"I am sorry Radha, I don't think this is working out between us" the words kept hammering in her mind as Radha Balgopalan, a 25 years old nutritionist sat on the bench in the Cubbon park in Bangalore.

She had her life planned when she left home to graduate in Nutrition and Dietetics from the esteemed University of Edinburgh, UK and had a steady relationship with her boyfriend Kunal, whom she had met on her first day at the University. He was there to study Law and both were from the same small town of Hubli.

She had mapped her life thinking of graduating at 23 and working for 2 years before tying the knot with Kunal as they had discussed and decided to settle in Bangalore after they graduated.

She returned back to Bangalore and joined the Apollo hospital as a nutritionist and free lanced in the evening. Her world revolved around her work and long calls with Kunal. She was happy in her space and had no time to mingle with friends or even family. Her parents kept complaining that she hadn't visited them since almost a year and every time she would come up with an excuse.

Kunal was still in Edinburgh as it was his final semester and Radha would sense every time they skyped that Kunal was getting detached from here, she blamed it on her insecurities until one day he spilled the beans.

"Radha" he said, inhaled and continued "Radha, actually I have been trying to tell you since long but" he tried speaking but couldn't do so as Radha intervened asking "What happened Kunal?" completely oblivious to what was in store for her.

"I am sorry Radha, I don't think this is working out between us" he said in a rush and Radha shook her head asking "What? What's not working? Come again"

"I said this thing is not working between us and I feel we should break up" Kunal repeated and Radha froze on the spot unable to digest the news. Tears moist her eyes as she asked "But why Kunal, we were good, right?"

Kunal was speechless as he was guilty when Radha finally asked "Have you found someone else?"

He was still speechless when she yelled and asked "Kunal? I am asking you something, dammit answer" and he whispered "Yes"

Radha closed her eyes, gulped in the pain and disconnected the call staring at the big chart of food pyramid hanging on the door of her clinic. She was lifeless as her assistant Ruhi walked in asking "Ma'am, may I leave?"

Ruhi looked at Radha's shaken face and asked again "Ma'am may I leave please?" and Radha jolted back to reality and shook her head whispering a "Yes"

She walked back home which was hardly a few blocks away and settled on her couch opening the dams of tears of pain and betrayal. She sobbed hugging her knees and thought of the good times she shared with Kunal and wondered how she would ever forget him.

Days passed by with her living like a zombie, as every evening she left the hospital, she would sit on the bench in the Cubbon Park and wait for Kunal's call but, she knew he won't call anymore. Days of anticipation, that he would change his mind and call her to apologize gave her hopes every morning but only to disappoint her further.

It was one winter evening and Radha after leaving the hospital sat on the same bench feeling hopeless and selfless. She blamed herself for the break up thinking maybe she was not good enough for him, only if she had lost a few extra pounds that he would have loved her or maybe if she had learnt to cook his favorite dish. But thoughts of worthlessness never left her and she walked towards the hospital building again and entered the elevator thinking to do the worse. She wanted to end her life and she pressed the top floor button of the elevator as an old woman and a mid-aged man entered along with her.

The elevator halted at the second floor and a young teenage boy stepped into the elevator. He looked around and smiled at the old lady who smiled back and they stood facing the door when all of a sudden, the elevator bounced and jerked to a stop. The lights went off and the mid aged man quickly switched on his mobile light and tried pressing the help button but it was a complete black out.

It was claustrophobic and all stood still praying for the light to come back but in vain. Radha was oblivious to anything as her mind was completely blank and she stood staring at the elevator door.

The young boy tried banging the door gently trying his luck in case someone heard the banging noise but there was no reply. The old lady tried finding her mobile from her over packed bag and with great difficulty removed it and clicked her tongue saying "No coverage" and shook as head as she said "They just talk all big, wherever you go network will follow, my foot" and the young boy laughed at her statement.

The mid aged man too tried but said the same thing "No coverage" and the young boy looked at their silhouette saying "I don't have one" when the old lady asked Radha "Miss, can you please check if you have any coverage?"

Radha was still and the old lady gently shook her shoulder repeating the question "Miss, please check if you have any coverage in your mobile?"

Radha came out of her trance and for the very first time realized that they were actually stuck in an elevator. She looked at the silhouettes and replied with a heavy voice "Ah, yes I will check" She removed her mobile from the back pocket of her denim and switched it on and said "No, I don't have any network"

They all stood still as the only noise they could hear was of their breaths. The old lady broke the silence saying "Since we are stuck, let's introduce ourselves" and the young boy quickly introduced himself as "Shyam Shegde" he continued "I am fifteen years old and come from a small town near Pune called Talegoan"

The old lady smiled and said "Hello Shyam, nice meeting you" and continued introducing herself as "I am Mrs. Behroze Udwadia and I am a retired teacher" and smiled adding "No need adding my age, I think you can guess" and the young boy chuckled and said "Yes, you are sweet sixteen" making Behroze laugh.

