After darling's family left to Seattle, we all got back to routine. An year and half passed by without notice. The urge to see my darling popped in my head. Like the Mahesh Babu's dialogue, "I won't listen to myself if I commit". Immediately, I started looking for flight fares. Luckily the prices were very reasonable for the Thanks giving weekend that was coming in another month. I checked with hubby and got a green to go.

As you have been reading from the beginning, surprises and we go hand in hand. Why don't I give her a surprise? No sooner than the thought crept, I called her husband to see what their plans were for the long weekend. As they didn't have any plans, I announced my trip and he was very excited. But the condition is, please keep this as a surprise to her.

The count down begins again.

In Seattle:

Darling's hubby started spring cleaning their home and she was surprised by the unusual performance of duties. Purchase of grocery without nagging, stocking up the refrigerator with food for the weekend; she didn't know what was wrong with this man. But how is he going to pick me up in the airport without telling her? He lied saying he had a team dinner, which he never had before. :-)

Ammu and me reached her home and rang the door bell. Arush comes to open the door. Surprised to see new faces, he just stares. I say, go and call your mom. I stood to one side and darling couldn't believe why Ammu was there. Her scream echoed in the Seattle rain. The rest all you can see in the pics.

 There is no need of any reason or cause to strike a laugh between us!!

Hope they become another pair of best friends for life..

                              My Darling with her future DIL!!!

             Cutest, chubbiest kid ever!! Didn't get enough of him to squeeze :)

P.S: I thank each and every one of my readers who patiently waited and asked me time and again to post the next part soon. That only made us dig deeper into our lives once again and see what we have gone through. I love you all guys!! You are my energy!!

A word from my darling:

Hi Everyone....

I thought it’s time to write few words from my heart. I would like to thank my darling for penning our lives so beautifully and I never thought she would take it seriously when I mentioned with her to write our story in a jovial mood. When she wrote her first script and sent to me, I was so thrilled and delighted to read it and it was a wonderful experience to read my own story.....till she started writing it, we never realized so many wonderful moments, surprises had happened with each other.

I thank you each and every person who liked this series, supported my darling with your valuable comments throughout the series and encouraged her to continue with the series.

Darling, I can promise you one thing. Till I take my last breath, I can't afford to miss you in my life. Love you Dear!!

Me and My Darling

Posted By Found In Folsom

Click here to read from Part 1 to 7.

I felt bad for a long time for going almost near to my darling's place and not being able to meet her. However, I was happy that I knew where she is living, what she is doing and could talk to her whenever I want.

We both got busy talking on the phones for hours together like a newly engaged couple. Since there was a difference in the time zones and she was working, we could say we excused the telephone for a while.

After a few months, one day I got a sudden call from her saying, we are moving from Detroit. My face had all kinds of mixed feelings..Move?? Where?? California?? Hmm..Didn't I know that US had 49 other states than California?  She goes, no dear. We are moving to Seattle. Seattle??? You are moving to Seattle? Didn't you know that it is called a suicide state? The weather is too depressing over there. The decision has already been made and they moved to Seattle.

Whatever. We were again happy that we both were in the same time zone and could talk anytime of the day. If things don't happen as you want, better be happy with what has happened. :-)

After the Seattle move, our talks were limitless. All the roll over cell phone minutes that had been piling up for years melted like a snow mountain.

Due to my work, we too moved from the Bay area to the most beautiful city of Folsom. Life was stressful with the move in the middle of the school year, work, hubby changing his job. Due to some reason, I was going through an emotional turbulence in my life. Luckily, this time my darling was there to listen to my woes 24/7. I am not sure how much it disturbed her; one fine day in January, she said she is coming to stay with me for 10 days. I couldn't believe my ears. Ten days? Are you kidding? Then I realized that she could work from home and the place doesn't matter. So, she could work from my home too. I was literally counting each day, minute for her arrival.

We went to the Sacramento airport to pick her up. We were waiting for her. Is she coming? No. Is she coming yet? No. I looked at the arrival gate innumerable times. My feet were not on the ground. Is this all true? Is she really coming? I was wondering if it wasn't a dream. I am seeing her after how long? I couldn't even count at that moment. How much did she change in all these years? How did that thin stick like figure look now? While it was impossible to control my anxiety, there she comes. I spot an Indian in Blue Jeans and red sweater. That same close up smile :-). She has changed quite a bit. There I see that spark in her eyes on seeing me. That's my darling. Now, I wanted to run in slow motion like they show in our movies. Do you think I could have waited that long? I jumped to hug her forgetting the world around us.

