The Spark Theory

"And you still look as gorgeous as before!"

Mansi turned to the left to see which guy was giving her this unexpected compliment. Mansi and Vikram's eyes met, she looked down and smiled. A couple of her curly tresses fell gently on her face. Tucking them back behind her ears, she looked up again said "Ahaan. I know that. Thanks for the compliment though!"

"I see, it's been so many years but modesty is still one of your virtues. Quite as expected."

Vikram and Mansi broke into a courteous laughter. They studied together at an engineering college in Pune University for four years. After that Vikram headed off to Bangalore for his job and Mansi continued to work in Pune. After five long years, they met at their college friend's wedding reception. It was quite strange that both of them did not stay in touch since college despite living in the social networking era. Their past history made it a bit awkward for them to stay in touch.

Vikram put his arm around a beautiful lady standing next to him. "Mansi, meet Shaina - my fiancé. Shaina meet Mansi, my friend from college."

"Hey, congrats Vikram! That's a pleasant surprise. Congrats to you as well Shaina!"

"Thank you. How have you been?"

"I've been good Vikram. It's been so long since we met. And it's so good to see so many of our batch mates finding their special someones and getting settled. Now you too are added in the list."

"So Mansi, have you found your special someone? I remember Vikram telling me that you were one of the prettiest girls in his batch. I am sure you would have many gentlemen vying for your attention."

Mansi looked at Vikram who was also looking at her. She immediately turned to Shaina and said - "Unfortunately not yet. But I am not in a hurry right now. I need to do a lot of exciting things in my career before I get settled. I have achieved a personal target for myself before getting married. I am going to the US for my MBA course which is for two years. Only after that is when I'll think of settling down."

"That's impressive. Vikram and I are also heading to the US after marriage. While Vikram will be working in California, I plan to pursue my MBA from one of the good schools there. I too wanted to marry after my studies, but my parents insisted that I meet Vikram. When I met him, he just felt like the right guy and I had to tweak my plans a little bit. I still will be doing my MBA, but my options will be limited only to schools in California. Can't try for any of the schools on the East Coast. But I guess, that's a very small price to pay!"

"Yes Shaina, that's absolutely right. I think you've taken the right decision. And yes, Vikram is very lucky to have you as his life partner, I am not sure if you are equally lucky."

The three of them were interrupted in their cheerful conversation when Vikram and Shaina were dragged by Vikram's friend to the reception stage for a group photo. Mansi walked towards the buffet counter with her friends. While walking, she couldn't help but remember the last day of college. She and Vikram were waiting inside the canteen for the rest of their gang to join them.

Vikram looked at Mansi and said - "So this is it. Four years of college have been some of the best moments of my life."

"Absolutely, mine too! You've been a special friend Vikram. I'll miss you if you decide to take the Bangalore job. But I know we'll always be in touch!"

"Yeah, I'll miss you too. Frankly, I like you and I'd like to know you more to evaluate the possibility of a beautiful relationship between you and me."

"What are you saying Vikram? I have never thought of anything like that between the two of us. I don't see you that way. I really cherish your friendship. To be upfront, I don't think anything can happen between the two of us, cause I don't see that spark in you. I don't know how to explain, but that's just how I feel!"

"What spark are you talking about Mansi? I thought we were almost dating what with our movie trips, dinners, long drives, phone calls at odd hours. I thought we are really comfortable with each other. In fact you also know that people in our group think we are seeing each other. I don't care what others think but this is the perception we've given others. I don't mind that at all because as I said I'd like to develop our relationship further."

"I am really sorry to say that. You are a great guy Vikram and I wish you the best. I loved hanging around with you and sharing so many of my thoughts and life incidents with you, but somehow, this just doesn't seem right because I don't see the spark in you. I wish I could explain, but I don't know how as this is too awkward."

"Ok. I won't make this too awkward for you. Let's end this conversation here."

"Thanks for understanding Vikram. You know ... "
Mansi was interrupted in between when her friends Pallavi and Amit joined them. Their whole gang had a blast that evening to celebrate their last day of college and no more exams for a few more years to come! Two weeks later Vikram left for Bangalore and since then Vikram and Mansi did not make a serious attempt to stay in touch. Vikram was hurt by Mansi's response towards his feelings and he felt that he would be more hurt if he continued to be in touch with her. He had feelings for Mansi and didn't want to be just one of her 'good' friends. Mansi too did not make an attempt to stay in touch because was expecting Vikram to write her mails, ping her on chat or call her which he never did.

"Madam - roti ya poori?" Mansi was woken up from her thoughts by one of the serving guys at the buffet counter. "I'll have a roti please. Thanks."

The next day Mansi met her best friend Pallavi in whom she confided everything.
"You know Pallavi, it was great to meet Vikram after such a long time. I was really happy to see him. But I hate to admit that I was a little disturbed when I met his fiancé Shaina. They looked so happy with each other. Shaina seems to be a great girl, but when I saw them together, I felt the void in my life which I don't even admit to myself."

"But I thought you never really were interested in Vikram. Why the sudden impulse?"

