Forever Yours

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 36; the thirty-fifth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The theme for the month is "and then there were none"

Prologue

It was all over the 9’o clock news that night. It grabbed the headlines making the prime time slot in all the news channels. A 17 year old girl commits suicide after a video of the girl having sex with her boyfriend went viral over the internet. The true identity of the girl was not revealed but it was said that the girl was a student of Class XI of St. Joseph’s College, Mumbai. Her boyfriend was arrested but was kept in juvenile custody as he was a minor. The police investigators found a suicide note in which the girl clearly stated that she was ashamed and humiliated by the video that was downloaded and watched by all and sundry.

She also confessed that the video was taken without her knowledge and the only reason she slept with that boy was because she had loved him. And in love, there were no barriers, physical or mental, none at all. 

The next day thousands of youth came out to protest, they held candlelight vigils and peace marches. They demanded justice for the girl, they wanted the boy to be rigorously punished for taking advantage of the girl’s naivety and innocence, for making a video of what was obviously a private and emotional moment and then putting it out there on the web for everyone to watch and enjoy. Some politicians questioned the veracity of the girl, a girl who agrees for pre-marital sex evidently had no scruples, they claimed. They blamed the western culture for eroding the virtues of Indian youth.

A few months passed and the incident became just a memory in the vacillating mind of the public. Few protestors were still making a hue and cry, but they too had lost interest. Few more months down the line there were just a trickle of protestors demanding justice for the girl. A year passed and then there were none. The girl and her suicide became just a close and shut case in the police records. They boy who was accused was sent to juvenile custody, never to be heard about again.

 

Ranjith was sitting cross-legged on the floor in the small room that he shared with five other boys. Someone had placed his breakfast in a small plate in front of him, but it went untouched. He was staring at the floor intently but his mind was whirling with thoughts and memories. A year had passed since he had lost Mihika. Her memories consumed his mind each day he had been there in the juvenile prison.

He once again went down the memory lane, the day he had first set his eyes on Mihika. It had been the reopening day of the college and Ranjith was showing off his new smart phone that his parents had bought for him. But suddenly none of the boys were interested in his gadget; they were all looking at the new girl in the class. Mihika walked in and sat in the first row. Ranjith had never seen a more beautiful girl than Mihika. 

Ranjith was known as the stud in the college, he could have any girl he set his eyes on. His money or rather his parent’s money was his charm. 

But Mihika was not like other girls, she was smart and friendly. She made friends easily in the class and not because she had wealth to flaunt but she was a genuine, caring person. Of course her beauty was also an added attraction that most guys found absolutely irresistible. 

Although Ranjith had no difficulty in making friends, he felt hesitant to initiate a conversation with Mihika. He dint know if he was just shy or nervous about talking to her. But he couldn’t deny the fact that he felt a strong pull of attraction towards her. 

One day as he was returning home late evening on his bike, he saw Mihika standing alone at the bus stop waiting for her bus. 

He stopped his bike and called out to her, ‘Hey, do you need a lift back home?’

She smiled and hesitantly declined the offer.

He smiled back and said, ‘I’m in your class, my name is Ranjith. And I don’t think it’s good for a girl to be alone on this deserted road. I was just worried about your safety.’

She came and climbed his bike ensuring that there was a safe distance between them. 

‘I have seen you in my class, but since you never spoke to me I thought you must be conceited and egoistical’, she said.

Ranjith laughed at her honesty. But he was pleased to know that she had noticed him. He dropped her off at her home. He was unusually happy, riding on a new high. He remembered the light touch of Mihika’s hand on his shoulder as she got off from his bike. There was something about that girl; he just couldn’t get her off his mind.

Few days later it was drizzling in the evening when Ranjith saw Mihika at the same bus stop. Ranjith offered a lift again and this time Mihika dint protest. The evening was special, the light drizzle, the cool weather and Mihika along with him. 

Mihika knew about Ranjith’s reputation in the college, but she couldn’t help feel the slight stirring of her heart as she climbed down from Ranjith’s bike.

As days passed their friends began to notice that Ranjith and Mihika spent most of their time together. Ranjith’s friend Vikas was the first to mention this.

‘You seem to be spending more time with this girl; you have even forgotten your beer buddies. So what’s going on? Is she your next catch?’, questioned Vikas when he found Ranjith one day alone without Mihika.

 

‘Nothing like that’, replied Ranjith, trying to brush off the topic.

