23 years before....

It was a typical hallway of a college, students rushing on their way to class, and professors casually strolling by. Classrooms were quickly getting occupied and just then a group of students were made to stand in a queue outside of  what was assigned to be the English department room. Ishita stood quietly as she was casually going the notice board nearby, when kavin suddenly appeared in front of her. Ishita was at first a bit startled by seeing him come in her way suddenly, only for her to be eased as he passed a light smile. 

"hey, are you here for that english ka elective paper?" asked kavin, as ishita nodded in agreement. 

"if it's the art of being happy...otherwise business communication dusre floor pe hai..." informed ishita, as kavin just shook his head in no. 

"nahi, nahi...mera art of being happy hi hai..." assured kavin, as ishita only looked away seeing her work was done after passing a polite  smile. 

But standing quietly was not something kavin would be able to do and he found that out quite quickly. 

"so..how happy are you, standing here?" asked kavin inquisitively, as ishita couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle at the obvious joke. 

"i guess the professor has yet to discover happiness before they'll teach us about it...hence, the wait..." replied ishita snarkily, as kavin couldn't help but chuckle. 

"english department waale are always weirdos man...like yeh bhi koi elective hua assign karne ko..." remarked kavin, as ishita couldn't help but agree. 

"english department mein they are just quirky...statistics mein they are all psychos!" exclaimed ishita, as kavin raised a brow at her. 

"aap stats honours ki student hai?" inquired kavin, as ishita nodded in ageement. 

"kambaal hai! lagti nahi! aap toh jitni fresh lag rahi hai, mujhe laga psychology ki hongi...." retorted kavin, as ishita only chuckled. 

"yeh kya logic hua!" responded ishita, as kavin was taken aback. 

"arre shakal se year aur degree dono ka idea lag sakta hai...ab dekho na, jiss  tarah se main late aa raha hoon araam se, yeh harkatein commerce department se hi aati hai!"  commented kavin, as ishita just shook her head in disbelief. 

"toh b.com hi kar rahe honge...b.com honours waale toh thode padhako lagte hai..." suggested ishita, as kavin nodded in agreement. 

"see, you see my point now! and you are right too!" exclaimed kavin, as ishita just giggled. 

"toh, ab department bata hi diye hain....naam bhi bata dete hai...." suggested kavin, as ishita looked at him in amusement. 

"i'm kavin." introduced kavin, as ishita smiled before replying. 

"i'm ishita." stated ishita her name too, as kavin nodded in agreement. 

"well ishita, i see a lot of happiness ahead of us in this class, you know..." remarked kavin, as ishita only chuckled before glancing at him more carefully. 

"i think there'll be quite more after this class too..." retorted ishita, as kavin raised his brow at her, indicative of asking 'really', as she only nodded in agreement and they both exchanged smiles. 

                                                                          ***

Disha just looked on, standing with her arms crossed, waiting for the crowd to lessen, only for a cup of tea to be presented in front of her, making her look up to purav.

"toh, ab main aapke liye chaye le hi aaya hoon, toh saath baithke peelete hai, if you are interested?" offered purav, as disha took one glance of him before presenting her response.

"apni taarif toh bataye pehle..." remarked disha, examining him from head to toe. 

"naam mera purav hai, aur aapke hi jitna shauk rakhta hoon chayee peene ka...isliye mujhe lagta hai humein ek baar saath peeke dekhna chahiye, kya baat hai aur pasand milti hoon?" presented purav his offer with a confident smile that was quite appealing to her. 

"agar pasand na milein toh?"asked disha playfully, as purav chuckled. 

"phir shayad thodi kam mulakaatein ho..." replied purav jokingly, as disha raised her brow at him. 

"agar hui hi na toh?" asked disha, as purav comically furrowed his brows. 

"woh main hone nahi dunga na disha..." affirmed purav, as disha was surprised. 

"naam kisne bataya tumhe mera?" interrogated disha, as purav tried to withhold his laughter. 

"woh main tab hi bataunga jab phir milenge..." replied purav, as disha was about to present an argument but stopped, quite intrigued by the prospect of this meeting and many more to come....

                                                       ***

Purvi and Kavin were seated in their balcony on spacy lawn chairs with a small coffee table in between them. They were sipping on their respective cups of tea, as they looked outside at the city, enjoying a peaceful evening. 

"toh aaj kaafi jaldi aa gaye tum?" inquired purvi as kavin nodded in agreement. 

"pichle hafta overtime kaafi hua, isliye maine socha ek din jaldi jaata hoon yaar...bore hojata hoon main zaroorat se zyada office reh loon toh..." remarked kavin, as purvi chuckled. 

"kabhi-kabhi mujhe samajh nahi aata tumhe department head kisne banaya tha..." retorted purvi sarcastically, as kavin only chuckled. 

"bhai sahi time pe sahi jagah hona chahiye bande ko bas..." replied kavin, as purvi nodded in agreement. 

"tum dono baap-bete ko luck ke maamle mein waise koi kami nahi hai...uske internal ke marks dekhe?" asked purvi, as kavin nodded in agreement, while shaking his head and chuckling. 

"bechare ko enjoy karne do yaar..yahi toh time hai...aakhri minute bhi padhta hai toh kya hua, number toh le hi aata hai...second year mein uska 8.6 tha CGPA..." stated kavin, as purvi just sighed. 

"yaar kavin ab kya karoon, tension hoti hai iski...aisi aadatein padi hai, kaam kaise karega yeh baad mein?" expressed purvi her worry, as kavin just grabbed her hand and squeezed it for comfort. 

"purvi woh na kuch na kuch karlega, lekin tumhari tension se na tumhara hi BP badega....phir dekh lo, chaye bhi band karni padhegi tumhari!" joked kavin, as purvi just glared at him, while he only chuckled. 

"how do you take everything so lightly!" exclaimed purvi, as kavin glanced at her with some seriousness. 

"i have accepted one thing na darling, hoga wahi joh hona, tumhare-mere sochne se woh nahi badlega...isliye pareshaan na hi ho toh acha hai..." assured kavin, as purvi couldn't help but agree, continuing to ponder as she sipped on her cup of tea, while kavin looked outside.