Simran Kaur (24) a vivacious and a happy go lucky girl from Chandigarh is the only child of her parents. Big eyes, fine lips, long hair, slim body structure, 5’5’’ tall and super fair complexion, a typical “Sikhni” Simran looks so gorgeous, a beauty to die for! She is not only beautiful from outside but also is a wonderful person at heart, always ready to help others whether friends or strangers.
Simran loves making friends and meeting and interacting with new people through almost all the social sites but ‘Facebook’ is her favorite. Person with a zest for life is fond of travelling and exploring new places. Both of her parents are leading Doctors of the city and she is the lifeline of her parents.
After completing her graduation from Chandigarh Simran moved to New Delhi to pursue M.B.A. from a B grade B School of Delhi. It was her final semester running, full of anxiety, hardwork, fear and nervousness. It was another hectic day. After attending five continuous lectures, Simran was tired like hell! Enters her room, changes her uniform and gets freshen up. Dressed in a loose white adidas t-shirt and pink shorts, lying on her bed with headphones in her ears and laptop in her hands, Simran was relaxing herself. She was surfing internet with multiple tabs open, Facebook, Twitter, G-mail, Yahoo, LinkedIn etc. Since a typical Facebook fan, she was first checking her notifications on Facebook. Along with six notifications and two messages there was a ‘Friend Request’ too. She clicked it- A profile picture of a tall, fair and handsome guy with black Aviators, yellow Nike t-shirt and blue denims along with a guitar in his hands, “Rohan Mehra, 3 Mutual Friends, Studied at Delhi University, Works at TCS Limited, Lives in New Delhi” and she accepted the request. Within five minutes a ping from ‘Rohan Mehra’ flashed on her screen, “hi!” she replied back and a typical conversation started off, “how are you” , “wassup!” , “what do you do” , “where do you put up” and so on. It was a casual 20 minutes conversation.
Final exams were approaching and as usual a season of sleepless nights has begun. Simran was good at academics. She had HR stream with her as she had a keen interest in studying HR. Since her parents were very supportive, they neither restricted her from taking up anything else nor forced her to do something else. It was mid night and the common room of the hostel was full of students sitting with laptops and books. Simran was one of them. It has been almost four hours since she was studying continuously. To take a break she opened her Facebook profile. There were five friends online out of her 445 friends and one of them was Rohan Mehra.
Rohan- “Hi, awake so late???”
Simran- “Hey! Yup! Exams in d end of this mnth! Was studyin .. thot of takin a break! J u tell wassup ?”
Rohan- “Nm..lyin on bed..it was a tyring day at work..im nt satisfied wid d work.. lukin fr a bettr job..lets c..im searchin..anyways u tell..hw r u duin??”
And again a friendly, yet casual conversation started. Hobbies, likes, dislikes, favorite movie, song and so on. During this conversation they became more frank and got to know about each other more better. The conversation lasted for some two hours. Both shared some common interests. They were fond of dance, music, watching movies and travelling. Simran loved Chinese food whereas Rohan loved Italian. Rohan was much of a creative person and loved to paint but never thought of taking it as a profession because of family pressures. Days passed and their conversation became more and more open and frank.
Rohan- “r u single??”
Simran- “yeahh wat abt u??”
Rohan-“ no..bt hw cm such a bful lady does not hav a bf!”
Simram-“waitin fr dat ryt guy!! lol!!”
Rohan- “btw uv got so bful eyes… J”
Simran- “thanx.. J”
Rohan- “wat r u wearing now?”
Simran- “black color shorts with green t-shirt..”
Rohan- “u must b lookin amazing ;-)”
Simran was enjoying this phase of her life. Daily late night chats were followed by exchange of contact numbers. The written conversations were converted into verbal ones.
Rohan- “Hey hi..what are you doing?”
Simran- “Studies..!! What else!! You tell?”
Rohan- “Lets meet today..what say?”
