12 years later

31 December, 2032

Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I squinted my eyes to read that damned venue and with a snail pace, walked towards the help desk to book a cab.

Yaar! Isko bhi iss Sahara desert mai apni shaadi rakhni thi kya!
[Damn! She had to hold her wedding in this Sahara desert!]

Welcome to the 'Big, fat, Indian wedding capital' of India, Udaipur. May the scorching sun decide your fate cause it's definitely ruining my day. Stuffing my hands into my bag, yet again, I tried—key word tried—to find a handkerchief.

Balancing my Redmi in one hand and the empty bottle of Appy on the other, I waited for the person in front of me to get done with their booking. Scrolling through our Hello Friends Chai Peelo group, I gave out a light chuckle in response to Lavanya's latest string of #weddingmemes. Our Kamino Ka Adda group had an upgrade. Yup, that's the same group. Just went through a recent naming ceremony.

Money. Check. Keys. Check. Phone. Check. Charger. Check. Earpl—

"Ouch! Mumm—"

I'm pretty sure that was me. And I was fine. Apparently, my toe wasn't. Kneeling to help out the poor soul who crashed into me, I saw the same chat group opened on the iPhone lying on the ground.

"Amaya?" I voiced out, almost sure of the only person among us all, who would be so engrossed on their phone as if their life depended on it.

"Jivika, is that you?" she asked, amazed at how much her friend had not changed, judging by the empty Appy bottle. I could only give her my ear to ear grin. Which disappeared after she pounced on me, locking me into her infamous bear hug.

Few seconds later we composed ourselves and got up owing to the nasty looks from the public.

"Chal, my company has organized my ride!" she cried out in excitement, dragging me outside the Maharana Pratap Airport, spotting the 'Ms. Roy' pluck card within minutes. "You are here on official purpose?!" I shrieked out, thinking about the leaves I was wasting.

"Well, perks of being a reporter, I guess. There is this local elections on the sixth of Jan which I have to cover. Plus, I would have never gotten a leave, you know. So I had to threaten her to hold her wedding here!" she rambled in a single breath, settling inside the car.

"You are so lucky!" 

"Tujhe bada shock tha na to become a doctor? Leave all that.  Think about this, our whole gang is gonna spend this New year together!" she cried out, giving me a fist bump.

"Bhaiya, 'Ray Lake Palace', okay?" she instructed the driver.

Gazing out of the window, I let my eyes drown in the sight of the glassy waters.

*

"Hello. Shlok I have reached Udaipur. Sorry, forgot to tell you that. Take care. Ya all safe. Yes. Yup. Love you. Miss you, bye!" she told the other person on line, ending the call.

"Who was that?" I asked with a teasing smirk.

"Shlok, my borfriend. Sports correspondent in the same channel. Been together for 3 years. Kundali bhi chahiye?" she replied, sporting a smile. Lost in her own dreamland, she was swiping her phone left, right and all other unnamed directions possible.
[You need the horoscope as well?]

 I snorted, old habits die hard. Bringing out the wedding invitation, I delicately open it up, to check if the venue was right. Ending up at the wrong venue and gatecrashing any stranger's wedding was not a talent I wanted to develop.

Yup. Ray Lake Palace it is.

I skimmed through the invitation again, gingerly tracing my fingertips over the carved words. The card was designed with extreme care it seemed. The design was appealing and surprisingly not as heavy as I would've expected.

Never thought in a million years that they would end up together.

But at the same time, it made sense. In a very weird way.

After we checked into our rooms, Amaya and I moved towards the pool area where the 'bride-to-be' was supposedly helping in the arrangements. The moment we heard that she was helping, we crashed to the ground unable to contain our giggles.

"She will cause so much tension for us on the wedding day! Remember how one day on our chat group her important question was 'Melody itni chocolatey kyu hai?'  and we were so worried!"
[Why is Melody so chocolatey?]

Well, that's Rhea Saxena for you.

Walking towards the pool area, we saw Rhea and Pranav and few other guys. Obviously, sitting and laughing. This was what she called helping. The backs of those three guys seemed pretty familiar. But still, I could not figure out who they were.

"Wait, isn't that Parth, Amaan and Shreyansh?" asked Amaya, clearing up my doubts.

I guess it is them.

