Love,Regret And Everything In Between

By Nivedita R

“There is nothing special about Marine Drive”, Nisha said to her friends as they all sat in her room and were talking about their trip to Mumbai last week. “How can you even say that, it was soo pretty, especially in the mornings and that feeling of peace. It was totally incomparable. I think it was very romantic!”, her friend exclaimed. Nisha went back to the times when she thought it was one of the prettiest places in India. That was the place where Ishwar had told her that he loved her. They had walked along Marine Drive plenty of times at night, with coffee in hand, love in the air and dreams in their eyes. They had talked about how their future would be, what all they would do. The sea has remained a witness to countless love stories, including hers, she thought.

They'd go for long walks, travel in the local, run to catch the morning trains. She thought of the countless moments of laughter. She opened a picture the friends had clicked at the drive and posted it online. She captioned it as “the place that holds a piece of my heart”. The friends were all gathered today to meet “her guy”, as they liked to keep repeating.

“….and the guy asked for 200 but I was so glad I bargained and settled at 180”, her friends were still discussing Mumbai but Nisha kept looking at her phone. She just hoped Ishwar would see the post, take the hint, and let her know how much Marine Drive means to him too. There was a time when they spoke throughout the day and night and now, she was trying to get him to talk to her by posting about her trip. She still could not understand how they’d grown so apart. These days they just struggle to communicate but manage to fight all the time. Where did all the love go? Has it met its expiration date, perhaps?

Her heart jumped a little as she saw the jumping dots on her phone. He was online and he had seen the post, her heart jumped with joy. “You know, I just went with the boys to Marine Drive yesterday and there was this team which were dancing very well” He typed. Her smile dropped. “Yeah, I saw a group like that too.”, she said. “But the traffic was horrible, it took us ages to get back. We really should not have taken the car”, he continued. Now they had become those type of people who talked about weather and traffic. She felt frustrated but then she had been feeling frustrated for a long while now. Maybe it was a sign that she should move on.

“One last chance”, she thought. “If he refers back to any of the sweet moments we have had there, I will give my heart and soul to this relationship”, she told herself as she just felt so sad. “What else does Marine Drive remind you of?”, she asked him directly. “Oh so many many things” he said. Maybe there is hope, she smiled.

“You remember that time where we got cake for Ashish’s birthday and we sang loudly and embarrassed him?”, he started. Now Nisha really wasn’t sure what kind of a relationship she had with Ishwar now because it was just all confusing. She couldn’t have been more direct and maybe she had got the answer for her unasked question. Its just that she doesn’t like the answer.

“Are we ready to meet him?”, one of her friends asked, bringing her back to that moment, back to Chennai. She just smiled. “I suppose I am ready”, she said. Nisha kept her phone down and looked at the ring Ishwar had given her years back.

By then Vignesh, the suitor her parents had selected for her was standing by the door. “I just want to let you know that I really like you. I would be the luckiest person if you decide to marry me. And I will spend everyday trying to make you feel the same way”, he said and smiled shyly.

“Maybe this is what is meant to be, and I am just chasing something that doesn’t exist in reality” she thought and decided it is in her benefit to move on. The ring fell from her hands and rolled over under the sofa to the dusty corner of the wall. “Oh hooo, luckiest person huh?”, all the girls screamed and started teasing Vignesh.

Nisha kept her phone down, smiled and took his hand and they all started walking towards the main hall. Ishwar sent her the reel of “Wake up Sid” climax where Ranbir tells Konkana’s character how much he loves her. “That place holds a piece of my heart too. So do you <3 ”, he pinged.

By Nivedita R