The first word she spoke, "darling, you didn't change a bit. You look exactly like I saw you the last time". I replied saying she changed a lot. We started our clatter chatter along with the gush of winds and the downpour that she brought along with her from Seattle.

We reached home and darling had dinner with the yummy chicken fry I made and there was no stop to the flow of chatter. Poor S. He got tired of listening to our (s)tones and retired to bed.

Those ten days were the best of our lives. Her husband joined us after a week and both of them left to Seattle within a couple of days. Below is a glimpse of clicks of our re-union.

P.S: Thank you all for waiting so eagerly and patiently to read this part. Will be concluding in the next part for sure.  :-) Btw, it is two years for this weekend that she has come to see me.

Me and My Darling

Posted By Found In Folsom

To read the previous parts,  please click here

There was a huge silence for almost two days. No response for the message we have given. I almost came to the conclusion that she was not using Orkut. But still there was a hope that one or the other day she will see this message and respond.

Right before two days of my travel back to California, I got a reply message saying "Who is this? How do you know me??"

My happiness knew no bounds; at the same time I was a bit disappointed that she didn't give her number. As she replied, I was sure I could get hold of her tomorrow if not today. We send another reply saying, we know you very well and all our family knows you. Let me know your number.

This time we got the reply immediately. May be she was also curious to know who Mrudula is? This time I went crazy with happiness. I was jumping with joy. Without a second's delay, we dialed the number on that humid summer noon. Phone kept ringing forever. No response. Dialed again.This time I could hear a hello. My sister said "this is Mrudula here. Is this Kalyani?" We heard yes from the other side. It was impossible to control my excitement. Now many questions followed from the other side. Mrudula?? I don't know anyone by this name? How do you know me? Did we meet any time? etc..etc..Now my sister and myself were unable to control the laughter. My sister replied yes to all her questions with out giving any clue about me and she said someone wants to talk to you and handed over the phone to me. I was literally holding my breath and a tried not to crack up on the phone and said Hello. She replied 'hello' in a confused tone. Then I didn't want to keep the suspense any more. I said, V.P Latha here!!! All I could hear was a shrill almost breaking my ear drums, followed by a sorry after sorry. Then as expected, a chant of scoldings. I never felt we didn't see or talk to each other for years.

After letting out all her ranting on me she asked, "who is Mrudula? I saw her pictures in Orkut. I had been breaking my head for the past two days. I must have seen her pictures at least a hundred times expecting to identify her. But in vain. I was wondering how someone knew my id? Many questions had been haunting me." We both felt as if we found the lost happiness of our lives. I told Mrudula is my sister. "Oh! is that your little sister? who used to go to school with half skirt, two plaits tied up with ribbons? Did she change so much?" My  darling couldn't believe it. 

After resolving all her doubts,  I also let out my part of scoldings for disappearing without a warning. Then I asked why she was saying sorry. It seems that she was in a parking lot of a shopping mall when received the call. The way she screamed everyone stopped for a second to stare at her. She then realized where she was and I think she almost forgot entire world for a minute and later to finish her shopping. We were talking, talking and talking.

I really can't explain the happiness I felt when I heard her reaction. It still echoes in my ears till date. I used to think to myself if I were the only one waiting to meet her. Many times I would wonder if she remembered me at all?? However, on knowing that my darling also had been thinking about me gave me a huge sigh of relief. Countless memories..we were touched by the changes in our lives. So many changes in five years? How did our lives transform so completely? She felt bad that she wasn't there for me when I needed her the most. Though we weren't able to be there in each other's happiness and sorrows, we still were there in each other's hearts.

It's not a surprise that We didn't realize two hours passed by as we kept talking. What was more surprising was, when I told her I wanted to see her badly and asked where she was living? She said she was living in Detroit  MI, which was a five hour drive to my sister's place. Five hours??? Then I told her I am in Chicago. I couldn't drive that far as Ammu was an infant, my sister has work and next day was my flight to CA. She had some commitments which would not permit her to come that day. As the desire to meet her remained that way, I boarded the flight cursing my timing for not sending the Orkut message a couple of days earlier.

