On a quiet winter afternoon in Mumbai, curled up on the plush sofa with a steaming cup of tea in her hand, Ria sat listening to her favourite RJ on the radio. She is abruptly interrupted by a phone call.

She lowers the volume of the radio and receives the call.

‘Hello’

‘Hello, my name is Avinash, a St.Joseph’s College professor. I got your number from Veronica madam, our principal. This is Ria, right?’

‘Yes, I am Ria, how can I help you?’

‘We are having our college annual day on the 15th of the next month and we would be very much obliged to have you as one of our chief guests. It’s an awesome program this time, and I assure you will have a great time watching it.’

On the other side, Ria’s heart began beating fast, she didn’t know what to say, ‘If you don’t mind can I ask you, who suggested my name?’

‘Oh! It’s Veronica madam’s suggestion, she said you will be the best choice, an inspiration to our college.’

‘But I don’t think I can have this honour.’

‘Ma’am told me about your achievements and seriously speaking I feel you are the best for this unless you have any other commitment on that day.’

‘No, I am available on that day, but for an annual gathering . . ’, she fumbles for words to continue.

‘Look Ma’am, you don’t have to worry about anything, a small inspirational speech is enough from your side, where you can add about your success journey.’

‘Avinash, you can call me Ria, give me some time to think, and I’ll call you back.’

‘Yes, sure. Thank you, Ria, for your valuable time.’

‘You are welcome.’

As soon as the call ends, Ria’s eyes are full of tears. Her mind takes her to the old memories. She struggles to divert herself to the radio, but cannot. Some wounds even bleed after healing.

After a while, she gathers courage and dials Veronica’s number.

‘Hello Aunty, how are you doing?’

‘Hey, I am good. How are you? after a long time.’

‘I am fine. I got a call from one of your college professors, Avinash. He was inviting me to the annual gathering as a Chief Guest.’

Taken aback Veronica stammered out an apology, ‘Oh! I had asked him to call Ria Ghosh, an alumnus of our college who now owns a multinational company. I was in a hurry and sent your number by mistake. I am sorry for the mix-up. I will talk to him.’

‘It’s okay, happens sometimes.’

‘Thanks for the understanding.’

Veronica called Avinash immediately, ‘Hi Avinash, hope you are not busy.’

‘Hello, ma’am! I’m in the middle of grading some papers, but I can certainly take a moment. How can I assist you?’

‘There was a bit of confusion with the contact number I sent you this morning, by mistake I sent you Ria my niece’s number. She is a dentist and recently met with a dangerous accident which left her blind in both eyes. She called to tell me you had invited her as a Chief Guest. I apologised and clarified the matter with her, I’ve sent you Ria Ghosh’s contact details, you can approach her.’

Avinash by nature is a very emotional person and feels very bad about the confusion, he realises now the reason why she was hesitant to accept the invitation. With a sad heart, the conversation continued. ‘Oh! I am disheartened to hear about it, I feel I should apologise to her.’

‘Okay, you may but remember don’t get into the topic of her accident. She even went into depression. With great difficulty she has come out of it, it was very miserable. She closed her clinic and bees at home now.’

‘Don’t worry, I won’t talk about the accident or related things, I just want to be apologetic.’

Avinash, a brilliant maths professor knows how to turn things, later on, he calls Ria. ‘Hello, I am Avinash, I spoke to Veronica ma’am and she told me about the chaos caused. I am extremely sorry about it.’

‘It was not your fault, it’s my destiny, you need not ask forgiveness.’

Avinash wanted to console her when she projected on her misfortune, but then talking about it would hurt her more and make her act like a victim being consoled. He continued the conversation.

‘There’s something else I wanted to talk to you.’

‘Yes, you may.’

‘My younger sister Palomi is in her fourth year of dentistry, and she’s struggling with the extensive curriculum. She barely scraped through the last semester. She was so exhausted that she nearly discontinued her studies, with considerable efforts, I managed to console her.’

‘It happened when I was studying in our hostel. Some friends used to get frustrated during exams because of the depth of the syllabus. But then, running away from it is not the solution. There is a unique study strategy she has to develop.’

‘It will be of great help if you can mentor her.’

‘Yes of course why not, my pleasure. She can visit me in the evenings.’

‘That will be great, thank you so much.’

