Bhoomika

Ujaaley, Andheri Yaadon Ke. This is a yet-to-be-completed fiction in Hindi, with two central characters- Shikha, an Art teacher at a private school in Delhi and Prakash, an MBA struggling to make it big in the corporate world.

Shikha and Prakash belong to two different fields of expertise. Both of them have equally diverse backgrounds as well. While Shika belongs to Delhi and has her roots in Gurdaspur, Punjab, Prakash hails from Durgapur, industrial metropolis in West Bengal.

After Mumbai (I must not steal the credit away), they say Delhi is the land of opportunities. Prakash, like many others had followed suit and come to the Capital to pursue BSc from University of Delhi. He lives in a single room apartment at Noida.

Being a Science graduate, Prakash has logic and theories governing all his steps. From charting out his career-path, based on his skills and available resources to making friends and taking miniscule decisions in his life, utility weighs heavy on his mind...all the while.

Not very contrary to Prakash's character, at a diametriacally opposite end in Delhi ( at Rajouri Garden), there is Shikha. After completing school, Shika pursued vocational training in Painting along with her graduation. The stakes were high. Her parents were against this. Afteral, there are not many connoisseurs left in metros, where time and money outshine everything else. Shikha was asking for too much. Stubborn she was.

Two different people at two distant places in the same city. For them, affecting each other's life was a distant possibilty, let alone changing it for good. But, fate has willed something else.

The story begins with a telephonic coversation between Prakash and his father. It had been eight years since Prakash came to Delhi and three months since he has been sitting idle. His father is obviously upset with the way Prakash quit the job, he had recently joined. With a dwindling balance in Prakash's account in his days of unemployment, it needs no mention who had made the call. Ditto for the crux of their conversation.

But, it was not always like this. Prakash was a promising youth. His employers were ready to retain him at the marketing firm (situated at Panchsheel), where Prakash had been working for the last two years. Job switching had never crossed his mind, until he met Shikha. He got placed with a Company close to the school, where Shikha was teaching. Plus, there was a salary hike as well. Money does matter. Even in Love. But, a budding manager as he was, this move had not come in a haste. They were in love. Sure, they were.

At times proximity becomes the moot cause for separation, if not the root cause. Little had Prakash known, his voyage would soon meet with a shipwreck. Things take an ugly turn and there is single choice left for both of them- retract. A series of explanations follow, only to make things worse. The equations are new to Prakash. Shikha starts painting a new picture. A new form of art. But it is real. It has logic. What awaits ahead is the big question of survival. Those addicted to love-cocaine, have to put in a lot of effort to battle withdrawl symptoms.

The crux is not just surviving in this battle, but winning it as well, with the quintessential armour amiss.
Shikha, on the other hand is also battling against all odds. Professional life had gnawed their personal lives.

Ujaaley, Andheri Yaadon Ke is not a love story. Interestingly, it is also not just about Shikha and Prakash, and their affair gone haywire. It begins from where love has taken leave. It begins to take shape, after an unintended-yet-inevitable development (in most cases), infamously known as Break-up in present times.

This is a story about how one must live and keep breathing after a nascent feeling of personal loss. A journey from its nascent form to permanent state. Well, there are two lives trying to do so. Trying to maintain a balance between heart and mind, luxury and duty, choice and the lack of it.

Bland, yet emotional. The story unfolds only to give a sinking feeling inching towards an end for the two lives- Shikha and Prakash. As the plot develops, it becomes increasingly difficult for the two to find ways to smoothen their otherwise morose sojourn, called- Life.

What was the root cause for their separation? What is that real picture Shikha pulls over Prakash's eyes? Is there any coming back? How do they tackle the post-break-up scenario? Do the pieces of life fall in place once again? What happened to their respective careers? Is there a happy or a sad end to this saga? Worse still, is there any end?

These are the questions which must find reasonable answers in an equally reasonable fashion. Reason is of paramount importance. Afteral, Shikha and Prakash are not collegiates anymore. Right!

Ripples.