A Journey Of Life

A Love Story Chapter One What is Love? It is something everyone knows and at the same time it is something which only few understand. Though many people fail to understand what Love is, it still remains the crux of everyone's life. What about me? Am I in the group of people who know what Love is but did not understand it or am I in the group of a lucky few who are lucky enough to understand it, feel it and appreciate it? I don't know. I am still searching for the answer. February 27th, 2004 The stadium is roaring with the name 'Aaryan'. The Indian flag was flying high all over the place. Its 2007 world cup and India is facing Australia in the finals. India is only inches away from the victory. It needs four runs in last over. If it scores four runs in the last over India will win the world cup after 24 years. It's definitely a long long wait. In the last world cup in 2003, India lost the finals against Australia. After four years the same teams meet again in the fi

Chapter Two July 30th, 2003 This is the day I joined Infosys - Pune Development Center. After completion of training in Bangalore, I was transferred to Pune . Pune is a great city and is known as the cultural city of Maharashtra. It's famous for its rich heritage of the great Maratha kings. Surrounded by Western Ghats, it is famous for its innumerable trekking spots. Each and every trekking spot is unique in its own style. I am very fond of photography and that made me inclined towards trekking. After I shifted to Infosys Pune Dvelopment Centre, I was put on bench. If you are not in the IT field I am sorry, let me tell you what bench is. Just imagine that you work day and night, you don't have time even to eat or sleep, you are working really hard on your project, you take the whole responsibility, and you feel the deadlines coming hard at you. Now come to the real world. Bench is just doing opposite of this and still receiving the same amount of salary at the end of the month.

Chapter - 3 Aug 29th, 2003 It was Friday. I was going to Mumbai that evening. I was reading 'Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix', the latest book of Harry Potter series at that time. Harry Potter books take you into a new world of imagination and you never get tired of reading those books again and again. Some movie was playing in the bus. I was completely involved in the book. "Hello Aaryan" I heard some one calling me. It was Rahul. He is a friend of Vinod. They work in the same project. "Hey Rahul, How are you?" "Not bad. How is your work in the project going on?" "Hmmm. Fortunately or unfortunately I am not still allocated to any project. I am still on bench" I said. "Are you still on Bench? You are lucky man" "I don't know. Everyone say that I am lucky. But I don't feel so. I want some project" I said. "Why are you taking load about the project? Enjoy the bench. This chance will never come agai

Chapter Four Haripriya and I became very good friends. We go to Mumbai together every weekend. I always look to her whenever I need any advice, whenever I need any help and she is always there for me. January 20th, 2004 "You are again late" Priya said showing her watch. "OK.. OK I am only ten minutes late" I said. "Ten minutes!!! I am already late for the party..." "Don't worry, I just called Swetha and she said the party did not start yet" "Just shut up... and now start the bike" she said sitting on the bike. She is always like that, always hurrying, fighting, shouting at people, but at the same time she is very caring, sweet and beautiful. She has a great passion for books. You always find her reading books. She is very much fond of English literature and comics. She is very sensitive and emotional. She cries watching typical tragedy Hindi movies and at the same time she is best in consoling people when they are sad. I am really p

Chapter Five February 29th, 2004 "Where are you going?" Mom asked. "Juhu beach" I said wearing my shoes. After twenty minutes I am at Andheri Station. Priya is already waiting for me. She gave an angry look. "Aaryan, you are becoming lazy day by day" she said. "Wait, let me explain. You called me suddenly and I just came from the shop. I need to get ready and it takes time" "OK.. OK. Now don't make late. Let's go" she said sitting on my bike. In half an hour we are in Juhu beach. I parked my bike. "ISKON temple first" she said. I simply followed her orders. ISKON temple otherwise known as "Hare Rama Hare Krishna" temple is located near Juhu beach. It's well known for its beautiful construction. We went inside the temple. The temple is very well maintained. It's a very peaceful place. "Let's sit here" she said. We sat down there on the steps. She took out a packet from her hand bag. "

Chapter Six March 1st, 2004 After a great Sunday, Monday is always a disaster. Today we found a defect in our code and we are asked to fix it immediately. I had to stay till 11:00 PM in the night to complete it. I returned back to room at 12:00 Midnight. My room mate Vinod was waiting for me. "What happened?" Vinod asked. "Why are you so late?" "Don't ask. Today we had to deliver a critical fix and it took so long" "By the way Rahul is very angry upon you" "Why? Oh.. What can I do? Priya forced me to Juhu beach. Otherwise I have no intention of moving out of my home" "I don't know. He was spreading rumors" "Rumors?? What rumors?" "Rumors about you and Priya" "Priya is just my friend. What is wrong in this? Why is he after me?" "I don't know. Now you are trapped. People will start teasing you with the name of that girl" he said laughing. "And I am not going to leave this

