Relationships....

"Relationships are the glue that holds a church together. Friendships are the key to retaining members. A friend once told me of a survey he took in a church. When he asked, 'Why did you join this church?' - 93% of the members said, 'I joined because of the pastor.' He then asked, 'What if the pastor leaves? Will you leave?' 93% said 'No.' When he asked why they wouldn’t leave, the response was 'Because I have friends here!' Do you notice the shift in allegiance? This is normal and healthy....

EMOTIONAL LOVE STORY

EMOTIONAL LOVE STORY OF A FLUTE PLAYER

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It was a humid and sultry morning, typical of Mumbai weather in the month of May. Sakshi was cleaning the living room of her parents' one-bedroom flat. Suddenly, she started to hear the melodious sound of a high-pitch flute that was coming from the balcony of the building right opposite hers. She knew who was playing it. She also knew that it had to be the same sad song that the flute player had been playing all the time. The song was “Javoon Kahan Bata Ai Dil” sung by Mukesh from the old film Chhoti Bahen -- it was one of the popular songs of the great music duo Shankar-Jaikishen. But after a few minutes, the flute player changed the tune, and Sakshi could clearly hear a classical tune being played. Sakshi stretched her years to grasp the sound. Yes, Sakshi recognized the raga. It was raga Jogiya -- the one that puts the listener into a very sad mood.

Sakshi could not believe that her college mate, Akshay, the flute player living across her building, could now play classical music on his flute. Sakshi liked Akshay as he was very innocent and an honest person with a cherubic face. He was her classmate in her science college, studying B.Sc. They both shared a good relationship and helped each other with their college homework. But Akshay always looked very morose. He always thought that no girl ever looked at him romantically. This thought always bothered him. He always desired to get romantically involved with some girl, especially when he saw around him so many young people having romantic affairs. He wanted to be loved romantically by the opposite sex and then offer his love in return. He was a very emotional person too. He would not have been a musician if he were not emotional. He always preferred to play on his flute sad film songs from old Hindi films. Sometimes the intensity of his flute notes could make the listeners cry with tears rolling down their eyes.

Especially with Akshay, Sakshi had a platonic relationship. She always tried to help him out psychologically whenever he was low. She always tried to lift his spirits up. But she never looked at him romantically. As the classical sound became more intense with the highflying notes of raga Jogiya, Sakshi could not wait. She left the cleaning job right away and started running towards the opposite building to see Akshay. She was highly astonished to see that Akshay, who until yesterday could only play simple film songs, could now play classical music on his small flute. This was a big surprise for her. She could not wait until she talked to Akshay. She reached Akshay's building and then started to climb the stairway of the building hurriedly as if there was some kind of emergency. People stepping down the stairway from the opposite side seemed to be annoyed at her. Finally, she reached the third floor. She almost started running in order to reach Akshay's flat. Sakshi pressed the doorbell and Akshay opened the door.

Sakshi asked, “Hey, Akshay. When did you learn to play classical music? I cannot believe this.”

“Oh, well. What do you mean? You think I can play only film songs on my flute?” Akshay quipped.

“Oh no! I know you are a great flute player since you play that sad song by Mukesh, Javoon Kahan all the time,” Sakshi replied jokingly.

“Well, people always looked down upon me, since I was only playing film songs and I did not know classical music, so I decided to learn classical music from a flute master about three years ago. I did not play classical music on the flute in public until I had gained enough confidence. But even after learning classical music, I still like to play old Hindi film songs. This gives me a great psychological satisfaction,” Akshay said.

“Oh! You kept it a secret all along that you were learning classical music,” Sakshi said.

“Yes. I had to keep it a secret until I mastered classical music on my flute. But still I do not understand why the classical music buffs look down upon old Hindi film songs, many of which are based on classical ragas. After all, many of these classical music-based Hindi songs inspire and motivate millions of listeners all over the world. I have a tremendous respect for those old Hindi film music directors who composed so many songs based on classical music,” Akshay replied.

“Akshay, you already know the answer. Classical music is very intricate, and it is for the elite classes and pop music is for the masses and this scenario will never change. Let us leave aside this topic of classes and masses for a moment. Now that you know classical music, can you tell me on which raga your favorite song is based? I mean “Javoon kahan bata ai dil.” Sakshi wanted to test the waters.

