Till The End of the World

Present day

“Dharti ke aakhri chhor tak tumhare sath … tumhara hath thaamkar chaloongi, is duniya ke aakhiri kone tak ..”

These lines were reverberating in his mind when he was calling on a phone number again and again; no one picked the call and finally he left for immigration process. Soon the British Airways flight took off from New Delhi Airport to its destination.

She was sitting in her room, gazing at the cell phone screen. Her face was emotionless; fingers were tightly crossed in each other with a firm grip on knees. The cell phone was not ringing anymore. He is gone… she assumed and picked the cell; twenty five missed calls it showed. Tears rolled out from her eyes and she fell on the bed, soon her pillow got wet; can’t say when she falls asleep, but she had a deep, dreamless sleep.

Flash Back

“I don’t want to discuss this matter further, are you mad, how you can even think about it?”

“Saari duniya mein wo Penguins aur Polar Bears ka chowkidar hi mila, family ki responsibility sambhaal sakega?”

“Mom, Abhay is a scientist and...” sentence remained incomplete.

“A chowkidar who is Half Christian and Half South Indian, hey Preeti   this is an amazing combination of Cake and Idly Sambhar…hehehhehe.” Suresh bhaiyaa laughed.

“Ours is a traditional family, we have some respect in the society, what we will tell the people that we couldn’t find a suitable guy in our own community, therefore our daughter got married to a guy from another religion and community.”

“Mix breed community.” Suresh chuckled.

“Shut up bhai.” Preeti shouted.

“He is four years younger than you, and his Madrasi mother doesn’t like Us because we are vegetarian Jains. And he is always away from home for field research work. No, Preet, not possible at all.” Suresh spoke in such a way as if he is giving final verdict on this issue.

 After Three Months

“Days, weeks and now months... time is flying... the last message he sent was a month ago...”   though she never responded back to his messages, but always waited for every single text or mail that he used to send her since the day he left for UK.

“Preet, zaraa gamlon mein paani de, dekh phool murjhaa rahe hain  ...” it was her mother, worried for the beautiful creations of nature... ”so our love will also get withered and die...” she couldn’t think further and pour the flower pots with lot of water.

Little she knew about his present address in UK, all she knew that he is working in a joint environment and global warming related project of Indo-British Governments under the Scottish Environmental Research Center of Glasgow.

Finally, she was writing a letter,

“Mom, Papa and Bhaiya,

I love you a lot, but I love him as well. Please don’t force me to marry with anyone else.

I tried hard, but can’t forget him. I am going, don’t worry, I will be fine. I am sorry, please accept our love.

Preeti.”

P.S.  I have used our household account of Avios for flight, hotel and car rental bookings, hope you will forgive me for that as well as.

When her brother was reading the above note, she was sitting in the British Airways business/club class cabin. The plane was taking her to London. Her mind was not at peace, a thunder storm of thoughts was creating noises in her mind. She was questioning herself; whether the decision is right or wrong, will mom and papa ever forgive me for this?”

Maybe her face was expressing her inner thoughts, therefore, an airhostess came to her and asked politely, “Mam, do you need anything, may I help you.”

“Umm… a cup of cappuccino.”

“Sure, would you like to eat something?”

“Umm, ok yes, I would like to have Jain meal.”

“Sure Ma'am.”

After eating the delicious food and the coffee she felt relaxed. The comfy stretchable chair that turned into a flat bed and the cozy quilted blanket soon embraced her in a sound sleep. When she woke up and was having some tea, the same airhostess again came to her and asked, “Mam, wouldn’t you like to use the items of luxury amenity kit.” She spoke while pointing towards the kit. Preeti remembered that every passenger of business class got this kit when they board the plane.

“Umm, ok, yeah, I will use it later.” 

Finally the plane landed up at Heathrow Airport, however, it was not the end of her journey; the destination was still a little far. Her flight for Glasgow was already booked. Soon she was sitting and eating some light meal in the arrival lounge of Heathrow’s terminal 3. The peaceful and elegant surroundings of the lounge calmed her stressed nerves to some extent. She remembered the last holiday trip with family when they stopped at London for a couple of hours and how she enjoyed the beauty treatments of Elemis Spa. However, today, the situation was entirely different; the only thing she was able to think about was Abhay...

The waiting ended up and she took the fight for Glasgow and in less than two hours she was there. The rental car was running speedily to the University Research Center and her heart was beating fast, happiness, nervousness, jitteriness... so many feelings...god has filled all this in our one little heart.

“Mister Abhay has been shifted to another Project in Geneva by the Indian Government. It has been more than a month since he left.”

This was the answer she got after running and inquiring from one corner to another of this huge campus. For a moment, her heart skipped a beat; she felt everything is getting darker in front of her eyes. Anger, helplessness, loneliness, fear...these were the emotions that were making their way from her eyes to her cheeks.

However, things didn’t turn any worse. After knowing her story, the staff of research center’s administration section provided the new address and contact numbers of Abhay.

She tried the phone number many times, but it was not reachable.

“Now what to do... shall I go back or shall I Go Further… jab yahaan tak aa hi gai hai to ek baar aur khud ko aur apne pyar ko aazma ke dekh le.” someone inside her heart spoke in a loud and firm voice.

She knew what to do... and now she was again waiting on the Heathrow airport for her British Airways flight to Geneva, though, this time she was traveling through the economy class.

In Geneva

“Abhay…” finally, the phone number worked, her body was shivering with anxiety.

“Preet.... “

“Abhay, I am here in Geneva...” somehow she spoke.

“What are you saying, what you are doing here, why you didn’t inform me that you are coming to Switzerland. Why you didn’t responded back to any of my mails and calls. Preet  ...”

“Abhay, I am all alone here, I left home to meet you, went to Glasgow and then came to know that you are  ...”

“Gosh Preet…. You are mad... god only can understand you ..; at least you could have messaged me... I am feeling like to... ok, tell me, where are you right now, at some hotel or  ...”

“At the airport.”

“Be there, I am coming.”

After a couple of days

The telephone bell rang and her mother picked the call.

“Mom, I am in Geneva with Abhay… I am fine and  ...” 

“Do you have any idea, what you have done  ... you didn’t even think about us before taking such an extreme step... kya jawaab doo main logon ke sawaalon ka .. Where is my daughter... she ran away with a Madrasi Christian.” Papa was shouting.

Another Phone rang far in the Cochin.

“Son, I don’t think she is the right decision you have made. She and her orthodox family …” Abhay’s mother was screaming out her own opinion.

The sun was setting slowly behind the Alps and its reflections on the placid water of Lake Geneva were creating an enchanting atmosphere.

“Preet, will you come with me?” Abhay asked while holding her tightly.

“Where…”

“To the last end of the Earth….did you forget once you promised me  ...”

 “This project, I am currently working upon is a part of UNEP’s global research program and now along with my other teammates, I have to travel some remote regions of the world. Small island nations, Polar Regions and many such places. Will you  ...” he extended his hand towards hers.

“YES... to the end of this world  ... with you.”

P.S. "Ohh, Did I tell you that British Airways would be our official travel partner in this project." Abhay chuckled

 This post is written for the indiblogger.com contest 

"Go further to get closer"

 sponsored by British Airways