Chapter Seven April 27th, 2004 "Propose to her" Vinod said. "What?" "Come on man. Tell her that you love her. Propose to her. Otherwise how does she know that you love her?" "No" I said. "I cannot do that" "Why?" "I don't know. I can't do that" "Are you mad? Don't be stupid. Go and tell her" "What if she doesn't accept?" I argued. "Ah.. The same classical doubt. See. If she accepts, it's well and good. If she does not accept, there is nothing to lose" "Hmmm... I will try" I said. "Let me give you an advice. Make sure the day that you tell her is a special day. If it's a special day, your proposal looks special. Again don't ask me how it works. But that's just my gut feeling. Now All the Best" Vinod said. I have seen in many movies how boys propose to girls and vice versa. But I never thought that I would fall in the same situation. I be

Chapter Eight Vinod laughed at me when he heard what I have done. But I could not help myself. Months passed by. But I did not tell Hari Priya. Every time I tried to tell her, I talk about everything in the world other than what is necessary. August 8th - the day we first met, November 12th - Diwali, January 1st 2005 - New Year day - all the days I tried to tell her but could not succeed. Meanwhile my father got transferred to Hyderabad and I going to Mumbai on weekends stopped. January 15th, 2005. "What is your problem?" Vinod asked. "Why do you feel so tensed?" "I cannot say it to her" I said. "But Why?" "I am afraid" I said. "Afraid? Of what?" "I don't know how she will react if I say that I love her. What if she doesn't take it positively? What if she stops talking to me after that? What if she abandons our friendship?" "Why do you think like that? It does not happen that way" "No.. Girls a

Chapter Nine January 25th, 2005. I decided to propose to Priya on Valentines Day. But everything does not happen as you like. Today my PM called me and told that I need to fly to USA for my project before this weekend. I need to report in USA on Monday, January 31st. I have waited for this onsite opportunity from the day I joined Infosys. But as the onsite opportunity stands before me I don't feel like leaving Hari Priya and going to onsite. "Congrats. This calls for a party" Priya said when I told her about the onsite. "Sure" I said. I am with mixed feelings. But the sadness of leaving Priya has overtaken the joy of going to onsite. "So, for how many months are you going?" She asked. "I don't know. It's a long term assignment. I am going to Hyderabad tomorrow. My parents are waiting for me. There is lot of shopping left" I said. "We will not be meeting after today" she said sadly. "The flight is on Saturday night. It g

Chapter Ten United States of America - a country which considers itself as a big brother to all other countries, a country which has become the destination of almost every software engineer , a country which is full of opportunities, a country which is poor in heritage but rich in money, a country where you can find a mix of each and every country in the world. Of course everyone knows what USA is. It needs no introduction. People come here with dollar dreams in their eyes. But, what about me? "How is USA?" Priya asked me when I called her. "I don't know" I said. "It's very cold here. So, I did not get an opportunity to go and look around""How is your work?" "Work is good though it's not much different from what I do in offshore" I said. I call Priya everyday. I miss her very much. Without Priya I feel as if I am left alone in this big continent. I am not myself when I entered USA. I left myself with Priya. Now it's o

Chapter Eleven May 17th, 2005. "I am coming to USA" Priya said when I called her. "When and where?" I asked. "In a month" She said. "I got admission in Harward University""That's great" I said. "Harward is in Boston which is only one and half hour drive from here. ""Cool" She said. I did not expect that golden days will come so soon. Priya is coming to USA. And that too, she is coming to Boston which is very close by. I could not believe it. I can meet her every weekend. Even I can meet her everyday. Its just one and half hour drive from my place. I am the happiest person in the world. One month passed by like one second. I went to airport to receive Priya. I saw her after five months. I cried with happiness. We went to Harward School of Business. What can I say about Harward? The hostel, the classrooms, the library, the canteen, each and every building of Harward is simply amazing. The students who are studyin

Chapter Twelve May 18th, 2005 Vinod came running to me shouting "Aaryan... Aaryan... Aaryan... Aaryan... Aaryan". I opened my eyes. Avinash is calling me."What happened? Why did you spoil my sleep?" I asked. "Your offshore has called. They said they will call you back in another ten minutes" he said. I did not listen to him. Thoughts filled my mind "What a beautiful dream I had. Priya came to USA and I proposed to her. It can't get better than this. At least I told her in my dream. But I learned one thing from this dream. Love needs patience but at the same time Love also needs courage. If you don't have enough courage to express yourself, your love always remains incomplete. I must express myself before Priya. Priya accepted me in my dream and she will accept me in real also. I felt as if I got enough confidence to tell her. Nothing can go wrong now. I will tell her. Her birthday is on July 22nd, the day when I first tried to tell her but fai

