Revisit

Life and love make you do strange things, the ones you never think of doing even in your dreams. I had seen the plethora of love, and it was now the turn of life to screw me up and make me whizz paths I never saw in the first place. And here I was with Priya, waiting for my turn in the scary abode of Babaji!

Once he was done with his rituals, he called me over. I narrated to him all the recent happenings hoping that he might help us tackle them. After long consideration and chanting of some muffled mantras, he began, "Everything happens for a reason, son."

"And what might be the reason here?" I was unconvinced.

"That is a thing, solely yours to find!"

"Any clues, Baba? As to who might be behind all this?" I came straight to the point.

"Your answer lies within your past."

"Past?"

"Yes, it has come to haunt your present!"

I couldn't recollect anything significant that might be related to these strange events. So I began, "Anything apart from that?"

"Arakshitam Tistati Devarakshitam, Surakshitam Devahata Vinashwati, Jibati Anatham Api Bane Visarjita, Krita Prayatnam Api Grihe Vinashwati"

That went above my head, "Some easy words, please."

He chuckled, "It means that if the Almighty wants to protect, even the vulnerable ones are safe, and if the fate is against you, no matter what you do, you will always fall prey to something or the other."

Priya was silent the whole time as if it was she, whose life was in threat and that she's become a lifeless statue!

"You alright?" I shook her hand.

She was startled, "Oh hey, what happened?"

"You were just lost in your thoughts, a scene I have never seen before! I hope everything is fine with your mind."

"I wish I could say that!"

"You shouldn't worry that much. It strains you!"

"As if I am worrying over something useless!" she was angry that I wasn't grateful for her caring nature.

I held her hands, "We'll sort this out too, okay? We need to figure out the facts with a calm mind, that's all! Please don't cry; tears don't look good on you." I wiped off the tiny droplets that had dripped from her eyes.

In the evening, I was surprised to find Meghali at the door.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned.

"I came to check on your health!"

"And who informed you about that?"

"Your parents. Though you have ghosted me and ain't picking up my calls or replying to my messages, as a good friend, I must check on you, and so I called your mom. She informed me that you hurt yourself, and the very thing that I could think of doing was visit you at the earliest! So, here I am."

"Come in then," I motioned her inside the house.

"Hello, aunty," she greeted my mom once they met.

"Such a long time since I saw you last. I knew you would visit him after hearing about his injury, but I didn't think you'll come today itself."

Meghali smiled back.

"Don't just keep her standing; take her to your room." Mom doesn't ever stop giving me orders, even though she knew that would be the very next thing I would do without her intervening.

"Wow, your room has been transformed quite a lot," she muttered after looking around the room.

"All thanks to Priya. She helped me with the decorations."

"Whatever."

"You know jealousy is a deadly sin?"

"I didn't know you changed this much as to talk about virtue and sin. Where is the Atheist boy I used to know?"

That last line made me question myself, the changes that have recently occurred in me. Were they justifiable? And did I really want those?

"I hope that's not why you're here!"

"You can have your guess."

"And there she goes,"

"I came for this," she unloaded her backpack and took out a storybook, "remember how I used to read for you every time you were ill. That would cheer you up!"

I could sense what she meant to do here, but I wasn't ready to give in. "I think I'm fine, the sprain is much better now, and I don't have a fever."

Okay, I admit that I was a bit harsh for her joyous face had sullen. But what else could I have done otherwise? I didn't want to encourage her into getting cosy with me. I was not ready for that again!

"Nevermind, I just wanted to help. I think I should leave now." she was sad.

I felt terrible for her and decided that I can still allow her to be in the company as a friend. "I'm sorry, please don't go. I only said that you needn't read for me, but I never said that we couldn't talk. Right?"

She turned around and sat on the bed, "I never remembered you being this cruel. It's okay; maybe I deserved that."

"Nope, don't think like that. I was not in the mood for chivalry. Sincere apologies for that. How about we begin again?"

"Begin what?" she sounded puzzled.

