A DATE WITH FATE

“Somesh Kumar Singh” was his real name, while her mother had always addressed him as Somu in her writings. The diary talked of trillions of small encounters between her mother, Neeti, and Somu. How they had met, where they had met, who had arranged the first meeting, their first date, exchange of letters, exchange of gifts, movie outings etc. But, what was not clear was who Somu was and where he would be today, but Preeti was determined to find out. She had to get to the depth of it because whatever it was it seemed very beautiful (strangely she was happy for her mother and not jealous, annoyed or devastated at this discovery and more so because she wanted to see her mother happy again).

Her mother, Neeti, had struggled through life as a widow for the last ten years. Working at the University, bringing up Preeti in the best possible way, giving her an excellent education, good values and lots of love, all through this Preeti had never realised that her mother had also loved someone in the past, with the same dedication.

The diary talked about how they could not be married due to family constraints. Neeti and Amar, her father, had an arranged marriage. Whatever she remembered of their relationship as her parents was very pleasant. They had a very respectful and smooth marriage.

But all through this, had her mother ever forgotten Somesh? Keeping that diary still hidden in her cupboard, with flower petals inside, was proof enough that the love was still there…

Now the challenge for Preeti was to find Somesh. The Journey of Discovery had been a life changer for Preeti and she couldn’t help thinking about it while sitting on this bench today, outside the café, where the crucial meeting was to take place.

The first step had been to devise a plan (step by step), a secret search operation for Somesh, with the help of her best friend, Deepali.

To begin with, the friends approached Neeti’s college. The college records would surely have some information about Somesh. The girls managed to extract some details from the college regarding Somesh’s parents, his date of birth and address. Next step was to locate his house and this only proved to be a dead end because the house had been sold to someone many years ago and they had no clue about Somesh and his family.

Back to square one, Preeti and Deepali had no other choice but to take the help of Simmi (a friend of Neha). Simmi Aunty was made to promise secrecy. Simmi Aunty was of much help as she was able to tell where Somesh’s family had moved to and where his first job had been and also about one of his uncles, who still lived in the same city. Simmi Aunty was so happy to know about Preeti’s good intentions that her tears wouldn’t stop and she vowed to find out more about Somesh to help them out.

So the girls went to Somesh’s uncle’s house. It was really a very odd situation as they could not say much about the aim of their visit, instead they just cooked up a story that their father had studied with Somesh and he wanted to contact him for some old stuff.

Somesh’s uncle was obviously not alive anymore, instead they were greeted by his son (Somesh’s cousin), Lalit.

Lalit was able to provide the girls with some vital information about Somesh. Apparently, Somesh was now a famous author and wrote poetry under the pen name, Ujaala. Till date five of his books had been published and he also had a website in his name. The girls obviously had no clue about Ujaala, because they were not Hindi poetry patrons. But Preeti clearly remembered the diary and how her mother had mentioned there that Somesh often wrote many a romantic couplet for her. So, Somesh had that talent in him from the very start.

According to Lalit, Somesh currently resided in Jaipur and was still unmarried. He lived with Lalit’s son, Arjun who was working with a corporate firm in Jaipur. Lalit gave the girls both Arjun’s and Somesh’s address and numbers.  Delighted and excited, but feeling odd, the girls decided to visit Jaipur straightaway, instead of calling, because they didn’t know how to explain everything to Somesh, on the phone.

The Jaipur trip was the most exciting trip of Preeti’s life!

Deepali’s phone call interrupted Preeti’s thoughts. She had to snap out of them and tell Deepali that she was still waiting on the bench outside the restaurant. Deepali told her that she was just five minutes away and will join her soon, before disconnecting the call.

Thinking of the Jaipur trip, Preeti smiled to herself as this visit had made such a big impact on her life.

In Jaipur, when the girls visited Somesh’s house, there was no one around. They came to know that Somesh was out of town and his nephew Arjun was mostly at work. Not knowing what to do next, Preeti called up Arjun and fixed a meeting at one of the city cafes.

The first sight of Arjun mesmerised Preeti. She had never thought that Somesh’s nephew could be so young, handsome and charming. Even Arjun seemed to be bestowed by her. Arjun went out of his way to make Preeti comfortable and seeing his friendly attitude, Preeti shared everything with him candidly.

Arjun was quite impressed by Preeti’s gesture and promised full support. But sadly, Somesh was at the literary festival in Lucknow and was to come back to Jaipur after three days. Coming again all the way to Jaipur at such a short notice was not possible for Preeti so she decided to stay back, even though Deepali couldn’t stay with her. But Arjun was there and he was so cordial and helpful that Preeti just couldn’t say No to the offer.

The next three days were the most beautiful days of Preeti’s life as she got to know Arjun. He was an MBA from an A-listed institute and was campus placed with an MNC bank in Jaipur. He was a suave, somber, sophisticated chap. A kind of ideal friend (or rather boyfriend). His sense of style, his humour and his intelligence were all appealing to Preeti. He also took a keen interest in Preeti. Her background, her hobbies and above all, her mother’s love story that obviously featured his uncle, Somesh.

Life did really take a beautiful turn. Preeti had never thought that while finding her mother’s love she would end up finding love for herself.

Romance was much in the air and it was soon that Arjun proposed to Preeti, to which she said yes on the condition that her mother and Somesh also approve of the match.

It was Arjun’s idea to make the long lost soul-mates meet through a surprise date. A date which they would be unaware of. Arjun would get his uncle and Preeti would accompany her mother and it would be best to let things take a natural course.

This idea was equally fascinating to Preeti too and hence, they decided to plan the meeting soon. As Preeti was staying in Jaipur, it was decided that the meeting would take place at Jaipur only. Deepali would get Preeti’s mother to Jaipur on some pretext and Arjun would also walk in with his uncle at the same time.

So, today was the meeting and Preeti was all excited about it (and a little nervous too), as she sat waiting on the bench outside the café. The café was a quiet, romantic and lively place. Ideal for such meetings. Fate had taken such a beautiful course that she sincerely hoped that things remained positive in the future too.

Preeti could see her mother walk in with Deepali. She looked so radiant in a flowing sky- blue saree. Preeti was seeing her in a new light today. On the other hand, she got a message from Arjun that they were inside the building too.

Preeti made her mother sit on the ‘decided’ table. Just then Arjun also landed there with Somesh in tow. Somesh wore a black kurta pyjama- looking élan and graceful. He had an outwardly charm and compassionate eyes. Preeti couldn’t help admire her mother’s choice.

The acknowledgement in the eyes of the elders was proof enough that the sparks still existed. Neeti just looked at Preeti with moist eyes and a bleak smile that said it all. Somesh too looked gratefully at Arjun and couldn’t utter a word. Oh, what a moment it was! What a convergence! And what a lovely pair they made!

The youngsters left them, after a while, to experience this unusual date with fate, and walked out of the café feeling elated.