On one afternoon on a hot summer day, back in 2018, I was at my favourite fast food joint with my friend. We were catching up over a plate of momos and milkshake.
Just when we were about to part ways, we saw a guy who was wiping his tears, drive past us. He's a familiar face in our city and so my friend recognised him as Aarush, the owner of a fancy club and many supercars. "Looks like life is cruel to everyone" I thought to myself as I silently mumbled a small prayer to Allah to take his pain away.
I remember thinking about it again, before I went to bed. I guess it was curiosity - the want to know what was bothering him and more than that, to know how someone of his calibre could show so much vulnerability. It gave me hope that genuine, real people still exist and not just in a world of fiction.
A year later, I sat at my favourite cafe, looking for inspiration to write as I drowned in mugfulls of coffee. A few minutes later, Aarush walked in and occupied the table right in front of me. I was taken aback by the odds and at the same time, pleased to see him doing better than he was since I last saw him. It seemed as though he was waiting for someone. Minutes later Vidisha turned up. Everything else that transpired is everything you know from Aarush's POV.
Months ago I saw this person, so overwhelmed by sorrow that he couldnt even wait till he reached his destination to let it all out. Here he was, sitting in front of me with her. They spoke for nearly two and a half hours like there was no one else around; laughing, giggling, showing each other things on their phone, completing each other's sentences and neither of them paying much attention to the food in front of them. Their body language implied the kind of chemistry and comfort that usually comes with knowing someone for years.
I would've normally felt guilty for getting carried away by something happening around me rather than focusing on my work, but on this particular day, I remembered something- the reason I wanted to become a writer.
All my life, I grew up reading and watching stories of the romantic genre and it interested me enough to major in English literature. I always wanted to tell the tale of true love; inspired by a true story that I thought represented the complexities of relationships these days. I always believed that true love is an act of pure kindness; and hence, a thing that comes into your life when you're not ready for it and sticks with you through your worst.
A simple love story not bewitched with grand gestures ; rather, the simple things.
Which is why, in their story, I saw mine.
I decided to watch them from a distance every chance I get and get to know them through mutual friends so that one day, I can tell the tale of their simple-yet-soulful story.
Luckily for me, I come from a small town that loves gossip. Some of my friends knew Aarush's story.
However, not many knew Vidisha. The most anyone could tell me was that she was a doctor at a famous hospital, and so I decided to pay her a visit.
My first encounter with Vidisha happened when I decided to go see her as a patient to gauge her personality. I sat outside the psychiatry out patient department , waiting for my turn. From where I sat all I could tell was that she was really bothered by a stain on her lab coat. My turn came soon enough. I reluctantly went up to her. I think she could tell I was nervous so she gave me a warm smile. The most captivating part of her demeanor were her eyes- an unusual shade, mellow but fierce at the same time. I felt a little guilty meticulously telling the tale I spun in my head but it had to be done. "I have difficulty falling asleep and focussing on tasks" I lied. She asked me a few more questions before arriving at the diagnosis of insomnia. The highlight of my interaction with her was when she said "I'm not your doctor today. I'm your friend. So tell me what's bothering you?" .
How old is this girl? Isn't she in her mid-twenties? At best, late twenties? A doctor that young can't have that kind of maturity. That's when I knew that those eyes have seen a lot.
Arpita lives in another city now. She's a marketing manager and is happy with what she has done for herself. Not many people know about her either. If at all anything, it was all hear-say. I mustered the courage to talk to her about Aarush one day, anonymously. She wasn't dismissive but she wasn't entirely open. She told me what she thought relevant. What inspired me most was her readiness to accept her mistakes and wish him well.
.
This love story is what the Chinese and Vietnamese call "YUONFEN" - destiny, love and luck as conditioned by one's past.
In a world now cynical about love, may their story give us the hope to love selflessly.
.
I dedicate this story to the real life Aarush and Vidisha. I may not know them personally but I know their story- one that deserves to be told, heard and remembered.
A story of younfen.
