EPILOGUE

On the way from Sahasrapuram to my home, I had checked into an internet café. The village had no network coverage and I would’ve missed any calls from friends. If they couldn’t get me on the phone, they would have probably mailed. I signed into Gmail and saw an unread mail. It was from Anand, a good friend of mine. The subject of the mail said it all! I opened the mail. It read:

“Congrats! U got rank # UR-1827 for the aims mbbs entrance exam. I also got a rank (#UR-868). Gr8 man! Tried calling u on ur cell…..where’ve u been? Call me bck 1ce u read this!
Anand”

The feeling was amazing. I had never expected to crack it this time too. Had the results come earlier this time? Or didn’t I check what time the results were scheduled to be declared? I needed to see the result on the web-site.

Suddenly, a friend from the US initiated a chat with me. Meanwhile, I confirmed my rank on the site and gave a command to print it. I wanted to log-off and resume my journey to my home. I had to meet Raman Namboodiri and tell him everything that had happened at Sahasrapuram. He wouldn’t believe it! I decided to say good-bye to my friend who was on-line. But as I keyed in those words, he asked about Keerthi. I stopped typing.

Rakesh: Keerthana told me she was cming there. Did u meet up?

Me: Ya, we were together visiting a shrine. But she left abruptly.

Rakesh: Did u make out?

Me: What!?!

Rakesh: Just kidding. Her wedding’s nxt month. With an American.

Me: Wedding?

Rakesh: Ya. KRT…..she wants an open relationship…..u interested?

Me: Wht r u talkin abt?

Rakesh: Wants…..no…..needs…..2 hve sme fun wherever she goes. Last yr she went 2 Mumbai n looted a guy there. Got news that she rocked on him  Woo Hoo!

Me: Wenz she cming back there?

Rakesh: Shud b here this weekend, thatz wht I heard. Ok man, gotta go…..my gf is callin. C ya later.

Rakesh logged off. The chat with him reminded me of a Latin proverb which went: ‘Everyone knows many things. But no one knows everything.’ I buried my head in my hands on the table.

“Is this your print-out?”

I got up and turned around to see the café guy hold out my entrance result. I took it in my hand and sat down. So many things were passing through my head…..she had been watching me for the past three years without my knowledge…..the way I thought we could be together again…..the way I yelled at her…..being told that she had left abruptly when I returned from the house where Vrinda stayed.

Anyways, I had time on my hands. Time to check whether all I had heard was true. Time to see whether she would come back. Time to decide whether I should go in search of her. Time would tell.

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