Reunion Sheetal stared at the diamond ring, which sat pretty on the ring finger of her right hand. That was her engagement ring, which had taken place just few days back with Ritwik. Sheetal could not still come into terms with the fact that shortly she would be marrying Ritwik and transported to a totally different world. Many thoughts crossed her mind. Past memories vehemently knocked the doors of present and forced her to delve into ocean of deep remorse. Sheetal was in love with Sathish, her ex-colleague with whom she had shared her good and bad times for almost 2 years. Sheetal always felt poignant that Sathish was totally committed to her and his love for her was unconditional whereas she was not sure about her feelings for him. Her mind was often confused with regard to this. Though Sathish was aware of this he still continued to love Sheetal unconditionally. There were reasons for Sheetal�s troubled mentality because Sathish was from a different community, not good looking and he was not from a well-off family. Whereas Sheetal belonged to an orthodox, prosperous family where inter-caste marriage was strictly forbidden. Sheetal was also good looking and well educated. So she felt from all aspects they did not make a perfect match. Inspite of these drawbacks she was attracted to Satish�s down-to-earth nature, his humor and his plain heartedness. She was not sure whether it was sympathy or love towards him. But nevertheless she continued her relationship with him. Most of her colleagues at the workplace became aware of their relationship. Meanwhile Sheetal�s parents who were totally unaware about Satish were getting many proposals for Sheetal. They had many dreams and aspirations for her marriage. Sheetal loved her parents very much and had no intention of hurting them more so since her father was suffering from many illnesses. But her halfhearted love for Sathish seemed like a block for her to accept other proposals. Even Sathish was pressurizing her to marry him. Finally Sheetal took the bold step and disclosed about Sathish to her parents. They were taken aback and totally grief-stricken. They had high hopes and trust on Sheetal. Since theirs was an orthodox family they had expected Sheetal never to even think of inter-caste marriage. But since Sheetal was not ready to marry any other guy her father decided to meet Sathish. One look at Sathish, Sheetal�s father just did not agree for the marriage. He slowly came to know about Sathish�s family background and his decision became even more concrete. Then followed an endless drama of emotions. Finally Sheetal budged to her parents� pleadings and agreed to marry the person from their community only. She informed about her decision to Sathish. Sathish was a very emotional person. He was very much attached to Sheetal and could not think of separating from her. But for Sheetal�s happiness he did not express his anguish to her. He knew about Sheetal�s father�s sickness and could not compel Sheetal much to change her decision. Sheetal�s marriage was finalized with Ritwik, who was working as Manager in a software firm. Sathish was aware of Sheetal�s engagement to Ritwik. Sheetal was still in contact with Sathish. She did not wish to abruptly break communication with him, as she knew that it would take lot of time for him to accept the facts. Since Sheetal of her own accord had decided to part ways with Sathish she convinced herself to accept Ritwik. Infact she disclosed some details about her relationship with Sathish to Ritwik. Sheetal tried her best to adjust to Ritwik during their meetings prior to marriage. Though she liked Ritwik she found herself at times comparing him with Satish. But she had the strength to stick to her decision and also she had promised herself that she would never deceive Ritwik. Ritwik had developed a liking towards Sheetal. He liked her innocence and straightforward attitude. He did not mind the fact that she was in love with someone else earlier as long as she remained faithful to him in future. He wanted to develop a good rapport with her before the wedding so that they would not seem like strangers after the marriage. Ritwik was never involved in any relationship in past. Sheetal was the first girl in his life and something about Sheetal drew him closer to her. Sathish was shattered mentally. He could not forget Sheetal even for a moment. He kept telling Sheetal that even now it was not too late for her to change her mind. He made every effort to convince her. He could not come out of the past. But for Sheetal her father�s health was of greater concern. She knew that her marriage to Sathish would cause great impact on her parents and she was not ready to take the risk. She felt that Sathish might still have the ability to withstand the pain when compared to her old parents. She blamed herself wholly for getting into all this mess when she was all along aware of the consequences. She felt guilty for hurting Sathish. Sathish was going insane day by day. His roommates were worried about his state. He stopped them from informing his parents about his condition. Finally one day Satish took the extreme step and committed suicide in his apartment by consuming poison. This came as a shock to Sheetal and her parents. It was like a bolt from the blue. Sheetal rushed to the hospital where Sathish�s body was taken for postmortem. Sathish�s parents showered abuses on Sheetal. Sathish�s mother wailed inconsolably and blamed Sheetal for her son�s death. Sheetal became a mental wreak. Picture of his dead body loomed large before her eyes. Almost everyone pointed finger at her for playing with Sathish�s life. Sheetal�s mind was at standstill. She