Happy to part ways

It was one of the hot summer afternoons in Delhi. Rashi was desperately waiting for her board results as they were expected anytime today. Rashi is an eighteen year old girl who belonged to a rich and respectable family.

She is a beautiful , intelligent and charming young woman. She had been a good student in school all these years, favorite among her teachers for her intelligence and had a lot of friends.

She had worked hard for her boards and all her papers went well. Rashi, once more, sat down and pressed a few buttons on the laptop to check whether the results were out.The excitement was way too much for her to handle. She had done this almost a hundred times since morning. This time she was able to open the portal and view her result. Rashi had passed out her twelfth boards with flying colours. Now there is no stopping her back.

Her scores were good enough to secure admission in one of the best colleges in Delhi University . She was very happy and excited. Her favorite subjects were Economics and Finance, so she decided to graduate in Business Administration. She is a modern age career oriented woman. She knows what she wants from her life.. She had already predefined her goals. Her parents always supported her and welcomed her decisions whole heartedly.

Rashi has a younger brother who is fifteen years old and studies in tenth grade. Her mother is a housewife and father is an affluent businessman.

Everything was going smoothly in her life till this time. She has a pretty good circle of friends, is a socially active girl and was full of life and supported a fun loving attitude.

Her parents imparted her good moral values and had always guided her in life matters.

Now Rashi is in her first year in college.

She attended all her lectures seriously and took care that she doesn't skip them. Her Economics professor was a 35 year old handsome guy. He was very much impressed by Rashi's dedication and sincerity towards the course. Rashi also liked him for he had been always very kind to clear her doubts everytime she had. She would not hesitate even once approaching him because she knew unlike other professors who were strict and stern, Prof. Harsh Talwar was very friendly and easy going. All the students liked him. He had a pleasing personality and always wore a smile on his face.

His method of teaching was totally different. He had always made boring lectures interesting through examples , discussions, and practical life incidents.

Everything was going as she had planned until one day things took a U turn.

Rashi got down with typhoid this February and could not attend the lectures and college for a fortnight. Her exams were approaching and she had a difficult time making notes and trying to fix up things.

When she resumed college , after her illness, the economics professor inquired about her health. Rashi knew she had missed a lot during these fourteen days of absence and was not in a good mood that day.. She just nodded her head and said only 'yes ' for an answer.

Prof. Talwar could make out from her face that something is not right. For she had always been chirpy and fun loving but today she was quiet and hardly smiled.

Prof. Talwar asked her again only to be sure.. Then Rashi had said the reason for her sadness is that due to illness, she has missed too many lectures and is now having a hard time dealing with it.

Prof. Talwar being generous and kind hearted offered to help Rashi with her lectures. Rashi's face immediately lit up and she thanked him. He offered to help her after college hours and she agreed to the arrangement.

So now everyday after the college Prof. Talwar coached Rashi in one of the vacant college rooms for an hour.

Rashi and Prof. Harsh Talwar were now quite free and comfortable with each other. Besides coaching her, they talked about her future goals, her aspirations, current affairs.. Blah.. Blah..

Both seem to enjoy each other's company. One day when Prof. Talwar was explaining to her the topic, he noticed a few strands of hair had fallen in front of her eyes blocking her vision. Mr. Talwar gently pulled them back with his right hand. Rashi was totally taken aback.She had not expected this,though she loved the touch of his fingers on her smooth, silky hair. She did not say a word. Mr. Talwar directly looked into her face to notice her reaction. . And Rashi blushed, for her cheeks had turned pink. This was the first time something like this has happened with her and she experienced what she has never experienced before.All she knew was she had enjoyed this. It seemed impossible for her to hide her feelings at the moment. Mr. Talwar also could not control himself from taking his eyes off her . He had always found her attractive, intelligent and different from other females he had met till this time.

It was quite evident from Prof. Talwar's eyes that he was strongly attracted towards her. For Rashi everything seemed new. Is this love.. Maybe love , as they say it is always blind.But considering her age it would be wrong to jump directly into the conclusions. Everything happened in a blink. Rashi is still in her late teens. But what about Prof.Talwar.. He is thirty five. He was married and had a five year old son. Considering his age, must be well aware of his feelings for he is much more mature and understood things far better than her.

Prof. Talwar is almost double her age. Let aside the age, he is well settled in his life with a wife and a son. How could one justify his actions. Maybe he was trying to take advantage of Rashi's innocence? Or it just happened by chance for he always admired Rashi.

But at the moment, everything seemed meaningless. Both of them were swayed by their emotions and could not look anything beyond this. It is difficult to judge whether this was right or wrong. The moment had been more over powering, nothing else mattered.

Prof. Talwar immediately bent down to kiss her, assuming that Rashi had not mind his hands moving on her long, black hair earlier.

But this time Rashi moved back . It was clearly evident that she was not comfortable and resisted the move. She left the place in a hurry, never even bothered to pick her books which were still lying open on the desk.

She took a cab and reached home. And immediately barged into her room without noticing her mother who was sitting in the drawing room. And shut herself inside the room . Her mother got anxious because she found Rashi's behaviour annoying and unusual as she had never done this before.

Rashi and her mom shared a beautiful bond. She was not only a mother to her but also been her best friend and Rashi had always shared her joys and sorrows with her. Nothing was hidden from her.

Rashi's mother knocked at the door of her room. But she did not respond. Her mother knocked again, this time with much force. Rashi opened the door. She had tears in her eyes. Her mother could sense that there is something which is bothering her. So she gently asked her. Rashi first hesitated but then narrated everything that happened between her and Prof. Talwar that afternoon.

Rashi's mother was a very understanding and caring mom to both her children. She was happy that her children confided in her and had always come to her when in trouble. She wiped tears from her face and tried to ease and comfort her. She was glad that her daughter, even though swayed by emotions, realized that what she was falling into was not morally and ethically correct.

For this relationship had no future. On the contrary, it would not only cause a rift between Professor and his wife's relationship but would go a long way in ruining her own daughter's future and career. As the saying goes..There is always a woman who is a cause of other woman's pain and misery in most cases. And God forbid she would never want her daughter Rashi to be one of those kinds.

Rashi's mother, considering her daughter's innocence and vulnerable age, tried to make her understand the complexities of human relationships. What may look right at present may become a burden for her tomorrow. There are so many things which were a cause of concern. Rashi too knew deep inside that if she goes ahead with this relationship, it would only give her hurt and pain in the end. So it is fair that she forgets this incident soon and moves forward in life. It may look hard at this hour, but this is the right step.

There are weak moments in almost everyone's life when one finds it hard to hold back the feelings , where the heart dominates and the brain seems to lose sense. But it is always wise to get hold of the situation at the earliest and deal with it.

Rashi is still an undergraduate and needs to have a better understanding of the world she is in. Her future goals, career and everything shall be affected by one wrong move.

Rashi, being sensible, understood what her mother was trying to convey. She felt much more relaxed. It is as if the heavy burden has been lifted off her shoulders. The guilt was slowly leaving her.

She no longer needed Prof Talwar coaching as her friend helped her out with remaining topics. She passed her first year with the first division.

Prof Talwar did not teach the students of the second year, much to her relief. So Rashi was happy that she did not have to encounter him again. If ever by chance Rashi and the professor came across each other's way in the college, she just took the liberty to ignore him and changed her way whenever possible.

For she was happy to part ways.. The ways which lead to no destinations.

Moral of the story: Everyone makes mistakes in their lives. There are weak moments when one finds themselves helpless. But one should always have the strength to fight back. Learn from the mistakes and don't repeat them..Let them not become blunders which cannot be rectified later, for they had already caused much harm and damage by then.