Into The Heart Of Kashmir: Heaven

Lessons On Love

It was 9 am by the time I was ready for college, after reading my novel for two continuous hours I decided to help my mother in cooking and it was only at 8:30 I realised that I was getting late for college. Thanks to Rabia, our housemaid, who asked me when would I be able to accompany her for shopping today, that's when I took a look at the antique cream colored wall clock and realised how I would end up missing my lectures if I didn't rush.
I grabbed my handbag and hurriedly placed my registers in it, without having my breakfast I tried to sneak out of my house but failed as my mom commanded me. 'Sana, when would you learn to take care of yourself, you aren't leaving the house unless you finish it.' She said pointing at the dining table. 'It's 8:50 already Maa, I'll miss my lectures'. To this came a swift stern reply, ' You should start caring more for yourself than Paulo Coelho if that's the case' indicating at my addiction with his books. 'I will Maa, let me go, just today, I swear I will be having my breakfast from tomorrow'. She commanded in her stern voice, 'There is no Tomorrow darling' and with that the convincing ended and I reluctantly sat and gulped the glass of orange juice as fast as I could and took few bites of the cheese sandwich without  being choked on eating. I grabbed my handbag and rushed out, in case I didn't mention, I was accustomed to missing my first lecture everyday because of my addiction for reading . It had been such a habit that even my teachers found nothing strange about it. I was grateful to them that they never complained about it, perhaps the truth was they didn't care. That worked to my advantage. By the time I reached the end of my colony I spotted my friend, Fatima standing near the bus stop, probably waiting for someone. 'How come you are so late today?' She immediately turned looking more shocked than happy to see me, probably she did not apprehend I would see her. 'I was waiting for you Sana' she said smiling sarcastically. I rolled my eyes at her, ignoring what she had just said for I was too late for my class already and was thinking about all the possible ways in which my teacher would insult me today. We boarded the bus that came after a minute and it took us half an hour to reach college, the approximate time required to reach college from home. The moment I stepped in front of the gate that read, All Girls Government College(AGGC), I knew today was going to be different since I broke my own record of being late. Today I had come after the beginning of 2nd lecture. The moment I stepped inside my class, our History teacher, Mrs. Shaheen Bhatt, a tall lady who resembled  an American more than an Indian, looked at me as if I had asked about the proof of  her marriage, and with that look plastered across her face, really sweetly rather in a humiliating manner told me to.. Get Lost, in short. As I was leaving I could hear some girls giggling, but I pretended as if nothing had happened and walked out of my class and into the canteen.
I was sitting alone in the canteen when I spotted Fatima in the garden at a distance. She was talking over phone to someone and looked somewhat distressed , I thought of going and asking her but at once rejected the idea and rather waited for her to finish talking. I went up to her and asked her what was the issue, she saw me and the next thing I knew was that she was crying uncontrollably.  I convinced her to go somewhere outside the college, since we had already missed two of our three lectures today, it wouldn't be a sin to miss the third one. We went to a nearby cafe, 'The Taj', a 17th century themed cafe adorned with many antiques to give it an ancient monumental look. As our hot chocolates arrived, she began speaking. It seemed strange at first since the way in which she was speaking seemed absurd, one could decipher easily that she was heartbroken.
'I gave our relationship all I could, I did everything in my reach, yet things fell apart'.  Hearing this, I was surprised  as I had never known Fatima to be such a person who could fall in the trap of love. To me love was incomprehensible as it was devoid of all logic, I mean how can you love someone who is unfamiliar to you, even though you get to know the person, How can you surely say it is love. I kept these thoughts to myself as I didn't want to upset Fatima further. I just asked her one question , 'Fatima, How can you be so sure it was love and if it was so, How can you say with conviction that this feeling was mutual?' And immediately regretted asking this. To my surprise , she didn't appear hurt by my question, but rather smiled and said, 'You know Sana, there are times when all forces are going against you , even the one within you, but then you feel compelled to live by that One Force which attracts you and tells you about how important you are,...'. I was confused at first but was slowly understanding what she meant by it. She continued , ' And when you choose to follow this force and go according to it, you realise who you really are, and that dear Sana, brings you to your destination- That Special Person - Love'. These words somehow had a profound impact on me, I don't know why but I just couldn't  refuse to agree.

Hey lovely readers, hope you are doing good. How do you feel about the friendship between Sana and Fatima. Will be revealing what happened with Fatima in the next part.
Have anyone of you been ever a book addict that you ended up missing your lecture or something really important . If you have been such a bibliophile do share your experience in the comments section or if you have been addicted about something to such an extent.
Do tell me how do you like the story. Don't forget to vote.
More importantly don't forget to stay happy  love yourself because that's what sets you apart and it matters to me 😊😊