“Oh, that song is based on raga Jhinjhoti. Do you remember that other song “Ja ja re ja balam va” from old film Basant Bahar and that Kishore Kumar number “Koyi ham dam na raha” from the film Jhumroo and also “Mose chal kiye ja” from the film Guide? All these songs have the same Bandishi or set of dominating notes derived from raga Jhinjhoti. Raga Jhinjhoti is derived from Khamaj thata and its jati is sampoorna-sampoorna meaning there are 7 notes each in aroha and avaroha. In raga Jhinjhoti, the aroha uses all 7 shudh swaras, which are Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni, and in avaroha it uses the same set of 7 swaras in reverse except that it uses komal Ni. So avaroha notes are Sa Ni (komal) Dha Pa Ma Ga Re.

The vaadi (main note) is Gandhar and samvaadi (second important note) is Nishad, but some musicians use Dhaivat as samvaadi. This raga is usually played in the second prahar of the night,” Akshay explained.

“Hats off to you, Akshay. You are a pro in classical music now. I can now say that you have mastered classical music. Next time when I want to find out the raga for some other song, I will have to come back to you,” Sakshi said while encouraging him.

“But all this flute playing is not going to help me, Sakshi. Please tell me when I am going to find my Love. After I started playing the flute well, I thought someone would get attracted towards me. But nothing of this sort has happened so far. I had read the stories in Mahabharata about how Gopikas used to surround Lord Krishna, whenever he started playing his flute. Why is this not happening to me?” Akshay asked.

“Only time will tell. But right now I can say that you do not play the flute as well as Lord Krishna, and this could be the reason why nobody is attracted to you. But I am sure someday you will find your love and then you will not have time to talk to me,” Sakshi said.

“I do not think so, Sakshi. Now I feel that I might never find that Love which I am longing for. My only hope is you. Please tell me when will be that day when our platonic relationship will change to a romantic relationship?” Akshay said naively with a sad undertone.

“Oh, come on! I cannot answer you on this one. You know the famous Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib's famous sher (poem) “Ishq par jor nahin” meaning love cannot be forced upon, which also implies that it has to happen automatically after something from inside dictates you to do it, but I do not know what that something is, Akshay. I do not think I can answer your question,” Sakshi replied.

The colleges reopened again in June after the summer vacations. A new student, Preeti had joined Sakshi's college. Preeti's last name was close to those of Sakshi and Akshay. Preeti had been transferred to Sakshi's college from another suburban college of Mumbai. Since all the three last names came one after another, they used to be together for their science practicals. Preeti soon became a friend to both Sakshi and Akshay. Preeti was very beautiful, and she had a very charming personality. Soon she became a close friend of Sakshi although she maintained a distance from Akshay. They all were in a crucial final year of the B.Sc. Degree.

Preeti was very smart at her studies, and she was helpful to both Sakshi and Akshay and helped both of them whenever they had problems understanding some science concepts.

Once, there was a concert in the college where Akshay played a few classical ragas on his flute. Until then, Preeti didn't know that Akshay was a great flute player. She attended the flute concert along with Sakshi. Akshay performed extremely well at the concert. Preeti was a classical buff and enjoyed the concert very much. Later on, Sakshi came to know that Preeti had started to attend every concert of Akshay. Sakshi could see the changes in Preeti's attitude towards Akshay. Sometimes she used to go out of the way and wait for Akshay until he finished his laboratory work in college.

Sakshi soon had a sneaky suspicion that maybe Preeti was falling in love with Akshay. By now, Sakshi knew Preeti very well. Preeti was very close to her. Preeti was very ambitious and aggressive, whereas Akshay was very timid in nature and lacked assertiveness. Sakshi knew very well that in the long run, say if both of them got married, it may not work out. Because her gut feeling was that Akshay being very innocent and honest would not be able to succeed in whatever career he chose, Sakshi could see the incompatibility between Preeti and Akshay. But on the other hand, Sakshi was very happy that now after a long wait, Akshay had found his love that he had been looking for a long time. So Sakshi had contradictory thoughts running through her mind.

One day, Sakshi found Akshay in a very good mood, which was something that she had never seen before. At that point it appeared that Akshay could not wait to tell Sakshi some big news.

“What's the matter, Akshay? You are in a very good mood today,” Sakshi said.

“I have a feeling that Preeti likes me very much. I will not be surprised if in the near future she discloses her love for me,” Akshay replied.

“I hope so, Akshay. I think that you are finally close to finding your love,” Sakshi said.

Sakshi was now wondering why Preeti had never told her about it as she was very close to her. Sakshi became very impatient and could not wait until she saw Preeti the next day in their college.

