Keeping the Promises Read online

  “How was it?” Dhruv gently asked the girls in the backseat.

  “Is there any better world than wonderful?” Angie smiled, flaunting her happiness.

  “Marvellous…” said Dhruv, who always claimed to have an answer to everything and was always ready to show off.

  “Why are you not starting the engine, Gajju? I think we should go back now,” Ansh suggested, showing him his wrist watch.

  “I have a request before we go,” Dhruv said, whose demands had no end. No one responded, no one opposed too, by knowing that he was the reason behind this night which they considered one of the best nights of their life. But the best was yet to come.

  “I want to see the sunrise, at my secret place,” Ansh was shocked as he heard this. His secret place, no one except Ansh had seen it before.

  “Are you sure Gajju, you want to take the girls to that place?” Ansh said with a concern, knowing that there was no way on earth he would lead them there without any check-post.

  “Yes, I need to see that now.”

  “What’s that secret place?” Angie asked in confusion.

  “Let me tell you something girls, you are going to witness the most exciting moment of your life, but try to ignore Dhruv Gajjar you meet there because he’s beyond anyone’s understanding,” Ansh simpered. Yes, every time they go there, he was a completely different person – an immature, crazy, irresponsible gym freak would turn himself into a philosopher with some of the weirdest theories of this world.

  “Let’s go there.” M was the first one to agree, Ansh and Angie – reading the affection in each other’s eyes – were in no condition to oppose. Surprisingly, there were no policemen to stop them in the way, indicating that the omens were on their side. That secret place was near the Sabarmati river, which was rich in water after merging with Narmada. Dhruv, who was excited than ever was now swift in changing gears to reach. That was a construction site, with a guard outside. It frightened girls and as Dhruv knew this was coming, he told them that there was nothing to worry. When the guard saw Dhruv’s car, he waved at him, but not after he realised they were not two, but four this time. He parked the car at his usual place and turned towards the rest.

  “You guys sit here until I signal you to come out.” He stepped out of the car.

  He was chatting with that guard when M asked, “Is there any problem?”

  “No, he is just giving him the entrance fee,” Ansh answered with a smirk.

  “To be precise, he is bribing him.” She chortled.

  “In a manner, but consider this an entrance fee.”

  “Do you guys come here often?”

  “No, usually he likes to come alone, unless I pester him to bring me here. He can sit here for hours without talking to any one and without doing anything else.”

  Angie was sitting pale not knowing what was coming, just like Ansh. In a minute, Dhruv asked them to step out. They took the stairs down which took them to a heavenly place. Since it was still under construction, there were just stones everywhere and an edge, Dhruv’s secret place. Yes, his secret place was nothing but a stony edge on the river. Dhruv – without asking anyone to join him – went there, folded his pant up till his knees and sat there. Ansh too joined him. It was always fascinating for them to let their feet relax in the moving water. Girls, frightened to join them, came there and stood behind.

  “We don’t know how to swim,” both the girls said unanimously.

  “Don’t worry, nor do we!” Dhruv answered.

  “What? Aren’t you afraid?” M asked in a shock.

  “Yes, and that’s why it’s most exciting for me! Fear is nothing but a form of anxiety and sheer excitement,” Dhruv said. Within no time, the girls too folded their pants till their knees and sat beside them. What surprised them was that Angie came and sat with Ansh and M sat beside Dhruv. Angie and Ansh who were running out of words, couldn’t do more than hearing a conversation that changed their lives.

  “So how many bucks did you give him as bribe?” M threw a stone at Dhruv in jest.

  And he replied, “A hundred per person. You call it a bribe; I call it a price for a priceless beauty which soon will fade away.”

  “Why?”

  “They are building a riverfront here. Soon the water you are feeling down your knees will be gone,”

  “Gone?”

  “Yes, you will able to see the water from here, but won’t be able to touch it as they will part this edge with railing. For safety purpose, but it will also take away the joy that only a few people have witnessed in their lifetime.”

  “What’s so special about this water?”

