Novel Illusion (Complete) - Based on a true story

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Both, Priya and Vijay spent a lot of time there in the café, while continuously discussing about the attitudinal changes that had occurred in Rajesh and why he must have suddenly started distancing himself from both of them or whether anybody must have instigated him to behave this way. Vijay was increasingly feeling bored to discuss this topic anymore but Priya was sticking to that subject all the while.

Finally Vijay angrily said to her, ‘Enough of it Priya! Let us talk about something else now!’.

‘How can you say something like this?’, Priya exclaimed, ‘He was such a good friend of ours, in fact, he is a good friend of us even today!’.

‘That is what I am saying!. He is indeed a good friend of both of us even today but what about the fact that he does not look at it that way!. Friendship is always mutual, Priya and it cannot ever be a one way traffic!’, Vijay explained.

‘That is quite right! But even today I find it hard to accept that something like this can happen in the case of an erstwhile intensely good friend of both of us!’, Priya said and gave a sigh of sadness.

‘Listen to me! With changing times and circumstances even the attitudes of people do witness a profound change!’, Vijay tried to explain.

Priya did not say anything on this and continued sitting there calmly. Both of them were quiet for a long time as though they were having a dialogue with their own minds. The cups of coffee kept before them had long been emptied. Finally Priya, as though she had come out of that engrossed state of mind, said, ‘So? What next now?’.

‘What do you mean?’, Vijay asked having not understood the context of Priya’s question.

‘What I mean is, now we have secured our degrees!. So what next?’, Priya explained.

‘What next?’, Vijay answered, ‘Now I will take up a job. You know, even if an individual may be extraordinary but if he has born in an ordinary family, then the pattern of his life is predetermined!’.

‘Do you mean to say that I am born in some extraordinary family?’, Priya funnily remarked.

‘Compared to me, Yes! You are born in an extraordinary family!’, Vijay said.

‘This is going just too much Vijay! You call me a girl born in an extraordinary family! How foolish!’, Priya laughed at Vijay.

‘That destiny etc. is often talked about is precisely this!’, Vijay replied.

‘But Vijay, today one thing I am strongly noticing in you is that you have suddenly started talking about issues like destiny, luck etc. which you had never been even thinking about till now!’, Priya asked.

‘Now you tell me, I have not born in a family with the negative background of an alcoholic father, insane sister and an illiterate mother, by my own choice but they are inseparably related with my destiny then, you alone decide and tell me whether does my merit or intellect carry any significance?’, Vijay explained.

‘Fine! But it was you alone who used to repeatedly assert that an individual should not blame the circumstances and must think of how he can confront the adversities of life and manage to go ahead in life!’, Priya recalled.

‘Certain concepts are very easy to talk about but one realizes the true pains of the circumstances only when one actually starts suffering from them. now, given the life you are leading, perhaps you can definitely understand my sufferings but you cannot for sure experience them’, Vijay concluded.

Suddenly changed topic of their discussion and the sharply harsh feelings of Vijay about his circumstances left Priya confused about what she should talk next and therefore she opted to keep quiet for some time.

Then Vijay himself took the lead to normalize the atmosphere, perhaps after sensing the unnecessary harshness of their discussion and asked Priya, ‘What are you going to do now?’.

‘Now the medical education is over!. Now the final examination followed by the internship of one year!’, Priya answered.

‘After that what do you intend to do?’, Vijay asked.

‘I don’t know!’, Priya replied.

‘You are talking as though you are not happy even after doing a course of education that is going to open the doors of such an excellent career!’, Vijay replied.

‘Happy?, frankly speaking I had never given a thought about what to do next and for what purpose!. All I always preferred is that we should continue to live together just the way we were enjoying during HSC!’, Priya replied.

‘Indeed Priya! You are still the same just like what you were during HSC!, childish and immature!’, Vijay laughed at Priya.

‘Then do you want me to change?’, Priya asked.

‘Just look around the surrounding world and see where it is going! You ought to change your outlook toward these ever changing times because very soon you are headed to be a renowned doctor!’, Vijay tried to convince Priya.

‘You know Vijay! Nowadays becoming a doctor alone too is not enough!. I feel it even today that I should have taken Mathematics so that I could have continued staying together with you and by now even my education would have got completed. I have started feeling so much bored with this continuously education now!’, Priya sought to explain her desires.

‘Bored about education? How can you even say that? Do some post-graduation so that you will have some specialty at least!’, Vijay advised.

‘These five years of medical education alone is too much and you are asking me to add two more years of post-graduation which is simply unbearable!’, Priya remarked.

‘Then go for some diploma course which is shorter in terms of duration!’, Vijay suggested.

‘Let us see that later!’, Priya replied.

Again some more moments were spent in silence.

Now it was Priya to ask Vijay, ‘What is your idea of life after securing a job?’.

