Sagar, Lokesh and Niti

Niti

Isn’t it funny that you plan your life in a way but its destiny that controls your life. I was pleasantly surprised when my boss Steve gave me the day off when he came to know that it was my marriage anniversary. I called up Sagar to share the good news, but he was tied up in some customer presentation. Sitting at home all alone gave me a lot of time to introspect and events from the past eighteen years flashed across my mind.

Sagar and I graduated from the same college. So many events passed by. The school graduation of our kid Arpita, her growing years, my mothers passing away, our last day in college, my first job ….. so many things. I started surfing through the old pictures on my computer. It was then that I noticed Lokesh in one of our office pictures.

In those days Sagar, Lokesh and I were inseperable. We shared the same likes and interests and had a blast together. Looking at the pictures of the treks that we had I remembered Lokesh as a caring friend. He always took upon himself to see that everyone was safe on the treks. He was like an anchor so much that whenever I used to mention at home that I was going out and that Lokesh was there, folks at home were assured.

There was actually a time when I really thought hard about how my life partner would be. I wanted him to be like Lokesh but I knew Lokesh looked at me only as a friend. He treated me with all the respect and care that a friend would give.

Sagar was more flamboyant. He always took risks and that scared me. But there was this quality in him that impressed everyone. The girls in the office were all gaga over him. It was strange that Sagar and Lokesh despite having totally different mindsets shared a superb rapport and trust.

There was time when I thought that Lokesh was getting involved in me. I was not sure but most of time towards the evening I thought he used to plan such that we would be together. He had rarely displayed his emotions and I was unsure of all this. It was a good feeling to be admired. And then it happened.

Sagar had appeared upset about some matter. After a couple of days he asked me out. He appeared hesitant. I asked him the reason of his discomfort. What he said was so unexpected that I almost lost balance. He told me that some days ago he had been with Lokesh to a pub. Lokesh had had some heavy drinks and became uncontrollable. He started uttering some nonsensical things about my relationship with him. After recovering from the initial shock I had admonished Sagar and he prepared to leave. Suddenly he turned back and handed me his cellphone. He asked me to listen to a recorded conversation and he left. I was too shocked and went home. Later when I heard the recording, I was disappointed that Lokesh would speak about me in such poor tones. He had misconstrued the trust I had in him. I think it was the beginning of the end of a beautiful friendship.

I started drifting away from Lokesh. I was too upset to ask him about what he had spoken about me. He knew that I was avoiding him and tried a number of times to find out from me. Later he just gave up and moved to a different group.

I wonder where he is now. Looking back I think it probably would have been a one off thing in drunken stupor, but I was still not prepared to forgive him. He deserved to be punished.

Lokesh

Back from the office party, its 2 in the morning rather midnight and I am still not able to sleep. It’s been almost two decades that I am with this company. It’s been a long journey. It was not planned, it just happened. But then it’s been a fantastic journey from a graduate engineer to General Manager. So many people had joined the company and left and I am still with the same job. I too took the usual stations in life of friends, job, getting married, children and so on.

When I started on my first job I was lucky to have some very good people as friends. Those were the best years when all of us were happy with what we had and shared a lot. But I had a special fondness for Sagar and Niti. It was strange that Sagar was completely different from what I was. He was more outgoing and openly flirted with the girls. The girls too seemed to enjoy all the attention that he showered on them! He was a lucky guy.

Niti was more quiet than the other girls. I thought that she always took the safest approach. She wasn’t a risk taker. An excellent person to have for a friend. I still remember the day when we went on a trek and it rained heavily. We lost our way and I think Sagar too was beginning to get a bit nervous. But surprisingly Niti appeared to be unfazed. She was not beautiful in the standard definition but was definitely good looking. That day in the rains her face looked smashing …. Or maybe that ‘cos she was walking so close to me that I thought it that way. I felt happy to have a good friend with whom I shared a fantastic rapport.

I wonder what happened mid way. I had gotten busy on a new product development and had to work from a different location. She changed her job and strangely didn’t even bother to tell me. Sagar too left for the US. They were probably upset that I did not keep in touch. Over the years his emails dried and now I realize that we haven’t exchanged anything for probably the past ten (fifteen?) years. Niti appeared to be too busy to reply to emails or maybe she had got involved with someone. I wonder where Sagar and Niti are today. In all probability he must be married to an American. That would have given him the coveted citizenship. Niti would probably be a mother of two by now. I hope she is still working. She was too good at her job. Maybe I should have taken the initiative to see that I don’t loose dear friends.

Sagar

Just finished the presentation. Wow! I am married eighteen long years. It sounds so strange. I had never imagined that I would ever get married. Girls are for fun …. That was what I used to think. Until I met Lokesh. He was a very sensible guy. It was due to him that I met Niti. Initially, she appeared to be a plain Jane with a laidback in her approach but I was so wrong. She was fabulous and actually good looking when she started to take care of herself. My outlook towards girls in general changed so much that I actually wanted her to be mine.

She was primarily more attached to Lokesh. I even thought that she secretly admired him. This became more evident on that trek when we lost our way in the fog. For the entire return journey she appeared to be close to him. And that fool didn’t even understand it. I had decided that she would be mine.

Lokesh and I used to hangout at a local pub. On a stags only evening there was a contest for the raunchiest dialogues. I completed my part and had to convince Lokesh to take the mike. He had downed three Tequila’s and a little pushing did it. Unlike his usual measured self, he uttered the raunchiest of dialogues that a Hindi film villain had for the nautch girl. It was replete with “Chhammak Challo, Chikne etc etc.” I had it recorded on my cellphone so that he could later hear it. It was fun.

Towards the end of that week I noticed that Niti was often with Lokesh in the evenings in the office cafeteria. I knew I had to do something to get her away from him. I met her and told her that Lokesh had uttered some SH*T about her. She heard the recording on my cellphone and that did the trick! It was only a matter of time before I asked her and she consented.

Sometimes I feel sorry for Lokesh, but then everything is fair in Love and War. The poor fool would still be wondering why he couldn’t get Niti.