At 14:00 hours.

The pleasent tea helped break the ice between them. 

Savouring the tea Manoujit said "I remember the days when things were simple".

A nostalgia of memories hit them both.

Their minds started to recollect the memories of them together. From the corridoors of City College to sailing on boat at the Prinsep Ghat where they had their first kiss. All memories flashed at once.

Lost in memories she said "Yes, I remember too. If only the time could run backwards Manu".

The sun was shining through the windows and he could see her pellucidly.

He saw the flashing bindi and the poised sindur on her forehead.

She looked elegant, just like the way he always imagined her to look.

"You still look the same like you looked before" he said.

She laughed and said "The weight has changed though."

"But you have changed a lot. And what about the scars? How and where have you been all these years?" she asked raringly.

"I was in Burma. I was with the Royal army fighting the Chinese." said he.

Manoujit had served as an infantry battalion to the British army in the Burma war between 1942 and 1944.

"The british are no more here. Bapu and Netaji kicked them out. So how did you came back here", she asked curiously.

He started to recollect the pictures horrific war he had fought. He answered "In 1944 my unit was captured by the enemy. We were held captives for weeks. Some days we weren't served food and water also. We were tortured by them and thats when they scar-faced me with knives. We were captives untill the Azad Hind Fauj rescued us. They not only rescued us but also gave us a purpose to fight with them and fight against the Royal army. This time I wasn't just fighting for survival, I was fighting for something more. I was fighting for Freedom."

Sumita listened to him with her eyes sparkled with tears of gratitude.

"So when Netaji died you came back here?" She asked.

"After Netaji's death we continued to fight, I was then sent on a mission by the Fauj to Chitagong, which is now part of the East Pakistan. And after that I came here after the partition". He answered.

Sumita who got married to a modern businessman of independent India, was proud of the sacrifice she had done for her relationship with Manoujit.

Yet she was in tears thinking about the fate of her relationship and the cost that they had paid for the independence.

Sobbing she asked him "what do you think Manu. Was it all worth it?".

Manoujit's heart was now filled with pride of his sacrifices alongwith unsullied love for Sumita. 

He answered, "when I was held captive in Burma, all I thought was if I could ever make it back to Calcutta, if I could ever see your face again Sumita. And now that I'am seeing you again, I think all of it was worth it".

Sumita was left speechless, she could neither cry on his shoulder nor hug him like before. She kept looking at him to picture him perfectly one last time, because she knew deep in her heart that she won't be looking this face again sooner or even in this lifetime.

He bid her bye one last time and left from her house thanking for the refreshing tea.

On the free streets of Alipore, Lieutenant Manoujit Chaterjee of Indian army pulled out his filtered cigarette and lighted it with a metal plated lighter. Took a drag of the cigarette and breezed out the smoke, like in a gesture of thanking the almighty for the Freedom to live this life. 

It was a sunny afternoon of April 1948 and he turned his wrist to see the time. The clock struck 13. He pulled out the note from the pocket to read the address.

"15 B, Alipore Road, Calcutta" it read.

Manoujit found it difficult to locate the address. It wasn't easy for him to ramble through the streets of Calcutta after so long time. Yet he was relishing the breeze of the city again in the independent India.

Battling through the narrow streets, horse carts and honking of the trams and cars, he reached his destination.

"15B - Bagchi residence", read the name plate at the gate. Manoujit took a gaze at the house, it was one of the new row houses built in Alipore. With a slanting roof at the top it seemed like the dream house that he always imagined.

He came forward and moved towards the gate to ring the door bell. He ringed it twice.

"Who is it at this time?" asked a soft voice from the other side. It was the same voice that once reverberated like a flute in Manoujit's ears. After many summers he had heard that voice.

"Its me.. Manoujit.. Manu here", he answered. An awkward silence prevailed after that.

There was no further questions asked or answered. The door opened, Manoujit skipped a heartbeat for that moment. It was Sumita, his long lost friend. The girl who was once everything for him. She looked elegant like she had always looked, he couldn't take off his eyes from her. After 6 long years he was seeing her. His hands wanted to accoll her in arms yet he restrained.

Sumita was amazed and aghast both at the same time. She couldn't believe she was seeing him once again. She called him in to have a seat in comfort.

He walked in for his eyes to see the splendid house yet his attention was robbed off from him at the very sight of her opening the door.

Both looked at each other, stared each other for long to see how time had shaped them now. For him she looked the same she was then. With the perfect dusky skin tone and the embroided red and white saree with keys tied at the end of her pallu, she looked the perfect woman he had imagined ever.

She smilled at him and looked at the scars on his face, she wondered what could have happened to her Manu all these time.

With a nervy voice she said "you came back". He didn't speak much, he answered in a smile and said "Yes".

Many questions came to their mind but all stayed caged inside. She asked him to have a seat, he made himself comfortable sitting on a cushioned chair with spine held straight.

