STORY 12 :Siksha & Ravish Jul 05 2023

When Ravish was a small boy, his father tried to get him interested in his studies by telling him if he did well, he would go to a good college, marry a good wife and be happy in life. Ravish concluded from this that the secret to being happy is to find a good girl who will make a good wife.

When he was in college, he saw Siksha in his GP tuition. Ravish used to sit in the middle of the long table separatig boys and girls and Siksha happened to sit just opposite him. She came to class, focused on the lesson and walked away once tuition was over without paying attention to anybody. Occasionally, during the class, she noticed Ravish staring at her and got red in the face. Ravish was captivated by her, but since she had no friends, it was difficult to be introduced to her through someone. He kept looking for ways to approach her after the tuition. At times, when he would see her enter a shop to buy something to eat, he would also go inside and buy bread even if he was not especially hungry. He would enter the same bus as her, sit next to her and tentatively tried to engage in conversation with her. She, however, avoided all his attempts by giving him one-word answers. This did not deter Ravish in his endeavour. He would purposely pay extra fares just to remain on the bus until she reached her destination and then take another bus to come back to his place.

One day, it happened to be raining, and Ravish had brought his father's umbrella with him. On that day, Siksha was walking to the bus stop with rain heavily pouring. This gave Ravish a chance to be a gentleman by presenting his umbrella to cover her head. The sky contributed in this manner to bring them closer. From then on, Ravish prayed for it to rain every day when he went to tuition.

Just when Ravish thought he was making progress, Siksha told him that she was not interested in him as he was a small boy, and she was interested in people who went to the university. This threw cold water on Ravish's aspirations.

Siksha had always been very attached to her mum. The latter was a woman of strong character, hardworking and focused on making progress. She married very young and became a mum early, and always wanted her children to study, and get their degrees and qualifications. Siksha initially did not like going to school but inspired by her mum, she became studious. Her mum always told her that she needed to have someone who has completed his studies and gone to university, and who is responsible and holds a good position in life. Ravish did not correspond to this profile. Even though she found that he looked like an actor in a TV series she used to watch, she could not ever imagine marrying someone like him. Their relationship, therefore, did not progress much further over the two years.
After college, Ravish started working in an audit firm while following a part-time course. This career choice fitted even less into the profile Siksha was looking for. They would meet each other at the bus stop, and Ravish would get super excited seeing her. He eagerly looked for opportunities to come and sit beside her on the bus. However, the moment Siksha saw him; she would take out her book and pretend to be reading. It went on for some time, but unknown to Siksha; she had entered into a game. She was flattered by the attention Ravish gave her and enjoyed making the effort to avoid him, knowing that he would keep coming back.

One thing that played in Ravish's favour was that Siksha did not have many friends to confide in, and, as a result, whatever happened between them stayed in her mind only. She would tell only her mum about Ravish, how he went out of the way to cover her head with an umbrella when it was raining or went with her to buy bread. On Diwali, Ravish came to Siksha's with his sister to bring sweets for her and her family. For the first time, Siksha's mum got to meet Ravish. She already had a good impression of him based on what Siksha had been telling her. After Ravish and his sister left, she told Siksha that Ravish is a cute boy. The fact that her mum liked Ravish changed the relationship between Siksha and the latter a little. They remained in touch, and he send her messages from time to time.

When Siksha went for her work placement, Ravish invited her for lunch; Siksha accepted the invitation but later told him that she was coming with a friend. This left Ravish feeling disappointed as he was hoping to get to meet her alone. Later, she came alone but told Ravish she had already had lunch. Ravish was put off by this, and the much-awaited meeting lasted only for 10 minutes before they parted ways.

One day, Ravish saw Siksha at the mall with her mum from a distance, and he called her on her phone. He was annoyed to see her check the phone but choose to ignore his call. On his third attempt, she finally picked up, but she did not reply and just cancelled the call. Ravish was irritated by this put-off. He walked to Shiska and her mum, greeted them and casually asked her why she was ignoring his call. Siksha was left red-faced, and her mum was surprised to hear what had happened. Her reaction had something positive in it; it showed to both Ravish and Siksha that she did not intend to be an obstacle in a potential relationship between them.

