{"id":104,"date":"2016-01-21T12:49:16","date_gmt":"2016-01-21T12:49:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vibhashah.com\/?page_id=104"},"modified":"2016-01-21T12:49:31","modified_gmt":"2016-01-21T12:49:31","slug":"the-jump","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/vibhashah.com\/?page_id=104","title":{"rendered":"The Jump"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Jump<\/strong><\/p>\n

The theater was dark. Puja was acutely aware of Sahil next to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cOk, Everybody! Enjoy the movie\u201d said Henna sitting next to Puja as the advertisements started and everyone had settled.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd everything else you do\u201d added Neel.<\/p>\n

Lots of giggles.<\/p>\n

\u201cShoo, Be quiet!\u201d said an elderly voice from somewhere behind.<\/p>\n

Puja made a face at Neel\u2019s comment.<\/p>\n

She looked to her left. There was Henna next to her, her best friend who smiled at her. Puja gave her a frown giving her an indication of her situation. Next to her was Poonam. Next to her was Manav. He did not seem quite comfortable sitting there. Next to him was Rishi.<\/p>\n

Puja turned to her right. There was Sahil whispering to Neel\u00a0 and next to him was Aneri and next to her Shaila and in the last two seats were Manish and Nimish.<\/p>\n

They were all here to celebrate the success of their food stall at the Annual College Fair. The movie they had all decided upon was \u2018Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak\u2019. It was a love story as almost all of Hindi movies with romantic songs.<\/p>\n

As the trailers unfolded themselves on the screen, Puja had time to think about the situation at hand. The boys were a decent bunch, she had to give that to them. They had never made indecent advances at any of them.<\/p>\n

Enjoying her 5-star caramel bar, Puja smiled as she thought about the incident on the 1st<\/sup> of April.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeel had an accident today\u201d said Sahil to Puja as soon as she entered college that day. \u201cHe is at the hospital\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure\u201d Puja had smiled \u201cAnd Henna died today. Happy April Fool\u2019s Day\u201d Did he really think anybody would fall for that? Get serious.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, seriously\u201d said Sahil, his face serious. \u201dIt is so sad. Him being full of tricks got hit by a truck today of all days. He was on his scooter. He is at Parle hospital\u201d<\/p>\n

He was getting Puja scared now. Puja traced his face for any trace of laughter. None. Puja had excused herself and ran for her accounting class not knowing whether to believe him or not. She took a seat next to Poonam.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are just kidding\u201d said Henna sitting up front with Aneri and Shaila. Puja guessed they had been hit with the news too.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s say we want to go and see him at the hospital\u201d said Aneri. She believed in taking the bull by the horns.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, good idea\u201d said Poonam \u201cThat\u2019ll get the cat out of the hat\u201d<\/p>\n

So, after college they went to the hospital. And for sure, Neel was all bandaged and he was outside one of the rooms in a movable stretcher. All the girls felt so bad about not believing and it showed on their faces.<\/p>\n

\u201cHope you feel better\u201d said Puja as she met his eyes. Fortunately his face, or whatever they could see of it was still smiling. It was a subdued group of girls who left the hospital that day.<\/p>\n

It was in the evening that he was discharged from the hospital and the girls went to see him at his home. His parents were there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was odd\u201d Puja recalled that they did not seem too serious. And after the girls sat surrounding his bed and had some drinks, a bandaged Neel jumped up and said \u201cApril Fool\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, sitting over here in the dark in this setup situation Puja evaluated her options here. She liked Sahil but so did she like Anil and Bhavesh. She smiled to herself. She had to face it. She was a flirt. After all there were so many cute faces around. And of course, there was the nameless boy who always made her heart flutter when she passed him. In her heart of hearts she had always hoped he was her secret admirer who sent her roses on Rose Day and lollipops with cute messages on Lollipop day.<\/p>\n

Puja did like Sahil. He was a decent boy. But what about him? He had hinted at a picnic that he had a liking for a junior. Her name was Meeta. She was a cute girl with a pleasing personality. Puja sighed. This were the last few years of college and they were all trying to settle down. But she was by no means prepared to commit herself yet. Or was she?<\/p>\n

