Story-Swim

He swam the currents ferociously as if his life depended on it. Nitin was a god fearing man of 24, who knew what he wanted out of life. He had seen life at very close quarters, yet something in him always looked for the good in everyone.

He was racing with his cousin Anita in Phuket. Nitin had just learnt swimming from his best friend Anjana, who was like his twin soul. Anjana was twice his age, yet she behaved as if she was a 6 year old. Nitin brought out the best in her. They made sure they met really often. Anjana was drawn to Nitin like a magnet. His angelic face, his humor, his kindness helped her wipe away her many tears that would never fall. Anjana was single, out of choice. She had chosen to stay that way as she had been hurt really badly once. She did like men, yet had found no one who rose to her standards. She was content at the present moment. She had found someone who understood her like no one ever had, her best friend for life. For Nitin, she was ready to move mountains. He didn’t know this. He would find out years later.

It was a routine day. Nitin awakened to find his flatmate Ankush packing up to leave for his hometown. Nitin took this as one of those things, helped Ankush to the auto and then left for his workplace. Everyone at work looked to Nitin for advise, help with matters personal, help with this punchline, that ad etc. Nitin could charm the lizards off the walls, that was the power he had over women. They did not care about his sexuality or that he preferred men. They just swarmed to him like bees, and he enjoyed the attention.

Every day Nitin would come back, on his way he would stop to speak to some errant, to try reforming them. Many times he would land into trouble, yet he would never care. He knew the world had 2 sides to it, one dark, one light. He looked at the light part in everyone and that allowed him to help many.

Today, Anjana was disturbed. Which meant, Nitin was disturbed. She was sobbing on the phone. Her mother has been very rude to her in front of a lot of people at lunch. Nitin made an excuse at work and rushed to sort Anjana out. He met her at her home, when no one was around, hugged her and helped ease her pain. Calm, Anjana smiled back at him. Nitin went back to work.

Years later he was to remember. He was now 30, heading his own PR firm. He had a lover, his boyfriend Jatin, who was cute, tubby and had the best butt Nitin could ask for. Jatin, Nitin and Anjana would often go out dancing to Shroom. Anjana was hot looking. She had shed her weight and was now a lass, in the true sense. She had no desire to get involved with anyone. She had enough male friends to keep her entertained. Once in a while she would sleep with Vivek, her lover of many years, no strings attached. Vivek was extremely well hung and knew how to please her. He slept with no one else as he loved his Anjie baby. There would be nights of unbridled passion, and Anjana would be screaming someone else’s name. Vivek would always wonder, who this Bikram was.

Bikram was her healer. He had left her life when she had let him know she liked him. Bikram could not handle getting involved with his clients, least of all Anjana. Over the years, he had grown to love her secretly, yet her background stopped him. She hailed from India’s top families, whereas he was from the services industry. Even though he knew she could adjust, something stopped him. He was bitter from his previous marriage and could not afford to get hurt again. So ended that chapter, he finished their sessions and requested her never to contact her again. It hurt, it sure did. Only Nitin could help ease her pain by being a great friend.

It was 7 pm. He stood at the doorway, waiting for his car. A huge truck veered towards the gate. 4 goons sprang out. One of them took out a machine gun and opened fire randomly. It was a terror attack and Nitin happened to be one of the victims. Bleeding profusely, he was rushed to max emergency where stood waiting his family and Anjana. One look at him and Anjana teetered. She knew. This would be a long haul. Nitin did not live with his family. They did love him, his mother did. Nitin never agreed with his father. His father was a bully and always was mean to Nitin. Blood donations were needed, Anjana started rallying all her friends, family, workers around for B+ blood. She was B+ too. It was a long night. Nitin pulled through. The bullet had punctured his right lung, missed the heart with a narrow margin. The doctors heaved a sigh of relief. The story was not over.

The goons were set up by a rival that hated Nitin. It took a lot of string pulling by Anjana to find out who the man was. When she got to know, a phone call was made. The man never set foot in India again. Anjana never let Nitin know what happened.

Nitin eventually left India to join his friend Jatin in Amsterdam. They now live happily. Anjana flies over to visit her best pal. She is now with Harinder, who she met on a flight. They fell in love instantly.

They say friendships never die. This friendship lived. When Nitin and Anjana lost their respective partners, they decided to move together. They lived together forever. When she died, Nitin became a seer. Theirs was a true love story, without the aspect of physical nuances. They had loved each other from the time they had met. Never having had to say much, they had been there for each other. It was a sad day when they realised they could never marry. For this was a marriage surely made in heaven. Through many regressions, they had come to know that they were lovers in their past lives and had been separated. They came together in this life as fiends forever.