The Good Guy - I

Sitting next to an aspiring filmmaker on a train to Lucknow, another fellow passenger sitting adjacently can see the nervousness on his face - he was literally shaking throughout. Unable to control his anxiety that fellow passenger asked him why he was so nervous. At first he was too shy to tell anything but as they say it every single feeling in this world needs an outlet. Maybe it was that or what no one knows, after a while he said- “I’m Raghav, I have to audition for a filmmaking assignment tomorrow but till now I’m clueless, I don’t have anything of note in my mind.

I mean boss is really angry with me as that guy thinks all my stories are just crap and that those stories are as pointless a fact as they giving a job to me.

I seriously think tomorrow is the last day of my work. That’s why I am feeling like shit.”

“Whoa man as far as I can point out you are in need of a damn good script that will literally blow the wits outta your boss’ freaky mind and sort of one which is gonna elevate your status not only in workplace but also in this crazy business as a whole”, said the fellow passenger.

“Exactly!”, he screamed. “can you help me mate?”, he sounded like the most needy person on the Earth and his face looked as sorry as his state of mind.

“I-I don’t know if you would like it”, “no-no, just tell me once”, he interrupted in between, “ I so badly need one.”

“Okay! So here we go.

“People are interesting creatures Raghav! We spend all our lives trying to be good, to be better than anyone and everyone, it’s a crazy rat race that’s going on and we wanna outwit em all, wanna kill all the demons and freakin win! But all that is easy, fighting an outside enemy is very easy,

“What’s tough is fighting an inner enemy, what can you possibly do if the one demon you have, if the one enemy you have happens to be you and your own mind? There’s no cure for that, there’s no clear cut way to fight those demons.

One such familiar story happened to be of Aarav Raghuvanshi, son of the prominent Mumbai businessman, Sandeep Raghuvanshi.

Aarav was one of your college going, introvert type, shy lad who kept to himself most often than none, had very very few friends and rarely ever went out.

He used to enjoy his own company and was a good-natured guy, helping people around whenever anybody needed him.

He couldn’t ride a car or a bike and his life was basically from college to home and back.

His both parents worked, his dad was a very prominent businessman, Chairman of IntelliSystems Inc, a popular IT services company. And his mother, Rashmi Raghuvanshi, worked as a legal advisor to an MNC in Mumbai.

Due to the busy nature of their work, both his Mom and Dad were on tours and travelled frequently, sometimes for multiple weeks at a stretch, and Aarav mostly was always all alone at home during these times.

This is another reason why Aarav turned out the way he did, he had no one to really talk to growing up, both the parents were always busy and rarely found time and he had no siblings, that means it’s him and his own little (or huge) world in which he had to find solace every time.

Back at his college, he had few friends, none too close, but a few acquaintances none-the-less,

He was a student of law, and was a good student, used to score high.

Back in school, he was actually pretty good in table tennis but then he never continued that passion forward when he got into college, so let’s take you right into one such day of Aarav’s life -

“Ssup Aarav, wanna join us for a game of pool this evening?”, asked Praful, one of Aarav’s classmates.

“Naah, I- I don’t think so I will be able ..” said Aarav before being interrupted by Praful

“Mazos! Haha! What’s your excuse today mate? You know what you should get a life, hangout meet people date girls. Try to be cool else you’ll die in this single-person flop movie show that your life is!” Said Praful, he knew Aarav won’t come but still asked In the hope that maybe just maybe something else might conspire today but to no avail!

“Haha, I will hangout with you mate, just not today, no one’s at home today and got some work to take care of”

“Always some excuse or the other bro, jokes apart, you need to love your life, you need to see the world, talk to people, be around. Hope you see the light one day, anyway I gotta rush. Cya”

“Cya Praful!”, said Aarav as he slowly walked back towards the bus stop to catch his bus back from college to home.

“What did you tell them today? You always got an excuse up your sleeve ain’t ya?”, asked Rhea, one of Aarav’s batchmate who happens to live 2 lanes behind his home.

These two chat a bit at their bus stops sometimes, I mean they could have chatted more but oh Aarav, we are so stuck with you!

Rhea is one of the few people who like Praful, tries to strike a conversation with Aarav here and there, you know sort of those good friendly people you can find in any place.

“Nothing dude, I have some work to finish today, I will just do that and will see what to do in the evening, howz your dad by-the-way?”

“He’s fine, he’s recovering okay, been a bad couple of weeks this!”

Rhea’s dad had an accident 2 weeks back while coming back from work, he got severely injured but thankfully survived.

“Cool, that’s good to know, he’s gonna be okay don’t worry, gonna be fine”

“Hope so buddy, so how do you spend your time in evenings? What do you do? You don’t go out with people, I wonder are you not bored dude? Don’t you feel lonely or something?”

“Naah that’s fine, I just enjoy my own company, you know I am an interesting guy, I keep myself entertained just enough.”

“Oh really!”, chuckled Rhea.

“Yaa, I laugh all day on my own jokes, watch all kinds of stuffs, movies and all, it’s just fine, and also I do go out, it’s just that I do it less frequently”

“Dude, don’t give this, you go out like once in a blue moon, it’s a freaking rare sight to see you roaming outside of your house let alone a proper hang out haha, I wonder what or who will it take for you to get out finally on a consistent basis!”

“I wonder that as well lol, but I need a good enough Why, and I will be out!”

“You and your weird rationale, anyway my stop is here, I gotta drop off mate, have fun Mr. Self – Entertainer”, said Rhea smiling as she got out of the bus.

“Sure, Self-Entertainer, I see”, said Aarav to himself.

Aarav was lost into some weird sea of thoughts before his stop came and he got down.

“Maybe they’re right, I just never freakin explore anything, maybe, just maybe it’s time I go out, I do drinks, I hangout, I date people, why do I always have to be confined within, I love solitude but does it always have to be this way?”

“Wonder how cool the lives of Praful and his gang must be, they go out, they do stuffs and me? You know what, I will just call Praful and tell him I will be there, let’s just try it out for one day, If I like it well and good if not then will never talk about it.”

These thoughts were glancing Aarav’s mind before his phone rings,

“Aah why is Mom calling me now?”, wonders Aarav

“Hello Mom, ssup?”

“Aarav beta, we won’t be home until tomorrow night, just stay at home and don’t leave the house, take care of it, the thefts and all are very high in our area these days, please stay at home, don’t go out!”

“Bu-But, I was thinking”

“What? Were you having any plans for the night?”

“No-Nope, never mind, nothing mom, fine I will stay and take care of the house, don’t worry!”

“Thanks beta, love you and see you soon, bye!”, said his mom, before she hung up!

And there went that thought of having fun outta window, it took him so long to realize that he is missing out on things only for that stupid plan to go off completely!

Anyways, there flew multiple weekends, and it was all normal life for Aarav,

But this thought of missing out was coming over more than usual now.

“So what is your idea of a fun weekend, Rhea?”, asked our guy to this familiar friend again at the bus stop.

“Well, for me it’s a day by the beach and then a sweet ice cream, it’s the small things you know, you don’t have to do extraordinarily wild things to have fun, it’s in these little special things.”

“isn’t that interesting, I was wondering what you were doing this Saturday”

“Well I haven’t figured it out yet, you wanna go out? I also wanna have fun but my mates aren’t there, you can join if you want!”

“Cool, will let you know”.

Finally our lone wolf has had enough, it was time for some fun in life, some real wild fun,

He started going out with Rhea, Praful and all these lads more than before, at least twice a month and started to open up a bit.

He liked spending time with Rhea mainly as he considered her the only person who understood him in this world.

