Agape & Eros

A waste of time

Ram finds Priya sitting on a chair near the staircase on the floor where Priya's varsity is. She looks tired. She is holding her head. Ram feels empathetic toward her. Slowly he approaches her and sits beside her. 

Ram- Are you tired? 

Priya gives a sudden jerk of her head. 

Priya- When did you come? Did I doze off? 

Ram- I've just arrived. Are you tired? We can sit at a more comfortable place. I know a place. It's within a...

Priya- No, I'm fine here. I've just come to tell you something. I won't take much of your time. 

Ram- I have time. We can go there and talk. They have a really refreshing...

Priya- No, thanks.

Ram speaks in his mind, "It's her favorite word, "No". She would feel good there. But mam just knows how to say no. Yes won't come out of her mouth."

Priya- Mami wants to buy a chunni of her choice for the "Chunni Chadana". But Shivi doesn't want that. Akki tried to convince her, but she isn't convinced. Mami is enraged about this at home. Maa tried to convince her but she isn't convinced either. Will it be possible for you to try to convince her? 

Ram- But Shivi has already placed an order for the Chunni. 

Priya- O. Ok. Then... umm... Ok. I'll try to convince mami. 

Ram- I can try too. I mean, Chunni comes from the groom's side. Mami must have planned this for a long time. 

Priya- Hmm. She has. 

Ram- Hmm. 

Priya- Thank you. 

Ram- For what? I haven't done anything yet. 

Priya- But you'll try. That's enough. 

"That's enough! Enough for thanks!" Ram again goes into a trance thinking about this. "Just wanting to help is enough! People don't even thank you after helping them or sacrificing a lot for them. And you are saying it's enough? What are you, Priya?"

Ram's trance breaks at Priya' calling. 

Priya- Where have you lost? 

Ram- Haa? Nothing. 

Priya- I'll take my leave them. Sorry for wasting your time on this silly matter. 

Ram- You haven't wasted my time. You never do. 

Priya was unprepared for this statement. Not knowing what to say in reply,
she just says, "Mmm, Bye"

Ram returns to his office. 

While Priya keeps pondering over the last sentence. She has always apologized for wasting someone's time. Because she was made to believe that she wasted people's time. Mahendra Sood's words start to play in the back of her head. 

"You are nothing but a waste of time. Nobody wants you. Get that in your head. Nobody will ever want you. Your ugly face, rude words, and rough voice will irritate everyone. You'll always be a waste of time. For every single person. "

Priya's eyes well up. She looks at the street from her auto. 

"Thousands of people cross paths with me. And I've always considered myself a waste of time for each one of them. Even for my siblings. When they often tell me how alone I am gonna be at a certain age- I hear them telling me, at a certain age I'll be a waste of time for them. Probably, they don't mean it. But I can't stop thinking about it. I just feel like a waste of time. For the first time, someone has told me that I am not a waste of time. Even if it was for the sake of decency... I felt relieved."