Shiva was frozen. He couldn't wrap his mind around anything.

What was that girl doing in Chipkali's house? And if she was there, does it mean...it's his...his Chipkali? His best friend?

His Raavi?

In any other world, Shiva would be the happiest man alive just thinking about the slight possibility of him having found his Raavi. But in this world that he was currently frozen in, he couldn't understand his own emotions. All the happiness he felt and possibilities he imagined were cuffed and squeezed ruthlessly by that one truth he saw - that girl was married.

He fell on the chair behind him with a thud. And with a mind caught up in a frenzy of emotions.

Raavi, his Raavi - the same Chipkali always goofing around him with an idiotic smile plastered permanently to her face - was...married?

Should he feel happy for her?

After all, they were just kids when they last met. Unaware, immature kids. Maybe she doesn't even remember him clearly.

But even after being actively aware of these facts, what was that uncomfortable feeling tightening his heart? He had returned after years for work. Never through these years had he even thought to visit Somnath just for the sake of it, for the sake of Raavi. And he hadn't done so now. It was his work that had brought him here. Then why did something he thought to be a vague part of his life produce such weird feelings in his chest right now?

Was that really Raavi? Where was her innocence? Her playfulness? The mischievous spark that was lit in her eyes every second? Where was Chipkali in her?

He couldn't think straight about either of the possibilities. If it was Raavi, why didn't she say anything upon seeing him? Did she not recognise him? Had she...forgotten him?

As if in a state of stupor, he suddenly got up and headed towards the door of his room. His bowl of soup lay almost untouched on the tiny table in the balcony. The wooden chair where he sat only moments ago, continued to rock for a few seconds after the room was empty.

The main door to the long forgotten buff house creaked open with a jerk, and the young man emerged out on the streets with an undecipherable expression on his face. He looked as if he was under a spell. Baffled, confused, excited, afraid, and a plethora of emotions he didn't know swirling in his black eyes.

He took a step in the forward direction spontaneously. And then stopped. All frozen again, just outside the threshold of his house.

The sun, gradually heading towards it's maximum potential, shone brightly on his face. His confused eyes sparkled, unlike the uncomfortable feeling twisting inside his stomach a bit more every passing second.

However, he just couldn't move. As soon as the peach house was in his direct view, his steps had reflexively halted themselves all of a sudden. His mind was still refusing to co-operate with him.

That one question kept on ringing in his ears, blocking out any other thought trying to make it's way to his brain. That one silent question was deafening to his ears.

Was that really Raavi? And was his Raavi really a...married woman now?

He continued to stand there, staring at the house of his childhood friend for what seemed like forever. Would she not come out like he did? To meet him?

What was he supposed to do now? Should he talk to her? Should he not? Was it that easy for her to forget him that she didn't even bother to come out after seeing him? Was it that easy for her to get...mar...?

For reasons he didn't bother to think of at the moment, he still didn't want to see that word attached with his Raavi. He knew he had no rights on her after having left his land, he knew he hadn't specifically returned for her, but that word - married - all of a sudden made him feel as if he was too late to return in the first place.

He couldn't muster the courage to just barge into her house after all this time. And his feet didn't want to carry him back to his house. So he just stood there staring at the building before him, like a man who didn't know he was longing to get something, but just knew that he didn't have a right to long for it anymore.

"Shu thayum, Dikara? (What happened, Son?" An unexpected voice suddenly pulled him out of his thoughts, back to the streets of Somnath about to burn in the scorching heat of the noon sun. "Why are you standing on the middle of the road like this? The crowd is insane here at this time. You'll hurt yourself." Said the old woman with a gentle tone.

It was then that Shiva realised he was not actually alone on the street. The roads were still filled with numerous of people, sitting at the various shops lining the streets, shopping at the moving carts scattered over the length of the road, or just standing in groups at the side of the road and chatting without any specific topic to keep the conversation flowing. There were even some kids running around where he stood and playing with a frequent series of laughter.

How did it happen that it just felt to him that he was standing at a completely silent place only minutes ago?

"Son, I'm talking to you." The old woman said again. "Haven't seen you here before. Are you new?" She said, eyeing him from top to bottom.