Chapter Thirteen "I am not happy with this marriage" Priya said. "Why? What happened?" I asked. "Nothing... Leave it""Tell me what happened. Are you not happy with the bride?""No, it’s not the matter" She said"What is the problem then?" I asked. "Marriage is the biggest occasion which occurs only once in a life time. You are my best friend and when I am going to get married you are not here" she said. "Will you come to my marriage?" Priya's marriage itself is a biggest shock to me. Now she is asking me to come and attend the marriage. What can I say? How can I say to Priya that I love her? Now all the doors are closed. By the time I gained the courage and confidence to say, it’s too late. I cannot disappoint Priya by saying it now. I cannot spoil her happiness. I did not answer to Priya. "What?" Avinash asked. "Yes.. Priya is getting married" I said. "Come on man. You still have

Chapter Fourteen True Love happens only to a privileged few. I am lucky to be in that group. I have experienced the warmth of love. I have felt that passion deep in my heart. I realized the happiness one feels in Love. But Is Love always a happy path? The person I love is in India making her marriage plans. I am here sitting in USA with the golden memories of her. What do you say? Am I lucky or unlucky to be in this privileged group? Love is the most fascinating, most wonderful and the most beautiful thing. It gives a new meaning to your life. It makes you forget all the worries in the world. It keeps you happy even if you have the load of the whole world on you. It injects into you the energy to stand against the universe for the person you love. It does not care any barriers or obstacles in its path. It’s only one side of the coin when everything ends happily. On the other side, Love has the power to take the meaning out of your life. It makes you the most unlucky person in the world

Chapter Fifteen I did not call Priya. I wanted to prove to myself that I can live without Priya. I am trying to get used to the bitter truth. I am trying to live practically. I am trying to take over my heart with my mind. But however I try, I cannot escape from truth. Priya called me one day. June 26th, 2005 "Hi Aaryan, What happened to you? Where did you go?" Priya asked. "Nothing.." I said. "Why did not you call me? You totally disappeared. You don't respond to my mails. You don't come online while I keep waiting for you at the cyber cafe" "I was just busy with work" I said. I don’t want this phone call to continue for long."Leave it. Are you coming to my marriage?" Priya asked. I always skipped giving answer to this question by saying something or the other whenever she asked this question. "How is your marriage plans going?" I asked. "First answer my question" She said. "You always try to bypass th

Chapter Sixteen – Vinod Speaks: I am Vinod. I was Aaryan's room mate. I know how much Aaryan loved Priya. He always talked about her and cared about her. But unfortunately he could not able to tell her the same. He remained silent. He was a coward. He always feared that Priya would leave him if he expresses his love before her. He waited and the wait costed him a lot. 26th of June was an unfortunate day in the life of Priya and Aaryan. Priya met with an accident while driving back her scooty to home from an internet cafe. The owner of the internet cafe said that she was in a bad mood and was crying before leaving the internet center. She was admitted into the hospital immediately. She wrote a letter to Aaryan: "Hi Aaryan, When I first met you in the multiplex theatre, I never thought that we would come this far. We have become very close friends in no time. You have been a very good friend of mine. In fact you are my best friend to whom I can look up to whenever I need any thi

Chetan bhagat's speech @ Symbiosis pune worth reading Don’t hurry, read it full in free time. Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates - there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time. Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spide

One Night @ Malegaon Bus Station I don’t remembered that day but its very interesting story in my life . Me & my 3 other friends (Deepak, Rakesh & Bunty)were started our journey to pune from Dhule at around 9.30 pm on that day. usually I am the person who book the ticket for journey most of the time. But I thought that Deepak (one of my best Friend) went Dhule 2 days before I reached their so he may be booked ticket for pune. But I was wrong he didn’t booked the ticket . so I reached Dhule on Saturday & I went to travel agent shop & I booked ticket for pune but this time I got booking for “ Gupta Travel ” .so you everyone thinking what is wrong with Gupta Travel ,but nothing is right with this travel .It’s the worst travel in my city but I didn’t have any choice because all travelled are already booked .so lastly me & Rakesh (My Second Best Friend) Booked the Ticket & went to Deepak home to tell him about all these. So at Sunday Night we all 4 were reached at T

Who are Handicapped I just got a nice mail; I am posting it here for all of you. This is the way we should move forward. Otherwise, it is a ‘dog eats dog’ situation today. “A few weeks ago NIMH (National Institute of Mentally Handicapped, Hyderabad, INDIA) had conducted a sports meet for all the Physically & mentally handicapped children at National Stadium Hyderabad. In one race.., Nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100-yard dash. At the gun, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with a relish to run the race to the finish and win. All, that is, except one little boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times, and began to cry. The other eight heard the boy cry. They slowed down and looked back. Then they all turned around and went back……every one of them. One girl with Down’s Syndrome bent down and kissed him and said, “This will make

This is what love is all about It was a busy morning, approximately 8:30 am, when an elderly gentleman in his 80’s, arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He stated that he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am. I took his vital signs and had him take a seat,knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On exam it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got theneeded supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound. While taking care of his wound, we began to engage in conversation I asked him if he had a doctor’s appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. I then inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a whi