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A College Love Story - Part 24 (Double Episode)

Discussion in 'Stories (Fiction)' started by crazywriter, Nov 28, 2012.

  1. crazywriter

    crazywriter Platinum IL'ite

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    http://www.indusladies.com/forums/stories-fiction/198264-college-love-story-part-23-a.html

    They both took a trip of the city that day. They had a lot of fun, snacked on street food, and visited a temple. Late in the evening, she got back to the hostel. They both had planned to spend the weekend as tourists, and look around the usual places of interest. Before either of them realised it, the three days had sped past, and Madhu was on his way back. Varsha felt a little sad, but she was feeling a little braver, now that she had had a few days of relaxation. She was all charged up to go to college the next day. When she got back to her room, she found that her roommate had finally arrived.

    They started talking. Her roommate’s name was Anitha, and she was here to do her MCA. Anitha asked her, “When did you arrive?” Varsha said, “On Friday,” Anitha said, “Oh, and do you have relatives here? I thought you might be with them.” Varsha smiled and said, “No, I was spending time with my fiancé, he had come to spend a few days with me. He left for our place an hour back.” “Oooh, you are engaged?” Anitha exclaimed. Varsha blushed, and said, “Yes, we got engaged a month back.” Anitha replied, “Congrats! Do you want to go for dinner, I am hungry.” Varsha agreed, and they went to the mess for food.

    The next day when Varsha walked into her new class, she felt fond memories of her old college creeping up on her. She remembered all her friends, and a tear almost slid out of her eyes. She thought of Priya and Harish. She wondered how close they were at the start of their first year, and where they both were today; unable to even look each other in the eye properly. She wondered what the others were doing. Vineeth had gone to Pune to do his MBA, and Raksha was doing MA in Economics from JNU, Delhi. Priya was doing MA Economics in their college, and Harish was in Bangalore, doing his MA in History. Within a matter of few weeks, the entire gang found themselves in different parts of the country, she mused.

    Her classes were quite interesting, and she found the different aspects of Sociology enlightening. The first weekend she was able to come home, as classes were still a little slow. She reached home late on Friday evening. She was too tired for anything, so she ate dinner and slept. The next morning she had to go and meet Madhu, but since he had college, she had some free time. She got up late, and simply lazed around. In the meantime, Madhu called and told her that he had some more work, and he suggested that they should meet the next day, that way he would drop her at the bus stop in the evening. Varsha was not very happy with this change in plans, as she was looking forward to meeting him. Nonetheless, she decided to spend time with her family.

    Her brother wanted to go for a movie, so the four of them planned to go for the evening show, and dinner afterwards. On Sunday, she and Madhu went out for lunch. By now, she was tired, she wanted to spend some quiet time with her family and Madhu, and eat home food. She told Madhu that she wanted to have dinner at home. Madhu was a little surprised, as he had expected that she would spend the whole day with him. Varsha said, “I don’t get to eat home food much, I am not very fond of the mess food. I am also not very sure when I can get to come home again. I really don’t want to be sitting and eating hotel food.”

    Madhu was a little hurt by this. He said, “I wish you had said this a little earlier, I would have let you enjoy your time with your family in peace.” Varsha luckily understood, and said, “I am sorry, I did not mean to make you feel bad, I hope you understand.” Madhu realised his folly as well, and said, “Well, I am sorry too, I did not realise that this is the first time away from your family, and you would naturally want to eat home cooked food, and spend time with your family. We will work out a time-sharing routine for your next trip. And I will try to come there as many weekends as possible, so that when you come here you can spend time exclusively with your family. How does that sound?” Varsha was touched by his concern, and the extent of thought he was putting in to ensure her comfort. She decided to invite him home for dinner with her family. Madhu was happy with that, as he would also get to spend time with her family.

    After a quick dinner, Varsha bade a sorrowful farewell to her family, and promised to be back as soon as she could. Madhu dropped her at the bus stand, and soon, before she even realised it, she was back in her hostel room, feeling sad that the weekend had run by in the blink of an eye. Anitha tried to cheer her up by telling her that a cultural show was up in a week. The freshers could also take part, and she asked Varsha if she wanted to be a part of it. She decided to take part, if for nothing else, to divert her mind. A few of her classmates were putting up a play, and she decided to join that. The program was due in two weeks.

    Varsha and her classmates were practising daily, trying to meet up whenever they got some time. It was slowly getting tough for her to manage studies, projects, and the play rehearsals. She had class on Saturdays, so she was unable to go home on weekends. The cultural evening was on a Friday. Varsha thoroughly enjoyed herself that day, watching the programs as well as being a part of the play.

    Within a couple of weeks, Varsha’s life fell into a pattern. Time ran past her in gallops, and soon, she was sitting for the first set of exams. She was relieved, as she would get close to two weeks of vacation. She had already planned to meet her friends who were also coming down for the holidays. Priya was already in the city, and Raksha and Vineeth would be coming down too. She did not know Harish’s whereabouts, but was hoping that he would join them as well. As soon as her exams got over, Varsha packed excitedly. As a last minute plan, Madhu was coming to pick her up. He met her at her hostel gate, and helped her with her luggage. The bus ride was enjoyable, as they chatted away. They did not realise where the three hours flew by. She eagerly went home, looking forward to the long and restful holiday. Little did she know that it was not going to be restful and peaceful at all.