Rhea was a very kind-hearted friendly girl who treated Aarav with respect and understood him to some extent.

She was a good friend to a lot of people and extrovert in nature.

Aarav day-by-day just loved the convos he was having with Rhea, he was getting attracted to the idea of spending more time with her everyday than what he did the previous day, the only lonesome thought in our guy’s mind was Rhea,

All he wanted to do was just go out with her, text her, talk with her, call her and just see her as much as he could everyday.

He was obsessed with the thought of being with her.

Imagine this, every person in this world has their happy place, the place they consider ideal, for some it is spending time with family, for some it is watching their favourite sports team win for some it’s just having wild fun, there are some people or things to which people always hold special emotions.

The thing with these happy places are, they are a part of life. Everyone aspires to reach there one day.

How beautiful? Innit?

But what if? There is no happy place in your life, there is no sad place either, what if your life is only and only about that one person or thing,

What if you get all the things you want in your life but still you burst out weeping and cry everyone a river cause that person is sad and you can’t do anything about it to make her happy?

What if you become so obsessed that someone can put a dagger and a knife together through your heart to kill but all you do is smile and laugh out loud as your breathe becomes heavy and you start getting dizzy because hey it wasn’t that person who died?

What if the only goddamn reason for your life to exist any more and not jump off a cliff is cause you can get to see that person and that blissful face again tomorrow?

Isn’t this beautiful? Isn’t this bliss?

Or is it a curse?

Well our guy didn’t know any of this except the fact that in his mind, life had converged to one focal point – Rhea!

He wanted her to feel the same about him as well and just envisioned that as his happy ending!

But what did she feel about it? Girls man you never know what’s going through their minds.

Fast forward few weeks and it was October 13th, it was the birthday of Rhea, and absolutely smitten by her, our hero had finally decided that he will spend the day with her and take her out to her favourite Ice-Cream parlour near the beach and will tell her all his feelings and finally they’ll be together and life will make much more sense, life will finally be complete again and all this while he will make her feel so special that she just can’t help but reciprocate his feelings.

He had all the plans ready, he will wish her when he meets her in the college and then on the way back he will ask her out for the evening and then viola, a crazily awesome love story will start eventually….

For the occasion, our guy dressed properly, in a glaring three-piece with proper matching shoes beneath, he was looking neat and uptight for this.

He reached the college and saw Rhea, who was standing at a corner talking to someone over phone.

“Ya, that’ll be okay, you know, I just can’t wai--”, she was in the middle of the conversation before being interrupted by Aarav

“Heyy Rhea! You look gorgeous”

“I will call you back in like 20”, said Rhea as she hung up the phone.

“Thanks Aarav, you look very uptight, what’s the matter ha, I must say this dress looks so good on you.”

“Thanks”, Said Aarav, blushing exuberantly.

“By the way, Happy Birthday”

“Hey thanks a ton man, you knew, that’s awesome”

“There is no chance in this god’s green earth that I will ever forget your birthday”

“Ohh-okayy, haha that’s so sweet, thanks Aarav”, said Rhea, being slightly taken aback by this energy from Aarav.

“See you later then, meet me after the day’s done at the Portico!”, said Aarav

“Umm…sure, but like, any specific reason?”

“Naah, just meet me will ya”

“K sure thing man, I got a call to make, so will cya at portico then?”, said Rhea

“Cool fine”, and the two dispersed exchanging smiles.

Every second that day was like an hour long for Aarav, he just couldn’t hide his excitement to meet her, ask her out for the rest of the day, and evening, take her places and woo her away with the special proposal.

Absolutely smitten in love, literally counting seconds, finally the moment arrived.

As soon as the final session dispersed, our guy ran away straight to the portico. To say his heart was beating fast was an understatement, It was hammering, pounding at a pace faster than a freaking Usain Bolt sprint.

He was getting nervous and all red and there he saw Rhea standing just near the Portico as they had planned.

She looked at him

“Hey Aarav, I’m here”, as if this man needed any pointers

He reached near her.

“Hey Rhea”

“Tell me, why are we here”, asked Rhea with a shy smile

Gathering courage from lord knows where, Aarav said

“Okay, so here’s the thing, it’s your birthday today and I want to make this day special for you, Can I borrow you for the rest of the day? Will you come with me? I promise I will make this surreal, it will be the best experience you’ve ever had, we will remember this day forever, just you and me”, and thus our man emptied all the things he had in his heart, albeit saving a few emotions for the plans that were to come later on.

“Wo-woahh, damnn Aarav, I mean I really appreciate that, but I actually had another plan, you really should have told me before man, I am so sorry, I am committed to that plan now,”

“What do you mean, damn just come Rhea, ditch those plans”, interrupted Aarav with a teensy bit smile on his face.

“What do you mean ditch those plans, something else is already planned for me man, I can’t come with you, I am so sorry”, said a taken aback Rhea

“No, please just come, you won’t be disappointed I promise, I planned so much for us, We will go to that beach you often visit and that ice cream parlour we went last time, just don’t say no please”, said Aarav in a literal disappointed and begging tone,

“Sorry Aarav, I really can’t today, maybe we can go tomorrow or the weekend any other day?”

“Why not today, who are those people, you can always meet those girls later on, I mean am sure you peeps might already have had many outings and can go any other day, this is special to me can you please come”

“Dude you’re being really stubborn now, relax, we can go literally any other day, what has gotten into you of late?” asked Rhea

“No one can ever plan anything as special as me for you”

“What makes you say that? Do you know my friends, my personal life? You’re being really edgy right now dude.”

“Who are these stupid people”

“It’s my freaking personal life, and by the way they aren’t people, it’s one person and it’s not any of my girl-friends, It’s Kapil, our batchmate, I am going out with him.”

“Who again? I mean is this a joke, there is no way this guy pops all out of a sudden and ruins my day, I don’t give a shit now, come on girl”, said Aarav in a seemingly angry voice

“Shut up now, you’re crossing your limits, we went out like what once? Twice? And you act like we are very close or something, back-off, I said I respect your plans and appreciate them but I am going out with Kapil today, and by the way, he’s not a pop out-of-nowhere guy, we are dating for months now, and today is that special day for us I feel”

“What? No no no way in hell…you’re dating, bullshit, I don’t care man, Rhea, please ditch those plans and come with me, I mean does that guy even know you properly, know what you want, know how to make you really happy, he freaking doesn’t, don’t trust any guy out there. I am there for you, I will make you super happy, more than he can ever do,”

“Shut the f**k up Aarav, you are one crazy guy, don’t overstep your limits, and whatever little bond we had, you don’t even respect that, I regret even befriending you, Kapil is the guy I love and he loves me a lot, we have been going out for months. What made you assume that he can’t take care of me, and where do you even come into picture ha? You don’t know me, do you know my preferences, do you know anything apart from that little world you live in, I took you out cause I felt sorry for your no-fun life, cause I sympathized with you and you assumed that it was my love or affection, get lost Aarav”, screamed Rhea angrily

“Man no way, I know it all about you, for him you’re just another girl, for me you’re everything, and you gonna choose him? Come on Rhea, we have something special here, don’t ruin it, It will break me, even worse it will break you as well, come on give me your phone, let’s call him and ditch those plans, let’s go out and have fun, please Rhea, consider me”, begged Aarav

“You are one crazy bastard, I regret ever meeting you, you’re a sick crazy person, now I get it why no one talks to you much, cause this craziness and absurdness is off the charts, get lost Aarav, never ever talk to me again, and if anything you just ruined my day, you made me feel real bad on what was supposed to be a big day for me. Just get off my eyes”

Tears rolled down Rhea’s cheeks as she started crying and was storming away before a crazily distraught Aarav grabbed her hand and said -

“Rhea please don’t leave me, abuse me all you want, scold me but please come with me, don’t do this please”

Rhea got severely infuriated by this and slapped Aarav right there angrily and ran away crying.