‘After securing a job, as I have explained to you, my first priority is to restore the overall order of my family. Then I want to get the medical treatment done for Shalini, my sister. That way, there are many things pending to be done!’, Vijay answered.

‘After doing all that, what do you intend to do?’, Priya asked a question so that she could bring Vijay on the right track.

‘No! I have not given any thought about that so far!’, Vijay calmly replied.

‘How surprising! You have not given any thought to that so far! On the contrary you are a man of an excellent planning of everything!’, Priya made an indicative statement thinking Vijay will sense something about why Priya intended.

‘Excellent planning! Which fool told you this about me?’, Vijay tossed her query.

‘Is there anything to tell me by somebody else in this?. I know everything about your immediate surrounding, I mean, I know you well to that extent just like you too know me well!’, Priya was getting restless while attempting to indicate her emotions to Vijay.

‘I know you well and I understand you?. Not the least, I don’t think I know you well!’, Vijay replied.

‘Is it?’, Priya angrily asked.

‘in fact, people say that even a supreme Almighty God also cannot comprehend the mind of a woman!’, Vijay laughed.

‘I am not talking about God but I am talking about you!’, Priya shouted at Vijay.

Priya was now completely fuming with anger but she did not express it outwardly. Vijay ignored her remarks and looking at his wrist watch said after giving a big yawn, ‘Oh! My God! Look how much time we are sitting here! I must leave now before the café owner may himself ask us to leave!’, Vijay jokingly said and laughed.

Now Priya was sensing that either he was unaware of her feelings or he was hiding his own approach toward her.

In the same shot of fury, Priya got up and said, ‘Fine! We will leave now!’, and came out of the exit door of the café before even Vijay may come out from there. Initially she felt so hostile toward him that she thought of leaving from there alone without telling it to Vijay but she restrained herself from behaving rudely and preferred to wait for him to come out of the café.

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After completing the engineering course, Vijay’s day had become completely empty. He had nothing left to do and applying for jobs alone became the activity he soon got extremely busy with. If he would be willing to leave his hometown and go somewhere else, it was not difficult for an engineer of an excellent grade and qualification like him to secure a job. But it was not possible for him to leave behind his house or even seek employment even in any town nearby because although he was the youngest in his family yet the entire responsibility of his family was resting on his shoulders only and if he was to go leave the family behind it would have lost its balance all the more easily. The entire hope being rested upon him alone, going to any other town was equivalent to leaving the family in lurch since he was the backbone of the other members of his family viz. his father, mother and an ailing sister.

A lot of time was spent in searching for a job or applying for the newspaper advertisements. Even Priya was trying hard for him to secure a job and using her father’s contacts she was trying her best to help Vijay get a job. There was no hope that Vijay’s father would be of any help to him because being an alcoholic he would spend entire his day so deeply under the effect of his vice that there prevailed a doubt whether he was even aware that his son had now completed his education of engineering. All said and done, the harsh reality was such that, everybody’s efforts were not yielding any success.

Now even Priya’s internship was over and she too was facing a blunt question what to do next?. Starting an independent practice of her own was not possible without a separate setup of her own and finally when even she started feeling bored and was unable to decide how she should kill her time, she decided to take up a post-graduation diploma course based on the advice Vijay offered her. Joining a post-graduation diploma course was like postponing the problem she was confronting but she was also aware that this way either the problems get solved or one gets so much accustomed to live with them that they no more cause the stress of being a problem.

It was now a daily routine for Vijay to browse through the ‘Employment News’ newspaper, marking the advertisements suitable to his qualifications, collecting all the requisite documents, preparing a demand draft by paying a visit to the bank if necessary and after complying with all the conditions arranging for sending his application for the advertisement. He might have sent scores of such applications and he had received immediate responses for an interview, thanks to his excellent grade and high rank throughout the course of engineering but finally he was falling short of using some strong influence and hence was unable to get a job this far. He was increasingly losing hope so much so that he had now started applying for non-engineering jobs also and there too he was being rejected after being rated as an ‘overqualified’ and wherever he was invited for an interview, people would make a mockery of him by saying that now the engineers too have started applying for the jobs of clerks. In the due course of time he had to take the decision to start applying for the jobs located far away from his hometown.

Nowadays, most of Vijay’s time after lunch, was being spent in waiting for the postman. Given the number of applications he had sent, everyday he was receiving interview call letters from at least two to three employers. Some such day, after finishing the lunch he was sitting in the front room of his house busy in the same thought process and suddenly he sensed as though the postman was standing at his doorsteps.

By the time he reached up to the door, he saw an envelope being inserted from below the door. He lifted and checked the address over it. He was delighted to see that his residential address alone. Vijay hastily opened the envelope and started reading the letter inside with the opening text as,

‘We are happy to inform you that you are selected……..’