Simran- “ok..what time and where?
Rohan- “hmm. Café Coffee Day, CP, 5 p.m?
Simran- “ok done make it 6 have to attend lectures till 5.”
Rohan- “all right see you then.”
Simran got so excited. It was her first Dating with Rohan. She spent all most 2 hours in front of her cupboard deciding what to wear! Finally after trying so many dresses she decided to wear a classy purple color knee length dress she bought from Pantaloons last week end.
Simran reached the venue fifteen minutes late. Rohan was already waiting for her with a bouquet of carnations. Simran got flattered. They hugged each other. Simran was overwhelmed with Rohan’s romantic gesture.
Rohan –“you look gorgeous!”
Simran blushed- “thank you”
The meeting was full of excitement and nervousness. They kept looking at each other and blushed. To make Simran comfortable and to start further conversation Rohan orders two cold coffees and some snacks. After sometime both became comfortable with each other and shared a good round of conversation. They went for a nice romantic walk. While walking Rohan held Simran’s hand.
Simran got goose bumps all over. She smiled and blushed. Simran held back his hand tight and they walked together towards Simran’s hostel which was just thirty minutes walk from CP. Before leaving, Rohan asked for a kiss from Simran, Simran could not resist and they kissed each other. It was a sweet kiss. Since it was Simran’s first kiss she got little conscious and went. She did not sleep that night and was thinking about Rohan and their meeting throughout the night.
Days passed and the season of anxiety and nervousness called “Placements” was there all over in Simran’s college. Since it was the final semester, many companies were visiting to recruit students. Simran was exited with her first interview in Wipro. Dressed in pink Tommy Hilfigher shirt and black trousers she looked extremely professional. With best wishes from her parents, friends and teachers she entered the interview room. The interview was conducted for some twenty minutes. With a smile on her face she walks out of the room. The results were yet to be announced and Simran was confident.
Next morning the results were out on the notice board. And Simran was only one of the selected candidates due to recession. Simran got surrounded by her friends and peers and flooded with felicitations. She shared her achievement with her parents and Rohan as well. It was one of the best days of her life. There was one more reason for Simran’s happiness as her best friend Nidhi too got placed, but in different company, Infosys. It was a day worth celebrating. She called Rohan and gave him a Big Treat at Taj. She was so excited whole evening.
Finally it was the last day of the college and time to bid adieu. The college was full of crying and cheerful faces. With a mixture of emotions on everybody’s face and promise to stay in touch on their lips the friends, peers, classmates, batch mates departed. Agonized Simran carrying the ecstasy for starting a new phase of her life, too moved on.
Simran’s Shatabdi train to Chandigarh was at 8:30 in evening. It was 11 o’ clock in her clock. She was waiting for Rohan as they had decided to spend the day together. She deposited her baggage in cloak room at the railway station. Simran and Rohan had come so much close to each other in such a short span of time. They shared everything with each other from joys to sorrows, supported each other in all highs and lows of life.
They got a chance to spend quality time with each other. They went for movie followed by lunch. After they were done, Rohan took the advantage of the moment and proposed to Simran.
Simran’s eyes were filled with spark and love. A tear rolled down from her right eye. She was so pleased and just hugged Rohan as tightly as she could. What a day it was for Simran, full of emotions and drama. Finally it was the time for Simran to move. Simran collected her baggage and boarded the train. Rohan was sitting next to Simran. Both of them had tears in their eyes. Rohan held Simran’s hand. As soon as he held her hand Simran burst into tears. Rohan hugged her and kissed her forehead and tried to make her calm. The train started to move; Rohan left the train. He waved at Simran until she went out of his sight.
