chapter 5

    The photograph was clicked during her Diwali celebrations with her gang of friends. They all were sitting in a semi-circle with numerous earthen lamps placed in front of them. Chetana was a girl of 13 at that time and was sitting in the centre holding a tiny diya in her hands.      Her eyes grazed through all those smiling faces and came to a halt at a face at the end of the semi-circle. He was a boy of 15 and the most charming among the ones in the photograph.“Somu…”Her heart skipped a beat as it always did every time she uttered his name. He was her neighbour during her early teenage days. She didn’t remember what his real name was, everybody used to call him by his nickname.“The boy next door,” Chetana smiled as she thought of how she once addressed him.   Chetana used to be a studious introvert during her school days and had only a few close friends. Somu was entirely different from her. He was friends with everyone in their housing colony, along with being one of the most popular boys in his school. Chetana had no idea what about him diverted her attention from her textbooks and focused on Somu.      She liked everything about him. He was a class-topper but not a bookworm. He was a sure-shot winner in debates and quiz competitions and a state-level champion in badminton. But his achievements didn’t make him the slightest bit arrogant.       He was kind and compassionate and above all he knew the art of making life a celebration for everyone around him. Chetana had never come across a guy as lively and jovial as Somu. He was everything she wanted her man-in-future to be and there was nothing about him that she could dislike.      As days passed by, Somu started sneaking into her mind and giving her sleepless nights. She started having daydreams of marrying him someday and having kids who would resemble him.      The bubble of her rosy dreams burst when her father got transferred to their hometown Chennai and she got the marching orders. Like the love-sick heroines from the movies, she took the oath to come back for him when she grew up and win his heart.   Chetana smiled and slapped her head at her idiotic childhood fancy. But her smile waned out as she took another look at the picture of her childhood sweetheart. Some mystic force compelled her to find him and fulfil her oath.“Some wishes are destined to remain unfulfilled,” Chetana muttered with a sigh as she closed the album.She took the album to lock it back in the cupboard but then pondered for a minute and placed it inside her bag instead. She set an alarm to get up early as she had an early morning flight to catch. She switched the lights off and lay down on her bed. As darkness filled the room, Somu’s face started dancing in front of her eyes, just like in her teenage days.“Would my life be better if I had married him?”Chetana couldn’t help smiling at that crazy thought of hers. But the very next instant, the thought didn’t seem that crazy to her. She found herself twisting and turning in her bed for the rest of the night. She had turned into that teenage girl once again who used to chuckle the whole night being lost in the thoughts of her sweetheart. *   *   *   A Date with Sand and Sea    Day -1      Chetana opened her eyes slowly as strong beams of the sun pierced through her drooping eyelids. She placed a hand over her eyes and turned to her side. The clock placed by the side of her bed told her that it was 2 p.m. She sat up in the bed and looked outside. Huge waves of the sea were drenching the burning sand on the beach outside it.“The idea of a vacation was not that bad,” Chetana said as she got down the bed.She freshened up and called room service to order lunch. As she waited for the food to arrive, Eliza’s words echoed in her ears when she had come to drop Chetana at the airport early in the morning.“These are going to be the best 7 days of your life, Chithu,” Eliza said as she hugged Chetana at the entrance of the airport.Chetana, who was reluctant to undertake a mission that seemed almost impossible to her, turned a long face towards Eliza.“Trust me, Chithu,” Eliza pulled on Chetana’s hand and ushered her inside the entrance. “Now run, otherwise you will miss your flight.”   Chetana was greeted by an orange sun crawling up the horizon as the flight took off. She was so lost in relishing the marvels of nature that she didn’t realize how time passed. The spell cast on her was broken when the cabin echoed with the announcement of the landing of the flight.        The resort was far more magnificent than what she had seen in the pictures. The splendid interiors, the palatial suite rooms equipped with all modern facilities and the pleasant and soothing ambience aided a lot in lightening the burden that was gnawing upon her mind.       But it was the enticing beauty of the beach that stole her heart. Chetana was shown into one of the most elegant rooms of the resort that faced the beach. After having a leisurely warm water bath and a light breakfast, she felt a bit drowsy. She had to postpone the idea of taking a stroll on the beach to later in the evening as the weight of sleep burdened her tired eyes.    After having slept pleasantly for a couple of hours, she was more than ready to step out on the beach. The slanting rays of the afternoon sun were still strong enough to roast the sand. Chetana settled down on a beach chair by the shade of a huge umbrella. The roaring waves of the sea and the silence of the beach took her back in time.     It was at a family friend’s beach house in Chennai where she had met Anant for the first time. She was a sprightly collegian of 21 who was in seventh heaven when her family took her to visit her father’s friend, Sivaraman uncle’s, beach house during one of her vacations. Little had she known that it was all part of a well-planned conspiracy by her family to get her married to the dashing chartered accountant.*    *     *Dear readers,Stay tuned to travel down memory lane with Chetana. And please do leave a review or rating. Thank you.