You - I - We & Me - Part 1

Varun's cell phone blinked "Kaavya calling ...” he did not notice the time, but he is sure that it’s late in the night, he picked it up and said "Hey what's up? Calling so late? You not feeling sleepy is it? Kaavya did not respond for a minute and finally she broke the silence with a broken tone, "I think this will not work out and I am sorry for coming into your life" and the line goes dead. Varun pinched himself to make sure that its not a dream, he started to sweat and tried calling her again, but all he got was - "The number you are trying to reach is currently switched off ...” Varun could not sleep any further and his memories took him back to the day he met Kaavya for the first time in his life ...

Varun met Kaavya in a war zone, yes, both of them work as journalists and they both met each other in Mumbai during the terror attack which happened in the trains. Varun worked for one of the leading news channels as their reporter and Kaavya worked for its rival news channel. The rivalry is only between the channels and not between its reporters. Varun was the first to say a Hi to Kaavya and she too responded with a smile. They both have to stay for days together in Mumbai to cover the story and they happened to spend good amount of time with each other. They never thought that this relationship will turn into love and that is going to change their life forever.

Varun and Kaavya came back to Chennai and still they continue to maintain their friendship. It all started with "Good Morning" sms's and then to phone calls and then to late night chatty sessions. Both of them were very comfortable with each other. They discovered some amount of closeness between them and they were happy about it. Though they did not exchange that three worded sentence, they allowed it to "go without saying". Varun took her once to his house and Kaavya was welcomed by his mom who showed absolutely no expressions on her face, not even a smile on her face. Varun tried his best to make his mom talk to her, but she showed little interest. Varun does not want to give Kaavya the feel that his mom is not happy in he bringing her home, so he managed the scene very well by saying, "Oh, today is Friday naa, Mom used to be silent for the whole day, I almost forgot that". Kaavya is not so dumb to believe that, still, she pretended as if she is convinced.

That incident disturbed Kaavya a bit but as she got busy with her work, that feel faded from her mind. They both continued to be as usual and their late night chats and occasional dinner meetings continued. It was one such dinner meeting and that's when they both decided to crack the nut and then do some serious talking about their relationship. Kaavya opened the topic.

Varun, are we flirting?

Ah, I don’t think so Kaavya, I think our relationship is more than friendship

I know that, but there must be an end to this, I mean we have to name this relationship

So, have you decided to be with me forever?

If I did not feel so, I wouldn’t have taken this relationship this far.

I know dear. Ok, I will talk to my mom this week and we will take one step at a time

What do you mean by one step at a time?

I mean, I first have to talk to my mom and get her acceptance and then we have to proceed. I think that will be the same procedure at your place too. Isn’t it?

So do you feel that your mom may not agree to this? In my place I have no issues; my dad has given me the freedom to decide my future. He trusts me a lot.

I did not mean that way. My mom is pretty orthodox; she may want to have our horoscopes matched.

What if that does not match? Are we planning to go by what the planets say or by what our heart says?

Let me first talk to my mom, and that's the reason I said, lets take one step at a time.

Varun, as you know, it’s very difficult to live with uncertainties in life. Hope you understand.

Rest of the dinner went without they uttering a word and it’s the forks and spoons who did the rest of the talking with their plates. Varun was waiting for the right time to open this topic to his mom and to his surprise his mom called him to her room and she said she has to say something important to him. Varun obeys his mom and he has not done anything against her wish till date. He knows how much his mom has suffered to bring him up once he lost his dad. He respects her for the courage she has shown against this society which has proven deadly for vulnerable widows like her. Varun has no clue of what his mother is going to share with him, so with too many hooks hanging over his head; he walked in to her room.

Kaavya met him the next day and she asked him if he has opened the topic about their marriage at his place and Varun had silence as a reply to that question. Kaavya knows that it will not be fair to put pressure on Varun as she knows how much he respects his mom; she is a very matured girl. Varun looked at her and that look conveyed the message to her that he needs some more time. Kaavya weaved her fingers with him and looked straight into his eyes and told him, "I will wait". Varun felt as if a big burden was lifted off his shoulder, but he knows that the same burden is going to be back on his shoulders very soon. Days rolled into months and Kaavya was running out of time, this time the pressure was from her family side. She cannot disclose anything to her parents without Varun confirming anything from his side, so she did not disclose her intentions to her parents, though they are not going to object to her wish.

With all these going in Varun's mind, he was shook by the alarm which struck at 6 in the morning. He still could not believe what he heard last night from Kaavya. He tried her number once again and got the same "Switched Off" reply. Varun decided to go to her office in person and meet her. He got ready by 7:00 and he knows that Kaavya too will be attending the morning shift today, he marched towards his gate to pick up his bike and for a minute he stood frozen at the gate, he just could not believe his eyes ...

To be continued ...