Love is in the Air!!

Akanksha looked at the image staring back at her from the mirror and felt a deep sense of satisfaction . The effort of having to deal with the itchy, scratchy and sweaty sensations that came with not tying up her shoulder length tresses into a ubiquitous ponytail, she decided , was totally worth it , because she was looking really good!

She sat on her bed and took a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart . It was not just ‘a regular’ Saturday afternoon . It was a big day for the twenty one year old for whom breaking stereotypes was all in a day’s work. Akanksha reminded herself that she had gotten this far only because she had the courage to challenge her boundaries and the society’s perception of her tribe . She thought about the tagline of an app that was popular among many her age ‘You up’. Well, she was up for it, although there were many out there who believed that she did not possess the maturity to feel a certain way or the intelligence to comprehend the feeling.

Akanksha and Tanay, who was twenty one too, had been friends for nearly a decade . Akanksha reminisced about desperately wanting to have friends in her childhood . She remembered her first few days at her preschool really well , for that was probably the first time ever that she realised how ‘different’ she was from all the other children around her . The school seemed like a claustrophobic jungle replete with loud noises ,strange smells and people who were constantly getting too close to her for her comfort . Yet, she was the only one who seemed annoyed and affected by it all. That was not the only thing - most of the children in her environment could talk . A few of them spoke a mile a minute . As for her , she could not get a single meaningful syllable from her mouth , no matter how hard she tried . The games break was, for her , the scariest part of her day at school . Her classmates literally went berserk in the playground prompting her to walk away to a quiet corner . But the problem with the quiet corner was that it was too quiet and too lonely . It was not long before she became the loneliest girl in her entire class . Friendship was a mirage -a train that zipped by at an intense speed leaving her far behind, with a huge craving to belong .

Things began to change one day, when Akanksha was eleven. Akanksha’s mother and Tanay’s mother were both a part of a parent group and had decided to get together and organise a ‘play date’ for their children. ‘Play date’ at eleven! some may wonder. Alas, such had been her life. 

Akanksha vividly remembered her apprehension about it all , the first time she set out on the play date to Cubbon Park. She did not feel good about being pushed into interacting with a perfect stranger in the name of socialising .Who was this Tanay? What if he turned out to be noisy , clumsy and irritating , like most boys are bound to be ? What if he was a big bully ? Her mother did not feel the need to ask her opinion about this playdate business and she did not have a way to express it .

Sure enough , Akanksha and her mother went to Cubbon Park and soon, Akanksha saw a petite lady walking towards them, clutching the hand of a skinny little boy tightly , almost as if she was worried that he would run away if she loosened her grip . 

‘So this is Tanay’, she muttered to herself , ‘the friend in waiting’. Right after the cursory introductions were over , Tanay grabbed the teddy bear that Akanksha was holding and made a dash to the nearest tree , only to climb up the tree with the expertise of a monkey that had won the trophy for a swift climber . She was expected to form a friendship with this boy? She began wailing in sheer frustration .

Tanay looked down from the branch of the tree at the human noise machine who was determined to flood the park with her tears . ‘So much for making an effort to be friends’, he muttered to himself 'why is she crying instead of climbing up and playing with me?'. As expected , the play date was a bad idea after all ..

Over time , the play dates began to get better. Akanksha decided to carry a toy for Tanay to take with him to the treetop . After all, wasn’t that what friendship was all about? Making an effort to accept the person for who he was. She realised that Tanay was making an effort to play with her as well. For one, he would try not to dash to the nearest tree. They would sit together on the bench for a while, each rocking and just being there.  And thus began their friendship . They were as different as chalk and cheese, but both of them began to look forward to their weekly ‘play date’ on Saturdays at Cubbon park .

Over the years, both Akanksha and Tanay grew older and more mature. For one, Tanay stopped climbing trees! Both of them were introduced to a text to speech app on their iPads and both of them eventually found their voice in technology. But what did not change was the Saturday routine of going to Cubbon Park- one that they absolutely enjoyed.

