CAN LOVE HAPPEN TWICE?

READ ON AMAZON : http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009A1ANDY


ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

Saptarshi Basu is a gold medalist in mechanical engineering and has worked in the IT industry for the last eight years. However, writing has always been his first love, his passion.  His second novel, Autumn In My Heart was published by Vitasta Publishing with Times Group (TIMES OF INDIA) in November’11. He maintains a blog http://saptak-firsttry.blogspot.in/ and writes screenplays for movies and columns for some online magazines.

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EXCERPTS FROM THE NOVEL -  AUTUMN IN MY HEART

Everyone has a past and so did Deb.

‘Please Priyanka, Please don’t hang up the phone. Listen

to me. You know how tough it is to make a call to US.I have

been trying to call you for last three days. Please, listen to

me! I will make everyone happy. Please! Don’t break the

relationship. I will try to make uncle accept us. Please give

me a chance.’ Deb tried hard to control his tears.

‘Deb, it’s over now. The sooner you accept it, the better.

And please don’t harass my dad with your pestering phone

calls.’ Priyanka said from the other end. Her voice was cold

and devoid of any emotions.

‘How can you say that, Sona? We have had a relationship

for the last ten years. How can you break it in a day?’

‘It’s over Deb. I have someone else in my life. Aditya is

my Project Manager and we are going to get married soon.

It’s a waste of time discussing all those crap, sentimental

old things. I am done with you.’ Deb felt his temperature

rising. His heart was pounding loudly. Also, the phone bill

was rising. He tried to give it a last try. How can she leave

me, Oh God! Please, God, Please bring her back to me.

 ‘Who is this mother-fucker Aditya? Don’t tell me that just

three months in US, and you have forgotten our love.’

Priyanka was working with one of the top IT MNCs

in Kolkata and had gone to Dallas, US for her first onsite

engagement. ‘Aditya can give me all the luxuries of life. Plus,

he is my project manager, so no one can stop my promotion.

You are a loser, Deb.’

‘Oh, I am a loser now! And what about that time when I

spent an entire week beside your hospital bed when you got

jaundice. It was I, who took your dad to hospital when he

broke his leg? I did all the shopping for your whole family

for a month. And now you are saying I am a loser.’

‘Oh! So you did all that to get something in return. Tell

me what you want? I will ask my dad to pay you.’

Deb held his breath for a minute. It pained to let

Priyanka go away from his life. But he could make out that

it was all over. All these ten years, those beautiful nights

chatting over the phone and hugging and kissing. Those

rainy days, movie halls, market places, botanical garden– he

could feel her presence everywhere. The warmth of her

breath, the softness of her touch. How could it be all over?

‘Please Sona, Please.Come back to me…’ Deb could feel

the tears slowly running down his cheeks.

‘I can’t I have already accepted Aditya’s marriage

proposal.’

 ‘You bloody bitch. One day you will repent it. Go to

Hell !’.

Deb threw the phone away. It beeped a while before

going into total silence. He ravaged his cupboard to get

his cigarettes. He got hold of one and sucked it hard till

it reached its end. Deb looked at the burned out cigarette

stub. He felt just like it. Used, abused, sucked, burned and

thrown away.

As each day passed by, Deb felt the pain making a

formidable hole in his heart. The crowded Kolkata streets

felt empty as he struggled to reach his office in the morning.

Sitting at one distant corner of a window in the lazy tram,

Deb gazed blankly at the roads where they had walked hand

in hand. It made him feel that his world was completely

devoid of any happiness.

As time passed by, the emptiness in Deb’s heart

transformed into an uncanny purposelessness. He tried

to spend more and more time in office. But the pain had

grasped him thoroughly, clenching him in its tight clasp. He

was neither able to concentrate on any of the work assigned,

nor did he feel the need from inside.

Slowly, Deb slipped away from the mainstream. He

rejected phone calls from his nearest and dearest friends,

roamed aimlessly on the streets of Kolkata. At times, he spent

hours sitting by the side of the Ganges. As slowly the defeated

Sun drowned in the shining waters, Deb looked vacantly

at the happy couples flocking on the riverbank sharing a

melting ice cream. Suddenly old memories flashed in front

of his eyes making him weaker and smeared him in pain.

The food he loved most had lost its flavour, the streets

had lost their charm, friends had lost their warmth and what

mattered more, life had lost its meaning.

It went on like this for a couple of months. Deb’s

quality of work degraded to the last level leading to daily

skirmishes with his manager. At last, he felt compelled to

resign and started looking for another job. Things were at

their worst. After a month of futile search, Deb still remained

unemployed. By that time, he had lost all the zeal to struggle

for his existence.

Mitali, Deb’s mother could easily understand her son’s

condition. She tried to contact Priyanka. It didn’t help much.

By that time, Priyanka had already changed her US mobile

number. She tried hard to contact Priyanka’s parents only

to surrender helplessly to their threats of a police case for

harrasment.

It was raining heavily that night. As Deb stood there

lonely in the verandah, he could see the gushing waters

overflowing the city drains. The lightening remained frequent

with flashes of light zapping the nearby jasmine tree in their

garden. It was just then that Deb decided to live no more!

As Deb looked at his parent’s smiling photo one last

time, with a shining razor in the hand, a deep-rooted pain

clenched his heart. He felt like crying but perhaps the tears

had dried up in his eyes. The room was scattered with torn

letters and photos of happy times. Outside, the thunder

could be heard frequently. It was as if someone up in the

heavens was protesting against his next action.

He felt reckless one last time. Deb looked at his glass

window with droplets of rain clinging to it. Priyanka’s face

flashed for the last time with the lightning. Her sweet smile

beamed in front of his face. How much he liked that smile!

How he was mad about her! And then it was all over. The

razor shined the last unforgiving minute in his raised up right

hand, till it came down slashing. It was all over. A puddle of

blood formed on the white carpet as Deb lay there, his soul

still fighting to unite with his creator.

Everyone has a past and so did Deb.


READ ON AMAZON : http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009A1ANDY

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       ---From the novel ‘AUTUMN IN MY HEART’

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