There are different ‌people who exist while praying to god. People usually pray to god for many reasons. It could be for a good omen. It could be for not getting a bad omen and last but most important one is when your results for an exam are coming out. Especially if that exam is important for your life. Something that determines your future life. (Career-wise)

Winter faded away, and the spring was almost gone too, making the way for Summer that was around the corner. Summer is the season which everyone usually likes. What's not there to like in Summer? Eating Kulfi, which cools down both your hunger and the heat in your body. Drinking various types of Fruit Juices which are made from the fruits that are of this season. Get a shower twice a day just to cool yourself down. It is without a doubt the best season in people's life. Unless for a few people who are stressed, hours prior before their exam results are out and Today in the Meshram Family, the chaos before the result was clear.

It all started when it was still dawn and everyone in the Meshram household was busy with their day-to-day routine. Sunil Meshram was cutting vegetables whilst also making tea for everyone in the house, Sunita Meshram was reading a newspaper for getting to know what is currently happening in the country, Sakshi Meshram almost getting ready for her turn for bath, and lastly the youngest one of the family Saanvi Meshram who just emerged from the bathroom with a towel in her head. Everything was going on perfectly until Sakshi got a notification on her phone.

As a normal person, she thought to ignore it at first, but then curiosity got the best of her. As she looked at the notification on her phone, she stood in shock while slowly the phone from her hand slipped from her hand. Saanvi, who was fast enough to catch the mobile, looked at her elder sister. "Sis? What the hell? What if the phone's screen got cracked?" Saanvi asked while putting the phone on the bed.

She turned her gaze back towards her sister and looked at the bewildered expression on her sister's face. She got up and gently asked her sister, "What happened, Tai?"

"The result for the bank exams is going to be declared today," Sakshi replies, and she sat down on the bed after a while to control herself. She felt like she would throw up with the uneasiness.

Saanvi, who knew that her sister was nervous about this exam result, started rubbing her back and saying, "I am sure that the result will be alright. You said that the exam was good, right?" At that, Sakshi nods her head. "See. Now if you know that you have given the exam leaving no questions unattempted, why are you so scared?" Saanvi asked.

"You know that this is my sixth attempt. I am almost Twenty-Six years old, and if I didn't pass this exam as well, how will I face relatives at Ankita Tai's wedding?" Sakshi said and turned her attention towards her younger sister. "You are intelligent and I know ‌you will pass the government exams with your first attempt. But I am not like you, you know that."

Saanvi shakes her head and says, "Yes, I know that but I also know that you are as intelligent as I am. No need to say who is more intelligent or not, especially between us. You have more experience than me, and that's why you and I are the same."

Saanvi then took her sister's hand in hers and added. "And besides, our portions are different, so you can't say that I am intelligent at all. I know how hard Bank exams are and I chose government exams over bank exams because I don't want to study way too hard. If I remind you, you already had given UPSC exams, and you almost got the marks you needed, but it was border marks." She sighs and continues. "What I mean is that you have studied for the exam that was ‌ hard for both Government or Bank exams. So you are the one who has more experience than me. So stop thinking nonsense about anything and just wish to god that the result will be good."

Sakshi nodded her head and stood up while saying, "I will get freshened up first and will pray to god till I get the result." Before she makes her way to the bathroom, both the sisters share, Saanvi stops her and asks. "When will the result be out? I mean, they usually declare the result at night, right?"

Sakshi nods her head and says, "Yes, they will declare the result at Eight in the night. Now that I think of it, it would be extreme if I will pray throughout the day, right?"

Saanvi laughs at her sister's cute antics and said, "I think you should pray for once only, otherwise God will think that you direly need his help today whilst you never prayed to god that often."

Sakshi chuckled a little and announced. "So, it's fixed. Once I come out after my bath, I will at least pray to him for one hour, continuously. Is that okay? It doesn't seem extreme, right?" Saanvi wanted to point out that it was extreme but after seeing the way her big sister was scared with the news of her results, she brushed off her thoughts on telling her sister the truth and gave a nod while saying. "It's okay. As long as you don't mind doing it. Now hurry ‌and come outside to tell mom and dad about this. I will dry my hair and will wait for you in the living room, okay?"

Sakshi nods at her and goes to freshen up. Once confirmed that her sister was busy in the Bathroom, Saanvi took her sister's phone and put it on the study table, and attached the charger to it.

After drying her hair, Saanvi got out of her room and walked towards the balcony of their apartment to put the towel to dry out in the open. As she stood outside on the balcony, she took a deep breath and took in the fresh air. She had her eyes closed and listened to some birds chirping in the distance. Once she opened her eyes, she looked at the ground that was in front of her when she noticed that a group of boys was playing cricket. It was a simple form of cricket with no extreme rules, and she remembered the time she spent with her cousins back in Nagpur.

