Kismat

Monami took the flat black framed glasses in her hands and looked at them for a while before gritting her teeth and put them back into their box. She then threw the box deep into the drawer and closed it back with one hand.

She has been wearing these glasses for the past three years. Although she wasn't short- sighted, she still wore them for three years, just because the frame was the same as his.

After her College graduation, she was impulsive enough to run all over the city. searching for a similar pair. She wanted the same frame as the one he wears.

She couldn't understand for the life of her why she was so obsessed.

Maybe just because he was her first love? No, That's not what it should be called, it was more like secret feelings buried deep into her heart, you could say it was a first time crush.

Moreover, this was the only love affair she had in all her 24 years of living.

After graduation, she hadn't seen him for three years.

Yesterday was actually the first time she met him after such a long time. Karan, the boy she fell in love with at the same time as her best friend, Shaifali.

The first to confess always wins, Shaifali revealed her feelings to her first, so Monami could only bury hers. She still kept them hidden to this day.

Karan had changed his glasses, yet, she was still wearing the exact same frame as the one he had back then.

The scene of their reunion was not very exciting.

He seemed to be taller and stronger, but he was still fair-skinned and gentle. Even surrounded by a big crowd, Monami could still recognize him from his back at first glance.

He did not know that she had been in love with him, and she did not know whether he could even still recognize her.

The answer was yes.

He turned around, looked right into her eyes, warm as it felt back then, he greeted her:

"What a coincidence, hum itne saalon baad phir se yun aise mile…. Kitne saalon baad ek doosre ko dekha Hain nahi. " he said.

Monami suddenly felt very nervous.

She subconsciously used her index finger to push back the glasses on the bridge of her nose, which was also his habitual movement.

She was a little uncomfortable, afraid of being seen through by him, so she tried to maintain a natural expression, seemingly relaxed, and replied: "Haan, sach me.. what a coincidence."

"How have you been these last three years?"

"I have been fine."

"Yahan aas pass shopping kar rahi ho?"

"Nahi, main bs.. just dropping by after an interview."

"Oh, kaisa gya interview? did it go well?"

"It was alright, but I don't know."

Their conversation seemed a bit boring, and she tried to think of a better way to answer him: "Anyway, main bs news ka wait karungi."

"Yeah."

He kept looking at her, with a gentle and warm look making her heart pound in her chest.

She warned herself to wake delusions. up from her

The reunion didn't bring any more interactions; she said a hasty goodbye without saying more than a few words.

He didn't ask for her contact information nor did she ask for his.

She actually regretted this when she turned and left but what good would it do her?

Just think of this as a chance encounter between two people who once knew each other in the vast sea of people.

Who knew in what year, what month and what day, their next encounter would be.

******

Back home, Monami took off her glasses, put them back in their box, and threw them into the drawer.

This reunion only served to make her get more irritated about this whole situation.

It has already been three years. What, for God's sake, is she still waiting for? Wasting her years on a silly crush?

Let's be real here, they are bound to meet again and again, but look, the man is living his life without a care while she is all hurt and upset.

It is finally time to let go of this secret crush.

Anyway, love is just a mental state.

Monami seemed to want to prove that she could get rid of it so she started jogging around her house, stretching her arms and moving her legs to help free her mind.

As she was exercising, she suddenly thought that she also had to throw away the gifts they had exchanged on their graduation day. This will for sure help her get rid of those burdensome emotions that are holding her back.

She ran to the big cabinet and rummaged through the drawer searching for that notebook.

When she graduated from college, she gave him a pen, and he gave her a notebook.

What about Shaifali? What did they give each other? She couldn't remember.

She touched the cover of the book with some emotion; she had never opened the book because she was reluctant to use it. It was too precious.

She sat on the ground, put the notebook on her lap, and looked at it as usual. There was a kitten on the cover, holding a ball of wool with a cute smile, it was so adorable. She touched the cat's head and said goodbye in her heart. Then she raised her hand and threw the book into the trash bin with a bang. She stood up decisively and went to take a shower.