\u201cPopcorn?\u201d She was brought back to reality with Sahil\u2019s soft voice. She took a couple of popcorn from his bag and thanked him. She noticed that he kept his elbow on her side of the chair. With a fluttering heart she could not help but ignore it for the time.<\/p>\n

The movie started and the names of the performers were flashing on the screen while her favorite music played on the background. .<\/p>\n

A particular talk with her cousin Farina came to Puja\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know Rupal?\u201d Farina had asked when they had settled down to sleep in her tiny bed. Puja had come to stay over with her cousin for the weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday, she was crying over my shoulder\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHuh\u201d Puja waited for her to continue, all attentive now.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had been going out with this boy about three years older than her whom she had met at work\u201d. I knew Rupal worked at a travel agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally! Rupal does not seem like a girl like that\u201d Puja said. Both the girls knew what that meant. In India, where about 95% or more of marriage are arranged. It is very rare that a kid, boy or a girl would go out and date. Puja had been asked a couple of times on dates but she had never had the courage to do it. There was a risk of being noticed by the thousands of relatives you have in the city and once seen with somebody, you better marry that person or your name is doomed. It is O.K. to be seen in a group but with only one guy, you better be sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, she really liked the guy. But the guy is now saying that his parents have found another girl for him to marry. And he cannot disobey them\u201d finished Farina.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a stupid boy. You know what? Rupal should be glad she did not get stuck with him\u201d Puja had concluded.<\/p>\n

That night both the girls had slept pondering over the thought.<\/p>\n

At present, that incident played in Puja\u2019s mind. True, with a little bit of provocation from her side, she might have Sahil in her hands and then she could see where this would take her. But is that what she really wanted?\u00a0 True, she dreaded the thought of being shown off to the boys like a showpiece for arranged marriage. She had seen her elder sister going through with it and she knew how dreadful it was specially the rejections.<\/p>\n

The starting of the movie bought Puja\u2019s mind back to reality. Puja settled down to enjoy the movie. The heroine was beautiful. The hero was charming and loving. It was the relation of friendship that emerged first, then love. Now that is the kind of love Puja\u2019s innocent mind was waiting for. Does that exist in real life? She meant to find out.<\/p>\n

Puja had time. She was not worried. In case she didn\u2019t find the perfect guy herself, she was pretty sure her parents would find an appropriate groom for her.\u00a0 After all, her sister was happily married now.\u00a0 The arranged marriage system usually worked out thanks to the nosey relatives. Anyways, she still had hopes for her secret admirer.\u00a0 She was not ready to take the jump, yet.<\/p>\n

From the corner of her eyes, Puja saw Sahil squirm uncomfortably in his seat as if trying to do something that was not comfortable and she saw his elbow move a little bit forward towards her. That was her cue to bend towards Henna.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you see the yellow dress she is wearing\u201d Puja whispered to her. She saw Sahil\u2019s hand withdraw back to its original position.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a good mind to make one like that.\u201d said Henna. She looked at Puja\u2019s face and noticing her friends need to talk continued \u201cAnd the shoes are not bad either\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sahil got the\u00a0 message.<\/p>\n

The movie progressed with no more incidents.<\/p>\n

At the end of the movie, walking outside Puja felt a sense of freedom. Outside the theater door she fell in line with Poonam.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo which was your favorite part in the movie\u201d Puja asked her.<\/p>\n

In the bright light, she saw that Poonam\u2019s face was flushed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, when they met\u201d She said speaking fast, trying to sound normal. .<\/p>\n

Puja turned around instinctively and saw Manav and Neel giving a high five to each other.<\/p>\n

Puja walked closer to Poonam, as if to give support. Instinctively her fingers crossed. God, please let this work out. Poonam had taken The Jump.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Jump The theater was dark. Puja was acutely aware of Sahil next to her. \u201cOk, Everybody! Enjoy the movie\u201d said Henna sitting next to Puja as the advertisements started and everyone had settled. \u201cAnd everything else you do\u201d added Neel. Lots of giggles. \u201cShoo, Be quiet!\u201d said an elderly voice from somewhere behind. Puja … Continue reading The Jump<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-104","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/vibhashah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/vibhashah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/vibhashah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vibhashah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vibhashah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=104"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/vibhashah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106,"href":"http:\/\/vibhashah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/104\/revisions\/106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/vibhashah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}