Author's POV:

When both the boys were reached to the pandal the girls started to gather around them. Some girls were just shook their heads, looking at them and continued their work, unbothered.

"Hi Rudra! How are you?" One girl exclaimed.

While other girl started to say "I heard you topped the college in the first year of PG."

"What's so surprising in that? He always topped the college be it UG or PG. Isn't it Rudra!?" Other girl exclaimed while trying to get attention from rudra in the end.

"I heard you're business is developing very fast. How do you manage to do this!" Another one tried to attract his attention by choosing the topic he loves.

Rudra was laughing awkwardly by nodding his head not knowing what to say. He looked at venu for help only to found his situation was also no better than him, by another group of girls. He looked around the girls to find any familiarity with their talks but found none. He sighed in disappointment of not finding his little bunny.

"Excuse me" he politely excused himself and went to the pandal to offer the Prayer followed by venu. He was looking at some of the girls who weren't giving attention to them and busy with their works to know if his little bunny was one of them. But it seems none of them were his bunny as they didn't even spare a glance at him. Sighing dejectedly they finish their Pooja and went back to their apartment.

Rudra's POV:

At lunch time the calling bell rang and I went to see who was that only to see that Latha aunty has came. I opened the door widely for her. She went into the house with a big smile carrying lot of bowls even uncle came with her carrying some boxes.

Latha aunty and sekhar uncle lives in the flat just beside ours with their two daughters. They were the first neighbours who welcomed us in the apartment. After knowing we were staying here without family for studies, the couple used to welcome us for lunch or dinner every now and then to make us feel at home and feel less homesick. But we just went there only once at first week of we moved here. She was a wonderful cook. We didn't talk much but unintentionally hide our family backgrounds from them too. After lot of years I felt motherly love from her and sekhar uncle was also a kind man who always smiles. We can always feel fatherly vibes from him whenever we talk with him. We don't know much about their daughters as when we went to their house for lunch, their daughters were already went to tuition, school has the benefit of weekends and holidays but not the tuitions. Even after knowing we hired someone to cook food and to help with household works, though Latha aunty felt somewhat relaxed but used to invite us for lunch in festivals or any occassions in their home.

We don't want to take their generosity for granted. So each time we politely declined their offer saying something or the other reason. Though we have to went to pavan's house is also a reason because of venu insists. Well all of our group knows what venu feels for pavan's little sister Lahari though we never voiced out with each other. So he insists us to go there whenever we got a free day.

So after few declines aunty took a revolutionary decision that instead of inviting us to their house she used to brought us whenever she cooks something delicious and even at festivals.

This is one of such day as it was Ganesh chaturthi, so she definitely would have brought all the items she cooked.

"Hi aunty!" Venu hugged her after me greeting her to which aunty caressed our cheeks and ruffled our hair lovingly with a smile.

"Why I'm feeling invisible!?" Uncle huffed out a sigh with an irritated look to which aunty and we laugh out loud.

"How could it even possible uncle. Actually we both are invisible infront of your handsomeness. You look very young in today's outfit uncle." Venu exclaimed applying a generous amount of extra butter for sekhar uncle, to which he just laughed and patted his shoulder saying he was too witty. Though he knows venu was joking he always take it positively and even responded like he believed what venu said and act accordingly. He was the best father material.

"Huh! As if! Venu, I'm telling you, don't even try to boost his ego saying these things. This old man was already flying over the clouds saying 'my parents made me had a child marriage with an old woman like you.' Now after hearing your talks he would be flying over the moon thinking it's true." Aunty snickered while imitating uncle in the middle.

We all laugh out loud upon the misery expression of uncle. I always admired the relationship between them. They have this super-glue understanding between them that we never saw them fighting seriously. Sure they have bickering between them and little-big arguments which eventually leads aunty to always win and uncle to always sulk but those fights seems to strengthen their relationship. I really want something like this in my life too with my little bunny.

