There are times in every relationship that we think that it is perfect, nothing adverse is going to happen and we might just 'live happily ever after'. There are good times and then there are scary ones in every relationship but unless the things get worse we still think or hope that things would work out and we would go back to having the same strong bond as earlier.
Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't.
I was having dinner with my long time friend Vishal and his family, which included his wife Supriya and her around an year old beautiful daughter whom they named 'Vidya'.
She was clinging to her mother's shoulder while we shared some jokes over the dinner table.
I have known Vishal since I was 12, I used to play cricket every evening. Once there was a match with another team which we lost, nevertheless that day I made a new friend in Vishal.
I don't clearly remember how we started but it had something to do with balling the right length.
Since then we started playing together and we used to go out and have fun on his bike.
We studied in different schools but we used to meet every day and there were times when I would spend days at his home and he at mine, without our parents worrying.
From class 10th to completing the graduation he had at least 5 relations (I wouldn't like to call them relations but he does). He wasn't very good at studies and just managed to pass. I still remember his father shouting at him so many times about getting serious in life. But he had his own ideas about studies and work.
He never got serious in anything be it studies, work, relationships or any other aspect of life.
After completing 12th we both joined the same college for graduation.
I left the city after graduation and today after 7 years I was meeting him. We tried to keep contact through phone and emails but it rarely works.
But now when I was visiting my city after so long I had to meet him and see as to how he was doing.
The dinner was going very well and we were sharing old anecdotes and discussing all the teachers and batch mates. His wife was very comfortable with the conversation and seemed like she was enjoying her time.
Suddenly he asked, do you know about Tarun and Sneha?
I have heard something last year from one of my batch mates regarding them.
I nodded in the air thinking something, 'a little', I replied.
It was my first day at campus and it was raining heavily, I was rushing to the dormitories when I saw Tarun and Sneha for the first time. They waved a hello to me shouting a question in the rain 'First year?'. I smiled back and nodded.
Tarun and I became friends in no time, half the reason was that I had spent some time in Delhi around the same area where Tarun mentioned his house was. It so often happens that we easily become friends with people from same place, even though we have not met them there.
Tarun and Sneha both of them had separate dormitories nevertheless they were inseparable.
They attended the classes together, they lunched and dined together, they studied together and and yes off course watched the movies together.
They were so much into each other but they still maintained friendship with others too and almost every one in the class liked them.
The best part of their relationship was they both were so matched in every sense, if Sneha was beautiful then Tarun would also make the girls skip their heartbeats because of his looks.
Who was better at studies? Surprisingly they both were equally good or equally bad. And there doing combined studies helped both of them. If one was in a bad mood the other knew exactly how to fix it. Most of the times they would be complimenting each other in everything they do.
I still remember the day when Sneha fell ill due to cold how Tarun woke up for 2 whole nights to look after her.
3 months into the semester and I became very good friends with both of them. There were times when I would share lunch with them and at times I would ask them to help me out with studies.
To me, like anyone else they seemed a 'Perfect Couple'.
Though no one would say it explicitly but everyone in the class wished they had such a relationship in their lives.
The time passed and we all graduated and went our own ways.
Tarun wanted to look for a job so that he can marry Sneha immediately. And when I left he was searching for the job.
Since then I have not heard anything about them. For me it was a predetermined story, he would find a job both would get married and in 2 years time would be parents.
Last year when I was online chatting with one of my batch mates, he told me that Sneha and Tarun got married but within 2 years they got divorced and now Tarun is pursuing MBA and Sneha left the city.
"What exactly happened between them?" I asked Vishal coming out of my visions from the past.
Vishal looked at the corner where Supriya was playing with their daughter and a couple of other kids, thinking something he started. I really don't know what went wrong with them, why they took it to an extreme. I and Supriya, we talked to both of them but it was not meant to be.
6 months into the marriage they started having small fights amongst them as to what all things they don't have in their house and what all they need.
Tarun struggled for a while and then got a small job after coming out of graduation, which was not very high paying. They both got married, they rented a house and started their lives.
But slowly and gradually they started to think that they were not having the happiness they always wanted.
They wanted to buy every possible luxury but Tarun's salary wasn't enough. Tarun didn't wanted Sneha to work.
Sneha started getting frustrated as she was not allowed to work and she didn't even had the luxuries she always wanted after a married life.
The small fights grew up into big ones and at times it went up to the extent, where Sneha told Tarun that it was her mistake to marry him and he telling her that it was his own mistake that he married her otherwise he could have done MBA and would have had a great career.
There were days when Sneha went onto to stay at her Mother's place for weeks but then came back. But it had to end sooner or later.
And one day after a big fight between them, both of them decided not to go further with it.
They decided to get divorce.
I explained them a lot that these things happen in married life and also told Tarun that I will help him in getting a good job but he said that it wasn't only about his job, probably they were not meant to be together.
Vishal's voice became hoarse as he stopped, by this time Supriya was back and sitting next to him. She hold his hand and her daughter still clinging tightly to her.
For a few minutes there was silence, both of us were immersed in deep thoughts. Probably he was also thinking the same, of the time we saw both of them as a 'perfect pair' and everything related to them.
Vishal took a sip of his coffee which must have been cold by now, 'It's funny how the things don't work out sometimes', he said.
I nodded but suddenly I looked towards Supriya then Vishal and then to their daughter who was trying to stretch and reach to her father chuckling all the way.
I smiled and thought 'It's funny how sometimes they do'.
