You're the Password to My Life Page 16

  Kavya is still Mahek’s BFF and they still do the same crazy things together. They have their share of arguments like all friends do. After all, friends are never true friends unless you’ve had arguments and then become friends again. Because of so many people around her who genuinely cared for her, her smile was back, as was her madness. She was now driving her bike around the city too. How you may ask? Because her vision was back. Yes, she had an eye operation that resurrected her eyesight and brought back the colours in her life. It was initially hard for her to get accustomed to the fact that Virat would no longer be in front of her. But the love from everyone made her stronger and allowed her to move on in life. She is now working for an NGO who looks for the betterment of orphaned children.

  Rohan had found his forever in Riddhima and both are now happily married to each other. They are indeed the perfect couple who stand by each other through thick and thin. They even have a cute daughter who looks exactly like Rohan and is very naughty. She wants a smartphone like her dad even though she doesn’t know how to operate it.

  Some people often think moving on is impossible but that is because they never felt unconditional love. Riddhima not only loved Rohan, she also made him a better person. They still visit Zoya occassionally while she continues her battle against HIV. Zoya had accepted that Rohan and she were never meant to be, but they loved every single second that they had spent together. She still keeps the gift that Riddhima had given her when they met for the first time.

  3rd March, 2010

  Shimla

  Everyone needs love. Some strive hard for it while others get it for free. Zoya had been striving for it for long. One of the hardest things in the world is keeping your mouth shut when you know something needs to be said. When she saw Rohan in front of her, it was like meeting someone you had lost years back and had no hope of them coming back. It was a huge surprise for her to see her love back after such a long time. They just stood in front of each other without knowing what to say. Zoya understood why Rohan had come to meet her as she had hardly told anyone about her stay in Shimla except for Mahek and a few others.

  ‘How are you?’ Rohan asked.

  ‘What should I say? This is the most difficult question for me these days. I can’t even say that I am fine.’

  ‘You should have…at least…you know…told me once…’ Rohan stammered.

  ‘You would have never moved on had I told you, and even if you did, you would have never loved anyone like you, loved me,’ Zoya said.

  Noticing the girl standing behind Rohan, she asked, ‘Who is she?’

  ‘My girlfriend, Riddhima’

  Though she knew about Riddhima, to actually see him with her was a bit tough for her to accept. Even though you may seem to have moved on with your life, if a fragment of your past confronts you, it takes you by complete surprise. However, Zoya was cordial and exchanged smiles with her. She did not want to put up a pretence since she was aware that Rohan can’t be part of her life even if she wants him to. She wanted a better life for him and had made the decision to go away from his life herself. No matter how strong a girl can be, sometimes all she needs is a hug. There was a wave of awkwardness in the room.

  ‘I am happy for you. So you kept your promise,’ Zoya said breaking the silence.

  Zoya looked at Riddhima who brought out a gift from her bag and handed it to her. It was an idol of Lord Ganesh. Zoya thanked her and Riddhima gave her a friendly hug in return. Rohan smiled looking at the gesture. He felt really lucky to have an understanding and big-hearted girl like Riddhima in his life. It takes courage for a girl to meet her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend as a well-wisher.

  ‘Friends?’ Riddhima said extending a hand of friendship towards Zoya.

  Zoya was surprised and glanced at Rohan for a second. Rohan just smiled.

  ‘We can at least be friends,’ he added.

  She smiled and offered her hand in return. She now had no regrets in life now and could rejoice in these moments till her last breath. After spending a few hours with her, they were about to leave,when Zoya asked,

  ‘Oh crap, amidst the excitement I forgot to ask you about Virat. How is he?’

  Rohan and Riddhima didn’t know what to tell her. They were also surprised that she knew about Virat since none of them had talked about Virat with her. It was then she told them that Virat had called her when he came to know about her condition just to wish her well. He had promised Zoya that Rohan would meet her once for sure.

  ‘Say my thanks to him as he fulfilled his promise too,’ Zoya said as she bid a goodbye to them.

  They smiled and left without telling her about his demise as they didn’t want to snatch the smile from her face.

  Is this the end? Nah! It’s just the beginning of a lifetime of friendship. Don’t let life pass you by, because any moment could be that moment that changes the rest of your life! Every person in my life has transformed me in some way or the other and I can’t imagine what life would have been without them. Everytime I find myself in the middle of nowhere, I find my true self. Everytime I visit Pune, I meet all of them. Mehak has tried teaching me Salsa so many times but has failed miserably. Now even she has realized that I have two left feet.

  Friendship is silent, unwritten, unbreakable by distance, unchangeable with time! Virat had changed their lives forever and each of them carried a piece of him in their hearts. He never defined friendship. He knew friendship meant different things to different people. He only knew of its unifying power and how it can bring people closer. He had shown everyone how friendship is the only ‘ship’ that doesn’t sink.

  Acknowledgements

  Some moments change our lives forever. Many such moments since the release of my first book Few Things Left Unsaid in 2011 have made me the person I am today. I would like to thank my millions of readers all over the world for their unflinching love and support. You all mean the world to me!

  All the people I thank below have been my strength while I finished writing the book.

  To Dipika Tanna and Jasmine Sethi for reading the manuscript at Rajnikanth’s pace as many times as I requested them.

  To Mrunmayee Ambekar for their honest reviews and selfless support.

  To Saurabh More just because I mentioned his name the last time and it worked for me.

  To Priyanka Dhasade for criticizing me throughout the process and provoking me to write better.

  To Neha Maheshwari and Mrunmayi Dhurandar for forcing their friends to read the draft, even if they were not interested.

  To Apurva for guiding me all the time and Sonja D’ Silva for tolerating my nonsensical talks.

  To Kalyani Akolkar for being extremely patient in answering my numerous questions, Neha Karandikar for her constant opinions on my work, and Simran Vegad for her valuable inputs.

  To Manik Jaiswal, Zankrut Oza and Narendra Singh for their open-handed promotions and Abhilash Ruhela for reviewing my books and making me realize that he’s not an easy person to impress.

  To all the people who really matter—mom, dad, and my sister Shweta, and my grandparents for their humble support. Love you all!

  To God, for being kind to me when it comes to writing.

  To my extended family on Facebook and Twitter.

  To Milee Ashwarya, Gurveen Chadha, Shruti Katoch, and the entire team at Random House India for being kind enough even when I miss their deadlines.

  Lastly, a big thank you to my growing family of readers.

  Love you forever and hamesha!

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  EBURY PRESS

  Random House Publishers India Private Limited, 7th Floor, Infinity Tower
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  Random House Group Limited, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA, United Kingdom

  Published by Random House India in 2014

  www.randomhouse.co.in

  Copyright © Sudeep Nagarkar 2014

  Cover design: Saurav Das

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  ISBN: 978-81-8400-584-4

  This digital edition published in 2014.

  e-ISBN: 978-81-8400-670-4