In our lives, sometimes, some sequence of events lead to serious misunderstandings.
How serious…. I tell you a story.
I have a friend, Mitika. We are or maybe I should say that we used to be good friends. I met her when I was in the first year of my college life at IIT Kanpur. Since then we share this relationship of friendship. Just for the clarity, she wasn’t from my college. She was from some other engineering college in Kanpur. Good height, slim, fair and sharp features. I met her when she came to my campus for her project work in the summer of 2004. We totally liked each other’s company as one thing was common between us; both of us were hard-working or at least she used to think so about me :) But yes this girl was really a very hardworking, intelligent and of course I have already had described her beauty.
This girl is very special to me. Why? Not because of her beauty and other qualities but because of the fact that despite all my efforts, every time something happens which shakes the trust between two of us. I would like to start with the first incident.
Incident-1
November 2004
I was in the 2nd year of my college. At IIT Kanpur, we used to have inter-collegiate cultural festival known as Antaragni. It was a grand fest where students from all over the country used to participate.
Few days before this fest at around 5:30 pm, the telephone attendant came running to me when I was in my room in a semi-sleepy condition after a hectic day.
“Praveen ji, you have a call. Guess, some lady is there” he said
“Is she my mom?” I asked.
“She didn’t tell me but I guess she was younger” he said.
“Really”. I said. Now my eyes were wide opened
I rushed to attend that call.
"Hello" I said.
"Hello, oh you came. Hope I am not disturbing you" she said.
"No, of course not. I was just sitting in my room doing nothing and just yawning. Good that you called. But who is this, by the way?" I said.
"Hey you forgot me, this is Mitika. How can you not recognize my voice this time?" she said.
“Oh I am so sorry. I told you I was in semi-sleepy mode. That’s why I could not figure out. Now, I am awake. Totally” I put my point forward.
"Ok. So, tell me why did you call me" I asked her.
"Can't I just call you without any reason?" she said little irritated.
"Yeah, why not. Of course you can" I said pacifying my previous statement.
"I just called you to ask you that how are you doing these days" she said softly.
"That's so nice of you. Thank you. I am good. How are you?" I said swiftly.
"I am good. Actually Praveen..." she said and stopped and I could figure out little hesitation in her voice this time.
"Yeah, tell me" I tried to help her.
"I have heard that next week this grand fest Antaragni is going to take place at your college. And I have heard a lot about this fest. Lots of colleges from all over the country participate, lots of grand events are organized, some celebrities are also invited etc. etc." she continued yapping for the next 15 minutes.
"That's right" I said after I realized that she was done.
"So I was wondering if you can take me to this fest this time, if it is okay with you" she said in a single breath.
I wasn’t expecting this. ‘No’, ‘yes’, ‘not this time’, ‘why not’, ‘this fest is not so great’, ‘this fest is really awesome and you should really see it’ etc. etc. thoughts came to my mind simultaneously. Seriously I did not know what to say.
"Ok fine. You can come. No problem at all" It just came out of my mouth, I don’t know how.
“Oh really, I can come. I am so happy. You know I was thinking how to ask you. But thanks a lot. Ok then, I’ll see you there.” she said in a voice filled with joy.
“Sure, see you then. Bye” I said and disconnected the phone.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do that but since I promised her so I decided to show her some good events in the cultural fest.
Antaragni was going to kick off on the Thursday of the next week. I had the list of the events which were going to take place in that fest. After having a look at that list, I figured out that the 3rd day of the fest which was Saturday had the most exciting events. So, I decided to ask Mitika to come on Saturday of the next week.
Next week came rather Wednesday of the next week came. Mitika was also waiting for my phone call. So after my classes in the evening, I called her from a telephone booth beside my hostel.
“Hi Praveen, I was waiting for your call.” she said happily.
“Ok. I called you up to inform you that you should come to my campus on Saturday as many exciting events are lined up that day” I said
“Ok. Sure. I will. By the way, which color dress should I wear ?” she asked in a very excited voice.
“Oh, I really don’t have much idea about these things. Put on whatever suits you more” I replied.
“Praveen, you are so….By the way, what time on Saturday?”She asked.
“I’ll give you a call on Friday evening or Saturday morning to confirm the time. Ok. Bye for now” I said and disconnected the phone.
I had listed down all the good events where Iwanted to take her. Some of them were the mime show of ‘The Dramatics’, the fashion show “Ritambhara” and the “Sonu Nigam” live performance . So, everything was well planned from my side.
Friday came. It was 10 pm and I was about to inform Mitika to come to campus next morning at around 11 am. But at that moment telephone attendant of my hostel came to me and informed me that I had a phone call from my home. My mom informed me that my grandfather was seriously ill and wanted to see me. She asked me to come to the hospital in the morning which was in the Kanpur city and far from the campus. And she also wanted me to stay there in the hospital. My mom knew that it was fest time in my college so I would be able to come without disturbing my studies.
Now this situation was really a tough one. I had my commitment with my friend and now this family matter which has always been a priority for me.
Anyways, I decided to go see my grandfather. Now the Goliath task was to ask Mitika not to come. Of course, I could just tell her the real problem but there was a possibility that she might think it to be a false excuse so that I would not have to take her to the fest. Somehow, I convinced myself that I would call her in the morning and explain the situation. She would definitely understand.
In the morning, I called her up. With great excitement she picked up the phone.
“Hey, Praveen. I was just sitting near the phone waiting for your call. You know what I have selected to put on, a purple blue dress with matching designer ear-rings and matching sandals. Great, isn’t it? So, when should I come to your campus? ” she said innocently.
I was really feeling bad as I was going to break her heart. However, I decided to tell her everything. In the meantime, I pictured her in the purple dress in my mind.
“Mitika actually I am sorry that I cannot ask you to come to my campus” I said with a low voice.
“Why? Why not?” she was puzzled
“Because my grandfather is seriously ill and I am just going to see him in the hospital. So I myself will not be in the campus. I am feeling bad while I say this. But this is the truth. I am sorry” I told her in an almost begging voice.
“Oh really, this is sad. I was so looking forward to it. But..it’s Ok. You go ahead. Go and take a good care of him” she said and disconnected the phone.
After this she did not call me for next two months. Later from her friend, I got to know that she was not convinced by the reason I told her for not taking her to Antaragni. Instead she was of the opinion that I made an excuse. Her friend also informed me that she had specially purchased that purple dress only for the fest. This was the first incident which had shaken the faith in our friendship for the very first time. And after this for another three months she did not call. Even I tried to keep our friendship alive by calling her twice but her cold response always indicated that warmth in our friendship was gone. (To be continued....)
