I have a fast friend of mine whose name is Muneer, the guy has a track record that even normal things turn out to be extremely different and unique for him or as I should say, he has a talent of finding the bad side of everything more often. Like he once got his bicycle stolen that was locked in front of his house, he burnt his room while trying to invent an electric heater of his own in 9^th grade, once he spilt milk on his completed summer vacations homework. The poor guy had to do all the 200 pages all over again. As years passed by things continued to stay the same way for Muneer. The poor lad had reached his twenties but things liked to stay on his bad side.

It was back in the year 2010 when we completed our engineering graduation studies and decided to visit a local hill station for a week or so. We had been planning for this break for quite a period of time but never in fact managed to get there. But now it was the last resort and in fact the last chance for us to visit our favourite hill station because my parents had asked to me go abroad and get settled there with my uncle and assist him with his business. Muneer however had no such plan of going anywhere but as friends we knew that it’s either now or never. So we planned and went there to find the serene environment and healthy atmosphere that we had been waiting for like forever.

The plan went perfectly fine and we loved our hotel and its location. To add to the thrill we used to visit places and stayed out of our room most of the time. Not much time had passed after which we realized the presence of a girls’ boarding school in the near vicinity. It was a renowned boarding school of the country and girls from all over used to come there for seeking education. These girls however had a break from 4pm to 6pm in which they were free to go the markets and purchase things of their liking. Being young and peppy, we used to find particular interest in the girls and used to visit the market for them.

However what was not according to the plan was that my friend Muneer once saw a girl in a local market and it was like love at first sight sort of a scene. I remember that we followed her for about an hour that day and for the next three days we desperately waited for her near the boarding school gate and to my surprise always found her there. I asked my friend to talk to her and inform her about his liking for her but her never could muster up enough courage so all we did was peek at her and follow her and listen to her all day. One day however we came to know from eavesdropping that it was her final year here rather the final days and she was leaving in a day or so that’s why she used to visit the market daily to buy souvenirs and  other famous stuff from the hilly resort and then head back home.

I remember Muneer once bought a magazine that she picked and liked and bought a copy of which, also she liked a set of ear rings and tried to bargain the price with the shopkeeper but because of having less cash couldn’t buy one. Munner my friend, bought both these items and kept them with him.

Then all of a sudden she disappeared from the scene altogether. We searched for her but all in vain, my friend was heart broken and could never forget her. I remember that even after a month that we had come back home he used to talk about her and her things, her talks and her style. He was just so lost in her love. Then I had to leave the country and got settled in Canada with my uncle. Meanwhile I heard from Muneer that his parents had arranged his marriage and as he couldn’t find his dream girl he had agreed to marry any girl without even seeing her, as according to him it didn’t matter anymore for him. Recently I’ve returned home after about 3 years and yesterday I went to Muneer’s house. I met his wife who was a very decent lady. Then Muneer took me out of his house and whispered in my ear, I wanted to tell you something ever since my marriage but as I wanted to say this in person and see your response I had been waiting till now. I was quite curious to know what he had been waiting to tell me ever since then, but what Muneer said afterwards made me burst into laughter first, then feel seriously sorry and worried for him. The words he said yesterday, while whispering were

‘Remember that girl from the hill station, her name was Angeline, she is my wife’s younger sister and I came to know about this on the first night of my marriage & have been living in a state of surprise ever since then that how life plays with you in different ways’.