Chapter - 4
One day I was sitting outside on the veranda in a comfortable chair. At that time, someone told me:
"Some people are beating up Apurva at the street corner."
He was my friend; it was my duty to save him.
I immediately ran to the corner.
Who was beating him? I was shocked to see.
My three classmates, close friends, were doing this. What enmity did they have with Apurva? How did they even know him?
Why were they beating Apurva?
Seeing them, I was confident that they would let him go if I asked them to. But the opposite happened. They even refused to recognize me.
This was a conspiracy by the boys from the building whom I had stopped talking to after I started talking to Ananya.
What was the truth at that time? I didn't know anything.
I went and reported Ananya:
"Some boys are beating up Apurva."
Up to this point, everything was fine. But then, playing the role of a 'fool,' I revealed something else. "All of them are my friends."
What would any one would think of that?
This idea never entered in my mind.
It was my duty to save him. That's why I had run down to the spot.. They were my friends and it was my duty to stop them. I intervened but they did not recognise our friend ship.
This question could easily have crossed Ananya's mind.
But because I didn't do anything, my intension was suspected.
Ananya didn't say anything, but her body language led me to believe that she thought I had orchestrated the plot to beat Apurva.
In this matter, I had foolishly proven myself guilty.
A week later, it was the wedding of the daughter of my father's close friend, Kishor uncle. He had invited us a week in advance.
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One morning, when I didn't see Ananya, many questions arose in my mind. She had a godfather, whose name was Divyesh, and he was always with her. He knew everything about her. She wouldn't even drink water without asking Divyesh first. He knew where she had gone. I had even asked her, but he didn't care to tell me anything.
I spent the whole day feeling very anxious.
It was evening. At that time, I went to Divyesh's house.
Just then, Ananya had entered his house. She was wearing a sky-blue saree. She gave the impression of being a celestial nymph.
I was captivated by her, swept away by emotion. Gently tugging at the end of her saree, I asked:
"Where did you go?"
My action brought a look of displeasure to her face.
She didn't respond.
Ignoring me, she became engrossed in conversation with Divyesh.
I felt hurt by her attitude.
After a while, she left.
And I followed her to her house.
Then she respectfully invited me inside. She placed her hand on my waist and led me to the kitchen. She filled a plate with bhel puri and handed over to me. Seeing her kindness, I felt a sense of gratitude.
There must have been something on her mind, but I couldn't bring myself to ask.
Nevertheless, I was very happy with her behavior. This happiness was visible on my face until the next day.
And that was rudely snatched by Divyesh's words next day after noon.
He started lecturing me about grabbing the end of Ananya's saree. Hearing this, I lost my temper. He made me feel as if I had committed a terrible crime. I had only done it with the intention of diverting her mind to remind my presence..
He directly accused me, giving me feeling of a criminal:
"What did you do with Ananya yesterday?"
I was not bound to give answer.
I countered her question with one of my own:
"What way you are concerned? "
His face turned pale at my query.
I didn't care about his reaction.
Until then, Ananya and I were getting along fine.
But later I found out that Divyesh had instigated her against me. He had brainwashed her by putting the idea in her head that I was Apoorv's rival. He had convinced her that I was the one who had instigated my friends to beat him up.
From that moment on, she stopped talking to me. I couldn't bear it. I wrote her a letter. She misinterpreted that too.
And the next day, she called me home and gave me a huge shock.
"I am not your lover!!"
I had never consciously thought of her in that way. On what basis did she make such an accusation?
Everything went dark before my eyes. What should I do? I couldn't understand anything. At that time, Divyesh was also present in the house. He had behaved even worse with Ananya.
She had expressed her annoyance at his behavior.
I touched Ananya's feet, apologized her, and left her house.
On returning home, I tried to burn my hand. Geeta bahen was at Ananya's house at that time. She had called her. Bhavika was at home. She went and called my mother.
And Ananya also accompaniedr her. She applied ointment to my burnt hand. But there was no ointment available for the fire raged in my heart.
I remained withdrawn for days.
It was summer vacation at that time, so it didn't affect my studies.
And we went to Bharuch village to attend the wedding of the daughter of my father's close friend, Kishor uncle. And it provided necessary change of air.
This was blessing of Godfor me.
0000000 (To be continued)