There was another thing that had changed for Akanksha . She realised that Tanay had begun to mean much more to her than just a friend . She thought of him as her boyfriend . But did he also feel the same way about her ? She was not sure, but she wanted to find out and today was the big day - the day when she would speak her mind with the hope that Tanay felt the same .

Akanksha checked her iPad to make sure that it was fully charged. She felt her palms go clammy. What if she typed out whatever she wanted to say beforehand and save it, so she could just play it when she met Tanay? Akanksha decided against it. After all, nothing in this world came close to spontaneity . ‘What is the worst that can happen?’, she reasoned with herself, ‘you might end up rocking for long to get rid of the anxious feeling and that might just make your typing slower. But this is not an outsider. This is good old Tanay and he will understand’

Akanksha heard the impatient honking of the car outside . Her mother was waiting. She quickly dropped her iPad into her bag and headed out.

Tanay and his mother reached Cubbon park and settled down on their usual bench. Tanay loved Saturdays, the day he would get to meet his best friend Akanksha.Yes, Akanksha and he carried the same ‘label’ but they were anything but the same. Akanksha was as sunny as warm sunshine on a spring day and he was as placid as the water  in the lake. 

There were days when Tanay felt the need to question his own feelings. Was Akanksha just a friend? He decided to be honest to himself. The answer to that was a no. He really liked Akanksha and hoped that she would be his girlfriend . But heaven knew, he just did not have the courage to voice his feelings. What if she rejected him? What if he ended up losing her friendship? He could not deal with that thought, for Akanksha was the only friend that he had in the whole wide world. He decided to keep his feelings to himself!

Akanksha had messaged him that morning saying she had something important to tell him. He wondered what that was, as he turned on the music and wore his noise cancellation headphones. He removed the iPad from his bag and put it beside him. Soon, he saw Akanksha arrive with her mother. Both the mothers decided to go for a walk.

‘You are looking different today’, typed Tanay.

‘So you noticed’, typed Akanksha, ‘the hair falling on my back feels awful, but I think it looks good. I have decided that I will deal with this feeling once in a while’

‘So what is it that you wanted to tell me’ typed Tanay, ‘I am curious’

‘Now is the time’ Akanksha said to herself as she took two large deep breaths in an attempt to calm down the incessant rocking. But that clearly did not work for she typed, ‘may be you should consider buying an AirPod . These headphones look ghastly’

She immediately put the iPad on the bench and buried her palms in her face. ‘so much for spontaneity’ she said to herself , ‘you have spontaneously put your foot in your mouth’

‘Is that what you wanted to tell me’ typed a shocked looking Tanay, 'I was hoping it was something nice or something important . You know I hate the feeling of the AirPods in my ear. It hurts’

Akanksha began flapping her fingers in an attempt to calm herself . It helped for she soon took her iPad and typed, ‘I know it hurts. You have said that before and that is not what I wanted to say. I wanted to tell you that I want to be your girlfriend’

There, she said it and it felt good!

‘Yes’ typed Tanay with a huge smile on his face. His prayers were just answered! He was glad that Akanksha did not harbour the self doubt that he was plagued with, ever so often. She had the confidence to voice her feelings, he could only hope that he would achieve some of it someday.

‘Did you just say  yes’, typed Akanksha, her face replete with joy and surprise in equal measure.

‘Yes, I just said yes’ typed Tanay.

‘Let us go to Cafe Coffee day’ typed Akanksha , ‘We should celebrate’

‘Yes let’s go’ typed Tanay, looking forward to his weekly dose of Carmel Macchiato . The combination of sugar and coffee was heady, just like the feeling of being in love!

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Post script - I derived the inspiration to write this story from a ‘bright and sunny’ social media post that was shared with me ; one that reiterates the joy of ‘finding love’, labels notwithstanding .

Huge shout out to Shaheli Mukherjee madam, my mentor and the sounding board for all my wacky ideas, for helping me to shape my maiden attempt in this genre . The story would not have been half as good without you . Thank you Shaheli madam !