Leh, 2016.
“Who’s it from? A girl, huh?”,
they teased.
“The girl”, he corrected.
The bright and cheerful
lieutenant seemed to be in a good mood since the letter had arrived. It smelled
like her. He couldn’t help himself from beaming ear to ear at his old school
girlfriends' attempt at making his day. Her letters were his only respite from
the hustle and bustle of his jam-packed routine. He hurriedly opened it to
read.
Lt. Vihaan Bakshi,
It feels so strange to be half
a world away from you. It’s cold here and the only place where I find warmth is
when I think of you. I miss you so much that it hurts like a physical beating.
I want to sink into your arms and cry. Irrespective of the distance, I’m proud
of the love that we share. I believe in you and someday, I won’t need to hit
the snooze button and wait for your call to wake me up. And just topple over
the other side of the bed to find you there. Someday, we’ll wake up at sunrise,
have breakfast on the porch, drink coffee in our bathrobes, and melt under a
blanket. Someday, we’ll just drive away in silence, with the sunset bathing us
in its magical light. And everything will feel exactly the way things are meant
to be.
I respect the choices that
you’ve made, and I realize that service before self will be your motto. Always.
The simplicity you exude is a part of your charm. You make me proud every time
I see you don the olive green. I swear I’ve never seen a man more handsome. I
await the day when I get to see that every day and foolishly ogle at you. I
appreciate the way you always protect and pamper me in every way you can.
Every time I sense that you’re
feeling low, I feel so helpless. Desperate enough to drop everything, catch the
first flight, and throw me in your arms. I can picture myself standing on my
toes to wrap my arms around your neck and pull you close enough for you to feel
my breath on your face. It’ll be sooner than you think; I’ll look you in the
eye and tell you that I love you. Someday, while my fingers mindlessly trace
your dimple to your irresistibly sexy jawline, I’ll hold your chin up firmly,
hold your hands whenever I want to, and the world will know that you are taken.
You need to know that you make me weak in the knees and I fall harder every
time I see you smile. I just want to be so close to you until it's suffocating.
And the man who’s something out of a dream will let his guards down. Forget
about his problems and lean in for a kiss reeking of passion, leaving me
enchanted and breathless.
You risk your life for your
love for the country, and it scares me. But, I need you to know that I am the
luckiest girl on earth because I get to love you.
Every time the hospital load takes
a toll on me, I draw motivation from your resilience, perseverance, and
devotion to living a life less ordinary. I can conclude that because of you, I
will not give up. You could’ve been a thick-headed, long-haired, ear-pierced
rebellious teenager, but you chose to undertake training under hard taskmasters
which requires discipline and mettle testing circumstances. The country is in
safe hands. I’m the biggest fan of the person you’ve turned into. Your parents
are proud of you and the people around you look up to you. I adore everything
that makes you who you are, and I can’t wait to see you, hold you, and never
let you go. Someday, maybe?
P.S- Keep safe, don’t forget
to eat, stay hydrated, and call your mom.
Yours faithfully,
Mehr
Jaipur, 2017
“What if they don’t like me?”,
Mehr asked tapping her foot nervously in the well-decorated drawing-room of
Captain Vihaan Bakshi’s parents' house.
“What if they do?”, Vihaan
winked at her, caressed her face, and disappeared into his room.
Pune, 2018
Every Sunday, Mehr Vihaan
Bakshi sits on the kitchen slab in her pajamas giving her critical opinion on
her husband’s culinary skills, to which Captain Vihaan Bakshi holds her by the collar of his t-shirt that she proudly wears and plants a peck on her forehead.
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