She went inside to make tea for him. He stayed seated looking around the house.

She came back with a tray of costly porcelain teapot and cups. Tea was served to Manoujit with two spoons of sugar. He took a sip and was reminded of the tea she used to make at her former house in Barrackpur.

"Nice! Mrs. Bagchi, it still tastes the same" he said. Sumita responded him with a blushing smile.

Continued at: http://bit.ly/2wKB5bh

Love, Amore, Liebe, Prem... different short names for a great emotion.
We all fall into the claws of this term in our life. Some fall into it once and some unlucky ones fall twice, thrice and not so wise.
We may exaggerate of us being emotionally raw and tough, but at the very touch of this amazing emotion called love, we become emotionally as gullible as a child hungry for love.
I too had my first "fall and rise" in love, which they call it as the puppy love.
Here's my story:

Chapter One: The Dawn of Love

It all began in the leap year of 2008 with an extra 29th day of Feb in it. The world was busy counting important events, Obama running for elections, world economy trying to survive the financial crisis and so on. And in a very small way it witnessed a great event for me, I fell in love for the first time.

Oh I was gonna finish my teenage then, 19, the age the guy is filled with dreams of job, money, fame and yes... girls ofcourse. I was in an age where each girl I saw was compared to the other in many different ways. I had many crushs that time, which led to many parameters for a girl to pass to become a infatuation for me ;)
The amazing thing about love you know... it hits you in the most unexpected time in a most unexpected way.
Now lets go back to the time:
So here she comes, 'my girl' (whom I never in my wildest dreams dreamt about becoming my girl) comes to me asking for some notes she had missed in her absence. I was never studious, but that one subject she came to ask the notes for, had my interest. You can say she came asking for my interest.
I had never spoken to her before. She was just another familiar faces in the class. A rumour in the class was there that the front row girls gang had a fallout, and she was one amongst them. She coming asking me notes, I supposed the rumours were true to their words.
Anyways, she is a fair, mid heighted and a fat girl. My brain freezed on her being fat. Lets just give her the notes and move my brain said. Notes were exchanged with smiles and thanx.
Next day, I see her again, with one female friend of hers, both sitting behind my bench. My lil brain said "wtf you guys doing here in my row, this is supposed to be my row, its the band of brothers row, the one meant for guys strictly. As they were the first explorers to land on our shores, we did not make them go. We welcomed their temporary stay. I wasn't much excited with their presence as I never had them in my mind before. My mind was in the class next to ours where this amazingly beautiful girl was there. Almost all guys had a crush on her, and i was no different.
Now coming to these two girls behind, one is fat and the other introvert. The yesterdays girl hands me the notes calling my name from behind. We broke the ice by talking about their alleged fallout from the girly gang. We started talking and things got filled with humour. We talked and mimicked students, lecturers and even the peons. I found this girl to be funny, for a second I thought what the hell was she doing with those nerdy girls. At the end of the class, we exchanged numbers and bid byes for the day.

Now, in the evening, that she has already given her number, it is expected by me to sms her. Days back it was hard to get ones number, and when got, it was never to be ignored. So, i sent her a silly joke and in minutes my phone buzzes to a Sms from her. A silly joke from her too. -Great Start Bro.
Days went by, we started chatting more and more. We shared how we had spent our weekends and weekdays, what we did, where we went, we shared everything we could in those 160 characters of the message. Because back then, the Zuckerbergs Facebook and Whatsapp were not much into picture in India.
Then came the proposal day. With all the nervousness in the world I told her about my feelings for her. She took time and later that evening she typed the message and sent me a Yes. That message still rings in my memory. Oh i was happy. I started dating, I was on cloud seven.

Chapter Two: Dating and its Consequences
(8 months of dating)
After you start dating, all other friends of yours start to behave strangely. A sense of ignorance and giving us space seemed to take place. Its not that you want to be away from them, but who cares when you are the lucky one to have a girl and your friends don't.
My lady love was here. Remember I told you about her being fat, because it had become a thing from the past. After 8months of rigorous dieting, she had cut down her weight insanely. From 65 to 48kg she had become, making me luckier even more. She was all in her new attire with the perfect curves and her perfect smile and skin tone adding cream to the cake. All the guys who never paid a heed to her were staring at her like the dogs running behind cars.
We were dating like carrots and peas. She was lovingly possessive. Her possessiveness made me stop giving even a stare at the crush from neighbouring class. Btw, the crush got herself a boyfriend too.
We dated for 3 long years. We gave everything to the relationship for it to grow stronger with each passing time. Our talks went from present to future. We had started planning life together and forever, like the ones in the disney movies. Our parents came to know about it too, her family believed in disney and they agreed, mine had more bollywood in them, they disagreed.
Not only did I give up on looking at other girls, but also deleted porn from my PC, that kinda serious you see. I was trying hard to become the guy she wanted me to be. I was all into her and she into me. We distanced ourselves from our friends and lived a life of ours own, the one with only the two of us. But it had dogs in it, we both loved dogs. Dogs are awesome, never gonna leave them for anyone.
College ended and we started to hunt for jobs. We found jobs and started working together, also were preparing for post graduation entrance exams. I was able to forecast the best possible future with her. It was 2011, we both got admission into MBA college and decided to quit job for studies. It was going just the way it was supposed to be.
We both were the world for each other and had no thing hidden between us. We had our email passwords too known to each other along with social logins. One night I was checking mails of mine. With no intention I switched to her mail id to see what mails she had in her yahoo. I opened and a inbox of all the bank loans, lotteries, matrimony, jobs, astrology came before my eyes. Between those mails was one read email. The name was strange and not known to me. It was one of her female friend in abroad of whom I never heard or met. With curiosity I opened the mail.
How I wish I never had opened that mail :(


