Not Quite a Fairy Tale

Once upon a time ( fairy tales are supposed to begin like this) there lived this guy somewhere in US. He came across the oceans from Kolkata, hoping to get a Ph.D sometime in his chosen subject. As like most of these students, he found it difficult to have a social life initially and was drawn to the fascinating world of Yahoo Chat rooms. Not everyone was nice - as long as he could see faceless people from around the globe talking and singing in Bengali, he did not really care. And one day he came across this girl - she was one of those kids who were born over there in Kolkata - but pretty much grew up here as an American. She spoke Bengali with a funny accent but understood it perfectly. She was doing her Ph.D too and in a real good school. They liked talking to one another - and soon went beyond the confines of instant messaging. Both made full use of their free weekend and night minutes - staying up till early morning oh so often. She liked the way he spoke Bengali and saw life from an entirely different perspective than hers. He liked her self confidence and sheer unpredictability. They talked about everything - from her Italian boyfriend in Boston who she cant marry to her broken family - and he about his fears in a big bad new country. They poured their hearts out to each other. She said she was an amazing skater and a fitness freak - and taunted him about his lethargy for workouts. He made fun of her fear of driving. They planned to meet sometime in near future. Everything was going great. Or too great perhaps? It was too good to be true!

After a few weeks, which flew past like a pure dream - something went terribly long. They had an usual wonderful conversation the night before - everything was so right. But next night, she did not pick up the phone. She never did again. She did not reply to his mails nor provided any explanation. She just disappeared from his life - never to get back again. No , the guy has no idea till date why she did what she did. Was it something the guy said unconsciously? Was she feeling vulnerable that she started liking the guy too much? Did something dramatic happen in her life ?

And yes - she is a real person.

(P.S - This was in early 2004 )