Shiva turned to look at her - a somewhat crinkled skinned woman with greying hair and a composed demeanor looked at him straight in the eyes expectantly.

He tried to speak something, but it seemed as if his voice had died down in his throat. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out of it, so he just nodded his head at her, then turned his attention back to the house before her.

The balcony was empty as well. Wasn't she even trying to look for him?

The lady followed his gaze to look at the house with the rosewood tints, and then back to him. "Is that your house? Haven't seen you here before." She pondered.

Not anymore.

He shook his head with a resigned feeling in his heart.

The lady was confused at that. Why was he staring at that house so intently if it wasn't his?

"Are you lost?" She asked again.

"Chhodo n, moti behen. (Leave it, sister.)" Said the other woman standing next to her. "Maybe he doesn't want to talk. Apne jhamele kya kam hain, jo anjaan logon ke muh lagna. Chalo." She said with a practical tone edging her voice.

The old lady had turned to look at her as she spoke, and failed to notice the light nod that Shiva gave at her last question.

She turned to Shiva again. Then, without anymore questions, turned to leave from there. She had only taken a step away from the man, when she heard him talk to her for the first time, his voice stopping her feet and grabbing her attention.

"Ka..Kaaki?" He began, swallowing the heavy feeling having settled in his throat as he finally spoke.

"Do you...do you know wh-who lives in that house?" He finally asked, his voice going a scale even deeper due to his soft tone.

"That house? The peach one?" She replied, pointing to the exact one. Shiva nodded again, his heart unknowingly bracing itself.

"That belongs to Prafulla." She said, placing a hand under her chin. "A very weird lady, I must tell you. Miser woman! If you're her neighbour, it's of no use. She won't lend you anything." Said she, shaking her head in disagreement at the memory of the mentioned woman, and probably some of her own experiences.

That was not exactly the answer he was looking for. He knew who that house belonged to. He wanted to know who was living in there currently, at this very moment.

"But she doesn't live here anymore." She added. Shiva's heartbeats grew faster at that. She didn't? So that means Raavi doesn't too, isn't it?

"D-Doesn't anymore?" He managed to ask. "Why?"

"God knows!" She answered. "For all we know, she just married her daughter off and left the town with her husband."

It suddenly felt as if someone had poured down a bucket of ice cold water over him.

'She married her daughter off...' The words kept echoing in his ears, his mind not wanting to comprehend the meaning of it.

"Ma-married?" He repeated the word he had come to dread the most in this very conversation.

"Yeah. It's no surprise, though. Her daughter is a lovely child! Nothing like her, I tell you. Any man would be willing to marry her." She smiled a bit at the mention of the daughter.

"What was her name, again?" She asked to no one in particular, and Shiva's heard pounded loudly at that question. It suddenly felt as if his heart was too heavy for him to carry it anymore.

Anything, but that please. Not that name, not that name.... Maybe she was talking about some other Prafulla. Maybe Prafulla Kaaki had a daughter of her own after they left. Maybe she had adopted someone else. Maybe this lady was getting confused. Maybe anything. Just not that name... Not that name...

"Aha! Raavi!" She said with a triumphant smile at being able to remember the name.

And now, it felt like someone had suddenly taken out Shiva's soul out of his body. Even though he had anticipated this already, he was feeling shaken, lost, and just...hollow all of a sudden.

"Very beautiful child." The woman continued. "Both inside, out. Unlike with her Maasi Prafulla, it is really wonderful to have a neighbour like her around us. Very mature and helping. Such a lovely girl!"

"It is...wonderful?" His mind now concentrated on that single word the woman had said. "You said they left?"

"Oh, I said Prafulla left!" She clarified. "Raavi still lives here in their house. The peach house you were talking about."

"With her husband." She added.

His heart somewhere ached suddenly, almost physically, unknown to the completely conscious part of him.

"Such a beautiful couple." The lady went on. And Shiva could have lived without her next words.

"Both husband and wife are really simple, sensible people. It's just been a couple of years or so to their marriage, but they seem to understand each other like no elderly couple in this colony does. Including my husband!" She shook her head in disappointment at the last sentence.

