Diary from Heaven

The Love Story

Arun was nervous through rest of the Saturday and Sunday too. Though he had dinner at home as Prasad had asked him, he was lost at the dinner table too. Neeru sensed it and asked him many times if something was wrong, but he just smiled his way through the weekend and got ready for the college on Monday morning.

He was nervous as he entered the gates of BTS College. He was late, so he went straight to the class.  As he entered the classroom, Arun looked around and felt lost as he couldn’t spot Harveen anywhere. His heart was pounding fast as he looked around for her.

A familiar voice gave some relief as he followed the voice and turned his head towards the right side and found Shobhit sitting in the last row. Shobhit was signalling Arun to come and sit with him. Arun nervously walked towards Shobhit while still searching for Harveen.

Arun completely ignored Professor Nath, who was staring at him. While Arun sat next to Shobhit, Professor Nath ended his glaze and continued with the lecture.

“Where is she?” Arun nervously whispered.

“Tina had some work in CP; we will meet them afterwards,” replied Shobhit. Arun took a sigh of relief.

“Relax, chief, you worry too much,” said Shobhit as Arum smiled nervously.

As the class ended, Arun spotted Suchi and went towards her while Pratap looked on.

“Found new friends, have we now?” said Pratap.

“Leave him alone,” said Suchi.

“Meet me in the canteen tomorrow after college; I have to talk to you guys,” said Arun as he hurriedly walked away.

Post classes Arun eagerly waited for Shobhit in the parking lot. He was walking around nervously close to Shobhit’s Maruti 800.

“What took you guys so long?” asked Arun impatiently as Shobhit walked towards him with his usual cool slow pace. Gaurav was walking behind him. Shobhit smiled and unlocked the car. The smirk on his face irritated Arun further.

“You are enjoying this, aren’t you?” said Arun as they got into the car.

“It’s entertaining; yes!” replied Shobhit pulling his aviator goggles down his nose.

“DRIVE, WILL YA,” shouted Arun impatiently.

“It’s about to rain,” said Gaurav looking at the dark clouds above.

“If we don’t reach CP on time then it’s definitely gonna rain cats and dogs in my car,” said Shobhit teasing Arun as Gaurav burst into loud laughter.

It took them approximately forty-five minutes to reach the inner circle in CP. Shobhit parked the car near Palika Bazar and then walked towards the inner circle park in central CP. Arun was making haste as he walked quickly while Shobhit and Gaurav followed slowly.

It had already started drizzling, and everyone around ran helter-skelter looking for cover while Arun walked towards the park ignoring the rain. Arun spotted Harveen sitting on a park bench with Tina enjoying the drizzle. Mitali and Rose were sitting behind them under a tree.

Harveen smiled as she saw Arun walking towards them. Arun went towards Harveen and sat alongside.

“Nervous?” asked Shobhit, smiling.

Arun kept quiet and just kept looking at Harveen, who looked back and smiled. He was so nervous that he couldn’t smile. Harveen sensed something was wrong. Everyone settled on the grass under a tree as Arun held Harveen’s hand and pulled her away. The drizzle aptly hid Arun’s tears.

“What’s wrong?” asked Harveen as she could spot tears in his eyes standing close to Arun.

“Oooooh... he’s going to propose,” said Gaurav excitedly as Tina nudged him.

“He already did that, now shut-up,” said Tina.

“When did that happen? Where was I?” asked Gaurav grumpily.

“Can you guys come in the shade and talk, IT'S RAINING, YOU KNOW,” said Mitali.

“Shhhhh...” said Tina as everyone looked at Arun.

“My family’s not rich like yours, in-fact we are going through a huge financial crisis because my dad’s business is failing,” said Arun.

“What’s your point?” asked Harveen as raindrops trickled down their faces.

“You deserve to be with someone...” Harveen covered his mouth with her hand.

“Shut-up and sit down,” said Harveen as she pulled Arun towards the tree and pointed towards the ground. He kept standing, looking away. She turned his face towards her. She wiped his face and eyes.

“I know all this, and it doesn’t matter,” she said.