After her shower, she went to the kitchen to prepare a meal for herself. She ate her meal, finished cleaning the dishes and then sat on the sofa to watch some TV, however, she wasn't paying attention to what was playing on there and her head was full of thoughts of him.

She remembered what he looked like today.

He was tall with wide shoulders, wearing a white shirt, and his usual gentle, warm look. His smile always gave her a very nice feeling, and even after so many years, this feeling has not changed.

"Ah..." Monami shook her head hard.

Turns out that even after taking off the glasses and throwing out the notebook, she still couldn't forget about him. She thought of him when she was taking a bath, when she was cooking, and when she was doing the dishes; she also missed him a lot.

...Monami felt upset, she really was sick!

She ran back to her room, picked up the notebook out of the trash bin, and decided to write her feelings down to clear her head a bit and then she would burn the book, thinking that this would be a more effective way to end things once and for all.

She turned on the lamp, picked up a pen, turned the first page of the notebook, and then she froze up.

On that page, there are a lot of characters written in a proper manner, with a vigorous handwriting that felt so familiar.

Through these words, she could even imagine how his long, clean fingers were holding the pen.

"Monami, maine bahut time se socha ki tumhe yeh letter kaise likhu..
Maine tumhe bahut baar kitno ke hi love letters ko reject karte hue dekha hua hain.. You see.. I dare not write it on a letter paper and pass it to you kyonki mujhe darr hain kahi yeh kho na jae.. As mujhe pta h ki tumhe beautiful notebooks collect karna acha lagta hain.. isliye maine socha ki agar main isme apni feelings likhu toh shayad yeh letter ka tum Tak pahunche.. iske chances ho…."

Monami kept still, how is it possible?

Here, there was actually a confession letter, and it was his confession letter to her. He didn't say it, and she didn't read it. At first, Shaifali cried and said that he had rejected her.

Monami didn't know how to comfort her. She didn't dare to say that she also had the same feelings for him. She didn't confess and he didn't say anything, so the two of them have just missed each other for three years?

Monami couldn't describe the feelings in her heart right now. She really felt like crying.

She caressed his handwriting and kept on reading "Mujhe pta hain ki Shaifali tumhari bahut achi dost hain.. main tumhe uncomfortable feel nahi karwana chahta.. But mujhe darr hai ki Shaifali aur tumhari jo dosti hain kahi uski wajah se tum mujhe reject na kar do.. par ab jab hum graduate ho gaye hain.. and, and I still like you, can you accept me?"

Monami felt like these words pierced through her heart. Of course she would have agreed. She would have been ecstatic, but it is already three years too late…

The first time Monami saw Karan was on the third day of her tenth class.

*****

It was autumn.

She had just finished her last afternoon class and was carrying her school bag on her way home.

There was a thick layer of leaves on the side of the road and she deliberately stepped on it and listened to the sound of the leaves breaking. When she looked up, she saw a bronze-skinned boy in a white shirt, crouching on the street corner feeding a stray puppy.

The boy heard the movements behind him, turned his head to look, and then smiled slightly at her. It was a clean and warm smile, very beautiful.

Monami thought the smile seemed to be printed in her heart.

****

At school the next day, Monami saw him again, and found that he was actually a classmate in the classroom next to hers.

She was a little dumbfounded.

They had been in the same school for a few years only separated by a wall, yet she had never noticed him before.

However, from that day on, she often inadvertently saw him.

He would walk past her classroom window when class was over and he would walk with his classmates carrying their school bags after school.

Actually, it seems that you only need to meet someone once before you start noticing them more and more.

Their year passed by quickly, and she was in the same stream as him but with the no. of students in that stream they were in different sections.

This time, they were separated by two classrooms, but she still saw him often.

The classroom window was facing the playground. Although he was a gentleman, he still liked to play basketball. Sitting in a convenient spot by the window, she used to sneak a peek every time he played.

In her second last year of school, she'd found out his name was Karan Shergill, as for her name, she didn't think he would have inquired about it.