"Getting her daughter married to him was probably the only thing Prafulla did right in her life." The other lady finally decided to step in their conversation for a second time, both the ladies laughing at her uninvited comment.

"Even I wish for my daughter to have such a healthy relation with her husband." The lady was now turned to her friend. "But he is miser enough to not even take her on a date on her birthday!" She scoffed at her son in law. "And just see Raavi! Her husband takes her out every once in a while! Is there anyone luckier than her in Somnath? Blessed with angelic beauty as well as a great husb..."

That was all Shiva heard before he closed the door hard behind himself. He didn't know at what point of the conversation did he actually start to get away from that conversation, but he was sure he didn't want to hear the precise details of her happily married life right now. At least not now.

"Tune mujhe pehle kyun nahi bataya?"

An old conversation from the past suddenly resurfaced to his mind.

"Kyun nahi bataya ki wo ladka tujhe pareshaan kar raha tha?" He asked a little Raavi standing before him with her innocent features turned into a frown.

"Kyun bataun main?" She folded her hands across her chest. "Tune mujhe bataya ki tu dus dino ke liye baahar jaane wala tha? Nahi na. Toh?"

"Tu paagal hai kya, Chipkali?" He seemed to ask genuinely. "Tujhe inn dono baaton ka fark samajh mein aa raha hai?"

"Nahi aa raha samajh." She replied without missing a beat. "Kaise aayega? Main to dobi (fool) hoon na! Mujhe kahan kuch samajh aata hai? Isliye tu mujhe kuch nahi batata. Hai na?"

"Maine sorry bola na tujhe." Shiva, too, folded his arms across his chest. "Mujhe nahi pata tha Maa itne dino tak ruk jayegi Nani ke ghar. Main to sirf chaar paanch dino ka samajh kar gaya tha." He replied to her honestly.

"Wo sab jo bhi ho!" She said sternly, rubbishing his honest answer. "Tune mujhe nahi bataya isliye maine bhi tujhe nahi bataya. Sam-jha?" She said, splitting the last word into two to assert herself strongly.

"Haan." He answered, nodding his head in mock understanding. "Ab chal ye bata, akele kyun gayi thi uske ghar? Khud ko Baahubali ki bhatiji samjha hai kya?" Shiva narrowed his eyes at the silly girl before her.

"Haan hoon main Baahubali ki bhatiji!" She was in a defensive mode all of a sudden. "Aur tune dekha nahi? Kaise us Tarun ko apne ghar mein hi belan se maar padi? Tu belan se zyada maar leta kya use?" She looked at him with a challenging glance.

Well, he was pretty sure the guy's name was Varun- but anyways, let that slip for now.

"Aur agar teri pitai ho jati toh?" Shiva asked in a direct manner. "Kam se kam Kaaki ko hi le jaati apne saath."

"Mujhe nahi le jana tha kisi ko. Maasi Maa ko main har chhoti cheez ke liye toh pareshan nahi kar sakti na?" She spoke her feelings honestly. "Aur meri tareef karne ke jagah tu mujhe daant raha hai?" She asked cutely.

"Maine kaha tha na tujhe, bohot strong hoon main." She continued to harp on her own abilities. "Chal ab gift de mujhe." Added she, in a demanding tone.

"Gift? Tujhe?" Shiva knitted hi brows in confusion. "Ek saal mein kitni baar paida hui thi tu?"

"Ohho, Shiva!" She whined with annoyance. "Maine itna bada kaam kiya! Akele! Ek bure ladke ko sabak sikhaya! To tujhe ek ache dost hone ke naate dena chahiye na mujhe koi gift? Taaki mujhe motivation mile aur main aise hi strong bani rahun!"

"Vaise toh mujhe tujh par bohot gussa aa raha tha. Par agar tu mujhe gift de de to shayad main tujhe maaf karne ka soch sakti hoon." She pretended to be thoughtful.

Shiva just shook his head at the girl before him. Really, she was a different specie.

"Acha chal, thik hai." He agreed at once, and Raavi couldn't believe her ears at first. That was all? She'll really get a gift from Shiva now? Wow! She would be the strong Raavi each day now if she gets a gift from him for it.

