As we started going through the semester at the University, things
started getting exciting between us. Being a new land, it was an awesome
experience to have your loved one with you while visiting places. It was quite
apparent that my Jahnavi was one of the beauties in the semester and I heard
enough compliments about her to make my heart boil at some times.
When I told my Jahnavi about the comments and my feelings, she
smacked me hard and said, “Shut up, you fool! Ignore their comments! I love you
not them nor their comments. I am beautiful, they compliment. It’s how the
world is. Forget it.”
And bam! I hugged her again. I mean she was proud of herself
enough to accept compliments of her beauty, which is very scarce. And while
accepting them, she again showed me that her love was greater than all that,
which is even scarcer. It was this kind of behavior that made my day. We helped
each other out as much as we could. Being in the same classes and same project
teams made it even easier.
Both were intelligent enough to do our assignments by ourselves
and she had the added advantage of being able to listen to classes. But she had
a big thing about deadlines and timetables. She wanted to do things as soon as
possible while I was a classic procrastinator. As things went on, there were
times when she grew weary of my excuses while I started getting fed up of her
nagging about projects.
We had taken a big 2 bedroom apartment and were living with five
others. A student from Utah named Codwinger, an American born Indian by the
name of Krishnan, a Delhi University graduate named Bhuvan and me together
shared one room while the girls, Jahnavi, a Russian student called Stephanie
and another Andhra girl called Rishika shared the other room. With seven people
from a variety of backgrounds, it was fun to be together. Each had their own
cultures, each followed different customs. Even the way we spoke English was
different. Needless to say, English became the official language at home.
Coding Cody was weak at coding and needed our help most often in
assignments. Killer Krishnan was known to have a big fan following thanks to
his charming personality. And also, he was the one who had commented on Jahnavi
in the airport. He did apologize later on, yet we used that incident to rib him
as much as we could. We became best of friends and behaved like brothers after
that incident. Belly Bhuvan was thus named because he had such a big belly. He
was the Kumbhakaran of our room and the last to be allowed in the kitchen.
Steph was the tallest girl. She and Cody were almost the same height. And
Rishika was the lovely little girl who is loved by everyone.
We were regular customers at the local pizzeria, visiting it at
least once every other week. Steph, Jahnavi and me were pure vegetarians while
the others didn’t have any meat preferences at all. So, everyday it was a fight
what to make and what else to make. In all this, we were enjoying life and
feeling loved.
One particular trip, we visited San Francisco. It was just the two
of us as the others got busy. Reaching the Golden Gate at about 5pm, we walked
over to the middle of the bridge watching the sea and the boats pass by. We
were holding hands and all around us there were so many couples hugging and
kissing and walking, that it felt as if love was in the air.
With such an environment, it was unavoidable that even we hug each
other and kiss. And yet, I would wager that our kiss was sweeter than everyone
else’s over there. As the sun started setting, we bought an ice cream and moved
to Twin Peaks. It didn’t take long for us to find a place to sit together and
watch the sun set. I have always felt that the dusk is much more beautiful than
dawn because it doesn’t involve me waking early.
So as the sun set over San Francisco, we were sitting high atop
Twin Peaks enjoying ice creams and enjoying each other’s company. We brought
out our jackets yet instead of wearing them, we just put them in our lap and
leaned into each other’s arms. The San Francisco city laid out completely decked
in lights in front, my Jahnavi in her beauty beside and I was lost in the
moment.
It took me a while to notice that she had been typing furiously
into her mobile throughout the evening. And I got jealous. I felt bad that she
was so busy now-a-days that she wasn’t even enjoying the time we had together.
When I asked her what was happening she said there was some issue going on with
one of her friends.
Now, I knew that there were a few friends who weren’t common to us
because we worked at different places. So, I asked who and what it was. But she
wouldn’t divulge. No matter how much I coax her she keeps mum. I tried to
ignore it, but as the evening progressed she got more and more involved with
her cellphone than with me. It irked me to no end that this friend of hers had
taken control of her thoughts so much.
We started back home like that, Jahnavi immersed in her cell. Me,
driving with eyes only for the road and the navigation panel. We hardly said
any words throughout the drive. When we reached home, Jahnavi went directly to
the apartment while I parked the car. Just as I was about to exit the car, I
heard the chime of her cell. And when I picked it up from the passenger seat, I
read,
“You have a message from Henry Bradford.”
On reaching home, when I asked her again who was it. Her answer
shocked me out of my wits and left me gaping to fall asleep with all kinds of
thoughts running through my mind.
She said, "It's Rebecca from our Cloud Computing class. She
says she wants you and is asking me how best to get you!!"
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