I gave him a tight lipped smile and watched him reciprocate it. Things were not the same. Sure, through my 11th-12th in Dubai and college, we were in contact. But after that it reduced to one text a month and eventually just a birthday wish or any other festival greetings.

But just because we were not in touch, did not mean that there was any bad-blood in between. I mean, it was awkward, that's it. But when I shifted to Mumbai from Delhi, it was way more awkward than this.

As Rhea spotted us, she shrunk deeper into her chair. And marching towards her with accusations were we.

"Rhea! How dare you cheat on me?! We were to get married and have our names—Rhea and Jivika on that cake!" I said, knocking the soon-to-be-groom off his seat.

 "Chal nikal!" grinned Amaya, before toppling Shreyansh off his chair.
[Get lost!]

"Rhea you were having my child right?!" she accusingly pointer her finger at the bride-to-be. The poor girl looked so guilty by our charges, that one might think that those allegations held some truth in them. Minutes later after we all calmed down, they resumed their catching-up and we joined them.

"So Amaya, how is Shlok?" asked Shreyansh with a smirk.

"How did you know that?" she asked, a frown etched on her forehead. Well for starters I could say that she did not go into hiding about her relationship status. It was all over her IG stories, especially those Highlights of hers.

"Did you forget? I'm MI's statistician and he's a sports correspondent! Of course we meet all the time!"

Just as she was about to strangle his neck, we heard heels clacking on the tiles and it only grew louder, before it stopped abruptly. "So Rhea, now you are cheating on us ?" I heard them ask. The amusement was laced in their voices. But they were not as dramatic as we were.

What can I say, talent!

There they stood, those two, Maahi and Kiara. "We bumped at the airport" Kiara spoke up, sensing the confusion plastered on our faces. Kiara was the source of that dreadful clacking of heels. The glee which spread in the air seeing those two busy-birds after a long time was unmissable. Pulling them into a hug, I let them settle down.

"Really? Heels? You are so tall. She should be the one wearing them!" I said pointing at Maahi.

Accompanied with her sly smirk, Kiara snorted, "Corporate law relies heavily on the impression we set, Jivi-Ma. Comfort is lost in the path of achieving success." Maahi removed her sandals and plopped her feet up on the chair, sitting cross-legged.

"Where's Pratik?" I asked, noticing the absence of the pale-skinned, tall pole.

Hard to believe that they were still together! Sixteen years! Sure, it went on and off, but still!

"Oh that reminds me! Maahi, did Pratik also come back from States? I was busy this whole week, could not face time," she asked worriedly as she opened up her phone, searching for any messages. The girl who was cleaning her spectacles, brushed off her blue highlights and tucked them back to her shoulder length hair before replying, "He should have. Vacations and all. Also, we are fourth year students."

"So?"

"Fourth years have to attend conferences. I did. So probably he'll be doing the same."

"But you should keep an eye on him Maahi! What if some girl wooed him?" Kiara cried out.

"One, I'm a literature student and he is in the CS department. Two, I have better stuff to do rather than babysitting that pompous brat. Three, four years of studying there, the only person who asked him out was an eighty-year old Alzheimer's patient. Kiara, don't give him the credit which he doesn't deserve."

"So you people are pursuing doctorates?" voiced out Parth, once he was over with his laughing-session at the previous comment. Maahi nodded in answer and then added an afterthought, "But I feel Pratik is gonna be a terrible professor!".

Kiara bobbed her head up and down in agreement.

"I know right! Remember how he taught the class about 'gravity' in eighth? He climbed on the cupboard, dropped a ball from that height and said 'Guys, this is gravity!'. At that rate to teach circular motion he might climb on the fan, switch it on and say 'Guys this rotation is circular motion!'"

"I know that I would make an awesome professor!" spoke up Pratik out of nowhere, agreeing with his girlfriend. Her back was facing him. Luck was on her side that he could not see her expressions and so, was deeply grateful to the praise she showered on him. Kiara, chose to resemble a deer in headlights, opting to stay mum.

"So how are you arranging this big, fat wedding in one of the finest hotels?" he asked the 'to-be-married'.

"We both are software engineers in two big corporations. So its not that tough," replied Pranav, speaking for the first time since we arrived. "And since nobody is asking, me and Amaan are IT engineers in CoDense Mumbai branch!" shrieked Parth, flinging his arms around Amaan. While Amaan looked like he was swatting away a fly.

