CHAPTER 4...WINTER

THREE WEEKS AFTER FAREWELL NIGHT......

Rahil woke up suddenly to the jarring sound of the doorbell, splitting through the lull somewhere in space. Its very cruel, he thought, to wake up in this manner on such a cold Sunday morning. Winters had settled in Kolkata. This season always brought the best out of this city. From music festivals, literary festivals,book fair, melas, flower shows to vintage car rallies, dog shows everything made the city so happening during this part of the year. Not to forget the Christmas and New Year's Eve of Park street. One could find immense crowd gathering, and could experience the charm of Rio de janeirio in Part Street. Yes winters in this city was mild, full of fun and extravaganza

Rahil slowly opened up his eyes to be welcomed by cool breeze flowing, lying down in that same bed, parked at one corner of his rented room. The sudden sound of doorbell violently took away his sleeping life.

Slowly he re learned his existence and brought his mind back to reality. What day is it? Where do i have to be today? Will the sun show up or will it be another cold day? With all sorts of queries running all over his mind, he got up from the bed and opened the door, just to be greeted by angry looking, rude postman with a post in his hand .

Now it had been four long years of moving in this vital hub of Bengali speaking community for him. He knew people out here, plenty of them, but why would someone send him a post. He had never received one in the past. He had this confused look on his face.

Was it a reply to an e-mail he had once sent to a publishing house for his poems or was it from his family residing some five hundred kilometers north. It could possibly be another prank from Joy, or even Rohan and Prashit, but why would they? All sorts of thoughts running inside his skull, with a smile , Rahil greeted the postman.

" Is it for me?"

The postman replied by pointing at the Address column printed on the envelope.

" Rahil Singh,

19/B sarobar lane,

Kolkata 700123"

As the above address suggested , it was for him.

"Thank You" Rahil replied with a smile and what-the-hell-is going-on look in his face.

"Ekhane sign korun" (Please sign here)  the postman made him sign on a sheet that confirmed it was delivered to the right individual and left with his rude face.

With a post in his hand, he came back to his room, which had been a small world for him and his creativity. Empty soda cans lined up, few clothes sprawled down on the floor, an unmade bed with papers thrown over, a folded pillow half pressed against the wall was what his world looked like. The continuous sound made by the ceiling fan above was the only noise that could be heard. Resting his back against the half pressed pillow he decided to end up this curiosity and opened the envelope. A " Happy New Year" card was what he found inside it. 

It read " HAPPY NEW YEAR IN ADVANCE. MAY YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL YEAR AHEAD AND A SUCCESSFUL LIFE AFTER COLLEGE.

FROM AYESHA"

It was an advance new year greeting for him from his crush. Ayesha always managed to surprise him in every way . Yes Ayesha and Rahil had started their conversation just the day after farewell. For one week, Facebook played an important role and great support in his love life, till the day he dared once again and asked for her Watsapp number to which she never denied. All thanks to the two bottles of beer that was inside him that night. With formal HI and Hello and normal talks for a week on facebook now the conversation had evolved to " Life Dreams", "Career Goals" and dreams.

Ayesha seemed to be an interesting girl to him. No wonder crushes are beautiful. Her philosophies on life and If-you-like-it-go get-it attitude used to excite him, and she patiently used to listen to his poems every night and always insisted Rahil to follow his dream and write a Novel one day.

She turned out to be a simple girl with an interesting personality and beautiful face , but her philosophies made her look complicated. No wonder she was still in first year and little immature with the aspects of life.

From last three weeks his nights were no longer, lonely now as before. There was someone who he could talk with for hours and who would appreciate his creativity and pushed him to follow his dreams, he had someone for this cold lonely nights of Kolkata. Crushes had always been beautiful.

It seemed she too showed some interest in Rahil  but he had read somewhere " Even God can't understand what woman thinks ", their leads could be deceptive sometimes and he was aware of that.

His fame in college, his striking sense of humor with a blend of poetic side and his goals, had done the trick for him till now.

With the best possible start he could get for the day he decided to text his crush.

"Hey, are you awake?"

"Yes , good morning " came the reply from the other side. How everyone loves when they get their replies instantly.

"You seriously sent me this? I mean why? Rahil typed instantly again.

"Leave it for now, actually can i ask you something?" typical girl reply came. Change of topic and how they manage to do this everytime possible, God knows the answer( I wonder even if God knows).

Putting the envelope aside he decided to carry on with her.

"yup, ask." he replied.

Life had become more harsh after farewell for him and for his friends. No wonder he missed those good old days. The focus  now had shifted to nothing more than to succeed in life. Now the only thing left for him in this city was his graduation exams scheduled after three months. Somehow, in the middle of all these, Ayesha had managed to make a space for herself inside his mind by now. He thanked Prashit each day now for giving his last Dare of the college life, on that farewell night.

"Next week i guess 50 shades of grey is releasing in India, so will you mind if i ask you to go for it with me?"

She managed to surprise him one more time. A date for the first time and what better than the film she chose. He din't know what to reply for a while but on the other side he din't want to miss a single chance that life gave him to be with her.

" Okay, i don't have any problem" he replied with mixed emotions. it had been a day full of confusion for him , so far.

"Okay, wait i will text you after a while" the message popped up on the screen.

Quite an adventurous morning for him it turned out to be. Winters seriously brought the best out of this city. He kept his phone aside and decided to make his bed and freshen up for one more day.

Yes crushes bring you alive, they surprise you, make you go down on knees. They make you listen to their boring philosophies. Rahil now couldn't wait for 50 shades of Grey to release .

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