She watched him like this for two years. Every day after school, she would take the same road to see if the stray puppy was still there. Unfortunately, the little puppy was gone and she never met him again on that road.

Then, the nerve wracking Board Exams ended and she got into IIT Delhi in New Delhi.

On the day of her high school graduation, she made up her mind to speak to him, but after looking everywhere, she couldn't find him.

She secretly approached his classmates and finally heard them say his name. It turned out that he fell sick and could not come.

Monami felt very sorry.

Were those feelings she has for him not meant to be in the end?

*****

The answer is: it is not over yet.

When she arrived at campus, she found out that he was actually in the same department as her.

She couldn't express how happy she was, but she had to pretend to be nonchalant about it.

She said: "Tum Mumbai se hona? Maine tumhe pehle dekha hua hain..."

His smile is still as beautiful as ever as he replied: "I have also seen you at school, Tumhe Basketball dekhna pasand hain… tum woh jo playground saamne jo class h second floor pr uski window wali seat thi na tumhari.. meri class se 2 classes chhodkar tumhari class thi..."

She blushed brightly, observed him carefully, and finally decided that he didn't mean anything by it. Fortunately.

With this alumni relationship and being from the same city as well as being in the same department, they naturally have more interactions now.

She has a quiet and shy personality and he was also gentle and reserved.

By this time, she was sure of her feelings for him. She liked him.

Her best friend in class at that time was Shaifali. Monami didn't know how to confess her feelings to Karan and so wanted Shaifali to help her out.

Shaifali was very excited that day. She said she also wanted to confess to her favorite boy, she even knew how she was going to do it, however, the person she liked happened to be Karan.

These words killed Monami at once, and yet, Shaifali didn't notice at all, she was still happily talking about her plan.

She said that Karan's character was reserved so she had to be the one to provoke him. She kept talking and explaining her ideas and Monami just listened, unable to say anything.

That day, until they went back to their dorm room, Monami did not say who she wanted to confess to, and Shaifali did not ask. She was too busy thinking about her own confession to care.

A month later, at a college programme performance, Shaifali played the piano. She was a very talented and beautiful girl.

Monami looked at her in the background and felt that she could not compare.

Shaifali's performance won thunderous applause. She looked confident and happy.

She picked up the microphone and said to the crowd at the auditorium: "Thank you, I want to take this opportunity to confess to the boy I like…"

Monami did not have the courage to listen to this public confession.

She fled away from the auditorium and walked aimlessly around the campus for a long time.

Finally, with nowhere to go, she returned to the dormitory.

That night, Shaifali came back very late.

Karan didn't say anything on the spot, but told her after the event was over that he could not accept her confession.

She had very red eyes and said that Karan  told her after the event was over that he could not accept her confession.

Shaifali clenched her fists in front of Monami, saying that she would not be discouraged and would continue to pursue him again.

Monami really didn't know how she was going to do it.

******

After that, she wasn't as close to Shaifali as she used to be.

Both of them got busy.

Shaifali was busy chasing after Karan and attending all kinds of events.

Monami, on the other hand, was busy with her classes, with her homework, and trying to avoid Karan.

The four years of college passed by peacefully.

Monami also rejected 'eight boys' confessions; she returned their letters without even taking the time to read them.

She just told them that she didn't want to have a relationship in College and wanted to focus on her studies.

She gained herself a reputation of being clear-minded, introverted, and studious.

That was all what she was known for among her peers.

******

On the day of her college graduation, Monami finally gave Karan a gift.

Although it was not a show of love, she wanted to make up for the regret of her high school graduation and she finally got to fulfill her wish at last.

What surprised her though was that Karan also gave her a gift, a very cute notebook.

Monami likes to collect all kinds of beautiful notebooks but she didn't expect him to know about her little hobby.

At that time, Karan still wore his warm smile as his slender fingers handed her the notebook.

Monami unconsciously blushed again; she bowed her head and thanked him.