“We both are young, and we both will work together to make a good life for us. It doesn’t matter what your family’s financial status is. All I care is that we both love each other,” said Harveen.

“When did he propose her?” Gaurav mumbled grumpily as Tina nudged him, again, to keep quiet.

“Now, please stop thinking about all this crap and smile,” she said.

“Please...” everyone said together as Arun finally smiled. He smiled, but the fear of losing Harveen had somehow already hijacked his mind.

Next day after the classes, Arun asked everyone to come to the canteen where Suchi, Pratap, Yogesh and Neelam were waiting for him.

“Everyone this is...” said Arun as Shobhit interrupted him.

“Ya ya... we know who they are, they are the culture squad,” said Shobhit angrily.

“At the student council meeting they protested and stopped us from organising a fest because they were protesting against some government policy and they were against holding the fest,” he said.

“Guys, they are my pals as well,” said Arun as he looked towards Harveen, who smiled and moved forward.

“Hi, I am Harveen, and that is Shobhit, Gaurav, Tina, Mitali, and Rose,” she said, joyfully shaking hands with Suchi.

“Hi, Harveen, I am Suchi, and this is Pratap, Yogesh and Neelam,” said Suchi introducing everyone.

Shobhit went ahead and shook hands with everyone as did Pratap and Mitali.

“So, I guess our gang is now bigger,” said Tina joyfully.

“Family is more like it,” said Neelam as everyone smiled.

With time, both Arun and Harveen got closer, and so did the group. They all supported each other. They spent more time with each other than their families.

Arun would take them to Aravali Hills around Damdama Lake for climbing and hiking. They would all gather at Shobhit’s place and leave for Damdama Lake on cycles. They would leave early morning and usually reach the Lake by 11:00 AM. Watching movies at Chanakya and PVR Vasant Kunj was a usual affair. They would buy the most economical tickets, the front row tickets.

It had been one year since Arun and Harveen first met. Almost every day, Harveen’s parents would fight because of some reason or the other, and she would find comfort in Arun’s arms. Meanwhile, Arun’s father had to close down the printing business, and he started a small DTP business which also didn’t farewell.

Since a Bachelors course did not carry any technical weightage, Arun was also perusing a short course in Marketing from an institute in South Extension. It was a certificate course, and he had to attend classes only once a week.

In South Extension, he would meet Jatin, his schoolmate who also lived in old Gurgaon. Jatin and Arun became close friends and would travel back to Gurgaon together as even Jatin was studying graphic designing at an institute in South Extension. While Manu and Mahender got busy with their college, studies and respective college friends, Jatin was the only friend Arun would meet outside of the college.

1999 was the year when the Y2K bug had gripped the internet users and companies alike. Everyone was worried about the date change set to take place from the year 2000. Arun had different worries altogether.

“Did you get them?” asked Arun who had been waiting for Shobhit along with Tina with bated breath.

“Naa, man; couldn’t get them,” replied Shobhit putting his head down on the canteen table.

“Damn it, I was so looking forward to this gig,” said Arun in frustration.

“THE LONGEST DANCE PARTY…” he said visualizing dancing with Harveen.

“I wanted to go to this party so bad…” he said, throwing his arms in the air.

Shobhit giggled with his head down on the table as Tina pulled his ear. He kept giggling. “Ouch,” is how Shobhit reacted in pain as Tina pulled his ear even harder. Arun turned around.

“You son of a… You got it, didn’t you?” he said with excitement and hugged Shobhit.

“We all are going, pal,” said Shobhit as he took out tickets to the longest dance party.

The party was being organised by MTV at Fireball Discotheque at 32nd Mile Stone resort in Gurgaon from November 26 to November 29. Arun was excited about going to such a grand party. He wanted to have a ball with Harveen and others.

“You are an angel, man,” said Arun kissing Shobhit on his cheek.

Tina helped Arun learn a few steps after classes, every day till the party. He was super-excited. Fireball in the 1990s was one of the biggest discothèques in Asia. Who’s who from all across India wanted to be part of this party. Shobhit, with his connections, managed to get tickets for the entire gang.

The place was already buzzing with excitement when the gang landed up at Fireball.