Aarav was freaking done out there.

His world has fallen apart, he was broken, physically intact but emotionally he felt like a trainwreck, he started weeping as well, and started walking away.

He felt weak, all his confidence has been shattered in a matter of minutes.

It’s a saying that “a fight wounds you but unreciprocated love definitely kills you.”

He felt every syllable of the above saying here. As he thought more about this he busted out crying and he sat down at a bench nearby in a sort of lonely park, where people can’t notice him because hey afterall, men can’t cry even if they’re being shred into pieces for only showing love and affection and secondly, if Rhea can’t be with him for whatever reasons, what’s the goddamn point of being noticed by anyone else.

He cried a lot while saying to himself, “Why always me, why is it me who can’t find love, people hate me for no reason, am I ugly? Am I an idiot just cause I am not as outgoing as that Kapil? Am I not good enough for anyone?”

Finally after crying his eyes dry, he got up the seat and called him Mum,

“Hey Momma, can you be with me today, let’s watch a movie together, please”

“Okay beta sure, I will reach home soon, but hey is all okay? Are you good?”, he heard on the other side of the phone

“Ya all good”

He hung his phone up and then slowly walked back home thinking about how worthless his life is now and how lucky Kapil must be.

“What a lucky guy man, or maybe he’s that damn good” thought Aarav as tears again rolled down his cheeks.

Long walk back home son, long walk back home, but when you have to walk it all alone at the end of the day, does it even matter how long it is?

Unreciprocated love indeed is like that night-time viby drink that gives you the best high of all time only to get you piss drunk and sick later on and eventually make it a forgetful experience, making you regret ever having a drink with all that crazy hangover headaches.

Distraught and broken over this short one-sided unrequited love story, our guy became very sad and entered a depressing phase of his life where all he was thinking was just Rhea and how his feelings weren’t reciprocated.

He again stopped socializing with people much and all the joy and bliss he had in his life just disappeared, he was in a sorry state of mind and again started confining himself to just home to college and back to home.

The worse part? He can’t avoid college and that meant he had to see Rhea every damn day, as if the boy couldn’t have been anymore hurt, this was like an absolute dagger to the chest every day. Safe to say, Aarav cried and some part of him died a bit everyday.

This started to have bad consequences in other aspects of his life as well. He started performing poorly in studies, just couldn’t concentrate, and failed in some of his term exams.

Besides, he didn’t have any friend what-so-ever in his life to share his thoughts and feelings with and he couldn’t even tell this to his parents.

Some days he would just watch some series or movie and eventually fall asleep, not without a mental diarrhoea of thoughts but some days things were really tough, stuff would get so heavy that it almost became unsufferable.

On one such day, back home from college in the bus, Aarav thought about sharing it to the one person he feel comfortable and close with – His mom.

He reached home and waited for his Mom to come, it became late, his father came home and said –

“What happened Aarav? You look a bit anxious, all okay?”

“Ya nothing dad, just waiting for Mom, need to tell her something”

“Ohh Aarav, I literally told you in the morning she won’t be here”

Aarav recollected his father telling him that and got sad and just said

“Ahh-alright dad, I will just sleep then”

“But is all okay? You can share with me Aarav, what happened? I know something is not right”, asked his father anxiously

“Nope all good dad, just tired cause of a long day”, sad Aarav as he left for his room upstairs, feeling very sad and heavy at heart.

It’s tough when you are heartbroken and are going through a bad phase and you have no one to talk to, no one to share it to, when you have no one who can even understand your feelings, but a lot of this in Aarav’s situation is cause of his own actions of not socializing and not making much friends, so now he find himself super lonely.

The next day, Aarav decided to walk back home from college instead of taking the bus, he used to do this often to avoid having to face Rhea –

“Hey Aarav, what’s up man?”, asked another college batchmate Roshan

“Nothing much man, going back home”

“Aah I see, you live nearby right?”

“Ya man, just a few block down, anyways ssup with you? Where you going? What you upto?”

“Hey nothing man, I was just wondering around, going to a friend’s place, anyways man I wanted to talk to you about Rhea”

As soon as he heard that, Aarav’s mind spun on a literal sense,

“Wha-what about Rhea? I am sorry I don’t get you”, said Aarav in a very silent and nervy tone

“Dude, I know what went down there between you two that day, she slapping you, you being stubborn, and I know she’s a bit hurt, maybe you should just apologize to her once, that’s not done”, said Roshan in a rather stern yet concerning voice.

“How do you even know about this?”, asked a puzzled Aarav.

“Oh I was just there man, was sitting there waiting for a friend near portico, where this scene went down, I just saw it and now I can’t unsee it and though I don’t know you much but you look visibly off mate, so thought to you know talk it out. Just apologize to her for being stubborn and end this, it will help you”, suggested Roshan as he bid adios and left after making his point clear.

Aarav got stunned by this, he rarely ever remembered talking to this guy before and yet somehow whatever he said connected just about fine.

He thought he will catch up to Roshan about this once and will apologize to Rhea, maybe that will make him feel lighter. Who knows.

“I will apologize to her tomorrow, let’s see it might work out, afterall I did make her sad on her special day, bu-but what about me, what about my heart that was broken as well, yet no one cares about it. But it is what it is, who gives a flying shit about me anyway.”, thought Aarav before slowly walking back to his home.

“Damnnn this is bad man, I pity Aarav to be honest”, asked Raghav, (remember that aspiring filmmaker guy we met at the beginning!)

“Yaa but hey this is what is is, haha, he brought it to himself, ain’t it?”, said the narrator to Raghav.

“Anyways, also wait a second, who the hell is this Roshan, out of nowhere he’s coming and handing suggestions and all, who is this guy? He wasn’t close to Aarav or anything, and why the hell do Aarav fall for his advice in the first place, this has weird written all over it man.”, said a puzzled Raghav.

“Or maybe he was just there at the portico as he said seeing it all and maybe he really got concerned about Aarav, I mean is it bad to help or suggest someone who always seems off and dull and lonely, at least he’s making an effort, isn’t it?”

“Ya, makes sense but-”, the narrator cut Raghav in between as he said this

“Hey listen man, no buts - you can change the story if you want to, do whatever you want to do with it, but only when I am done telling you this!”, narrator told him and continued with the story.

So, paying heed to Roshan’s advice, Aarav thought about it for few days and decided to apologize to Rhea.

Now this guy Kapil was a tall well-built lad but the worst part was he was a big town bully sort of a person, was a typical spoilt brat and often looked down upon people.

Rhea and Kapil were together by now, they were in a very close relationship and both were madly in love with each other,

Rhea had told Kapil about Aarav and all that happened, but somehow downplayed Aarav as any sort of threat he had to worry about, cause she knew Kapil was a mad lad and when it came to her, he was absolutely crazy and dogmatic and if he knew anyone troubled Rhea he would have settled some scores.

But as they say it when it rains, it pours – Kapil is although a batchmate but he belongs to a different department, so his and Rhea’s classes were different, but on this holy day, Kapil was with Rhea at her classroom just sitting and chatting about some stuffs with few of his other mates around him (all like him – typical brats!)

Aarav entered the class that day having decided to apologize to Rhea, but he didn’t know what sort of lad Kapil was.

Kapil got a call and he went outside to talk and in the meantime, Aarav approached Rhea who got a bit fishy and alarmed seeing him approach her.

