As The Days Passed

By Yatin Phatak

From the moment Vaitheen saw Nakshatra at the literary festival and witnessed her performance, something stirred inside him. Her grace and beauty enchanted him, making his heart skip a beat. Upon returning home, he found her on Facebook and began following her updates.

With each passing day, his fascination with her grew stronger. Vaitheen's infatuation with Nakshatra deepened as he discovered more about her life. He learned that she was a talented classical dancer who had overcome numerous obstacles to pursue her dreams. He admired her courage and determination and wished he could be a part of her life.

One day, Vaitheen decided to take a leap of faith and messaged Nakshatra on Facebook. He introduced himself, and she responded politely. They started chatting, and he attempted to impress her with his wit and humor. He even shared some of his poetry, which she found intriguing. Nakshatra enjoyed conversing with Vaitheen and appreciated his poetic style.

However, she was already in a long-distance relationship with her boyfriend, whom she had met online. Although they had never met in person, they shared a deep connection and communicated regularly through messaging and video calls. 

Vaitheen was disappointed when he learned about Nakshatra's boyfriend. He felt betrayed, and all his efforts to impress her seemed in vain. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but feel drawn to her and continued to pursue her, even though he knew it was wrong.

Over time, Vaitheen's obsession with Nakshatra intensified, and he started to become possessive. He wanted her all to himself, so he warned her boyfriend to stay away from her. As a Sales Manager in a large private bank, he knew how to follow up well. Laughing in the cheeks, he thought that this was just a game he could win with ease.

One day, Vaitheen decided to level up and went to her house to propose to her, only to find out that Nakshatra was already engaged to her boyfriend that day via Skype. She showed Vaitheen the ring that her boyfriend had placed on her finger through the laptop's monitor via Skype. Vaitheen couldn't believe it. How could he have placed the ring via Skype? Vaitheen started to quarrel in the house, saying that this was not possible. This was an unfair game. In simple words, this was cheating.

Nakshatra's brother invited Vaitheen for a fight. As a fan of Rey Mysterio, he used all his tricks. But it was in vain, and he got knocked out by Vaitheen. Then the next battle began between Nakshatra's father and Vaitheen. Nakshatra's father was a die-hard fan of Khashaba Jadhav, the greatest wrestler and the first individual Olympic medal winner of India. But he, too, got knocked out by the fan of Charlie Chaplin.

Then, Vaitheen went to the laptop and asked Nakshatra's boyfriend, "Do you want to fight with me? Do you? Come, bastard! Come!" The boyfriend looked at Nakshatra with surprise, uncertain of what was happening. 

Vaitheen then walked up to Nakshatra to confess his love. 

"What torture this is! This is so disgusting, Vaitheen! Please leave my house now!" 

Nakshatra didn't want to hurt his feelings, but she also didn't want to lead him on. However, Vaitheen persisted. He didn't want to hear "No" from Nakshatra; he wanted a "Yes" only. So he asked her again for her decision, but she remained firm in her response. "It's a firm 'No' from me!" 

The flood of 'No' responses washed over Vaitheen, blinding his eyes, dumbing his ears, and silencing his body sensations.

Suddenly, Vaitheen saw the flood transform into fire, leaving him without a body.

When he opened his eyes, he couldn't believe what he was witnessing!

He saw himself and Nakshatra dancing together in their own house, surrounded by loved ones! They were still dancing, but now they had wrinkles and white hair. He noticed that she still possessed the same grace and poise while dancing. 

Vaitheen felt overwhelmed with emotion as he watched the scene unfold before his eyes. Nakshatra turned to him and smiled, a smile that radiated true love. She leaned in and whispered in his ear, "I love you, Vaitheen, I always have."

At first, Vaitheen was overjoyed at Nakshatra's confession of love. However, as they continued to dance, he sensed a deep sadness lurking beneath the surface, seeping into his bones. He tried to ignore it, but the feeling persisted. Suddenly, the scene around him started to shift and distort, and Nakshatra began to fade away. Vaitheen desperately tried to hold onto her, but it was like trying to grasp a cloud. 

He felt his heart shatter into a million pieces as he watched the love of his life slip away from him.

By Yatin Phatak