I , Radhika Mehta - twenty seven , blogger and screenplay writer - have achieved all that I hoped to achieve . And yet there is something missing . Friends said that it was love that I was missing . I didn't really think so ; I was never a romantic person by heart . I frankly think the whole concept of love is completely rubbish and overrated . Love is just a tool where you use your partner and your partner uses you , each to their own Benefit . In short love is selfish.
I am travelling to Delhi to meet my mom . My parents are divorced . My dad lives in Chandigarh with his partner and my mom lives in Delhi , married to a businessman . Every year , my mom sends me a ticket to visit to her on her birthday . Usually I avoid , because I can't really stand that man and my mom together . This time I agreed , as I have an important bloggers' meet in Delhi . What's better than getting your trip paid for ? I am surprised that finally she has understood my aerophobia . This time I get a first class train ticket to Delhi . I switch on my laptop , thinking of updating my blog . The door of my cabin is open and a guy - looking of my age only enters . We exchanged smiles . He sits on the seat opposite mine . He too takes out his laptop and gets busy with it . After few minutes the guy asks ' Hey , what time do we reach Delhi ?'
' 10:30 a.m..,' I tell him .
I can feel the guy looking at me . Finally he says , ' So what do you do ?'
' I am a writer '
The Guy smiles - whatever be the thing , the man does have an amazing smile .
' So what do you write about ?' The man asks .
' I write short stories on human relationship ', I say .
' You mean love stories ?' He asked looking interested .
' There are no love stories and I don't really believe in love stories ', I spoke my mind .
The man said thoughtfully , ' You have to see one to believe in one , let me tell you a story ..
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June 1976 . Uday Singh was just twenty one years old when he become an chartered accountant , the first boy to study beyond metric . The villagers had no idea about the enormity associated to C.A . His family instead of celebrating , was busy in mourning that he was of no more use to them . According to them , he was ruined because he would never become farmer and helps his father . Uday wanted to shift to Calcutta and join a nationalised bank . His parents were little sceptical about his decision , but finally agreed on the condition that he'd get married before that . He agreed . Within a couple of days his parents even found him a girl .
Her name was Asha . She lived in a small village near Bhiwani , Haryana . It was Uday's aunt - who also lived in the same village - who had suggested that girl . Uday went with his parents to see the girl . When he reached his aunt's place , he saw a girl in a shabby salwar - kameez But with a spotless fair skin and beautiful hazel eyes - washing utensils outside her home . She looked at him briefly and again went back to work .
In the evening , he got ready to meet Asha , the girl he was there for . When he come out , he again saw that green eyed girl playing with her girlfriends and laughing . Her laughter was as beautiful as her face . The girl too looked at him and again went back to playing . He thought about her eyes , her skin and the way she looked . With that thought he entered Asha's house .
' They are rich people , they have twenty four cows and buffalous and a big piece of land , and she is their only daughter ', his aunt said .
' They would even give a good dowry ', she insisted . But Uday didn't heared a word he was just lost in the thoughts of that green eyes girl he saw . He didn't even know when Asha came and left . The girl father confirmed to give 25,000 and 1kg of gold as dowry . But Uday seems least interested in the money . He just sat there expressionless . When everyone left he too left .
The moment he reached his aunt's house , everyone surrounded him . They wanted to know what he thought about the girl . Uday finally said ,' I didn't even see that girl .. I wanted to marry that girl '. And he pointed out of the door towards the green eyed girl in the shabby salwar-kameez , playing and laughing . His aunt was shocked . She said , ' She's Sarita . Her father passed away three years back and her mother stitched clothes to make enough money to feed her children . They won't even able to give Rs 2000 , leave aside Rs 25000 and one kilo gold .'
But Uday wanted to marry her only and nobody else . He knew he was in love . He put forward an ultimatum to his parents ' It's either Sarita or nobody !'. Finally with a heavy heart , his parents agreed . Sarita mother called and was given the proposal . She said she did not have enough money for marriage , but Uday reassured her and said that they were going to have a temple wedding with only his and her immediate family in attendance .
The next day he married Sarita . She looked stunning in a Red Zari Saree with jewellery . Uday couldn't take his eyes off her . As they are about to exchange garlands , she looked up and smiled her captivating smile ; Uday smiled back . He loved her more and more with every passing minute . He promised himself that he would do his level best to see this beautiful face smiling always .
After they returned to his hometown , the young couple left for Calcutta the very next week . As they came out of the Howrah station , Sarita was amazed to see how big the city was . Cars zoomed past her . She had never seen anything like that before . It was nothing like her village .