“What do you want?”, Said an anxious Rhea even before Aarav had uttered a word.

“Listen I want to apologize for being so stubborn that day with my advances, I know you have moved on now, but I can’t, and it’s hurting me everyday. I feel by just getting this off my chest and apologizing to you and ending it on a good note will help me.”

“So you wanna apologize now ha? After all that drama that day, you do know how over the top and crazy you are right? I am at a very happy place now, and if it makes you feel any better it’s okay, I accept the apologies, but make sure you never do that to any other girl cause you are one crazy man dude”, shrugged off Rhea in a seemingly arrogant tone.

“Thanks but hey I only loved you so don’t even bring any other person in the scene”, said Aarav.

Kapil meanwhile heard this convo, got furious seeing Aarav and Rhea and stormed inside and pushed back Aarav.

“Get the hell out of here you fool, look at you, you look like a donut, don’t ever talk to her again, don’t even try to”, shouted Kapil.

“Hey, I am just here to apologize and I am having a convo that doesn’t even involve you, take it easy man”, said Aarav.

Kapil lost his cool and held Aarav by his collar and punched him in the face like the absolute bully he is.

Entire class got silent everyone shushed and Rhea just got scared and shouted on kapil to stop hitting Aarav and let him go.

“It’s okay let him go please, don’t fight, don’t create a scene”, she kept on shouting.

Aarav couldn’t fight him back and Kapil and his bunch of mates legit bullied him.

“Get the hell away from her and next time I see you, you’re dead, mark my words, you will not move”, shouted Kapil on top of his lungs and he left the class.

Aarav was shellshocked and scared after this incident, it’s never nice when you get bullied cause apart from the confidence hit, the people around you don’t make it any better either.

That day many of Aarav’s classmates had a teensy smile in their faces when they saw Aarav, all this made him feel like shit.

All he wanted to do was apologize, with good intentions.

Meanwhile on the other hand, Rhea was super upset with Kapil, his anger issues were out of control.

“What happened with Aarav today was very, very uncalled for”, screamed Rhea at Kapil.

“You don’t tell me what’s right or wrong Rhea, that guy is a bastard, I will beat him to death if I ever see him next”, said an overtly over the top, furious Kapil.

The next day, Aarav got very conscious due to what happened with Kapil and Rhea and thought to skip college, he just wasn’t ready to face them people again.

He got out of his home and instead of going to college just went and sat at a nearby park.

Suddenly he heard a familiar voice –

“I heard that mad bastard beat you yesterday ha?”

Aarav turned and saw Roshan sitting there on a bench.

“Hey Roshan, what you doin here?”, asked a puzzled Aarav in an underconfident, clearly rattled voice.

“Well I just happen to visit this park every day for a stroll usually, you didn’t answer my question btw?”, asserted Roshan.

“Wha-what? How do you know about it? I mean damn it man, I am a joke now”, said a dejected Aarav.

“I just happen to hear about it from some folks, you know these stuffs they spread like a wild-fire”, said Roshan.

“I mean all I wanted to apologize, I just had good intentions man”

“I know that you took an advice and went ahead to apologize to Rhea for being that dogmatic and since it was my advice, it’s my job now to fix this problem you have in your life”, said Roshan.

“But why would you care man? I mean we barely know each other, I don’t even know which department you from, we have never talked once previously, why would you care this much for me to fix my freaking problems, let alone giving advice?”, asked a flabbergasted Aarav.

“Believe it or not Aarav, you don’t have a lot of people in your life who you can call acquaintances let alone friends. I have been down that path and I know it hurts, I see you at college all alone always, going home alone, fell for a girl for the first time in your life and she had to wrong you like she did! Life’s not a box of chocolates for you right now dude, and I just want to help, I just want to help fix it!”, explained Roshan.

“Maybe you got a point there, man I don’t know, I guess it will always be this gloomy for me, I guess I low-key deserve this for being a fool thinking Rhea will fall for an absolute joke like me”.

“You know what your problem is dude? There are lots but it all boils down to the fact that you don’t love yourself, you don’t respect yourself, you always enjoyed your own company but for some reason since you met Rhea, things have changed, you have begun to imagine her as that void that was always there in you – you don’t need anyone man. The first thing you do is you respect yourself, you fight for your honour, you fight for yourself, you look in the mirror and love and smile and be proud of the person you see, cause that person is going through a lot and is still being respectable and taking it all on the chin.”, said Roshan in an uplifting, resounding voice.

“Damn bro, that was something! Maybe you have a point, I will think on that thought”, said Aarav overwhelmed with emotions that Roshan’s words seemed to have provoked inside him.

“Think what ha? You do this everyday, it’s not a freaking motivational session for god sake, this is real life we are talking about, you saw what those people did today to you? What was your fault? Nothing? Why didn’t you fight them, why didn’t you stop them from hurting you or bullying you?”, asked a seemingly irritated and angry Roshan.

“I- I don’t know, I just avoid fights, I am just weak maybe if you wanna put it that way”, said Aarav.

“Weak? You aren’t weak pal, you are just too soft and too low on self-esteem to even see their wrong-doings”, said Roshan.

“So what do you want me to do?”, asked a surprised Aarav.

“What do I want you to do? I want you to break their jaws next time they try to bully you, I want you to fight for yourself. No one else is gonna do it pal trust me. You have no self-respect, no self-esteem, build some for god sake!”, screamed Roshan.

“Anyways that’s all I wanted to say, you are the master of your own fate, I just wanted to help you out a bit. Bye gotta go catch a bus now.”, said Roshan as he bid adieu to Aarav and left him with a whole mountain of thoughts.

Aarav, amazed by Roshan’s words started to think about everything he said –

“Maybe he’s right, I do have a low self-esteem, and I do let people walk all over me, this has to stop, the kind of phase I am in right now is drastically affecting my life. This has to change, this lad has a point.”

Amidst these thoughts, our guy finally got the courage to stand up and walk towards his college, he knew he was the butt of jokes over there right now and he knew it was not going to be easy to face it all and then face Rhea and possibly Kapil and his bastard mates again. But for once in his life, he decided to take it all on chin, for once in his life, he finally thought, let’s just fight the demons instead of hiding from them.

It’s crazy how just some right words spoken at right instances stir us up sometimes, Roshan’s words had a similar uplifting effect on him – at least for that day. Afterall facing your fears, like bathing, is an everyday thing – you skip it one day and you’re all loaded with dirt and disease all over!

Few days pass by and Aarav continues to get better, he’s taking it all in his chin, people’s taunts, their questions, everything. It’s not easy but he tries everyday to fight his way through and it’s working finally, he’s beginning to enjoy his company a bit more and though sometimes Kapil and his peeps bully him, he doesn’t care, he doesn’t engage with them and minds his own business, he’s beginning to get over Rhea.

He decides to meet Roshan again to tell him that indeed his words have been helpful and to thank him in some sense.

He decides to go to that park again and sees Roshan sitting there at that same bench.

“Hey Roshan, ssup buddy”, Aarav goes and greets him.

“Aarav! How is it going man?”

“It’s been good, I am getting better, your words worked man, thanks, I just came by to thank you.”, said an excited Aarav.

“Naah that’s nothing man, it’s not my words, it’s just you, you are the main guy”

“By the way, did Kapil and his people go after you again?”, asked a curious Roshan.

“I mean you know how they are right, very edgy and crazy people, they did call me out once but hey they go around doing that to a lot of people in college, they’re just a bunch of low-life bullies, let them be, I just don’t respond to them, no one does to be honest, why give attention to them pricks haha.”, explained Aarav.

