The Endless Letter

“Varsho ki pratiksha iss hridye ne ki hai aapki, Bas itni si iccha hai inn netro ki, Dekh le aapko jee bhar kar, Kabhi door na jaane de swayam se, Chhupa kar rakh le aapko aapni hridye ki har dhadhkan mein.”

“This heart has waited for you for years. These eyes have only one wish, To see you to their heart’s content, Never let you go far from me, To hide you within, in every heartbeat of mine.”

Dark veil of night enveloped the city, but the wounds inflicted on the heart still remained alive. A sharp turn to the left, and a phone ring causes the car to be halted at the side.

“Hello”

“Where are you?” Her sweet voice hit the chords of his heart. The voice he has yearned to hear.

“On duty,” he responded, having the shine in his eyes, one that came only from love.

“Today is our mehendi, Gaurav.” Anvesha expressed her disappointment.

“Just a little more time, and then I will be with you.”

“Have waited for you for so many years, that now, no longer can I endure without you, Gaurav,” Anvesha said, looking at her mehendi. Her eyelashes lifted, and she watched the joyful performances going on while her sister sat next to her, holding the phone to her ear.

“I’m coming right now. There’s something special for you.”

The call is disconnected, and a spark of curiosity lights within her. His surprises are akin to the feather composed of petals that touch upon the heart, leaving behind their mark. The engine roared to life, and Gaurav turned the car toward the road, but the mere sight of the Indian flag caught his attention.

Once again, the car was halted by the roadside; it was a fact that he could die for his country, and he was declared dead for years before he came back. Once a military officer, now a police officer, he always felt proud of his uniform.

The fresh breeze of Delhi brushes against his face, and a subtle smile emerges on his lips at the mere sight of the Indian flag wavering high in the air. A view he could watch forever without losing the spark in his eyes or letting tiredness take over. He steps toward the huge ground in the middle of which the flag was. Every building around him was coloured in tricolor lights. The love he had for his country was like no other. It was a part of him, a lifeline without which he would die.

“I’ve waited a lot. I’ve done so much to return to Hindustan. When there was distance, it felt as if someone had taken away my breath, and only a dead soul remained alive. As if the heartbeat had been taken away from the heart.” Those thoughts never found words but rather remained within him. Tears dared to moisten his eyes on the recall of the torture inflicted on him and the yearning he had to bear to come to Hindustan. The past had thorns that only caused the heart to bleed. He brushed away the tears and turned to leave, but suddenly someone bumped into him.

The purse fell out of her hand, and the things scattered on the road. Only her eyes were visible, which saw him after months. A smile appeared on her lips that the cloth concealed. Gaurav bent on his knees and lifted the stuff for her.

“Are you okay?” He asked, but even Noor knew one word spoken and he would recognise her. She nodded her head in agreement. Her gloved hand mildly brushed against his hand as he handed her the purse.

“I am really sorry, I should have been looking ahead while walking.” Gaurav apologised, to which she nodded her head. She kept her eyes lowered, but the vision blurred as she saw him going away. A moment came when she yearned to stop him, tell him that she was Noor, but then what? Everything will break apart. Only hatred will be encountered. Her eyes shifted to the right side, only to be left shocked.

“Dee,” Anvesha lifted her eyelashes and found her sister Natasha standing in front.

“Dee, come with me, please.” Her fingers wrapped around her arm, and Natasha almost pulled her to her feet. A glance around ensured that everyone was busy, especially her mother.

The payal chimes with every step taken forth as they reach the end of the corridor. Natasha shoved the red velvet curtains, which were lending cover to the swimming pool that was open air but appeared akin to a room with golden mirror-work walls.

The series of pillars lining the corridor, which lent a view, was covered with a curtain, a shove to her sister, and Natasha left from there.

Anvesha steps down the two steps of the staircase, and her eyes searched for Gaurav, but he was nowhere to be seen. Her lips lost their elation, and she lowered her eyes to the pool, carrying her reflection, along with the moon that shone in the darkness of the night. Even in this ethereal room, which had the string lights hanging, reflecting upon the mirror work, she felt gloomy without his presence.

“Aaj Holi hai. Today is Holi.”

The moment the voice came, she lifted her eyes, looking ahead. “Par rangon se door rehna hai. Aap paas nhi, to hridye mein kaisi prasanata. But I must stay away from the colors. When you are not close, how can there be joy in the heart?”

Her eyes welled up, and her lips parted slightly.

“Vaada to kiya tha, har tayohaar saath mein manayenge phir kyun pratiksha phoolon ki pankhuriyon ki tarah murja gayi. Phir kyun karwachauth par aap paas nhi, diwali par aap saath nhi, holi ke rang mein rangna hai par keval aapke rang mein. Diwali aapke saath manani hai, diye aapke saath jalane hai, ghar ko sajana hai, hamare ghar ko. Lohri ke phere lene hai, aapke saath. Aapke saath Puja karni hai jaise vivahit jode karte hai.

Par har ek pal aapki yaad mein jaata hai Gaurav. Sab aapko mri…

You had made a promise that we would celebrate every festival together. Then why did that promise wither away like petals of a flower? Why weren’t you there on Karwa Chauth? Why weren’t you by my side on Diwali?