To be continued...

P.S: Sorry for a lengthy post..didn't know where to stop it.. :-)

Me and My Darling

Posted By Found In Folsom

To read the previous parts, please Click Here

2004-2009

These five years of my life went by pretty fast. Coming to the U.S was an entirely novel experience for me. Again a new world, a new set of people. Some unknown fears in the layers of the mind. The zeal to learn everything like a new student at a school. Life was dragging at its feet. As such, I was not the kind who would sit at home for a minute. I felt I was jailed in the four walls of the apartment.

As I didn't know car driving, the dependency made it even worse. Entertaining the little rascal was a big challenge. Having been pampered by grannies, uncles, aunts, cousins, and neighbors he too was a loner like me.

Slowly I started to make friends with the other Indian woman in the Apartment complex. I found a small job at a front office that paid me just enough for my son's daycare and bus pass. Life got busy again. Though I was occupied and was making friends on the go, there was this missing feeling about my darling, all the time.

Facebook was started in the year I landed on this magical land, but I had no clue about it. I had free access to the internet. However, I wasn't keen on having an active Orkut account and wanted to maintain a low profile.

Will my darling let me lay low like that? The hunt began again. I would search for her on Orkut whenever I got time.

The same search result every time. Profile Not Found. Meanwhile, my thoughts would drift away. She must also have got married by now. Maybe she changed her last name. Did I miss seeing her face in the profiles that I already saw? Did she have a profile picture? Did she have an Orkut account at all? My thoughts multiplied by the dozens into hundreds. Yet, I didn't lose hope. Wouldn't there be a day when I won't find her through Orkut? Because that was the only weapon for me then.

This way the days turned into weeks into months into years..many changes in my life too. Our precious Ammu was born. Mom came to the U.S for the first time. Mom, Rushi, Me and the infant went to visit my sister at Chicago. My hunt didn't stop with the places I visited. It continued as usual but with diminishing hope. This time..OH MY GOD!!!! There she is! With her same old Close up Smile profile picture. If at all there was an instrument that would measure my happiness, it would have reached the highest point.

As I was getting ready to send her message, my beautiful sister interrupts and says, WAIT! Don't send the message from your ID. Let's keep the suspense for her. I wasn't in a position to wait for a second longer. Hmm..But I liked the idea, what to do now? We both agreed to send her a message from my sister's ID. Are you Kalyani from Khammam? If yes, please respond.

I must have crashed the Orkut servers by refreshing every single minute, after sending her the message. Unfortunately, there was no reply from my darling. There was a pang of pain, again. Thoughts are always there to bother you in such troubled times, aren't they? First of all, is she using her Orkut ID? If at all she is, then why isn't she replying? Maybe she doesn't know my sister's name? I started pestering my sister to send her the message again and again.

So, this time we changed the message slightly and send it like this: If you are Kalyani from Khammam, please send your number..Great surprise awaits you. And the count down started...

To be continued...

Me and My Darling

Posted By Found In Folsom

Please click here to read the Previous Parts

It's been a while that my darling and I were separated. Both of us got busy with our lives. New place, new college, new friends. For few months, days flew without letting us a chance to remind the old days.

Though days were running fast, there was something missing. Now, I curse Orkut or FB for taking so long to come into existence. I don't know where she is, she doesn't know where I am. It was past one year that we both moved to the city to do our Masters and haven't seen or spoken to each other.

Just as earthquakes, cyclones and heart attacks come without notice, my darling also doesn't come by telling me. My darling and surprises always go hand in hand.  Eleven years back, Hyderabad wasn't as crowded as it is these days. My new roommate cum friend Devi and I were walking. We were waiting to cross the road. We didn't expect that we would want that moment to stay forever.

A two-wheeler zoomed in front us. We didn't notice it until the bike returned back and stopped. I was startled as someone tapped on my back. As I turned back only to find her and let out a BIG scream. Now, not one. There were two screams. Another coming from my darling on seeing Devi who was also darling's classmate in her 12th grade and both of them are seeing each other in four years. Like that, we were back into each other's lives again.