"De phir." She said outstretching her palm before him.

He looked at her outstretched palm, then back at her and placed his palm over hers in an instant. Then, held her tiny hand and turned their entwined hands upside down, so that now, his hand was extended towards her and her palm was kept over his. She looked at him, confused.

"Pehle waada kar. Aage se tu koi bhi baat aise mujhse nahi chhipayegi." He raised a brow at her. "Kuch bhi ho, to tu sabse pehle mujhe batayegi."

He saw her about to open her mouth, so he continued.

"Haan main maanta hoon tu strong hai. Par main to phir bhi tera dost hoon na. Kya strong Raavi ko meri dosti ki zaroorat nahi?"

"Hai na. Tujhe bhi meri dosti ki zaroorat hai. Meri jaisi dost tujhe aur kahan milegi?"

She never left a chance to blow her own trumpet now, did she?

"Wahi to main keh raha hoon. Hum dono strong hain. Phir bhi hum dost hain na?" He tried to put his concept into her pea-headed brain.

She nodded her head innocently at that.

"Aur dost toh humesha saath rehte hain. Musibat mein bhi. Isse tere strong hone ka koi lena dena nahi hai." Shiva concluded. And Raavi made an exaggerated 'Ohhh' face as if she had understood a concept very new to her right now.

"Sam-jhi?" He asked, mimicking how she had split the words earlier when she had asked him the same just a while ago.

Oh, see how the tables have turned now!

"Samajh gayi." She finally replied. "Promise." Then, flipped their hands again so that her hand lay below his once more, before continuing.

"Phir tu bhi waada kar." Shiva looked at her with curiosity. "Tu bhi mujhse kuch nahi chhipayega."

Then quickly rushed to add.

"Aur dus dino ke liye kabhi bahar nahi jayega! Tujhe pata hai main kitna bore ho gayi thi!" She complained.

"Haan haan, thik hai." Agreed he.

"Promise." Said he, tightening his grip around her fingers slightly in a secure way.

Raavi finally flashed her beautiful, exhilarated smile at him. And he too, smiled seeing hers.

"Thank you, Shiva! Tu best hai."

"Pata hai mujhe." He said with a sense of excessive self satisfaction.

"Toh chal ab." She said immediately. "De mera gift!"

Ugh. Back to the same topic! Did this Chipkali really thing he carried a random gift with him all the time? Chipkali!

"Main kya apni jeb mein gift leke ghoomta hoon?" He said in a defensive tone, and she pouted. "Thoda ruk. De dunga tujhe tera gift. Mujhe bhi to dar lagta hai na strong Raavi se." He said the last part with a fabricated scared voice. And Raavi smiled on hearing her praises from him. The most unlikely person to ever praise her!

"Haan, wo to main hun!" She grinned widely.

Absorbed in a sense of self praises and merriment, she finally let go off the topic for the moment.

Something to be noted, for the moment.

You didn't tell me, Chipkali.

The thought trespassed in Shiva's mind as soon as the memory faded away.

You broke your promise.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Four days.

Four days had passed since he got to know he had lost his rights on his best friend. Four days of having come to Somnath, and four days of regretting that decision through each of his bones.

He had been awake almost the entire night that day. And still couldn't come to terms with the unexpected revelation.

And even after that, there hadn't passed a minute in these four days where Shiva had not thought of Raavi, not wondered what he was supposed to do now. After an internal battle of about two days, he decided he wanted to talk to her. But even after the next two days had flown by, couldn't gather the courage to just show at her doorstep all of a sudden.

What would he say? What would she say? Will she even recognise him?

He had caught glimpses of her here and there - in her balcony, at the vegetable cart every morning while he stayed in his balcony sipping his tea, even talking to someone in the street once or twice - but not even once did he see her make an attempt to talk to him once. Or even look at him for an entire minute after that day.

Did she really not recognise him? But she recognised his house, right? Didn't she even want to know about the man who was living there now?

Ugh. It was all so frustrating, he had headaches almost every once in a while now. That was precisely why he started to drink tea a lot more often too.

