In order to get a quick recap:
The link to article “The Interview – Part 1″:
https://www.pagalguy.com/discussions/fiction-and-short-stories-18983755/19350251
***
Chapter 3: Different stages of love
Random Note: “If you’ve taken the trouble of watching Bollywood movies you will realize that every love story essentially has five stages. They are as follows:
i. Initiation,
ii. Attraction,
iii. Separation,
iv. Intimacy and
v. Termination”
I walked up to her, and when I was close enough I noticed the girl’s ID card lay on an old book.
I could make out the words “Karenina” written on it.
Karenina! That was her name!
‘Excuse me!’ I said; thus initiating my first love story.
***
She was covered in an old dress. It seemed as if she didn’t care how she looked. Had it been any other day, at any other place; I wouldn’t even have noticed her. But today was different.
A few sentences into the conversation I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity to touch her. It was true love’s first touch.
Never judge a book by its cover!
The initial stages of the conversation were dull. I had to put in efforts to keep it alive. But once we broke the ice, the conversation became more engrossing and gripping. So much so that I even forgot to have my lunch that day. This stage is what I call: attraction. In this stage you enjoy each other’s company so much that everything else in the world seems boring.
The next day when I reached the library, I saw her waiting for me. I finished my work in 3 hours and then spent the rest of my time with her. This routine continued for the next couple of days.
On the third day when I had arrived in the library, she was not there. I waited for her for a couple of hours. I asked the librarian about her whereabouts.
‘She is out. She will be back in a couple of days’, he said.
My anxiousness got the better of me. Every minute that I spent without her seemed like a punishment.
Slowly but surely my anxiousness evolved into something more malicious: jealousy.
What if someone else started talking to her? What if someone else started liking her? He must be touching her right now! I can’t let that happen. She is mine.
Eventually my jealousy turned into possessiveness! Her absence was turning me crazy.
This is the stage where you actually realize that you are in love. This stage is called separation.
She was back after 2 days, as promised. She looked untouched; as pure as she was when I last saw her. Fortunately my anxiousness was in vain. She was mine and only mine.
After the separation the vigor of our intimacy had increased exponentially. In this stage, which I call: intimacy, we got closer than I could imagine. Things became really interesting. This is the most beautiful stage of any relationship.
But all good things come to an end. So did this beautiful relationship of ours. Once I was done with her, we decided to move on.
This is the most difficult stage of a relationship: termination. Once it’s all over you are all broke and you are left with no clue about what to do with your life anymore.
‘It must be really sad!’ the interviewer said assuming that my story had ended.
‘For some time, yes. Though I had countless number of love stories after that, the first love is always special’, I started.
‘This first love of mine enabled me to evolve as a person. It imbibed in me, a sense of gratitude; I started thanking people more often than before. I never copied in any exam after that. It imbibed some values in my life. And most importantly it inspired me to never stop looking for my next love’
‘The limbo of sadness ends once you find someone else: your next love. And once you find her, the cycle repeats. Anna Karenina, written by Leo Tolstoy: my first love’, I said.
‘Written by Leo Tolstoy?’ exclaimed both the interviewers.
‘Yes! Anna Karenina is a book written by Leo Tolstoy. She is not a girl’
‘So when you said ‘Do not judge a book by its cover’, you were actually talking about a book!’
I nodded in agreement.
‘Karenina was not the name of the girl on the ID card!!’ they exclaimed.
‘I didn’t notice the name of the girl on her ID card. The book on which it was placed had all my attention that time. I took the girl’s permission and borrowed the book from her table. I never saw that girl again’, I said.
‘At the end of my apprenticeship I had suggested the librarian not to discard the old books. And also thanked him for giving me this opportunity to help him. I later learned that the librarian actually took my advice and retained all the old books in the library’.
‘Anna Karenina was placed in the Classics section of our library. She was standing on the shelf waiting to impress her next reader. Only someone wise enough to look beyond her old damaged cover was worthy of her love’.
***
‘That Sir, is the story of my first love’, I concluded.
‘You took 9 minutes to narrate your story’, the interviewer remarked looking at his watch.
‘But it was totally worth it’, he smiled.
‘Thank you, it was a pleasure talking to you’, they said.
‘Just because I don’t have a love story doesn’t mean I can’t tell one’, I smiled.
***
an art, by Shashank.
please find the link to the author’s blog, inorder to explore his other works: http://shashankchepuri.blogspot.in/2014/03/the-interview.html