They have this huge madness for Cricket in her family. It wasn't like she hates Cricket or anything, but she doesn't get the idea of why people like it so much. Yes, it's a good sport for spending time with your friends or family, but sometimes she thinks that maybe it's overrated. She remembered the time when she bluntly told her cousins that Cricket was overrated and the way they were in shock for two weeks after that was kind of funny to her.

Considering that her family is big, like big as in they have almost ten cousins from the paternal side and seven cousins from the maternal side, it was almost like the enormous family they have seen in movies. Yes, that also meant that they were always on the radar whenever someone in their family gets a job, especially a government job with lots of facilities. This was also the reason for her to pursue a government job before her cousin gets it who is of the same age as hers.

Before she got back into the living room, she saw a ball entering the balcony and she picked it up. She looked at the ground in front of her and threw the ball as long as she could before that group of boys would ask for her to do that. Once she was sure that the ball was in the safe hands of those people in that group. She heard someone say thanks to her and at which she just waved her hands and left. Unaware of a guy from the group who tried to look at her.

On the ground, when they got the ball back, some boys cheered out and were whooping as they got the ball from the girl, but only one boy was looking at the retreating figure of the girl whose face he couldn't catch. He was the one who shot the ball in that direction and it was unintentional from his side but when he was batting, his eyes zeroed at the girl who came to that balcony with her hair out open. As his focus was on that girl, he shot his six at that balcony only to see if he could see the face of that girl, but that was to no avail.

That guy, lost in his thoughts, felt his best friend punching him in his stomach. He looked at his annoying best friend and said, "Why did you have to punch me like that?" He rubs his abdomen when his friend replies. "You were trying to check out my neighbor, dude. If someone from her family saw you like that, they wouldn't even talk to me! Then how will I confess my love to her sister? You would have ruined my chances. That's why I did that."

"Oh, that's why you did that." That boy said and he punched his friend back on his stomach while asking, "Who is that girl, anyway? I haven't seen her since I came to your house. I haven't even heard of her before today."

Sachit put his hands around his friend's shoulder and asked. "Why? Do you like that girl, Saatvik?" There was a hint of tease in his tone.

"How will I fall in love with someone whose face I haven't even seen?" Saatvik deadpanned and Sachit laughed at his reply.

"Bro, you always act like this whenever I try to tease you. If you would have said yes, I would have tried to introduce you to her, but you know what, I will not do it now." Sachit replied and took the position as an umpire.

"I didn't even need your help with that, because that would have been a waste of time. I told you that I would love to fall in love with someone who will like me, not as a cricketer but at least as a human being, so it would have been a waste, anyway." Saatvik says and adds. "And besides, I was just curious about that girl. The way she threw the ball was something that intrigued me the most."

"Why? I am sure that Saav doesn't know a thing about Cricket at all." Sachit replied to him, at which Saatvik asked. "You even know what that girl's name is?"

Sachit punches him on the shoulder and says, "Obviously, I know everyone's name in the Meshram family. Even though they have been in Pune for one year, I even know who their immediate relatives are that lives in the Pimpri Chinchwad area."

Saatvik chuckles a little and says. "Let me guess, you got to know about them because you like the sister of the girl who threw the ball, right?" Sachit nods his head and Saatvik shakes his head. "Not gonna lie. You sound like a stalker to me. I just hope that the sister of the girl who passed us the ball is good-looking. Otherwise, the way you are stalking her family would be a waste of time."

The boy who was the baller was waiting for the conversation between Sachit and Saatvik asked annoyingly, "Can we play again? I have to go to college today and if you both are going to talk about girls again. Can we call off this match?"

Everyone around the ground agreed to the baller and, after a lot of consideration, called off this match. Once everyone was gone, Sachit and Saatvik looked at each other and laughed out loud. "I still can't believe that we are playing with these college students. I mean, I always thought that they are our age, but turns out we are the only older ones in this group." Saatvik announces and sits on the ground.

"Well, even if we are the older ones in the group, the only reason they wanted to play with us is because of you. You are quite famous, you know?" Sachit replies, and he sits beside Saatvik while still looking for someone on the same balcony from where they got their ball back.

"If you are talking about me being selected for the Indian Cricket team, I hope you are just making this up because I don't want people to be friends and nice to me just because of that," Saatvik says but then looked at where Sachit was looking.

When he followed his gaze towards the same gallery, Saatvik laughed at his friend's antics and said, "You are hopelessly in love with that girl, aren't you? I mean, you are even waiting for her to come to the balcony just for her glimpse."

Sachit blushed a little, and he rubbed his neck in awkwardness when he replied, "Yeah... I mean, she looks so pretty and she is so down to the earth. I thought she would notice my crush on her, but she never noticed it. Hopefully, she notices me for once."

