Write = Get Reviews Forum THE SWEETEST GIFT EVER!!

THE SWEETEST GIFT EVER  

 Numerous girls and boys I saw, hands in their hands, heads on shoulders, and sometimes on a long drive on a bike. And as if a craze spins through their minds, in no time I would find new couples as if they only lacked designer dresses. Boys having spikes, a Levi’s T-shirt and all sorts of blustering assets. And girls, the ones who never showed up without suits and had lived throughout with a Behenji tag, now walked around in jeans and tops. Not to mention in my aspect, I was hell of a boofhead, and relationship remained a territory where my tongue stuck and my heart beat would hasten to a thousand mach. Nevertheless I dearly needed a girlfriend to stamp myself as an individual among my friends. And so it all started with my coaching classes.
I hardly ever talked to girls, though I liked many and one of them was Tanya, a girl with a long aureate hair and a skinny face, a sweet and innocent girl who rarely talked to others. And anyone who tried to have a go at her, like once Vipul did then one expects nothing but a thundering slap glued on your cheek. And why shouldn’t, her father was the senior SP of the same area. So I swallowed my throat and used to sit as if she didn’t exist.

Her height...Well...I would have preferred it to escape but as honest as I am, I must say that she was 5 inches taller than me. Hey! Wait before I proceed. I mean a 5 feet isn’t that bad. Ok I think I must change the topic. Yes, I was a bit good at studies and often my friends consulted me for any problems related to our course. At least that was the only thing that I could blow my own trumpet to gain others and especially girls’ attention upon me. And to my delight something unanticipated did happen with that when Tanya talked to me for the very first time on Thursday...Yeah of course I remember the day. And I was like dancing on any tune, watching songs and hailing flowers, butterflies, dogs, cats, garbage, moon, Venus and every other stuff to make a mother’s life hell.

“Yuck! The weather’s not good,” said my Mom.

“But look at the flowers spreading its aroma all along with it, mom,” I replied

And her eyes widened, almost fainting and I gazed through the window unperturbed of the hell I had just laid upon her. The following few weeks went astray until she came again and asked for my notes and to my delight she asked my phone number and it all kicked off from there. Asking questions...Sharing thoughts...Sharing problems and finally sharing a lot of our times together in classes, then parks and then anywhere...Wait again!!...Not home of course, my dad’s harsh enough on rules and regulations. I stood tall among my friends while they took hiccups on the thought;

Naturally, I took pride on it.

“Brother! You need to be a bit masculine, something like a tough brat...Make muscles for yourself,” sputtered a friend of mine

And with that I joined a gym, lashing all my study hours. In a month or so I had gained a multi layer muscle and bunked multi hour classes. Nevertheless, I seemed a bit manly and Tanya used to gaze at me incessantly with praise or dislike I didn’t know. But I got the answer soon. There was a boy in her locality that often eve teased her and she despised it the most. Nevertheless, I was once standing at the balcony of my class when I saw him tracing her all the way to the coaching class. He caught her hand beside the deserted gate.

“LEAVE ME!” she retorted but the villain had a different intention. She casted her hand for a slap but it was arrested by his hefty grip.

“Leave me,” she tried hard but surrendered soon.

And I saw those precious drops of tears rolling down from her eyes. A monster roared inside me and I galvanised to action, hurling out through the middle of the class. I seized a rod from somewhere on the way and in no time landed it on his ankle. The boy fell backwards and Tanya moved a few steps forwards.

“I’LL KILL YOU!” I yelled and with that I aimed it on his head but was stopped by Tanya.

“No!  Let the pig head go,” she finished and the boy escaped.
We didn’t utter a word and altogether we went inside the class, even though a scene had already been created in front of the entire class.

“Why you did that?” asked Tanya after the class.

“I don’t know but I can’t see those tears in my best friend’s eyes,”

I replied and she smiled at me with admiration and thereafter the bond we shared became stronger and warmer. There was not a single day that would go without our chatter.

“You’re my best friend,” She once said and that elevated my heart to new heights.

 But was I really what she meant or what I considered her? No matter, but for my side I got the answer in no time.

My birthday arrived and all my friends were at my birthday party. Tanya’s father never allowed her to leave the house after eight at night and so went off my birthday, a bit dull in her absence. That really angered me. The next few days I ignored her only to show my anger and that was something a bit harsh on her part. She tried a lot and I just let it go. Tanya was like hinting apologies the whole day and I was like taking fun at her misery, as if I desired something else. She would wait for me after the class and I would prefer a coffee with my friends. She would call me and I happened to disconnect the phone on the pretext of being busy.

“Tanya’s gone crazy man!” one of my friends told me once.

“Oh! What happened?” I queried, a bit interested.

“She’s one of those dumb girls! Smriti told me that she was asking her awkward 

questions,” he said.

“Like,” I said.

“Like what exactly can make a boy happy and all that. What should I do if he is my friend? I don’t know what’s wrong with that girl these days. I think you’ve got hot days coming up for you boy!” he said.

And I knew I was excited the whole day waiting for her sudden response. After one more week of my ignorance, finally her desperation broke loose and she held my hand in the class in front of everyone, forcing me out in to the park. She twisted my face and pressured my lips on her, our bodies close as it shouldn’t be. And we both stood there regardless that we were somewhere in a public place.

 I felt her wet lips and I just felt as if I was in heaven. My eyes closed palpating every bit of her. In a jolt she let me loose, lowered her face and ran away. I stood their thwarted by her act, stunned and motionless while she ran away. The entire night passed preoccupied in her thoughts...She kissed me and I had seen tears in her eyes, a fire that had been incinerating her because of my ignorance. A girl trusted me, a soul different from mine needed me. Her innocent face reverberating relentlessly and I realised how tough it would have been on her part to get over to such an extent. That was indeed a sweet poison.

The next few days she didn’t come to the classes and I didn’t have the courage to call her either. And it was the first time I realised that she felt embarrassed in front of me. She didn’t arrive until the first day of June. I turned and just gazed at her face that adorned nothing. Her black eyes gleaming with guilt and her face fixed at the floor, as if she had been sobbing all her nights, burdened with the responsibilities of her lifetime.

“Tanya!” I whispered but she didn’t reply and she wouldn’t talk to anyone else either, except for a few chatters with her friends, only to portray that she was normal.