Radha along with the mid-aged man stood quietly as they didn't participate in their talk and were silent observers when Behroze asked Shyam "Young man, what brings you here in this hospital and that too in Bangalore"

Shyam looked at Behroze, smiled and answered saying "I come here for my dialysis. My kidneys have failed according to the doctor, so my parents have shifted to Bangalore for the time being to be with my paternal uncles."

He inhaled and continued "They say this hospital has a special ward, where they offer free dialysis for poor patients like me and I come here every alternate day."

Behroze looked at him and smiled asking "But you come all alone Shyam?"

"Yes, my father is working as a driver and my mother cooks at many houses so they cannot afford leaves every alternate day and anyways I am grown up so I can easily manage" he smiled and continued adding "My uncle showed me the way to the hospital the first day and henceforth I have been coming here all on my own"

"You're a brave boy Shyam" Behroze said as Shyam blushed at the compliment and replied "Thank you ma'am" She inquisitively asked "Tell me, did you take a break from your studies?" and Shyam answered, "No ma'am, I self-study at home. I used to attend a school near my house but after the pain started it got difficult to travel to school every day so I self-study. I love to read and that helps me in gaining my knowledge. I want to participate in Kaun Banega Crorepati one day" and Behroze laughed at his ambition.

"I am a big fan of Amitabh Bachchan and I almost answer all the questions, whenever I watch the show on my neighbor's television"

"Very good Shyam" Behroze said and the mid-aged man for the very first time smiled as he asked "Where do you learn things from?"

Shyam turned as he could hear the voice from behind him and answered saying "I read everything in the newspaper and also my mother's madamji donates books to us that are already used by her children so it is very interesting"

"Huh, good" he answered as Behroze asked him "You didn't introduce yourself Mister?"

He grinned and said "I am Rohit Singh and am an engineer by profession working in an IT company"

"Good to know you" Behroze said as Shyam asked her "Ma'am, you said were a teacher, where did you teach?"

"Oh, I taught at the Bishops School in Mumbai and am here for a friend Rustom. He is in the ICU and on the ventilator as his lungs has given up" she said sadly and continued "I was always telling that idiot to quit smoking but no, he never listened to me"

"He seems to be a close friend" Rohit asked and Behroze nodded adding "He was my first love and will be my last" she said with a smile and that shook Radha as she heard her attentively.

"We both grew up in Parsi colony in Dadar, Mumbai. We studied together, played together, celebrated Navroze together, everything, we were inseparable but one day his mamma had a stroke and on the dying bed she made him promise that he would marry her sister's daughter Zeeniya and he was too broken to tell her about us and compelled to her wishes. They got married the next week and I was invited for their lagan" she said as she remembered and continued "We were neighbours' for almost twenty years after his lagan and Zeeniya was a sweetheart. Very calm lady absolutely apt for my Rustom who was one wild donkey" she said sweetly and continued "They had their first baby, my sweet Zain who is a practicing lawyer here in Bangalore and after three years a sweet girl called Roolie, who is studying in UK. Zain insisted them to shift to Bangalore and they did. I have come to support Zeeniya as Rustom has forgotten to fight for his life. So, I come and talk to him every day, asking him to fight"

"How did you give up on your love so easily?" Radha asked sadly and Behroze smiled as she answered "I have never given up on my love, I still love him but I accepted that he was not meant for me. He was compelled to marry, not me. I always loved him as my best friend and still do in fact because of him I have gained one more best friend Zeeniya"

Radha was shocked hearing her and shook her head asking "Didn't you ever feel hurt or betrayed?"

"Of course, I did, who wouldn't after all I too am a human being and negative emotions are a part of human package but the idea is to move them aside as quickly as possible and lay the bed with positive ones" Behroze said and explained further saying "Initially, I was mad at him but later understood that it was my destiny, it was never meant to be"

Radha tried finding some sense in her words as Rohit looked at her saying "You too are one brave lady Ms. Behroze" and she chuckled saying "Why, thank you Rohit, if I may so call you"

"Sure" he said and Behroze asked "Now you tell us, what brings you here?"

Rohit narrowed his eyes and inhaled before he spoke "I have been constantly working my ass off since the last twenty odd years or so thinking, I want to give the very best to my twin girls and my wife, missing out on their dance shows, their annual days, forgetting my anniversaries, forgetting to rekindle my relationship, forgetting to spend and stand for my friends and most importantly spending time with my aged parents" he said it all in a go and exhaled as his eyes turned to Shyam who was listening to every word.

