PHIR SE

Letters and kisses

Chapter 19

Letters and kisses

Dearest Dev,

Isn’t that an alliteration? Never mind! How are you? I hope that you are fine. Isn’t that sounding bookish? What is the benefit of scoring 89 in English when I am not even able to  write a letter to my best friend properly. Damn this education system!

I am writing this letter to you to wish you a very happy 20th  birthday! I am not with you wherever you are but Devi maiyya ki kasam,  in my mind I am with you  wherever you are .

May all your teardrops turn into rains in which we can dance, phir se.

May all the flowers in your garden turn into roses which you can put on my hair, phir se.

May all those sums in your notebooks turn into poems so I can read them forhours and hours tirelessly, phir se.

May your phone’s settings go all haphazard and change it's location to where I am, so that I can come close to you, phir se and forever!

Lots of wishes dipped in sugar free chocolate for you !

Your best friend,

Khushi Devi Upadhyay (Don’t you dare call me Sankadevi).

Arnav held the letter tightly in his hands and closed his eyes. He had found dozens of these poetic letters in Khushi's  cupboards along with their childhood photos.

“I wrote these when I was 17.” Khushi entered the room. "I knew they must be with you! You hid all the photos that day right!” she sat beside him on the floor.

Arnav nodded. " These are beautiful!”

“Shut up! I know you better, you disliked poems and you just don’t understand them!  One mad matrix mind you are!” Khushi smiled while Arnav chuckled.

“I was quite sad that day. My twelfth standard results were out but I had no one to share my happiness with. I was in boarding at Bareilly at that time. Then I remembered it was your birthday too, so I wrote this all down. The same year Maa brought me back here to manage the temple authorities. Then I stopped writing these, I thought truly you were no more. I had no address to send these to!” Khushi said gripping the yellowish almost tarnished paper in her hands. Her eyes had started welling up. “I am so glad I have you back with me, I love you!”she kept her head on his shoulder and drifted asleep.

Arnav remembered what happened earlier that day in the hotel...

*****************

“Who are you ?”

“Any guesses?”Arnav came forward.

“No! You can't be him! The whole city knows that he is dead!” she closed her eyes and turned away.

“Who is dead?” he came further forward.

“Dev kashyap is dead! You can't be him! No one can take his place in this world in my life! No one!" She stared him in his eyes.

“True ! Dev kashyap doesn't exist anymore, Arnav singh raizada does!” he said looking into her eyes, cupping her cheeks with his hands.
" I came back for you, Khushi. Please don’t disappoint me with this rejection. It was very difficult to keep my foot in this city where my parents were...”

“Your parents?” Khushi asked looking up to him.

“They were framed Khushi. They were innocent, I know that!  I  can't let you remain here Khushi! They might not spare you! People are just killing everyone I love! I lost everything, I can't lose you! Khushi, please come with me…” he held her hands solemnly.