A Girl from London : Episode-2

Kolkata

Kolkata the “City with a Soul”. After ages Diya has just landed in India, it gave a nostalgia feeling, she is in the city where her past was attached and she is prepared to confront it. It was one of the boldest steps which she can take in her entire life.

While they just came out of the Airport, she was eager and worried at the same time, but in that confusion, she was glad that she has Indu with her. While Diya just stood with confusion, what is she going to do further or how she is going to manage this idea, Indu saw this and asked her.

“What happened Diya? Are you fine? Looks like you are thinking about something”.

“It’s nothing! I am just excited and worried at the same time,” said Diya.

“What is it about? Look Diya we have just come out of transit and it takes an hour for the cab to come and pick us, so I think we have time to talk about this and sort this out, so let me know what is annoying you?”.

“I was excited about this at first, but deep down I feel that is this going to end well or will I be able to deal with this. You know right, this city reminds me of my past, on one side I feel like visiting all the places that I had missed in past 13 years, but at another side, I feel like this city might get me closer to all those things which happened with me in the past.”

“I know what you had gone through Diya, but trust me you will be fine. You have to face certain things, once we go back to London, I do not want you to worry about your past anymore, you should get out of this and it is your only chance to do so,” said Indu by assuring Diya.

“I hope so Indu, but I think it takes some time for me to get over this and I am happy that you are with me,” said Diya, but still deep inside she is worried what is ahead of her, but little did she know that Kolkata is going to rewrite her life.

After some time, the cab had picked them up from the Airport. Kolkata the city of vast culture and diversity, anybody who comes to visit Kolkata becomes part of the city. The Aura of the city is much more unique than any other city in India, it is not only the city of technology, it is also well known for its Religion diversity.

On the way to their room, Diya was very cheerful to be in Kolkata, all those roads and the Howrah bridge excited her. It was her childhood memories, she was excited to look forward to what more Kolkata reveals to her in this journey.

After some journey with the traffic they had reached their hostel, their room was on the top floor of that building, if they open the screens of the window, they were able to see entire Kolkata and at a distance, they had the glimpse of Howrah bridge.

“I hope you guys like the room, this the best room we have, your grandfather was very detailed about your stay so we managed to arrange this for you, and you guys have Amoditha as your roommate also. She works in a software company so she will come to the room by 8 pm, till then you guy make yourself comfortable.” Said the warden and went from the room.

After making themselves comfortable Diya called her grandparents, they were somewhat worried about her, but she assured them not to worry and that she will be fine. She managed to fit herself into the situation, she just loved the view of the city so she set her bed near the balcony so that she can have a clear view of the city.

It’s been around 8 pm and her new roommate Amoditha has arrived.

“It’s Indu and Diya, right? Hey, I am Amoditha, it’s been nice meeting you guys, I guess we are going to stay here for the next 6 months. “said Amoditha with an exciting and friendly tone.

“Yes, we are and it’s nice to meet you too,” said Diya

“So, you guys came for your higher studies, right?”

“Yes, we came here for a degree in Indian literature,” said Diya

“Wow, Indian Literature seriously! since when did NRI’s been interested in Indian literature?” said Amoditha with a surprised tone.

“Well, that depends upon the NRI’s you know, I am an NRI but Diya is not, she was born in Kolkata and stayed here till her 7th Birthday”. said Indu.

“That means she is a Bengali, nice ‘Eta apanara sathe maja karate habe’,”

“Pardon me! I didn’t get exactly what you said”.

“I thought that you would know Bengali, it means ‘It’s going to be fun with you around’, it’s Kolkata Diya don’t worry I bet you will recollect your Bengali once you get comfortable with this city.”

The new roommate was fun to be around she was friendly, straight forward and sarcastic at the same time, it was the first day for Diya in Kolkata, she had fallen in love with the city while she was sleeping she could see the whole city through the balcony, those bright lights and the ambiance of the city, she started to imagine about how life would be if she lived in Kolkata. If everything was right, she would be living in Kolkata like Amoditha, a typical Bengali girl, all these thoughts were somewhere deep inside Diya in that peaceful night.

The very next day It was the first day for their college, both Indu and Diya are excited about this. Diya just heard all the stories of India and its literature from her father and her Grandpa, but for this time she was going to learn it for herself, she was excited to know more about India and especially Kolkata.

