Love travels from Shoulder to Shoulder ...

 

 “Hum ek baar jeete hain, ek baar marte hain, shaadi bhi ek baar hoti hai, aur pyaar wo bhi ek baar hota hai.......”    Sheetal spats out the coffee she was savoring on, hearing King Khan make such a silly statement about love. 

“What’s wrong Sheetal?” asks Tani shocked at this sudden burst. 

“Did you hear that dialogue Tani?” inquires Sheetal. 

“Oh come on, what’s wrong in that dialogue Sheetal?” Tani scorns at Sheetal, “I mean, doesn’t it sound all goody goody and eternal and romantic, and goose bumpy and ...”

“Cut the crap Tani.” retorts Sheetal. 

“I know darling, you have fallen in love four times or was it five? whatever …” chuckles Tani,  “and have fallen head over heels all the four times, right?”

“It’s five, Tani,” grumbles Sheetal.

“Ya right, five times, that too all were eternal love right Sheetal?” Tani laughs hard rolling on the couch, not able to control it anymore. 

“Shut up Tani! Will you?” retorts Sheetal, “Yes, I had fallen in love and fallen in five times and that too deeply and eternally in love with all of them. What’s wrong in that? Huh? 

“Phew!” sighed Tani. 

“You know what Tani, love can happen anytime, anywhere with any person,” says Sheetal gesticulating her hands philosophically.  “I mean look at me. Do you think I am a kind of a person who is not committed, who doesn’t love deeply? No! right?” 

“No! Never!” giggles Tani.

“It’s just that when you break up in one relation, you search for a shoulder. Just then some angelic guy from the crowd offers you their shoulder to lean on and you fall on him completely and … there begins a new courtship. “ 

“And then?” inquires Tani curiously.

“Then again the guy, being angelic in nature, realizes after a certain point—a point where they taste the fruit from the forbidden tree—that he is doing wrong to his family; he is doing wrong to my family; he is doing wrong to such a sweet person like me; and God knows what all … he moves out of the relation for my good sake you know?”  

After a short pause, as if thinking and smiling over some incident, continues Sheetal, “Further he cries. I cry. We both cry. Our friends cry. Sad love songs get some good TRPs. Depression happens. And then … he gets a shoulder. I get a shoulder… and the same shoulder story goes on.”

“Oh! Is that so?” inquires Tani confused and surprised and somewhat excited as well. 

“Yes!” crows Sheetal with a proud look on her face as if she has done some revelation before Tani which was unknown to her poor little friend. 

Keeping her coffee mug down on the teapoy, clearing her throat, Sheetal furthers to speak, when suddenly a bell on the door cuts their vital conversation. Tani rushes to open the door, leaving Sheetal behind distressed on being cut betwixt the important lesson she was giving to Tani. 

“Oh welcome Rahul,” Tani greets the guest at the door and offers him to make himself comfortable on the couch where Sheetal was lying lazily till now. Smelling the endless stream of questions arising in Sheetal’s mind, Tani gestures her to join her in the bedroom to help her get ready. Hastily, Sheetal passes through the alley between the couch and the teapoy, stumbling upon the guy nervously to reach out to Tani. 

She grabs Tani by arm tightly and pulls her inside the bedroom and inquires, “Who is this handsome man?” 

“Are you dating him?” 

“What is his name?” 

“Is he the same guy you said you love and can't live without?” 

A long pause stays leaving only Sheetal's heaving audible.  

 Tani interrupts the pause sheepishly and say, “He is my new shoulder Sheetal … you know?” 

"Huh?" Sheetal fumbles .... 

 .... 
And they laugh out loudly!