Some Dreams are Drafts

Destined to meet, destined to forget

May, 2016.
Mumbai.

Bhavika was in the elevator with three people - a couple and a man. The couple seemed to be visiting someone, perhaps for the first time after their marriage, Bhavika thought. She assumed that they were recently married after looking at the red bangles the girl was wearing paired with a long dress. Maybe she's Punjabi or the guy is, she found herself smiling when her assumptions were found to be correct as she heard the guy lean in to whisper to his wife : "Koi nai, sab changa hoga."

He was reassuring her that all would be well.

Meanwhile the man was tapping his feet, impatient for the lift to open so that he could get out. Bhavika had a feeling that he had forgotten something important and was getting late but he had no choice but to get it himself.

They got out of the lift before Bhavika, together on the fifth floor and Bhavika sighed a happy sigh, bringing herself back to her reality.

She was going to see her bestfriend, Nehal, in some time.

Nehal lived in Versova, a metro ride away from Bhavika. Sometimes, on days when Bhavika took longer to bathe, she would find herself thinking about the odds of them meeting had they not bumped into each other in college.

Would they have taken the same metro to work, bonding over travel and later bonding over life? Would they have run into each other in the restroom of a movie theatre boiling their blood over some stereotypical representation of Gujaratis and then laughing at how some of things shown in the movie applied to them?

Regardless of the location and the number of years it would have taken them, Bhavika firmly believed that they were destined to meet. She could never use words to describe how grateful she was that they had met in college.

They were sixteen year olds when they had met, both gushing over the U-19 world cup that had happened recently. People around them were more interested in the upcoming Valentine's Day and it was no surprise when Nehal had heard Bhavika correctly pronounce the name of an Under 19 cricketer she had begun to adore, Nehal had sought out Bhavika to talk more about how exciting it was to support guys other people had no idea existed.

There's the joy of collectively rooting for an athlete. And then there's the joy of following the journey of an athlete all the way to international success.

It could be thought of as silly but from Bhavika and Nehal’s perspective, they had grown up with the 2012 cohort of boys.

A cohort of boys that had acted as a catalyst in helping our girls meet.

Bhavika stood outside the terrace flat, her head tilted as she muttered a prayer.

“Thank you for giving me my soul sister during the toughest years of my life.”

And then Bhavika rang the bell.

Nehal, who was on the stool decorating her room with fairy lights, almost fell over in the excitement of reaching the door before her brother. She kept warning him to not open the door, because she wanted to be the one to receive Bhavika but her elder brother liked to annoy her to the point she wanted no physical contact or conversation with him, and opened it before a breathless Nehal could.

Bhavika who was prepared to greet her best friend with a wide smile, was a bit surprised to find a tall guy blocking her way with a smirk. Bhavika rolled her eyes at him and said,

“Hi Anant. How are you?”

“Great.” Anant answered nonchalantly even though he was somewhat pleased to see Bhavika. Nehal had been scaring him with all the time she spent in her room researching universities she wanted to apply to and the internships she could do until the applications opened. Today, after a long time, he had seen the shine in his little sister’s eyes. Even though Anant would not admit this out loud, he was so glad that at least today, Nehal would enjoy herself.