Ik Tu Hi

"Tera shehar jo peeche chhoot raha
Kuch andar andar toot raha
Hairaan hain mere do naina
Yeh jharna kahan se phoot raha

Jab jab chaaha tune rajj ke rulaaya
Jab jab chaaha tune khul ke hasaaya
Jab jab chaaha tune khud mein milaaya
Ik tu hi tu hi tu hi tu hi tu hi tu hi"

~Irshad Kamil
~~ Mausam

Nakul and Sanya loved each other. Sanya was coming out of a very bad break up and Nakul was there to bring her back to life. He had waited for very long for Sanya to be his. He loved her and truly. When she was with the not-so-good Richard, he hated it. He knew it was going to end. He tried explaining it to Sanya, but she was a free-spirited girl and would never listen to anything or anyone but her own heart. And then, it was all about Richard.

It ended, like Nakul had predicted. And it was bad for Sanya, like he had known it would be. But he was there for her. He didn't take this as his chance in getting together with her. But he was there as a friend. Eventually the proximity and friendship turned to love. Sanya realised that Nakul had waited for a very long time. She knew he loved her, but how much, she got to see when he would silently listen to her talk about Richard on cold winter nights. He would make her a cup of coffee and listen to her, because he knew it made her feel better. Even though each time she spoke about Richard, Nakul would want to shake her up and say "get over it!".

Nakul eventually asked her out and she said yes. Not because he had waited for so long, but because she genuinely wanted to be with him. She knew he cared for her, not for her looks or how short her dress is. They were both working in Hyderabad and life went on. Work was perfect because their personal lives were so peaceful and calm. Until, Nakul applied to a role in Gurgaon. It was a role made for him, and he knew he would do well in it. Yes it was more challenging, yes it would require 10 times the amount of time and effort he put in currently, but the experience and the career boost was phenomenal. He took it up.

Once in Gurgaon, it was tough for their relationship. Nakul would be extremely tied up getting customers on-board in the mornings and doing the prep-work for the next set in the evenings. Sanya and him hardly spoke on the phone. But he made the effort to visit Hyderabad every two weeks to spend time with her and work from the Hyderabad office. It continued like that for a while, until Nakul didnt have the monetary resources to keep up the bi-weekly trips to Hyderabad. He asked Sanya to try for a role here. The distance was getting to them. He was too busy trying to meet quota and hit targets and expected her to understand. She understood. But eventually the stress began to creep into their phone calls, their monthly meets would begin and end with fights. They both thought to themselves "Is this worth it?"

To be fair to both, no one person was wrong or right. Long distances can be tough. You are not with a person to share his/her life, their small daily highs and lows. And no amount of phone calls, video chats and bi-weekly trips can make a substantial difference.

Nakul and Sanya, thankfully understood this. Sanya applied for a role in Gurgaon, a good one, no professional sacrifices here, and shifted to Gurgaon. They got a flat together and things were back to normal again. It was tough for Sanya. She being her father's favorite was spoilt to the core in her house in Hyderabad. An attendant would be ready with her morning coffee and her clothes would be washed and ironed. Her room cleaned everyday. Hot homemade food waiting for her everyday. It was tough to shift from this to a life where the maid comes to clean the house only on weekends, you have to go buy your own groceries, come back after a tiring day to cook food. Wash your own clothes, keep accounts with the dhobi. The household chores got to Sanya sometimes. But just being with nakul at home in the evenings, to be able to see him everyday, to wake up next to him was worth it.

Nakul, was as busy as ever, if not more. His work load increased. Even at home, he started talking lesser and lesser. He would be locked up in his room with his laptop and his strategies. Their dinner time conversations were limited, and if there were any, it looked and was indeed forced. Sanya's constant, "why dont you talk to me" got to Nakul. He didnt want to here her crib about how the Dhobi had burnt her favorite white shirt, how the maid was getting lazier, how she didnt want to cook, but didnt think it was healthy (economically and physically) to eat out everyday.

It got to him and he wanted to escape.

Nakul was a very career driven person. He was always on the look out for better opportunities in and out of India. And he found one in Singapore. He applied. Went up to the last round. And unfortunately didn't make it. Sanya was unaware of all this. Nakul never told her. Why the unnecessary hassel when the job didnt work out anyways, he thought. Life went on. After a few months, he applied again and got through. Sanya didnt know this time too. He told her after he had signed the employment agreement. She took it in good stride. It was good for them after all, wasn't it? But later it hit her, that the long distance, this time international, would hit them bad. That she will need to move to Singapore too. If only Nakul had told her earlier, they could have both planned it together. It would be perfect then. Fights began. Nakul told her it won't be tough and that within 2 months, she will be there. Sanya was awesome at her job and it would not hard for her to find a job in Singapore. Maybe with the same firm as Nakul's! She calmed down a bit. And then it was time for Nakul to go.

Sanya couldn't handle Gurgaon alone. Life became monotonous and the job application Singapore was not going anywhere. When she got a rejection email from the firm. She lost it. She didn't know how long it would take for her to join him in Singapore. Nakul was already replaying the entire Gurgaon episode. Not talking over the phone, not emailing. He would give her the "i've had a busy day, im going to sleep, don't disturb me please" excuse and she would find pictures two hours later on Facebook ~ "Nakul checked in to Aqua with xx, yy & zz" Sanya didnt know what was going wrong, she would call him and he would cut her calls. Not message back. Not call back. She would wait endlessly throughout the night and he would 'forget'. Her professional life became a burden too. Gurgaon was tolerable only because Nakul was around, without him it didnt seem worth it.

She decided to go back to Hyderabad to be with her parents. That's the one support she can count on throughout her life and will know for sure that she will always find it. She quit her role in Gurgaon and moved to Hyderabad, still figuring out what role to start here. She still called Nakul, still messaged him. Still waited.When he did happen to pick up the phone, they would fight, he would say "leave me alone, let's end it, it's not working out." She would find pictures of him on Facebook, she would see him getting close to the one girl who tried hitting on him and whom she didn't particularly like and she was desperately trying to get a job in Singapore and sort out her career in Hyderabad.

The reason for Nakul's sudden change in behavior was the people he was hanging out with. His friends never liked Sanya too much and influenced him on how bad she is to him and his career, how she limits his possibilities, how he can do much better, how it's time for him to focus on getting his career going, on proving himself in the new role. He listened and these sermons translated into the fights with Sanya and he eventually said, it's over.

She could not believe it. Her friends made her understand, they told her to let him go. She tried to get her life back in shape.

Nakul is having fun in Singapore. He earns in SGD. He lives in a palatial flat, he has the best of girls to hang out with, his good friends are close by for fun and any advice, his career is going great. His life seems perfect. Because it is.

Two of their friends discussed this once. The girl was heartbroken because she could not believe that Nakul would forget Sanya just because his friends influenced him. The guy was not too shocked. His started giving a speech on how a "man's mind" works. According to him, the girl may keep the house clean, cook meals on time, keep him happy, but those are not the things that matter to a man. They want peace when they come back home after a stressed day at work. And coming back to a cribbing person, who sees nothing right in life, turns them off and they want an escape. Sanya's continuous "why do you have a picture with this girl, why are you spending so much time with her?" was what irritated Nakul, according to the male friend. Perspectives, i's often good to know how people think.

Like I said there's no right or wrong.

Sanya is coping up. She is strong, she will make it through. Everyone does, don't they? Time heals all. Like they say:

This too shall pass.