"I don't know. Somehow I am all messed up in my head when it comes to relationships. Again, I don't know how to explain - just the same way I wasn't able to explain it to Vikram on the last day of college. Maybe, I am not sure what I want. I've had two relationships after Vikram, but sadly neither of them worked. I am doing great with my career, but when it comes to my personal life, I am all screwed ... "

"I think I probably know what this is. You are probably repenting over the whole 'I don't see the spark in you' theory of yours. I remember you telling me that you saw a spark in Karan and that you are heading towards something exciting in your relationship. You said something similar when you were dating Vivek. But look at what happened, both your so called exciting relationships failed. Perhaps, Vikram was the right guy for you and you always sought Vikram in both Karan and Vivek. Though you saw the spark in them, you didn't see the qualities that your life partner should have in either of them. So really, sparks just fly in Mills & Boons romance or Paul Coelho philosophy. Too difficult to implement in real life. But just cheer up now, what's done is done, you need to ... "

While talking, Pallavi lifted the curls of hair falling on Mansi's face to tuck them behind her ears so she can see her face and she saw a quiet tear trickling down her cheek ....

Dev is typing ...

Dev: The party last night was so boring. I wish you were here. At least I would have had some interesting conversations like how we had in the last party.
Rhea is typing...
Rhea: Really? Didn't u meet an angel this time? Last time u met a devil - this time I thot u'd meet a nice angel who wud sweep u off yer feet.
Dev is typing...
Dev: No actually, I don't like angels. I am pretty devilish too. lol ;)
Rhea is typing...
Rhea: ahahaha.. OK I think I mite just fall asleep as it's quite late now. And I got a long day at work 2mrw. Bfn
Rhea is offline.

Dev closed his GTalk window and got back to his work. Dev and Rhea studied engineering from the same college in Mumbai, Rhea being two years his junior. Though they were in the same college, they never really met there. When Rhea came to Delhi for her cousin's engagement, she bumped into Dev at a party. They were introduced through common friends and during their conversations, they found out about their college connection! The world's a small place, isn't it?

Since both of them were in different locations, they added each other on GTalk to stay in touch. What started with occasional hi and hello, soon became conversations that both of them looked forward to. They found that they shared quite a few common interests like books, music, food, etc. They had this very interesting thing going on where each would share a song with the other one that would convey the mood that they have been in that day. Their conversations would range from the lyrics to the music to the artist to the mood and they totally enjoyed doing so. The penchant for music that they shared brought them quite close. It so happened that they looked forward to speak to each other every single day.

Dev and Rhea spent close to four months speaking to each other via phone, email and chat. One fine day, Dev's company decided to send him for a day to Mumbai for a conference. Dev was quite thrilled at this idea as he would get a chance to meet Rhea. He was even considering staying back in Mumbai for a couple of days. Unfortunately, the trip to Mumbai fell in the middle of a week and he had important meetings the following days in Delhi. So he couldn't extend his stay in Mumbai. Still, he was quite excited to be in Mumbai and decided to give a surprise to Rhea once he reached.

Dev managed really well to keep his Mumbai trip under wraps. His conference was from 11 am to 4 pm and his flight for Delhi on the same day was at 8.30 pm. He thought that after the conference he would call up Rhea and meet her for a cup of coffee or something. But things don't work out as we want them to, do they? Unfortunately, after the conference, some delegates showed keen interest in knowing about his company's new product and he had to give them a few presentations which went on till 6.30. Finally he didn't have the time to meet her, but he thought he should at least give her a call and say hello. He knew she would be mad at him for not meeting her up despite being in Mumbai, but still, to be polite he decided to. But then again, things don't work out as we want them to! He took out his phone to find out that the battery had drained off. He kept it back in his pocket and headed to the airport.

Once he was back in Delhi, he thought it would be best not to mention about this incident to Rhea, just so that she doesn't get upset. But things don't work out the way we want them to. One day Rhea gets an update on Facebook saying "Dev Mehta has been tagged in an album 'LTC, Mumbai 2010'". She checked the date and she realized that Dev was in Mumbai just 2 days ago and he didn't inform her. That night she met him online and when Dev was talking casually, this is how the conversation went:
Rhea: The weather in Mumbai is terrible... its so hot .. didnt u think so when u were here a few days ago? is delhi as bad as mumbai now?
Dev is typing...
Dev has entered text.
Dev is typing...
Dev has entered text.
Dev is typing...
Dev: I really wanted to give you a surprise. But it was so crazy. I was there just for a day, the phone was conked off, I had to rush for the flight, some clients clung on to me ... you know how it is. I am sorry. I really wanted to meet you.
Rhea is typing...
Rhea: k. gd nite
Rhea is offline

Dev felt really terrible for what he did. He cursed himself for not telling her. More than that he cursed Facebook. That very instant he went on to his FB privacy settings and disallowed anybody else to tag him. But still the damage couldn't be undone. He dropped her a few mails, no reply. SMSes, no reply. He would ping her on GTalk, no reply. This went on for a few days and he was also tired of 'stalking' her as she would say. But he would always feel that his day wasn't complete if he wouldn't speak to her.

One day while listening to Howie Day's collide, he felt that the song really suited his situation right now. He missed sharing the song with Rhea. So he thought let's use the wretched Facebook that ruined his life to some use. He posted one stanza from the song as his status message and he wished she read it.
"Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme
Out of the doubt that fills my mind
I somehow find
You and I collide"

That night when he logged on to his FB account to see if anyone left any comments on his status - he found random people leaving juvenile comments like - 'Who's the YOU dude' ... 'Mr Mehta - whom do you wanna collide with' and one dope even left a comment that said - 'ummn, ya. whatever'. But the one whose comment he wanted to see did not leave any. Suddenly he saw his GTalk window flashing - Rhea says... He opened the window and saw a message from Rhea. She was online
Rhea: I like it - your FB status message.
Dev is typing...