C10 The fateful night

Aastha stayed with Parth's girlfriend in her flat. On the fateful night, she wrote a long email to him. It read as under -

"Dear Parth, I am writing this letter to you today for a special purpose. I take you as my best friend and want to confide something to you. I also wanted to express the feelings that I have for you. You are the only ray of light in my life, full of darkness. The day I saw you, I didn't understand that the meeting would lead us to such a point where I will not be able to stay away from you. My life had lost its meaning till I met you. I remember how you have supported me in my dream of becoming a civil servant. I hope you achieve your aim too. However, there is something more that I want to confess. I have seen no one like you throughout my life. You have been a source of my inspiration and my role model. You hold a special place in my heart. I know you have a girlfriend whom you love, but I cannot stop myself from expressing my mind. I love you immensely and want to be part of your life. Before you lead to any conclusion about me, I want to tell you something about me in this letter. I am a god-loving person who loves her family the most. I have had many relationships in the past which have been affected greatly due to the evil intentions of my uncle. My uncle never wanted my happiness or that I would ever love anyone or marry. I know it from a source that he has cast black magic on my family, particularly on me, so that I witness downfall. My uncle does not want anybody to love me or be my friend. On one hand, I want to befriend you while on the other I don't want your interests to be jeopardized because of me. This is why I am writing to you today.

I will be extremely happy to be a part of your life. Will you be my best friend?”

Shortly thereafter, she received a message from him in response to her email.

"Dear Aastha, I understand your feelings for me, but I am sorry I don't have any special feelings for you. I am already committed to a relationship and love my girlfriend more than anything else. As for you, I don't take you as anything more than a student of mine. I request to you to never bring this topic again as I can never love you."

He thus responded negatively. To this, Aastha sent him last message-

"Consider this letter as my first and last one, as I will not write to you anymore."

Aastha wept bitterly for the entire night and did not sleep. She stared at Jyoti continuously to know what was so special in her. Then she understood. It was all fated. Early morning, she left his girlfriend's flat and returned to her PG.

Getting back to her routine didn't come easy when she received a call from Parth

"Why did you leave the flat so early? Don't you have any concerns about others' feelings? What will they think about you?" He shouted.

Aastha was stunned and replied in a harsh tone. "I did not want to stay at your girlfriend's flat. I couldn't stay there for long".

"Listen, we are friends but expect nothing more from me." Saying so, Parth ended the conversation in haste.

His rude behavior and neglect affected her studies. Her concentration levels dropped while he continued with his deeds.

Bad, rather worst times lay ahead for her.

She could barely manage her finances. Penury was ruling the month. No savings were left for her.

Struggling hard amidst immense pressures and worries, she had to send a part of the salary home and keep a part for monthly rent. Amidst all this, Aastha encountered some problem from Parth. He didn"t speak to her often. She couldn't understand why was he not accepting her friendship. He started behaving badly.

At the Institute, Parth's association brought her bad name and reputation. Everybody started thinking that Aastha was persistent for Parth's friendship. They took their friendship in the wrong light. This was not liked by Parth, who started maintaining distance from her. Once, she visited a spiritualist meditator to find out all about her future life. She was told by him that two people have cast black magic on her. Traces of witchcraft practices were visible to the meditator in his visions. He could see all those responsible for her bad.

The meditator informed her that one such person was her uncle, while other was some person by the name of Parth who has cast an evil eye on her so that she would not clear the exam.

All this affected her earnings and productivity and the resultant downfall. She began getting few classes at the Institute.

"What is happening in my life? What wrong did I do to anyone? Why am I made to suffer so much?" She cried in her prayer to the almighty.

Her only solace was the forthcoming exam, for which she was feeling like delving into an unchartered territory. Frequent mental disturbances marred her preparations, few of which were given by Parth. Once he called up Aastha to speak about the project that they had to complete together.

"Why didn't you come to the Institute today?" he roared. "We have a project to complete"

"Sir, I have taken a leave from my work as my exam is near" replied Aastha

"Why do you undertake assignments which you cannot complete?" saying so, he ended the conversation.

Amidst such difficulties, her preparation became tough. She struggled hard to understand the difficult concepts of Mathematics, Geography, Current affairs and History and made frequent visits to Mukherjee Nagar for purchasing notes. But, she did not go to meet her friends at the Institute, for that would take much of her time. Time was the most precious thing she had now. She stopped going to the Institute for two months now. It was costing her heavy, especially financially, to have left the job. However, her preparation was in full swing.

Heat and financial troubles could not deter her from her path. She maintained the frequency of her revisions, but to her dismay. Forgetfulness took most of her.

The day came when she had to appear for the paper. It was her last and fourth attempt of civil services preliminary exam. This time the paper was even more tough for her due to the introduction of mathematics in its curriculum. She failed to complete her paper on time. Knowing fully that she will not clear the exam this time also, Aastha joins the institute again.

Financially, she started gaining ground when she was pressured into leaving the Institute, as they hardly gave her any class. They left her with no option than to approach other sources in Mukherjee Nagar for a job.