Love Story

The letter he got:

Dear Jack,
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy – will you let me be yours?
Jill



The letter she sent:

Dear Jack,

I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men I yearn! For you I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?
Yours,
Jill

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Love! We've all felt it, atleast once in a lifetime. I'm not talking about brotherly love or philanthropy. Its the love that lasts a lifetime.
Some romeos say that its not their fault. They claim that Cupid shot them with a machine gun, a triple-barreled hydraulic-action scatter cannon to be precise. Everyday is Valentine's Day for them. Once upon a time, I was one of them. Can't say I was happier then.Everyday was a new crush, daily flirting: Innocent and happy.

And then, one fine day, disaster struck. I met a girl who was unlike the rest. Friends say she was nothing out of the ordinary. But somehow, she left my heart aflutter. Like an angel descended from heavens,she walked into my life. Cupid had used a bazooka this time. I talked to her and got to know that she harboured the same feelings for me.

Life was Beautiful! We talked to each other daily.Our endless discussions covered everything from politics to science tests in tuitions. It seemed our love will last forever. If there was anything I wouldn't do for her...I wasn't aware of it! I could give my left arm just to see her smile.

Two years passed, I'm in college now. Another engineer in the vast pool of educated unemployed. I'm placed in a reputed company but that's another story. She's a medical student, doing her MBBS trying to rid the world of Cancer, AIDS and what not. Our lives have become too separate. I have my friends in college, she has her own. We hardly have time for each other now. At the time of writing, its been one month since I talked to her face-to-face.

Her smile doesn't fascinate me anymore. These two years have changed us a lot. They say, Distance makes the heart grow fonder. In our case, distance made the hearts go wander. Little threads of complacency have turned into a spider's web and bound us tightly. We can't even call each other acquaintances now. I love her but there's no joy when I hear her voice. I used to spend sleepless nights thinking about her and now her number is no longer on my phonebook.

I knew that the spark in our relationship had died/ burned/ fizzled out. But I did not try to revive it, I do not why. It was as if it had been just a dream. I was dragging along a remnant of the past. A past that had to be forgotten.

She gave me a bitter reminder of the fact when she dumped me. It couldn't exactly be called a dumping, just a long pending formal announcement of a fact. The distance between us had become unsurmountable. She said,"I want to focus on my career." One thing I always liked about her was her ambition. With the words "Don't talk about something that no longer exists", it was back to reality. Obviously, she meant our relationship. The words were true and yet they pinch me everytime I close my eyes. It was my own fault. There was so much I could've done. I've lost something valuable. For good.

The greatest journey is the distance between two people. In my case, the journey was over even before it began. My mistake, I guess I have to live with it. I'm still a hopeless romantic. But that's what I am: hopeless; in the matters of the heart. Everytime I think about a girl, I remember what a lousy boyfriend I was. I dread falling in love again. After all, starting a relationship is easy. Keeping it alive so that it can stand the test of time, that's hard.

(I've been reading a lot of Chetan Bhagat recently. Here's a small love-story about a lazy dolt in first-person. Form whatever opinions you may about the lead character. The lead character is based on a real-life person. You can leave your opinions in the comments section.)