felt numb and lifeless. She wished that at that very moment the earth below her would open and suck her in. Sheetal straightaway headed to the railway station and purchased a ticket for Kerala. She herself did not know what she was doing and why she wished to go to Kerala. She just wanted to flee to some unknown place with unknown faces. The train was supposed to leave in an hour�s time. Sheetal had some cash in her handbag. She sat on a stone bench waiting for the train with shaky hands. She tried to calm herself down, as she did not wish to draw passerby�s attention. She slowly remembered her friend telling about a famous guruji�s ashram in Kerala. She did not know the exact location of the ashram but all the same she decided to probe into it. Since she belonged to Mangalore, a place near Kerala she was quite familiar with the location. Around half past 7 in the evening Sheetal reached Kerala railway station. She was feeling neither scared nor relieved. Somehow she felt impassive like a stone. She found a tea stall owned by a lady. She found it comfortable approaching her with her queries regarding the guruji. The lady seemed quite sympathetic towards Sheetal and helped her in getting the details about the guruji. Since the guruji was quite a known personality among the locals there were transportation facilities, which carried people till the ashram. Sheetal had to wait till next day morning to reach the ashram. She decided to spend the night at the station rest room. Meanwhile at Sheetal�s residence environ was tense. Her parents were totally distressed when she did not return till late in the night. They made some enquiries with her friends and colleagues regarding her whereabouts. But none were able to provide any clue. They were hesitant to give police complaint since they did not wish Ritwik and any of his relatives to know about this. They desperately hoped for the dark night to end soon. This seemed like the most torturous night in their life. Meanwhile Sheetal alighted the early morning bus and reached the ashram by noon. She cooked up some story and appealed for shelter in the ashram for few days. Finding Sheetal to be from a well to do family the ashram authorities gave her permission to spend few days at the ashram. Guruji was away on some religious visit to other states. Sheetal still felt uneasy and restless. She did not know how to tackle the situation or how to face the facts. She felt accountable for Sathish�s death. She never ever expected Sathish to take such an extreme step. Her face wore listless look. Her eyes were sore after prolonged weeping. She wished to end her agony forever but did not have the guts to take her life. For time being she decided to stay at the ashram and keep her whereabouts a secret from her family. Yet she was concerned about her parents� condition. She was very well aware that how much they would be suffering finding her missing. Late in the evening, Sheetal called her home. Her mother picked up the phone. She was ecstatic to hear Sheetal�s voice. She cried with joy. Sheetal informed her that she was fine and in a safe place and asked her not to worry about her. She informed her mother that she could not accept Sathish�s death and that she needed some solace. She expressed regret for troubling them and asked their forgiveness. She informed about her decision to stay at the ashram to her mother and before her mother could object her decision she abruptly disconnected the phone. Her parents waited frantically for her call for another 2 days. Simultaneously they tried to trace her whereabouts but it was unsuccessful. Finally they were tired of answering people�s question specially Ritwik who by now was suspicious that there was something fishy going on. They revealed the truth to everyone. Ritwik was dumbstruck because he never anticipated such a thing to happen even in his dreams. His parents and relatives blamed Sheetal�s parents for hiding Sheetal�s past from them and spoiling their son�s life. Already both families had begun marriage preparations and this was a great humiliation for everyone. Sheetal�s parents were unanswerable to the numerous questions, which people kept posing before them. They were totally distraught and decided to shift base to their native place and stay aloof from all. Sheetal�s father�s health had worsened and her mother was also going weak day by day. Ritwik was in a dilemma so as to how to accept the situation. His friends sympathized with him and felt that he was lucky enough that at least before marriage this mishap took place. His family and relatives also felt the same and advised him to forget the past and accept the present with a fresh start. But Ritwik could not forget Sheetal very easily. He had developed a sweet bond with her. He had built several dreams about their future and he found it hard to let go of all this. He was a very sensitive person and was greatly hurt by the happenings. He was unclear about the future. Slowly time flew by and almost 6 months passed. Sheetal was successful in convincing the ashram authorities about her desire to continue her stay in the ashram. She requested guruji to accept her as his disciple and asked his permission to do ashram related works. The demon of past was slowly loosening its grips on her and she found herself to be composed from within. She had less trouble sleeping at night. The nightmares slowly began to ebb away. She always prayed for the well being of her parents but did not make any attempt to contact them. She did not wish to be a burden on them anymore. She begged lord�s forgiveness for hurting Ritwik�s emotions. Sheetal�s parents by now were emotionally drained out and they