  “Can’t you feel it? It’s the best foot massage you’ll ever get. Besides, let’s start with air. Can you feel the cold breeze touching your skin and trying to ruffle your hair? It has humidity in it, which keeps it fresh and loving. People who are busy with their regular schedule, doing the same thing every day, calling it their life, hardly get to feel the joy of these things. The sun you’ll see in a moment…you know it is said that if you have seen one sunrise and one sunset in a moment of peace in your entire life, you have found the purpose of your life. The moment you see darkness replacing itself with the light, it fills abundance of refreshment in your mind. Why most of the real monks choose to rise earlier than the sun? Because they can see the beauty, the power and the enlightenment it gives. Enlightenment is referred as knowledge and spiritual strength, strength which gives us the power to conquer our fears, of facing new challenges in life; and sunset, it is as important as sunrise because it teaches us that everything we possess, whether it is a person, luxuries or power in society, will somehow come to an end. There is nothing in this world you can hold forever, except yourself, so usually we do that. We hold ourselves, we try to control our desires, by ignoring our inner voice, by ignoring the natural talents we are born with, which eventually leads to frustration, irritation and anger. Soon they start hating themselves, and the moment you start hating yourself is the moment you have signed a contract with stress, sadness and sorrow to kill you. Then comes fear, and it always succeeds in conquering our excitement. Only a few are able to defeat their fear and let their excitement take charge. Have you ever stood on an edge at any high point? It will scare you, but if you notice, you’ll feel your heartbeats getting faster, a part of you will always tell you to stand there forever. Just like we are sitting here right now. None of us know how to swim and we all are dealing with a great fear of falling into the river, but we all are feeling our heartbeats and we all are feeling a sense of great excitement. Now it’s in your hands, you can choose to give up like most people do, or you can let your excitement take charge and enjoy the moment you have been blessed with.”

  “That was really deep and in a way, meaningful. But tell me the real reason why do you come here?”

  “What?”

  “Why do you come here? What’s there inside you that you are hiding? You get philosophical to run away from the real reason that brings you here. This is the place where you, only you alone like to come and think of someone. Who’s that someone? Tell me, do you miss her?”

  Dhruv was in complete awe, this girl – who met him a few hours ago, knew him better than anyone, even his best friend. Yes, even Ansh was yet to find out his obsession about this place. Dhruv shrugged his shoulders and heaved a deep sigh before telling the truth.

  “Yes, I do miss her.”

  “Tell me what do you feel?”

  “About what?”

  “About her, about what made you bring us here?”

  “Yes, I do miss her. She is still somewhere inside of an untouched corner of my heart. She was just a school sweetheart, but we always had an unknown connection between us. She was my first female friend, so in a way she was special, but I used to see a kind of enigmatic light, something very special in her. The way she talked, the way she cared for me, the way she used to change my mood, there is no one in this world who is able to do that. Ansh is my best friend, he can
catch all my lies, he can understand me better than anyone else but even he cannot do the things she was capable of. She could turn my anger into my smiles, she could understand my silence better than my words, she was able to take away all my sadness and replace it with smiles and limitless energy. Since Ansh and I came from a school where boys and girls are not allowed to be friends – and if they were, it was considered as a sin – we were usually shy. And the worst part is that there was no one around with whom guys like us could share our feelings. If we shared our feelings about anyone with our parents or siblings, they would bash us for not concentrating on our studies and for indulging ourselves into sins like these. If we shared it with our friends, they would do nothing other than bullying and make it almost impossible for you to talk to that person. It was too late when I learned that it was perfectly normal. She was gone, we were just friends and I liked her, may be secretly loved her but there was nothing I could have done. I regret it, because I could’ve confessed my feelings to her, without expecting anything in return. I did not know what she felt about me and it wasn’t that important for me because I really was expecting nothing, but I never approached, because I was afraid of losing her as a friend. When I saw you first, I saw the same light as I used to see in her. I was shocked. Whenever I look at you, I see a glimpse of her. The only difference I see in you two is your natural blue eyes and her brownish eyes. So I decided to bring you here. Believe me, I’m not saying this for any purpose, nor is it an attempt to flirt. I’m saying what I feel and I’m feeling much more than what I’m saying.”

  Ansh and Angie were stunned by what Dhruv had just said.

  ‘I didn’t know he took Nirali seriously. I mean, having a secret crush is perfectly normal, but this was something beyond affection,’ Ansh thought.

  “I know Dhruv, you are saying the truth and there is no need to clarify your intentions. I know they are pure…at least for now.” She winked and joined in the laughter with Dhruv.

  “By the way, Angie, Ansh too lied about not knowing the way when you first met. Guys, I love you too, so I’m concerned about you. Don’t make the mistake I made. As I said to both of you earlier, life is too short for hesitations,” Dhruv said, leaving them spooky and queasy, unable to say or glance at each other.

  “I think you guys need a walk together,” M suggested with a smile. Without speaking a word, both of them stood up and started to walk.

  They were feeling the water of Sabarmati getting louder with their anxiety. Ansh wanted to speak everything, but knowing himself through and through, he had no courage. Even though he knew she felt the same for him, words were not finding their way out. This was their moment – a moment before the sunrise. Ansh knew he had to say it before the sun comes out, but he just couldn’t. He was about to ruin the moment; just then, he gathered some courage to say something.

  “Angie, I know you are expecting me to say something but… sorry for lying to you on that night. I know I’ll have to say that… C’mon Ansh you have to…if not now, then never…Oh gosh what am I saying…”And Ansh stopped there, realising that he had just ruined his moment, but she didn’t. Angie, a person with views clear as crystal, simplest by nature, a very rare essence seen in rarest of girls, pulled out her phone and gave it to him. She had already opened a note.

