Free Life Is What You Make It A Story Of Love, Hope And How Determination Can Overcome Even Destiny by Preeti Shenoy Page B

relocating as soon as my final exams were over. Abhi was very upset when he heard this.
    “Look Abhi,” I reasoned with him, “Even if my folks were not moving to Bombay, we would still have parted as I would have chosen to do it in Bombay,” I said.
    “Come on Anks, Isn't CUSAT good enough for you? Doesn't ‘WE’ mean anything to you?”
    Most of us had got offer letters from CUSAT and those who had got interview calls from other places were stalling, keeping CUSAT as a backup option, in case we did not get in anywhere else. CUSAT was definitely not my first choice.
    “Abhi, how can you be so unreasonable?” I said. “Look, put yourself in my place. If you had got a call from the places I have, wouldn't you have grabbed it?”
    “No, Ankita. I would still have gone to the place where both of us can study together. That is how much you mean to me,” he said simply. I did not know what to answer as I knew he meant it too. But the thing was, he had not made it. I had.
    He was such an emotional fool. This was an opportunity of a lifetime for me. How could I just chuck it up, for something which I presumed was love? How foolish was that? I was not getting swayed. Abhi felt I was being hard hearted. I felt I was being practical and rational.
    “Look, I had told you to study hard. If you had, you would have made it,” I said. It came out more accusingly than I intended.
    “Yes. It is easy for you to say now, Miss. Bombay. You know what, pride has gone to your head.” he said caustically.
    I was taken aback. I said no more and walked away.
    “Don't get angry with me,” he called out. “I am the only one who dares to tell you the truth. The others just suck up to you. Think about it.”
    I was fuming. How dare he speak to me like that? He called out to me to wait, but I was in no mood to listen to him.
    Later I thought about what Abhi had said. I concluded he was frustrated and jealous as he had not made it. How could he ask me to give up my dream? How could he ask me to give up something I had worked so hard for, just so I could be with him? CUSAT did not look appealing at all. In the dazzle and glamour of Bombay, what chances did it have? I did not feel any regret about leaving my friends behind.
    Bombay beckoned and I was more than ready to fly.

    9
    Never Belittle Love
    T here was still a month left before we would finally move to Bombay. Everything seemed to have worked out perfectly for me. Like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, my life was falling into perfect order and was coming together in a way I never imagined. My parents felt that my dad's transfer to Bombay was the next best thing to have happened, after my getting into one of the finest MBA programmes that was on offer. They were also delighted that my brother had got into John Hopkins University in the USA and he would leave soon.
    Most days I went out to meet the gang and now my parents did not even question me when I said that I was going out. It was like I had earned the right to do what I pleased. Almost everybody from our gang of friends would be starting their courses in the next two months. For all those who were doing courses outside Kerala, these were the last few weeks in Cochin, which had been home to us, for the last three years. We felt a tinge of sadness we would be leaving it, even though the future seemed very bright.
    All of us wanted to make the most of the last few days left and our favourite haunt was a restaurant called ‘Appu aur Pappu’ which faced the backwaters. Despite its ridiculous name which we had shortened to Appu's, the ambience was great as it had outdoor seating around two large shady trees, facing the promenade. The salty sea breeze blowing gently around us seemed to knit us together as we sat nursing our mocktails and munching snacks that we ordered as we watched people walking on the promenade. The sunset made the sea sparkle with a million shades of orange and gold and we hung around, our faces glowing in the