“Aah I see, tell me one thing, suppose a lot of cockroaches make way inside your home one day, and your parents and everyone at your home are just too busy to clean it, what would you do?”, asked Roshan.

“I mean I clean the mess up obviously, can’t just let them rot inside home man”, said Aarav.

“Why man? I mean no one in your home cares anyway so why should you?”

“Well someone gotta clean the mess, you can’t just let them roaches rot inside ha!”, said Aarav.

“Exactly the point – you care about it at home but don’t care about it when it happens in your life, you need to raise a voice against these bullies, just because everyone goes mum doesn’t mean you also stay silent – Someone has to clean these roaches from this world or at least from your life man if I put it that way.”, said Roshan.

“What if they hurt me again?”, asked Aarav.

“Then you freaking get hurt, get beat, get punched a thousand times but don’t go down without punching them, die but don’t go down without breaking their spirit!”, said an elated Roshan.

“Man be practical for once, fight, die what you talking about ha? Tell me how can I stop them”, said Aarav with a teensy smile.

“Haha, I get your point, see most of these bullies are beta males in real-life, they act hard and they bully others cause of their insecurities, these people are hard cause they have never been punched in the gut, but I get it that you can’t go around fighting and all, so my point is most of these bullies just need to be alpha’d, just need to alpha them, you need to show them who the dominant one is and trust me that can be done without raising fists. You cut them off at the first instant, confront them and show you control them.”, explained Roshan.

“I don’t know why but this gives me a weird sense of joy within, your point has been made Roshan, it has been made and received in full. Thanks again. I got to go now, got some errands to run.”, said Aarav as he leaves the park thinking about what Roshan just told him.

It’s like a proper therapy that Roshan is giving Aarav here, it’s crazy how a stranger is literally making efforts to sort his life, whatever the why behind this is, it is truly inconsequential to Aarav as of now cause of such a bad phase he was in, he needed help no matter where it came from.

Some weeks passed and things were sunny in our guy’s life, they were like the prices of petrol these days – on the freaking way up! (In a lot more positive sense though).

But then one day Aarav was in the college minding his own business as usual when he got interrupted by those bullies again.

They came and ridiculed him about how he got beat in front of everyone that day.

“Who do we have here? Aah it’s that weak ass guy who got beat when he was saying sorry to Kapil’s girl, what a loser damn.”, ridiculed one of them.

On repeated provoking Aarav decided that this time he will answer them instead of keeping quiet.

“That girl has a name and me too, but your sorry asses can’t possibly comprehend that”, said Aarav.

“Oh I am sorry, I thought this guy was mute, apparently he does have a voice”, said one of the bullies.

They pushed Aarav and tried to intimidate him.

“That’s all you can do huh? Push people, look down on them, ridicule them. You are not even man enough to fight a person alone, that’s why you stick in groups, how about you get out of your dad’s pockets and do something on your own for once in your life?”, said Aarav.

One of the bullies punched him and this time and unwavering Aarav just smiled, this made them furious and just as they were about to hit him again, Aarav punched them and thus a huge fight broke out, eventually they were separated as all the nearby people gathered around.

Aarav had finally responded to these big bullies, they went back saying he will be taken care of soon enough, but there was a different aura around our guy, he was no longer a push-over, no longer someone who was an easy target for someone, if anyone messed with him now, he will strike back.

Eventually Kapil and Rhea also found out about this, while Kapil was furious, Rhea on the other hand was just curious as to how Aarav was changing. She never particularly hated Aarav, but was just taken aback and hurt by his rather dogmatic proposal, she was sort of happy about him moving on with his life, after all he was a friend to her once.

Aarav met Roshan again and told him about this bullying incident.

“That’s the way man, this is so awesome of you to stand up for yourself.”, said Roshan.

“It’s all you man, cause of you I have finally started to respect myself, this is awesome.”, said Aarav.

“Ya that’s nice to hear, but how much did you hurt them? Were they bleeding or what was it like? Were they terrified?”, asked Roshan, rather strangely.

“No, I mean we had a fight, I didn’t wanna hurt them but ”

“But do they leave any choice to us? No one wants the fight, but like I said these roaches they are scums man, real scums.”, said Roshan.

Suddenly this convo has taken a rather odd turn,

“So what exactly you want me to do lol”, asked a taken-aback Aarav.

“Nothing man, I just want you to be who you are but when someone hurts you or your pride in any way, hurt them, hurt them till they can’t do it anymore.”, said Roshan.

“Well, you’re a crazy man – you know that right?”, said Aarav hilariously.

“What department are you from man? Where do you live?”, asked Aarav.

“I am from the same department as you, live near the outskirts of this city, you wouldn’t know the place anyway haha.”, said Roshan

“What my department? How come I never saw you?”, asked a puzzled Aarav.

“Maybe you never noticed me or maybe I don’t attend much classes for you to notice me lol.”, said Roshan.

“What do you do if you don’t attend classes? Where do you go?”

“I come here sometimes, sometimes I got out for a smoke, sometimes I am at the field playing some soccer, but yaa I don’t do classes often, they’re boring.”, said Roshan.

“Man you are mysterious in a good way, but thanks man for helping me out, you’re probably the only friend I have”, said Aarav.

“I know that man, okay I got to go now”, said Roshan as he got up.

“Than--”, said Aarav before being cut-off.

“By the way”, interrupted Roshan.

“Yes?”, asked Aarav.

“Notice when I talked about hurting people who hurt you or your pride, I didn’t say - ‘hurt them till they don’t hurt you again’, I said – ‘hurt them till they can’t hurt you again’”, said Roshan rather sternly before he left.

Aarav was rather oddly blown away with this,

“He is one crazy guy but he’s helping me man and maybe he has a point, he always does after all!”, he thought before going on with his work.

As time flew by Aarav got more and more better and was finally getting out of the slump in all ways, he also used to meet Roshan frequently, they used to discuss weird stuffs and safe to say, Roshan was a big part of his life now, and with Roshan came a strangely-odd craziness, that normal people may not comprehend and comply with but Aarav and Roshan were now agreeing on a lot of things, after all this is what happens when you spend too much time with a person, you tend to become somewhat like them!

Aarav was becoming a changed man now and started to get this confident, strong and stern aura around him, he still kept to himself and was rather always alone in college, but at least he was getting more confident in his own self now and by no means was a pushover anymore.

Then one day, out of blue moon Rhea approached Aarav in class-

“Hey Aarav, do you have like 5 minutes?”, asked Rhea.

“Hey Rhea, woahh, su-suree, what is it about”, said a puzzled Aarav, this was the first time Rhea was talking normally to him after that portico scene.

“Nothing dude, I just wanted to apologize for being so rude to you that day, I know things ended pretty bad but I mean I just feel bad about being rude to you sometimes, so I am sorry man!”, said Rhea.

“Hey, I am not gonna lie I did feel bad, but that’s okay, all well that ends well, we are cool. Don’t worry.”, said an elated Aarav.

“That’s great! Thanks Aarav and hey I am really happy to see the man you’re shaping out to be, your confidence is there to be seen. Keep it up dude”, said Rhea as she left with her friends.

This made Aarav really happy from inside.

Things went on pretty smooth for our guy in the coming weeks, he was finally getting a grip of himself whereas on the other hand, the things between Rhea and Kapil were getting a bit patchy.

Kapil’s egoistic attitude was getting a bit too much to take for Rhea after all there is only so much a person can bear with. This guy was an egomaniac, a bully and an absolute control freak and everyday he used to get into some or the other troubles. He was an overtly possessive guy, and this attitude was causing a lot of issues in their relationship. There used to be fights everyday and the mental peace of Rhea was just down in the dumps.

