Weird and Wonderful

Chapter 6

Year - 2011

When Swasti reached home, she threw her bag on sofa. Her father said to her, "What happened?" Swasti ignored him. She knew that she was rude to her father but her father never understood her problems. Despite being in home all day long, his mind was always lost elsewhere. So Swasti called her mother at work and told her everything.

In spite of being busy, her mother patiently listened to her and told her if she wanted she could come home.

"No, you need not come. I am going to coaching class," Swasti said. She should focus on her studies now. Perhaps she should not think about Akihito so much; perhaps she should spend less time in watching TV; perhaps she should give up her ghost-hunting aspirations, and perhaps she should give up everything she liked. Perhaps she should change herself.

In the coaching class, Swasti did not sit on her usual seat. She chose a different place. Ami had gone outside with Kritika to buy a packet of chips. She was trying to solve the numericals of worksheet when she saw something written on the desk with compass. At first she thought that it was a formula or some meaningless thing written. But it was a poem with title Lost.

When I came back from office

I got in my car to get back to home

but to my surprise

The way back to home was not

same at all.

The shops on the way had

the same name but looked

entirely different.

It was summer but the weather

was icy

The roads, the colonies were

the ones I had never seen.

Nevertheless, I continued driving and

knocked at the door of

house which had nameplate

bearing my name.

A stranger who looked same as me

answered the knock and

asked who I was.

I ran towards the road screaming

at this disaster

but no one paid any attention

to the person who got lost in

his own town.

It was as if someone had written down Swasti's feelings on desk. Swasti was lost in her own world. Even her friends had become strangers for her. She could never understand why the topic of Kritika's discussions changed from Ranbeer Kapoor to Abhishek, the boy in her new van. She could never get the jokes over which Ami and Kritika giggled. She could never understand why everyone ran after a name-tag of 'IIT'. She could never understand the purpose of rat-race which created distance between childhood friends. For the first time, she could not understand what was going on in her life. Perhaps it was her own mistake that she could not change with time. She was left behind in the race of life.

But who had written that poem? Curious, Swasti looked at the desk again. A name was written below the poem -

Rachit Chauhan

Foundation Batch-2008

It gave Swasti relief that someone else had undergone the same thing which she was facing. It was nice to know that she was not alone. It was nice to read that poem!

When Kritika and Ami arrived in the classroom, Swasti was trying to write with her left hand.

"What are you doing, Swasti?" Ami asked, laughing.

"Just trying," Swasti said. She was embarrassed at her effort.

"This is because of Singh Sir, right?" Kritika said in a grave tone. Singh Sir used to say that left-handed persons were naturally talented in Physics and right-handed persons could never beat left-handed ones in Physics. Unfortunately for Swasti, Deepak was left-handed.

Swasti didn't reply.

"You are good at Physics," Kritika assured , "And you don't need to prove that to anyone." That was the thing with Kritika. She was always honest and serious. When she had refused to give Swasti her notes, Swasti had decided neverto talk to her again. But now Swasti was reconsidering her decision because Kritika was the one with whom Swasti shared all her secrets. Ami was fun but she could not be entrusted with secrets because deep inside her heart, Swasti felt that Ami did not show her real feelings to anyone whereas Kritika was genuine, though her honesty sometimes appears to be blunt.

The class was uneventful but when the class was over, Swasti saw another poem on the desk. Finally, she had something to wait for!

Present Year

Saarthak felt an unexplained urge to play the tune of Memories. But he had no Casio. It appeared to him that he was richer in childhood than he was now. But if he could not play the tune, he could at least listen to it. He could watch Painful Strings on Youtube.

It was a nostalgic experience to watch his favourite anime again. When he saw Miyoko, his old feelings re-emerged. But there were also new emotions sprouting in his barren heart. He took out his cell phone and looked at the picture of Swasti he had stealthily taken. He looked lovingly at the picture. He closed his eyes.

The evening sun was embracing the longing sea. Saarthak could feel the tingling sensation of sand beneath his feet. The beach was empty except for a grand piano. A teenage boy was playing a tune on it. He was wearing a grey T-shirt and blue jeans. Saarthak recognized that tune. It was Memories. A girl was sitting beside him . She was wearing a sky-blue T-shirt and olive lowers. Playful wind was teasing her messy hair. She was smiling. Her smile was the most beautiful thing Saarthak had seen and she was the prettiest girl in the world. She was Swasti. Saarthak wanted to see the face of the boy who was sitting so close to Swasti. He was getting jealous of the boy. The boy looked at him- it was him! It was the sixteen year old version of him.

Saarthak woke up. For the first time in eight years, he had not a nightmare. For the first time in eight years, he could feel the warmth of morning sun caressing his skin. He listened to the ballad of birds after eight long years. For the first time in eight years, he was grateful to god for being alive. Finally, he had something to wait for!