With each word he was reading his heartbeats were increasing because the text was,

‘We are happy to inform you that you are selected as an engineer……..’.

Vijay read that letter again. He read the designation ‘engineer’ again and again. He was unable to believe his own eyes.

He once again read the letter completely and, overjoyed as he was, he shouted for his mother, ‘Mummy!’.

Mother was busy cleaning the utensils after lunch and she asked, ‘What is it my son?’.

I have got the job and not any simple one’, Vijay yelled joyously, ‘but that of an engineer only. I have achieved what I always craved for’.

‘What? Finally the God has showered his blessings over you son!’, mother endorsed with her joy and moved her palms, full of soap, over his cheeks to bless without realizing that now Vijay’s face was covered with bubbles.

‘Go and get some sweets!’, she said while hastily going to offer her prayers.

By that time, Shalini, Vijay’s sister too had come there and was staring at him with her expressionless face. Vijay felt tempted to share the good news with her but knowing fully well that her emotions were completely frozen, he restrained himself and went behind his mother inside the home.

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In the meantime Priya’s post-graduation diploma was going on and even Vijay was doing well in his job. The first thing he did after receiving his first salary was to arrange for a good medical treatment for his sister, Shalini. The main question he confronted at that time was to which doctor should he approach so that he will get a proper medical treatment for his sister and that too at an affordable price mainly because neither there was any psychiatrist in his hometown nor did he want to approach any other general medical practitioner and waste both his money and time since his overall experience so far in dealing with the general practitioners was much the same. Therefore, it became necessary to look for a competent psychiatrist from the nearby towns because he himself did not know any. Therefore he followed the advice of Priya and Priya too suggested him the name of a good psychiatrist known to one of her medical college professor. Vijay sought to approach this psychiatrist and he too dealt with Vijay in a gentlemanly manner and tried to make a proper diagnosis of Shalini’s psychological health given the fact that Vijay had contacted him through one of his personal friend. After spending almost two hours with Vijay and Shalini, this psychiatrist prescribed him some medicines for her. After paying the fees of this psychiatrist and after obtaining the medicines Vijay realized that arranging all this was impossible for his father in his insufficient salary. It was only then did he sense the significance of the salary he was earning but he was happy that the psychiatrist had assured him that Shalini was recoverable and his salary was being instrumental in achieving this and even in the future also his earnings were to be used for this sacred purpose. After toiling so hard in life Vijay had got this job he truly deserved to get and therefore it was really important that his earnings would be used for a proper purpose and above all this was the most significant use of the earnings he was making than spending the money for any other objectives.

During this phase of life there was a lot of correspondence taking place between Vijay and Priya. It was because of Vijay’s advice alone that Priya had ventured to continue with her education further even though she was disinclined for it. Frankly speaking, it was indeed going very difficult for Priya to stay away from Vijay under the pretext of continuing with her additional medical education but even then she was also not in a position to avoid pursuing a post-graduation diploma as advised by Vijay because she had, long ago, assumed Vijay to be the guide of her life and she had also long ago started filling colors into her picture of life with an aspiration of being into Vijay’s constant company. Going by the way the things were happening Priya did not see any obstacle in her desires being fulfilled but at the same time she was feeling sad why was Vijay ignoring her emotional desires. But then, she would counsel herself that this was happening because Vijay was paying all his attention at the moment to restoring the order of his home first.

Besides all this, Priya was finding it extremely necessary to address and possibly solve one more intriguing question of the distancing of Rajesh with both Priya and Vijay, apparently for no sound reason. One day, Priya received a very long letter from Vijay in which Vijay had narrated a long story of how he had personally been to Rajesh’s home, as per the advice of Priya, to discuss this issue of why their thick friendship had eventually become so dry and why Rajesh had started distancing himself from both of them. At first, the participation of Rajesh in this discussion was very superficial but in the course of time even he did not realize how deeply he got involved in that discussion such that both, neither Rajesh nor Vijay realized how the whole night passed away. Through the course of talks all old memories were revitalized and even it dawned upon Vijay that although Rajesh was apparently maintaining distance, he was nevertheless the same old friend of Vijay during his college days and Rajesh was still the same old friend just like a coconut appears to be hard and impenetrable on its skin but soft inside. Perhaps he had acquired the hardness superficially because of the circumstances and challenges of life he had had to endure after leaving behind the protected days of college life and this entire distance had perpetuated to grow for no reason sheer because of the misunderstandings remaining unresolved over a longer duration of time. On the contrary, the very moment if such a round of long discussion was to have occurred right at the moment when this distance started developing then perhaps their friendship would not have been reduced to such a dryness between all of them. Sometimes during the talks, with their old memories being aroused again, their eyes were turning wet such that both of them were realizing that it is the friendship during the school or college days is indeed the true friendship because during those days no selfish interests govern the relationships being formed then and no one expects anything else but a pure joy of companionship from such a friendship. Getting such intense friends during the remaining course of life is indeed rare because by that time, individual aspirations, selfish interests, and other expectations tend to have entered into our lives.

