A letter to remember

I was not so active in blogging for quite some time and the popular rumor that it is because I have got a life now, is completely false. I am as lifeless as always.  For people who have read my earlier blog posts would know how difficult it was for me to deal with girls in high school. It was similar to Raj from The Big Bang Theory. My first break through with a girl happened just after tenth standard. I received a letter from one of my classmates after tenth. I was not really surprised; I always believed in the power of silence!

Soon after the Board exam results I received a letter from Afsna Moosa. The content of the letter was simple; congratulating me on the results and attaching her mailing address and an offer to continue as pen friends (e-mails were an expensive way of communication those days). And I went, “Oh she has a crush on me!” The letter (crush!) made sense as Afsna was also a quiet girl and she never talked to guys (or never had the nerve to). So, it was natural that she found me interesting (like poles attract or something like that). Of course, I preferred a letter from Ziuna but a bird in hand is worthier than a better bird in the bush! (Ziuna is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen and she was my classmate)

My life became hell when my dad and brother found out about the letter. They made fun of me referring Afsna as my girlfriend. She was a fat girl with big glasses and I did not want her to be called as my girlfriend. And to show that the letter means nothing to me I threw it in the garbage! (ya ya..  i was an asshole).  The next two years, 11^th and 12^th, were too hectic and I never thought of Afsna (there were Preethy, Lakshmi and Nalini to think about).

Years later, during my second year B-Tech days, randomly one day in Mens Hostel, we started sharing our experiences in the domain of “Love”. There were experts with first HAND experiences with schoolmates, aunties and maids who made the hair in our hands stand up and dance like Hrithik Roshan. Then there were the prophets of true love who were still crying about the lost love from fourth standard. But most of the guys were pathetic, who only had left hand experiences to share. The conversations somehow reminded me about the letter of Afsna and I decided to get in touch with her.

I tried everything for the next couple of months to get some contact of Afsna Moosa. But nobody knew her details. She was not in Orkut (it is an ancient social networking technology which was used mostly by Indians and Brazilians), none of my schoolmates knew her number and the original copy of the letter was destroyed. The motivating factor was the feeling that there exists a girl who has a crush on me. I was sure that I wouldn’t reciprocate with the same feelings but what is wrong in talking (cough cough.. flirting).

Centuries passed and couple of months back I saw Afsna Moosa in the suggested friends list of Facebook! I immediately friend-ed her and noticed that she was married. I was excited to find her online and she accepted the friend request immediately. We chatted for 30-40 minutes and there were lots of catching up. I was expecting her to ask about the letter and why didn’t I reply. But it seemed like she has completely forgotten about it. After around 30 minutes I decided to bring up the topic myself by saying that I lost her letter while shifting and lost the address. And she replied, “Which letter?” I was stunned. I reminded her about the letter and she said, “Oh, I sent letters to everyone in the class and none of them replied.” That was it. The girl whom I thought had a crush on me crushed the 10 year old myth out of me! Life is unfair!