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Some ‘Likes’... Few ‘Dislikes’... Makes Life • Indrani Bhattacharyya ‘I’m in love I guess.’ In spite of knowing pretty well that this sentence had been directed towards me, I pretended not to hear it and continued reading my all time favorite Sidney Sheldon’s creation ‘If tomorrow Comes’. Even after so many years of association, Tracy Whitney fascinates me to the core.

‘I’m talking to you, Ru. Come On, can you hear me’?
Throwing the book in despair, finally I decided to prepare myself for another uselessly useless encounter with my roommate of three long years who had tormented me with those crappiest love stories since the very first day we met. I knew there was no escaping for me this time either.

I detest losing my temper under any damn circumstances. ‘Patience is the key,’ I told myself, took a deep breath and looked at her cheerfully. ‘Oh yeah? Who’s the lucky guy by the way?'

She was a bit taken aback with such ultra cool response as certainly this was not something she expected of me, at least at this moment. But I was determined not to spoil my mood, no, not again. There could be two reasons for my sudden change of stance.  Number 1: I have had so many heated discussions before, as far as, all of her ‘falling in and out of love’ drama episodes were concerned that eventually it reached  a saturation point where it didn’t matter to me anymore. Number 2: I became matured enough to come into terms with the fact that there was no point making things bitter between us just for such silly stuff anymore. She had been a wonderful roommate otherwise.

With a sheepish grin, she asked me mildly ‘Are you serious? Wanna listen’? As if she would spare me if I didn’t.

At this young age, things like this happen with most of us. You fall for someone, followed by an equal and opposite reaction; you might take it seriously and carry it further to build up a concrete future or part ways citing incompatibility or difference in opinions.  There’s nothing abnormal in it. Instead this is the most natural outcome supposed to take place at least once or twice in every so called normal individual’s lifetime. But of course my friend didn’t fit into this category; she was special, very special indeed. No Hollywood or Bollywood movie could ever match up to her experiences acquired just during her college days. Be it love triangle, rhombus, or ellipsoid complexity, she had made them, seen them, and done them all. Surprisingly nothing could dampen her spirit. I could never figure out why she took on this enormous pain of going through such huge emotional turbulence everytime. Just because indulging those relationships were not worth anything at the end of the day. Sick, tired and frustrated me at times I even thought she was mentally challenged. No sane person could do this to themselves.
‘So tell me how it happened with you, once again.'

Completely ignoring the deep sarcasm in my voice, Riya looked straight through my eyes and came up with the same question for the second time in an hour. ‘You seriously wanna know?’

I don’t know what made me feel that this night was going to be different; she had something more up her sleeves to show me. I made up my mind for one last time and gave her a small affirmative nod.

‘I know you're disgusted with me Ru, but any idea why I keep experimenting with my freaking life’?  For an instance my heart skipped a bit, she did sound like a thought reader .

‘Ru, life is like water, the states keep changing for every one of us. I wonder how could there be certain fixed criteria to define what is right or wrong. You can’t decide it for me! It needs lots of strength and courage to swim against the tide. You can like it, dislike it, ignore it but have no right to impose any kind of restriction on it. Let destiny be the guide, conscience be the judge.’

I was dumbstruck not because for the first time I heard her talking so sensibly but mostly for the depth of every word she spoke.

She flashed a dazzling smile and continued ‘I might have gone through quite a few failed relationships but got to learn something new from each one of them which eventually I could apply for betterment of myself and people around me. It’s an inner journey; it goes on irrespective of starting or ending of any bonding or attachment. Ru, unlike most of you, if I am hurt, I don’t get disappointed, I don’t bleed inside. I have learnt to allow myself breath freely in spite of all odds. That’s why my love for life never comes to an end. With onset of every dawn, I become stronger; I grow as an improved human being’.

She put her hands around my shoulder as she could sense my inner turmoil. I sat standstill, too lost to talk. We, her close pals never bothered to take this girl seriously, basically we always had a different treatment for her because of her ‘apparently brainless acts’. This conversation has remained the strongest eye opener for me till date.

My ‘not-so-stupid’ roommate made me realize with her inexplicable attitude towards life that everyone should seek their own route to find happiness. There’s remotest possibility that yours and mine will be the same. But let’s keep the hope alive and move on for the best.
© Indrani Bhattacharyya - October 20th 2011

A Daughter Returns
Indrani Bhattacharyya
They are poles apart as far as their respective nature, individuality, perspectives towards life are concerned. If the older one is explosively extrovert, the younger firecracker sternly believes in silence

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