At that same moment, Sakshi came out to the balcony and Sachit stood up in anticipation. He looked at her and waited for her to look back at him when she glanced a little at him. She waved her hands at him, shyly smiled a little, and then she left the balcony.

Even though Saatvik doesn't know a thing about how people who have feelings for one person look at another, after seeing for himself with the way both the people were looking at each other. He knows that the girl his friend likes also likes him back.

Sachit sighs and says, "She still doesn't get it."

Saatvik has thought about telling his friend the truth he saw from his eyes, but he said, "I think she thinks of you as a brother."

Sachit, who was still looking at the same balcony, turned his body and glared at his friend. "TAKE THAT BACK." He threatened Saatvik, and he added. "Maybe she will tie you a Rakhi on Rakshabandhan this year."

After hearing the last line, Sachit started punching Saatvik, which turned into them running around the ground. They both stopped eventually once they were out of breath and Sachit says, "Mom asked you to come home for breakfast. She made Poha just the way you like it."

Saatvik takes deep breaths to calm himself down after running a lot but when he heard that Sachit's mom made him Poha for breakfast, he stood still and announced. "So, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

*****

After having their morning tea, Sakshi told her mom and dad about the notification she got. Her mom and dad were quite happy with the news as they knew ‌their daughter did best for the exam, but after looking at her long face, they knew ‌ she had something else in her mind.

It was Sunil who asked her about the dilemma. "Is there something going on in your head, beta?"

Saanvi gave her sister a sign of courage with a smile, and after that Sakshi replied. "I am scared. I mean, I gave the paper with no difficulty, but I am still scared that the result will not be good." Sakshi then looked at Saanvi and added. "Saanvi told me ‌ I am overthinking about it, but I am still scared."

Sunita stood up and sat just beside her daughter. She squeezed her daughter's hand and said, "Sakshi, listen. I know ‌people get scared whenever they give exams like this. Even I was scared, if you trust yourself enough, ‌ overcome that fear." Sunita laughed after remembering her incident and said, "When I gave the exam, I almost forgot about giving it ‌. It was like, I gave it and forgot about it, and I think you should be like that as well. See, we can't go back to the past and change what you have done in the exam. All we can do is to wait and see if the result is okay or not."

Sakshi, who understood her mom's indirect message, smiled, and she said, "Okay. I will not think about it, but can I at least pray for one hour, just for my sake? I would feel secure if I did that."

Sunita and Sunil looked at each other for a while and then they both united said, "Okay, as you wish." They smiled and after that Sakshi left to do the prayer in front of the small mandir in the kitchen.

When Sunita got up from her seat, she asked Saanvi, "Are you going to your class today? I think I will go a bit late today as the Commissioner will come a bit late to the office."

"Umm, if that's okay with you, then that's okay with me. I will have my class at Nine a.m. so how about we leave at quarter to nine? Is that okay with you, mom?" Saanvi asks and her mom nods her head at that. "I am okay with that. I will ask the driver to drop you at your class first and then drop me at the office."

As they still have forty-five minutes left, they spent some time together for a while. When it was half-past eight in the morning, their house's door rang bells. "I will check for it," Saanvi says and opens the door to be greeted by their neighbor.

"Good morning Sachit Bhaiya!" Saanvi greeted him and he smiled at her. In her mind, Saanvi smirked as she knew why Sachit bhaiya visits her home so often. Considering that her sister talks about him in her dream, she knew the feelings were mutual.

"Good morning."

"Did you come here to meet papa?" Saanvi asks innocently while also laughing at the way Sachit looked at her. Looks like He still doesn't know that I know about his reason to visit our home. She thought.

Sachit feels bad that he lied to her from the start. He always comes to their house to have a glimpse of Sakshi and to make sure that no one would get to know about his intention, he lied about meeting Sunil as a reason to come to their house.

"No. Mom made some Poha for breakfast, so I thought to give this to you." Sachit says and shows her the bowl full of Poha in his hand.

"Oh, I will take that. Come Bhaiya, wait till I bring the bowl back." Saanvi says and opens the door for him to enter. She was almost leaving to the kitchen when Sachit says. "No. I have to say bye to my friend before he leaves for his house. So, it would be okay if you gave the bowl afterward." At that moment, Saatvik also came out of his house with his bag on his shoulder. "Sachit, I am leaving—" He announces but stops as he notices ‌Sachit standing in front of someone.

"My coach called me. So I have to leave now." He adds, at which Sachit turns back to him. "Wait, let me introduce you to someone."

Sachit clears his throat and says, "Here is..." he turns his head only to see that Saanvi wasn't in the door, "Saav—where is she?" He asks, but Saatvik already made his way towards the stairs downwards.

"Bro! Wait!!!" Sachit says and follows his friend towards his car that was parked outside the ground.

