Mera Pehla Pehla Pyar!

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December 2011 

Today, our school reunion. Friends from different places are coming over to attend this function. It was happening at our old school.

I too came for meeting my old friends, but most importantly to meet a special person after long 11 years - "Sheetal". Actually she changed her name to MEGHNA, God knows why!

I was thinking about the last time I saw her. It may sound crazy, but she was my first crush at the age of 12. It was like a movie with the leading roles played by upper primary students.

March 2000

First day of 7th Grade. Reached class earlier than usual. My best friend, Renjith, was sitting next to me. That year due to lower strengths, classes were reshuffled. As a result some of girls and boys were coming over to our division. And he was so excited about it.

Two girls came into our class. No eye contact with anyone at all and sat on the last bench.

Renjith was blabbering about one of the gals. He was going hyper!

I turned to look at her.

She looked upset. Mainly because of being in an alien the new class.

She tied her hair like all other girls in our class, but something was different.

She was fair and wore spectacles. It wasn't very common to girls of that age. She kinda looked cute.

"Da, What's her name? She looks quiet nice" I asked Renjith

He scoffed at me, "Her name is Sheetal and I have already reserved her" and turned his face like he owned her.

Next few days she was mingling with the girls from our division and was getting used to our surroundings.

One afternoon I decided to talk to her, I never had the guts to speak with beautiful girls. But I took all my courage and talked with her. She surprisingly spoke very nicely to me. From that day forth I was not scared of girls.

That year the students were divided into four groups. Me and Sheetal were in the same one. I was really happy about it. She got selected as Leader and one boy named Kiran as Asst. Leader.

Seeing her and Kiran leading the class together made me jealous and angry. Sometimes I wanted to get up and kick his ass in front of her, but couldn't.

My heart was beating heavily whenever he discussed some crap with her in my presence. Gradually, I came to know that I have started liking Sheetal more than just a friend. It was a wonderful feeling that I never felt before. I started thinking about her the whole time, even at the time of exams. Thus low marks came in every subject. Kiran and Renjith scoring high marks made me less important in front of her. But she never ignored me for that.

Till that year, I had the lowest attendance. But for her I started coming each and every day to school. We soon became friends. Renjith was not at all happy with that. Sometimes he even tried to talk with her in front of me for making me jealous.

Students who were interested to sing for Independence day program were trained by professional singers outside the school. Sheetal, Renjith, and me were on the team with a hundred more singers from our school.

The thought of being with her was exciting. On the day of program I pleaded my dad to take me at morning 6:00 to the stadium where program was to be conducted.

I cared less about the singing part and more about Sheetal. Renjith only came to make sure that I don't talk much to her.

The time for "Youth Festival" is here. Cinematic dance was the event that everyone looking forward to. She and her friends made a group and started practicing.

I on the other side recruited some guys and started practice to showoff in front of her. I was the lead of my team. 

I watched her as she performed her dance, without even blinking my eyes. She was just perfect. She was wearing a yellow dress and she wasn't even the lead dancer.

I had borrowed camera from home for my first dance program. Instead, I clicked so many photos of her dance. Later that year she took the good ones and left me with the lame snaps of other dancers. Girls can be really mean!

December 2000

School day finally came across. The teams that won the youth festival were begging the Principal for a chance in performing at school day.

Sheetal had learned classical dance, so she was in a classical (cinematic) dance performance. My team also succeeded in convincing our Principal to let us perform at school day.

She was wearing Bharathanatyam dress and looked super cute in it. She was glowing. That very moment I decided that I will only marry a girl who knows Bharatanatyam. I don't know why I made that decision.

Almost every friend of mine came to know that I had just dived into the pool of love. I didn't know whether it can be called love. But some wonderful feelings were there towards her for sure.

Many didn't get the permission for annual excursion. I was overjoyed to know that Renjith and Kiran were not coming. I finally could spend some quality time with her, but her friends from previous class stood between me and her.

At the end of excursion I came to know the most horrible news that I ever heard.

"Sheetal is leaving our school. Her dad got transferred to some other place"

That blow was below the belt. I was devastated. I cursed God for taking away the most precious thing in my life.

Final exams were over like a super fast express train.

Me and my friends arranged a party for Sheetal.

I was waiting eagerly for the day of the party. I prepared myself by learning a melodious song to sing in front of her.

On the day of party I came to know that Sheetal won't make it. They were shifting their house the same day. The last time with her was also ruined. It's all over. 

We all went to her house to convince her dad to let her come with us for a few hours. But failed miserably. He didn't agree!

She stood next to a pillar in the veranda. She was helpless. She didn't speak.

I looked at her. She was beautiful, as always.

Back to December 2011

I walked through the corridor with my friends, my heart was pounding with joy and excitement.

Meeting Sheetal after all these years was the highlight of that day. 

I saw her from a distance. She looked so different, She looked more mature.

She had that cute charm as before. Her appearance made her look like a lady, not a girl.

She smiled at me and shook my hand.

I thought about the old Sheetal. The blank stare. The genuine smile .

I was becoming the old Grade 7 boy again, staring at her... not blinking... open-mouth...

2005 April

Amrutha, my girl friend, looked at my old class photo and smiled at me.

"Oh, this is the your Sheetal? She is not that beautiful like you said."

I took the photo from her hand and looked at Sheetal.

"No, she is beautiful. You can't feel it. But I can, because she was my first love."