“A heart changed the way it beat,

And the way that beating sounded.

It however lost against the body’s rebellion,

As it was from all sides surrounded.”

Raghunath begins telling his love story.

A few years ago, Raghunath struggled to deal with anxiety. He had trouble talking to people, couldn’t speak his heart out and happily sacrificed his own pleasures for those of others. He lived with his strict parents, who intended to make him a better person but their treatment turned him into a doubting person. He could barely trust anyone. Due to this, it wasn’t him who made the move but a girl who loved his quiet and mysterious nature. He had no idea about how to deal with girls, especially when it came to romance, and while he felt this would leave the same girl unimpressed, that wasn’t the case. The girl Megha introduced him to the outer world and helped him discover his passion for writing by sharing books with him.

Raghunath had decided to become a writer, and Megha helped him find a publisher as well. Amid all this, Raghunath developed feelings for her but the paranoia barely let him express any such feeling. Megha already loved him, but waited for him to tell her he loved her; it’s not that she didn’t know, she just wanted him to drum up the courage to express a feeling as pure as love. Raghunath one day expressed his love for her at college. She gave him his first kiss and a hug. Raghunath started opening up to her about his anxiety and how she should be prepared to handle him when he goes out of control a few times in the future. Megha said she knew it all, being a psychology student. However, he also told her about how paranoid he felt at times. He wanted to trust everyone, but just couldn’t stop doubting anyone, including himself at times.

This had no negative effect on Megha, who was deeply in love with him. On the other hand, however, he started doubting his true feelings for her. Little did he know he also suffered from OCD, and this time it was about relationships. He also, even though he knew the truth, began doubting if Megha really loved him. This war inside his head between truth and a false reality began jeopardizing his mental health as time passed.

It took him over a year to realize he was suffering from OCD themed on relationships. He decided to talk to Megha about it, only to learn she had been engaged to a businessman. He couldn’t understand what and how it happened. Her friends began pushing him away from her and this hurt Raghunath badly to the extent where he began sweating and his head started hurting. Megha realized this and told her friends to stop. When it got revealed that it was a prank, and even Megha was part of it, Raghunath became enraged and left the house. Megha tried calling him, but he kept rejecting her calls, only to answer later and tell her never to repeat these kinds of pranks due to his poor mental health. Megha apologized and invited him for her birthday. He agreed to come, unaware of what was to come next.

At the birthday party, Megha’s brother Ravi arrived and got drunk. He made almost every guest drink some. Then Raghunath arrived with a gift for Megha. He met her and handed over the gift to her, and it was his first copy of his own book. Megha shook hands with him and hugged him.

“How about a kiss?” asked Raghunath.

“Stop it, not here!” replied Megha with a smile.

Here, Ravi noticed Raghunath standing alone as Megha left to meet some relatives. He called him and asked how he was related to Megha. Raghunath replied he was a close friend of hers and that she helped him publish his first book. Ravi asked him about the contents of the book, and the two talked for some 15 minutes. After that came the funny part as Ravi offered a drink to Raghunath. The latter declined, saying he didn’t drink at all. Ravi, heavily drunk, still tried to make him drink and in the process grew aggressive. He initially tried to make him drink from a glass, and later tried to make him drink an entire bottle. Raghunath felt uncomfortable and pushed him away. Angry, Ravi grabbed the full bottle and smashed it on Raghunath’s head. Everyone and everything stopped. Ravi wasn’t done with it; he took the remaining piece of bottle and used it to slash Raghunath’s face. Megha arrived and scolded Ravi for his violent behavior.

A bleeding Raghunath was in tears, which made Ravi laugh and tease him for being “weak”. Megha arranged for a first-aid box and tended to his wounds. Raghunath was again struck by intrusive thoughts about his relationship with Megha, and eventually got up and left, after giving Megha a kiss on her cheek, much to the shock of everyone. Raghunath began driving fast and continued crying. He crashed near a hospital, luckily, and got admitted. The next day, after being discharged, he began driving away from the city. Within seconds, he realized he was being followed by someone. As he neared the city’s borders, he stopped his bike. The person following him and his comrades stopped as well. Raghunath looked at who it was and began walking towards the bridge. Ravi and his comrades followed him to the bridge.

Ravi asked him why he kissed his sister the previous day. Raghunath replied he loved her and that she loved him too. This angered Ravi, who revealed he found about it last night itself and even hit Megha for it. Hearing this, Raghunath became enraged as he saw the comrades pull out their weapons. Raghunath ran towards them and a fight ensued. Ravi tried to hit Raghunath, but failed as the latter sought revenge by breaking a bottle on his head. He grabbed a metal pole thrown at him, and used it to beat up the comrades. Realizing Raghunath is indeed dangerous, they returned to their bikes and drew away. Only person remaining was Ravi, who got punched repeatedly in the face by Raghunath, and also received a heavy blow with the metal pole to his head. Raghunath soon realized he might have gone too far and killed him. As he approached Ravi to check if he’s alive, he got stabbed in the knee by Ravi. Raghunath collapsed, but pulled out the knife violently and stabbed Ravi.

This is where he realized he really had gone too far. However, there was no way for him to fix it, and hence he kicked him down, in the river flowing under the bridge. He drove to the same hospital and got the required treatment. He returned home and was shivering. He couldn’t believe he technically killed someone. Eventually, Ravi’s absence began to be noticed. There were times Megha talked about it with Raghunath who’d somehow control his body language. One comrade who had followed Raghunath with Ravi came up and told Megha Raghunath was involved in the situation. Megha, after a few days, asked Raghunath if he killed her brother, to which Raghunath began feeling anxious and broke down into tears. He hugged her and revealed it was not meant to happen. He then saw Ravi walking towards him, realizing he was not dead but only injured and away for a few days; His swimming skills saved him from dying. Raghunath instantly got away from Megha and began running, only to be stopped by Ravi, who then apologized for coming at him first. Raghunath also apologized for nearly killing him. Noting that none of them was drunk, their rivalry turned into friendship and has been so since then. Raghunath got married to Megha who is presently expected their first child.

Naresh remarks, “That was violent yet pleasant. I just thought, by the way, that I should listen to the remaining love stories as well. Don’t worry, I won’t kill anyone of you before that, I promise.”

“A heart chose to let other hearts beat,

Was it some clever scheme or trick?

Did it really want to hear them out,

Or wanted to kill them real quick?”