The 5 ‘Miss’es in every man’s life!

THE FIRST CRUSH – Just as you walk into the class first day, she is sitting on the very first bench. The one you saw entering the gate & followed hoping for a longer glimpse, just to be greeted with a pleasant surprise that she is in your class. Simple smile, dimple cheeked, glowing eyes, curly hair. The seat next to her is vacant & you just don’t gather enough courage to sit next to her. Then on, you always sit somewhere on the back benches admiring her, hoping some day she speaks to you. Not for the class work, but as the monitor who checks the home work. The day she does eventually walk up, you get to know she came to meet the guy sitting next to you, her best friend.

THE NEIGHBOUR NEXT DOOR – The cute little daughter of your neighbours who plays badminton with friends the very same time to you play cricket with friends. That “hi”, a shy smile & wave of the hand when you accidentally meet in the lift always leaving you with a feeling, could have spoken a little longer. Couldn’t the lift have stopped working for a short while? Which School is she in? What time? Is May be same route? What subjects? Ahh, can I borrow a book from her? Not a bad idea. You don’t see her for a while & the day you finally made up your mind to ask for the book, you get to know the neighbours just shifted.

SISTER’S BEST PAL – She comes one day to study with your sister, only to sweep you off your studies. She is mature, energetic, bubbly, sharp & witty. As exams near in, she stays back to cover up the syllabus & clear her doubts with your sister. You wait for the vacations; she comes & prepares your most favorite dish as her friend’s darling brother & you catch up for a one-off movie with your sister in between, hoping it was just the 2 of you. The next year, you find out your sister has a new friend who isn’t that great. “Didi – where is …….?” is the last you spoke about her only to find that she & your sister went to different classes this year due to different grades.

FAVOURITE TEACHER – She is your favorite teacher, just because you are her favorite student. She thinks you are intelligent & with some efforts can make good grades & have a great future though no other teacher feels so. She guides you in studies & encourages you for extra-curricular activities for holistic development. You devote extra study time for her subject, just for her – else who the hell would be interested in Geography. She is the one who is all over the moon when you are the top scorer & doesn’t punish you but rather takes you to her room, explains why you shouldn’t have done it & let’s you go with a kiss! The next day, she suddenly looks gorgeous; as though she never looked that way. Oh no, this one never left you. In fact you were the one who left school & meet her when you visit school as an alumni & reminiscence the good old days. Anyways, it was a shore you could have never reached

FIRST LOVE – Divine intervention! Just what god ordered to move your never happening, non-glittery life. She sparkles it as if all festivities came together. She is the most beautiful girl in the world. Her walk makes your heart skip a beat, her look just about perfect as you dreamt & when she let’s her hair loose man you stumble all over. When you start spending most of your time in front of the mirror in the house, fashion suddenly becomes the in-thing & you begin thinking hairstyles kind of improved face value. When Dad’s perfume & the expensive jeans you did not buy last year when mom wanted to present it to you for a Diwali gift suddenly become prized possessions. You correct the previous mistakes & quickly get introduced to her. You get to know her well & ask her out. That first date, the movie with pop corn, followed with Ice-cream & a long walk to drop her before you headed home. One night as you try sleeping you realize, its love – This really is! You discuss topics ranging from Education to Politics, Cricket to Bollywood, People & Relationships & about Careers/Life!

Just as you propose to her she says “I never thought of you like that, we are just friends” or “Love is one thing & marriage is other” or “Thoughts & Feelings are fine, but Life together is serious business” or “Careers are important & we are still too young” or “We are compatible, but families may not be”You may have missed any or all of them! But the best is the one you will have in your life! The one because of whom you can remember, smile & say – so kiddish of me!

Say it; before it’s too late to!

The last 6 months had been really painful; it was getting tougher to live by the day. My body had started deteriorating. I had lost strength. Reaction times were slowing down. The mind too seemed to have given up. The end seemed inevitable & evident. The heart still beat, probably a lot more now.

It had been 12 long years since we had known each other. Most of our exchanges had been on mails, chats or sms. We had hardly met, may be just twice or thrice & I rued that fact. But I knew for sure, she was the girl. The one for whom my heart pulsated. I had relayed that feeling to her, sometimes subtly through expressions & sometimes verbally or through actions. She knew it & she felt it, just that she wasn’t acknowledging it. She liked me too, but had never said the 3 word sentence every guy would like to hear from his girl. I now had begun to realize the power of “I Love You” & wished the world understood it too.

I didn’t dare to tell her about my recurring illness, but silently hoped she was around in my last few days. The news did break to her & she eventually came. If death was the only thing that could have got me so close to her, I wished it had come earlier. Those last 8 days of my life were the ones I truly lived. With her along my bed side, no end could have been better. People say love is about being together all your life, but for me it wasn’t possible. Did that mean I didn’t love her? Well at least that was not what those few days & moments suggested.

I was still waiting to hear her say “I Love You” She didn’t. But she said something I thought was an even better tribute to my life “I didn’t believe love ever exists, but thanks to you I now do!” That was the last, but the best. May be I deserved a breath more to feel the world around after she said that. But what if it had been one breathe lesser?

I may have had that last breath to hear, but you never know it may be too late for someone else waiting to hear from you. Say “I Love you” to all your loved ones, before it is too late to!