I finished my Masters and my friend was in her final year of Masters as hers was a 3-year degree. My family found no need for me to live in the hostel anymore as I finished college. I was moved to my aunt's place working at their press while pursuing career opportunities. Marriage proposals started pouring in. What else could happen in our incredible India; When people find a girl who completed her Masters and is not engaged?

Duly, I was married in no time and left to Pune with hubby. We got busy with our lives. There was a gap due to these sudden changes in our lives. I kept inquiring about my friend through others as she has been in self-confinement, due to some personal reasons. With dramatic changes going on in my life, I left to the U.S without having a contact of my darling.

Life took a roller coaster ride for the next five years. Never a day passed in the past seven years when I didn't think about her.

To be continued....Hoping to end in another one or two posts. 

Me and My Darling

Posted By Found In Folsom

Please click here for Previous Parts

Our friendship bloomed with each day. We would bunk the college on gloomy rainy days and go home to eat the hot snacks my mom made. As it was time for her to leave, I would just pull her to sit down and take the next bus. The first set of goodbye would start at my place. We would drag our feet slowly and halt at the culvert in front of our house. Sitting under the Gulmohar tree,  playing with the filaments of the Gulmohar flowers, gloriously enjoying the weather after rain, there would be a  second set of goodbye on the culvert. Some of the Express bus drivers wouldn't stop for our lazy waving hands.  We would then walk to the bus stop which was a furlong away from the house. The third set in the bus stop until she finally jumps yelling, this will be the last direct bus to my place. Luckily, as our house was on the main road we would luxuriously keep missing all the buses.

After 6 months: Then comes the end of our first year. This time she gets the TC and the admission in the new college for the next year. And I knew, she isn't going to come back next year.

Two quick years pass. We finish our graduation and the results are out. My friend gets a university rank and I was jumping with joy. Both of us moved to Hyderabad. Somehow, we lost contact.

Now the story takes a slight turn. I join in MBA and was living in a hostel. One evening, I was walking back to my hostel with my roommate and I pass a girl. It suddenly flashes to me that I have seen the face somewhere. I look back and stop the girl. And the girl also turns back to me. It happens that she is one of my best buddies in school, who I am seeing after 5 years. Our jubilance knew no bounds. She was in the search for a hostel room. I turned to look at my roommate. Who by then understood that I am going to keep her in my room and who was scornful of my action. Because ours was the only room which was not crowded and of course the cleanest room in the entire hostel. 

My old friend Devi who is my new roommate now settles in slowly and we end up burning the midnight oil each day. Here comes the 2nd turn in our journey. My darling and Devi were classmates and very close friends in their intermediate; i.e., in the episode of the Flower Bouquet. So, guess what would happen now? Hunt for our darling begins. Did we find her again?

Stay tuned. To be continued...

Me and My Darling

Posted By Found In Folsom

Please click here for Part 1 and Part 2

Suddenly feeling the lightness on the back of my cycle, I turn to find my friend jump and gape at me with mouth wide open. I stop and ask her, "What's the matter?". She said, "Nothing. I don't want to come back. I'm tired of traveling". I replied, "Okay dear. You won't. I just felt so". I bid farewell with a heavy heart promising to write letters frequently & be in touch with each other; I waited till she got into the bus and rode almost as fast as the bus till the bus caught up speed.

There is a saying in Telugu. If you wish for something, God wishes for something else. We plan something for ourselves, but God already has his own plans for us. That was true in our case. Though she had taken a TC in the frustration of commuting daily, she never thought about the admission in another college or if it was the right time to take a TC.

Being a friend, I could totally understand her frustration of traveling three hours every day. Waiting in the bus stand for hours, listening to the nasty comments of the passers-by; bearing their horrible looks, it was testing her patience. Some people would go ahead and say, You are Sanjana right? I saw you earlier somewhere; you look like my sister's friend..blah blah. I think they should have been in the AMWAY business, they would have made it big. In the journey of an hour and a half, she never knew what surprises could await her on the bus. By the way, there was a different category. They would offer, I wanted to be your friend, I have been observing you for several days; You know I think I like you; maybe I love you.. Bull shit! As the saturation point crossed, she had taken this decision.

After going home, she coolly takes out the TC and shows it to her parents; as if she has won a scholarship. There was an earthquake hidden, because of the unusual action of my friend. For the moment, everyone kept quiet as none of them knew what to do.