“It’s your first day for your college, right?”

“yes, it is and we are not even familiar with the address”

“Oh, do not worry it's my week off actually so if you guys are ok with it, I can come with you and make sure you guys reach there safe and can manage for yourselves from tomorrow.”

“That would be great! I mean you are welcome but, what would you do after we go to college, I think it will be an inconvenience for you, do not worry we will manage,” said Indu.

“I am completely fine actually I need to go out with my boyfriend and your college is on the way. So, after you guys go to your college, we will go out somewhere, if you guys are ok, I can come with you or I can just call him here to pick me up.”

“If in that case maybe you could help us, and we get to meet your boyfriend also,” said Diya.

“That sounds great so, are you guys ready.”

All the three had boarded the tram and officially for that day Amoditha was there guide for the city “This is the tram, you will find this as the main transportation in Kolkata, we most commonly use this or if you want you can use the public buses also.”

It was indeed the first time for Indu, but for Diya, it’s not her first time. In childhood, she used to love tram’s, so her father used to take her out every Sunday on the tram, Diya has lots of memories, for a second she got distracted in those memories, she can hear someone calling her name.

“Diya we are here, we need to get down,” said Indu.

“Here you go, this is your university. I think you guys can manage from here.”

By that time Amoditha’s boyfriend was waiting for her for the past 30 mins over there.

“Finally, you are here, why are you so late Amoditha, you are always doing this and I have to wait in this scorching sun for hours,” said Vaibhav with a frustrating tone.

“I am sorry Vaibhav, it’s their first day for college so I was showing them way around to the hostel so that they can manage from tomorrow and why are you being so rude?”

“That’s ok I will talk to you about this later first let me meet my guests, Hello, this is Vaibhav and its nice meeting you both”.

“Hello Vaibhav, I am Diya and this is Indu the pleasure is ours to meet you it’s been just one day with Amoditha for us but she was always talking about you”.

“Yes, I know she is a crazy girl to be around with her, “said Vaibhav sarcastically.

“Oh, so now I am crazy, then why are you dating a crazy girl go away.”

“Ok come on! I was just joking, you guys please don’t mind, this is how we talk, I am sure that you people will get used to this and for now, we will leave and meet again soon, bye, come on Amoditha lets go,” said Vaibhav.

“Sure,” said Diya.

After that Diya and Indu went to the first day of their class. As that was the starting day there were no lectures on that day it was a basic introduction class for freshers. In no time Diya made new friends, that’s how she is, she gets friendly with people with ease.

The daily routine of Diya would be college and if it was a day off Diya and Indu would go for a walk on Howrah bridge and roam around Kolkata, sometimes they spend time with Vaibhav and Amoditha, in a very short span they became good friends, as days passed on she was growing fond for all those sweets, places and people in Kolkata.

After 3 months:

Days and months had passed and Diya started to feel like she belongs to Kolkata, that’s what the magic of “The city with a soul”, and she was in her college as usual. The lecture was about Rabindranath Tagore, his writing style and vision made a different perception for her in literature.

“So that’s all for today and you people know you’ve completed half of your course and I am very much satisfied with this batch. It’s time for your thesis, I’d suggest that you guys split into a batch of 6 people and do some research in Indian border countries about their culture and literature, please do submit your team's name and the countries by the end of the week” said their professor.

The whole class split into 4 teams each with 6 members and they began to discuss about the thesis.

“So guys, what do you think we’re should we go for the thesis?” said one of her teammates

“We have several options like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, I don’t think that we can manage with Sri Lanka as we do not know Tamil,” said Indu.

After a long conversation, the whole team agreed to do a thesis on Nepal literature. They gave the details to the professor and they began to prepare for their trip, all the tickets were booked and the trip was all set.

Meanwhile, Diya and Indu are packing for the trip.

“Nepal! are you serious Indu, how many days the trip would be?” asked Amoditha with excitement.

“It might be around a week or two we need to go to many places and do some research first and moreover it’s like a college trip so on the brighter side there will be fun too,” said Indu.

“You guys know what? I am going to Kathmandu with Vaibhav and his friends. Its moreover a road trip.”

“So, you are telling me that you people are going on a road trip to Nepal!. Are you guys serious? how can you manage?” asked Diya.

