chapter 30
Sanyog - A Coincidence
She was expecting a sudden exclamation from me ⦠Instead I uttered ⦠this kulfi is very tasty , it reminds me of the kulfi I used to eat back in my village ⦠do you remember ⦠when you had visited my village we had enjoyed it on the way to the bus stop in the evening ⦠Sanyogita furiously whispered ⦠I am here on very serious topic and you are after kulfi ⦠I said , my mother always said , whatever may happen donât insult the food in your hand by the anger in your mind ⦠Sanyogita said , do you remember somebody else also agreed with this statement ⦠Yes⦠I do remember ⦠he was Sumangal ⦠When I was ill , I was in the hostel , he used take care of me and he uttered the same statement as my mother ⦠Ok, at least you remember that ⦠she said⦠Why ⦠what happened ? I questioned ⦠I thought ⦠she halted⦠What ? I asked ⦠Nothing ⦠she said ⦠are you not interested in knowing what happened afterwards ⦠she added ⦠If you donât mind Sanyogita ⦠I am eager to know ⦠but if you donât wish to tell ⦠I wonât force you⦠Sanyogita was keenly observing the waves in the blue water reaching till the horizon ⦠Though , I said to her , I am not interested in knowing her past ⦠but my palpitations increased ⦠I wiped my forehead with the handkerchief ⦠She noticed it ⦠and said ⦠are you nervous ⦠Why ⦠I should be ⦠I stated ⦠Who else will be? She said ⦠You know very well⦠Sanyogita or do you wish to take in written from me â¦I said angrily ⦠How many times , I regret ⦠she stated and stopped ⦠Regret for what , Sanyogita ⦠For reading those letters ⦠she said ⦠I was not the type of the girl who was interested in such things ⦠But, age matters , I completed her statement ⦠But you know very well , Sameep, I was not like other girls ⦠she said. I know , Sanyogita ⦠but sometimes its better to forgive ourselves for our past mistakes ⦠I said. I agree Sameep ⦠but when our decisions put at stake lives of many then you canât , she said. I lost my parents ⦠she said sobbing ⦠Unable to know what to say ⦠I just said , Sorry ⦠Sameep ⦠my father had huge expectations from me ⦠and I did nothing ⦠I am a big failure ⦠she said crying ⦠Sanyogita , I said , control yourself , we canât rectify the past but we can live better in the present ⦠But my parents wonât return to see it ⦠she was sobbing ⦠Sanyogita ⦠I said ⦠I donât know how to console you on the contrary I will advise you ⦠She cut my statement saying ⦠its always easy to advice ⦠I added ⦠Sanyogita , you are not the only one who suffered ⦠and suddenly stopped ( I was ashamed of myself for uttering this statement ) I couldnât gaze at her now ⦠To change the topic , I said , masala pan of this place is very famous , would you like to have one ⦠I will tell Mayank ⦠and without waiting for her confirmation ⦠I stood up and called Mayank ⦠He came , and I said ⦠please bring masala pan for us ⦠he nodded ⦠Sanyogita asked him about his meal ⦠I was relieved she ignored my statement ⦠Again I sat near her on the mat ⦠We sat in silence almost ten minutes till Mayank arrived with the pan ⦠While chewing the pan , she said , after years , I have enjoyed the lunch in the company of nature â¦thank you for it ⦠Sanyogita ⦠I said loudly ⦠whatâs this? ⦠we are good friends ⦠and you thank your friend ⦠this is against the rule of the friendship ⦠She added ⦠hiding from friends is also violation of rules ⦠Same applicable to you , I asserted ⦠Tell me what happened after you read those letters ⦠but I am surprised ⦠at that time you just mentioned once about those letters and afterwards we never discussed about it , I thought who will dare to write letter to you , such a sincere studious girl ⦠you might have fooled me ⦠I said How much I wish ⦠whatever you said should have been true ⦠she said . Sumangal was my room partner but I never thought he was inclined towards you , I said ⦠Appearances are deceptive , Mr.Sharma ⦠she said in an assertive tone ⦠I agree with you, I said ⦠I was also surprised when I received letters in the name of Sumangal , I also thought somebody might be making fun of me ⦠but one day , when you were in the library and he was teaching me mathematics ⦠he disclosed his feelings for me ⦠I was suddenly confused and shocked by his openness ⦠and I didnât gave any reply to him ⦠she said ⦠Why didnât you tell me at that time â¦I asked I didnât wish to put any hindrance in your studies ⦠thatâs why ⦠she said You should have told me ⦠I repeated ⦠Yes⦠how much I wished but after our first failure in prelims ⦠you decided to shift to Delhi ⦠So , I didnât wish to bother you by such petty concerns ⦠she added How did you decide everything on your own? I said angrily ⦠Sameep , she said in a calm manner ⦠I did what I thought was right at that time ... I didnât think about long term consequences ⦠maybe I was not mature enough ⦠I was from a family which was too much protective and I was not really acquainted with the external world at that time ⦠this is the late knowledge though ⦠Itâs never too late , Ma says , I said ⦠Yes , yesterday also , aunty was saying this to me ⦠Sameep ⦠in the afternoon when I was sleeping with her in her bedroom ⦠but Sameep ⦠life has flown us so long now ⦠now I donât have any courage to face life at all â¦she said I am surprised , I said , you are speaking this ⦠Sanyogita ⦠whom I have seen as the most staunch and stubborn girl ⦠She replied , that is past now ⦠Sameep and added but I wish my daughter should be like what you said just now ⦠What ! I exclaimed ⦠Dr. Archana Pandit Â