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Pehla Nasha: 'She was my best friend'

It may all seem a little funny now and may mean nothing to you beyond a fond memory, but it's fun reminiscing all about your first love!

Today is Valentine's Day, and we've been inviting readers to share stories of their first loves with us. Here is Dr Biswajit Dey's story!

This is a nostalgic journey of a doctor who heals life and an architect who designs dream. We were batch mates at school.

Time flew and we kept shifting from one city to other due to the transferable jobs of our respective parents. Of course that didn't deter us to cease the friendship. We kept in touch with each other through thick and thin, ups and downs, sunshine and darkness an unconditional journey of care, trust and affection. It was not the era of mobiles...being in touch at that times meant only letter and cards... the postman in our locality knew me well because of the eagerness with which I used to enquire: "Sir, is there any letter for me today?".

Life went on. I joined MBBS and she joined Architecture and we had many different spheres of things to share, to discuss, but never got bored of each other. I vividly remember, whenever there would be a boring class, I would sit on one of the back benches, tear the middle sheet of my notebook and write her letter, tell her everything that used to happen around me. My notebook used to loose weight rapidly than me, though I was having a horrible food in hostel -- thanks to my habit of writing letters to her.

I used to stand for hours near the STD booth in queues to talk to her once in a week just to hear her sweet mellow voice.

I never knew what love was ...but for me she was my best friend and I used to share everything with her. Time went on. I was about to finish my internship and she was in her final year.

Once when I called her, she sounded was gloomy. Someone was coming to see her. Her father was looking for alliance for her.

She was supposed to be very excited as she was getting a very good match but she was very very sad.

I felt bitterness too. I didn't know why. She found a reason to turn down the alliance saying she wanted to study further. Few days later I realised that she was an inevitable part of my life.

There was no formal proposal. I told her "I am ready to walk with you all through life in ups and downs. Will you join me?"

She was silent for few days. My heart almost stopped. I'd risked friendship but God never says no to something, which is pure. She said yes!

A golden chapter of my life added. But the story didn't end here. Nothing is complete without the blessings of the parents.

We formally expressed our wish to marry each other to our respective parents. Certainly there had to be disagreement since we belonged to different castes but we never got agitated nor did we lose our cool nor did we try to blackmail them emotionally.

Nothing is complete without the blessings of parents. We trusted each other and believed that our respect for them will melt their hearts.

That finally happened and they happily agreed for the marriage.

We walked down the aisle and got tied in the bond of love and marriage on March 12, 2009 and are now blessed with a son.

Share your 'First Love' stories with us! Write in to us at getahead@rediff.co.in (subject line: 'My First Love'). You can also include a photograph and we'll publish the best entries right here on rediff.com!

'She was angry and turned me down'

Next up, Sushil shares his story:

This was in 1997. My family was invited for a relative's marriage at our ancestral village in Gujarat. I was 22 years then.

We stayed at our relative's place during the entire marriage. In Gujaratis, entire marriage ceremony spans a week with a range of functions every night prior to the actual marriage. Each function is followed by dinner.

During one such ceremony post marriage, we gathered at our relative's bungalow garden for the dinner. I spotted a pretty girl in beautiful green dress having dinner. She was accompanied by her sister.

I used to have a glance at her while having dinner and while talking to my parents. My parents were totally unaware about it.

On the day of marriage, we all take out a procession in Gujaratis, on our way to marriage hall.

We play Garba-Dandia during such processions on the street. During this procession, I spotted this girl dancing very beautifully in a pink chaniya choli.

I was awestruck with the way she danced throughout procession. She was accompanied by her sister during the dance as well. She looked really beautiful and was praised for her wonderful dance. I watched her throughout the procession and by the time we reached marriage hall, I was awestruck by her beauty and her dance.

I had decided to talk to her at least once. But I could not gather courage to ask anybody about her name or background. I kept watching her throughout the marriage ceremony and was completely in love with her beauty and simplicity by the end of ceremony.

Next day, since it was a small village, I kept searching for her throughout the village wherever we went but I could not spot her. Disappointed, we left for our hometown. I could not tell my feelings to my parents as I was shy and also afraid. After returning, I was supposed to leave for Mumbai to attend my office. But, I was missing this girl so much that I started feeling uneasy, complained of headache and decided to bunk office on that day. When my parents left for work, I could not wait and finally I informed my sister about my feelings.

She was excited and informed my parents about it when they returned from work.

They asked me about her name and her parents/background but i had absolutely no information.

Finally we decided to call our common relative whose marriage we attended.

After calling them we came to know about her family but there was confusion which one out of the two girls I was interested in. Finally at another function, which she was supposed to attend with her family, I was also invited and was asked to identify her out of two sisters. I identified the girl.

