# 14 - Vichitra and Chanchal - IV

Vichitra was of course upset about the latest development but he chose to ignore it. He and Chanchal continued talking to each other the way they had always been. In fact if more than anything else, their friendship only strengthened out of this.

Two weeks after Chanchal called up at night.

‘Hey what’s up?’ chirped in Chanchal.

‘Hmm… nothing much! I am reading a book’ replied Vichitra.

‘Okay… which one?’ Chanchal sounded very happy.

‘One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez’

‘I haven’t read any of his novels but I have heard he writes very well.’

‘I think he writes amazing. I’m about to finish reading this and then I am going to read all of his books.’

‘You like this book so much?’

‘Yeah… even you should read it. I will lend it to you when I’m done with it.’

Vichitra hated to lend his books to anyone. Still he had agreed to do exactly this.

‘Vichitra, can I ask you something?’

‘Yeah tell me?’

‘How do you two-time?’

Chanchal would often come up with questions which would baffle Vichitra outright. And more often than not every such question was more lethal than the previous one. But this was too much – asking a single guy how to two-time.

Unsurprisingly Vichitra was bewildered. Here he was trying to woo her with all he could and she was talking of two-timing; how ridiculous?

Anyways he laughed it off and let the conversation move on.

‘Hehe… you are asking the wrong person! I have never had the opportunity to do even one-timing and you are asking me about two? Well I don’t know.’

‘I thought you must be knowing this’ questioningly said Chanchal.

Somehow Chanchal had the impression that Vichitra knew everything; after all wasn’t he supposed to know everything? He was already working and had seen more years of life than her. She trusted him so much that she liked to consult him even on the tiniest of matters.

Even Vichitra hadn’t hidden anything from her ever. But still he just couldn’t understand where did she get all the crazy ideas from?

‘I got to tell you this. I have started liking one more guy’ casually said Chanchal.

‘One more? What happened to Shararati?’ asked Vichitra in a subdued tone of angry surprise.

‘I don’t like him anymore.’

‘Didn’t you say you were in love with him?’

‘Yeah… I was but not anymore. I can’t stand his lame jokes… he just keeps looking at me and doesn’t even understand a word of what I say… he is a dumbo.’

Vichitra had anyways always considered him to be a dumbo. He was delighted to hear this from Chanchal. One thing was still puzzling him - why did she then go for him?

‘So why were you going around with him?’ asked Vichitra enquiringly.

‘Arre… I don’t know… may be I liked him.’

‘Alright, I think you better decide who you like and who you don’t?’ sternly said Vichitra. He didn’t like all this.

‘I have decided’ replied Chanchal equally sternly.

Vichitra had started to dread this sentence. Whenever she had just said that she had decided it had spelled trouble for him.

‘What?’ reluctantly asked Vichitra.

‘I am going to dump Shararati.’

Vichitra was so much relieved to hear this. He thought that the story was over finally.

‘Good decision. I am glad to hear that’ approvingly said Vichitra.

Vichitra had a long day at office, and he was feeling very sleepy now.

‘Alright good night, we’ll talk tomorrow.’

‘Wait! I wanted to tell you something’ excitedly said Chanchal.

Vichitra yawned and replied drowsily ‘Tell me…’

‘I am going around with Vinay.’

This statement was like a shock to Vichitra. In a moment he lost all his sleep.

‘Already?’

‘It’s been a week now. And today he offered me a ride on his bike.’

Just when Vichitra thought that things were back on track they had gone astray again.

‘Why are you telling this to me?’

‘Cos you are my best friend’

Vichitra was speechless. He had never really understood what being a best friend meant. He was definitely very angry, and he wanted to blast out at her. Anyways he had never ever lost his temper in front of Chanchal and neither would he tonight.

‘Hmm… what do I say? You have always done whatever you have liked to do. I think I’d better go to sleep now. I gotta reach office early tomorrow.’

‘Good night’

‘Good night teddy bear’ Chanchal was still cheerful.

Vichitra knew things were slipping from right under his nose.

He couldn’t let all this happen anymore.


© 2007 Ankur Shanker
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