‘My pleasure, I’ll send you my location when my parents come home.’

Sometimes, a white lie can bring a ray of sunshine to someone’s life. Palomi is Avinash’s neighbour and not his sister. Neither did she find any hurdles in her dental medicine studies. He had narrated the incident to Palomi and had asked for help.

Palomi started visiting Ria every alternate day.

Avinash and Ria also had become good friends. The occasional calls turned out to be calls every day. Music was a common thread, but their conversations weren’t limited to shared interests. They reveled in discussing anything and everything, their laughter echoing through the endless talks.

Avinash didn’t realise how and when, but in this beautiful course of time lost his heart to her.

Ria, on the other hand, started coming back to life. She found a best friend in Avinash. She also had started feelings for him but never wanted to think more about them. She harboured a secret garden of feelings for Avinash, a garden she ruthlessly choked whenever a stray thought threatened to bloom. After the accident, she had decided not to think of any commitment.

Visits to a nearby café on the weekends were a routine for them both. They both liked the serene ambiance and the special jazz music played there.

Avinash along with Ria’s family was in constant search for an eye donor. They visited hospitals for awareness regularly.

On a fine summer evening, as Avinash and Ria met in the café, Ria started with a serious voice. ‘You know Avinash, we had a college reunion yesterday.’

‘Wow that’s nice you must have enjoyed it.’

Ria’s voice was heavy as she replied, ‘Yes, of course, I saw my old professors. Palomi seems to have a stellar reputation there. They say she’s topped her class every semester since the beginning, and she’s always willing to lend a hand to her classmates.’

‘Actually, I wanted to tell you.’

‘I thought we were best friends, then why this lie? What exactly do you want to prove?’

Avinash feels nervous, ‘Please listen to me, I wanted to tell you. Palomi is my neighbour, I wanted to help you out of your stressful situation and . . ’

She doesn’t allow him to continue. ‘And wanted to have mercy on me, you even paid tuition fees for teaching your top scorer neighbour. Any more lies hidden from me?’

‘I know I lied to you, but understand, I wanted to help.’

‘Why do you want to help so much, we were not even friends when I first met you. Now don’t justify saying you wanted to make up for the wrong number confusion that was created.’

Avinash’s palms began to perspire, he hadn’t anticipated that his approach to assisting her would escalate the tension. ‘Ria, when Veronica ma’am informed me about your situation, I intended to genuinely offer my help out of humanity. I was very happy to see you living with full zeal. It was nice all this while having an unwavering friendship with you. And this friendship has bloomed into love in my heart now.’

‘How to believe you? You might say these things to make me feel okay now or to compromise the hurt from the lies you told all this while. I can’t believe in your love. Or did you have some other intentions and make friends with me?’ Ria was fuming.

Avinash was calm all this while, but when he heard that she doubted his feelings for her, he got furious. ‘That’s enough, I understand your reaction after knowing the fact. But I do not think that it is such a great thing to get angry with me or to doubt our friendship. I never wanted to hurt you.’

‘I acknowledge your help all this while, but it will be better if we stop meeting further. I appreciate the way you are helping me to find donors, thank you so much.’

‘Ria we better go home now and talk about this some other time.’

Avinash lost in his thoughts about the evening’s conversation, dropped her home as usual. Then drove home himself. Both of them spent the night pondering the events of the evening in the café. He told Palomi everything, instructing her to discontinue the visits at Ria’s place.

It was summer vacation, every holiday he would go to his native village to meet his family. But this time his heart wanted to stay back, finally after a few days he visited her place. Her parents had already left for work, she was alone in the house. He knocked on the door, but she refused to open it.

‘Ria, please open the door. I don’t think I deserve this.’

She didn’t want to take him in, ‘you can say whatever it is from there.’

‘This can be our last visit. I got a promotion letter yesterday and am transferred to a college near my hometown.’

Ria opens the door, he enters, and sits on a chair next to her.

‘When I met with the accident and lost my vision and my career, I was devastated. I hated it when people visited me, they felt pity for me and gave assurances. The sympathy they gave made me weaker. When I met you, I felt comfortable with you.

You never spoke about my dark reality. Mentoring Palomi gave me intense joy. I loved what I was doing as I was connected to my field. The fees you paid provided me with some financial independence. All that while I was leaving a fake world.’

