LOVE and Dreams

LOVE  And Dreams

Preface 

Hi All! Thanks for your tremendous Love and Support for “Azoriya”, especially my Reader friends from India and United States, who are loving and supporting my stories.

I would like to Wish you All a Very Happy Valentines Day! It is a day of Love, a day of Trust, a day of Relationships, a day of Giving, a day of Sharing Joy and Happiness!  But is it just for one Day?

I dedicate “LOVE and Dreams” to my love. Unlike my previous stories, “LOVE and Dreams” is purely a work of fiction and bears no resemblance to anyone living or dead.

She gave me a sly smile. I was thinking whether she loves me or not.

It had been a year, since I joined an Indian MNC as an Analyst. There was no analysis done actually. The word was added, just to add a little weight age to the tag. And we all took great pride in telling our designation to our friends, family members and especially, to our enemies.

In reality, the life had become monotonous and boring. Going to office, making the reports and again coming back home. Five days the same schedule. Weekends were also not very interesting. Partying with some great Alcoholic friends of mine. You give them anything to drink and I can bet they will not let you down. Saturdays and Sundays used to pass like anything, eating, sleeping and the obvious, drinking.

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But then some new members joined our team. The veterans were very much interested in the people going to join our team. And I can guarantee that the interest was not in the kind of experience or knowledge the new joiners would bring, but in the people. I was little bothered.

One of my colleagues had resigned. He was serving his notice period. He used to sit beside me.

It was Monday that day. Our manager called all of us for a team meeting. The team meetings were never interesting, so I hated attending it. Mr.Manohar, our manager used to give great lectures on how to improve things, how to excel in career and work, how to get more work from clients and on many other topics, which I believe nobody in the team liked.

I thought, “He should have surely opted for being a lecturer in his life but couldn’t make it. Now he fulfills his dream here.”

The meeting started. I saw few new people sitting in the meeting room. Mr. Manohar began.

“Guys today we are here to welcome the new members of our team. Meet Niti, Rahul, Sweta and Vinita.”

We all said "hi" to the new members. Mr.Manohar continued his welcome speech. On the very first day, he wanted to pour down all his great knowledge to the new joiners. When he was done, team members were asked to introduce themselves to the new folks. Everyone was done. Only one was left. Mr.Manohar asked her to introduce herself to the team.

She raised her hands. She was a bit different, I thought. With movement of nearly all her body organs she started, “Hi, I am Vinita. I am a fresher. I have done my MBA from Bangalore. My hometown is Lucknow but my parents are settled in New Delhi. I like dancing, watching movies and visiting different places.”

Her introduction was accompanied by thousand facial expressions. She was a bit healthy but looked cute. She was fair with long hair tied on her head, which resembled some birds nest to me. I was attracted towards her child like charm.

Later I came know that she was going to replace Aakash Rao, who used to sit beside me. The information made me very happy. I felt bad that Aakash was leaving but good that his replacement was Vinita. After a month of transition, Vinita was all set to work for the clients.

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Within two months, we had become very close friends. I liked her company a lot. We used to go for tea breaks together, along with other members of our so called “Tea Gang.” The gang included my best friend Anil D, Niti, Sarah Contractor, I and Vinita. 

We used to sit in office cafeteria for hours chatting and cracking jokes. I used to crack some joke and she used to give her funny smile. I loved that smile of hers, with her mouth wide open and all disproportionate teethes out. She also used to tell some stupid tales which didn’t make people laugh but her funny expressions. 

Anil D was a Casanova. He was very well built and his features were similar to a Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar. He was very famous, not only in our team but in the whole process. His handsome looks with great smile, accompanied by a good package, made him one of the most eligible Bachelors of our process.

Sarah Contractor, was very beautiful. It seemed God had taken some extra time to design her features. She had a size zero figure, like our Indian Diva, Kareena Kapoor. I doubt, if anyone in the company did not know her, and ours was a very large organization. Even managers of the HR department used to salute her.

The other member of the gang was Niti. She was a sweet potato. She was very healthy, but had a very sweet and bubbly face. Being the youngest member of the Gang, she was treated like a kid.

We used to have good time even in our bay where we used to sit for work, doing some great analysis.

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Six months were over. I and Vinita had even started talking on phone in late nights. I couldn’t help myself but call her and we used to talk for hours. The topic could be any, we just had started liking the talks of the other. She used to say something about her life, her family members, her college days and I used to listen for hours with little interest in what she said but the way she said. Even I used to talk foolish things but she also liked my style of talking. We never slept, without wishing Good night to the other.

Going to office was no more a boring job. Now I waited for the office hours, where I used to get time, to spend with her. The most beautiful moments were the late night coffee breaks. It was an open-air cafeteria and the cool breeze used to blow slowly. I, Anil and Vinita were the regular ones, who took that late night coffee break. We used to stand near the iron railing and sip hot coffee, talking, discussing, laughing and sometimes even sad. It gave me a feeling of the great movie Titanic. I, being the Leonardo De Caprio and she being my Kate Winslet.

Seeing our closeness and bond, even some team members had started spreading rumors that something was going on between both of us. My team leader also used to tease me a little but in a friendly way. We didn’t mind all these as both of us had a don’t care attitude.