“Dude, dude! That’s Bani Yadav, she’s a rally car driver,” Gaurav literally chirped with excitement upon spotting Bani Yadav as everyone walked out of the parking area towards Fireball.

“This is going to be wild…” said Gaurav as he pretended to drive a car and zoomed in towards the main hall.

The bouncer on duty checked the tickets and allowed the gang to enter the main hall. Arun looked around; it was a huge hall, and it was already jam-packed. Psychedelic lights along with the fog machine were on, and the music was in full swing.

To get the real taste of such a grand event; Arun went up to the console. He stood there, behind the console, imagining the feeling if he would be playing.

The entire gang settled on the first level from where the floor below was visible. Tina ordered drinks for everyone as the MC for the evening announced for the participants to come on the floor. According to the rules, at least 75 per cent of the dancers had to be on the floor at any given time; there was a break of 10 minutes at the end of every one hour, and all the 40 dancers got a break of 15 minutes after every eight hours. Arun and party were not participants they were merely there to enjoy the grand party.

Arun and Harveen never even realised what was happening around them as they were completely lost into each other the whole time. Everyone was thoroughly enjoying the music and the ambience. The music and the madness continued for 48 hours. The participants looked exhausted but somehow continued to groove. Everyone around was helping participants with drinks during breaks.

“It was awesome, dude!” said Arun in excitement as everyone left on the day two after the winner was presented a sports bike.

Arun was proud of the fact that he was part of an event which was now listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.

“I wish one day I would play at such an event,” he said as Harveen held his hand.

“You will definitely play at such an event very soon,” she said.

Arun was looking forward to the year 2000 as this would be their first anniversary. Arun and party celebrated New Year at Band Baja Baraat and welcomed 2000 with a bang.

Everything was moving on track when in February of 2000 Harveen didn’t come to college for two days. She didn’t answer the phone, and every time Arun called, her brother picked up the phone. He would quickly disconnect without saying anything. He asked Tina to call her.

“Hello,” said a macho voice on the other side.

“Hello, this is Tina, Harveen’s classmate,” she said.

“Hello, Tina, I am Ravinder, her brother. Can you come and meet Harveen? It’s urgent. I was looking to call her friends but didn’t have their number,” he said.

“Is she ok? We haven’t seen her around for two days,” she asked as Arun listened closely.

“She’s ok; can you guys come to our house tomorrow morning?” he said.

“Yes, we can come tomorrow,” she said, keeping the phone down.

“She’s all right, don’t worry. We will go and meet her tomorrow at her house,” said Tina assuring Arun.

“Yes, but why isn’t she coming to the college and answering her phone?” asked Arun still not satisfied.

“We will know about this when we meet her tomorrow, ok?” Tina replied calmly.

“Me, Suchi and Mitali will go to her house, and you and Shobhit can wait for us outside,” said Tina.

Harveen’s house was in old Gurgaon’s Tikona Park area, 4-8 Marla. As Tina, Mitali and Suchi went towards Harveen’s home, Arun waited in the car with bated breath along with Shobhit. He was worried.

“She’s all right, man, don’t worry,” said Shobhit as he took a drag. Arun grabbed the cigarette and took a drag as well.

“Easy their, boy,” said Shobhit as he snatched the cigarette.

Ravinder opened the door and greeted everyone. “Thanks for coming, guys,” he said as he led them to Harveen’s room on the first floor. Harveen was sitting on the bed, looking out of the window.

“What’s wrong with her? Is she ill?” asked Mitali.

“Mom and dad had an ugly fight the other day, and she started screaming and shouting and then fainted. The doctor said that she had a nervous breakdown,” said Ravinder.

“She hasn’t spoken since,” he said.

“Can we take her out?” asked Tina.

“I want her to go out,” said Ravinder.

“She’s the darling of our family, and it pains me to see her like this,” said Ravinder with moist eyes.

“We’ll get her ready and take her to sector 14 market. Our friends are waiting outside in the car. We will drop her back in an hour,” said Tina.

“Ok, take good care of her,” said Ravinder as he placed his hand on Harveen’s head. As Ravinder left, Tina asked Harveen to stand up so that they can help her get dressed.

