Love and Illusion - By Suhani Rastogi

Written By: Suhani Rastogi

Category: Short story

Competition: Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026

Suhani Rastogi presents "Love and Illusion," a compelling short story that delves into the intricate dance between fiction and reality in the realm of love. As a participant in the Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026, Suhani's narrative explores how the captivating allure of dramas can shape and sometimes distort our perceptions of genuine human emotions. Her story invites readers to reflect on the influence of imagined ideals on real-life relationships, a theme that resonates deeply in today's media-driven world.

About the Work

In "Love and Illusion," Suhani Rastogi crafts a narrative that beautifully juxtaposes the cinematic allure of dramas with the quiet, imperfect nature of real-world love. Through evocative storytelling, she captures the protagonist's journey from living in a world of fantasy to embracing the authenticity of human connection. The story serves as a gentle reminder of the beauty found in everyday moments, urging readers to appreciate reality's understated charm over the dramatized perfection often depicted in fictional narratives.

Love and Illusion

Original Submission by Suhani Rastogi

LOVE AND ILLUSION

I was never a girl who believed in love.

While my friends wrote names on notebooks and dreamed about relationships, I stayed distant from all of it. I never felt the need to depend on someone emotionally. I was comfortable inside my own world.

But slowly, without realizing it, another world entered my life.

K-dramas.

Then J-dramas.

Then C-dramas.

At first, they were just entertainment after school. But later, they became an escape from reality. Every story felt magical. Every male lead felt perfect. They remembered birthdays, understood silence, protected the girl, waited endlessly, and loved like devotion itself.

Those dramas slowly changed the way I looked at love.

Or maybe… they changed the way I looked at reality.

I began to daydream all the time. While walking on streets, I would look at strangers and imagine stories around them. A handsome boy crossing the road suddenly became the “main lead” of my imaginary life. A simple smile from someone felt cinematic inside my head.

But in reality, I never spoke to anyone.

I was addicted to emotions that did not belong to me.

After school, I moved to another city for college. It was the first time I stayed far away from home. No family. No familiar faces. No one asking whether I had eaten or slept properly.

Loneliness became louder there.

And dramas became my comfort even more.

At first, I never connected with the boys in my college. Nobody felt special enough to enter the romantic world I had created inside my mind. I had unknowingly raised my expectations beyond reality.

Then one afternoon, everything changed.

I saw him in the college canteen.

He was a senior from another stream. He was not dramatic or overly confident like the boys in dramas. He was calm. Soft-spoken. Simple.

But there was something comforting about him.

For the first time, my eyes searched for someone naturally instead of creating imaginary stories around strangers.

Days later, he gave me a handwritten letter through a friend.

Inside it was a small poem.

No one had ever written for me before.

That letter became the beginning of everything.

We started talking slowly. Small conversations became habits. Habits became attachment. And before I realized it, I had fallen in love.

Or maybe I had fallen in love with the feeling of finally living my own drama story.

I wanted him to become everything I had watched on screens for years.

I wanted him to text exactly the way drama heroes did.

I wanted dramatic confessions, constant attention, perfect understanding, perfect reactions, perfect romance.

I wanted him to read my silence without explanation.

I wanted impossible perfection from a real human being.

And slowly, without noticing, I stopped loving him for who he was.

Instead, I started comparing him to fictional characters.

Whenever he forgot small things, I got angry.

Whenever he acted normally, I felt disappointed.

Whenever he failed to behave like the “perfect male lead” from my imagination, I hurt him with words.

“You can never be like them.”

I said it casually many times.

But I never realized how deeply those words must have wounded him.

The truth was, he loved me honestly.

He waited for me outside classes.

He listened to my endless talks.

He tried understanding my moods.

He wrote letters because he knew I liked emotional things.

But instead of appreciating his real efforts, I kept measuring him against unreal standards.

I was so busy chasing fantasy that I ignored reality standing right in front of me.

Still, he stayed.

Until one day, he didn’t.

There was no dramatic breakup scene.

No heavy rain.

No running behind each other.

No emotional background music.

Just a text message.

“I think we should end this.”

That was all.

I stared at the screen for hours.

It felt unreal.

After all the dramas I had watched, I always imagined heartbreak as something cinematic. I thought breakups came with tears, shouting, and emotional speeches.

But real heartbreak was terrifyingly silent.

It came through a glowing screen in the middle of an ordinary day.

And somehow, that hurt even more.

For days, I couldn’t understand what went wrong. I cried, replayed memories, checked old chats, and blamed him repeatedly inside my mind.

Then one evening, one of his friends came to meet me.

He handed me a folded letter.

“Last one,” he said quietly.

My hands trembled while opening it.

Inside, his handwriting looked softer than before.

He wrote:

“I loved you truly.

But slowly, I started feeling invisible in front of your imagination.

No matter how much I tried, you always wanted someone else inside me.

You compared me to people who don’t even exist.

You kept asking me to become perfect while forgetting that I am human too.

Reality may not look like dramas.

But sometimes, reality loves more honestly than fiction ever can.”

I read those lines again and again until the words became blurry because of my tears.

That was the first moment I truly saw myself.

Not as the heroine of a romantic story.

But as someone who had forgotten how to separate illusion from reality.

For years, I believed dramas were teaching me about love.

But they had quietly taught me expectations too.

Unrealistic ones.

I had built an imaginary version of romance so beautiful that real love could never survive beside it.

And in trying to find perfection, I lost something genuine.

Time passed slowly after that.

I stopped watching dramas for a while.

Not because I hated them, but because I needed to hear my own thoughts again.

I started noticing ordinary things around me.

A tired father bringing fruits home.

A girl waiting daily for her friend outside class.

An old couple sharing tea silently.

None of it looked cinematic.

But all of it looked real.

And maybe real love was always quieter than fiction.

Even today, sometimes I rewatch those dramas.

The background music still feels beautiful.

The characters still feel charming.

But now, I pause the screen sometimes and look outside my window.

At the ordinary world.

At ordinary people.

At imperfect love.

And for the first time in years, reality no longer feels disappointing to me.

Because I finally understood something important:

Love itself was never an illusion.

My expectations were.

About the Competition

The Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026 by Hashtag Kalakar celebrates the power of words and creativity. This esteemed platform provides writers from around the globe with an opportunity to share their unique voices and stories. Participants engage with diverse genres, from poetry to short stories, each piece reflecting personal insights and artistic flair. The competition fosters a vibrant community of writers, celebrating literary excellence and the transformative power of storytelling.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Suhani Rastogi for her poignant contribution, "Love and Illusion," to the Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026. Her exploration of the intersection between fantasy and reality in love offers profound insights and enriches our understanding of human connections. We look forward to more inspiring narratives from Suhani in the future.

About Hashtag Kalakar

Hashtag Kalakar is a creative platform dedicated to providing artists, writers, singers and other creative talents with opportunities to showcase their work and reach wider audiences through competitions, features and creative initiatives.