Love.....is it?

The Durga Puja holidays had started and My branch-mate Pawan and I were returning home. We were at the railway station, without ticket and with two heavy bags to accompany us in the 17-hour long journey, waiting for the adventure and the train to come. The train trundled on the platform and stopped in front of us. Though a few people got into the train from our station, to our dismay, the train was filled with multitudes of people. We were in the sleeper coach and each berth had at least four people resting their butts on it, some were teetering at the edge, and some, who actually had confirmed reservation, mumbling imprecations at the general ticket and waiting ticket holders. And there were we, without ticket and hope that we would get a seat for the night. 

A good old man allowed us to chain our bags below his seat. Then we sat at the door, it was difficult for our fat butts to fit in the narrow door but we managed. It was pitch dark outside, probably the train was passing through village fields. The cold October air augmented into squall because of train’s speed and tousled our hairs. Except for occasional malodour that came from nowhere, it was serene. Had we had our tickets, we would have been lying on our berth headed to a humdrum journey. But that consternation that TT might come from behind and ask for ticket, those chilly gushes of air, that tranquilizing darkness, that uncertainty made that journey a travel.

There is something with the late hours, darkness and solitude; it brings out the emotional side in you.“It was her birthday today,” suddenly Pawan whispered in a pensive mood. “Whose? Shaina’s?” I asked.

“Yes….”

“So….you must be happy….why are you so wistful?”

“She didn’t pick up my call….”

“Hmmm….what’s with you and Shaina? I have only heard bits and pieces of information….what is between you guys?”

“The truth is….there is nothing between us…never was. We used to study together till class 6^th, then I moved to lucknow and we were separated. But I was never actually able to forget her. Later on we connected through facebook…..she became my best friend….at least that’s what I considered her….”

“So let me get this straight…..you haven’t met a girl since past probably eight years and she is your best friend.” Though he was all composed and serious, which he seldom is, I found this fact peculiarly hilarious. He gave me the most serious look that his chubby round face could manage. “OK…..then what happened?” I tried to act as wistful as he.

“We have met…..once….in last summer vacations only. Everything was fine until she fell for a guy who is five or six years older than she. He had an unpopular track record of eight exes. But the problem was that…..he was out of her league. She would cry for him. I would console her saying that even if it would have worked out…..you would have become the ninth…..nothing else. There is no point crying for him, who don’t even care for you. She would get irritated. Then one fine day, she blocked me. Although, she did unblock me later, but things haven’t been the same.”

“You see…. I can tell you the exact same thing which you told her….”

“Yeah…. I understand that I am being a fool…..but still….I liked her…..we were best friends….”

“Best Friends?.....Really? You think this is what best friends are like? You thought her to be your best friend. If you call a bitter gourd by the name of banana and expect it to taste sweet……whose fault is it? When you bite, it will be bitter…..because it was bitter gourd……you called it a banana…..it is not gourd’s fault…it is bound to be that way….it’s yours fault that you tied irrational expectations to it.”

He looked at me for a while as if I was his Shaina and then said, “out of all the fruits……you had to compare her to a banana.” We both laughed.

Earlier Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Nicholas Sparks and now Bollywood have filled our minds with unreasonable ideas of romance. So much that we have started accepting only those things that appear to be picturesque, perfect or cute. A boy in love with a girl since class sixth…..cute isn’t it? But how practical is it? After years of no connection, how can one fall in love like that? First love is a highly overrated thing in our society…..especially in India where people aren't allowed to fall in love and once if they fall.....its more than enough. Most of the Indians live their whole life tolerating a person in the name of first love or true love or in worse cases, forced love. Clichéd stories have filled us with illogical notions like love at first sight, the girl you will love will initially reject you, you have to suffer to woo the girl, the boy should make the first move and such rubbish junk. Because of this, guys undergo unreasonable humiliation or resort to stalking the girl. They don’t understand, in real life a no is a no! Girls abstain themselves from instigating a relationship with a guy. People create baseless fantasies around a seemingly attractive person of opposite sex and call it love.

Most of the people are in love with the idea of falling in love or having an immaculate love story. The truth is that, what may appear to be a great story to tell might not be a good story to live but a great life lived will always become a good story told.

P.S. yes, I am writing this post after watching Pyar ka punchnama 2 :P
And travelling without ticket later on turned out to be a bad idea when we were completely in clutches of sleep and still couldn't manage to get a seat. However, no TT came for checking. :P