“Preeti, will you mind if I ask a very personal question?” Sakshi asked.

“Go ahead, Sakshi. You are like my sister now, you can ask me any personal question,” Preeti replied.

“I see lots of changes in your attitude towards Akshay. Please tell me if you are in love with him," Sakshi asked.

“Oh Gosh! Sakshi, why do you say that?” Preeti replied.

“Because Akshay thinks that you are in love with him. Akshay expressed his feelings about you to me yesterday. You have been attending Akshay's every flute concert. You go out of the way to help him out at every step. So I thought something unusual was happening here between you two, and if it is true I am glad about that,” Sakshi said.

“Oh no! Do you really want to know why I am getting close to him?” Preeti asked.

“Yes,” Sakshi replied.

“I did not tell you until now about a tragedy in my family. About one year ago, my only brother, Ramesh, who was elder to me by 2 years, died in a car accident. Akshay has lots of similarities with Ramesh. Ramesh was also a classical flute player; and what surprised me further was that Akshay played the flute in the same style as my brother Ramesh did and played almost the same ragas as well. I loved my brother Ramesh a lot like any other sister would do. Akshay is very innocent, just like my brother Ramesh was. I see lots of similarities between Akshay and my deceased brother, Ramesh. So I feel that I've found my lost brother, Ramesh. I see Ramesh in Akshay all the time. Actually, I myself should have told this to Akshay and you much earlier. But since this was a very touchy issue for me, I waited for a while. I am actually in love with a bank officer, Rohan who lives in Pune with whom I am going to get married within the next few months, right after my B.Sc. graduation,” Preeti said.

“This is a terrible situation now, because Akshay has misunderstood your responses. What will happen now? I think it is a good idea to disclose this to Akshay as soon as possible. I have to go and tell Akshay about this fact, before it is too late,” Sakshi said.

“Yes. You should do that. I will highly appreciate that. Also tell him I apologise for not telling him about this fact earlier,” Preeti said.

Sakshi could not wait until she told this fact to Akshay. She waited for two days. Then one day when Akshay was sitting alone in the college cafeteria, Sakshi went and sat next to him.

“Akshay, I want to inform you about an important thing about Preeti,” Sakshi said.

“What is it? What is it?” Akshay almost jumped from his chair as he was overjoyed and thought that finally he was going to hear from Sakshi the confirmation that Preeti loved him.

“I hope you will not mind if I tell you the facts right now. Please listen to me carefully,” Sakshi said.

Then Sakshi told Akshay all the facts and told him that it was really a sisterly love that Preeti was displaying towards him. Sakshi also told him that Preeti was already engaged and was going to get married in Pune in a few months time with Rohan, a bank officer, soon after her B.Sc. graduation. Akshay started to weep. Sakshi also could not control herself. Both Akshay and Sakshi cried for a long time. Both of them could not control their sorrow. Everybody in the cafeteria was watching them in order to know what was happening. After some time, Akshay calmed down and once again looked sad just like he used to before Preeti came into his life.

Akshay got up from the chair and said, “Sakshi, go and tell Preeti that next year on Raksha Bandhan day, I will visit her house in Pune, and she will tie Rakhi around my wrist on that day. Tell her that this is a promise from a loving brother. I am sure that she will be happy to find her lost brother on the next Raksha Bandhan day; but please tell her to give me Rohan's address in Pune before she leaves Mumbai.”

Sakshi felt very sad but relieved. She knew that Akshay was completely disillusioned and would never find the love that he was looking for. As promised, Sakshi came back to Preeti and told her about the whole incident with Akshay, and told her about Akshay's promise that he would visit her in Pune on the next Raksha Bandhan day and that she would tie the Rakhi around his wrist. Preeti was very saddened for a while but later recovered after noting Akshay's promise. And just before she left Mumbai for her marriage with Rohan in Pune, she did give Rohan's address to Sakshi, which Sakshi passed on to Akshay.

After a few months, Preeti got married in Pune. Sakshi attended the marriage, although Akshay was invited, he did not attend the marriage, since for the past couple of weeks he seemed out of his mind. Sakshi returned to Mumbai soon after Preeti's marriage. Another two months passed.

One day, late in the night, around 11 p.m., Sakshi's phone started ringing. Sakshi picked up the phone and said, “Hi, Sakshi here.”

“Hi! This is Preeti from Pune,” Preeti said from the other end.