‘I might not understand you completely. After all, it’s often said that only the person who’s walked in those shoes truly understands. I’ll try my best to comprehend you more. Ria, I love you a lot. We can be together for the rest of our lives. I never felt the way I feel for you. I am not rushing you, take all the time you need. My love for you is patient and understanding. I’ll be waiting for your reply. If you wish I can talk to your parents regarding this.’

After some moments of silence Ria replies, ‘Avinash, I don’t want to hurt your feelings but I don’t feel the same depth of affection as you do. It might seem difficult, perhaps it will be better for you to release the thoughts of me from your mind.’

Avinash’s eyes were full of tears, Ria couldn’t see them! He gathered courage and stood in front of her. ‘Well, then I respect your decision. But remember we will always be friends. Any time you need anything I’ll be there.’

Ria moves from her chair and moves her hand towards him, ‘wish you all the best and thank you for everything.’

Avinash still feels uneasy about Ria’s behaviour. However, he finds it best to be quiet. They both greet each other and he leaves her house.

Avinash never met her after this day. He tried calling her but she had changed her number. Ria’s parents try to convince her to talk to Avinash, but she refuses.

After a year Avinash received a wedding invitation, it was Ramona- Veronica’s daughter’s wedding in Mumbai. Ramona also happened to be his student he cherished for her dedication and talent. He decides to go for the wedding.

Ria somehow was expecting Avinash’s presence at the wedding. She didn’t know how to face him after all those incidents.

When he enters the church, he sees Ria sitting with her family. Though he was far away, her memories were always fresh in his mind.

After wishing the bride and groom, Avinash tries to find Ria in the crowd. He sees her standing in a corner. He walks to her, ‘So, you are looking pretty ha.’

Ria’s thoughts run in all directions, she gets confused. But makes her attempt to look normal. ‘Hi Avinash, how are you doing?’

‘Well, was not doing that good but for the past few days, I am dancing on the clouds.’

‘What? I didn’t understand.’

‘Can we sit on that bench outside there?’

‘Yes.’

Avinash helps her walk out. Emotions hit waves in her heart, making her heartbeat run fast.

‘Hmm, I missed this Mumbai breeze.’

‘Is there anything else you missed? I mean to say your favourite street food and your college?’ Ria knew she shouldn’t have asked it.

‘Yes, I missed my love, my heart was in Mumbai.’

She feels uncomfortable, ‘Avinash, you still . . .’, she couldn’t continue further.

‘Ria a few days back, when I received today’s wedding invitation, I thought my visiting here might upset you. So spoke to your mother with Palomi’s help. She told me everything. Why did you do so? All this while you kept it buried inside you, why were you choking yourself?’

She couldn’t help herself now, her tears started speaking everything. ‘I didn’t want to tell my mother also, but after you left my condition was bad. One day Mom heard me whispering your name in sleep. She broached the subject with me when I woke up and I couldn’t hide it from her. I loved you a lot Avinash, but I never wanted my disability to be a part of your life. I hoped for you to experience a life unburdened by my circumstances.’

‘Forgive me, I also couldn’t read your feelings that day, you were purposely hurting me so that I could go away from you.’

‘I knew, you would never leave me alone. So, had to act bitterly. I wanted you to have a bright future.’

‘And you think I would be happy without you? Do you even know how hard it was for me all this while? Whatsoever, nothing can come between us now.’

‘What about your family, will they accept me?’

‘Worry not, my parents are very understanding, I have already told them about you.’

‘I am grateful to God I got my friend and love back today.’

‘And I got my soulmate, thanks to Veronica ma’am too for that wrong number.’

Both of them laugh heartily holding each other’s hands.

In the gentle passage of a few months, Avinash and Ria unite in matrimony. Yet, their journey doesn’t follow the path of a conventional fairy tale ending. Life, in its unpredictable rhythm, ushers in challenges that cast shadows on their shared happiness. But, strengthened by their profound love and mutual understanding, they stand as one, weathering the storms that life throws their way.

Five years into their journey, a beacon of hope shines on Ria. A benevolent soul donates eyes, offering her a chance to witness the world’s vibrant hues once again. The operation is a success, and she, with joyous tears streaming down her face, opens her eyes to a world reborn in colour and light.

.    .    .