– :The City of Waiting: –
The name of the city was Chandraketugarh.
No one really remembers the name of the city, but those who once fell in love there never forget it. In that city lived Sneha and Saikat.
Their love was not like in the movies.
No big proposal, no roses, no dramatic moments — nothing like that.
Their love started with a very simple question, "Have you eaten?"
They first met in the college library.
They both reached for the same book at the same time.
Then both of them pulled their hands back.
Then both of them laughed.
That was their first conversation.
Then they talked every day.
Then they met every day.
Then they waited for each other every day.
Love actually arrives very quietly.
Saikat loved to dream.
He used to say,
"One day I will become something big, then I will build a small house and take you there. In front of the house there will be a tree."
Sneha would ask, "What tree?"
Saikat would say,
"The tree under which we will sit and grow old together."
Sneha would smile.
She knew not all dreams come true.
Still, she believed all of Saikat's dreams.
Because people don't really believe dreams — people believe people.
One day suddenly Saikat had to leave the city.
He got a job in another city.
The day before he left, they were sitting by the river.
Saikat said,
"I will come back very soon. Then we will get married."
Sneha said nothing.
She just held Saikat's hand tightly.
At the time of goodbye, Sneha said only one thing,
"Don't be late to come back. Waiting is very painful."
Saikat was smiling,
but he didn't know how painful waiting really is.
At first they talked every day.
Then a few times a week.
Then once a week.
Then once a month.
When people become busy, time doesn't decrease — people do.
Sneha looked at her phone every day.
No messages came.No calls came.Still she never got angry.Because she knew, if she got angry, she would be angry at the person she loved the most.
One night suddenly a call came.
It was Saikat's friend.
He said,
"Saikat had an accident…"
The phone fell from Sneha's hand.
When she reached the hospital,
Saikat could barely speak.But he smiled when he saw Sneha.Very slowly he said,
"I became late to return… Did you wait for me?"
Sneha cried and said,
"I am still waiting."
Saikat said,
"Wait a little more…"
Those were his last words.
Many years passed after that.
Sneha still lives in that same city.
Every afternoon she goes to the riverside.
People think she goes to see the river.
But she doesn't go to see the river.
She goes there to wait.
Because even if some people leave forever,
you cannot stop waiting for them.
One day a little girl asked Sneha,
"Didi, why do you sit here every day?"
Sneha smiled and said,
"I am waiting for someone."
The girl asked,
"Will he come?"
Sneha looked at the sky and said,
"No, he will not come.
But if I don't wait, he will be sad."
Many years later, one day Sneha did not return home from the riverside bench.
When people found her,
there was an old piece of paper in her hand.
It was written —
"You told me to wait.
See, I am still waiting.
If we meet this time, I will never let you go anywhere again."
Last Line:-
The most painful thing in the world is —
waiting for someone who will never come back.