As the clock struck 12, Aditi was bombarded with calls and messages to wish her as she turned 18. Her friends had brought a cake to bring in her birthday while her parents had decorated the house to the best they could without letting her know.
Every year on this day she feels the happiest, all her insecurities are thrown out of the window as she realizes how much people love her. She is made to feel like the most special person on Earth and she loves this feeling.
She was brought out of her reverie when everyone began to sing happy birthday for her as she cut the beautiful chocolate cake loaded with her favourite Kit Kat. She blew the candles wishing for her to be blessed but felt selfish and so quickly corrected it by wishing for everyone to be blessed.
She received a ton load of gifts from everyone and was super excited to rip open the wrapper and see what's inside but afraid her mother would reprimand her for behaving like a child when she turned into an adult, she composed herself and went back to chit chatting with her friends.
After about two hours everyone finally dispersed with a promise to come to her party tomorrow. She hugged her parents, wished them goodnight and retired to her room.
As she lay there, she had various thoughts running in her mind, some sweet memories while a few dreadful possibilities. But they lulled her into a deep sleep.
"Happy birthday Aditi beta!" she heard her grandfather whom she dearly called Dadu, call out to her as she stepped out of the room. She ran into his arms and then took his blessings. He was easily the person she loved the most in her family.
He blessed her and gave her Rs 200 as a gift which she gladly accepted. In 2021, Rs 200 didn't have much importance but getting it from her only grandparent, it meant the world to her.
She then took a shower and decided to visit the temple. It was ritual she followed since childhood. As a child she would crib about having to wake up early and go the the temple but after having seen soldiers dying at war, she felt obliged to thank God for each new year He gave her.
She then returned home and took her phone to see numerous post and stories in which she was tagged. Even people who she didn't talk to often had wished her and she felt awkward and glad at the same time.
After replying to all the messages and reposting the stories, she was drawn to the kitchen because of the aroma of her favourite Pav Bhaji!!! Her mother made it a point to prepare it for her every year on her birthday. And her Father would pamper her with chocolates and ice creams which normally she couldn't have owing to her health. At moments like these she would feel truly blessed.
She spent the afternoon with her parents and Dadu.
In the evening she dressed up in a white silk one piece she was so excited to wear ever since she bought it. It was of uneven length and had rose gold coloured pattern on the left side. She paired it with rose gold watch and studs of the same colour. She wore white heels adding to her height and all in all looked no less than a princess. As if on cue her Father stepped in and placed a beautiful silver crown in her hair. She teamed it with light makeup.
Everyone really liked her look and hairdo. She enjoyed the evening with her friends dancing and catching up on each others lives. All of them had a great time.
She returned later that night and walked in barefoot so as to not wake up her parents and Dadu.
She changed into her night dress with cute Minnie Mouse patterns on it. She felt tired and satisfied all at once. And yet she couldn't bring herself to sleep. She scrolled through instagram and replied to last of the wishes but still sleep seemed a long time away.
Her eyes fell on the small pile of gifts beside her bed and she couldn't think of a better way to spend her time.
She opened her parents gift first, which included a watch, a diamond studded one and a pair of earrings. They had also kept in a note telling her how proud they were of who she had become. It brought tears to her eyes but she put it back and continued with the other gifts.
She received a photo frame, a personalized hamper of 18 gifts, a journal, a slambook with wishes from all her friends, a wallet and a few other things.
As she was keeping these gifts aside with a smile on her face, her eyes fell on a small paper bag. She had not noticed it before. Curiosity took the best of her and she even though tired took out the gift from the bag,
It had a few envelopes, 18 to be precise, and on each envelope was written a date and a specific place.
She was in awe, and wanted to know who had taken so much efforts for her but to her disappointment it was anonymous.
She was too impatient to wait for the date of the first letter which was 11th June, in her building compound . It was two days away but still she tore it open then and there.
It contained two letters, one more yellowed than the other. She opened the first letter, the smaller one.
It started as,
Heyyy Adi,
I am sure you are not opening this on the specified date coz you lack patience but ya at least compound mein toh ja!
(Aditi, all the more curious complied with the letter and went downstairs, it was almost early morning now. God how fast time flew while she was immersed in opening the gifts!!)
Thanks man!
Chal Ab since you are down and sitting on your favourite bench, read what I have to tell you
(Aditi looked around to see if this stranger was around but then face palmed at the thought because obviously this letter was written way before, either she is too predictable or maybe this person knew her a bit too well )
11th June 2014,
Wednesday
Today I saw her for the first time, I was playing football in the ground drenched in sweat and rain. She stepped out of the car with her mom, small built, chubby cheeks, black hair, glasses fogged possibly due to the air conditioned car. She looked so innocent and afraid. As I was lost in looking at her, the football hit me hard on the face, everyone including her looked at me and started laughing. I was caught red handed but seeing her laugh made me smile too. She then tried to clean her glasses with no success because the water droplets kept covering it again and again. She then tripped on a small stone, lost her balance and fell face first onto the ground. We laughed at how silly and clumsy she was. She glared at us and stomped off. How was it that she was allowed to laugh at me, while I was not?
I saw her a couple of times later today, because of the shifting process going on , she was new here and that explained her fear from earlier. Then in her balcony because she was cribbing about some chocolate she wanted, she was loud enough for the whole building to hear her! But due to that I got to know her wing and flat no. : B - 305 and I guess her car was a silver swift dzire. Her name was still a mystery.
P. S. This was rewritten the day I decided I would give it to you, the original one is attached with this
P. P. S. Turn the page over
As Aditi turned the page she saw a basic sketch of how she would have looked at that time. She laughed out loud seeing that, more so because she could totally imagine herself looking like that
She then found another small paper,it had yellowed more than the previous one, but still had no name on it. As she started reading it she reminisced the day she moved to this society which eventually she did start to call her home. It brought bitter memories too but she concentrated on the sweeter, nicer ones.
She felt she is really going to enjoy this gift and decided to go as per the instructions excited to walk down the memory lane and know more about this mystery lover boy. She couldn't remember just one specific person from that day, maybe as she opened more letters she would be able to give a face to this guy.
