We all agreed that Aishwarya was the prettiest of them all, and so the games of wooing her began

During the first year of my engineering I stayed in a rented flat with two of my college mates: Suraj and Mukesh. Now, the floor on which stayed had four flats in total. The one adjacent to ours was occupied by two of our college mates also in first year engg: Tarique and Mitesh. Gradually we became friends with them and very soon the five of us started spending all our time together. We went to dinner and movies together, chatted til the wee hours of the morning, etc. We were truly like a close knit family. Out of the remaining two flats, one was occupied by a couple of working professionals while the other by three girls studying in first year medicine.

It was the latter in whom we were most interested. All three of them were eye candy and we were on a lookout for an opportunity to strike up friendship. Luckily we didn’t have to wait for long as one night they rang our doorbell to borrow some sugar. As in movies, one thing led to another and soon two of us namely Mukesh and Tarique were going around with two of them (named Tarleta and Nina respectively). The one remaining single in that flat was Aishwarya. We unanimously agreed that she was prettiest of the three. But somehow I wasn’t mesmerized with her like all the others (especially Suraj and Mitesh). I felt that whatever extra God had given her in her physical appearance, he had deducted from her top floor. She was a real dimwit and a one to one conversation with her could get really very boring. Basically I didn’t find her intellectually stimulating.

But try telling that to Suraj and Mitesh who were falling head over heels in love with her with each passing day. While Mitesh started presenting her with original poems based on her, Suraj sat up all night listening to Punjabi music very popular with Aishwarya, so that he could discuss it with her the following day. Her birthday, family details, likes and dislikes, hobbies were all memorized by the two suitors. Needless to say, Mukesh, Tarique and myself were thoroughly enjoying all this free entertainment. But little did we know that things would take a dramatic turn in the days to come.

“I really love her,” said Suraj looking into the moonless sky one night when all of us were about to hit the sack. “Me too,” teased Mukesh.

But Suraj was in no mood for jokes. He gave Mukesh a hard stare. “All this seems fun to both of you doesn’t it?” he said furiously “That’s the difference between you people and Tarique.”

“What do you mean” I asked.

“Don’t act so innocent” Suraj lashed out. “It is as if you can’t see that he always stands by his roommate Mitesh while all you guys do is to make fun of me when it comes to Aishwarya. There was a silence for a couple of minutes; which was ultimately broken by Mukesh. “I think he is right” he said looking at me. “Tarique never pokes fun at Mitesh. Moreover I have seen him giving tips to Mitesh on how to impress Aishwarya.”

“That’s nothing” butted in Suraj “This evening I overheard Tarique’s girlfriend Nina singing praises of Mitesh in front of Aishwarya.” Then looking straight at Mukesh he asked “Can’t your girlfriend Tarleta do something like that for me?”

Mukesh looked taken aback by this strange request. “Is this some kind of a game of one-upmanship going on between you and Mitesh? We are all friends, don’t you understand that?”

“That is what you think Mukesh” thundered Suraj “Can’t you see that Tarique is playing a double game here. He is keeping on good terms with us and at the same time secretly helping Mitesh to hook Aishwarya. Why can’t you guys be there for me the way he is for his roommate?” Seeing his desperation and acknowledging some validity in his arguments, both of us decided to help him.

From that day forward, myself and Mukesh began keeping a strict vigil on Mitesh. We would butt in any time we found him talking to Aishwarya and even when all of us would be together, Mukesh would keep him engaged in a conversation. Soon Tarique started returning the same favour with Suraj, expelling whatever little doubt we had regarding our actions. Even Nina and Tarleta became a part of the whole drama with the former forwarding Mitesh’s case while the latter Suraj’s with Aishwarya.

Finally D-Day came. Mitesh decided to propose to his crush. He poured his heart out on a greeting card and sent it along with a red rose through Nina to Aishwarya. Tarleta saw the card and rose in Nina’s hand and immediately informed Suraj. Not to be outdone, Suraj expressed his feelings in a letter and (after literally drowning it in perfume) sent it along with two roses to Aishwarya through Tarleta.

All three of us were then sitting in our flat awaiting Aishwarya’s response when the doorbell rang. It was Tarique and Mitesh. “Hey guys, guess what?” exclaimed Tarique “Mitesh has just proposed to Aishwarya!”

“Well, Suraj has done that too” replied Mukesh coldly without even looking at him. The smile on Tarique’s face disappeared while Mitesh’s jaw dropped by an inch. There was a pin drop silence. Sensing the awkwardness of the whole situation, I decided to intervene. “Listen guys” I said addressing all of them “Each one of us knows that both Mitesh and Suraj have a crush on Aishwarya. But we were friends before we met those girls and should remain that in the future irrespective of Aishwarya’s decision. There should be no hard feelings, no animosity, agreed?”

All of them nodded in agreement. Just as I was about to proceed, the doorbell rang again. This time it was Nina and Tarleta. Mitesh and Suraj looked at them with anticipation. “Your letter and card were delivered to Aishwarya” said Tarleta in a low pitch voice gesturing towards both of them. “And ..?” quizzed Suraj. Tarleta remained silent. It was Nina’s turn to speak. “She has sent a letter professing her love,” she said holding up a blue envelope in her hand. “For me?” asked Suraj. “No” replied Nina with a stonefaced expression. On hearing that Mitesh couldn’t control his jubilation and began jumping with joy. “It is not for you either” snapped Tarleta “It is for…Leander.”

It was as if a bomb had been dropped on our heads. Everybody looked at me and I didn’t know where to look. “She says,” continued Tarleta “that she developed a crush on Leander since the day she saw him. As far as Mitesh and Suraj go, she only considers them her good friends and nothing more.” There was a silence for about half a minute, then Mitesh got up and left the flat. Mukesh and Tarique were giving wry smiles while Suraj had turned to stone.

I just didn’t know what to say. All this was totally unexpected. Needless to say, three hearts broke that day – Suraj’s, Mitesh’s and Aishwarya’s (whom I refused). The games of life…