There was just...something about the beverage that relaxed some part of his thoughts, even if a small fraction.

And so he stood there now, in his balcony, standing and looking over the local street markets as he sipped his tea.

No, he didn't want to look in that direction.

That was before his peripheral vision detected some movement from the other side of the street on the same storey where he stood.

His eyes instantly darted to the balcony and -

There she was. Raavi. His Raavi. His Raavi who seemed to be no less than a stranger now.

She didn't even seem to notice him standing there, and continued to hang the clothes on the wire tied across the balcony just a little above her head.

A local seller was rolling by on the street between them, selling kulfis on his cart. And children had gathered all around him to buy the delicious dessert.

As the food cart stood still, the vendor increased the volume of the radio kept the corner of his small cart.

Hona...tha jo hua
Ae dil, jaane bhi de.
Shikwa...kis baat ka?
Ae dil, jaane bhi de.

Unaware of anything else happening around him, Shiva continued to look at Raavi with longing and a sense of loss in his eyes. They were so close right now, geometrically, yet he couldn't bring himself to walk up to her. How did they turn out to become such strangers?

Yaadon ke chaar lamhein,
Hain to sahi.
Reh jaaye jo adhoora,
Hai ishq wahi.

He remembered all those memories with her. Her playfulness, her mischievous smile, those sparkling eyes she looked at him with everytime she came to him, those moments. Why do they seem to bittersweet right now?

Soch liya tu khwaab tha mera
Toot gaya jo aaya sawera.
Soch liya hai bin tere jeena
Soch liya jo socha kabhi na.

It all seemed like a distant dream now. There fun, carefree childhood moments spent together without caring about anything else in the world. The most beautiful dream he had ever had. One he could never again live now.

Soch liya tu khwaab tha mera
Toot gaya jo aaya sawera.
Soch liya hai bin tere jeena
Soch liya to...soch liya.

Never had he thought this day would come between them. This unsaid, unwanted, unrecognised separation. Why did it have to be this way?

All of a sudden, she diverted her attention from her work. Not towards him, though. It seemed as if someone had called her from the inside of the house again, and she picket her bucket and left at once, without once bothering to spare a look at anything else, including the house right before hers.

Maybe he was right, then. Maybe their little lived friendship really meant nothing to her. She might have even forgotten him by now, he was somewhere sure of that fact now.

It was only understandable. They hadn't met - even talked - in years. And the many memories she might have made with many new people here - unnamed emphasis on a certain someone - might have easily replaced any she had of him through these years. But she couldn't be blamed either, could she? He didn't really try to reach out to her as well. He could have had he really wanted, maybe even just talked to her once in a while - but he didn't. And that was it. The end of their friendship. The end of everything they shared.

But even after all he had heard, thought and seen, there was one question still bothering him - Was she really happy?

The conversation he had witnessed the other day of the two ladies, without a doubt, indicated she was living a happily married life right now. But no matter who or how many people say it, he wouldn't be convinced till he saw that herself. If she was really happy, why did she look so different from the happy Chipkali he remembered then?

Maybe the years had turned her into a mature, sensible person. But he was the same Shiva when it came to being stubborn. If it occurred to him that he had to see her once in order to make sure she was really happy - just that and nothing else, he swore - then he just had to meet her once. There were no 'ifs' and 'buts' to it. He'll just ensure she's happy and then concentrate on his own work after that. Yeah, he would.

He had wanted to meet her for the same reason since long now, but still didn't know how to.

As if as a sign straight from the heavens, his eyes fell on something kept on the table placed next to bed the very next moment. And almost immediately, his eyes lit up with a sudden spark and rays of hope.

Yes! How could he even forget that?!

He immediately picked up his wallet from the table, and almost ran towards the door. Not before stopping on his way out of him room to glance once at the mirror hanging next to his bed on the wall, and running a hand through it swiftly. Without wasting anymore time, he was out of the main doors of his house by the next minute.

As a good neighbour and a good person, in general, he should return the money she had lent to him on his first day here while buying the vegetables now, shouldn't he?

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// Bold - Flashbacks //

To be continued.

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Sara