    She had planned to meet her gang in a few days. In the meantime, she spent the days idling at home. Madhu had a few more days of work in college, as he had to take care of correcting the papers. So they decided to spend the last week of her vacation together. The rest of the time, she planned to spend with her family.

    She was eagerly looking forward to her meeting with her friends. As she sat at the café, waiting for Priya and Raksha to join her, she wondered where Vineeth was. She dared not ask them about Harish, lest Priya get upset. The reunion was loud and raucous, as the girls shrieked and embraced after close to three months of not seeing each other. They settled down, and exchanged news about each other. Raksha had tanned a bit, and she put it down to the Delhi heat. They discussed how it was to live in a hostel, with roommates. Priya said she wished she could do that as well. “I just did not want to be away from my family at this time.” then unexpectedly, she asked Varsha, “Have you heard from Harish recently?” A surprised Varsha said, “Harish? No, we lost touch.” Priya only said, “Oh,” she changed the topic immediately. “So has your marriage date been fixed?” Varsha said, “Not the date, but it will be soon after my M.A.”

    After many hours of chatting and laughing, they parted, promising to meet each other every other day until the holidays got over. Vineeth had also promised to join them later. The rest of the holidays were a blur for Varsha. She hardly got to rest or relax. She was constantly on her toes, and kept going out to meet her friends and Madhu. The holidays flew past her, and soon she was on her way to the hostel again. Things fell into a pattern again for Varsha.

    It was sometime close to December that Varsha got the letter. It was from Harish. She opened it to read the following words:

    Dear Varsha,

    I know that it will be strange to see a letter from me now. I just wanted you to know that I am doing well here. I had my reasons for breaking up with Priya. It is an old issue, but I am on the mend now. Some things are just not meant to be, I have realised this over the years. I wish you well in your life, and hope the best for you. I am planning to shift abroad soon, after my studies. I am looking for a job outside India, as soon as I get a good one, I will leave. I am also preparing for TOEFL and other exams, which can help my chances.

    I hope we can meet sometime in the future, when I have outgrown my follies, and am in a position to meet all of you. Until then, take care, and be happy.

    Harish

    Varsha was puzzled by his letter. It made no sense to her. Why would he want to write such a confusing letter to her? Maybe he sent one to everyone, she thought. Was this a farewell letter? Did this mean that they would not get to see Harish for many years?

    If only Varsha knew that the real reason for Harish’s strange letter was to help him take one step in getting over Varsha, she would have been thrown off balance. If there was any hint that he was trying to keep away from her so that he could heal sooner, her reaction might have been different.

    Nonetheless, she did not know any of this, so she just folded the letter, and kept it aside. Time soon flew by, and Varsha was in her last semester. She was busy with her dissertation, along with her studies. Madhu gave her a few tips to compose her thesis, as he was also preparing a dissertation for his PhD. Their wedding was due to be held in June, after Varsha’s exams. Her exams were in April, so she had enough time to prepare for the wedding. Priya, Raksha and Vineeth had promised their attendance. By now, all of them knew that Harish was planning to settle abroad, and was flying soon after his course. They were not expecting him to turn up for the wedding.

    Varsha was wrapping up her hostel life, and she was feeling sad. She was giving up ‘bachelorhood’ for a married life, and the thought scared her. Anitha wished her good luck, and promised to come for the wedding. That cheered her considerably. The college held convocation for the students. This was a sober occasion, and Varsha felt herself travelling back to her degree graduation. She made a mental note to go and visit her college after she returned home. Then she thought to herself, Madhu would have invited most of the teachers anyway, and the principal, and smiled at the thought.

    Madhu promptly turned up to help her shift with all her luggage. It took them a while to transfer her stuff out of the hostel, and into an auto. After an hour of struggling, and fighting with the auto driver, and haggling with the bus driver, they settled back in their seats, with the bus on its way. By early evening, they were back home.
     
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  2. crazywriter

    crazywriter Platinum IL'ite

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    Sorry for the long delay in posting the next episode, friends, this is the longest post yet in A College Love Story (3 pages in Word). Hope you like it. Next part will come soon. :)
     
  3. mshanj

    mshanj Senior IL'ite

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    Gr8 Going .... what's gonna happen with Harish... waiting for the Climax...
     
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  4. crazywriter

    crazywriter Platinum IL'ite

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    Thanks, keep reading and commenting :)
     
  5. Lalitha Shivaguru

    Lalitha Shivaguru Platinum IL'ite

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    Missed the episodes a lot Suma... Thanx for the double treat...

    Waiting to read more :)
     
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  6. laksiash

    laksiash Senior IL'ite

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    Hi, Good to read after some gap.....You left us no clue to guess what will happen to harish
     
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  7. aminroop

    aminroop IL Hall of Fame

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    nw since the college phase is abt to end, will the title still remain the same? :)
     
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  8. MadhuSharmila

    MadhuSharmila IL Hall of Fame

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    Great narration CW... It took me down my memory lanes... How I felt when I joined my PG... UG is really fun... One will definitely cherish those butterfly days for a life time... We become little matured when we join PG.

    So, finally Varsha's marriage is fixed. Will the story take a turn now?
     
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  9. rashima4u

    rashima4u Silver IL'ite

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    thanks for long post............it was nice to read this
     
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  10. mathu903

    mathu903 Gold IL'ite

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    Nice episode.. Will Harish come to the marriage before going abroad? Eagerly waiting for the climax now..
     
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