Love's Labour's Lost

 Ravi was searching for his close friend Rahul all over the campus. At last he found him sitting in a dark corner with his chin cupped in his palms.
"Rahul! Why are sitting here? I searched for you everywhere! Boy, you look sad!"
"Sad?" Rahul snorted. "It is a very mild epithet, Ravi! My world has come to an end! I want to die!"
Ravi was shocked at his friend's words.
"What makes you feel so gloomy, my buddy?"
"Gloomy! Yes, Ravi. I am sinking deeper and deeper into the abysmal depths of depression, disappointment and disillusionment!"
"What happened, Rahul? Have you and Radha quarrelled?"
"Ravi, you know me better, don't you? Will I ever quarrel with my darling Radha? I dote upon her! I worship the ground she treads on! I am her most willing slave waiting to fulfil all her wishes!"
"Oh, yes! Rahul, the whole school knows it."
"I dare not speak a word against her whims or vagaries! I love her more than anyone in this world!"he continued to rant with unabated passion.
"Rahul, calm down! Will you please tell me what exactly happened?"
Rahul did not seem to hear his close friend's words and continued his rambling.
"I held the tissue to her nose even before began to sneeze; held my umbrella over her head even if I had to drench in the rain. I spent sleepless nights fearing she might catch a cold or get fever. Called her as soon as the day dawned to ask if she was alright."
"Oh, yes. Of course I remember it. And she quite enjoyed being always pampered by you. She looked pleased enough with all the attention you showed to her. Well, didn't she openly acknowledge your profuse demonstrations of love?"
"She did. We couldn't have been happier. We were floating in the air like two ethereal beings. Our bliss was sublime. We breathed for each other and lived as one soul in two bodies."
Ravi sighs. "Buddy, come to the point. Your affair is a known story. Tell me what happened to make you feel so tragic!"
"My paradise is lost! My dear one cares no more for me. She scorns my presence. walks with her nose in the air as if I never existed!"
"I can't believe my ears, Rahul! Is it true? Is it possible?"
The poor wretch broke into tears. It was a pitiful sight to see him sobbing like that.
"How can she so easily forget the wonderful time we had together? We sang, danced and laughed like two crazy beings madly in love with each other and felt like being on top of the world!"
"You both made a lovely pair, Rahul! Everybody thought so!"
"When I walked on the road holding her hand in mine I felt taller than I actually am! I felt I am the happiest person on earth!"
"Yes, yes. everything seemed to be alright between both of you!"
"Oh! How we hated to part when the day ended! The night seemed never to end; only after seeing my angel's face in the morning I got back my breath!"
"What were her feelings, Rahul?"
"Everything was OK, Ravi. She reciprocated my deep love to my perfect satisfaction. I was sure there was never in the past and there will never be in the future a more contented couple than we in the whole universe."
"Yes, you did make a perfect match!"
"There was not an inkling of doubt in our belief that we were made for each other!"
Rahul kept talking like one in a reverie.
"There were no secrets between us. we hid nothing from each other. I shared everything with the apple of my eye. Silly or serious, we left nothing out in our daily talks."
"Yes, my boy! Your happy intimacy made both boys and girls of our school envy you!"
Rahul did not seem to hear. Like a person in another world his delirious recollections continued."Heavenly moments they were when we sat together silently in the bench near the pond throwing stones into the water and watching the ripples spreading out."
Ravi patiently allowed him to continue to relive his past days. 
"Her joy knew no bounds when we both spent the hot summer day in the fair, tirelessly weaving through the crowd enjoying the rides, the snacks, the icecreams and all the stalls selling all sorts of stuff."
"Oh! The poor chap!" groaned Ravi to himself.
Rahul's gloom returned with vengeance and his tone changed to utter despair and dejection."Now how unreal it seems! Was it a dream after all?"
He struggled to cope with the cruel reality. His whole spirit was embittered, unable to digest or accept Radha's behaviour.
"How could anyone have imagined such a thing can happen? No use of living after such a tragedy! Oh, Death! Have mercy and embrace me in your arms!"
A lot has been said about love. Not all are laudatory like 'love is sublime'. Some are deprecatory like 'love is blind' and 'love knows no shame'. Love stirs the imaginationand incites innate instincts and impulses in man. 
