O Vandana

O Vandana. What did you do.

Anyone thinking I found a new flame or remembered an old flame just got it wrong. Totally. All I know is that a girl, or maybe lady, by the name Vandana tried to play matchmaker and just broke a guy’s heart. Badly.

I was walking alone in the park. It was dark already and the lights were on. Before I forget a young owl or maybe a small owl  is always there when I walk alone through a wooded section. Any forecasts, why this happens. In any case it sits on the bushes, flies about till the end of the trees and then flies away.  It’s happened a number of times. This is also the time I love, you walk with your thoughts, or If I could put it, I walk with myself. Thoughts come and go, some light, some dark, some give clues to the future, some are what could have been and what actually happened.

Just as I was walking with myself, I crossed two young men. Our pace matched and I could not pull away. Age, even If I concede I am not actually old, does slow down the ability to push up the pace. I however still love to press the accelerator on the car, my theory is as long as my right foot can press hard and excite me as the car throbs and speeds up, I shall always be young at heart.

Well, these two young men were talking. Animatedly, and least bothered that I could be hearing every word they said. One spoke in Hindi, the other in Punjabi, but they got along just fine. The guy who spoke in Hindi simply said, “Vandana just finished me and my reputation, I am dead inside”. This seemed to interesting. The story as I could gather was that the young man and his friend were  part of a group of young friends, fresh from an Engineering College. All employed it seemed in various corporate in Chandigarh. This group of youngsters ran into Vandana, who was part of another group of friends. There it gets interesting. Our young Hindi speaking guy got interested in a young lady, part of Vandana’s group. They dated, a couple of times, as I gathered.  Ah, one point, the Punjabi speaking guy was just a shadow in this whole process, his job was to agree, exclaim, egg on the other guy and keep the monologue going.    

As I said, they apparently dated, with Vandana playing the go between and suggesting locales where parents or acquaintances would not be seen. This cost money, as the young man woefully exclaimed, “what love, I spent so much money on travelling and bills”. Then once they seemed to get along fine,  loved the same things and movies and music, Vandana dropped a bombshell that the young girl was under pressure to get married and if these two really got along, she would suggest to her parents that they get married. Well it worked out and as I could overhear, it was a grand party, drinking all night and dancing and lots of sweets and blessings and confusion.     

Our young man subsequently realised the girl he loved and was engaged to was too naïve and not in correct company. As he explained, it troubled him too much and after a lot of thinking, he approached Vandana. Vandana told him to speak directly to his fiancé, who exploded. Told him to cool it. This sincere guy persisted, until Vandana told him that the engagement was off, his fiancé had decided, he simply stood dumped.  He tried talking directly to his fiance, only to be rebuffed. Then when his parents realised he was heartbroken, plus pride had taken a rather steep fall, they approached the other side, only to be told, that their son was in bad company and mixed with a group of unsavoury characters. The unkindest cut, Vandana was with the girl who dumped him and corroborated the story. Our young man was so sad and forlorn as he said to his pal, , “what unlawful, I have never raised my hand and just cannot dream of fighting”.  To add insult to all this, his parents believed the story and also asked him to mend his ways.  All he could do was keep lamenting the day Vandana came into his life. She came into his life, guided him to what he thought was love he had found at last only to be dumped and with loss of character to boot, that too with Vandana siding rather unkindly with  the girl. 

This then is fate, or luck, as the out manoeuvred young man said. I do agree.  As we parted ways, I was continuing my walk, the young men walking away, I could only amuse myself with what I overheard. The young man seemed the stolid type, surely this small incident, no matter how much larger it seemed now, would just fade away. Fate in any case sets in process strange processes and happenings, some lead to happiness, some to sadness and some just lead you on the humdrum way of a boring staid life. What path to take is not always for you to decide, events unfold and dictate the choice or course.  Sometimes it’s best to accept with poise and make the best of it. 

On my Blog at Http://dkkviews.blogspot.com , Dinesh K Kapila

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