On a huge landscape covered with boulders, river streams, and tall trees, an ant started crawling its way up on Ketan’s right leg. Beneath his shorts, the ant had to move in a zigzag pattern because of the small uneven hairs haphazardly grown till his ankles. Girija ignored the landscape and started observing his leg. She was glued to the adventure happening in front of her eyes. The ant reached his knee and stood there for a few seconds. Girija’s eyes widened with excitement. The ant seemed to love the scent of human skin. Girija moved closer and sat next to Ketan. The ant advanced a little further and stopped at the end of the fabric line of the shorts. Girija bit her lower lip, strained her eyes, and saw the ant biting his thigh. A small red lump grew there. She suddenly flicked the ant and saw Ketan. There was no reaction from him. He sat still as a rock.
Girija sighed and leaned on his shoulders. Ketan sat there without any movement. His eyes were wide open, his hands and legs were heavy and overall he was motionless like a painting. Girija took her phone out of her pocket, opened the front camera, and started recording a video. She started to vlog-
Vlog 24 -
It has been a year and six months.
After traveling to many exotic places, we are finally here at Mussoorie.
Someone said nature is the best medicine!
Isn't it right Ketan? (Silence)
I think one day he will respond!
Till then stay tuned.
Girija switched off her camera and leaned again on Ketan’s shoulders. They sat there on the bench, facing the Yamuna river. Both time and sun went down with a gentle breeze. A tear of unspoken pain trickled down from her eye. She lifted Ketan’s left arm and wrapped it around her shoulder. She could feel his warmth on a cold evening.
One day you will respond - She said to herself.
The next day, at the break of dawn, Girija got ready, cleaned, and prepared Ketan. She made him sit in a wheelchair and started moving around. First, they went to a music cafe nearby for breakfast. From Girija’s perspective, it was a complete treat. Few youngsters were playing an old folk song and dancing around in Himachali outfits. Girija recorded everything from her phone. She captured the artist, food, and the vibe of the place with her phone. From Ketan’s perspective, everything was blurry, vague and vivid images were slightly moving in front of his eyes. A constant buzz was ringing in his ears. It was like he was stuck in an eternal loop of abstract scenes.
After enjoying a musical experience, Girija took Ketan to a famous library in Mussoorie. Girija settled down with Ketan and started going through the massive bookshelves. From the gaps of the hollow shelves, she was admiring Ketan from a distance. She silently opened her phone's front camera and placed it on a stand. She looked around and found the hall to be empty. She started the recording and whispered to the camera.
Hello all,
I want to share a secret with you guys.
(Flipped the camera)
Do you see Ketan?
This is how I used to sneak into the college library to check him out.
Sometimes we stole glances and it was romantic.
Let's see what he does now?
She flips the camera and looks at Ketan. She stays still like a statue.
After a few seconds of heavy silence, she brings back a hearty smile and says -
One day he will respond!
Till then stay tuned.
Later that night, both came back to the hotel room and got set for the night. Girija continued her routine of giving medicines and drips to Ketan. After finishing everything, she went to have a shower. She increased the speed of the water, withheld her breath, and inserted her head inside the shower. Everything was heavy around. After a minute, she started to feel suffocating and she opened her eyes and found everything blurry. She couldn't hold anymore. Finally, she came out and inhaled a huge amount of oxygen from her throat. It took several minutes to come back to her senses. She came out of the shower, got dressed up, and sat beside Ketan.
With moist eyes, she asked -
Is this how you feel about Ketan?
There was no reaction from Ketan. He was as still as a dead body. Girija opened her phone, placed it on a stand, and started recording again. This time she was not reacting. She had a blank expression on her face.
Ever noticed the irony of life happening in front of you?
Here is mine - A collection of thoughts from me and Ketan.
(Started speaking)
Her eyes started to moist again.
In stillness we find hope.
In stillness we find courage.
In stillness, we place our beliefs.
In stillness we find god.
Can this stillness help us live?
Can this stillness help souls to move on?
Girija started to cry and stopped the recording. She gently induced her fingers in his right hand and dozed off to sleep. Right outside her home, small drops of water started to fall on the glass window. The dark clouds started to shower. Gradually, the skies started to roar with thunder and lightning. A heavy downpour fell throughout Mussoorie. The peaceful night turned blue.
Girija woke up early as usual. She prepared Ketan and went to the backyard of her hotel. Surprisingly she found a small pond near the garden. She never noticed it there before. Something was strange, there was no one near to enquire about it. Girija pushed the wheelchair with Ketan and placed him next to the pond and she sat next to him. She placed her tripod and started to vlog again -
It’s our last day here people!
Till now we have had many soulful moments here.
Good music, good views, and even good rain but no response.
We are planning to spend our last day just chilling near this pond.
If any miracle happens, I will let you know!
Till then……!
Girija switched off her camera and sat next to him. She stared at him for a few seconds. She wanted to do something extra, something different, and something that could get his attention. She quickly scanned the nearby area for some element. She found many flat stones lying on the shore. She took a heap of rocks and placed them next to Ketan. For the next hour, she started throwing them in the pond. From Girija’s perspective, the stones pierced the fluid texture of the water and went inside it. The splashing sounds were addictive to her and the ripples were nonstop. She finally lifted a huge rock and threw it into the water. When the massive rock hit the pond’s surface, a massive explosion of laughter came out from Girija’s mouth and a massive splash of water fell on Ketan.
She saw Ketan and quickly realized the situation. She removed a towel from a nearby bag and started wiping his face. Ketan’s bald head had a few drops of water dripping downwards. It slid through his cheek and fell. Just when everything was normal, a drop of the pond water went inside Ketan’s left ear. Suddenly from Ketan's perspective, there was a small change. The constant buzz started reducing. The blurry images started to get clear. His dry lips slightly parted and tried to move. His stiff eyelids struggled to close. His fingertip gave pressure on the hard substance below. At first, Girija couldn’t notice this. When she started to wipe his face, Ketan opened his mouth open and sucked in a huge amount of oxygen.
Girija got shocked and fell. Like an inflating balloon, Ketan started to fuel up with life. In 5 minutes he gradually stood up and started to laugh. Girija just sat on the ground and observed him with shock. She could not react. Ketan laughed like a maniac for a long time. He saw the heap of rocks right next to Girija. He picked up a big one and threw it in the pond. Again, like before, a huge explosion of water splashes and laughter emerged. Ketan helped Girija stand up and they both started to laugh like maniacs. They started to search for more rocks and threw everything on the pond.
This activity continued for a long time. When they ran out of stones, they sat down for rest. With a satisfactory glee in her eyes, Girija Said - Finally you responded to me!
And of all the places, I never imagined you would react in front of a small pond.
Ketan - I don't know what you are talking about.
But, yeah, I am back.
This time Ketan extended his right hand by himself and hugged Girija. The concept of time and space never bothered them. Ketan had to catch up with the lost romance and Girija could never be satisfied with Ketan’s reaction. They both roamed the entire garden and kept talking for the entire day. Between all these sweet moments, Girija suddenly got an insatiable curiosity and urge. She explained to Ketan about her Vlogs with him and wanted to document this moment on social media and show them the miraculous pond.
They both went back to the hotel room, got changed, and took the camera gears to record in front of the pond. When they reached the garden, both were surprised by the sight in front of them. There was no pond and the stones they threw were all over the garden.
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