Throughout all his bad habits and poor attitude, the only thing that was ever real in Kapil’s life was his love for Rhea, he loved her to bits and was a bit too sensitive and bossy about it.

Meanwhile as days passed, the bond between Roshan and Aarav grew further, they used to share stuffs, Roshan was mostly always private, but Aarav used to share everything about his past, present and future to him.

Roshan was really happy to see how his words legit made a huge difference in Aarav’s life.

So one such day while they were strolling cross the park, Aarav thought to make Roshan open up about his personal life a bit.

“Hey I know you hate people asking you this, but you gotta tell me about your parents mate and your family in general, what do they do? How close are you to your family?”, asked Aarav.

“Nah man, it’s not something I am too proud of, my dad never had time for me in my childhood, I was mostly raised by babysitters and maids, I learnt how to shave my beard for the first time from one of my servants in the home.”, chirped in Roshan in a gloomy tone.

“What? That’s a first! By the way, what about your mother, are you close to her?”

“Can say that I share a bit of a bittersweet bond with her, but yes, that lady, you know, probably the only one who ever cared about me I guess”, told Roshan.

“That’s good to know man, I am close to my Mom too, share pretty much everything.”, chirped in Aarav.

“Great man, stay close to them, stay close to everyone who is there for you! Cherish it till it lasts man, and oh by the way, I gotta go, have a doctor’s appointment scheduled. Will catch with you later. Have fun man !”, said Roshan as he bid adieu for the day.

It was no surprise, something about this Roshan guy was a bit odd, he gave proper mysterious vibes – super private, less talks, some real deep words, but along with them all, his arrival in Aarav’s life was albeit fishy, but no short of a blessing none-the-less.

Rhea was in a real bad state of mind now, the troubles in her relationship were a bit too much to take, she tried talking it out to many of her mates, but nothing helped. Day-by-day, her gloomy mood was getting more and more evident.

Aarav used to notice it but chose to ignore it for his own sake, you wouldn’t wanna turn back closed pages for anything or anyone is what he kept telling himself everytime, but the fact that she was sad was really making him feel bad and deep down he knew it had to do something with Kapil, afterall, Rhea wasn’t the one to easily get overwhelmed by circumstances.

He shared this with Roshan.

Roshan’s facial expression just changed after hearing this.

“What in the actual hell man, so now you are feeling sad for someone who broke your heart? Who literally rejected you for that bully? Bro it took you months to get over this, make sure you don’t fall into that pit back in a matter of days.”, said Roshan.

“Don’t you think as a person at least we should concern and empathize with others? I know this is cause of that Kapil, I think I should talk to her.”, replied Aarav.

“Nope, unless it’s about you or your honour, sit back and enjoy the show, and have some popcorn while you’re enjoying, also you know what, I think that guy Kapil, he’s a freaking addict, I suspect their relationship is a bit abusive, you know maybe that’s why she’s down so bad. Who knows, but again, I say let them suffer, let there be some chaos!”, said Roshan.

This really puzzled Aarav, he had never seen this crazy sociopathic side of Roshan before.

This guy was clearly more than what he seemed before, and his intentions weren’t necessarily always good.

He started giving weird vibes to Aarav now on a more regular basis, talking about destruction, how everyone who hurts them deserve to suffer and all.

Fed up by his constant strange vibes, Aarav told

“Hey, why don’t you stop man, you’re here everyday talking about chaos, chaos and some more chaos, as if you want everything to just end.”

“Look around me Aarav, what do you see? Who is there for me when I am sad, who is there for me when I am happy, if I get runover by a truck tomorrow, no one will cry, maybe you and that’s about it.”, replied Roshan.

“Isn’t that your own fault mate? You decided to be a loner”, said Aarav.

“No one decides to be a loner man, no one decides to be anything, life and situations make you what you are, I had no one from the beginning, always used to be alone and no one ever bothered to put some real efforts for me.

And you, you think anyone will care if it’s not for me, I mean no offense but don’t forget what you were before you met me – an absolute mess.”, said Roshan rather sternly.

“Hey I know that and I credit you for helping me out in the bad phase and now you’re stopping me from helping people when they could do with some help.”, said an irritated Aarav.

“You know why I helped you? Cause you had no one else, you’d have died without me, and I am not gonna lie, I saw a bit of myself in you, loner, down bad, and that’s why I helped you. But the people you’re thinking to help, mainly a certain girl, they have shitloads of people who care about them, who care about everything they do, these people are not like you and me, they are different, they are privileged in the sense that they get to enjoy all the attention and love, so let them suffer, and enjoy it, and when the enjoyment gets stale, end that suffering for both your and their good.”, said a clearly evil intentioned Roshan.

Absolute sociopath, thought Aarav before he left for the day.

He was being subjected to these destructive and chaotic ideas and thoughts of Roshan everyday and this was so unlike Aarav’s own thoughts, he was not able to comprehend them but again he was the one with whom Aarav spent most of his time, he had no choice, even if he told off Roshan, he would say something or the other to get Aarav’s attention.

Eventually Aarav gave in one day,

“So what do you suggest we do? Just sit back and enjoy the chaos? You might do that but not me, I can’t do that, I prefer to sort things when they get bad, I prefer to end sufferings when they get too much, be it for me or anyone else.”, said a frustrated Aarav.

“Oh it’s gotten stale innit?”, asked Roshan with a wide grin on his face.

“What?”, asked a puzzled Aarav.

“Watching Rhea suffer? Watching her cry all day in a corner of a class? And being helpless about it cause even though deep down in your heart you still care for her, but your mind tells you off – your mind tells you to ignore this for your own sake.”, said Roshan.

“Yes, that’s spot on, and it’s you who is also to blame here, talking everyday about letting people suffer, letting them go through the pain and what not, well I am not crazy like you. So listening to these negative thoughts everyday make me feel even more restless about this entire thing.”, said an angry Aarav.

“Remember what I said and you’ll be good – end the suffering when it becomes stale.”, said Roshan, cheekily smiling.

Aarav got taken aback by this and became even more restless about this entire situation, it really wasn’t that deep but Roshan had really made it a lot more worse and complicated for Aarav.

Aarav decided to have some composure and decided to flush Roshan and his opinions away.

Back home, new neighbours moved in next door, they had a small cat which was quite messy and always used to get into Aarav’s garden and sometimes even inside their house.

Aarav didn’t particularly like cats and had an evident disgust towards it and he simply hated the idea of this cat running all over his house and garden.

Watching this cat every time he stepped outside his home used to baffle him. Sometimes, when the neighbours visited Aarav’s home to meet his dad, the cat would come inside, claw at the furniture there, and would completely litter the place.

He simply hated that cat to the core. It was like a new unwanted nuisance in his life.

Meanwhile Aarav stopped meeting Roshan frequently, and only seldom would go and talk, mainly cause of the stupid, weird vibes he was giving of late.

One day, while Aarav was leaving for college, he saw that cat waiting to pounce upon a squirrel in his garden, he got furious at this and tried to woo it away but unfortunately the cat scratched his legs eventually and Aarav ended up in a lot of pain, his overall disgust for the cat only grew.

That day, while returning from college, on his way back home, Roshan saw him and asked him where he had been.

Aarav lied to him that he had gotten a bit busy on some stuffs and hence couldn’t find time to meet him, Roshan noticed Aarav in a bit of pain and asked him if all was right.

“Yes it’s nothing, just a stupid cat made way to my neighbourhood and it’s been a real mess since, full of nuisance.”, told Aarav.

