You Are The Password To My Life Part 13

Rohan was stunned by what she had just told her. Though she was his past now and he had moved on with his life, he felt the situation could have been handled in a better fas.h.i.+on had she mentioned it once to him. We are so quick in judging another person that we hardly think there could be another reason for the decisions they take. Rohan never thought that this could be the reason why Zoya would separate from him. He shut his eyes and prayed for forgiveness for having taken her wrongly.

I am already tense so please don't make me weaker. You are my strength and you should always smile. I even talked to your sister about it and she too agrees with me. Rohan, please understand that we just can't be together. Remember, someone somewhere is happy knowing that you are happy. So always smile and work hard achieve your dreams.

He recollected everything she had told him. But he was still angry at Zoya for not having told him the truth. How could she face such a trauma all alone? She always wanted him to grow in life and love someone who loved him more than her.

Her words echoed in his ears: Listen, look for a girlfriend who loves you, and don't go for just looks. She should be able to take care of you in hard times and understand your needs. Got it? Promise me that you will inform me when you will find her.

Mehak got up from her seat and sat beside Rohan holding his hand, comforting him.

'Virat had even planned to book your tickets to s.h.i.+mla so that you could meet her once.'

'That means you know where she is in s.h.i.+mla?' Rohan stammered.

'Yes.'

'Rohan you should meet Zoya once,' Kavya added.

'Even you knew about it?'

'Yes. Virat had told me that he was going to tell you all about it that evening. I was proud that he had taken the right decision and supported him. You should be happy that you had a friend like him,' Kavya smiled.

Rohan stared at her, and then turned towards Mahek. She smiled and nodded her head in support. It was Virat's wish too, which sadly turned out to be one of his last wishes. Both Kavya and Mahek tried to cheer him up and asked him to go to meet Zoya once. Rohan was confused whether Riddhima would agree to it or not. Kavya made him understand that Riddhima loved him with a true heart and would gladly let him go.

Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes we can figure out the reason in time and sometimes not.

He told everything to Riddhima that evening after her cla.s.ses.

'I trust you' she said without hesitation. It was then that he realized that 'I trust you' made him feel better than 'I love you'. True love is not about those phone calls or kiss emoticons that are sent through messages, but it is the silent smiles and knowing your other half better than yourself. Riddhima gave Rohan a tight warm hug for keeping faith in her and telling her about Zoya like he used to before their relations.h.i.+p.

One should never blame their love without knowing the whole reality behind their decision. Zoya had shown a different side of true love by opting to move out of Rohan's life and now it was his turn to fulfil the promise that Zoya had asked him to keep; to inform her when he finds someone who could take care of him in hard times and understand his needs. Rohan and Riddhima decided to go to s.h.i.+mla to meet Zoya one last time.

2nd March, 2010 Pune Airport 'Just think what would've happened had Virat never come into our lives and enriched it the way he did?' Rohan asked Riddhimaas they sat in the waiting lounge.

'Maybe, life isn't about finding your other half. Maybe, it's about finding yourself. I am happy that he brought so many positive changes in you. Mehak lost the love of her life and I know it feels terrible, but today she is smiling because she found a wonderful a brother in you who is more than a friend to her. Kavya, too got a friend in you. I love you so much for being a real man,' Riddhima smiled.

It's not easy to handle one woman at a time and Rohan was handling three of them! He was playing the role of a friend, a brother and a lover, flawlessly. He was madly in love with Riddhima but had never made it his weakness. They waited at the airport to board their flight to s.h.i.+mla and thought of how different life would've been had Virat not been a part of it. There is a reason why we meet every person in our lives. Some test you, some use you, some teach you a lesson, while some bring out the best or worst in you. Virat had transformed Rohan as a person completely, and had unlocked the pa.s.sword to his life. Wherever he is now, he'd be smiling looking down at them. Even Mehak and Kavya had understood that the past can never come back, even if we cling on to it too tightly. So it's best to let go.

Moving on is never easy but sometimes it's necessary!

Epilogue.

Almost half a decade has pa.s.sed since Virat's death and Mehak has now started her own salsa training cla.s.ses after completing her graduation. She is soon going to start her own event management company.

At times she misses Virat's presence while teaching dance to her students but his absence doesn't let her down but encourages her to do well in life.

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 occa.s.sionally 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 s.h.i.+mla 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 s.h.i.+mla 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 friends.h.i.+p 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 c.r.a.p, 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 s.n.a.t.c.h the smile from her face.

Is this the end? Nah! It's just the beginning of a lifetime of friends.h.i.+p. Don't let life pa.s.s 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.

Friends.h.i.+p 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 friends.h.i.+p.

He knew friends.h.i.+p 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 friends.h.i.+p is the only 's.h.i.+p' 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 ma.n.u.script 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 G.o.d, 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!.

THE BEGINNING.

end.