“Change is the only constant,” once a Greek philosopher, Heraclitus said. That change is now visible to me also, thought Aastha.
Who knew that this was short-lived? The Change. Who knew that my happiness would be short-lived?
Aastha began the day on a positive note. She took two classes and solved some problems for the students when she the receptionist called her.
“Mam, Keshav Sir wants to meet you in his cabin?” smiled Leena, the new receptionist at Learner”s Institute. Upon receiving the information, Aastha rushed through the door and reached Sir”s cabin.
“Yes. Sir, did you call me?”
Aastha sounded a little serious and nervous. “Sir, never calls anyone suddenly. There must be something serious to be discussed,” she worried.
Inside the cabin, Keshav Sir looked at Aastha angrily. He began instantly –
“Aastha, I have received some complaints about you from the students. They say you don”t use the board while teaching. Students find it difficult to understand the concepts. Please keep this in mind. And, he added, “This should not be repeated”
Before Aastha could speak, Parth entered the room. He could not understand what was going around but sensed some tension in the surroundings. He wanted to say something but was interrupted by Keshav Sir.
Keshav Sir began scolding Aastha in the presence of Parth and two others in the cabin. “Consider this as my last warning to you. Now get back to your work,” saying so, he turned his head towards Parth.
She left the room with teary eyes.
After Holi, things changed drastically for her. Rumors became the order of the day. At one end, she heard Parth was a manipulative person who was using her to fulfill his interests while on the other she heard from another source that he cast black magic spells on her as he had used black magic (Vashikaran) on females. The food that he shares often is no ordinary food, said one of the persons in the Institute. It is given for some reason.
He then added–”You must have heard about Vashikaran. It is a ritual and a type of mantra used to gain control of someone, a situation, a person’s soul, or even an animal. Although an ancient practice in Indian religious traditions, today it is most associated with attracting love and is often used in Jyotisha (Vedic astrology), or even in the occult. Vashikaran may also be described as a love spell. The term comes from the Sanskrit, vashikara, meaning “subjugating” or “making someone subject to one’s will.” There is no single vashikaran mantra, but many mantras that fit this category, also referred to as captivation mantras. Depending on the tradition, the ritual may involve just reciting the mantra a specified number of times for a specified number of days, or it may involve bringing food and objects of worship for the deity associated with the mantra. It may also involve bringing some object belonging to the desired person, such as an article of clothing or a lock of hair. Parth uses food to cast black magic spells.
The guy warned Aastha to stay away from Parth Sir. “He is no ordinary person,” he said.
She smiled at the thought, “Everyone is giving me warnings these days”.
All the rumors were however, discarded by her.
She felt drawn towards Parth even more than before. A strange attraction drove her crazy for him. She wanted to see him every day. It became difficult for her to imagine her life without him. This was a turbulent phase for her. She could no longer concentrate on her studies. Day dreaming about Parth became usual. At the Institute, she would take turns to look at Parth whenever she could take out time.
He, however, remained unconcerned. Aastha yearned to be with Parth while he started neglecting her. He showed coldness and detachment towards Aastha, who could no longer be at peace with herself. She needed Parth in her life. There was nothing warm about this love. It was the strongest attraction she had ever felt till now. Her mind was drifting away from God. She wanted to express her feelings when Parth invited her for a new turn of events.
The day arrived when she chose to express her feelings. It was Parth’s birthday. He invited all his friends, including Aastha, to a dinner party. They enjoyed his party, while Aastha wanted an opportunity to say that she has romantic feelings for him.
He introduced his girlfriends to her, knowing that she will not like their company. She wanted to be alone with him. After some time, the party got over. While some friends left for their homes, some of them stayed back for more enjoyment. Gossiping with the friends was one of his favorite pastimes. Many girls surrounded him, one of which he said was his girlfriend. Her name was Jyoti. She was beautiful, stylish and enigmatic. Lustful as he was towards her and beautiful as she looked, both looked at each other as if nothing mattered to them than each other.
He took her by her arms and brought her closer bringing his lips closer to hers. While he wanted to kiss her, Jyoti understood somebody was watching them surreptitiously. It was Aastha.
Knowing that they have got disturbed, Aastha turned her head and started looking at the opposite side. She couldn’t bear the sight of Parth romancing someone else. They revealed to everyone that they will get married soon. To celebrate this event, he treated all his friends with an ice cream. Aastha didn’t know how to react to the news and stood alone in the company of everyone. She felt like running away from the crowd.
“Here, have an ice cream,” Parth insisted.
“I don’t want to eat anything,” Aastha replied.
Parth persisted and shared an ice-cream with her. She liked the idea of sharing the ice-cream with him and felt as if time would stop at that moment. However, the moment was short-lived. It was not too long when Parth asked Jyoti to take care of Aastha for the night.