  On our introduction day, I was standing at the entranceway of our college. I saw a boy with luggage in his hands and his parents were following him. A lean guy, who was barely able to lift his luggage, wasn’t letting his parents hold it. That impressed me. I couldn’t ignore his handsome looks either. I loved you from the moment I saw you for the first time and yes, I lied and I can proudly say that I lied and I don’t regret my lie. Dhruv knew this. From the very beginning, he knew it. We even talked about it quite often when you were out of our sight. Knowing that you feel the same for me, I wanted you to tell me that, by looking into my eyes, by caressing my soul and by holding my cheeks. But as days passed, I got to know of your shy nature. I realised that no matter how many signals I give, you won’t propose, ever. But those things are not important as much as you are. So now here I am…saying it again – I love you Ansh! Actually, I love you too. Because, I know you do.

  A drop of tear fell from Ansh’s eye. Tear of shame, shame of not having the courage to do what his girl just did. He could have done it, with a little more courage, with little more guts but then he did something she needed the most. He ran his fingers into hers and held her hand, leaving his grip loose and giving her the chance to make it tighter, which is exactly what she did. Then he took her in his arms and they embraced each other, still able to hear each other’s heartbeats, still making each other’s clothes wet with tears, still having no intentions to leave each other, ever. That was the embrace of love, the embrace of faith, moreover the embrace of myriad affection. It was still dark; the sun was yet to rise in order to congratulate them. They returned to Dhruv and M, and sat quietly beside them, their mingled hands were enough to let them know what happened and there was no way on earth they could refrain themselves from seeing their heavenly hug.

  “Congratulations buddies! I don’t know if you are aware that I’m the happiest person around. Being a part of this by constantly teasing you and pestering you two was itself like an excursion,” Dhruv said. Then M followed. She was a part of them now. The three musketeers were turned into fantastic four.

  They saw the sun rise holding hands. They saw the darkness fading away and replacing it with light. Slowly…indicating that slow processes are more blissful and they had to let their relationship grow slowly, gradually to make it everlasting. With that sunlight, Ansh and Angie saw a dream of growing old together. That was the purpose of Ansh’s life – to stand beside his girl, to make her life as special as fairytales, to grow old with her and then perish with dignity and love. They looked at the water, which was as beautiful, as romantic as it has been. Romance was in the air and completely ignorant of his best friend and newly became friend, an idea struck Ansh’s mind – to kiss Angie. This was their moment.

  ‘There would never be any better moment than this for our first kiss,’ he thought.

  He turned towards her and held her cheeks with his hands, just as she wanted. He was just about to touch her soft pink lips with his, when she learned his intentions and gifted a tight slap on his left cheek.

  “Ouch…that was ironic Angie!” Ansh almost screamed.

  “Don’t even think about that Anshu! First kiss is always earned, never borrowed,” she said and winked.

  “You could’ve said it without slapping me, my love!” Ansh chuckled.

  Dhruv and M guffawed on seeing this. It was already seven when they stood up to leave. There was silence on their return journey. This time, Ansh was sitting on the backseat with his girl, with her hand on his. Romantic songs kept amusing them until they fell asleep on each other’s shoulder.

  When they woke up, they had already reached the campus. Angie stepped out, but not before Ansh gave a gentle kiss on her head, the kiss of faith.

  “Do you want to regret that you didn’t ask for my number, or are you willing to live without that?” M chuckled, and smiled at Dhruv. Dhruv had always been a little egoistic when it came to asking for contact details, whether from a boy or a girl. Nevertheless, he gave her his mobile, so that she could save her number on that. She did it and stepped out, happy and charming.

  I finished and looked up only to see tears dancing on Angie and Ansh’s eyelids – waiting to express their way out.

  “I need to go to the washroom!” Ansh said and ran out.

  “I need to get some water,” Angie too raced out before we could tell her that the water bottle was placed just beside her.

  “Seems like I missed a chaos, M!” I said.

  “Hmm, a lot happened in your absence,” she said.

  “Like?”

  “Against her father’s will, Angie said yes to marry a ‘jain’ guy of her Badepapa’s choice.”

  “What? I cannot bel
ieve this…how could she?”

  “She didn’t have any other choice, Mithu! We cannot blame her; she cannot let her father leave his house. I’m not saying what she is doing is perfectly correct, but right now the love for her father is above everything else in this world.”

  I was speechless. I knew how much Angie loved her father. Although I believed that the situation would have been different if I was there. M moved my thoughts with a terrible promise, “Promise me, you’ll not use my name in it. No one will ever know my name.”

  “What???? Then what’s the point in writing the story honey! You are not making sense.” Yes, that’s why I’ve not mentioned her name. Only few close ones know about it and we are all prohibited from revealing it.

  “Believe me Mithu! I’m doing it for a reason. You’ll understand it someday. Now promise!”