She did not know that she had missed the look of helplessness on his face.

Karan wanted to actually talk to her more; he was looking for a job in Hyderabad, far away from New Delhi, and had to leave shortly after graduation.

The day she received the gift, Monami holding the notebook suddenly felt very sad.

She impulsively visited one store after another until she finally found the exact same frame as his, she also matched his flat lenses and put the frame on her face.

She told herself that she would just keep them as a souvenir of her dead crush.
Later, Monami found a job in a company in New Delhi. She rented a small apartment and never contacted Karan again but she still occasionally chatted with Shaifali online.

She hid the notebook deep in the drawer under her closet and has been reluctant to
use it.

So in the end, she had never opened it.

*******

Three years later, it was like a thunderbolt.

She found out that she had missed his confession.

For three years she has been missing out on a chance to be with him.

Karan wrote on that letter that if she is willing to go out with him, then to just call
him.

If she accepts, he will not leave.

Monami looked at his handwriting again and couldn't hold back her tears.

She remembered that shortly after he gave her the gift, he called her and asked her if she liked the notebook.

She was baffled and just gave a predictable response. Clearly a cop out answer.

So he didn't wait for her and she had lost him.

Now, it's already been three years, Monami told herself that by now, he could have a girlfriend or even a fiancée.

Monami sat dumbfounded for a long while, then suddenly picked up her phone and dialed the number that he had written on his letter, unfortunately, she only heard the automatic response as she had guessed: "Sorry, the number you have dialed is no longer in service."

She had already changed her number so of course he would have changed his too.

Monami turned on her computer.

She felt that in all her years she had never been as active as she is now.

She looked for Shaifali's Id. She was online.

Monami directly asked her if she still had contact with Karan. Unfortunately, the answer she got was a no.

This answer made Monami loose her sleep for the whole night, so in the end, does she really need to wait until they meet by coincidence again?

******

The next day, Monami got up with a set of panda's eyes.

She packed up her things properly, took her bag and went out of the door.

At work, she stood by her office window and looked at the people coming and going along the street.

There was plenty of time to check that notebook and yet she had missed that letter.

They had missed each other over and over again.

This was because she was a coward who didn't dare to act on what she wants, this time though, she needed to take action.

Monami went to the place where she met Karan yesterday.

She stood on that street corner and looked around.

The street was crowded, there were people everywhere.

She intentionally walked slowly, step by step, taking her time to scan her surroundings.

She noticed that the ground design had tiles joined together forming a beautiful pattern.

Monami suddenly felt like she had gone back to that time.

She was walking on the path covered with fallen leaves, she could hear the sound of them breaking under her feet and she felt like she would see him as soon as she lifted her head.

So she did, she looked up, but unfortunately, there was no sight of him.

In the vast sea of people, she was like a lonely soul, constantly strolling around the street in circles, trying to find him.

She remembered a movie she had seen, "walk from Left to Right".

The male and female protagonists always appeared in the same scene, but unfortunately, without ever meeting each other.

Monami looked in every direction but in vain.

She looked behind her, looked to her left, looked to her right, but he was still nowhere to be found.

The passersby next to her looked at her strangely.

Monami grimaced secretly. She really was becoming a psychopath.

But even though she looked like a crazy person, she still didn't want to give up.

In these past 24 years, she has never been and that's what led to this tragic situation, so this time, she is going to make up for it any way she can.

Monami kept looking like a lunatic on that street for three days.

She would come early in the morning and go back late at night.

She didn't try to look casual by surfing the net or talking on her phone.

She was dedicated to being a lunatic.

Every time she saw a puppy, she would think of him, when she saw a tree, again, she would think of him and if she saw a man wearing glasses she would still think of him.

Last time, he had stood here and told her that it is been a long time since they have seen each other, but now he is gone.

Monami sighed, started to count the floor tiles beneath her feet and happened to see a fallen leaf. She hopped over, stepped on it and when she looked up, there was a puppy just in front of her, unfortunately, it was a pretty woman holding it.

