“What do guys gift girls’ man?” I called my friend on his mobile. I was at Archies, Jubilee hills and I have come to pick a gift for a girl whom I have never seen till date.

I met her for the first time in a yahoo chat room. She was under an alias id Megha. We were making fun of another guy in a public room. After a few minutes I privately pinged her. And she introduced herself as Megha. And then started our chat session.
Initially she made fun of me. And of course I too cut jokes from my end. I have to do something extraordinary to impress her. I had no girl friend. This was the first time ever I was talking to a girl and she was responding to me so well.

Then she gave me her mobile number but asked me to SMS her, as it’s her mom’s mobile. And I used to SMS her from my dad’s mobile. And slowly I started to call her.

We used to speak for hours together on the phone and obviously at the night. One day I kissed her over the phone, and then started the love in between us. Of course we never proposed each other openly but going by the closeness between us, we knew that some kinda relationship was brewing in between us.

And one fine day she said the magic word, “I Love you”

I have never seen her till date and neither did she. Perhaps this is the magic of love. Perhaps love is a matter of hearts rather than outer appearances alone. And this went on for a few months. All our friends used to ask us, “What is this kinda love?” A smile of mine used to dismiss those comments.

And today after a few months I have decided to meet her. And I wanted to gift her something nice, sweet and that really showed my love towards her.

“You’re my heart, You’re my soul, I will keep it shining everywhere I go…” was being played. My mind danced to these tunes when my gaze fell on a teddy bear. ‘So beautiful and so cute!!’ I thought. And I knew what I was going to gift her.

I was waiting for her at HPS, Begumpet. Just then an auto arrived and she alighted from the auto. She was so damn beautiful. And I looked average. “Is she gonna accept me?” I thought. She came close to me and kissed me on my forehead in front of every one, hence proving her love towards me. And the normal lovey dovey stuff went on.

“This is for you,” I gave her the brown teddy bear. “Thank you so much,” she said. ‘Perhaps she has a penchant for teddies’, I thought.

Five years later….

I was still lying lazy on my bed. “Wake up Sanju,” she said. “No don’t pull the quilt,” I said, “I am n’t wearing anything inside”
“Big deal,” she said as she slowly slipped under the quilt.

“Mummy…” a cute voice from behind the door called when she immediately moved out from the bed and proceeded to walk towards the door. It was my three year old daughter, Megha.

Yes, I haven’t married Megha.

Five years earlier….

“My mom checked her mobile yesterday. And she saw the SMSes you sent. She was so furious with me,” she said.

“I asked you to delete the messages, right?”

“Sanju, Please listen da. Perhaps this is the last time I will be talking to you. I am so sorry that it is because of me that this relationship is coming to an end. My parents want me to marry a guy of their choice. Both of the threatened me by saying that they would end their lives if I married you.”

“I don’t want something to happen to them.”

“But…” I tried to stop her. ‘What mistake did I do? It was you who proposed to me first, and it was you who’s asking to stop this,’ I thought.

“You can’t convince them Sanju. Please forget me. I know this will hurt you a lot. But I am also suffering at this end. I am so sorry…” were the last words from her before she kissed over the phone and cut the call.
I might have been with her, physically for a very short while but I am so attached to her. Our eyes wouldn’t have met, but our hearts have definitely.
But as the saying goes, ‘Man proposes and God, disposes’

Life has to go on. For almost one and half year I suffered. I was never angry with her. Poor thing, she also must have been suffering. After that I married another girl, a girl of my parents choice. An year later, we had a daughter and I named her Megha, cos Megha wasn’t a name alone. She was my life. She was my first love. Unforeseen circumstances might have separated us, but still in some corner of my heart, I still felt that I loved her.

But that din’t deter me from loving my wife. I loved her the same. But first love is always first love. So sweet and so heart wrenching.
“Please take and bath and come. Today is Megha’s birthday and we’ll go and celebrate at Park Inn,” my wife said.

“Come here my baby,” I beckoned Megha and kissed her on her forehead and cheeks and wished her, ”Many many happy returns of the day” and there was a kinda shyness in my cute baby’s face.

We reached Park Inn by around 12:30PM and were sitting at a table when I heard a squeaking sound. I turned in that direction when I saw a small boy around 2 years old walking towards our table.

“My heart burdened as I heard a voice calling, Sanju. There was a certain familiarity in the voice. I looked around and saw a woman calling the small boy.”

For the first time in a few years I saw her again.

Even before I tried to speak to her, our kids started fighting and we had to look into the issue.

Our baby girl was pulling the teddy from the baby boy’s hand.

“No ma, you shouldn’t pull toys from other kids,” I said, “say a sorry to that boy”

In the meanwhile my ex-girl friend Megha said, “No problem sir. Your kid can keep the toy. After all, it’s reached the place where it is supposed to be”

And she lifted the baby boy into her arms and asked him to give the teddy to my daughter. That was the same teddy I have given her the first time I met her five years back.

“Please ma’am, the kid will feel bad,” I told her.

“My boy is hurt for the time being, He will be alright in some time,” and she looked at me. Her eyes indicated me the analogy. “But the teddy which hurt my child was making me feel what I lost once and for all. It made me guilty. I am not good enough to keep it. I can neither throw it, not give it off to some one else. It finally is back to the same person who gave it to me,” she finished and started to walk away from the place holding the kid in one hand and wiping tears with another.