Her name was Neha. This girl was informed about the same after I left. She was miffed and disappointed with the fact that she wasn't informed while everybody attending function knew about it.

In this anger, she denied and turned down the proposal when our common family friend asked her. This news came to me and I was shattered.

I coped up with the fact and got busy with my career. During September 1997, I again visited our ancestral village where I fasted for eight days during our Jain festival. This is considered to be a good feat in our religion.

People started noticing me, followed by multiple proposals for the alliance. Somehow, I could not make my mind and I declined all the proposals. During this stay, the Aunt of this girl (Neha) was also present and she too was impressed by my fast and behaviour towards my parents and elders.

She immediately went back and called the girl's father since they were looking for an eligible boy for her alliance.

Soon, we received proposal from them. My father was not keen now but somehow my mother convinced him and broke the news to me.

I was in a different world!!! I was delighted and extremely happy.

Soon, first meeting was arranged where both boy and girl are allowed to meet each other and decide if they feel compatible.

After this meeting, I was eagerly waiting for the reply but could not gather courage to query my parents about girls reply. Every passing moment was getting difficult and I started getting restless.

I could not perform well at my workplace and my boss and colleagues used to make fun of me and at the same time convince me that everything will be okay.

Finally, after a gap of approximately a week after the first meeting, I was told that the girl wants to have a second meeting before coming to any decision.

Incidentally, on the day of meeting, I had an online certification exam, which was supposed to be of 2 hours duration. I completed exam in just 45 minutes, in the excitement and left for home immediately.

I used spare the spare one hour to get ready and we reached girl's place before time.

We had a second meeting and she accepted my proposal during the meet.

By now, I was so excited and felt every thing in the world was topsy-turvy.

Her sister added to this excitement by asking me to take Neha on a bike ride. Our parents sat together and finalised our marriage.

We are happily married for last 13 years now and have two beautiful kids. We are so much in love with each other that people feel amused how can we still have so much warmth and love for each other even after 13 years of marriage. We respect each other and give space to each other that keeps us happy.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh

'For her I was just another guy'

John shares with us tale of his first love:

I was taking my 12th Science board exam, and it was the first paper of Biology, I saw a girl taking exam some rows back.

She looked very cute and it was like something happened and I kept looking at her throughout the exams, because as such I didn't understand the questions in my paper.

I failed badly had to opt for general stream (she was not the reason though).

Just like me she too had failed and took commerce and had gone to Mumbai for further studies.

Her friend Anu, was my best friend and we were together in college. So Anu would always tell me about her being in Mumbai and her visits to Ahmedabad in vacation.

Then after six years she came to Ahmedabad and I came to know through Anu. I got her contact no, added her on Orkut, but as you know she never knew about me.

I never asked my friend Anu to tell her about me but was always curious to know about her. I used to go near her place on weekends just by chance I may meet her, I knew she stayed somewhere in that locality.

I then once saw her at National Handloom and as I was about to approach her I saw her mom. I saw her for the first time after that day in exam but recognised her at the first go.

I then called her once but she was hardly interested in talking to me because for her I was any other guy.

Still I pursued her just to be friends, but she never reverted to my calls or messages.

So I stopped contacting her disappointed and feeling sad. Then on July 29, 2009 she came to my office for interview and I met her for the first time.

She got selected and then it has been till date the best time of my life.

We became friends and she was surprised to know I wanted to meet her for so long. We met for the first time at CCD and then on October 25, 2009 we shared our feelings and then it has been a great time together.

Our first Valentine's Day together was great she gifted me a watch, which I always wear, chocolates and a card. As you know its such a great thing I had lost all hope of meeting her but here she is with me my love my companion for life. There are some problems related to marriage but hope things work out. We are together for the rest of our life.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh

'He's my rising sun'

Finally, Archana Kadam writes in:

Year/Month: 2008, October
Venue: Mobile2Win India Pvt Ltd, Mumbai

"Love doesn't make the world go round, love is what makes the ride worthwhile". And, I was on the hunt to get on to such a ride...

I set off on one such merry-go-round ride! It was October 27, 2008 I joined M2W as a Creative Writer. My work involved interaction with several departments.

Months passed by, I got acclimatized to my new role and responsibilities. Come December 2008, one fine day, my colleague took me along to introduce me to someone sitting in the adjacent cubicle.

As I walked past it, a frisson of mirth coupled with fear sent a shiver down my spine. I saw a 26-something shy fellow dressed in a checked shirt paired with black trousers, glaring at the PC.

My heart skipped a beat. As I extended my hand to greet him, I could sense the adrenaline rush pumping. His chivalry and gentlemanly-ways charmed me.

After a quick talk on work, I went back to my seat pondering over the 'instant' vibe I got when I first saw him. Days passed by, his thoughts occupied my mind, the hurry to reach work ASAP just to catch a 1st glimpse of him.