From the next day, her search for a new college begins. Initially, her father has taken her to a college owned by their relatives. She had to follow the dad's footsteps for the thoughtless deed she has done; though she despised joining there. Fortunately or unfortunately, she wasn't admitted as their strength was overflowing and students had to stand and listen to the classes if they came late. 

The next option. Here comes my friend's favorite college. She enters the office room and waits for someone to look at her. Finally the call from LDC. With the sweetest voice she has ever heard, she couldn't believe what she heard. He says, "Ohh!! The last date for admissions was Sep 30th". They went there on the 1st of Oct.

Now comes the time for the hidden earthquake to explode and show its consequences. Mom starts to feel bad. Dad kept quiet. Neighbors started giving advice that is available in plenty at free of cost. No one has the clue about her situation. She being on the listening mode now, kept quiet. She called the principal of our college. She was told she could join back if the TC was taken less than 15 days back. With trembling hands, she opens the TC only to find out that it was exactly 14 days. Lucky who???

Duessara holidays followed. College opened after the break and we fell back into a routine. After a couple of days, while we were noisily chatting and having our lunch; one of my friends tapped on my shoulder. As I lifted my head and asked her what it was, she pointed towards the door. I couldn't believe my eyes. Before I could utter a word, there she comes with a bang at me, "Is that a mouth or a dustbin?" Before I could know how and from where she came; whilst hiding my secret happiness, she almost pounced on me. We all burst into a fit of laughter.

To be continued...

Me and My Darling

Posted By Found In Folsom

Click here for Part I

My version:

Aug 1996.          

               As a middle-class girl, my aspirations ran high; dreaming of a degree from Lady Shri Ram college to pursuing a career in law, I settle to join in our local Women's college. Don't mistake it for any ordinary college. It carries the credibility of winning University ranks academically along with Championships in various sports too.

                 

Being a social butterfly by nature, I made friends easily and had myself established in the Commerce section and started to build a good reputation in the staff rooms too. 

Having completed high school just a couple of years back then, most of us school friends were in contact with each other through letters. Remember, there was no Orkut/FB or Twitter, for that matter no internet in our world. There was this friend from school who wrote to me regularly and informed that one of his classmates joined in the same college and asked me to meet her.

Now, I made rounds to the Science department every day in the excitement to meet the would-be new friend. But couldn't meet her for days together. She either didn't come to college that day or left early every time I went to meet her.

One fine August noon, I went to the science section again and asked someone, "Is Kalyani in?". They pointed to a lean structure with hair oiled properly, wearing a thin braid, facing the blackboard. With the excitement, one carries on finding a hidden treasure, my face beams as I approach her and say: "Hii..I am V.P.Latha". She gives an expression which said: "So what? do you think you are the president of India?" My face becomes a punctured balloon. Not to lose my spirits, I say: I'm Siddu's friend. Now her face shines up like a 1000 W bulb. Then she walks out and smiles amusingly. We exchange our classroom numbers and timings. 

Friendship was bonding stronger between the new girl and me. We would meet for lunch whenever we could, spend time together when we had free classes or bunk the IHC (Indian Heritage and Culture) class and meet in the old building at the back of the college. Now when I look back, I don't recollect one single thing that we chatted for hours and days together. 

Days were turning into weeks into months. My friend used to travel for an hour and a half each way from a different town hoping to get admission in the college hostel. Unfortunately, the principal informed her that the hostel facility was only for the children of the Singareni Collieries employees and that she couldn't give her admission. 

As disappointed and frustrated as she could be, my friend took her TC and was leaving. While riding her back on my cycle to the bus station, I uttered without a thought: "I feel you'll come back". Hearing that, she jumped from the bike.

To be continued...

P.S: sorry for the long gap in sending out the 2nd part. I hope not to delay the remaining parts.

Me and My Darling

Posted By Found In Folsom

                   We meet people in strange ways. Not every one of them stay with us till the end. Some part ways, way in the middle of the journey called life; some stick to us through thick and thin. This is one such story of a friend who I met, became friends, parted, found each other again and now are an integral part of each other's lives.

This is my friend's version of how she knew me:

It was the 28th of Sept, 1994. My Birthday. Intermediate 1st year. (11th grade). I was in college. New Generation was the name of our college. Nice name right? Well, the standard of education is also very high. In those days, it was a known fact in the whole town of Khammam that New Generation college is a very disciplined college.