Time was passing very swiftly. I wished to tell her my feelings but couldn’t do so. Some of her text messages made me feel that she had also started liking me. I was in complete dilemma, to tell her or not.

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“Will you come along with us Vinita?” Anil asked her.

“But where?”

“We have planned for a trip to Pondicherry. We all are going. If you wish, you can come, it would be great fun there.”

“Oh Sure. I would love coming there with you guys.”

“We will be leaving on Friday night and return back on Monday evening,” I peeped in. “We have a holiday on Monday.”

As planned, we left for Pondicherry on Friday night, in Anil’s car. It is six hours drive from Bangalore. We stopped at tea stalls, having tea, coffee and snacks. I was busy with my Photography. I love doing it. My friends love the snaps taken by me and that motivates me to do it more. Almost all the members in the group were self obsessed, and wanted their pictures to be taken, especially Anil. Singing, dancing, shouting and enjoying the ride, we reached our destination, early morning on Saturday.

We had booked two rooms in a resort located near the Beach. It was all fun from morning till evening. We went to places and took pictures. We visited the famous churches built by the Portuguese and the structures and the buildings. In every church we visited, my prayer was the same, “God please get me married with Vinita.”

It was close to seven in the evening. We decided to have drinks now. I, Sarah and Niti were very much excited about drinking. Anil didn’t used to drink but was excited, as always. Only Vinita was not happy with the plan of drinking. The party started in a beach hut. Sarah and I were very regular ones so there was no problem for a company. Even our kid, Niti was giving us good company. We even forced Anil and Vinita to have two pegs each.

After the party, we all wanted to go for a stroll on the beach. Everyone, except Sarah agreed. She wished to stay in the room and we listened to her demand.

We reached near the sea waves. Anil and Niti had gone a little ahead of us.

“You know one thing, Vicky,” Vinita asked me stammering a bit.

“No,” I replied.

“This is only the second time, I have drunk.”

“Oh! Vinita, it’s ok. We should drink sometimes. It removes tension from our minds.”

She came a little closer to me and said, “You are a very good person, you know. I like your company very much.”

“Thanks!”

She held my hands and came a bit closer.

“Vinita, you are also a very good and sweet person, and I like you very much,” I told her, still holding her hands. She looked at me. Both of our faces shining in the moonlight. She bent her head and kissed me on my cheeks, saying, “You are so sweet.” I thought to kiss her back but stopped myself. I thought, “My love is pure and I should not reveal it to her in a drunken state.”

What a foolish thought that was!

After that nothing special happened that night. We kept on walking and discussing about our future. Then went to our respective rooms and slept. I was very happy that night. It was clear now, that she loved me.

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Two days before going for my brother’s wedding we met in a Café coffee Day in Jayanagar.

“I Love You,” I paused a little and continued, “I love you a lot, more than my life, more than anything. I love your sweet and loving nature, your smile, your way of talking, your way of laughing, your silence, your words, your countless expressions, everything you do, you know. Please accept my love.”

Her face grew red, either with anger, surprise or shock, which I had given her.

“What are you telling Vicky?”

“Yes,” I replied with confirmation.

“It’s stupid. You know,” she paused and continued, “We are just good friends.”

“Then what was all that happened during the trip. What were all those messages about? What were all those talks about? It can’t be just friendship.”

“There is no such feeling in me for you, Vikas.” This time she addressed me as Vikas and not Vicky. 

“The thing which happened during the trip was just a mistake. And those talks and messages were just friendship.”

“You tell just.. And just... but those things were not just for me. I have started liking you and am deeply in love with you.”

“Your feelings are not right then,” she replied. “I don’t love you. I consider you a good friend.”

There was silence for a moment. She broke the silence and said, “I am no different from other girls. I also have certain dreams about my future, my would be husband and my life.”

“What dreams?” I asked.

“Dreams of having a luxurious home, a nice car, few servants, a safe and secure future. You know.”

“We can have all that Vinita,” I said with a great stress on the word Vinita and continued, “within three to four years, or may be even less.”

“Who knows? And who is going to wait for that long?”


"A girl would be really lucky, to have you as her husband but I......"


That was enough for me. I had got my answer. With broken heart and tears in my eyes, I left the place. My dreams shattered.

Standing by the road side I could see vehicles moving fast, people rushing from here and there, and crowd waiting at the bus stop.


I thought, “Is there any place for love in this world? Is there any value for true and pure love?

Should we possess a car and a bungalow to love a person? Do people, who do not have these things, have no rights to love?The world has become so materialistic. Even my Vinita.” My heart was beating fast.

I kept on thinking, “Where are we heading towards in our life. People only thinking of their profits and gains, running behind money, like wild animals. No place for values, emotions, trust and Love.”

I drank a little and wept a lot that night.

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Went to New Delhi to attend my brother’s wedding. Returned back from there. Submitted my resignation. Mr.Manohar, persuaded me a lot to take back my resignation, but my decision was a final one.

Joined another organization as a Senior Analyst. Just a year after the incident, I own a car and most of the times play a favorite song of mine, “Nitte khair maanga Soniyo main teri, Dua na koi aur mang Di” which means, “I prayed daily for your well-being, Didn’t ask anything else from God.”

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