Latha aunty place all the dishes they brought on the dining table and tell us to eat before it cools down. They insisted us to eat while she serves but we said, we have some work and eat them later. So they left after some chit-chat and constant reminders to eat.

After sometime we ate the food she bought which comprises of pulihora, pongali, garelu. The prasadam consists of kudumulu, undrallu, atukulu with bellam, chalimidi and vadapappu.

(These prasadams are usually what we offered as oblation on the occassion of Ganesh chaturthi in Andhra Pradesh, we usually call the festival as Vinayaka chavithi.

We offer different types of prasadams on different festivals. But pongali pulihora and gaarelu were almost present in every festival or occassions.)

The food was great as usual. We don't have place to fill our stomach with lunch so we just ate whatever Latha aunty gave us and went to take some rest.

Though I was sleeping my subconscious mind was fully on active. It was giving lots of scenarios about my life with my little bunny. From more than four years I can only imagine how would she look in my dreams. But it doesn't mean the looks would be important, I already know in my heart that I love her. I want to have a future with her. I want to have a family with her. So I would always wait for her. It's just my dreams always revolve around her. She was solely ruling my heart from more than four years with just her letters.

But my conscious mind would be always in fear. I only know her through letters over 4 years, in next 4 to 5 months my PG was going to be completed. Still I don't know who she was. I was afraid of what would I do after completion of my studies. I promised my dad that I would be back to home after completing my studies and took over the business. It's a deal between venu, me and our families that we would take over our family businesses after completing our studies, if they let us study at the place we choose and let us stay separate.

That was why even though we were living in the same city, our families let us stay in the flat apart from them. Now that our given time is almost going to over, I was afraid I would never able to find her.

I don't know how to tell her that I was going to leave from here and how to tell her my contact information. Otherwise what would I do if she stops writing to me. I don't think I could live my life without her. I already dreamt of my life only with her. I want to enjoy every happiness and every stage of life with her only. I want to share my problems with her and take comfort in her arms. I want to wear off my day full of stress while laying in her lap. Like this I knitted a lot of dreams which includes her.

I even dreamt of having some little romantic moments in filmy style too, like nuzzling my nose in her hair while she was trying to towel dry her hair after bath, stealthy pinching her waist when she was working in the kitchen, waking up everyday with lots of her pestering, reluctantly coming out of her hug while she  constantly tries to sending me to office everyday without late, kissing her forehead when leaving to office at morning and after came to home at evening, waiting for the day to end to go home from office, feeding each other and sleeping in each other's arms.

Like this I dreamt of having my life with her. Now I couldn't even breath properly even if the thought of my life without her occurs. I want to have her on my side from littlest things to big happenings in my life .

Guys I know it was a little boring chapter. But I need to shape the story for the start of a real love track. So in the next two chapters finally the letters thing was going to stop as finally there was going to be a female entry. So stay tuned.

Pongali (rice cooked with milk and jaggery with little bit of splitted red gram pulses)

Pulihora (tamarind rice)

Gaarelu (made up of black gram)

Chalimidi ( rice flour cooked in jaggery syrup and dried coconut pieces and decorated with dry fruits)

Vadapappu (nothing but soaked green gram splits, some people uses soaked bengal gram splits)

Usually chalimidi and vadapappu is a combination which is used to eat together and it's a prasadam which we see in almost every festival.)

Atukulu (raw rice flakes)

Bellam (jaggery)

Atukulu and bellam are the combination to eat.

Undrallu (rice flour is mixed with jaggery, water and soaked Bengal gram splits or soaked green gram splits to make a dough and made into balls to steam.)

Kudumulu (rice flour mixed with jaggery, milk and dried coconut grate to form a dough and shape like discs to steam.)

Kudumulu and undrallu along with atukulu with bellam were the main prasadams of this festival.

Love you all 😘

Happy reading

Please vote❤️
Please comment ☺️

Till the next chapter byebye 🙏