chapter THREE

Lina didn't know how to break the news to her dad. Sure he was more of a friend to her than a parent, but this might be just too much for him to digest. In fact all of her friends at college had been shocked at her decision. They never understood, but then did she herself really know what she was doing?

Lina brushed aside those thoughts and called her Dad up at his office.

"Busy dad?"

"Never for you dear!", her father answered, jovial as ever.

"Dad I am coming down to your place for a week. Would that bother you?"

"Sure not! But then I thought you were having your college exams next week..."

"Well ... actually yes. But ... actually I have decided to quit college ... for good"

"That was a very poor joke Lina! " said Mr. Joshi, laughing.

"I am serious Dad. I have had enough of studies. I want to go out into the real world and find out what I am really worth. I have contacted an NGO near here and they are willing to take me in; after all I'll get a good chance to see how much of all that management education I've had for the past two years is actually useful ..."

"All that is fine dear. But this is the final exam! Three more weeks and you will have an MBA degree in your hands! After that you are always free to do whatever you want... "

"Come on Dad. I went to college to 'learn', and I did. I don't need certificates to prove myself. Now no more discussions on this. See you, bye!" and Lina hung up, heaving a sigh of relief that it was finally over.

*****

Tuhin was so taken up by work for a whole week that he didn't have the time to ponder on his "mystery woman". Finally over the weekend it all came back to him and he called up Trisha.

"Hey you! I got no goddamned reply from her!"

"What is this Tuhin? Are you calling up a friend or issuing a threat like some underworld 'bhai'? At least wish me a happy new year first! " said Trisha.

"And what's so 'happy' about this new year? Here I am all worked up about this ....this girl, and all you care about are stupid greetings. Anyways I did send you an sms greeting, don't blame me if you didn't get it."

" I did. Come on now, I was kidding. Ok so whats your story till now?"

"Story? She never replied to that sms I sent!"

"She wasn't supposed to! Who in their right minds would reply to a 'go to hell' from a stranger? "

"So...??? Then why did you ask me to? " said Tuhin, totally confused.

"Well... although she didn't reply, she will sure remember that sms; in fact, she must have been thinking 'what a stupid jerk, sending such messages to a stranger'."

"And how does that help?" said Tuhin, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Well, that sets the stage for your second sms! "

"Oh no! Enough of all that. Thanks for your advice but NO, thanks!"

"Fine then. Chalo bye, call you up sometime..."

"Hey wait!" interjected Tuhin.

"Now what?" asked Trisha, smiling to herself.

"What's the second sms?"

to be continued

chapter TWO

Lina woke up to the incessant ring of her cell. She stared at the glowing display...Mohit. She looked back at the clock by her bed - 2:00 a.m!

This was the most disconcerting part of her relationships- breaking-up, and though she should have got used to this by now, it was difficult..really difficult.

What could she say to Mohit? He was a perfect gentleman, a dashing boy with a heart of gold and of course she never doubted his genuine love for her...everything was so very right about him. Yet, that was the problem - everything was just too perfect, and try as she might she could never let go of her inclination towards a fatality in love - the romeo+juliet kind.

Love without barriers just held no meaning for her and she just couldn't carry forward the relationship.
"Now how am I supposed to make Mohit understand all that? Hell! Sometime even I don't understand myself!", thought Lina.

The cell started ringing again. Lina turned over, covered her ears with the pillows and decided to miss the call.

*****

"Now dont u act pricey wid me.to hell wid ur xams", sms'ed Tuhin.

"Plz dont ask this of me.i cant", replied Trisha.

"I aint askin u to compose mahabharat yaar.just gimme a line i can sms to tht girls cell", Tuhin retorted.

"I aint fallin for tht trap.i write ur luv mails and then fall in luv wid u.nope."

"Thts bollywood crap!"

"I ve seen it happen in real life! I aint takin the risk"

"And whts wrong if u do fall for me? Am I tht bad? :-)"

"Now dont get cute wid me.giv u a kick."

"See! thts not the way u wud talk2a lover2b! now dont waste time and gimme the punchline. i really hav 2 rope in tht girl yaar"

"go to hell!", replied Trisha.

"come on yaar. plz. tell me wht to write"

"uff! told ya just now!", said Trisha.

"wht? u mean tht go2hell??? u serious?! "

"try it and then tell me. now bug me no more. bye"

Tuhin lay thinking for a while. "What the hell!", he thought and he keyed in the three words and sent off the sms to Vrajesh's erstwhile number. "What a way to start a relationship...if at all!"

to be continued

chapter ONE

Meet Tuhin. 21/m/hyd. Just out of college... five months into a software job and already thoroughly disillusioned about it. Still a wannabe movie director ( though always kept himself out of school/college dramas ) and a wannabe bestselling author ( though all his school essays/projects have always been written by his best friend...Trisha).

Trisha.21/f/pune. Just out of college and back to school! B-School. The few minutes that she can spare from studying for an MBA are spent writing her blog - which, strangely enough, is just for her personal viewing - a confidential online diary.

from Lina's dairy:
"what's a rose without the thorns? Love is too strong an emotion to be wasted on pleasant evening walks and candle-lit dinners. True love is about conflict... about a pair of star-crossed lovers... about anger and pain... about holding back when you want to give in... "

*****

"The job sucks", thought Tuhin, " I need a change, I really do" . He decided to call up Vrajesh. The last time they had talked, two months back, Vrajesh had invited him over to join his startup. Tuhin, as
always had been too lazy to follow up on his offer. But now...

Tuhin dug up Vrajesh's cell number. His cell subscription was limited to SMS s and local calls ( laziness again preventing him from making a trip to the subscriber's office to get the STD service enabled ), so he had to get to the phone-booth downstairs.

Damn! Why doesn't he pick up the call? Tuhin tried again. No response. What the hell, he thought and got out of the booth. Rrrring. Not his cell...the phone in the booth. Vrajesh must have called back. Tuhin ran to pick up the phone.

" Who is this?", said the voice at the other end.

" Is that Vrajesh?"...a thoroughly unnecessary question for the answering voice was female! "Idiot!", Tuhin thought to himself.

" Sorry donno no one by that name."

" Sorry to disturb you.", said Tuhin ending the call.

" Damn!", he thought, " I am really an IDIOT! Here's this girl with such a
wonderful voice and all I do is hang up! Tuhin you fool! You suck!"

Tuhin lay awake till late in the night. Hell, I missed my chance! Hey but I have her cell number still!
Should I call her? A SMS perhaps? He kept staring at the anonymous number he had saved onto his mobile...and dozed off...

to be continued...