"Oh my God!" sighed Ravi looking at his friend suffering from the only too common malady of love.
Ravi was at a loss for words to console the heartbroken lover. After allowing him to cry on for a few more minutes Ravi spoke softly choosing his words carefully.
"Well, Rahul, I see no reason why you lose hope like this. You see, there ought to be ups and downs in life. This is a passing cloud. It will be sunshine soon."
"No, Ravi. She has closed the doors against me for ever!"
"Did you by any chance unwittingly commit any indiscreet act?"
"None that I can remember, Ravi! I have gone over that thousand times in my mind. I never thought she will do this to me! It is not fair! I don't deserve to be ditched like this!"
That brought a fresh flow of tears.
Ravi gave time for the poor chap to finish crying. In the meanwhile his mind was seriously trying to understand what is love. Love is a wonderful feeling. It is the axis on which the world rotates. It is a magnet that draws the male and the female towards each other. It is the clever scheme of Mother Nature to perpetuate the species.
The path of love is strewn with both flowers and thorns. Agony and ecstasy are to love like the two sides of a coin. they coexist in the most amazing manner. It is one of the awesome phenomena found in Nature. Inexplicable. Unescapable.
Ravi's analysis continued.
Love can be both constructive and destructive. Unbelievable feats are accomplished because of it. Pathetic failures have been the consequence of it. Monuments have been erected to celebrate it. empires have fallen because of it. Battles are fought and lives are lost for it. Such is the supreme power of love.
Arts and literature never tire of depisting love. The world loves lovers. It is a simple truth, so to say. Love blossoms and flourishes where individuals of both sexes come together and spend many hours in close proximity. educational institutions are ideal places for youngsters to discover their romantic capacities. what Ravi was watching was a classic example.
Ravi broke the silence hoping his friend would have regained his composure.
"But this is very strange. Very odd she should turn her back on you without any reason!"
On hearing these words Rahul screamed, "There is a reason, Ravi, there is a reason!"
Ravi was taken aback by this outburst. He gathered the matter was more serious than he had thought. But he could not fathom the depth of the madman's tragedy.
"You know the reason? Who ever can be behind her change of heart? Parents? Brothers? teachers?"
"None of these. The villain has come like a bolt from the blue."
"Rahul, I don't get you! Who isthe villain are you are talking about?"
"Ravi, do you remember the new admission to our class?"
"Who? That big, fat boy?"
"The same. I hated the pig the very moment he entered our classroom."
"But how does his arrival affect you?"
"Radha's face lit up when the fat pig gave her a broad smile."
"But that is normal; she perhaps wanted to welcome the newcomer."
"No! You are wrong. Somehow things began to change after his arrival."
"Rahul, don't let your imagination make you paranoid. I think you are jealous of the rich brat!"
"Ravi, believe me! He swept her off her feet by that odious grin on his fat pink face and the awful airshe threw about him."
"Come on, boy! I think your suspicions are groundless. I know the swaggering braggart is reeking with his father's filthy wealth."
"I detest the fellow, Ravi! He has snatched my darling from me."
"How are you so sure, Rahul?"
"I saw the rascal slipping a huuuuuuuuge chocolate bar into her hand under the desk during our rhymes class."
"But that is not unusual!"
"You must have seen the blush on her face! And then she grinned like a cheshire cat!"
"My God!"
"Listen! During the interval he pushed her off to the icecream cart and I saw her returning with two cone icecream cones, one in each hand. I have never seen her happier before."
"Really?"
"Yesterday when we were rushing to the prayer hall he thrust a huuuuuuge packet of lollipops in her hands and she giggled in perfect glee!"
"Doesn't sound good!"
"This morning when I greeted her she turned her head away as if I was a stranger! And walked off acting deaf to my calls!"
"That is very bad!"
"When our maths miss was teaching two tables he was helping her tie her shoelaces."
"What a cunning brat he is!"
"Yes, a real scheming villain! They look at each other as if they have virtually gone to some park, completely oblivious of our kindergarten classroom!"
"Atrocious!"
"I am unable to forget the sweet time we both had together before this rascal came upsetting my applecart!"
"I understand how it feels, Rahul!"
That brought on another bout of bitter sobs! Ravi knew not how to console his little friend. Aptly said the bard:"Love's Labour's Lost".