Weird and Wonderful

Chapter-13

“I’m going on a date with Abhishek,” Kritika announced. It was surprising for Swasti how quickly everyone moves on in this world leaving persons like her behind. As Kritika and Ami were deciding what Kritika should wear for the date, Swasti looked outside the window. Soon her love would be lost in the crowd of events happening in her life but she could not let that happen. She would protect her feelings fiercely as a mother protects her child.

But now it was becoming difficult as the problems of her real-life were hell bent on intruding this forbidden territory of her imagination. Now everyone including her parents and classmates had started to notice that Swasti was changing. Swasti had always been an absent-minded girl but now she was really lost without any compass. She had begun to lose her sense of reality. One morning she had even forgotten to brush her teeth. She had lost her interest in Physics numerical. Her obsession for Painful Strings had reached a new level. She sought the answers for the questions posed by life in that anime. Rachit and Akihito had become same for Swasti. She even wrote a poem:

Our souls are entwined
like day embraces night
wherever you are
compass of my heart
will always find you
Go my love, go and
chase your dreams because
my love will pervade
each atom of your universe

On the other hand, it was the season of love for Kritika. She had started bunking her school and coaching classes to go on dates with Abhishek. Abhishek always brought a present for her on their date. On their last date, Kritika had got an expensive imported watch as present.

“It’s beautiful! How much does it cost?” Ami said to Kritika.

“I don’t know,” Kritika said, with carelessness in her voice, “Abhishek gave this to me  as a gift.”

“But you should not have taken such an expensive gift,” Swasti said, “Abhishek is only a student. How can he afford it?”

“Oh, Swasti! Please, don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. Just because you could never have love in your life doesn’t mean that no one else can experience the joys of love.”
Swasti remained silent but she knew that it was useless to speak to Kritika because only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches. But Kritika should at least be sensitive enough to understand her best friend’s pain.
But Swasti received the final shock when the marks of the half-yearly exams were declared. She had barely managed to pass in Physics whereas Ami had topped in the subject. Ami had become the new favourite student of Singh sir replacing Deepak.

One day, while Swasti, Kritika and Ami were having the recess period, Ami said, “Singh sir is a great teacher. He is really a nice person.”

“Yes, he is a great teacher only for his favourites,” Swasti said in a mocking tone.

“Sometimes I feel that you are being jealous, Swasti, because you could never become Singh sir’s favourite student,” Ami said, looking at the ground.

“What? What did you just say?” Swasti said, “I am being jealous. Wow! Listen, Ami, I don’t need to become anyone’s favourite student. And let me tell you that I am good at Physics and no Singh sir can change this fact.”

“Yes, you are so good at Physics that you were not able to get even decent marks in the half-yearly exams,” Ami smirked.

“I can’t believe this,” Swasti said as she looked at Kritika. She thought that at least Kritika would speak the truth as she believed in her honesty.

But Kritika said, “Sorry, Swasti, but I think Ami is right.”

Swasti smiled. No one stands for losers. Her friends had deserted her the same way as her father’s brothers had deserted him years ago when he decided to leave his job. But Swasti would not have an insulted life like her father. She would become like her mother, the one who had survived and thrived against all odds. She would crack JEE at any cost. And for this, she would have to let go of Rachit’s memories. She must delete each word written by Rachit engraved in her mind. She must not revel in his reveries. She should give up the only remnant of her love- Rachit’s memories. This was the sacrifice she had to make to survive in this unforgiving world.

As soon as Swasti returned home from coaching, she started studying Chemistry.

“What happened, Swasti? Do you have some important test tomorrow?” Swasti’s mother asked. She returned home from office just a few minutes before Swasti.

“No, Mummy, I am studying for JEE,” Swasti replied, without looking up from the book she was reading.

“Take some rest. You have just returned home,” Swasti’s mother said as she was cutting vegetables for dinner. Swasti did not reply.
For the whole month, Swasti’s routine remained the same. She had immersed herself completely in studies. She hardly watched television now. Despite this, her performance at school and coaching was not improving. Swasti could not understand why it was so whereas she had performed much better earlier when she had not taken  studies seriously.

Swasti started studying even harder. But her mother was not happy with the change in her daughter’s behaviour. One day, she suddenly woke up by the sound of raindrops pattering against the window pane. It was still dark outside. She switched on the light. The clock was showing 3 a.m. Swasti switched off the light. She was feeling sad without any reason. She lay on the bed and closed her eyes. Events of past passed before her mind like a person sitting at the window seat of a train catches glimpses of the cities that the train passes by. She felt the grief of Rachit’s death was finally seeping through her heart and the burden of sadness made it impossible for Swasti to sleep. She got up. Agitated, she started pacing up and down the room but it could not bring any peace to her mind. Giving up all her efforts to calm down, Swasti finally collapsed on the floor. Now she was shaking violently and her silent sadness had given way to heart-wrenching sobs.