Paradise ~ A Devdutt Padikkal Story

42.

It was eight in the morning when the bus stopped at the Kochi bus stand. Vedangi was gravely distressed to the extent of not realizing that she had arrived at her destination. After ten minutes of the bus halting, a middle aged conductor came up to her enquiring.
"Don't you want to get down?" He asked irritatedly.
Vedangi looked at him startled. Her eyes wandered inside the bus to see it empty. She looked outside the window and realized that she had reached Kochi.
"Yeah sorry." Vedangi muttered quickly before grabbing her bags and got down.

At the bus stand, Vedangi could sniff the aroma of freshly prepared coffee. It travelled through the air hitting her nostrils. Vedangi turned her face to the other direction instantly.
Dev loved coffee dearly and Vedangi couldn't bear to think of him again. It was too traumatizing for her.
Her hand went inside her sling bag searching for her phone.
Vedangi sighed dismally when her phone refused to operate normally. She stomped her foot in anger at her own insanity.

Last night when Vedangi had boarded the bus impulsively, she had dropped a message to Chandni and Disha before crushing her sim card under her feet and throwing it out of the window.
That was where the last straw snapped.
Vedangi held her head in frustration while the tears fell involuntarily. She was stranded in a faraway city without any means of communication.

Vedangi wiped her tears with the back of her palm and decided to find a way to contact her family. She walked a kilometre or two until she spotted a mobile hardware shop. Luckily Vedangi had cash in her purse through which she bought a new sim card and with great effort contacted her mother.

"Maa!" Vedangi broke down the moment her mother picked up her call.
"Maa I'm coming home! I don't want to live here in Bangalore. Idhar kuch achha nahi hai, mujhe ghar aana hai." She wailed on the call.
Vedangi's mother listened to her daughter's heartbroken voice. Without delay she replied in a shaky voice. "Jald se jald aaja, Papa aur mein hai na? Stop crying Veda, jaldi ghar aaja. Everything will be okay! Hum intezaar kar rahe hai!"
Vedangi nodded and hopped into a rickshaw to go to the Kochi train station.

Dev groaned in frustration for his flight to Bangalore had been delayed by almost an hour. The flight was supposed to take off from Allepey at five in the evening but it was fifteen minutes past six and there was no sight of the aircraft. Sighing, he dialed Vedangi for the hundredth time. His patience had snapped long ago but he kept going because she mattered to him more than oxygen. He would be totally okay with not receiving oxygen for a whole minute but her being angry at him was unbearable to even think of.

At eleven thirty Dev reached his house. He unlocked the main door and stepped inside. Before he could keep his bags in his room a notification tinged indicating a message from Disha. Dev opened the text that said

'Dev, Vedangi asked me to tell you that she left some paper in your blazer's pocket and has asked you to check that.
Also, I've tried to reach out to her but the message just doesn't reach. Do tell me if you find out anything.'

Dev instantly crouched down to the floor while fidgeting with the suitcase. He managed to unzip it after a struggle and threw the clothes on the top carelessly before grabbing the blazer.
He impatiently checked the blazer pocket only to find a white colored paper with faint blue ink.
Dev's heart dropped to his stomach with anticipation as fleeting clouds of fear passed over his mind. His pulse raced with adrenaline coursing ever so strongly through his veins. Taking a deep breath, he opened the letter.

Dev,
You most probably know by now that I've left Bangalore but before you react, please hear me out. I feel like a total coward saying this through a letter but yes, I fell in love. With you.
I don't know the answers to the questions 'why, when and how' because it just happened. Believe me, I was surprised myself but eventually kept falling deeper. It was never easy for me, there were so many instances when I selfishly wished to be Disha in your life. My love for you made me want to scream out infront of the stars so many times! Every moment I spent with you is worth cherishing.
Do you remember I had said, 'to love is to let go'?
That is what I've done and I wish nothing but only happiness for you.
We may never meet again but if you ever see me, please wave at me.
Until next time crocodile!

Vedangi.

If the first line was a shock to him, by the end of the letter Dev cried hysterically. He couldn't fathom whatever happened. From the blotched ink at places in the letter, Dev knew the pain she felt while writing this. The tears failed to stop even after Dev tried to convince himself of this being a dream. God could not be so cruel to him, could he?
If the pain of separation was tolerable, no one would have suffered in love. Dev could not endure another heartbreak and his chest started hurting physically. He found it hard to breathe knowing that he may never see her again. Vedangi was the sunlight that kept him alive. Without her everything seemed dark, so sullen, so lifeless.
Dev would die without her for she took with her his soul.
If the first three letters of their names had D, E and V in it, will it ever be possible to write Vedangi without d,e,v and Dev without v,e,d?

Dev punched the wall beside him in pure agony. Bloody knuckles did not bother him over the wound that Vedangi had left on his heart. It can never be treated. Dev felt no physical pain whatsoever for the sorrow in his life was too deep to subside. Within a matter of seconds, life had been sucked out of his body and roots of grief grew deeper.
Dev reminisced the moment when only yesterday night Vedangi was wrapped in his arms. He had found his home in her. Dev's love for her could never be categorized under mere physical pleasure. It was not just a random fling for him, he had poured in all the passion he possessed. He wanted to let her know how much he loved her. Dev had confessed to her yesterday night albeit in a slightly drunk fashion.

What was the possibility of Vedangi having misinterpreted it?
He wailed miserably at the thought of everything ruining due to misconception. Dev did not deserve this, certainly.
His chest throbbed in pain while her face flashed infront of his eyes. All he wanted was to hug the life out of her and tell her that he loved her unconditionally.
How would he possibly survive without the very light that lit up his life?

_________________________________________

Dev posted on Instagram on the same day I update, once again😭