"Wait, you both have always worked in the same place?" I asked, my curiosity at its extreme peak.

"Mai apne jaan ko kaise chodu?" snickered Parth, earning a slap from his jaan.
[How could I leave my life?; jaan: life]

Before he could shower more of his love on Amaan, he was rudely cut across by a scream. A deafening scream, which echoed through the walls of the hotel.

"RHEA HOW DARE  YOU CHEAT ON ME? ME! I'M EVERYTHING ANYBODY WOULD WANT!"

This time, Rhea was terrified. Facing Lavanya needed to have a separate qualification. Lavanya stood in full glory with her hands on her hips and Laysa started laughing away, forgetting that she was supposed to be a part of that drama too.

"To marry me you would have to cheat on so many people?" mumbled Pranav, reconsidering his proposal at the moment. I doubt whether they would actually get married or not. Maybe they might have to run away from their own wedding to get married peacefully.

Rhea facepalmed, not knowing how to handle the situation.

"So Lavanya, Laysa, what are you doing both doing?" asked Parth, trying to bring us back to track. On went Laysa gushing about her job as an HR assistant in the Walt Disney Company and her colleague, Aaron. Clearly, it was her dream job. Starting off as a sound engineer, I'm glad she brought her life back to track, including her passion in it.

Lavanya, as we all knew, was the marketing manager of some 'A - list' fashion brand. The only person who remained in touch with every single of us after all these years. She cared for everyone, except herself.

"So where is Krish?" I asked about the boy who was not seen.

"He'll be here. That's for sure. His team is gonna handle our wedding photographs."

"Yes. I'll make sure it's the best!" came the voice from behind.

"Dude you are an assistant photographer for the Cultour Chronicles right?" asked Amaan.

Nodding in approval, he replied, "And Cultour Chronicle's wedding season is featuring Indian culture in their December-January edition. So—"

"This wedding is getting featured in an international magazine?!"

"Uh. Yes. Kinda."

All this while, only one person remained uninterested. Lavanya Sinha. Shoving three scoops of chocolate ice cream into my mouth, I offered her rest of the box. With a small smile, she accepted. Her mind was wandering far away. Almost as if his presence was everything she did not want in her life.

They are adults. They'll figure it out.

*

In the afternoon, once our energy levels had a drastic fall, I found Lavanya sitting by the pool. Her legs inside the water. Joining her, I felt her place her head on my shoulder. Finding her right position, she linked her arms with mine while her legs played with the water, splashing some of it on my shirt.

Old habits die hard.

Skimming my fingers in green water, I heard her say, "We broke up after college."

"I didn't ask."

"I know. Just listen."

Receiving my nod, she continued.

"School was too early for us to get into a relationship. So it was only after 12th Boards that I agreed to it. But you know what they say? Never enter college with commitments? I was in Mumbai, he in Bangalore. Long distance, it was difficult. But I survived. We survived. Everyday I kept reminding myself, few days left, I'll meet him. And when I got the chance, he broke the news of his scholarship to me. Another few couple of years of long distance? I would've gone insane in that!"

A gasp left her mouth. That was her effort to not cry.

"Stopping him was impossible. Selfish even. Not that he would've. He's level-headed. He was born to fly. I did not wish to be the cage who trapped him."

Hiding her face into my shoulder, I felt that single drop getting absorbed by my cotton shirt. The faintest whisper spoke up.

"So I let him go."

Putting an arm around her shoulders, I assured her.

"You'll figure it out, my heroine!"

"I hope so Jivika. I really do."

*

Hours later after having a good cup of chai (tea), Rhea dragged all of us outside the hotel. I was jet-lagged and wanted to take a nap. However, our madam was never ready to accept excuses during her wedding.

"Pranav, let us take them to that fort. We'll get the best view of the city and the New Year fireworks from there," she instructed her fiance who agreed with her. Them agreeing on things was new for me, and for others as well, judging from their expressions.

And that's how we were there. At Chittor Fort, waiting for the nightfall.

"Why are we here to watch the fireworks before the sun has even set?" asked Laysa, confused. Her curly hair bounced along with each syllable of hers.

"Moreover, can we stay here till twelve at night? I mean the rules?" asked Kiara, doubtfully.