Within four hours Simran reached Chandigarh. Her parents were waiting to see the apple of their eyes. As soon as the train stopped Simran jumped out and hugged her parents desperately. Simran had only 20 days with her to stay at home as after 20 days she had to report to the company for joining. The time slipped like sand. It seemed 20 days just flew away in a blink of an eye. Simran was all set with her new set of professional wardrobe which consisted of brands like Tommy Hilfigher, UCB, D&G etc. She was all excited and at the same time nervous too. Standing in front of the mirror with black color Gucci shades on her eyes and giving different poses, her parents entered her room. They hugged her. They were upset as once again their child was moving away from their eyes. “Beta, you are going to start a complete different life all together, that too alone, please take proper care of yourself” and her mother burst into tears.
Simran’s parents also accompanied her to Pune. They bought a flat and a car for her so that she does not face much problem with accommodation and commutation at a new place. A month passed, In spite of heavy Global recession in Software Industry, Simran was performing extra ordinarily well at her job. She had maintained her lifestyle in such a way that she gave ample time to Rohan on phone.
It was 16 August, Simran’s birthday. Simran was flooded with calls and text messages to wish her on such an auspicious day of her life. She turned 23 this year. Simran was fond of surprises. As soon as she entered her work place, her colleagues wished her and had arranged a small surprise party for her. Simran had a good time celebrating with her colleagues. After work she reached her place around 6 o’ clock in the evening. Sitting in a blue Nike skirt teamed up with a black Reebok spaghetti top Simran was relaxing and was surfing TV channels. She seemed uneasy and angry. She had not received any call or text from Rohan yet. Suddenly her doorbell rang. As she opened the door she saw Rohan standing with a huge bouquet of red roses, a bottle of champagne and a gift in his hands along with some luggage. Simran was stunned! “What a pleasant surprise!” and she jumped in his arms. She was on cloud 9!
They hugged and kissed each other. Rohan gave her one more surprise, “honey, I have decided to relocate from Delhi to Pune and have brought my luggage too, I want to stay close to you and search a new job here in Pune itself. I was not getting expected returns too, from my previous job”. “I understand baby, I am so happy that you came here to me, give me some time and I will also try to get a new and a better job for you.” , saying this Simran kissed Rohan’s forehead. They decided to order food from outside and celebrate at home only. They ordered a large size pizza and pasta from Pizza Hut. They enjoyed a lot over the dinner.
Simran started looking at the gifts with enthusiasm that Rohan had brought for her. Red roses were Simran’s favorite. She opened the gift pack. It was a short off shoulder black color one piece. Simran got thrilled. Rohan asked her to wear it. She went inside the Bedroom to change she did not noticed Rohan was standing just behind. As soon as she turn out, she saw the roses were spread all over the bed with dim lights on and Rohan was sitting with two glasses of champagne. Rohan gave her a frisky look “you look damn gorgeous”. Simran blushed, “cheers!” and they both started having the champagne. It was an extremely romantic moment for both them. Rohan started kissing her hands, face and her back, laying her down on bed, he held her tight from her waist. Rohan’s touch made Simran go weak in her knees. They got aroused and so much intimate that they ended making love to each other.
It was two months since Rohan was sitting idle and searching for job. Rohan was out of money. He started taking money from Simran. Whenever he wanted money, Simran used to deposit it in his bank account. Simran was always there to help him. Finally Simran decided to take help of Nidhi, her best friend from college who got placed as HR manager in Infosys. Nidhi helped her with arranging interview for Rohan and providing a good job profile for him in Infosys and thus Rohan got his dream job. He got so excited with his new job. Simran was so happy and relieved to see Rohan employed.
Couple of months passed, Rohan got so much indulged in his work that he stopped paying much attention towards Simran and started ignoring her. Simran tried various times to talk to him and discuss if anything is bothering him at work, but Rohan kept ignoring her and ended up fighting with her, in fact sometimes abused her both physically and verbally. Simran had no idea about the reason behind this sudden and drastic change in Rohan’s behavior towards her.