Arun’s eyes lit up as they all came out of the house with Harveen. Arun sat with Harveen in the back seat along with Mitali and Suchi. Tina sat upfront as Shobhit drove towards the sector 14 market.

“What’s wrong, Harveen?” asked a concerned Arun. She hugged him tightly and cried. Arun kissed her forehead.

“Everything’s going to be fine; I am with you,” said Arun.

As they reached Shri Om Sweets in Sector 14, everyone got out while Arun and Harveen stayed back. They went inside after 15 minutes as Shobhit, Tina, Mitali and Suchi were waiting for them. Arun passed the car key to Shobhit.

“Are you ok, Harveen?” asked Tina.

“Yes...” said Harveen, with tears in her eyes.

“What happened?” asked Mitali.

“Mom and dad had a bitter fight last Sunday; she threw a vase at dad, and he got hurt,” said Harveen.

“Let’s have coffee, shall we?” said Shobhit as everyone agreed. He left to order at the counter.

“Veer Ji tried to stop them, but they wouldn’t listen. Dad wants me to get married before they separate. He will move to Canada after separation, and he’s afraid that he might not be able to see me. Mom wants me to finish college first. So they argued all night,” said Harveen.

“It’s ok, don’t worry, he can’t force you to get married,” said Arun.

“I want to get married now,” said Harveen as everyone looked at her, stunned.

“WHAT?” said Arun with his eyes wide open.

“You want to get married?” said Arun.

“...you mean we are in college, and what will we do for money?” said Harveen.

“Look, we will manage something; I can get a part-time job and so can you,” she said as Arun felt as if he was about to faint.

“You guys can stay at my place, the first floor is vacant,” said Shobhit.

“What? Don’t encourage her. She’s stressed, she doesn’t know what she’s saying,” said Tina,

“I know what I am saying, guys, and I know exactly what it means. So?” said Harveen looking at Arun.

“So?” mumbled Arun trying to clear his throat.

“Will you marry me?” asked Harveen moving her hand towards Arun. Arun looked at everyone, Tina nodded.

Though he felt as if his head was about to explode, he moved ahead and held her hand.

“I will always be by your side, come what may,” said Arun hugging her.

“Ok, I shall need a copy of your 10th certificate for age proof for registration at the marriage court in Karol Bagh,” said Shobhit.

“Tina and Mitali can be witnesses from Harveen’s side, and Suchi and I can be from your side,” he said elbowing and teasing Arun.

“Have you done this before?” asked Tina.

“As a matter of fact, yes," replied Shobhit raising his collar.

"I specialise in run-away marriages,” he continued giggling.

“Are you sure about this?” asked Arun holding Harveen’s hand.

“Damn sure, my dumbo,” replied Harveen blushing.

“If you are sure, then I am sure as well,” said Arun.

Next day, everyone waited for Shobhit in the college canteen while he returned from Karol Bagh. Arun kept walking around nervously. Harveen tried to calm him down, but everything was happening so fast that Arun’s brain wouldn’t stop bugging him.

While he was excited to be with Harveen for the rest of his life, he had never imagined him getting married so soon. Also, he kept seeing visuals of his dad slapping him after he told him that he got married. He sat on a chair with his hand on his cheek as if someone did slap him.

As Arun sat there bewildered, Tina got up screaming with excitement. “THERE HE IS,” shouted Tina as she walked towards the canteen door to hug Shobhit. Shobhit ignored her and walked towards Arun. He stood in front of Arun with virtually no expressions on his face.

“What’s wrong, buddy?” asked Arun standing up. Shobhit slapped Arun as everyone rushed towards them. “Do you know the permissible age for marriage in India?” asked Shobhit as Arun covered both his cheeks with his hands. Before Arun could answer Shobhit screamed: “IT’S 21 YEARS FOR A BOY AND 18 YEARS FOR A GIRL.”

“Now answer this very carefully after calculating. What is your age?” he calmly asked Arun.

“My date of birth is 23rd December 1981, that would make my age...,” said Arun.