Cleaning the lenses of his camera, Krish prepared up the set-up, waiting for the sun to set. Replying to her question, he cleared the air, "Cultour has got permission from the government, so it is a yes!".

Sitting on the rocks, we were having a flawless view of the city and the sun taking its own sweet time to sink. As the symphony of colors were putting me to sleep, I felt someone slip beside me.

"Long time no see, huh?" I asked, knowing that his actions might come before mine but definitely not the words.

 I patted the spot beside me, feeling that the space between was too awkward for us. 

After minutes of silence, he asked, "So, you moved on?".

Straight to the point.

"Well, I did like this college-friend of mine. Kartikeyan Sharma. But he was not interested in me. He let me know that straightaway. So yes, no other piece of masaala Amaan."
[Masaala: Spice/Gossip]

"Why?"

"Why why?"

"I mean, why not interested?"

"Gender issues."

"Oh. Chauvinist?"

"No. Gay Amaan, gay."

Eyes wide, he looked down the cliff, cheeks looking two shades lighter. For a person scared of heights, not a smart move. Giving out a yelp, he yanked my hand, which got me terrified for a second. Realizing what just happened, we laughed, some crashing to the ground.

I patted his back, and said, "Don't worry child. I'll keep you safe."

"Yeah. You better keep me."

Taking a note of how he framed the sentence, I tried to de-code it. Not deciding to touch the topic again till the wedding came to an end, I smiled.

"Ditto Tili?"

"Ditto Chivika."

I did not know whether we had a shot or not. I did not know if it would work out or not. I did not know if we were getting into a relationship or not. I did not know if he was the same Amaan or not. I did not know how we could possibly start again.

But I knew one thing.

Right now, with the group gathered up there and my eyes set on the sinking sun, hands laced into that uncomfortable clasp, it was one of the most cherish-able moment of my life.

As we sat munching onto our snacks, reminiscing about old times, getting our legs pulled by each other, we let the hours pass by. Preparing for the ten second countdown to welcome 2033, holding onto Kiara from one side and Amaan on the other, I started out and others joined in as well.

10

.

9

.

8

.

7

.

6

.

5

.

4

.

3

.

2

.

"And 1!" Lavanya let out, a smile adorned on her face. Standing beside Krish, watching the sparks fly. Letting the shouts of 'Happy New Year' echo in the sky, the twinkles in our eyes were hard to miss.

A year off to new beginnings!

That was when I realized.

This was Us.

This was our story.

Not any Jivika, not any Amaan, not any Lavanya, neither an individual nor a couple.

This was 'Us'.

Me, Kiara, Lavanya, Maahi, Laysa, Amaya, Rhea, Amaan, Pratik, Krish, Pranav, Shreyansh, Parth all of us. Our whole class. Our batch. The first taste of non-familial love. Those people who helped me grow up, while remaining a child. Those people who re-defined my life. Those people who taught me that tough times call for help, not solitude. Each one of them, every classmate among those forty-eight students had made me learn something.

And I had never talked with some of them. But that act of kindness, silent support, comforting smile—it mattered. All of it mattered.

Somewhere I had heard.

"Purani sharaab ki tarah, purani dosti ka bhi ajeeb nasha hai."
[Just like old wine even old friends have a strange intoxication.]

Embracing the moment, I watched the people around me.

The ones who helped me create my definition for us. My family. The love was not selfless, it never was. It was realistic. Conditional at bad times, unconditional at good times. But the times when you don't really feel anything and rather reflect back on your life, that's when you realize what kind of love that was. The memories, moments, lessons those faces held. And just when I was relishing the peaceful silence, Rhea voiced out her worry.

"Guys I have a question, a big doubt!"

"What?" asked Laysa, knowing it was bound to be stupid. Even the clueless one was not-so-clueless here.

"It's really important!"

Did she want to run away or something? That would be totally cool!

"What?!" asked Shreyansh, curious. Extremely curious.

Maybe the boys were out of touch with our drama.

"Ki—"

"Ki—"

"Ki—"
[Ki: That]

"AURAT BOL NAA!"
[Woman speak up!]

"Tho suno naa!"
[Then listen!]

An impish grin intact against her lips, she gave away.

"Melody itni chocolatey kyu hoti hai?"
[Why is Melody so chocolatey?]

NOT AGAIN!

_____*_____