Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Every love story has its own peculiar flavour. Because everyone experiences love, each in his or her own way. This is a 1947 love story that can be told quite briefly. It is a boy-meets-girl story.
The moment Rajni saw Pankaj, she knew he was her man. Her parents and the boy8217;s parents also approved of the match. But the very next day, even before their engagement could take place, destiny intervened.
Riots broke out in the city. Lahore was in flames. Brothers were separated from sisters, sons and daughters from parents, husbands from wives, friends from friends. It was a tragic moment in our history.
Some were lucky. They were later reunited with their dear ones on both sides of the border. But Rajni got no news of Pankaj. So she took a vow never to marry if she did not find him. She took up a job and learnt to live on her own. Marriage proposals came her way. There was persistent pressure from her parents, relatives and friends to marry and settle down. But nothing could make her change her mind. The years passed. People stopped talking to Rajni about marriage.
Thirty years later she was still single. But she was now head of the organisation where she was employed. Once, while on vacation in Bombay, she was dining in a hotel when she noticed a man seated two tables away from hers, staring intensely at her. She felt a little uneasy at his impudence. After a few minutes, when she glanced his way again, she found that he was still looking in her direction. But this time she found something vaguely familiar about him. After a while, the man got up and walked up to her, 8220;Excuse me,8221; he said, 8220;are you Rajni?8221; Her heart missed a beat. It was Pankaj! Was it a dream? Was it reality? After 30 long and lonely years! Could it be true?
As they sat talking that evening, what emerged was something that happens only in fairly tales. Like her, Pankaj too had remained single. As they looked at each other, it was hard to tell whether she was his Valentine or he, hers!