In and between coffee breaks, lunch breaks, I would often steal a glance at him. There was something magnetic about him. Slowly, as fate would have it, we exchanged mails, (read: strictly official). Can't explain the joy I would feel when i received a 'pop-up' in my mailbox reading "You've got mail from Uday Kadam'', the longing I felt to have him around me, the long-wait to see him return from lunch, the excitement was unparalleled.

Our interactions grew more and more. And, everyday, coming to work was fun just because of his presence.

We shared a warm camaraderie. I was the 'motormouth', garrulous chatterbox and he was bashful, a man of few words. I would crave to have those unending phone chats, late night calls (as portrayed in films) with him.

Come May 2009, we started exchanging smiles and the casual hi-byes'. One fine day, while I was lost in thoughts, a 'ping' on my IP messenger tok me by surprise.

It was Uday at the other end and the line 'Can I have your no. if you don't mind' made me jump out of my seat with joy. I pinched myself If i was wool-gathering. I was more than excited like a teeny bopper to share my no. and e-mail Id.

Having him on my chat list as 'AVAILABLE' was greater a joy for me than conquering Mt.Everest!

I would eagerly wait to see him log in everyday. Third week of May, on a Friday as I was about to wind up for the weekend with a heavy heart for I was gonna miss seeing him till Monday, Uday asked me If I could accompany him to Dadar Chowpatty just for a stroll.

'Sure, Sure, Why Not, When, What time are you leaving', I replied.

I was waiting for the clock to strike 6.30 pm. I waited for him near the lift and my heart skipped another beat to see him enter the lift. I was on cloud 9!

We quickly took a cab to Chowpatty and the setting seemed perfect for him to pop the question. But wait.. Did he feel the same about me?

My mind was flooded with ambivalent thoughts of 'he loves me, he loves me not'.

We spoke casually about work and stuff. It was 7.30 and time to rush home and I dragged myself to leave the place without him. He dropped me at the station. This happened almost thrice a week. Walk on the beach, 'that uneasy silence' between us.

The next morning (Saturday), I was at home curled up on the couch watching the IPL final between Royal Challengers and Rajasthan Royals.

My cellphone beeped with '1 message received-Uday'. Uhh, those typical SMS forwards on friendship, how boring, I sighed! I replied him back with a similar forward and thus started our SMS chats bordering on who will take home the IPL trophy?

We decided to bet and our SMSs stopped for a while as the match was nearing a nail-biting finish. I lost the bet! It was around 12 pm, the post-match presentation ceremony was over, when my cellphone beeped again. I was pleasantly surprised to see Uday up this time!

He smsd' 'You lost, now, you have to stick to your promise and give me what I ask for'. I was game. He asked me if he could call me at this hour. (Arre jaldi call, I m waiting to hear you', I said to myself').

Uday and I spoke for around 20 mins when his balance came to a naught! I must have cursed the operators! I chose to call him back so that our baatein doesn't end.

And we talked 19 to a dozen on my family, work, my hobbies, interests. I asked him, what does he want, now that I have lost the bet.

After those 'kuch nahi chahiye', I cajoled him, goaded him to worm out if he was hinting at 'love'

Till 5.30, he kept me waiting, a fuming me decided to hung up, when he mustered up the guts to say 'he likes me'. I frowned.. 'Only likes'?!

Shay!

And I pretended to be an innocent lamb throwing those girly nakhras 'u like me, so what?'.. And, there he came to the point! With a lump in his throat, he ultimately popped the question!

It was Utopia! And, without blinking an eyelid, I said, Itna Time Bolneko Laga'! And, We were in love! It was 5.30 am.

I didn't mind if Vodafone charged me a bomb that day for speaking from 12 to 5!

I couldn't sleep. I was restless to see him in the morning now that we were 'officially' an 'item'!

We became the hot topic for curious cats and peeping toms in office.

We enjoyed every bit of our courtship though I was the uber-romantic out of the two and he was the non-filmy fella! 

I wanted the 'Take-home-to-Mamma' boy to meet my parents. He met them, they gave us their nod. A cherry on the cake! Time flew!

We got engaged on the same day he proposed me a year earlier- May 2010! And the rest they say is, History! We tied the nuptial knot on December 27, 2010!

As I pen down my love story, I am flipping through the pages of my secret dairy poured in with all the feelings I felt for him when he was oblivious of my love for him.

I still feel an unbridled excitement when he's around, the same longing to see him till he returns home from work. We work at different places now but no regrets, as he's all mine now 'officially'!

Let me conclude with Robert Charron's lines "A new start with hammering heart, we colour the world with our dream, nothing is as it did seem, the darkness of my solitude is done, he's my rising sun.'