Monami watched the woman as she led her dog away and was about to sigh, but halfway through, she froze.

There was a cafe with floor-to-ceiling windows.

When the woman and her puppy walked away, they revealed Karan's smiling face behind the window's glass.

Monami rubbed her eyes and looked more carefully again. It was indeed him. He looked at her and kept smiling, then waved at her.

Monami felt like she was floating in, she somehow arrived in front of him.

Karan greeted her and invited her to sit down. He then called the waiter and ordered a cup of coffee for her.

Monami didn't know what to say, but she felt that this time, she had to take the initiative, so she said: "What a coincidence."

Karan smiled brightly and replied: "Yeh coincidence nahi hain.. Main bahut der se yahan baitha hua tha aur tumhe yun circle me ghoomte hue dekha.. as if tum kuch dhoond rahi thi.."

*****

Monami's mouth opened wide in shock, and she thought in hindsight that her expression must have been super awkward at the time.

"I've been wondering when you'd see me" Karan was still laughing: "But tum toh kitni baar yahan se guzri.. idhar udhar dekhte hue.. kabhi meri taraf dekha hi nahi..."

Monami laughed awkwardly and said: "Mai.. main woh aaj bore ho rahi thi.. so isliye yunhi thoda sa ghumne aa gyi.. and also to pass the time."

Karan nodded and used his index finger to push his glasses back; he then smiled again and said: "I sat here yesterday too."

Monami was instantly petrified as she heard him continue: "I sat here the day before yesterday as well."

Monami was completely speechless now.

She didn't know how to react at all.

She just wished there was a hole in the ground for her to get into.

Karan smiled as she lowered her head and blushed, and the two of them didn't speak for a while.

Finally, he spoke: "Uss din jab hum mile the.., you were running so fast ki mujhe time hi nahi Mila tumse tumhara contact info puchne ka.. So main phir next day yahan aaya to try my luck and see if I could run into you again."

Monami's face got even redder, but her heart was about to explode with joy.

Karan was even thinking the same thing as her!

"I did see you then, but you turned around and didn't seem to have noticed me. So I told myself I would come back again tomorrow and see if I can see you again."

Monami quickly looked up at him and said: "What about you? Tumne phir mujhe awaz kyon nahi di? Kya hota agar main next day nahi show up karti toh? Ya phir uske agle din? Why didn't you call me, then?"

"I have your phone number."

Once again, Karan shocked Monami.

He continued: "The day we met, I spent the whole night contacting our classmates that I could reach and finally asked for your phone number. It was just ki mera luck acha tha isliye next day main phir se tumhe dekh paaya and that made me want to see when, exactly, you would be able to notice me."

Monami desperately said: "I, I don't have much contact with my former classmates..." so she was stupid enough to run to this street and try to meet him again while looking like a crazy person"

Karan smiled: "It doesn't matter, I can find you."

He then paused and said: "It's just that before, I didn't dare to come to you."

"I, I just saw the letter written in that book yesterday. I never knew, I'm sorry."

Monami felt awkward as hell talking about it.

Karan rubbed his forehead and said: "So uss letter ko wahan likhna sabse badi mistake turn out hui . Main soch hi raha tha.. ki kahi uss notebook me likhna safe hoga bhi ya nahi.. But phir jab maine tumhe baad me call kiya tha tab, you were cold and I certainly thought I was rejected."

He curled his lips looking pitiful and continued: "I was sad for a long time."

Monami bit her lip to hold back a smile, how come she didn't think he was so peevish before.

"That's because tumne clear nahi kiya tha.. bola hi nahi..."

"Yes, yes, it was my fault." He generously took all the blame for the mistake, and then said:
"But jab maine uss din tumhe dekha.. mujhe laga shyd maybe that wasn't the
case."

"Kyon?"

"Tumne mere glasses pehne hue the" He smiled smugly: "Jab mere glasses Tut Gaye the.. maine bahut se stores me check Kiya but bilkul same kahi find out nahi kar paya… But tum.. you could find them. Aur woh.. they're still flat.. no power."