"Our conversation, of course, don't take a different meaning out of it." I laughed, and she joined.

Once she was done narrating Agatha Christie's After the Funeral, it took me a while to return from being Poirot into Arjun. "That was one hell of a story, aye?" I remarked.

"Told you so!"

"Thanks for that and for your time."

I reached for my phone and was baffled to find more than twenty missed calls from Priya. I didn't realise when I put my phone on silent mode. Maybe I did that before tuning in to the story reading session of Meghali. Now that I knew I would be in a mess for sure, I had to make sure she doesn't get to know about Meghali. But even before I could react upon anything, Priya was already there standing at the door.

There prevailed silence for a long time. I looked at Priya once but failed to read her expression and was at a loss what to do. She began, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice; shame on me!"

"She came to know my whereabouts, nothing other than that, okay?" I spoke.

"Exactly. The type of whereabout in which you don't have a spare moment to answer your phone."

"You're taking us wrong," Meghali tried to help me.

"Oh, I understand very well," she gestured Meghali to stop speaking, "Listen, mister, I don't have any intention of interfering with your private life. It's just that I got this ring of yours. Why don't we finish our relationship once and for all?" she slammed the door and rushed outside.

I ran after her and caught her hand just as she was about to reach for the main door. "Trust me on this. She is just a friend. I love you, and I mean that! Don't let your misunderstanding spoil our relation okay, please?"

"You promise me that you didn't sleep with her?"

"Come on, babe. I would never cheat on you, don't even think about that. I don't remember how my phone got silenced, and I am so sorry about that."

She seemed to understand, or so I guessed.

"And for that matter, you should try getting to know her. Be friends with her, and you might get along well."

"Oh hello, she's your ex-girlfriend!"

"She's also a human."

She faked a smile, which was evident. "Join her in, and I'll get you both something from the kitchen," I told her.

Once I was back from the kitchen, I was surprised to see either of them alive and talking. I mean, I was relieved but at the same time surprised at the sudden change in their behaviour. Each of them, who despised the other, was getting along well. I didn't know which one of them was faking the conversation, or maybe both were. I was not sure.

Meghali began, "You know, I sure do like your fiancee."

Priya replied, "Thanks. You too are a nice company to talk with!"

I agreed to each of them, though I knew that both would have liked more if they could stab the other.

Priya showed her phone to Meghali, "Can you tell me which one of them would I look better in? The yellow Kurti or the purple lehenga?"

I realised why she didn't ask my opinion on that, for I would always reply that any dress would look good on her.

"This one," I couldn't see from where I was standing as to which dress Meghali pointed on the screen, "Are you going somewhere?"

"There's a wedding of one of our mutual friends, around 20 days from now. But she insisted that I visit her a few days in advance!"

"That's good."

I was relieved that Priya didn't overdo her act and invited Meghali to join us.

Meghali's phone buzzed. "I need to leave now. I have to be somewhere for a meet."

"See ya then," we waved her, and she hurried her way out of the house.

I couldn't hold my anxiety any longer and blurted out, "Did you mean it when you complimented her?"

"As if she did!"

I nodded and was contented for getting the hang of the female mind, at least some of it.

She began again, "You know I was thinking..."

"Thinking what?"

"The events began almost at the same time with the arrival of Meghali, and she indeed is your past. I hope you got my point."

"I thought about it too, but I don't see any reason why she'll turn this hostile!"

"You never know!"

"I mean, she's not the type capable of formulating such a plot. She's a simple girl."

"I hope so."

"Don't worry about it much. We'll get together and dig up my past and list all the suspects. But before that, we got this wedding to attend, and I guess you need to shop."

"You're taking me shopping?" she sounded puzzled.

"I'll hop by to carry your bags. You know I don't have good taste in fashion. I never really understood the point of buying fancy stuff when you can manage with the casual multitasking ones!"

"I am disappointed with myself that I couldn't change you."

"At least you did change my wardrobe and filled it up. I would have never managed to achieve that, nor I had any intentions of doing so. Pat yourself for that."