Tuesday, June 19, 2012

To a Cliche called Love...



To a Cliche called Love...

His seventh proposal had been rejected too. He was feeling low,obviously. Yet there was a light-heartedness with the low. He felt rather good. Did he want a yes in the first place,he wondered.Or was proposing and getting rejected his way of moving on..? He searched the contacts on his phone.Not one girl who had rejected him was on his list.

Even as he looked for the names of those girls he had proposed,he saw the names of those he had come close to doing so,those he wished he had,those he had dreamt he had..and the numerous others whose faint memories lingered on in his mind. He took out his note-pad and started listing. He wanted a count today,no matter what.And then he would write a book-he was now experienced enough to do that.

"When did love first strike me..?"he wondered.Class 9...or Class 10??. Unable to decide,he settled down on the holidays between Class 9 and 10.Yes that must've been the time.For it was then that they had gone on a school trip.She had smiled at him and he was nervous to react. He thought he was being mocked. Then she cornered him...and smiled again. He had to respond in kind! Then an other smile... and an other one. It had taken 432 smiles(on one side)  for him to understand that the smile had been only for him all the time. And by the time he realised that,Board Exams interrupted those smiles and he was heartbroken for the first time. More so when he saw her smiling at his friend after the results.

Not that he had been innocent in school.He wanted to speak to a short girl when he was in 9th..but came to know that she was already in 10th.The one girl he thought was good-looking suddenly started wearing huge glasses after winter holidays.The other who spoke great English was a little too arrogant for his liking.And by the time he realised that someone was smiling at him..that girl had moved on.

He sighed. There were already 6 names from school.He drew a line to demarcate and wrote a fresh heading. "College" he wrote. He had a mammoth task now.He had definitely been overambitious in college. But it had not been his fault entirely-he defended himself. You can't help if girls who looked dead boring wearing uniforms suddenly transform themselves once they step into college! His neck used to turn left,right and right about-360 degree if required. He would want to talk to this girl today...and that girl tomorrow. The classical singer impressed him today..and the compere at a fest next month.The nerd used to be his all time favorite-specially if she wore glasses( inexplicably,his preferences had changed). Then there were girls at tutorials who were from different colleges. He had had a tough time.

Admittedly,he had been impressed by many,but thankfully didn't come close to liking the lot. He wrote down 24 names. Then paused. The 25th had to be special. She had been.

She was always bubbly and cheerful.Never did she overdo her act though.They had been instant friends.He never noticed her probably because she never tried to get herself noticed.Even when their eyes kept meeting at all the right moments,he never gave it a second thought.And when he finally recognised what he felt for her,her father had got a transfer. "We'll always remain friends. Keep in touch" She had said. He had never heard from her again.He still remembered her face vividly-and all those times she had patted his head in innocent affection.

A cool breeze brought him back to the present. After her,pre-university had been a breeze. He didn't notice too many-unless you count that girl whose perfume made him follow her;that girl whose fingers looked weirdly beautiful;or the other one whose hair did all the talking. He finished pre-university with a count of 38.
He circled three names-those three girls would stand out,when he eventually wrote the book.

When he entered B.E.,he wanted to make sure he was more choosy.He wanted a higher probablilty of succeeding.He preferred the more outgoing type here-nerds were history.Yet he was careful about what outgoing meant. Being simple was the first criterion. Frank and broad-minded the second...he had spent days  
listing these criteria and then tried to match it with the girls he found would remotely suit them. Ofcourse there had been times when he just wanted throw that sheet containing the criteria and follow his instinct. There had been this girl who seemed to follow him wherever he went. Her friend had been more attractive. There was a  girl whose eyes were his only point of interest.There was an other whose eyes didn't even matter to him.

But then there was one who had to stand out. She still brought out a sense of genuine disappointment in him. Even after all these years. The way they got along with each other had been thoroughly natural-almost instinctive. No fuss,no noise,no mistake. It had been smooth-probably too smooth. They enjoyed each other's company for two years. When eventually he had brought out those obvious lines that evening,she had blushed and gone home.And he could never speak to her properly after that.He never saved her number..but memorised it. Sent an odd message even now..hoping against hope for a reply that never came.

"Well..."he thought aloud,thinking of some explanation for that episode,but none came out. It had been that episode that changed his perspective completely-his views had been more philosophical after that(atleast he thought so). Whenever a girl thoroughly impressed him and the urge to like her overpowered him,he would propose,knowing the obvious rejection.....and move on.

Today's had been the seventh one. She had struck him by being silent. None of the aura of being boisterous. No attempt to grab the attention.Nothing significant-and that had been most significant to him. He started getting to know her. Established a fairly decent rapport.He began hoping again. Somehow he had felt this time he wouldn't be rejected. At last he would settle down to explore the intricacies of a relationship.He made up his mind.Put all his previous disappointments away and told her those lines he had rehearsed infinite times last night. She smiled. His heart told he had won. She then said "I'm just so sorry.I'm already engaged."
He didn't know how he plucked the courage to congratulate her-but he did.

No 50-he wrote next to her name. She deserved that number,he chuckled to himself. 50 names were probably enough to pen a book. He wrote a grand title on top of that page "To a cliche called Love....." 
Supposing 50 was not enough?? 
Well,there was always that girl on the bus whose face he had never seen and longed to; and then that mutual friend of a mutual friend to whom he had sent a friend request on Facebook last night..just in case!!

                                                                               -19th June,2012
  P.S:Blogger causing problems at the centre. Don't mind it!




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