“How are you, Preeti? I just returned back only an hour ago from my native place after a two-week stay. I went alone… ” Sakshi said.

Before Sakshi could finish her conversation, Preeti interrupted.

“Sakshi, I cannot believe this. I cannot believe this at all. You know today is Raksha Bandhan day and Akshay fulfilled his promise. If you may recall, only last year Akshay had promised me that he would come to my house on the next Raksha Bandhan day so that I could tie the Rakhi around his wrist. He fulfilled his promise; Akshay paid a surprise visit to my house today, and I was very happy to tie the Rakhi around his wrist. Akshay gave me a golden necklace as a gift from a brother. And after Raksha Bandhan, Akshay left my house in a very happy mood. I requested him to have coffee etc. but he did not wait, and he seemed to be in a hurry to get back. I felt so good; I cannot describe my feelings. I feel completely satisfied,” Preeti replied.

After hearing this from Preeti, Sakshi jumped out from her bed with the receiver still in her left hand while still continued talking to Preeti.

“Preeti, what are you saying? Did this event really happen? The reason I'm asking this is because after I returned back from my native place tonight, I came to know from my parents about a very tragic event. Only a week ago, in order to find solace for himself, Akshay went to the hill station of Mahabaleshwar for roaming around the hills while playing his flute. One day after he reached Mahabaleshwar, his dead body was found by the police in the valley down below. Akshay died under mysterious circumstances. Then from the medical examiners report and eyewitness accounts from the hitchhikers, the police made a report about the probable cause of Akshay's death. From this report, it was clear that Akshay had been playing his flute on a cliff of the mountain and after a little while may have lost his balance and fallen deep down into the valley, or he may have committed suicide by jumping down the valley from the cliff. Police could not determine the exact cause or whether it was accident or suicide,” Sakshi said.

This news came as a big shock to Preeti. She could barely hold the receiver. She started crying in disbelief, which Sakshi could clearly hear.

“Sakshi, then who was the person to whom I tied the Rakhi today?” Preeti asked.

“Preeti, it could be Akshay's soul. Normally, I do not believe in souls, ghosts and supernatural things etc. But it is quite possible. Akshay's soul might have come to your house in human form. May be it was his ghost. Do you remember the promise that Akshay made to you last year that he would come to your house on the next Raksha Bandhan day and you would tie the Rakhi around his wrist? He fulfilled that promise today. Oh! I cannot believe this at all, I do not know what I am saying. I am confused, Preeti. The event you described may not be real after all, and this could probably be your hallucination. How is it possible that Akshay, who died one week ago, could personally come to your house today for Raksha Bandhan? Preeti, do you want to know something more? It seemed that Akshay already had a premonition about his death. After the police found Akshay's body, they also found a note in his pant pockets written by Akshay which stated that in the event of his death, all his beloved flutes be cremated along with his body. And Akshay's last wish was fulfilled by his father,” Sakshi started sobbing.

“No! No! It was a real event. Sakshi, please do not say that it was my hallucination. Please! Please! I really tied Rakhi around his wrist today,” Preeti said desperately.

It appeared to Sakshi that Preeti was only focusing on the statement about hallucination made by Sakshi.

Sakshi could not control her emotions, and before Preeti could finish her conversation from the other end, Sakshi put down the phone abruptly. The phone started to ring again. Sakshi knew that this call must be from Preeti again. At least for this moment, Sakshi was in no mood to pick up the receiver as she started thinking about the incident described by Preeti. Somehow, Sakshi was sure that the Raksha Bandhan event described by Preeti was definitely her hallucination, because Preeti saw her deceased brother Ramesh in Akshay.

So her emotions must have become intense on Rakhsa Bandhan day. Sakshi was just trying to reason herself. Otherwise, how else could one explain it? Slowly, the song “Javoon kahan bata ai dil”, which was Akshay's favorite sad song, started to play in the ears of Sakshi. The ringing of this song inside her ears overpowered the ringing sound of the phone. Sakshi started to think about the sad incidents. This duniya (world) was really sangdil (cruel) to Akshay who never found the kind of love that he longed for. This duniya also included Sakshi. Sakshi began to think. “Why couldn't Akshay find his love? Was it due to the circumstances? Or was it due to Akshay's naïve character?” Sakshi could not figure this out. Now that Akshay was gone, Sakshi started to talk to herself in agony, “Maybe I could have helped him out of the situation. But how? I respected Akshay for all his virtues, but could never look at him from a romantic angle.”