Prologue: 18 School Road..

Akash stood in front of the huge building and looked at the enormous
structure. It was hard to believe that here he would have his
victory. People moved in quickly, not bothering to realize the
significance of the moment, but ofcourse! they were also in a hurry to catch
their seats.

He was in no hurry, in fact he was trying to savour the taste of
his achievement. To any other person just appreciating such an effort would
have seemed enough, but such ordinary souls can never know the true
pleasure of achievement.

Inside - the whole stadium was jam packed, every square inch seemed
occupied. But Akash was not worrying about his seat; he had one
on the dias. He was 36 but felt more like 50, the receeding hairline
and the slight wrinkles on his face bore witness to the hours that he
had put into his work, the days he had spent immersed in duty and the nights he had spent denying his begging eyes the pleasure of sleep; And now finally he had something to show for
it.

On the stage, he was the youngest of the dignitaries, but had he not
seen more than them all? Looking at the vast gathering, stirred in him
a sense of loneliness that he had cultivated within, his spirits were
questioning him. There was turmoil in his mind, his decisions were
haunting him.

Had he been right in his decisions?

Had he acted too soon?

The battle with these questions had been raging ever since that fatal day. The day the earth shuddered and the ocean sneezed.

The tsunami had destroyed every thing in its path, shores, buildings,
resorts, fishing communities, and lives. The mere ripple in the mighty
ocean had snuffed out the faith from pious souls and put the fear of god into the hearts of the faithless. People's lives had been turned upside down. Souls had repented in agony when their loved ones met the sea on land. It had taken only a
moment to impact millions of lives. It would take lifetimes to undo that moment.
A lakh and a half had lost their lives and it left more suffering from starvation
and disease. It has been 15 years since, but homes and eyes weep even
today.

After the guests had spoken flattering words in his honor, they moved down towards their special seats. When he settled down in his seat he began looking around for
her, ofcourse she had to be there somewhere. Just then he saw Sunitha
and their eyes met. She came upto him, with her ever comforting smile
and ease of character she slipped her palm into his.

"Its been a long time" she said, "Yes, and good of you to come". As he
looked at her, he realized that she looked a lot younger than him.
"looks as if you never started aging, secret magic potion uh?" he asked.
Was she smiling now or blushing?

He was about to ask her about her family when someone came up behind
her. "This is my husband Kabir, and Kabir, this is Akash", Sunitha made the introductions, they shook hands. "I am proud that my wife knows you" said Kabir
"It is nice of you to have come" Akash added. Just then the announcement began, Sunitha and Kabir congratulated Akash again and headed off to their seats.

As he watched Sunitha and her husband head to their seats, he caught
sight of a dupatta- lo! she had chosen that color,
a bracelet- he knew the shop where it came from
a face- yes, he had been in love once ...
and his mind flew, across years and events and time ...now he could hardly hear the thousands in the crowd chant a name, the music began, the crowds went wild.
The stage was set but Akash slowly flew back to ...

to a time when the road were playfields, to an age when eyelashes fluttered to break hearts, to a place called 18 school road...where it all really began.
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