“Oh, do not worry there is a friend of Vaibhav who does these regularly if he feels low, he would go for a road trip so he is guiding us for this trip”.

“That must be crazy unrestricted wanderer soul, I would like to go on a trip like that, we will try that someday while I am in India, “said Diya.

“Yes, that would be great if there is a possibility, we will meet you in Nepal,” said Amoditha.

“Sure, we would love to.”

Diya had packed her suitcase for the trip and they all met at the airport. The team members were very excited about the trip, of course, she is also excited about the trip.

After a flight of 3 hours, they landed in Nepal “The land of Buddhism and Tibetian”. It is one of the most peaceful countries with a vast culture and diversity. Their first stop in the trip was Lumbini according to Buddhist tradition it was the birthplace of Gautama Buddha. It is also considered as pivotal to the life of the Buddha; there they came to know in detail about Buddhism which was a big help for their thesis. There were some doubts for the team whether Nepal is the best option for their thesis. But once they came to know about the history of Nepal this trip was worth it.

The trip was included with several places like Butwal, Birendranagar, Nepalgunj and last they were in Pokhara. It is the second-largest city of Nepal, finally, after a lot of effort and hard work of 3 weeks their thesis was finished.

“Finally, we did it I think the professor would be more than satisfied with our thesis, and coming to Nepal is one the best things of my life,” said Indu.

“Yes, I am totally in love with this country. They have their uniqueness in every aspect and now my perception of Nepal has been changed,” said Diya.

There was someone at the door, Indu went to open the door and she was surprised to see Varun at the door.

“Oh my god you are here I cannot believe it,” said Indu with a surprised and emotional voice

They hugged each other “It’s been 4 months and your Mr. Sensitive began to miss you more than he thought so, he caught the next possible flight to India and from there to Nepal” said Varun.

“Diya! You know that Varun would be coming here right” asked Indu.

“Yes, of course, you dumbo, then how would Varun know the address of the hotel which we are staying, it was a surprise for you and it was very hard to keep it from you, this is worth it Indu,” said Diya.

It was very emotional for Indu she began to cry, she was not even able to believe that Varun was here to see her.” It’s ok now if you cry like this I might feel like going back to London” he said.

“No! you are not going anywhere do you get that you stay here with me,” said Indu and caught the hand of Varun.

Seeing them Diya still has some ray of hope in love, but she knows that it is not her cup of tea so she was away from all those feelings now.

“So, Diya how are you, I missed you, how are you doing in Kolkata,” said Varun.

“Yes, I am fine and doing great, thanks to you for making me do this or else I would have missed the most beautiful part of my life and I mean it, “said Diya

“That’s very nice to hear and we are happy for you,” he said.

Diya gave them some time and went outside to drink some tea. In the tea shop, her attention was grabbed towards trekking but now she cannot ask Indu to come with her, she wants Varun to spend time with her. This is the thing Diya going to do on her own and alone. She went to her room and took all the necessary things and went for trekking. In Pokhara at the end of the trekking, there will be a lake named “Phewa” which will be the best viewpoint where the Annapurna mountain range touches the lake.

Diya began to trek, it took nearly 4 hours for her to climb up to the top of the mountain for the viewpoint. When she went to the viewpoint, she could not believe what she just saw it was one of the best views which she had seen in her life.

The view was breath-taking the white snow on the mountains and with mild sun rays falling on the lake which reflected the lake ripples. She could feel the peaceful silence of that place. When she closed her eyes, she felt the cool breeze of the mountain touching her face which turned her sensitive cheeks into a warm baby pink color, she can sense everything around her.

She was feeling very light at that moment it was the best moment of her life, Diya just stood by the bank of the lake in that calmness she found her serenity, she left behind all her past and concerns and began to enjoy that moment and started to shout as loud as she can. At a distance, she can see someone jumping off the boat and swimming and thought that “Wow that guy must be crazy”.

It was already so late for Diya to go on her own, Indu would be concerned so Diya began to trek back to her room.

“Diya! Where the hell were you, do you know how much we worried about you” said Indu.

“I just wanted to go for trekking, so I just went for that and I don’t want to disturb you guys, so I went alone, “said Diya.

There was a huge argument and everything was settled and the next day the trip was done and all went back to India