But the truth was that Ranjith had fallen for Mihika. This was not the same feeling that he had when he went around with other girls. He truly cared for her. He was in love. 

Ranjith smiled when he said aloud, ‘I’m in love’. He wanted to shout from atop the highest mountain. Ranjith, the brat, was in love.

The next day finding Mihika in the library, he sat beside her and said in a low voice, ‘Mihika, I know that you think I’m a stud and it’s true that I was dating few girls before you came into my life. But after I saw you, I was smitten. I mean, I am smitten. I think you are the girl that I have been waiting for my entire life. I love you, Mihika. Do you love me?

’

Mihika hit him on the head and said,’ Idiot, I thought you’d never confess. What took you so long? I have loved you ever since that evening when you dropped me to my house on your bike.’

Ranjith was the happiest that day. For once his happiness had nothing to do with material things in life. He was happy when he was with Mihika, when they walked holding hands or when Mihika hugged him tightly. 

Three months after they became a couple, they both took a trip together to Lonavala. They spent the night at Ranjith’s parent’s farmhouse which was kept locked since no one stayed there. They spent the night in each other’s arms and under the splendid moonlit night they made love. It was special as it was the tender, innocent love of two young souls.

But unknown to Mihika, Ranjith had captured their love-making on his phone. He dint know the reason why he did it, but he had no intention of sharing it with anyone else. It was their special moment. Maybe he wanted to re-live the moment each he time he saw the video, maybe he wanted to immortalize their time together. But Ranjith would never have guessed that this video would lead to the loss of his love.

Few days later when Mihika returned to college, all eyes were on her. Some were sniggering behind her back, some were pointing fingers at her and some commenting blatantly at her.

‘Hey Mihika, nice video’, some guys shouted and guffawed.

Mihika was confused but walked to her class. Her friend, Nisha pulled her aside and said, ‘What’s wrong with you Mihika. I thought you were a level headed girl who wouldn’t go for such non- sense. Why did you guys make the video?’

‘What video?” asked Mihika.

‘Yours and Ranjith’s sex video. Ranjith showed it to his friends and it’s been going viral all over the net, said Nisha in an exasperated voice.

‘What?’, Mihika was shocked beyond belief. Nisha then showed her the video that her friend had forwarded to her mobile as an MMS. Apparently the entire college had seen it and it was also being downloaded on the net.

Mihika was shocked beyond belief. On her way out of the college she saw Ranjith coming towards her. She went and slapped him hard. She hit him with her hands, pounded her fists on his chest and unable to speak a word with him, ran away to her house. 

Dumb-founded Ranjith could not make sense of her outburst. He tried following her but Mihika took an auto and rushed to her home. When he came back to his college, he came to know the truth. He too was outraged. He checked his mobile, but the video was not there. He had deleted it after coming back from Lonavala. Who could have spread the video?

Then he remembered Vikas who had come to his home when Ranjith had returned from Lonavala. After a long search, he found Vikas in the football grounds. 

‘You bastard, it was you who spread the video, right? How could you do it? I loved her, you had no right to do this bastard’, he hit Vikas’s face until his teeth broke and his face was one bloody mess. Some of the guys pulled Ranjith back. 

Ranjith ran and went to Mihika’s house. He fell; his hands were bruised and bloody. But he dint care. He wanted to hold Mihika and tell her the truth. 

When he reached her house he saw that some people had gathered near her house. He pushed them and barged inside. Mihika’s father was carrying her in his arms. She looked to be sleeping.

‘Uncle, what happened? What happened to Mihika?’,  Ranjith asked holding Mihika’s face in his hands.

Someone pulled him aside and said, ‘This morning Mihika had gone to college as usual. But she came back early and committed suicide. She hanged herself in her room. No one knows the reason.’

Ranjith fell down on his knees near Mihika. She looked so serene and beautiful, just like the day he had first seen her. She couldn’t be dead, he thought. She was just sleeping. He pleaded with her to get up but to no avail.

‘Mihika’, he shouted but in the juvenile prison no one seemed to hear him. Everyone thought he was a nut case. A crazy guy and they avoided him. Ranjith looked up and he thought he could see Mihika walking in the corridor. Yes, there she was in her light pink kurta, the same one she wore the day she first sat on his bike. She looked so alluring. He got up and ran behind her, shouting, ‘Mihika, Mihika, wait for me. I need to tell you the truth.’

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