54 The Flashback
*****
Delhi, India. It was the first day of my third year in college. I was on the welcoming committee. It was my team’s job to help our fellow freshers. We set up a table at the entrance of the gate and guided every fresher to their respective departnts.
A lot of girls and boys passed through our table after thanking us for helping them. Our job was to hand them a visitor’s pass, the brochure of our college and a map that had every departnt highlighted on it.
We were busy with our work when a group of boys approached our table. So were from the dia Journalism departnt, and a few were from the law departnt. Suddenly a boy with a happy and go-lucky attitude and a breezy smile approached . His pearly whites were glowing in the morning light. The slick back hair and square jaw were enhancing his black, beautiful eyes.
“Hi! My na is Ritvik,” he said.
“Hello! Ritvik, here is your welcoming packet. Welco to Deep Institute of Education,” said I and moved on to the next boy.
But he was not ready to move. “May I know your na?” he asked. Everyone stopped what they were doing and started staring at him.
“Excuse !” I exclaid with surprise.
“I would like to know the na of the beautiful girl who helped ,” he flirted.
.....
I stood up angrily and faced him. “First of all, I am your senior not so girl you flirt with. You better rember it next ti. Also, you are here to learn, so concentrate on that. Don’t think you will score a girlfriend the first day you arrived. Now get lost and go to your departnt before I get you expelled for your inappropriate behaviour.”
“Sorry! I didn’t an to offend you. Extrely sorry, please forgive ,” he said, guilt-ridden.
“Move, you are blocking up the queue,” I snapped.
He hung his head low and started to walk away when one of my friends, Nishant shouted, “Hey, Ritvik! Her na is Nivritti.” And he winked at him. That made him smile.
But I was angry. I hit Nishant on his head, angrily.
“Ow!” he cried.
“Shut up! Concentrate on your work,” I shouted at him but never looked at Ritvik.
I was in the English Literature departnt, and he was in Journalism. All those two years I would catch him staring at him with his friends. But after that scolding, he was always afraid to talk to . He never approached or even tried to talk to , he would just stand in a corner and watch talking or laughing with my friends.
It was well-known in the college that a junior had a crush on a senior. My friends would tease , even my teachers would tease . Sotis I would ignore them, sotis I would scold them but most often I would end up hitting them.
My two years were completed, and it was graduation day. No juniors were allowed to attend the ceremony but sohow, he got himself into the cultural committee that organised every event in our college, and he was present in our graduation ceremony.
His job was to hand over our caps and robs. We would go inside a room according to our roll number and after signing a sheet he would hand us graduations caps and robs. It was my turn, my roll number was called.
I went in, he saw and froze. The cap fell from his hand.
“The cap,” I said.
“Huh...”
“I pointed at the cap at his feet and again said, “the cap.”
“Right, sorry!” he bent down and picked up the cap. “Please sign this sheet.” He forwarded a sheet on the table.
“Um... pen?” I asked.
“Right, of course,” fumbling he picked up a pen and handed it to . Carefully, not touching his hands, I grabbed the pen and signed the sheet. He placed the cap and the rob in a white packet and gave them to .
But this ti, the unthinkable happened. My fingers touched his fingers. I could see his eyes widening and mouth opening. But he imdiately closed his mouth and gulped. I can’t say what he was feeling but I know that he liked the touch.
I pulled the packet from his hands and turned around. Without looking at him, I said thank you and left. But before I could exit, I heard a faint sigh and an “I love you”. I don’t know why but that made smile. I shook my head at his silliness and left.
I thought that would be the last ti I would see him but after the ceremony, he was waiting at the gate. He never said a word, he never approached . He just had his hand over his chest and kept staring at .
“He wanted a last glimpse of you. Oh, how I wish I had soone to obsess over . You are so lucky girl,” teased one of my friends.
“Shut up!” I snapped at her. I don’t know why but her words made turn around and look at him for the first and last ti. The mont I turned around to look at him, he threw his hands in the air and shouted, “Yay!” I could not help myself and started laughing.
A few years went by. I completed my masters and got a job as a content writer in a reputed advertising firm in Delhi. It was my daily routine to board the tro from near my house and the tro would take near my office. My friends and I would walk to the office after that. It was within a walking distance.
After all these years I even forgot about Ritvik when one day the doors of the tro opened, and everyone started deboarding the tro in a hurry. My friends and I were pushed out of the door, and I stumbled by two firm hands that held tightly and stopped from falling face down.
“Thank you,” I said and looked above to see who the person was. My mouth fell open. Ritvik too was staring at with shock. It was clear that he never even thought of eting like that but there I was in his arms. But the waves of people kept coming. He pulled closer, spun and took into a corner to keep safe.
My friends were lost from . I had no idea where they went. The crowd kept forcing them to move down the stairs to the exit gate.
“Are you alright?” he asked politely. This was the first ti in all those years that he gathered the courage to talk to .
“I am okay, thanks to you. Oh shit! My friends,” I shouted.
“Sorry! I could not do anything to help them. As you know today the tro is facing so technical problems, so the crowd is late and thus in a hurry to reach the office,” he explained. I had never heard him talk so much in a single sentence. It was bizarre to .
Then I realised that his hands were still on my waist holding tight, scared that I would fall. “You can let go now. I am fine,” I assured him. Awkwardly he smiled and stepped back.
“Where are you going?” he inquired.
“Um... IT city, building No. 2. I work there,” I replied.
“What? That’s a great coincidence. I start my job in that building today,” he replied.
“Oh, which firm?”
“Truth dia!” he replied proudly.
“Congratulations!”
“Thank you and you?”
“You are on the fifth floor, and I am all the way up to the thirteenth floor, working for “Fresh India Advertising.”
“Wow! That’s the most reputed Advertising firm in North India. You were always an over-achiever,” he smiled.
“Your firm is not bad. It’s an up-and-coming dia firm in India,” I said.
“Thank you,” he smiled shyly.
“Well, let’s go. It’s your first day you must not be late,” I said.
Happily, he followed . I took him to our building and after leaving him at reception, I walked up to my office.
Then it beca a routine. He would et and my friends at the tro station and we all would go together to the office. Slowly, he gathered up the courage and asked for my number. For a few days, he didn’t send a ssage but then he started ssaging .
Sothing happened to , in my heart and I started liking the ti I would spend with him. I loved talking to him, eating with him, and partying with him. He was charming and polite. We would spend the whole night ssaging each other. Slowly those ssages turned into late-night calls.
My friends would tease him that his crush is now changing into love. They would tease him about his puppy love coming to fruition. But now I was not angry. I too loved the teasing.
Then I was promoted and received a huge bonus. I wanted to stay away from my parents, wanted to be independent. I had to fight with my mother and my sister to get a separate house near my office. That would reduce my commute ti. Finally, my family said yes, and I bought a house in the residential area near my office.
It was my housewarming when my parents first t with Ritvik. But he was still a friend or maybe more, I didn’t realise at that ti.
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