I want to be drenched in the colors of Holi, but only in your color. I want to celebrate Diwali with you, light the diyas with you, decorate the house — our home.

I want to take the phere of Lohri with you. I want to perform puja with you, like married couples do.

But every single moment passes in your memory, Gaurav. Everyone says that you have di..”

She turned around only to find Gaurav. Tears streamed down her face, knowing that it was a part of numerous letters she had written in all these years to him.

The letters that never got delivered, that were always with her, were now with Gaurav. “Aapko ye…You this…”

“Your sister gave,” Gaurav responded, looking into her eyes. The distance closed with his steps reaching her. The mere sight of tears in her eyes brought a piercing pain in the heart. His thumb brushed against the tears that moistened her face.

“Inn netro mein ek bhi ashru nhi hona chahiye. There should not be a single tear in these eyes.”

“Aapko nhi pta Gaurav wo varsh mere liye kaise the. You don’t know, Gaurav, what those years were like for me.”

A moment arrived when he had the urge to reveal everything to her, but the heftiness of the moment once again kept his lips sealed.

“I wish I could tell you everything, Anvesha,” he thought, hugging her. Anvesha yearned to hug him back, but her mehendi kept her hands away from him.

“Every one of your letters is etched in my heart.”

“Gaurav,” she called him. He pulled her back, and his eyes met hers. Unspoken words were conveyed just by eye contact. In those eyes, he could lose himself; in her smile, he could find his elation. His hand slid to her bare waist, and she was pulled closer in a second.

“Now you are my soon-to-be wife.”

“Soon-to-be?” A mischievous smile appeared on her lips. He pulled her closer, leaving only an inch distance between their lips. “No,” he whispered, leaning closer, but before their lips could meet, Anvesha stepped back, and a giggle escaped her lips.

“I can’t let you go away from me.” He caught her arm, and a twirl landed her captivated in his arms. A spark flew in the air, raising the intensity. The heartbeat fastened, witnessing the closeness for which it yearned for years. His lips brushed against her ear, and the jhumkas chime.

“Now you try going away?” he whispered.

“Who wants to go away from you? I just want to stay in your arms forever, Gaurav— as your wife,” she smiled. A surge of feelings touched her when he planted a kiss at the nape of her neck.

“Gaurav, you haven’t searched for your name,” Anvesha said, turning around toward him. A mischievous glint arrived in her eyes as if challenging him, that he could not find it.

His soft touch found the hold of her forearm, but Anvesha sat down near the pool. It was a fact that she loved teasing him.

“Sit down and take a look. You’ll get tired.”

Comprehending that she just hinted at it taking hours, Gaurav sat next to her and he kept his head in her lap while his hands found the warmth of her arm.

“Found something?”

His eyes scrutinized every design of her mehendi before halting at her heart finger, where his name, carved in Sanskrit, caught his eye.

“Gaurav”, he whispered, looking at her romantically. His fingers traced his name, following which the gentle touch landed just where the mehendi design ended: below the elbow. Even though it was hidden in that intricate design yet he found it. “Do you know, I always wanted to live these moments with you like this, Gaurav.” “And I wanted to see my name in the mehendi on your hands, to see this face every moment, to lose myself in these eyes (but you were very far away, Anvesha… across the border),” he said, keeping the remaining words to him. Anvesha’s gaze shifted to her arm, where he traced a word that brought the redness of blush to her cheeks.

“Hridye,” he uttered.

Holding the papers in her hands, Noor looked at the date, aware of the fact that her visa would expire after 40 days. “Noor baji,” Zainab called her, drawing her attention away. “Khala was asking about you.”

“What did you say?”

“Just that we are in London.”

“Thank You.” Noor smiled at her, but in the depths of her heart, she only desired to meet Gaurav.

“Baji, but what if he doesn’t come with you?”

“I cannot not live without him. He will have to come with me.”

“Baji, the tables have turned. We are in Hindustan, here he has everything—money, power, everything.”

“What I did, I did for my love. Because of me, he came out; otherwise, he would have always remained in jail.”

“But he still believes that you betrayed him.”

“What is his name?”

“Asher Ahmed, no, Gaurav Patial,” she corrected on the recall of the name plate on his uniform.

Zainab’s eyes widened on listening to the name. “Gaurav Patial?” she asked, getting off the bed. “Yaa.”

“I know someone who can arrange a meeting between you and Gaurav,” But soon a realisation hit her. “Baji, he is a Hindu and an Indian.”

Noor looked at her, knowing that her family would never accept it. When they were in Pakistan, everyone knew him as Asher Ahmed; not a single person knew his real name.

6 Years ago,

In the darkness of the prison, he sat leaning his back against the cold walls. Blood rolled down his body from the wounds inflicted on him, but not for a second did he open his mouth. The information within him was crucial, and no matter what happened, he would not utter a word, especially when both countries were at war.

A sudden emergence of footsteps causes him to turn his head to the right side, only to discover her in a burqa, and only her eyes were visible. A strange fear remained in them as her steps reached the prison.

“I am Noor.”

Hey guys,

There are Hindi dialogues, but English translation is there, and instead of putting them in brackets, I have written them next to the Hindi ones. I wanted to keep Hindi ones, because I write my dialogues in Hindi, so ya that's why.

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