        It was Maths class and the topic being taught was Calculus. Then entered our attender Ramakrishna. As the sound, "Sirrr..." echoed the otherwise silent and attentive class, our eyes rolled from the blackboard to the entrance.  Fear and worry filled everyone's eyes. Because important people do not come often; everyone held their heart in hands. Meanwhile, he carried the good news that principal sir is calling Kalyani Parupalli. Rest of the class breathed a sigh of relief except me. My heart was racing at the speed of an airplane.

As I already told you that our college is a very strict one, and everyone is scared of our principal Mr.Rosaiah sir. He is not partial to either boys or girls. No favoritism of any kind. Normally, he does not call anyone. As we were immersed in our thoughts, another yell near the door."Wyra.." Well, it's only a call, I heard it as a yell. That was the tone of our Maths lecturer Mr.Srinivas. He had the habit of calling us by our last names. As there were two students with the same last name in our class, I was baptized that way.

A small fable runs behind it: In those good olden days, I was the only student who was imported from the town of Wyra. The management said they would not give me an admission if that continues as it would affect my studies and marks. I made all the unkept promises to get an admission that I would relocate to the town within a month and joined the college.

So, did they know my secret? My heart started pacing like a race car again. Thinking what story I have to make up now, my brain was working like mercury while walking to the Principal's room.

As I lifted my head, our Principal in the same white shirt, which we used to comment, Chaar boondo wala..Ujaalaa..Before I could muster all my courage and say, "Sir"..Our sir's piercing voice echoed in my ear drums."Hello Wyra girl, how are you doing?" In the trans stage that I was, with blurred eyes and ears deafened, all the clouds that blurred my vision started fading away slowly and I entered into this world again. I replied, "Sir, I heard you called me".

Meanwhile, RamaKrishna appeared with a huge bouquet of flowers in front of me. While he was saying, somebody sends you a bouquet madam, Princy wishes, Many Many Happy Returns of the day ammaa..My head started spinning like a whirlwind for these two unexpected events. Realizing that I don't have any major problem and the perplexity hanging on my face, I paint an idiotic smile on my face and head towards the women's waiting room.

As I was staring at that, I found a small card at the bottom. When I opened it, I saw a name that I never heard of. V.P.Latha. Who is this V.P.Latha? I had a friend at that time and her name was Latha too. P.Latha. Did she send it? But, we both were in the same class then too. So, why would she send it separately? As I studied in a residential school till then, I was wondering who could be the mega-fan who send this mega bouquet?

Time for the munch bell.(Lunch bell). What else could happen in the crunch time? The entire girls gang assembled for a round table conference to dissect the bouquet and investigate the mystery behind V.P.Latha. Under normal circumstances, it was two other friends and me who would have lunch together. Unable to solve the mysterious puzzle, we all gave up and went back to our class. Oh btw, I forgot to mention something here. Our section was named as girls section. However, the management has picked 10 boys who were lean and short and put them in our class as the boys' section was overflowing.

Hmm..So boys are there right? We don't call them guys. We still call them boys only. After crunchily munching their lunches; running and jumping are common on the benches. We bearing irked faces and they jumping again is also common.

The only news that made circles in the college before lunch, during lunch, and after lunch is who is this V.P.Latha? Does it sound like a suspense movie? Well, it was a suspense 18 yrs back. What fun if I won't retain it for at least 8 minutes for you to read.

In the meantime, the tallest boy out of the shortest of boys and my best friend later(he wasn't even my friend then) sprung out of nowhere and asks, "heard that you got some bouquet from V.P.Latha?" I casually said yes and kept thinking until the tube light of my brain sparked and I realized he must be the one.

How did this fellow know? Had he asked normally, I wouldn't have suspected him. Since he specifically mentioned the name, my suspicion turned towards him. I asked, How do you know? He says: I heard it. How do you know the name? He grins. That says it all. So, I came to know the existence of V.P.Latha through this stupid friend of ours.

P.S: This was originally written in Telugu for the affect.  But I had to translate to English as most of my readers don't know the language. It's her birthday, not mine...:)

Happy Birthday Darling. I thank the almighty for having created you for me.

To be continued...in case you guys aren't bored by now...:)

Me and My Darling

Posted By Found In Folsom