A Breakup to Remember: The Lover, the Beloved and the Reader!

“Bro!Zindgi Gulzar Hai looks good on Hum TV only .Shit happens. Life goes on. This too shall pass. Cheer up and welcome to real life mate.” I tried to make him feel less miserable.

Opinion article by: Waqar Azeem Jappa

They met at Readings. Hands were shaken. Cheeks were kissed. They sat facing each other. Gazes were exchanged for just a second. They were rendered to silence for a while and then she raised her head, looked right into his eyes and through eyes into his heart without saying a word and yet she said it all. She smiled and he struggled to smile back.

Mr. Jappa, Regular Contributor: at www.dailybusinessnews.pk 

“Kaisy haien”. (How are you?)

Acha hun, Infact bahut acha hun (Fine. In fact, very well) as always.

“Bht thand hai na aaj.”(It’s too cold today) She resumed.

Han aur fog bhi, (Yea, and fog too) was his rejoinder.

A 3 minutes pause…….. “Coffee. Coffee ya chai”. What would you like to order? He asked her.

“Cofee theek hai”. (Coffee will be fine.) She said. Sure, and he ordered two cappuccino.

“So, March the 23^rd is the day.” He asked her. She didn’t speak. Just nodded her head.

Kia karta hai?( What does he do?) was his second question to her.

“Financial Analyst hai America mein”. (He is a Financial Analyst in America) She replied.

Right, right. Good match. You are financial analyst, you’re going to be husband is a financial analyst. Perfect match.In fact, what should I say “Rab Ne Bana Di Jori.” Our hero concluded with a smile.

“But, we’ll keep in touch.” She replied before he had smiled his smile.

“What? You want me to ruin your life.” He asked her.

“I didn’t say that.” She replied with absolute innocence.

“But you mean it.” She kept quiet. “Listen yar, he resumed, I want us to behave like sensible people. We are not school going kids anymore. We have to end this beautiful journey in a graceful way. The sooner, the better. Let’s do it. It seemed he had quite rehearsed these words a couple of hours ago to make sure that he sound strong and as if it doesn’t really matter to him much.

“What do you exactly mean by that?  You want to end it now? Abhi se?” The beautiful girl inquired with her eyes wide open.

“Yea. That’s right”. He replied indifferently

“Okay”. She replied and outweighed him there and then.

And with that “Okay” his heart sank. He found as if he was laboring to breathe.  He wanted her to say” No”.  He wanted her to say please don’t take it seriously. Hit me if you want but don’t do what I am saying. Just don’t render me to your short answers. Just don’t take it seriously. But, he put up a normal face and tried to hide his inner self. “What a hypocrite I am! How can someone possibly cheat with his own self?” An anonymous voice echoed deep down in him.

“I don’t know what to say at this point. Things fall apart ultimately”. She concluded.

“Goodbye is more traditional thing, I think.” He said looking back at her.

“They have parted their ways decently. Like grownups. No fights. No accusations and counter accusations. What a decent end to a seemingly beautiful journey!” I said to myself while sipping the last sip from the second cup of my tea as I opened third chapter of “Love in the time of Cholera”. I had been reading next to their table for the last two hours.

The boy escorted the beautiful lady to her car. Waved her goodbye. Then he came back. Ordered a strong cup of black coffee. Sat next to me. “Bus issi cheez ki kami reh gai the. Break up and loss of job. Nice combination! I just got fired. “He whispered into my ears. “Bro!Zindgi Gulzar Hai looks good on Hum TV only .Shit happens. Life goes on. This too shall pass. Cheer up and welcome to real life mate.” I tried to make him feel less miserable.

The writer is a part-time actor, occasional blogger and a regular dreamer. He has an M.Phil in media studies from University of the Punjab. He can be reached at waqarfcc@gmail.com.