Aboli

Part 61

"Hi Mowgli! Long time!" Parth's grin set Sanyukta's screen alight. She smiled back at her old pal. She had not spoken to him for months now. They had drifted apart owing to the distance separating them.

"Congratulations! I heard the date for your big day is set. I am really happy for you. Give my regards to Vidushi too. Guess she is as busy as ever." Sanyukta wondered why Parth had remembered to call her so soon after she had reconnected with Randhir.

" You know Vidushi! Sometimes I wonder what she saw in me. Without her I would be a drifter, a greaser! Actually Randhir mentioned about speaking to you recently. I guess you shall finish your college in a few months. What plans after that?" Parth sounded different. He was right, he had never taken life seriously before he got engaged to Vidushi.

"I plan to work for at least a year before enrolling for post graduation. That way I can put off the inevitable for another 3-4 years. Mom can be quite persistent!" Sanyukta returned Parth's grin.

"Hey, you are nearly a doctor now. I am sure you are mature enough to take your own decisions. But somehow I get the feeling that my brother and you have a lot more in common than meets the eye. Even he's been putting off the inevitable claiming he is too focused on his work to bother getting hitched. Is it possible that you guys shared the strategy with each other?" Parth asked. His curiosity had been stoked when Randhir admitted to have gotten in touch with Sanyukta.

"As if, Parth! You know your brother, he's older and more sorted than I am. Maybe I was inspired by him, that's all." It was the truth, there was nothing more to it.

"Anyway, I hope you can make it for the wedding. Since both our families are here we are tying the knot in Goa. Randhir will be here a few days before the wedding. I am sure you'll catch up with him!" Parth was extending her an unofficial invitation to Sanyukta even when he knew she could not attend. Not with the frosty equation between Renuka and Anju! 

"As much as I'd love to be there you know that things are awkward between our families. Please don't misunderstand, I want your wedding day to be as happy as can be. Don't forget to send me some pics. About Randhir, I am not sure if I will be able to meet him around your wedding." Sanyukta added cautiously. 

"Mowgli, if you cannot come to Goa, he can surely look you up in Mumbai, provided your are not in another city at that time." Parth suggested.

"I don't think any other city will offer me the sort of professional experience I need. So yes, I'll be in Mumbai at the time but Randhir may have other priorities. That's what I meant when I mentioned that we may not meet." Sanyukta sounded a bit distant as she spoke those words.

"Mowgli, you still crushing on my brother na?" Parth was not sure if it was right to ask her, but he could not help himself.

"Parth, how can one get over a crush like him? But that's all there is to it, honestly!" Sanyukta admitted briskly.

"His first serious girlfriend got over him, she initiated the break up with him, remember?" Parth persisted.

"Nour wanted to get back with him so badly she lost the will to live. He does not show it outwardly but I think Randhir was quite shaken up by her loss." Sanyukta did not know if it was her business to discuss Randhir's relationship with his brother but Parth has brought it up, she was just responding to it.

"You are right, Mowgli. I hear he has not seen anybody all these years, not even had a one night stand! His work is all that he cares about. You may be the only exception. You two have something inexplicable between you. You know like they say- she likes him, he likes her, everyone knows, except them!" Parth was really pushing it now.