Monami blushed and winced as she watched Karan take out his phone and dial a number, then he frowned lightly and said to her: "Turn it on."

"Ah?" She sounded a bit silly.

Karan shook the phone in his hand and said again: "Turn it on."

"Oh."

She finally understood and took her phone out of her bag and turned it on.

Soon after, her phone rang and he said to her: "That's my number, save it."

She nodded vigorously and immediately saved it.

He pushed over another small piece of paper, she looked at it and it was a heart shape folded in sugar paper.

He smiled and said: "I've been waiting patiently for you to find me; I had to find something to do."

Monami picked up the heart shape that was folded quite beautifully and heard him say:

"Woh mera dil hain.. so please apne pass shambhal ke rakhna usse..."

"Oh." This time Monami couldn't really help but laugh, completely exposing her heart. But then she thought and said: "What if mera already koi boyfriend ho?"

"Tumhara koi aur boyfriend hain aur tum phir bhi mere jaise glasses jo without power hain woh lagati ho?" He seemed to see through her.

She had to keep bluffing: "That would not be good."

"You don't, I asked around" He was as calm as ever.

Monami bit her lip, no, she had to take the initiative for once: "Will you go out with me?"

He smiled, a gentle, beautiful smile: "You stole my lines."

"Then main tumhe meri lines lene dungi,
, free of charge. Quickly say yes."

He took her hand and held it in his hand: "Tumhe pta hain tumne mujhe bahut bahut bahut lamba wait karaya hain.. Agar ho transfer ki wajah se main wapas nahi aaya hota aur agar maine uss din iss road par nahi walk karta, I'm afraid hum shayad phir se ek doosre ko miss kar dete."

"Tumne abhi tak haan nahi bola" Monami is very persistent to see the result of the first initiative in her life.

"Haan."

He laughed and lowered his head to place a kiss on her hand: "We didn't miss each other this time, fortunately."

*****

After that, the two fell in love.

They dated, they held hands, they hugged and they kissed passionately.

Although they hadn't been together for a long time, Monami felt as if she's been in love with him for a long time and no matter what she says or does with him, it's never the slightest bit unnatural.

She asked him when he started to like her.

He said in high school.

Back then, when he would play basketball, he would notice she would be always watching, she would keep looking for a long time, and his heart would go "Dhak dhak".

He originally thought that high school was for studying, and so he waited until graduation to confess to her, but he got sick and actually missed his chance.

At that time he was still young, he didn't mind that too much.

He didn't expect to meet her again in College, but she didn't seem to have any impression of him, so he thought about getting acquainted first.

However, before he could do his move, Shaifali confessed to him first and in front of so many people, making a storm all over the university.

Monami obviously started to avoid him, getting colder and colder towards him, so he thought let's wait a little longer.

Unexpectedly, what he waited and waited for was her "rejection".

"Yeh sab tumhari galti thi."

The two recalled their past fates, laughing and blaming each other.

Monami thought more than once, but fortunately, she bought and kept wearing those glasses. Fortunately, she took that path at that time.

Their romance developed quickly and soon they became like glue.

Two weeks later, her job progressed, and she received a call that she had passed her first interview. She did the second one and made it all the way through.

That day, she happily reported to her new company and surprisingly met Karan in the elevator.

"Tum bhi issi building me kaam karte ho?"

"Haan, on the 16th floor."

"I also work on the 16th floor."

The 16th floor arrived, and they found that their two companies were actually facing each other, right next door.

The two looked at each other and then Monami smiled and happily said: "Dekha, humari kismat ki lakeerein ek doosre se kas kar Judi hui hain; we really can't miss each other."

Kismat… fate….  can be, sometimes, something Wonderful.

*******""""""""

This is really an amazing os Kriya00004, sach mein kismat kab kaise badal jatha hai kisi ko pata nahi hotha ❤️❤️❤️

Once again thank you for being by invisible support system in this gala , thank you so much