"From the moment we started talking, I knew that I wanted you around"

~Unknown~

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Despite his momentary surprise at Aabha's causticity, Shaurya was not one to be beaten down and  was quick to get back at her, "Mademoiselle, I agree you are not a kid anymore, but surely, are not so old either to be carrying such bitterness in you."

She glared back at him and countered, "And you, Mister, though not very old yourself, are certainly not young enough to believe in fairy tales."

Shaurya was now quite impressed, he appreciated quick wit and the woman before him seemed to have a crackling sense of humour, even though it was laced with astringent cynicism. It was a rare thing to find in people, that lethal combination of straightforwardness and dry wit; he was drawn like a moth to the fire and unable to help himself, continued with the verbal volley.

"Touché," he said and asked, "Shall we make a deal?"

When he noticed that she did not protest, he continued, "We seem to have judged each other without even knowing anything about the other. I will tell you why I am reading what you have labelled as 'romantic tripe' and you will let me know why you do not believe in love."

Aabha considered him; she conceded that he was right about them starting off on a wrong footing and thought about it. In the end, curiosity won over, after all, it would not hurt to hear him out nor would it harm her if she shared her story with him. She nodded and said, "Deal," and she was sure that only her glasses protected her from the dazzling smile he flashed at her when she agreed to his bargain. Not wishing to dwell on the thrill that rushed through her at his smile, she asked, "So, what is your story?"

"Right, I am Shaurya and I am twenty-six years old. I hail from a family of very wealthy and successful businessmen, and am fairly successful myself." 

He paused as he noted Aabha's expression turned quizzical and smiled, "I am not boasting, I just wanted to give a little background, I was not what people generally classify as a spoilt rich brat, though I have had a fair share of escapades and casual girlfriends. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I met a girl a year ago, Nisha, and I fell for her like a ton of bricks. I guess she was bedazzled by me too as we found ourselves engaged to be married within six months of knowing each other. I was ready to do anything for her; she liked theatre so I went to plays with her, she preferred rock music to classical, so it was rock concerts that we attended, she liked pink so I did buy a few shirts in that shade too."

He still shuddered at the thought of wearing pink and felt that the only good thing about his break up was the fact that he might be able to discard those shirts.  

"I was willing to change for her and I thought that those gestures and the fact that I loved her would be enough, apparently it was not. She broke off three months ago saying that I was neither romantic enough nor did it seem that I could put in the effort of learning to be romantic. She accused me of ignoring her for my work and said that if this is how matters stood before we even got married, she dreaded thinking what would happen after we got married."

 He took a sip of his coffee and then continued, "I want to win her back and since my apparent lack of a romantic side is the roadblock, I am trying to cultivate that facet. I hoped that reading romantic books might help me, so based on an internet search I have selected what the top ten romantic books are; and here I am, reading this 'romantic tripe'. You know, infinite love, lasting forever and till eternity?"

Aabha snorted, which surprised Shaurya, he was not used to women or girls snorting; giggling was fine, suppressing their laughter delicately into fragrant squares was accepted, snorting was definitely unexpected. But rather than being disgusted, he was further intrigued by her. He did not say a word, just raised his eyebrow, asking her to explain. 

Aabha sighed, she should really learn not to be so expressive, now she would have to let him know why she had been so disgusted when he had been talking about love. She looked at him, he had an expectant look on his face and she knew that he would not continue with his tale till she replied. She gave a small smile and then explained, "Have you ever heard yourself speak, you sound like the clichéd voice over for a third grade Bollywood movie. Love is the most overrated concept I have ever come across. I do not believe in it. And do you even know the difference between infinity, forever and eternity?"

Shaurya grimaced at the derision in her voice and replied, a little thoughtfully, "They are all time- spans."

However, when he saw her roll her eyes, he elaborated, "infinity is an unlimited amount of time, forever means lasting for limitless time and eternity is unending time. But even if they mean the same, they denote different lengths of time. While infinity appears to be never-ending, forever describes something to be never-ending and eternity denotes a vastness that our minds cannot comprehend."

Aabha was flabbergasted at his reply. He had turned out to be a self-confessed successful businessman who was waxing lyrical over romantic love; he was a walking contradiction of sorts and she stared at him, unable to make out if he was being earnest or playing a prank on her. His name was vaguely familiar though she paid no attention to that for she found his story to be downright ridiculous. However, the next instant she thought that what she found to be ridiculous could also be why it would be true, he would have no reason to make up such a tale.

But she still wanted to be cautious and asked him, "So, you expect me to believe everything you have just said.  You, a successful businessman by your own admission, in a filmy fashion, change yourself for a girl, do everything she likes and she... She just  turns down a wealthy, good looking guy because she feels he is not romantic enough? And, in order to win her back, you have decided that gaining knowledge from books is the best course and so you spend your evenings here reading those books? You do not have any friends who are women or sisters whom you can ask for advice? And what does your girlfriend want, have you cut out your heart, carve her name on it and present it to her on a platter, decorated with sugar strands and chocolate sprinkles?"

Aabha's voice had grown incredulous as she questioned him and he looked quite abashed when she finished. It was a very thoughtful Shaurya who slowly replied, "I am a businessman, I am trained and experienced in solving business-related issues, and in the few cases I am stuck I do not hesitate to reach out to far more knowledgeable professionals. I just extended that approach to this problem too. I have a sister and friends but I cannot ask them for advice, I will never hear the end of it. This is also the reason why I read my selections here because I do not want anyone to know about my reading choices. But after hearing you out, I do appear to be quite stupid, although I guess we are all a little foolish in love." 

He then shrugged his shoulders, gave another of his dazzling grins and asked, "Now your turn, why are you so bitter in life?"

She sighed, she was sure that he would be persistent and she was tired of being rude and curt, it usually worked with everyone, but it had not scared him away. Instead, he was sitting in front of her telling why he read romantic fiction, and there was no reason why he would spin such a tale just to get her to tell her story. She took a deep breath and plunged in. "Aabha Sanyal, that is my name and I am twenty-four years old. I am fascinated by mathematics. For me, numbers are absolute; it is people who are manipulative. I had completed my M Tech in Mathematics earlier this year and am currently undecided whether to pursue a doctorate or not. And to keep myself busy till I make up my mind, I teach on a part time basis at the nearby college. 

As regards the notion of true love, it is my personal experience, backed up by empirical evidence that love does not exist, forget about true love.

Dida, my maternal grandmother, was brought up by her father as her mother died young, not out of natural causes or because God willed it. She had been married against her wishes and could never recover from that misery and despite giving birth to a child; she simply pined away to an early grave.

My Dida's husband walked out on her and my mother for another woman. Dida and her father brought up my mother who has this 'family curse' run in her. She came to this city for her higher studies, fell in love with, and got pregnant with me, by a man who could not summon the courage to marry my mother against the wishes of his family. My mother then got married to a man fifteen years her senior, a mean and abusive man, who thankfully drank himself to death within a couple of years of my birth, his journey hastened by the unpalatable truth that I was not his daughter. Dida and Maa brought me up and I have spent most of my life away from this city."

Shaurya sat in silence as he heard the bitter recounting of her story, unable offer any words of comfort; he could see the hurt in her eyes and realised that she was using anger and cynicism as a shield from pain and suffering. Aabha stayed quiet too, she had never confessed her story to anyone till date, and Shaurya's silence felt more like empathy rather than pity, a reaction that was unexpected and one she was not used to. 

And her tale continues in the next chapter. Do let me know your views, for as I always say, all feedback, good or bad is welcome.

Best,
Nyna