Only when did Vijay get up after finishing the discussion to go back home that he realized how the whole night had passed and a new day had already begun. When Vijay took a few steps and approached the door, Rajesh called him from behind, ‘Vijay’. Vijay now stopped for a brief while and looked back at Rajesh only to witness a pleasant surprise.

Rajesh got up from his chair and coming forward he hugged Vijay with overwhelming emotions. That was one such divine moment between them that for few seconds they were speechless and a serene exchange of many emotions, which were perhaps beyond their ability to express, were being expressed between both of them. All said and done, every human being needs an outlet for expressing his or her emotions and their ways to achieve this can vary from individual to individual. Throughout their talks spread over the whole night, may be, Rajesh may not have even spoken as much as Vijay had because Rajesh’s oratory and talking skills were no match to that of Vijay but now this emotions filled action he had spoken far too more than what he might not have done verbally. Your friendship does not depend upon how much and how frequently you talk with your friends but it entirely depends on how much of an exchange of emotions is there between both of you and to what extent you are capable of understanding each other.

Priya felt extremely delighted when Vijay informed her about this latest exciting development through a sufficiently long letter and she even felt slightly disappointed to have missed the opportunity to attend that meeting between both, Vijay and Rajesh because even she wanted to recall those beautiful moments of their strong friendship. As much right Rajesh and Vijay had over those memories equally deserving right did belong to Priya also since majority of the times all three of them were always together and in the absence of Priya through that night along with both of them, Priya felt, that meeting was essentially incomplete. But at the same time Priya was happy that finally the misunderstandings between both, Vijay and Rajesh, have finally been overcome and eventually all the three have come together. It would have been difficult to judge whether the situation then, when this distancing started actually taking place between them, was sufficiently in favour of thinking for such a mediation but it is equally true that for certain wounds to get healed, time is the only perfect medicine and one needs to wait for it to happen.

Now the letters Priya had started receiving also included letters being sent by Rajesh. Sometimes she would even receive letters sent by Rajesh much before the letters written by Vijay as though he was trying to satiate the unfilled hunger of sending letters earlier. Priya was, in fact, writing to Rajesh but looking at his reluctance to respond, even Priya had curtailed her frequency of being in touch with Rajesh. This was as if a water streamed clogged in the form of a pond after coming across some hindrance had started flowing again after that obstacle was removed. But there was no difference in the overall style and tone of the letters being written by Vijay. On the contrary, his letters were no more full of emotions as it were earlier and nowadays his letters were typically impartial. Priya had even questioned him once about this and his reply was as calm as a philosopher, ‘During those days were childish students stepped into the outer world just recently but now having endured the real life for such a long spell we ought to have become impartial and mentally strong’.

After listening to this grossly philosophical and utterly practical answer, Priya dared not to counter it nor did she have any desire to discuss it any further.

Priya’s post-graduate diploma had now been completed and again she was confronting the same question, ‘What next?’. Priya had by now got so full of boredom of acquiring any more education that if anybody was to advice her to pursue any further education, she would have hammered his head in a feat of rage. But that too would not have solved her problem. Therefore, once again she turned back to her guide, Vijay, and sought his advice. Even Vijay happily played that role to offer her further guidance. Vijay was so articulately excellent at his art of persuasive skills and offering advices that often it would so happen that Priya would refuse to accept certain advice offered by her father, but immediately concede to it if the same was to be explained by Vijay alone. once again, Priya started working at a private clinic of a prominent doctor in the same town even though she was of the desire to return to her hometown so that she could be in the company of Vijay but she once again accepted the advice of Vijay that she can return to her hometown anytime in the future as and when she may get the right opportunity.

A lot of time was spent in this and Priya had not been able to get a right opportunity to return to her hometown and she had had to continue there in the same alien town against her will. Moreover, she was even got over-occupied with her daily routine so that she could not spare sufficient time to write a letter to Vijay and similarly Vijay’s volume of correspondence too had reduce probably because even he was occupied with his work schedule.

Once, after returning home after a tiring day, Priya first browsed through all the postal envelopes she had received that day and there she saw the wedding invitation card of Rajesh, which left her aptly convinced of the reason why even Rajesh had not corresponded across last couple of months. She looked for the wedding date which was yet 8-10 days away and it was a Saturday, the day of her weekly holiday. Vijay too was going to attend the wedding since he was already there in the same town and therefore Priya instantly took the decision of attending the wedding and not to lose the opportunity of meeting Vijay.