at the beach sands. Some bring their pets along, some come with their friends, family. Some come alone...

    Arjun was one such loner who came jogging every morning sharp at 5:30. He would start from his house by walk, reach the beach road in ten minutes and then he would jog along the beach, occasionally looking at the waves, otherwise, thinking something deeply. After an hour of jog, he would halt at a spot, somewhat farther from the traffic, where the waves seemed closer than at any other place. He would sit at the wall, facing the sea, think. It was a Sunday morning with clouds brimming the sky. As he sat facing the misty, slashing sea, Arjun's thoughts got focused on one girl, a girl who had changed his life. A girl who never came back. A girl whose name he never knew...

                                                                         *******

    He had completed his MBA from one of the prestigious institutions. But that give him any happiness. The girl whom he thought would be his, had broken up with him for all wrong reasons. Because, according to her, he wasn't tying himself up to her. She had wanted him to hover around her all day and night. How much ever he had wanted to, he had other things to attend to. As priorities increased, thoughts differed, misunderstandings increased and so did the distance between them. Finally she had called it off, without any second thought about second chances. Arjun had remained broken for a long time, unable to forget it, unable to forget her.

    It was then that he came to Vizag, to be alone, to be far away from those memories. His father owned a business which sprawled across half the country. There were plans to start a new one in the city and he was there. Arjun came down more for his personal reasons than the interest in his dad's business. He had wanted to give himself some time to recover and thought maybe trying to build physical strength might distract him.

    He started staying away from late night parties, gatherings and such celebrations which reminded him of his past life. Instead, he started going to bed early and go for jogging at the beach, a ten minute walk-able distance from his house, early in the morning.

    The first ever time he went jogging, he had his concentration all on his mental worries. But amidst that, he couldn't help noticing her. He didn't completely see her face as she was sitting with her back to him. But he could make out that she looked like any other girl, except that she was very fair in colour with part-curly hair which fluttered with the wind, half tied, half left loose and a serious expression on face. She wore a white t-shirt and white sweatpants. Sitting on the wall, facing the sea, she had a big diary in her lap. Head bent, she went on writing, slowly, pouring her thoughts, oblivious to her surroundings. It was the concentration she was having on her work that caught his attention. He stopped for a moment, looked at her and when it dawned on him that she hadn't noticed anything, he sighed and went away, jogging.

    This happened for over a week. He initially would observe her in passing, for a moment or two. But after 3-4 days, he started observing her for a longer time. It was her tenacity that caught his attention. She would write, sigh, stare at the sea waves intently, thinking deeply, smile to herself sometimes and then bend her head down to continue writing her diary. She would fill the whole page by the end. She would never care who passed by her, who sat on the wall next to her, nothing. It was as if she was in a different world. And everyday, she would wear white clothes. He never saw her using a cell phone or i-pod or any gadget. He doubted if she brought any of them with her to the beach. 

    One evening he was watching prime-time news when he heard that the crime rate in the city was increasing. Girls were no longer safe to go out alone. Arjun's immediate thought was about the stranger who sat alone at the beach, everyday. He felt quite stupid, thinking about a stranger's safety.

    The next day, as he halted near the loner, he thought if he should warn her not to roam alone. Before he could decide, however, a few sturdy and gangly, unkempt, roadside guys came walking by. As they pssed her, they commented in an unholy way on the girl. That angered Arjun. But he couldn't end up fighting them. Instead, he gave a low sigh and sat on the wall next to her, at a distance of ten inches. She was oblivious to that too.

    "You know, you mustn't come here alone like this, it's not safe," he said to her seriously.

    For the first time, she jerked back into reality and turned to him. As he saw her face completely then, he couldn't help admiring the innocence and purity it reflected.

    "What?" she asked. Her voice sounded different, sweet, yet with a tint of an unusual greyishness . 

    "You shouldn't come here alone," he repeated and jerked his head towards the stray guys who were standing  a few feet away, looking at the two of them.

    She gave a casual look at them and then turned back to him. "It's quite common here. Don't think about it. It's not so serious."

    "What do you mean? Aren't you afraid that something might happen?" He was surprised.

    "At this morning hour, when so many people are jogging here?" She chuckled. "I am confident enough about my fate to trust that nothing serious would happen."

    She felt paranoia creeping in her, discussing her security issues with a handsome guy who had so suddenly apparated near her. 

    He shook his head and said with a smile, "That's over confidence."

    She chuckled again and began her writing. He observed for a while and then stared aimlessly at the sea. He waited for those stray guys to disappear and then said to the girl, "Don't be so sure of yourself. Fate is not in your hands." She looked at him, gulping and then gave a small nod. He stayed there till seven, watching her think and write, giving low sighs in between. Then both got up at the same time.

    "Be safe," he said slowly and then without any formal goodbye or a smile as such, he turned and went off jogging. She stood there, starring at him as he disappeared.

    Though she tried hard, she couldn't get the strange guy who had been worried about her safety. She wondered if she would see him again.

    The next day morning, she sat at her usual place, writing her thoughts as usual. After some time, she sensed a movement beside her. Turning her head, she saw the same, strange guy sitting next to her at the same distance like the previous day.

    "You like doing what you want to do, I suppose, no matter how risky it is."

    "Yes," she replied with a smile.

    "Why don't your friends come with you?" he asked casually.

    "Why should I tell that to a stranger?" she questioned.

    "Don't think that I like getting strangers punch out all their details." He was irritated to find that she was doubting his character. 

    Both didn't speak for a long time. Meanwhile, she went on writing her diary. She sensed, felt it deep in her heart, that the guy sitting beside her was trustworthy, that he wasn't any rogue taking advantage of a lonely girl. He looked quite respectable.

    "I like staying alone," she said slowly. He turned to her, thinking why she had so suddenly decided to disclose her opinion. "That's not good always. Days are changing," he observed.

    "Maybe. But I don't change," she said, still writing. Somehow, that confidence brought a smile to his face. At seven, both got up.

    "Bye," they said to each other and went off in different directions.

    This schedule continued for almost a week. They would greet each other "Good morning!" when he came jogging and sat beside her. Occasionally they would talk about the weather. He would look at her as she wrote her diary. She would watch him stare at the sea thinking something, observing her, under the cover of her eyelashes, diagonally. At the usual time, they would leave, saying "Bye," to each other . Sometimes, one of them would turn back to see the other disappear. 

TO BE CONTINUED...........!!!!!!!!!