Contd... Indeed time has flown to the unknown horizon. Memories of bygone days were just alive in reminiscence. Almost 6, nah! Maybe 7 years! Divyaj sighs?as he walks back to his cubicle. "Do not worry mommy, I would be back in 3 years and then go for 2-3 years more and I would be back forever," he had said. And his mom always kept saying, "Nah, mero chora aucha. Basdaina tya. Haina?" And he always said, "Ho." And here he was, almost 3+2+3 years afterwards, yet unable to make it pass the border of what people affectionately call, "the land of opportunity". Was it all worth it? Or better still, is it going to be worth it? He does not know. The loving voice of his mother always asking, "Babu kahile aun..." haunts him at endless nights once in a while. Slowly, it seemed like a distant imagination. "Babu kahile aune..." Life moved too fast, too soon for him. Too soon to realize that life is passing him by. But he never really let it bother him. He still has time. It is still not late. Maybe he can catch up with something back home. Then again, life, it appears is about to offer him so much - here. But he is determined to go home someday, sometime soon. But the situations back home? What is he to do? Feudal despot, corrupt inept politicians, and inhuman bastard Maoists; what are the options? Do something with family stuff? But what about everything he has worked for, day and night, literally. And the chaos back home does not help either. Excuses excuses...perhaps that's why he has all the positive feelings for people who decides to work back home, "by choice". And here he was, selfish as he is, in spite of everything laid out for him, reluctant to leave the life he so despises. Talk about quagmire! Nah, he is selfish, selfish to the bone. But. . . Days, it seemed, were passing by pretty fast. He looked forward to going for work. It was good to have someone from back home, although a co-op as Sonali was. Once in a while, he did feel out of sorts, where he could not relate to anyone. But hey, he did not complain. He got along pretty well with his colleagues and had recently climbed up the ladder in hierarchy. No he never complained for long hours. What has he got to do? Go home, go out, call some friends, do some mundane stuffs. Yeah, pals - he has, but for the weekend alone. Everyone seems to be lost somewhere other days, bar some, when they catch up for a quick drink in some bars. And over the weekend they seem to come alive, like Dracula coming alive at night, thirsty for blood. And they drank, and they laughed and they. . . A month went by, and then few more weeks. The picturesque view from that 32nd floor appeared even more beautiful as the days passed by. They would each watch that view together. More often than not, they left work together. Somehow, things did not materialized anything beyond the proximity of revolving door of the building. Divjay could never ask her if he could drop her, go for a coffee or something, you know, and Saloni never mentioned anything either. But somehow it was always awkward while they separated. The tranquility Divyaj felt while being engrossed in silence with Saloni, was slowly being more meaningful than many conversations he have had with many others. Did I not tell you about how an odd silence can make the world of meaning between two people? Did Saloni felt it too? He would not know. You know how people say things that they do not mean, and yet, somehow, weirdly enough, it just so happens that it is exactly what they feel. O.K. Let, me explain: oftentimes we say stuffs to people for the sake of it. For mirth, in jest, if you will, and before they realize it, it somehow finds some meaning, makes some sense. I know, weird eh? Without knowing, somehow, Divyaj begun to say things, and express stuffs that he really did not know had any meaning. He just said for the heck of saying it. He always did. But Saloni, she would just listen, and smile. She actually enjoyed listening to all those nonsense, which perhaps made some sense to her. And when Divyaj would not, then to his utter astonishment, Sonali of all the people would push him to, however shy she might have been. Does that imply that she actually liked those impromptu jives he threw at her time and again? You tell me. ************************************************************* ((Khas ma malai lekhna ayena ke.:p Hijo rati alik lagda ra ani ahile bihana hangover ma deko. Hahaha. Jeri jasto hola jasto cha. Ghumeko ghumein ;) :p) ---Yo chai thakit drunk part.;) Not merry drunk - TIRED drunk :d To be contd...