Shyam looked at him and continued "I lost my parents last year in a car accident, they were visiting us from Pune and on my insistence that I couldn't make it for Diwali as I had an important release at work, they at seventy, decided to pay us a visit. Just a night prior when I had informed my parents about us not being able to make it, my mom told me 'Rohit, you're really going at a fast pace son, slow down before the brakes fail and you are unable to control the damage'" he quoted with a heavy heart and continued "And the next morning, they were killed"

"My wife is here, she is paralyzed and is recuperating here since the past month" he said as his eyes turned moist and Behroze put her hand on his shoulder saying "She will be fine soon, Rohit" and he nodded saying "thank you" when Behroze continued "We all learn from our mistakes Rohit, and you still have half your life to implement your learnings and make your priorities right"

Rohit nodded as he hoped against hope that she was right. They all stood in silence when Shyam turned towards Radha and said "Didi, you didn't tell us anything about you?"

Radha looked at him ashamed of her thoughts and gulped the lump formed in her throat as she answered "I am Radha Balgoplan and I work here as a nutritionist" and all eyes were on her as she continued "I was not here for work but for" she looked down with sweat forming on her forehead and whispered "I wanted to die, I wanted to kill myself" and all stood still, listening to her.

"We are all praying to save ourselves or our loved ones and you want to die didi? Why?" Shyam asked and Behroze could feel her nervousness as Radha quietly sobbed and Behroze held her hand supporting her.

Radha looked at them all and said "My boyfriend broke up with me, I loved him and couldn't imagine my life without him. I was completely blinded by his love and was suffocating so thought of taking the easy escape" she said as she inhaled and continued "I was on my way to the terrace to to" she could not speak out the words when Behroze squeezed her hand supporting her and Radha turned towards them and said "You all are my saviors, if we were not stuck here, I would be gone by now"

She looked around them smiling sadly as she said,

"Thank you Shyam for showing me the zest for life, it was from you that I learnt, how important and precious our life is" Shyam smiled as Radha looked at Rohit saying "Thanks to you for showing what all I was missing in my life, I never thought of my parents and how they would be affected by my stupid mistake, you made me see things in different light"

And finally, she turned towards Behroze who had tears in her eyes and said "Thank you Aunty, you taught me the real meaning of love, I shall cherish your story forever. You are one brave selfless lady".

Behroze smiled and said "Every person is life, wherever, whoever we meet have something to teach us, my love. The idea is to pick the right lesson from the right person. And you my lady is too young, you have all the time in the world to mingle and date, enjoy your life, cherish every moment and make memories"

Rohit smiled as Behroze said that to Radha and added "She is right Radha, people enter our life for a reason, some for a season and some for a lifetime. Your boyfriend was for a season, cherish the good memories and let go the rest with grace" and Radha smiled nodding her head just when the elevator bounced back and jerked as the lights switched on and the door opened.

Behroze was the first one to step out as she inhaled deeply saying "By God, it was an enchanting experience. I will cherish these encounters for my life" as Rohit, Shyam and Radha smiled and said "Me too"

They dispersed from there, taking memories and lessons for life as Radha turned her back, looking as Shyam walking inside the Dialysis room and followed him.

6 months later:

Behroze was busy talking and yelling at Rustom on the phone as she said "Donkey, you have rested enough now it's high time you pamper and take care of Zeeniya, poor lady was taking care of you, day in and day out while you snored on your hospital bed"

Rustom looked at his wife lovingly as he spoke to Behroze and said "Behroze, for the first time I think you're right" and they both chuckled.

Rohit was home as he cooked soup along with his twin daughters and pushed the tray towards his wife who was much better and had started getting her movements back.

He sat next to her and fed her as she said "Thank you" and he held her hand gently, squeezed it, saying "I should be the one thanking you Rima, you never ever complained and single handedly handled our ever-demanding teenagers, our ailing old parents and maintained our social front. Thank you sweetheart" he said as he kissed her forehead and the twins rushed out asking "When are you joining back work dad?" and he raised his brows asking "Why?"

"Because we are tired of seeing such mushy mushy things at home" they said as Rima and the girls laughed.

Radha awaited outside the operation theatre along with Shyam's family as Shyam was undergoing a kidney transplant and his mom was his perfect match.

Radha had made it a point to collect funds through her friends and social media and had completely sponsored his transplant cost. She had patiently explained the entire procedure to them about the after care and kept trying her luck in the kaun banega crorepati on his behalf by calling the phone lines.

Radha walked out of the hospital as the doctors declared the transplant successful that she joined her friends for dinner and rekindled her old relationships by mingling with her friends and had called used to even talk to Kunal as she wished him luck with his final Law papers.

Life had come a full circle for all of them and as they say every encounter with every single human teaches us a lesson for life and only we have the power to change our life.