The Birthday Present

Wish you a very happy birthday, Ragavi”, yelled Ranjith over phone at 12:00 am which made his co-passengers in the bus uncomfortable.

“Thank you so much Ranjith, you are the first to wish me this year”, said Ragavi in an excited tone.

“Oh well, I am lucky then “chuckled Ranjith and leaned forward from his seat and added,” I am travelling to Bangalore for a business trip, I’ve sent you a gift through courier which you’ll be getting tomorrow.”

“Oh, that’s so sweet of you Ranjith, I’ve never been up so late, so I’m hitting bed, call you tomorrow, Bye take care.”, said Ragavi .

“Bye, take care.”

Ranjith and Ragavi are very good friends for more than a year. Ranjith’s friendly nature, his care and affection thrashed the wall which Ragavi built around herself away from people. Often, loving to be in solitude, the nature of her is diametrically opposite to that of him. Though they work in two different cities separated by large distance, Ranjith in Chennai and Ragavi in Hyderabad, they’ve always been in touch.

The next morning Ragavi got a call, “Good morning madam, a parcel has been ordered against your name, Please come and collect it in the hostel reception, Thank you.”

Ragavi hurried to the reception with the expectations of the kind of gift that Ranjith would’ve bought for her. Will it be a watch? , or will it be an apparel? , or will it be a beautiful miniature depicting friendship? That one minute travel from her room to the reception had her mind obsessed a lot.

There stood Ranjith with a gift in his hand. Her heartbeat rose from that of a muffled drum beat to a roller-coaster ride. Perplexed she stood, surprised to see him. “Oh my god, When did you reach Hyderabad? You liar! ”

“Wish you a very happy birthday! Come let’s go for a coffee, but please do not open that until I say you to “.

“Oh man, this is absolutely brutal, to give a present and saying not to open it “said she but later accepted to that as usual.

They went to a coffee shop. After a few minutes, Ranjith told her to open the gift. Ragavi opened it eagerly to find a beautiful little ring made of white gold with sapphire stone.

“I am not rich as you are, but will strive hard to exceed your expectations. I want to see these beautiful black eyes throughout my life. I want your heart to beat for me. I want your compassionate arms around my neck, your warmth, care and concern. You know that I want to make a girl crazy with my love, I want that girl to be you. There is no need for me to say how much I love you and care for you, because you know it already. I want you to be happy throughout your life and I want that to be because of me. Ragavi , I love you! “

She stared at the ring for a minute and said,” Thank you for the coffee” and left. He was agonized with himself that he ruined a year long friendship with his act. He went home and they never talked after that. His mind was full of guilt which stood in between him and her like an Everest.

Days have passed, ten of them. He was lying awake in the midnight staring at the overhead ceiling fan. The door bell rang, he went to address, when he opened the door, there were his friends wishing, “Happy Birthday Ranjith”. His obsession over that incident was such that he even forgot his birthday. He stood there putting a fake smile in his face.

There came Ragavi with the match of the ring that Ranjith bought for her.

“You’re not rich as I am, but I know that you’ll exceed my expectations. You can see my eyes looking at you throughout your life. You’ll have my compassionate arms around you , you’ll feel my warmth always. There is no need for you to say how much you love me and care for me, because I know it already. I’ll be happy in my life if you’re with me and my happiness will be only because of you. You expressed your life in person to me, I am proclaiming in front of all our friends, Ranjith, I love you”. Ragavi hugged him amidst the loud cheers of their friends. Ranjith’s eyes were filled with tears and this could be the best ever birthday present he could've dreamt of.