When Saanvi came back with the bowl full of Upma, she saw ‌Sachit had already left. She shrugs her shoulders and closes the door. "Maybe he was dropping his friend off."

As she went to check on Sachit from the balcony, she saw a glimpse of a guy with whom Sachit was talking. She could only see his back, but how that guy was talking with his hands told her ‌he was maybe getting late or something. Before she went back to the living room, she stopped and turned a little to see who that person was.

Somehow, she wishes to see that guy but she couldn't because minutes later that guy got into his car and left.

At that moment, Saatvik looked back at the balcony via his side mirror of the car, just to see the girl who threw the ball at him walking back into her house and he somehow felt her pulling him towards her. It wasn't like he doesn't like girls at all; he was just curious about why his mind was constantly thinking about her since the morning.

As he stopped his car at his apartment complex parking, he closed his eyes just to see if he sees her again. He couldn't see her face, but he could see her silhouette after closing his eyes. The way her long hair was flowing freely while the way she stood there at the balcony was etched on his head. Maybe she has brown eyes? He thought.

Stop! He reminded himself.

"Why do I want to see the person's face so eagerly? It's not like she is the only girl I have seen in my life." Saatvik asks himself and at the cue, he saw his neighbor leaving the elevator of their building.

She glanced at him as he was still in his car and waved her hands. She smiled a little and pushed the strand of her hair behind her ear. Just like always, but this time, he was still thinking about the same girl.

He groaned in annoyance and got out of the car while stomping his way towards the elevator. Once he was inside the elevator, he started reading messages he got while he was on the ground in the morning. One message was about the match that was going to take place in a few hours, while the other messages congratulated him on his selection.

Once his floor arrived, he made his way towards his apartment and got inside. He looked at his house in envy. Yes, it was the house that everyone dreams of but at what cost? Loneliness, or not sharing it with someone who would love him in the way he wants to be loved.

As he puts the car keys in the keyholder, he put his bag on the couch in the living room and went towards his room. He threw his shirt and his pant on his bed while walking towards his bathroom. The hot jet of his showers tries to calm his mind down but again and again, he was seeing the girl's silhouette. Yes, he couldn't see her face, but he imagined what she would look like.

What if she is shorter than me?

What if she has a mole on her body?

What if she wears spectacles? I haven't seen her yet, but I guess she would look good in them.

Does she find cricketers attractive?

Or does she despise them?

A lot of questions were going on in his mind, and he didn't have answers to any of them. He wished he could see her again.

Once he came out, he saw ‌his mom call him. With no interest in talking to his mom, he, in a grumpy mood, called her back. "Hello, Saatvik." He hears his mom's voice.

"Hello, you called?" he asked directly as he was busy, just like her.

"Yes, I called you beta. I hope you have some free time to meet me." She replied, at which he scoffed in return.

"Like you have time for me? Mom, I will be busy throughout the day, so is it okay if you say what is going on in your mind with no interruption?" He says and he could hear her mom whimper from the other side of the phone. "Why don't you talk to me like how a son is supposed to talk to his mom? Am I that bad?" she asks.

"Look, I don't have time for any of this, so can you please tell me why did you call me first?"

"It's about your dad." She replies and in an instant Saatvik knew that the news must be bigger than he thought.

"What about him?" He asks, and before he could get a reply from her. His phone switched off.

He hurriedly ran towards the charging port to charge his mobile and waited patiently for his mom to call again. It scared him that something must have happened to his dad because he knew his mom wouldn't call him at this hour whenever she was usually busy.

So the moment his phone starts again, he called her again but this time she didn't pick up the phone. He called her again and again and when he called her for the fifth time, she picked up and said, "Why? Why are you calling me now? I thought you would be interested in hearing about your dad's health that you will listen to me once, but no. Your hatred for me always comes between us. And it's not good!"

"But--" He tried to reply, but she cut him in the middle. "I know you hate me for leaving you to live on your own, but you should know that I was so stressed. I had you while I also had to control the company. What was I supposed to do? Leave all the opportunities for my own selfish reason. I am who I am now because I decided and I know you love your dad a lot, but at least give me a chance! Don't I deserve that at all?"

"What happened to dad?" He asks her.

"Your dad got arrested again for drinking and driving. I called you because the police station was close to your house. I hope you give him bail. Bye!" she replied and cut the call in anger.

Saatvik looked at his phone and then at the wall that was in front of him. He took his phone and smashed it into the wall in anger. Again, his dad got arrested and again, he will have to bail him for that.

"I wished that my life was as simple as Sachit's." He wished and wore his new T-shirt and pant while making his way towards the police station.

******************************

Finally, the first chapter is here. (I am still scared that it would not turn out to be good, but it's good so far.)
Next chapter: on or after 30 March.

Note: I published it again after realizing that some scenes were missing.

Until then, Bye!

R. S. Gajbhiye