Chapter Three: The Breakup

That email...
How do I describe that devastating mail. The one that shattered my glass of dreams with a rugged stone. It was like waking up from a dream you never thought you would awake from.
It was a mail in which she was communicating to her friend for relationship advice.
The mail described her having feelings for other guy and that she was guilty cheating on me.
I read and I read again to believe what I was reading. A clot of sadness filled in my neck which wanted to burst out. I held on to that, I couldnt believe she was attracted to this other guy in her office and that she was confused as to what she must do. I never thought whom I was thinking to spend my life with was now in a state of incertitude.
With shaking hands in fury and sadness, I made a phone call to her. I called and yelled and yelled on her. I was crying out my anger on her for cheating on me. After that call, I didnt speak to her for days. I was 22 then, and stupid too. I didnt had the maturity to handle such things. I was heartbroken, but I loved her. I decided to meet her, I wanted to confront her mistake and forgive her because I was still not ready to give up on that dream. We met, she cried and cried. I yelled and at the end, I forgave.
We were back in our world, but it wasnt the same. It wasn't like the talks before, our kisses fell short of emotions. Guilt, anger, they all came together and hit our world. It went 2-3 months like this, and one fine day I got a call from her aunt. She said that her niece wanted to breakup with me as she can no more take this relationship forward. I was more disheartened to hear it from her aunt and not from her. I guess girls can take such strong decisions but to convey them isn't that easy for them. I tried calling and messaging her on phone, facebook and everywhere I could, but it all fell on deaf ears.

Its been 6years now and till date, I never heard anything from her after that day. I guess it would be one of my "never to be known" answer.
I hope someday she finds what she always went looking for. She may never be a part of my life again, but will always be a part of my prayers.

Love and always
Me :)

I glanced back and there she was sitting, all alone, all beautiful and precious. My beloved. The most gorgeous girl till date i had ever seen. "Falling in love can be best described in a word - a glance". Those who fell in love at first sight can understand my predicament. You know there is so much more to that moment yet you cant put it persuasively in words. How can i describe her beauty? I know whatever i write cant be enough. I can use all beautiful phrases, lines, unique styles of writing still i cant justify how beautiful she looked? All essence is lost in the translation to the words. You will not get a smallest of idea how graceful, charming she looked. 

How i was enamoured? How was i dazzled to near blindness? I can use all the English to my aid and throw in adjectives like suave, elegant,enchantress and even i can go further and raise her to the rank of goddess, yet not enough. I can give you the account of color, length and texture of her hair, her perfect fleshy gold pierced delicate ears, the transparency and honesty of her divine eyes, i can make you drown in her moist hazel eyes, her apple coloured lips, delicacy of her cheeks, i can take a day to describe all subtle facial features of her face, i can fill books with the description of her perfect lusty physique, still i can't paint her in earnest. I can describe her smile using many pages yet i cant describe everything. I can use all stories in the world, romance sagas, use descriptions of all beautiful women written by great lovers, i can use all the best rhymings, quartets, poems, but it would be of no avail.  I can use oxymorons to describe that glance. Like, i was stunned, as a statue or melted like ice, my heartbeat stopped or it beat faster, moment froze or it slipped. The moment when i held her hand, the cold, sweaty, soft and small palm, that sent electric shock in me, and i remember i said nothing. Thousands of words fell short in front of that beautiful feel.

I can speak for days about how my heartbeat increased every time i saw her or if someone mentioned her name. I can write sagas about my infatuation, how in a glance i fell for her? yet you wouldn't even begin to understand how beautiful she looked. She was, the beauty afforded by nature. The queen, the beauty fed up by the hearts like me. From time and again whenever i am alone, thinking, just before i sleep, i think of you and cant help asking myself, "How come thy look so beautiful, me lady"...... and with moist eyes i try to sleep.