still could not cope up with the facts. They were constantly thinking about Sheetal and her whereabouts. Every single day they hoped to hear from her. Living with hope had become their tormented routine. Her ailing father�s only wish was to meet her before his last breath. Friends and relatives had lost hope on Sheetal�s return and most of them had their own versions of stories surrounding her disappearance. But they avoided discussing those with her parents lest they would hurt them more. Ritwik drove his attention totally towards his work and for time being he put off his marriage plans. Somewhere deep down he hoped to meet Sheetal sometime. His thoughts about Sheetal were still afresh in his mind and given a chance he hoped to marry her only. Maybe destiny also had same plans for him. One fine day Ritwik made a trip to Kerala to attend his friends wedding. The venue where the wedding was to take place was in the same town where the ashram was located. On reaching the marriage hall after freshening up he decided to explore the town, as this was his first visit to the city. It was late in the evening and the dark monsoon clouds were looming large in the sky. After a bout of thundershowers the previous day there were puddles of water everywhere and the entire surrounding wore a fresh green look. The ambience was soothing and Ritwik wished to immerse in the soulful beauty of the landscape. It was a good change from the bustling city life. As Ritwik walked past small shed shops and roadside vendors suddenly it began to pour. He took shelter in a near by bus stop. He bought some hot tea from a roadside vendor and was enjoying sipping piping hot tea in the chilled weather. He observed a medium height girl wearing a light pink dress with a black umbrella walking towards the bus stop in hurried steps. She was clutching a plastic bag in one hand. Her hair was tied in tight knot. Her eyes were lowered down. As she approached the bus stop Ritwik�s heart began to beat faster. He was not sure whether whatever he was seeing was reality or a dream. Though his heart signaled him that the girl approaching the bus stop was none other but Sheetal his mind refused to believe. Finally after he made sure that the girl was indeed Sheetal he approached her excitedly. As Sheetal looked up at the person who addressed her she was flabbergasted. She never thought that such a day would come wherein her past would stand right before her. She had completely buried all her earlier memories. At first Sheetal refused to recognize Ritwik and behaved like a stranger but after a lot of coaxing from Ritwik she gave in. They sat in near by coffee shop and had a long discussion. Sheetal refused to comeback with Ritwik. She told him of her decision to remain like a monk and carry out services for the rest of her life. She requested Ritwik not to disclose her identity to anyone and left the place without looking back. After Sheetal�s departure Ritwik returned to the marriage hall and was immersed in deep thought. Finally he decided to approach the guruji and seek his advice. The next day after the wedding Ritwik visited the ashram and met the guruji. He told in detail about Sheetal and her reason for coming to the ashram. Guruji was quite surprised to listen to the story but told Ritwik that he had a notion that Sheetal was in great trauma and that it would be better to allow her to take her own time to recuperate. When Ritwik expressed his desire to take Sheetal back with him guruji agreed to try and convince Sheetal for that. Guruji was a well-read person with great insight. Everyone respected his words and followed his advices. After several talks with Sheetal, guruji convinced her that she was not at fault for Sathish�s death but it was fates decision. He told her that she was just a character in this cosmic world whose actions are controlled by a supreme being. So as long as she is true and sincere there is nothing to fear or worry about. He told her that more than anything her first duty is towards her parents and she had no rights to hurt them. He told her that by staying in the ashram she is being selfish and only thinking about her own peace of mind whereas her parents are every moment suffering for her. Finally after reminiscing for few days Sheetal decided to return back to her parents. She was influenced by guruji�s words and after spending almost 6 months in the ashram her mind had calmed down and she was able to put her past behind her. When Sheetal confronted her parents both of them could not utter any words. Tears of joy flowed and expressions spoke more than words. Sheetal rushed and hugged her parents. They wept uncontrollably and could not believe that they had their daughter back in their arms. Sheetal�s parents had no words to express their gratitude to Ritwik. They were grateful for what he had done and the only way they felt to return his courtesy back was to convince Sheetal to marry him since he had expressed them his desire to marry her. Ritwik met Sheetal in person and proposed her to marry him. Her eyes moistened in admiration for him. She could sense the deep love, which he had for her, and she felt secure and relaxed in his presence. She remembered guruji�s words that whatever happens is for a reason, leave everything to the lord and he will always give the best to his child, have faith in him and live for the moment. Sheetal took Ritwik�s hand in hers and gave a gentle press and nodded in agreement. Ritwik�s eyes danced with joy. He knew that the eclipse, which had cast on their fate, had finally moved past and made way to the sunrise of a new beginning in their lives.
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