On the fateful night, when she stayed with his girlfriends in their flat when she wrote a long email to him. It read as under –
“Dear Parth, I am writing this letter to you today for a special purpose. I take you as my best friend and want to confide something to you. I also wanted to express my feelings that I have for you. You are the only ray of light in my life, full of darkness. The day I saw you, I didn’t understand that the meeting would lead us to such a point where I will not be able to stay away from you. My life had lost its meaning till I met you. I remember how you have supported me in my dream of becoming a civil servant. I hope you achieve your aim too. However, there is something more that I want to confess. I have seen no one like you throughout my life. You have been a source of my inspiration and my role model. You hold a special place in my heart. I know you have a girlfriend whom you love, but I cannot stop myself from expressing my mind. I love you immensely and want to be part of your life. Before you lead to any conclusion about me, I want to tell you something about me in this letter. I am a god loving person who loves her family the most. I have had many relationships in the past which have been affected greatly due to the evil intentions of my uncle. My uncle never wanted my happiness or that I would ever love anyone or marry. I know it from a source that he has cast black magic on my family, particularly on me, so that I witness downfall. My uncle does not want anybody to love me or be my friend. On one hand, I want to befriend you while on the other I don’t want your interests to be jeopardized because of me. This is why I am writing to you today.
I will be extremely happy to be a part of your life. Will you be my best friend?”
Shortly thereafter, she received a message from him in response to her email.
“Dear Aastha, I understand your feelings for me, but I am sorry I don’t have any special feelings for you. I am already committed to a relationship and love my girlfriend more than anything else. As for you, I don’t take you as anything more than a student of mine. I request to you to never bring this topic again as I can never love you.”
He thus, responded negatively. To this, Aastha sent him last message-
“Consider this letter as my first and last one, as I will not write to you anymore.”
Aastha wept bitterly for the entire night and did not sleep. She stared at Jyoti continuously to know what was so special in her. Then she understood. It was all fated. Early morning, she left his girlfriend’s flat and returned to her PG.
Getting back to her routine didn’t come easy when she received a call from Parth
“Why did you leave the flat so early? Don’t you have any concern about others’ feelings? What will they think about you? He shouted.
Aastha was stunned and replied in a harsh tone. “I did not want to stay at your girlfriend’s flat. I couldn’t stay there for long”.
“Listen, we are friends but expect nothing more from me.” Saying so, Parth ended the conversation in haste.
His rude behavior and neglect affected her studies. Her concentration levels dropped while he continued with his deeds.
Bad, rather worst times lay ahead for her.
She could barely manage her finances. Penury was ruling the month. No savings were left for her.
Struggling hard amidst immense pressures and worries, she had to send a part of the salary home and keep a part for monthly rent. Amidst all this, Aastha encountered some problem from Parth. He didn”t speak to her often. She couldn’t understand why was he not accepting her friendship. He started behaving badly.
At the Institute, Parth’s association brought her bad name and reputation. Everybody started thinking that Aastha was persistent for Parth’s friendship. They took their friendship in the wrong light. This was not liked by Parth, who started maintaining distance from her. Once, she visited a spiritualist meditator to find out all about her future life. She was told by him that two people have cast black magic on her. Traces of witchcraft practices were visible to the meditator in his visions. He could see all those responsible for her bad.
The meditator informed her that one such person was her uncle, while other was some person by the name of Parth who has cast an evil eye on her so that she would not clear the exam.
All this affected her earnings and productivity and the resultant downfall. She began getting few classes at the Institute.
“What is happening in my life? What wrong did I do to anyone? Why am I made to suffer so much?” She cried in her prayer to the almighty.
Her only solace was the forthcoming exam, for which she was feeling like delving into an unchartered territory. Frequent mental disturbances marred her preparations, few of which were given by Parth. Once he called up Aastha to speak about the project that they had to complete together.
“Why didn’t you come to the Institute today?” he roared. “We have a project to complete”
“Sir, I have taken a leave from my work as my exam is near” replied Aastha
“Why do you undertake assignments which you cannot complete?” saying so, he ended the conversation.
Amidst such difficulties, her preparation became tough. She struggled hard to understand the difficult concepts of Mathematics, Geography, Current affairs and History and made frequent visits to Mukherjee Nagar for purchasing notes. But, she did not go to meet her friends at the Institute, for that would take much of her time. Time was the most precious thing she had now. She stopped going to the Institute for two months now. It was costing her heavy, especially financially, to have left the job. However, her preparation was in full swing.
Heat and financial troubles could not deter her from her path. She maintained the frequency of her revisions, but to her dismay. Forgetfulness took most of her.
The day came when she had to appear for the paper. It was her last and fourth attempt of civil services preliminary exam. This time the paper was even more tough for her due to the introduction of mathematics in its curriculum. She failed to complete her paper on time. Knowing fully that she will not clear the exam this time also, Aastha joins the institute again.
Financially, she started gaining ground when she was pressured into leaving the Institute, as they hardly gave her any class. They left her with no option than to approach other sources in Mukherjee Nagar for a job.