| Kismet |

04

Present

Tanmay

I sigh throwing my laptop bag on the couch. I remove my tie and unbuttoned my top two buttons letting the air give me releif the burning temperature. I search for the AC remote and turn it on.

"Tanmey! First remove your shoes and socks. Which girl will marry you if you act like this?" My mother walked in with a belan.

"That's your headache to find that girl." I sighed turning on the tv and switching it to sports channel.

"He only got your traits." My mom scowled at my father who was peacefully reading some book. "You go freshen up or else I will throw you out of the house." She scolded me and walked away. I groaned and removed my shoes and socks. Mom walked back in hold something in her hand. "Yeh le." She handed me some photographs. "Choose one girl from here."

"Maa-" I spoke not wanting to do this all over again.

"No Tanmay. No arguments. Choose atleast one girl from here. Or else I'll never talk to you again in my entire life." She pouted and walked.

I sighed and walked to my room carrying my bag with me. I collapse on the bed, exhausted. "What a torture!" I mumbled. I sat up straight and removed my watch placing it on the nightstand. I started going through the pictures. All were pretty I will not lie. But no one could compare to her. But now I don't even know if she is alive.

I forced my brain to push her into the back of my mind and skimmed through the pictures. My breath stuck in my throat as I willingly suffocated myself by not breathing. My heart beat increased in a millisecond. "Bhencho-" I gasped struggling to breathe. I blinked a few times shaking my head. Maybe I'm hallucinating. Yeah.

But no. There she was, standing in a white anarkali dress. Her hair neatly tied up in a braid but few strands had already come out giving her a messy look. Her lips, unlike the other girls in the pictures were almost nude hints of pink in them. It suited her. Simple but pretty. She had changed so much. Nothing like the teenager I remember. She had grown into a woman. My thumb traced her picture, still not believing it's her. She is not some kind of doppelganger is she?

At once I rose from my bed and walked back down into the living room. I barged into the kitchen where mom was and pushed the photo into her face. "Maa, what's her name?" I asked her. She scowled at me and pushed me away. She gently took the photo from my hand.

"Mere mooh ke andar hi daal de." She taunted and looked at the picture. She softly smiled and looked at me. "She looks good no?" My mom asked me excited. "She is a teacher you know? In a really well known school."

"What's her name?" I asked her impatiently longing to hear that name again.

"Madhurima." She said making my whole world fall into a pit of fluffy clouds, flowers and what not.

"Madhurima Yadav?" I asked just to clarify. Her eyes were suddenly wide as if shocked.

"How do you know? Do you know her?" She asked me.

I more than know her Maa.

I love her.

"Yeah maa. She was my school mate when I was in 12th class. She was my junior. Same class as Akshu." I explained it to her.

"Oh that's nice." She smiled and resumed her cooking.

"Maa." I spoke wanting her to understand what I wanted.

"Bolo." She told stirring whatever was there in the pot. Most probably Paneer.

"Maa..." I whined turning around. When she finally looked at me I held Madhu's picture in both of my hands and held it close to my chest.

"Kya?" She asked and tilted her head to the side. I would think that she genuinely didn't understand what I was trying to say if it wasn't for the small twitch of her lip.

"Samajh na..."

She burst out laughing and nodded her head. "Go to my room. There on the nightstand I have kept few papers. Bring the ones with her name on it." She smiled at me. I smiled back goofily. I ran to their room and got the bunch of paper. I skimmed through them and then found her biodata sheet. I ran to tha living room and gave it to mom.

"Ladki toh bahut sundar hai haan. Aur teacher bhi hai. Par iski conditions toh bahut hi ajeeb hai." Maa said looking at her profile.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"He should not have beard." My mom read out.

"Mereko pasand bhi nahi." I agreed.

"He shouldn't drink beer. Any other alcohol drink is okay but only occasionally. Also he shouldn't smoke, vape or do hookah." Mom read out and nodded. "Sensible." She agreed. "His hair should not be coloured. He should like animals. He should have a good fashion sense. He should be aesthetic. He should like Vampire diaries and Harry Potter." Mom read out. "Aesthetic kya hota hai?" Mom asked me.

"Kuch hota hai in ladkiyon ka. Akshara bhi toh kehti rehti hai aesthetic aesthetic." I shrugged.

"I understand Harry Potter but what is Vampire Diaries?" Mom asked confused.

"Ajeeb aurat ho. Vampire diaries nahi pata?" Dad scowled. Mom scowled back at him. Mom looked back at me. "Should I tell yes?" She asked me and immediately nodded my head. "Okay I'll call tomorrow." She said.

"Why not now?" I asked her wanting her to call them right now.

"Are you mad? It's 8 pm." She said wide eyed.

"It's okay." I smiled at her and gave her my phone.

"Tanmay. Go change." She sternly said. I opened my mouth to argue but she made an expression which meant 'If you don't go now, you can go to hell'. I sighed and went back to my room.

I opened the Instagram app and searched her name. I clicked on the first account. The profile was a mirror selfie. Her face was hardly visible as half of it was covered by her phone. Her account was private. Her bio as good as empty. Where were you all these years Madhu?

I closed my eyes and lied down.

10 years ago.

"Sahi address daala hai na?" I asked Akshu who sat comfortably in the backseat.

"Yeah bhaiyya. Why are you so worried? Even if it is wrong I can call Madhu and ask na." She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah yeah." I scowled at her driving. I stopped where the GPS told me to. Madhurima and Sahil walked towards us with him scolding her about something.

"You shouldn't wear skirts to an arcade. It's dangerous if it's crowded." He scolded Madhurima.

"I don't want to talk to you." She glowered.

"You are a brat." He spit sitting in the front seat.

"Same to you." She stared out of the window glaring at something. Akshu had finally looked away from her phone and looked at the fight going on in front of her.

***

Until that study session last week I hadn't realised just how attractive she actually is. Yeah I thought she was kind of cute when I saw her before but that study session was like she suddenly became more beautiful.