Coffee (Story)

It all started at Amy's marriage ceremony. Kate was one of Amy's bridesmaids and her best friend since school. They had been separated by different careers but their bond had always been intact. They both used to do everything together. Right from shopping to studying.
But only till the high school. Kate knew that Amy was her soulsister. But "soul" always reminded her of someone. Someone who she thought was her soulmate. Her only best friend before Amy.
Mike.

He was her neighbor. Her mom used to drop her at his place before leaving for her work. His mom used to prepare wonderful cookies. Well that was the only memory of her that she could revive. She used to play with him the entire day. They used to build castles with mud, color the walls, play hide and seek and after getting exhausted, silently steal the cookies from the kitchen and eat them. His father used be out of town all the time. Due to his job she guessed. But whenever he came, he used to take their photos. One amongst them which she always thought was the best was him crushing the coffee beans and giving her the powder which she used to mix in the water. She used to smile each time she saw that photo which she'd kept just near her bed. Her day used to start with that picture. But then she would shed a tear. For memories were the only source where she could be with him.
His dad took him away after his mom died in an accident. She didn't remember talking to him after that. He hadn't spoken a word since his mother's death. And she hadn't heard of him since then.

"Kate?"
"Kate?"

Amy called her best friend to introduce her to one of her colleagues : Michael. Amy thought that may be this colleague of hers can change her best friend's perspective towards relationships.
He was handsome. Tall and dark with a tint of blue in his grey eyes. Dimples covered his cheeks each time he smiled.
Amy introduced Kate to him.
Their hobbies, interests, everything was common. They both talked for a time which seemed like eternity.
The ceremony was over.
While departing he invited Kate over to his house for a cup of coffee. She readily agreed.


"Michael Cooper".
She knocked on the door. He greeted her with a big flashy smile that made his dimples even more attractive.
He asked her to make herself comfortable while he went to the kitchen to bring the coffee.
She started looking at the beautiful collage of photo frames that covered one entire wall near the window. And in the center was a photo. She stood there in disbelief looking at that photo. She ran towards the kitchen where Michael was busy crushing the coffee beans. She went near him. Teary eyed. And hugged him. "Mike?!"

Little tears popped up in his eyes and got mixed with the crushed coffee beans.

ती (कथा) २

तिने त्या व्यक्तीला न्याहाळले. एकदा स्वतःकडे बघितले : तोंडावर कापड बांधलेलं, आणि अंगभर कपडे. परत एकदा त्या व्यक्तिकडे बघितलं.
अंगावर फाटके कपडे, धुळीने माखलेला चेहरा आणि अस्वच्छ केस, पायात ना चपला होत्या ना हातात काही सामान. पण डोळे.. डोळ्यात तेज भरलेलं. त्या दोन छोट्या चकाकणा-या डोळ्यांमधे मावणार नाहीत एवढी असंख्य स्वप्न. मनातले भाव समोरच्याच्या मनात उमटतील एवढे बोलके डोळे. आणि एक अशी गोष्ट जी त्या फाटक्या अनवाणी मुलीकडे होती पण तिच्याकडे नव्हती - चेहर्‍यावरचे हास्यं.
तिच्या रोजच्या धावपळीच्या आयुष्यात ओठांवरच्या हास्याची जागा कपाळावरील आठ्यांनी घेतली होती. पण त्या छोट्या मुलीच्या चेहर्‍यावर मोठं हसू होतं.. ते जे तिच्या मनात उमटलं आणि हळुवार डोळ्यांतून सहज बाहेर पडलं.

ती (कथा) १

ती नेहमी सारखीच बस स्टैंड वर तिच्या बस ची वाट बघत उभी होती. मनात खूप विचार येत होते आणि क्षणार्धात ते जातंही होते. विचारांच्या गर्दीत अडकलेल्या त्या मनाला डोळ्यांनी जणू आदेशंच दिला आणि ते मन अचानक एकाग्र झालं. डोळे एकाच व्यक्तिकडे बघत होते. जणू बाकी काहीच अस्तित्वात नव्हतं आजूबाजूला. फक्त ती आणि ती व्यक्ति. आपल्याकडे कोणीतरी टक्न लावून बघतंय हे जाणवतच ती व्यक्ति चटकन् वळली. एका सेकंदासाठी दोघांनी एकमेकांकडे बघितलं. दोघांचे डोळे एकमेकांना भिडले. ती व्यक्ति जणू स्वतःच्या भावना डोळ्यांमधून अलगद ओसरू देत होती असा वाटलं तिला.
फक्त एका सेकंदासाठी.
लगेचंच तिने तिचे डोळे खाली घेतले. जणू त्या व्यक्तिच्या नजरेला नजरंच मिळवू नाही शकत आपण असं वाटलं तिला. तेवढ्यात कानावर बस च्या हॉर्न चा आवाज पडला. मनात येणार्‍या विचारांना तिने सारकन् बाजूला सारलं आणि पळत पळत बस मध्ये चढली.. आणि योगायोगंही किती मोठा घडावा.. ती व्यक्ति देखील त्याच बस मध्ये चढली. तिच्या काळजाची धाकधुक वाढली. नकळतंच तिच्या मनात स्वतःची आणि त्या व्यक्तिची तुलना होऊ लागली. तिने त्या व्यक्तिकडे एकदा वळून बघितले. त्या व्यक्तीचे लक्ष बाहेर हॉर्न वाजवणा-या गाडीकडे होते. संधीचा तेवढाच लाभ घेत तिने त्या व्यक्तिला न्याहाळले.

To be continued.

YOU ❤

Sometimes when you feel left out..when you feel alone..  Don't always be sad.. Be happy. Be happy that you are free from people's restrictions now.Be happy that you can now create a world of your own. A world where there will be no one else. Just you! No one else to comment on what you do and no one else to judge you.. It'll be you. Why always expect appreciation from others when "self-appreciation" is the hardest appreciation you can ever get? (.. Since only you know the errors that you've committed). Ultimately, what people think about you, say about you doesn't matter. What matters is your opinion. Coz when time comes there'd be no one else to support you other than you. Not always will you be surrounded by people. It would be you who'd give yourself courage and support to stand back each time you fall. People come and go.. But you are going to be with you till the end. Who are people when your own shadow leaves you in darkness?
It's YOU. It has always been YOU.
You are the one whose appreciation should matter the most. You are the one who should restore hopes in yourself when no one does. You are the one who should motivate yourself when the rest of the world is demotivating. You should be the reason behind your smile when every reason has faded.You should be the one with whom you can share anything. You should be the one with whom you'll feel free and safe to cry.
You should be everyone you need!
It's all about YOU! ❤

Options

"She had two options in front of her. If she chose the first one, she would have to let go of her only chance to prove her talent.. And if she chose the other option, well, she would have to risk her career, her everything. She was in a dilemma. There began a conflict between both of her minds:the good one and the bad one. The bad one was asking her to choose the second one.. the one that will fetch her money and all the comforts in the future. And her good mind was asking her to go with the first - for that was the only chance she'd get to prove her talent. But then her heart spoke :"Go with both"

In the conflict between one and the other, Heart found another option. "

It's all about listening to your inner voice. The one which cancels all the ways in front of you, all the options in front of you,so that you explore another way and chalk out another option! It isn't about what's correct or what's wrong. It's about what you want..you aren't selfish if you want both..you are confident that you'll achieve both.So instead of getting confused between one and the other and listening to what your dumb minds have to say, just listen to your heart once..for your minds can be wrong but your heart never is!