“Oh so it’s not just people who are hurting you these days ha? Poor you, it’s crazy how even an animal is overwhelming you now lol”, laughed off Roshan after hearing about all the bad, annoying habits of this cat.

“Stop it dude, you really need to shush with these stupid opinions”, said an irritated Aarav.

“Call them stupid, but I am spitting facts here, whether you like it or not.”, said Roshan as walked away.

On his way back home, all the time Aarav was thinking about what Roshan said, he was angry at him but was more annoyed at the fact that everything he said was right.

“He thinks whatever he feels is right, that others must feel the same way. Me getting overwhelmed by a cat? This is a joke, I am gonna prove it to him that he can’t always be right!”

As he reached home, he saw that cat sitting near his garden again. This was the final plug now!

He took a nearby stick and started beating that cat badly, he had completely lost it, the poor cat started screeching badly and was running away, but there was no sense of calm inside Aarav, he was gonna end this problem once and for all, how can a little animal dare overwhelm him? He chased the cat and kept beating it, till the neighbours eventually saw and rescued their cat, which was very badly injured.

The neighbours were absolutely furious at Aarav, but he told them off as well.

“Keep that stupid cat inside your house or you won’t be able to save it next time.”, screamed Aarav.

His neighbours dismissed him and told him he’s one sick bastard.

But since that day they made sure the cat was in check and was not going anywhere near Aarav’s house what-so-ever.

“Great then one problem solved. The stupid cat won’t dare get in here ever again.”, thought Aarav as he left for college, but when he reached there he saw Rhea sitting at a corner of the class almost tearful and really sad.

He finally went up to her and asked if she was alright? What is it that was bothering her?

“Listen Aarav, I really don’t wanna talk about it now, it’s something personal and I am quite overwhelmed right now even thinking about it.”, told Rhea.

“Hey, I have been noticing you these past few weeks, you’re almost always sad, what’s the issue? Tell me what’s bothering you?”, Aarav insisted that Rhea shares the reason she was hurt.

“I told you right, I don’t want to share it right now with anyone, can you please go away now dude. Thanks for your concern but I really need to be alone right now, sorry!”, said Rhea as her voice broke and she started crying.

Aarav tried comforting her but she left the room and walked away.

After this incident played out, Roshan’s words echoed inside Aarav’s mind, - “End the suffering at all costs when it comes to you or the people you care about!”.

He was now really angry at Kapil and his stupid, egoistic attitude for absolutely destroying Rhea’s peace of mind. Even though he was over her, he still cared about Rhea and couldn’t see her this way.

That evening, he met Roshan and shared this incident as it really bothered him.

“So, it has gotten beyond a point now, we have to do something about this. Confront Kapil today, ask him what’s his problem, can’t he see how much this relationship is battering Rhea and her state of mind.

Do it Aarav, end this suffering once and for all.”, advised Roshan.

“I am gonna go talk to Rhea’s friends and Kapil about it. I am gonna sort this!”, said Aarav

.

“I see, also one more thing before you go”, said Roshan.

“What?”

“Remember that I was right all along about that stupid cat and you, that did overwhelm you and eventually you did sort it and you did end the suffering, maybe sometimes that’s the only way forward!”, said Roshan as his face lit up and he left.

Aarav then talked to few of Rhea’s friends and they all said the same thing – The relationship between Rhea and Kapil was a very toxic one and his extreme bossy and possessive nature would have Rhea in absolute tatters more often than not.

It was late in the evening when Aarav left college that day and on his way back home, he saw Kapil standing all alone waiting for someone.

Seeing the mere sight of Kapil made Aarav restless and furious, he approached him and –

“Hey what’s your problem dude, I knew you were an idiot but I didn’t know you were such an egoistic asshole, look what you did to Rhea.”, screamed Aarav.

Kapil got super furious, he hated Aarav anyway, but this was like stepping beyond the lines.

“Mind your own business or I am gonna beat you to death right here”, said Kapil pushing Aarav away.

“How about you stay the hell away from Rhea, if she cries one more time, I am gonna break you!”, said Aarav.

This was like the final plug, Kapil pushed Aarav and a fight broke out, kapil punched him several times and grabbed his throat, Aarav was getting out of breath but then he saw a stone nearby, grabbed it and hit Kapil with it who got seriously hurt by that blow, furious and completely out-of-control now, he kept beating Kapil again and again till he fell down to ground almost unconscious, severely injured.

“Get the hell away from her and next time I see you, you’re dead, that is if you make out alive right now.”, screamed Aarav as he ran away from that place, he was terrified of what has happened but was relieved, he had finally confronted Kapil and taught him a big lesson.

But suddenly a chain of thoughts occupied his mind-

“What if he gets seriously hurt? what is he dies? Oh my god, what have I done, I overstepped my mark.”.

He got restless that entire night thinking about all the what ifs.

But there was this inner feeling of a strange relief that worried him the most, it felt as if he was embracing everything that Roshan says and stands for, it felt as if hurting Kapil, who was like a symbol of the suffering that Rhea and thus indirectly Aarav was going through, symbolized the end of the misery.

This scary idea made Aarav very uncomfortable, sometimes the devil is nowhere to be seen, cause he’s sitting right there inside of your mind, manifesting itself in scary thoughts and scary deeds!

Safe to say, Aarav was in a war with himself now, there was only one enemy he was facing and that was the one within, his own thoughts, his own demons.

But how did it turn this grey all of a sudden? The answer was one guy who was having the most influence over Aarav in every way possible – Roshan!

That you’re an average of 5 people you spend the most time with is a cliché, but what if you don’t even have 5 people, what if you have only one? You become a lot like that one person and start mirroring his thoughts, this is what Aarav was doing and the realization of this made him weak all over again, he was becoming everything he hated before, he was embracing his demons.

He couldn’t get any sleep at all and when he reluctantly reached college the next day, he found out that last night the people nearby saw Kapil lying unconscious in the ground and took him to hospital where he although survived but sustained severe head injuries and needed to be hospitalized for a very long duration, putting his studies in jeopardy.

After hearing this news, Rhea was devastated beyond measure. She was completely heart-broken and was in tears. Seeing her this way made Aarav more sad, but knowing that he himself is the reason for her sad state made him feel terrible.

“What have I done? But I just wanted to make sure Rhea stay happy, that asshole deserved it. Was it the right way to tackle the problem? Have I completely turned evil?”, all these thoughts crossed his mind and he became restless as anything. He was losing it day by day that was evident but the shit will get from bad to absolute hell in one day was something no one would have predicted.

“But it has happened. I am a threat to everyone around me, I don’t know what I am gonna do next. I need to be kept away, this ain’t gonna end up well at all!”, said Aarav to himself while sitting in an empty classroom in absolute oblivion.

He knew it was time to take some tough decisions. He has always felt quite vulnerable but now he started feeling it more than ever. When you’re afraid of someone else or something external, it’s repairable but what if your biggest fear is you yourself? This is where our guy has somehow come to. It’s a dangerous situation and it is during these times that you need friends and family to support you, but unfortunately Aarav didn’t have this support. I mean who does he have for a friend? A sociopath freak in Roshan, who was the reason Aarav got into this situation in the first place!

“There’s only one solution left now”, said Aarav to himself.

But before that one last time he decided to confront Roshan and really ask why he did this, why did he drive him to this point? What were his intentions all along?

So he decided to visit him at the same park where they used to meet every day, where Roshan used to sit every evening. But when he reached there, Roshan was nowhere to be found. Aarav was surprised.

He decided to come again for next 3-4 days but Roshan never showed up.

