Intezaar - Waiting for Life

She was sitting on the bank of river. Waiting for him. It was almost a year after marriage and second spring without her husband. Rajeev, her husband was working in armed forces and soon after their marriage, went on to join the duty due to tension on indo-china border. His vacation was cancelled and all army men were asked to join within 48 hours. The tension actually resulted in attacks and firings on both sides and in news in 2008, all channels flashed the demise of Lieutenant Rajeev Pratap Singh and after one day of 'breaking news' and media drama, nobody remembered rajeev. The news of his death reached family via television only and the body was not found because of the heavy rainfall, landslides and continuous bad weather on border range. Rajeev and Sakshi were in relationship for four years before getting married .Sakshi was bubbly, cheerful, mischievous and complete chatterbox till the moment she heard news of Rajeev. She was strength of her friends and a brave girl when one talked of her personality but such a quick departure of her love from her few days’ old married life changed everything. No more she could get a smile on the face, no more a word came out of her mouth and she could not hold herself let aside holding her friends in tough times.never ever she thought she’ll ever question god where she went wrong and what her mistake was. Destiny was tough to her and so was her living after Rajeev went. She was just 25 and already over with one marriage. Society did not tag her single again; she was called a widow and was not allowed to move with freedom. Rajeev’s parents were very encouraging and helpful in getting back sakhsi to normal life. Sakshi joined her final semester of her post graduation to keep herself busy. She was intelligent , so could complete all assignments and projects on time. And in evenings, she used to teach children who could not afford education. Sakshi topped in final semester and in degree to become gold medallist and an offer to work in one of the biggest designer houses. She was hesitant to join job but somehow her in-laws convinced her to join under rohit kapoor's fashion house. Rohit was one of india’s promising fashion designers and it was considered to be lucky to work with him. Sakshi used to work really hard to complete designs, working closely with rohit and help him manage his fashion shows and gala events. With the time passing , rohit fell in love with sakshi with sakshi still living in memories of rajeev and moving on with life. One night over dinner, rohit proposed sakshi for life long commitment not knowing. Sakshi refused and that dinner was the last time she met Rohit and quit her job. Sakshi was turning 26 on saturday and her in-laws in agreement with her parents wanted her to settle with someone so that she should not be alone her whole life but sakshi always dismissed the proposal of second marriage. She always believed that Rajeev was not dead and would come back. Everyone tried best to convince he is no more and has been awarded gallantry award posthumously but she was not ready to accept the fact and whenever there was such discussion in home, she used to go to bank of the same river they used to sit whenever they met and cried endlessly .

It was Friday evening and the day after, she was turning a year older but this birthday was not like other ones.no 12 o'clock call, no cake, no surprise treat and no romantic dinner with rajeev was happening this time. She wanted to cry but no tear was ready to come out of her eyes today. She came to this river bank to refresh all those memories...and as she sat near the bank watching the sunset and remembering the last sunset she saw with Rajeev, she saw someone crossing the bridge over the river. First she ignored but when the figure started moving towards her, she got scared for a moment.and when her eyes actually recognize the figure. She was stunned,she was still and she could not believe if she was living a reality or a dream. All she could manage was pinch herself... smile....and cry.