“YOU ARE 18 YEARS YOU DUMB A*****E,” shouted Shobhit interrupting.

“You are not eligible to get married till you are 21 years old,” said Shobhit as everyone burst into laughter.

“Stop screaming, you should have checked the date of birth before submitting it at the court,” said Tina.

“Guess we have to wait for three more years,” said Harveen looking towards Arun.

“You can always get married at a temple,” said Gaurav.

“No, let’s wait,” said Arun as Harveen nodded.

“I might have overreacted yesterday. I feel much better now; besides, Mom and dad promised me that they wouldn’t fight again,” said Harveen.

It was January of 2000, a few days before Harveen’s birthday, when he got the news that changed his life forever. It was around 11:00 AM on 16th January 2000 when Prasad came home frantically looking for Arun. He was lazing around in his room. Prasad woke up Arun and told him that someone called in saying that his friends had met with an accident. Arun got out of the bed immediately.

“Who was it, who called you, and who has had an accident?” he asked while dressing up.

“I don’t know; it was a girl, she said that they are waiting for you at Shobhit’s place,” said Prasad.

“Do you want me to come with you?” he asked.

“You stay at the shop close to the phone, I will call and let you know if need be,” replied Arun as he took the LML Vespa scooter. He drove straight to Shobhit’s place where a crowd had gathered.

He looked for Tina, who was standing close to the main gate with Gaurav. “Hey, Tina. What happened?” asked a visibly worried Arun as Tina turned towards him teary-eyed.

“Arun...” is all she could say as she burst into tears.

“Come with me,” said Gaurav as he held Arun’s hand and took him out.

“You should sit,” said Gaurav as he opened the car door.

“TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED? Is Shobhit ok?” asked Arun.

“There’s been an accident,” said Gaurav as he paused to breathe. He took a deep breath and with moist eyes looked towards Arun.

“Harveen, Shobhit and Mitali are no more,” said Gaurav as tears rolled down his cheeks.

“Wha...” said Arun as his mouth remained open. It was as if the words got stuck in his mouth.

“How?” he asked as he got up.

“They were in Harveen’s car on their way to the railway station to drop Mitali today morning,” said Gaurav.

“Yes, she told me about this; I had some work so I couldn’t come. I had asked Shobhit to go with them,” said Arun looking weary.

“Shobhit was on the front seat and Mitali at the back seat while Harveen was driving. It was quite foggy,” said Tina.

“I don’t know how exactly it happened, but they took a left turn from the Dandi March statue t-point, and the car banged into a parked garbage truck on the left side of the road,” she said crying inconsolably.

“The police said that due to low visibility and high speed the impact was such that all passengers died on the spot,” said Gaurav.

“Have some water,” said Tina passing the bottle to Arun. Arun just kept holding the water bottle; his face was expressionless and his eyes, weary.

“We should go inside,” said Gaurav as Arun got up and walked like a zombie.

Tina went ahead and spoke with Shobhit’s cousin. “Harveen’s brother and parents, Mitali’s parents, and Shobhit’s relatives are going to the morgue to collect the bodies,” said Tina.

Arun was still quiet. He was still trying to contemplate as to what was happening. “Wake up, Arun; this is a bad dream,” he kept thinking.

“Say something,” said Tina, who was crying.

“He’s in shock, give him some time,” said Gaurav.

Ronit came towards them and said something.

“They are leaving, let’s go,” she said as they both helped Arun get up and into the car.

As they reached the government morgue on Old Delhi road, Harveen’s brother and parents were already waiting there. Tina, Gaurav and Arun went towards Harveen’s teary-eyed brother. As he saw them come towards him, he started crying inconsolably.

“This is Arun,” said Tina as she introduced him to Ravinder.

“I know who he is,” he said as he shook hands with Arun and hugged him. For the first time, Arun also cried. Tina and Gaurav tried to console him, but he kept sobbing. In a while, Mitali’s parents also arrived, and everyone sat together, consoling each other.