“That son of a bitch drove me to do this, and now he’s in a hiding. Makes sense that I have to pay for this all alone. Guess I will never know what he really wanted from me. He played me like a violin and when his so called purpose was served he left me. What a sick bastard.”, said Aarav, reduced into tears after realizing that another person pretended to be his friend and used him like a tissue.

Meanwhile, a week passed and Kapil slowly started gaining some strength as to being able to speak at least and Rhea was by his side all this while taking care of him.

Aarav got to know about this through other people that Kapil had started recovering and he was getting more afraid now of the fact that Rhea will get to know that he was the one responsible behind all this.

More than the fact that he had done something absolutely sick to another fellow person, what was eating him up was the mere thought of Rhea getting to know that the reason behind all this tragedy and tough times is him! He could do anything at this point except letting Rhea down, and he did the exact same thing. What a shame!

These thoughts drove him to insanity, he wasn’t able to focus on anything, only one thought kept occupying him throughout and safe to say it was almost the point of no return!

Finally, Aarav decided to pull the plug and do what he thought of doing weeks back!

Rhea eventually got to know about all that happened that night and got infuriated at how things turned out.

“Why did you have to wind him up when you know he’s vulnerable?”, screamed Rhea at Kapil.

“Seriously, you gonna blame me? After what he did? He left me with no other choice Rhea, he was pushing the boundaries and deserved the retaliation. But look what he did, he almost killed me, the lad needs to be put behind bars, he’s not safe at all, just see the light”, said Kapil in a weak voice.

“I ain’t gonna let him go free with this, I am gonna confront him, Enough is enough he must pay this time.”, vowed Rhea.

Enraged with all that’s happened and all these crazy psychopathic deeds committed by Aarav, all that Rhea wanted was to know the purpose behind this unhealthy obsession of Aarav which, safe to say, had crossed all limits now and it was time he starts paying for all that he does behind this stupid mask of loneliness and troubled life!

Next day, Aarav was not there at the college, so Rhea decided to go to his house and confront him there.

As soon as she reached his home, his father opened the door and looked rather restless.

“Hey Uncle, Is Aarav here?”, Rhea asked rather sternly.

A completely bamboozled and anxious Mr. Sandeep Raghuvanshi broke down in tears.

“Wha-what happened uncle? Are you okay? Is all good?”, asked Rhea, startled by all this.

“Aarav is nowhere to be found, he left home yesterday evening saying he was going for a checkup with his therapist and he hasn’t returned since, I have informed the police, they’re searching, but he-he ran away, I don’t know where my son is, will he be okay, will he be ali”, said a broken Sandeep as he started crying beyond control before uttering that last word.

Rhea was absolutely blown-away by this news, what the hell has just happened? Where did Aarav go? Everyone knew about his loneliness and screwed up mindset, has he really done something stupidly ridiculous to himself? There were question marks all over that.

“But uncle where could he suddenly disappear, I am sure he doesn’t have much friends, where could he go, did he tell anything to his mom? He is super close to her right”, asked a curiously anxious Rhea.

“What are you talking about?”, said Sandeep

“His mom uncle, he used to share everything to her right?”

“His mother passed away when Aarav was 8 years old, he was very very close to her and loved her a lot but she passed away due to a prolonged illness”

Hearing this absolutely sweltered Rhea, she couldn’t believe this. What the hell was happening? If Aarav’s mother passed away years ago then whom did he use to call back then? What is going on here?

“But uncle, he used to call and tell her everything whatever had happened throughout his day”, exclaimed a nervous and terrified Rhea.

“Wai-wait, did he tell you about her? Did he start doing all that again? Oh good lord, I should have been careful, his problems were back again. Oh my god!”, said a heart-broken and guilt-struck Sandeep.

“What do you mean by this? You’re scaring me now uncle, what is happening here?”, said Rhea as she started weeping.

Mr. Sandeep took a deep breathe, gathered some courage, and then went on to explain.

“Aarav’s mum passed away while he was very young, 8 years old, he was very close to her and her passing proved to be traumatic for Aarav. His young mind couldn’t handle the loss of his mother and he always felt that void of love, which I tried filling but frankly could never do. He always longed for that love but never got it. He started having anxiety and trauma issues due to this and as one such condition he imagines people who are not real and starts having conversations with them as if they existed in real life!

He started imagining his mother and somehow believed that she never died and keeps calling her, texting her and telling her everything that goes on in his life. To treat his condition, I tried putting him in a therapy and it was working out well until this year when out of nowhere that condition returned again. All my son needed was some care and love from me and I couldn’t give it, I am a failed father, cause of me now I don’t know where my son is, whether he’s alive or not. I- I am a failed man”.

Sandeep broke into tears and was inconsolable.

Rhea meanwhile got mind-numbed after hearing this and realizing the kind of pain Aarav was going through on an everyday basis. She just didn’t know how to react to all this and just went silent. She gathered herself up somehow and tried consoling Sandeep that Aarav will be okay but to no avail.

She was conflicted with a wide array of emotions, on one hand she was disgusted by what Aarav had done and on the other hand, after getting to know about Aarav’s past and his tragic condition of imagining people, some part of her also felt sorry for her.

“Did he leave any note or anything as such before leaving, anything that we can use to track him?”, asked Rhea.

“Nothing! nothing at all, there’s just no clue, there’s just this bunch of sticker notes I found from his bag! Can you just tell me if any of this makes any sense.”

“Sure uncle, let me check!”, said Rhea as she glanced through those list of notes.

Most of them were insignificant with just the timings of his therapy sessions and general stuffs, but there it was, one note upon which it was written

“Meet Roshan at college park at 6PM”.

This was the first time she had heard this name.

“Who could this Roshan be, Aarav is such a loner that he won’t meet anyone, but if he’s prioritizing meeting this guy so much as to maintain a reminder note for it, he must be someone very important and special to him”, wondered Rhea.

She decided to go check with fellow college people if anyone knew who this Roshan was but no one seemed to know about him, no one had heard his name. He then went to that college park where Roshan and Aarav used to meet and asked around if anyone knew who or where this Roshan was, but to no avail!

“Who is this Roshan? No one knows about him and where did he go all of a sudden?”, wondered a completely flabbergasted Rhea.

Bemused and overwhelmed by all that happened in such a short spam of time, it was getting tough for Rhea to actually process what was going on, she tried searching more for Roshan for few more days but nothing substantial ever came up.

“And that’s probably it for now”, said the narrator as he closed out the story on a weird note!

“Phew, what a story, but hey that’s such a tragic end, I mean who was Roshan? Where did he go? And Aarav, an innocent guy dealing with such complicated conditions and mental health issues simply disappeared at the end! Don’t get me wrong but will this story hit with my bosses when I present it? I am not sure”, said Raghav (that aspiring filmmaker in the beginning of the story)

“What’s wrong with it?”, asked the narrator

“I mean there are so many variables and puzzles, how is this a complete story?”, asked a puzzled Raghav.

“Who told it’s the complete one?”

“Wait a minute, wh-what do you mean, there’s more to it?”, asked a bamboozled Raghav.

“Anyways there’s my stop, I gotta get down! Nice meeting you, maybe you can take this story and pitch it up and god willing, we will meet again to complete this for once and all!”, said the narrator rather sternly.

“So, that’s a goodbye I guess! You’ve really left me in a cliff-hanger here, hey and what’s your name by the way?”, asked Raghav.

“I am Roshan R….., hey guess I gotta go now. Goodbye!”

---------------------------------------------TO BE CONTINUED----------------------------------------

More Stories You May Like

More from SCT