A CHOICE

                                                                           

-BY BIBASWAN MAHARANA

Disappointment was engulfing him just like dark clouds engulf a white sky. Umm .. what next .. rain? Yeah next is rain. On one side it was rain of water and on the other side it was of broken expectations. Well what do we do when it rains? We can open an umbrella and protect ourselves or we can just accept the rain as it is and get soaked. Akshit too wanted to open the umbrella, but he could not find it. Naina knew where it was but she stayed silent. For him, a long conversation was meeting an end. Everything was just getting clearer, and that too in a way he never expected it to. Akshit and his best friend Naina, both knew that whatever he was expecting from that girl was never going to come true. Naina wanted Akshit to feel it and not just to know it. But Akshit had found a comfort in his expectations. A comfort he was looking for so long, a comfort we all look for and get that in any expectation of ours. But for how long are we allowed to be in that comfort zone? Akshit needed to know the answer to this question. And Naina gave it to him.

“Akshit, you are allowed to expect things from others. That’s natural. But you need to get out of this just before its time for your expectations to get converted into your obsession or your demand.”

Akshit nodded. He was mature enough to know all this.

The girl whom he liked of course had other plans. She understood what Akshit wanted her to be and she was not ready for that. But still she understood and texted him. Akshit’s phone beeped. There was message.

“Akshit … we can’t be a couple, but can we still remain as friends?” 

Now he did not know what to reply.

 Naina asked “Buddy… what would you have done if she would have agreed to be your love interest?”

“I would have always been for her. I would have been there with her throughout the journey of life.”

“Then what is keeping you from doing that?” she replied.

  “what do you mean Naina?” Akshit was confused.

“See if you want to be with her all through your life then you can do that by being her friend also. If you being there with and for her is only what matters to you then you don’t need to be her boyfriend. You can always accompany her as a friend.”

And Naina’s words really hit Akshit hard. What happened next between them is something I do not need to tell you. Many a times rejection is misunderstood as betrayal. And also rejection is nothing but a chance to be someone better.

Sometimes coming out of the umbrella and accepting the rain is all what we need to do. It’s better to get out of our comfort zones and face the reality. We all know that facing the reality is tough but accepting it is what we need to do. And one more thing. If you genuinely love someone then that person should mean the most to you and not what kind of relationship you have with them. It’s important choose the person over the relation.

                                                    

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