The circle of love

The grass was almost touching their knees but it did not bother them, as Sushil and Garima whirled over the earthy dance floor. Sushil going down on his knees to propose to her was a bonus over the fact that after so many years she had met him in person again, at the same place where they had seen each other for the last time. She was wandering in the open corridors of the building which used to be her school when a voice from her back made her stop on her way. “Hey!” The voice was from the person she had never forgotten. Sushil, the guy she had ever loved.

That was not what an hour young Garima had thought to be happening. Getting proposed by Sushil! She had never dreamt of it, so there was no chance to even think about it.

The location and that proposal would have been different, had she not thought to reminiscence her favorite part of childhood, her school memories with her favorite person. Years ago the school in which Garima had studied had to be shut down and shifted to the other part of the town due to a surge in the number of students getting enrolled still in her memories this two-story building spread across a quarter acre of land was standing tall. The school ground which used to be filled with the shrieks and cheers of the students had now been engulfed by the silence in the day and chirping of crickets at night.

The main gate of the school was left ajar “Had he arrived early?” thought Garima as she had pushed open the gate before scanning the presence of any other known face around the school. Apart from some vegetable and fruit sellers, she could not see the person she was expecting to meet. The gate seemed to have held his old color when she got a glimpse of it from the other end of the road which was going inside the school. “Wasn’t it black?” she wondered as she walked on that path. Her cream-colored chiffon dress swirled with the autumn breeze. She adjusted her dress back to its place and continued on her way. Her mother was skeptical when she chose that dress to wear. “Are you sure you want to wear this to visit that broken building? Gone are the days when it used to be a school where children went to study. Just ask your friends to meet somewhere else” said her mother before she left for her evening temple visit. Garima heard her but not listened to what she said. The butterflies in her stomach were flying so high that the flap of their wings had made her deaf. It was not friends she was going to meet, it was just one friend dear to her. Since afternoon her heart was full of glee and the smile was not leaving her lips. The last message from the conversation that had started just two days back was the culprit.

“I may have to leave the day after tomorrow but before that, I am thinking if we could meet?” texted Sushil

“Yes! Where do you want to meet?” replied Garima.

“Where ever you want” he messaged with a smile emoji.

“Our school?” she messaged next to which the latter replied with a thumbs up.

A week before this, after her office hours were over, she went to the home of her colleague cum friend Nalini, who also happened to be a tarot card reader. Nalini chewed her lips as she read the cards chosen by her. A spark ignited in her eyes. She looked at Garima and said “The cards you have chosen represent union and joy. Hmm..." she placed her left-hand index finger on the philtrum "I think I may get a wedding to attend”. 

Garima chuckled at thought of union and the image of young Sushil grinning ear to ear flashed in front of her eyes. It had been almost 8 years since she had last seen him at her school farewell party. In the sea of ties around the necks of the then 17-year-old boys of her batch, Sushil walked in with a bow tie. His style of carrying himself had always been unusual but attractive at the same time. The way his eyes glittered all the time, hairs bouncing with every step he took while walking and that smile, that heartwarming smile that had always been there no matter what day or what hour of the day it had been. That charm of his had never stopped the girls gushing on that ‘Cute Lad'.

For Garima, he was not a mere infatuation he was the love that she had always cherished within herself. It was because of him, her introverted self had brought down all her inhibitions regarding boys, still, it was steadfast on the idea of professing her feelings to him. Although by the time their school life was over they ended up enjoying many school memories together as friends, but there had been a phase in their friendship during which Sushil had been unaware of Garima’s existence. Her teacher had acted like a cupid here… “No it was just her perception” she always mentioned it to herself.

It was not until the first Parent's teacher meeting held after the mid-terminal exams of their eleventh standard when both of them came face to face along with their parents. Their class teacher Missus Nirmala gave an intent look at their report card and said “If there had been a weighing scale of marks then their mark sheets would have been well balanced” She passed on the report cards to the respective set of parents and continued “It would be better if both of you sit together and help one another in those subjects in which another one is weak”

That was the first milepost of the journey on which she had set upon on her first day as a senior secondary student. That day when the mist of spring season was still looming all over the place, that time when the freshness of the trimmed grass in the school ground used to unfurl itself at every nook and corner, that moment when a middle-aged man with his young son asked for the directions to the principal's office, that momentary eye contact she had with the lad accompanying him before he walked away to explore. To explore the place that would be marking the beginning of another chapter in their lives.