One day after coming back from work Simran noticed something unusual in her house. She rushed inside the bedroom and saw Rohan’s empty cupboard. Rohan had left a note that he is calling off the relationship. Simran was taken aback. It was not less than a trauma for her. She had a breakdown. Suddenly all those promise, that love, that care turned fake. She immediately called Rohan but he disconnected the call. She was not able to sleep for nights and kept calling him every day but every time she called him, he used to disconnect her call. She was completely shattered and collapsed. It was Nidhi who was there with Simran to console and take care of her in such a brutal phase of her life. Simran was going out of control; she had started boozing and smoking. She could not concentrate on her work. Her performance graph was going down day by day. Nidhi tried to make her understand so many times but Simran did not listen.
Like another day, Simran reached home after work and was sitting and thinking about Rohan. Suddenly she thought of taking out Rohan’s phone call statement, she had the password to his account and took out the summary of calls. There was a number which was dialed repeatedly every day. Simran thought of calling on that number. She dialed the number, to her surprise it was Rohan’s voice on the other side. She was shocked. She confirmed whether it is him or not. Rohan too recognized her voice and got frustrated, “how dare you call on this number! This is my girlfriend’s number and don’t you dare call again! Just get lost from my life!” he abused her and disconnected the call. Simran’s eyes were flooded with tears. It was becoming difficult for Simran to survive there alone. Her past was haunting her miserably. She decided to quit her job and go back to Chandigarh.
Simran sat idle at home for a month. Her parents also could not see her condition. They used to take her out for shopping and dinner to cheer her up every other day, but Simran was not able to cope up with the situation. One morning Simran was sitting in her room deeply thinking about something, her mother entered the room and sat beside her. “Mom I want to do something for poor and needy children and women. I want to open a NGO so that I can provide them with all the basic needs and amenities and give them a new family and a new life all together”, her mother held her hand and kissed her “that is so nice of you to think this way. I am very pleased with your courageous decision. I am always with you.” Her father was also very happy with his daughter’s generous step.
Simran named her NGO “Aas” meaning ‘Hope’. She started working for her NGO with full dedication. She got herself indulged so much that she was able to overcome her past. Her parents supported her at every step in every possible manner they could. Within a span of two years, her NGO got well established and did outstandingly well. She got new faces in her life. Each and every person in her NGO whether the children or women or the staff became like a family to her. During this course of time she realized it is never the end of anything. Life moves on. There are people in this world in much more worse conditions and still fighting for life. She considered herself fortunate and blessed that she was helping such people.
One day Simran was sitting in her office and was going through the accounts of her NGO. Her mobile phone rang “Nidhi calling…” Simran picked the phone in excitement “Hey Nidhi, how are you?”, Nidhi replied back in anger, “Listen I have got something to tell you, our company is facing trouble due to recession and I have been assigned with the responsibility to fire few staff and I am going to kick Rohan out of the company!”. Simran was shocked “No Nidhi you will not do anything like that please for God’s sake!”. Nidhi was stunned “why the hell are you talking like this? You forgot what he did to you?”, “No Nidhi, I did not forget anything. See whatever happens, happens for the good. Earlier I used regret for everything happened, but not now. I took everything as a part of life. Had it did not happen, I would have not come back home and would have never realized that there are people who are in even more miserable condition and situation and still lead their life with a smile on their face. Leave everything on God; he will give Rohan whatever he deserves and you just leave this matter”. Nidhi understood what Simran said and accorded with her.
Simran still had some feelings for Rohan which she could never kill. She always hoped the best for Rohan. Whatever happened, Simran took it as a lesson of life and moved forward. Her NGO is running successfully and she is happy with her life. She is getting marriage proposals from so many highly educated families, just waiting for the right proposal to click. Let us wish the best for her future and hope she gets what she deserves in life because sometimes what we deserve is much more than what we desire.
edIt is said that the criss-cross lines in our hands hold our destiny, but the sad part is that though they are in our hands, we ourselves do not have any hold on our destiny.
