After 3 years of her beloved Rahul Jaykar's tragic 'suicide' , Aarohi was believed to have moved on from the trauma by the people. Or can I say she pretended to have moved on and living happily? She focused on her career, worked hard , smiled all t...
I put on glasses, covered my face with a scarf, tied my hair into a messy bun, and wore loose clothes, to avoid looking like myself. That's what we call disguise right? I really hoped I don't come across any familiar face or media people on my way out.
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Luckily and successfully I came out and no one bothered to even look at me. I guess I really look like a different person. I mentally praised myself.
I travelled to the first hotel on my checklist. "Hello" I greeted the receptionist. She looked like a sweet person wearing a cream silk saree and her hair tied in a perfect bun.
"Hello. How may I help you?" She asked with a smile on her face. "Umm..i'm looking for a person"
"Are you from police?" She hesitated.
"No No..i'm just a common person. I'm just looking for a friend. We..umm..we fought and he had not been picking up my calls..so i'm just looking for him" I was shocked at how smoothly I actually lied.
"Ohh..sure..could you tell me the name please?
Wait...would he be still going around with the same name? There are not much chances to it. Anyways lets just try!
"Rahul"
"Ok just a second please" she started typing the name at the laptop.
"Here..there are two with this name."
"Could you tell what date they checked in?"
"Ma'am its against our security guidelines. I'm really sorry. Why don't you try calling your friend again? Or I can request both of them to come downstairs..you can recognise your friend out of them?"
I had no option to call him. Meeting those two in the hotel was the only option I had. "Yeah sure...please call them"
I came out after getting my first defeat. None of those Rahul were the one I wanted to see. But the thought that he must be living with some other name still bothered me.
During the day I checked other hotels and guest houses too but he was nowhere to be found. I tried checking into other guests too by persuading the receptionist but none of the names gave me a vibe that they could be Rahul. Most of them were there with families or for business purposes. Rahul was not there.
But I didn't lose courage. I looked around at some tourist spots. Marine drive, juhu beach, gateway, church, temples, mosques, gurudwara, gardens... I looked at most of the places until I was fully exhausted. I had no energy left in me. I spent the whole day but didn't found a trace of him. It was hurtful. But still, I've got to stay strong. Its just day 1..i can't yet lose hope. I'll try harder.
I went again next day. Searched in few more hotels but got no clue. After finishing all the local places, I started going to the distant places.
"Oh God. Just help me please. Why are you playing games with me? Just send him to me. I know he's here. But why ain't he coming to me? Why is he doing this to me? Why are you doing this to me?" I sat holding my knees at the corner of the street handling my emotional breakdown. I had promised myself not to cry and lose hope but it was going too difficult. Too uneasy for me. It had been so many days but I didn't even find a single clue. What was I supposed to do? I looked up at the sky and it looked so beautiful.
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"Do you need any help?" And old lady standing infront of me asked.
"..umm...no thanks!! I was just passing by and got tired from walking so I was just taking a rest" I made an excuse.
"Oh I see..so you've been crying here for the past 20 minutes just because you're tired?" her words surprised me.
"Umm..thanks for asking...its nothing..i'm just really tired" "Tired of all the hardships right?" I looked at her surprised.
"You see the sky." She motioned towards the sky. "With all the clouds, sun, rain, wind, dust particles, the sky still manages to look beautiful. It shines clearer after the night of the heavy rainfall. Maybe it is some kind of signal for the humankind. Life just can't go easy. It has to go through all kind of storms and rainfall for it to shine even brighter."
I was surprised at her analogy. She was right though. I didn't plan all this just to sit down one day and complain to God while crying. My thoughts were interrupted when the old lady spoke again. "The trees don't wither when all the flowers fall apart from it, it dies when it stops getting watered. Just think of trees as humans, flowers as the days we spend and water are the hopes we carry with ourselves. We keep going until we have faith in ourselves. The moment we lose hope, everything starts getting difficult. Hopes make life easier. Ofcourse, hopes doesn't decrease the amount of hardships we face, but it gives the energy we need to face those difficulties"
I couldn't speak for while. Her words were so influencing. I just stared at her with both tears and smile on my face.
"Oh come on I know I speak good but you don't need to look at me like that. It's embarrassing" she looked shy and I smiled. "You don't know what you just did. I'm on a search of something really important to me but its been a while and I hadn't got any clue. I was starting to get discouraged but your words has really helped me. I promise never to get demotivated again. Its so true that nature helps us in every way possible. Its the best teacher indeed.
We both smiled and parted ways after many attempts of me trying to help her with anything or to have lunch together but she refused. I was so thankful to God today to help me when I called out to him.
Today too I didn't accomplish my mission but I will start tomorrow with more energy and willpower.