The attendant called in to take the bodies. Gaurav and Ravinder went ahead and asked everyone else to stay back as they called in for Harveen’s relatives to come forward. With a screeching sound, the attendant pushed the stretcher with Harveen’s body, wrapped in a white sheet. Arun walked towards the stretcher as Ravinder and Gaurav made an entry in the register. He stood next to the stretcher uncovering her face. Tina and Gaurav noticed him standing there, and they quickly pulled him back. Arun was devastated, not only did he lose his love that day, but he also lost his best friend and pal. Just when everything looked promising, this happened.

Harveen was buried as per Muslim rituals, while Shobhit was cremated at the old Gurgaon Crematorium on Pataudi road. Mitali was cremated in Bareilly, her native place.

Arun didn’t share anything at home. When his brother asked him as to why they called him urgently, he merely told him that his friends were hurt in a car accident. He didn’t want his family to know about this, especially his father, who was as it is going through a lot because of the business.

He would leave in the morning for college, but for two months he never went to college. He would roam around places where he and Harveen used to meet. He would walk aimlessly for hours and stare at people and places.

Arun finally went to college after two months. He tried hard to avoid everyone he knew, but Tina and Gaurav managed to get him to the ground where Rose, Suchi, Pratap, Yogesh and Neelam were also sitting at their usual place. Arun kept quiet, looking around, trying to avoid any eye contact.

They kept talking about happy memories of Harveen, Shobhit and Mitali, but none of it mattered to Arun anymore as he kept looking towards the main gate. Arun was waiting to run away. He didn’t want to come to the college at all. The only reason he came back to college was to keep his father happy.

“Running away from things won’t help Arun, but talking will surely help,” said Suchi.

“We are here for you, man,” said Pratap.

“Talk about what?” said Arun, who was annoyed by them trying to cheer him up.

“Anything that helps you move on,” said Pratap.

“We all have to move on, Arun, that’s life,” he said.

“You are going to hurt yourself if you keep this up,” he continued.

“Oh, ya? Well, maybe I want to hurt myself,” said Arun as everyone looked at him surprised.

“That is not an option, Arun,” said Gaurav.

“Let’s change the topic,” said Tina interrupting Gaurav.

“Her brothers wanted to meet you,” said Tina as Arun looked at her.

“Why?” asked Arun.

“I mean, why now?” he continued.

“That’s dangerous, boss. They might be angry with you,” said Pratap as Suchi nudged him.

“You should go and meet; they have also lost their sister, you know,” said Tina.

“Sure, I will go,” said Arun as he thought for a moment.

“Ok, I will take you there tomorrow. I suggest we take Tina along,” said Gaurav.

Tina greeted Ravinder, who welcomed them. Inside, Harveen’s parents were sitting on the floor. The furniture had been removed, and a carpet covered the entire drawing-room floor. Harveen’s father hugged Arun and Tina, so did her mother consoling each other. They all sat on the ground and tea was served.

Ravinder called Arun to the first floor, Arun and Tina walked up. “This is her room. I wanted you to see this. I thought we owe you that much. Thank you for taking care of her, thank you for making her smile,” said Ravinder as he left the room teary-eyed.

Arun was surprised to see photos of him and Harveen all around. He had not expected this. There were countless photos of just him and her. There was a photo of them at the Garden of Five senses and then the group photo at Damdama Lake where everyone was making weird faces. Arun sat on the bed and closed his eyes as he imagined her sitting beside him. Tina left the room and went downstairs. “Give him some time,” said her father as he looked up at the room.

Meanwhile, Arun took a frame in his hands. He kissed his hand and then touched Harveen in the frame. He held the frame tightly close to his chest. “I am always with you,” someone whispered in his ears and he got up, startled. He looked around. “I know you are… I love you so much…” he said, looking at the photograph in his hands. He rushed out of the room and sat on the floor, crying and screaming as Tina and Ravinder rushed by his side.

After 15 minutes, they all came down.

“Sorry about all the screaming,” said Arun as he tried hard to smile while wiping tears.

“Thank you,” he said, looking at Ravinder.

“Thank you, beta; you meant a lot to her,” said her mother.

“I know this is difficult for you, you are so young, and a tragedy such as this in your age can leave a lasting impression. Do let us know if we can be of any help,” she said as Arun and Tina left.