Sometime after that, Ravish invited Siksha and her family to the wedding of her cousin and played the perfect guest by giving them a warm welcome and introducing them to his family. This made quite an impression on Siksha's mum and changed Siksha's attitude towards him a little more. Ravish and Siksha even got to click their first photos together.
Ravish and Siksha had earlier agreed on a deal that Ravish would bring sweets to her on Diwali, and the next year, she would do the same to him. When Diwali arrived, Siksha did not do as agreed. Instead, she chose to put on her beautiful churidar and waited for Ravish, but he stood his ground and did come to bring cakes for her. Unknown to Siksha, Ravish had earlier lost a relative and his family was not celebrating Diwali. Siksha was extremely disappointed. Her mum saw her sad in her churidar and could not understand what was happening to her.
This episode got Siksha to be more invested in the relationship. Until then, it was always Ravish who made all the effort towards her. There were days when he would come all over to Reduit from Plaine Magnien just to accompany her back home after her tuition. On Saturdays, he would wait for her at the bus stop of Ebene so they could go back together. Ravish would keep sending her messages daily, and she would only occasionally reply. One day, Ravish told her that she messaged him only when she needed him; this got her to react by sending him a series of messages, and when he did not reply, she got angry at him.

On Christmas Eve, Ravish borrowed his uncle's car and brought Siksha to Grand Baie Mall. He bought a dress for her as a gift and purchased fruits for her brother. Everything was going on perfectly, but on the way back, she told him: "Don't expect anything from me because we don't match, and I see you more as a friend."

This affected Ravish, and earlier words that had been said between them came to haunt him. He remembered her telling him that she preferred someone who goes to the university. This got him to question his position as he had invested so much in the relationship, and it would have been easier for him to pursue some other girls who were not as hard to get. He stopped calling Siksha and did not send her any messages for several days. Siksha grew restless and could not understand what was happening to me as she was constantly thinking about Ravish. That's when she knew that Ravish was already part of her life. She had feelings for Ravish but was just not aware of it. She finally messaged him and told him that she loved him.

Since the beginning, their relationship followed a pattern: every time Ravish made a move at Siksha, she moved away, and when he stepped back, she came to him. She needed the space to understand her feelings, and by being constantly in pursuit of her, Ravish denied her this space. At the mall, she enjoyed being with Ravish and appreciated what he did for her, but then he caught her hand, and she felt that he was helping her with a goal in mind. She wanted to feel valued by him without any agenda.

Ravish and Siksha were finally a couple, but now there was another obstacle in the way: they had different ways of seeing things. Siksha grew up with a strong and focused mindset; she has always planned her life in order to feel secure about the future. She was irritated to find that Ravish often took things lightly. They had projected to buy a plot of land and build their house, but whenever she would bring it up, he would tell her that they would have time for it later. Everything got delayed, and it stressed her out. She loved him and needed some guarantee that he was serious and was taking responsibility for their future. She started feeling that he was only words and no action. They were a couple in their heart, but in their mind, they were still far apart. This eventually led to a big clash between them, and they broke up. Ravish tried by every means to get in touch with Siksha, but she blocked him on all social media platforms and on her phone as well. She was so down that her mum asked her what was the issue and she told her that Ravish was not doing anything for them. For the first time, even her mum was disappointed. This enabled her to blow off steam and she felt that at least her mum understood her. This was a necessary step for her true feelings to rise to the surface. She realized that, deep down, she was missing Ravish terribly. However, since she had blocked him, there was no way for her to get back to him. She silently prayed for God to find a way to bring them back together.

Since the beginning of his courtship, Ravish has always proved resourceful. Since Siksha had blocked her on social media on her phone, he looked for a way to reach her. He eventually send her an email telling her he regretted what had happened and wanted to video call her. On that day, he told her that he would do as she said. They met again, but this time they did not know what to say. There was an emotional distance between them. They had had many fights before, but this one had brought both of them to the brink. They finally understood how much they needed each other. Siksha had tears in her eyes. There were so much feeling welled up inside her. She only managed to ask Ravish: "You will do as you said, right?”

It came out more as a plea than a question. She felt that their happiness was hanging by a thread.
Ravish did not even bother to reply. He felt that the time for words was long passed. He now needed to take action. He took the plans for their house that he had brought with him and placed them in front of her, proving that he was serious about the relationship. From the cute boy who fell for a girl in his GP tuition, he had matured and grown into a man who was willing to take responsibility for their future together.

It is said that the greatest challenge in life is not conquering the world but winning the heart of the woman you love. Ravish knew from the outset that Siksha was a difficult girl, but that reassured him that she was not the easy type. She was the good girl who would make a good wife as his father told him. He knew in his heart that she was the one because, even though he had always been independent-minded and did not like to take orders from anybody, Siksha was the only one who could get him to change his ways. She constantly kept him on his toes and made him work hard to get her, but, at the end of the day, winning her over was worth the effort.

Ravish and Siksha are getting married in August 2023, promising to cherish each other as their most precious treasure for eternity.