Today is the first day of 2024—a new year has begun.
But Tina is still reading old books instead of new ones. Why? Because Class 12 exams were approaching. As you can understand, board exams were right over my head. On top of that, the exam schedule came earlier—starting from February 2 and ending on February 10.
After that came February 14—Valentine's Day, a special day for lovers. But this year, I didn't have anyone special. I didn't even have time to give my heart to someone. And just like that, the first two months of 2024 were almost over.
Now, let me tell you about my love story of 2024…
After exams, there was no pressure. Like everyone else with nothing to do, I was sitting at home scrolling through my phone. Suddenly, my friend Sonali called me and said,
"Hey, tomorrow is Saraswati Puja and also Valentine's Day. Aren't you going out somewhere?"
I replied, "No, where would I go? I don't have anyone in my life to go out with on Valentine's Day."
She said, "I don't have anyone either! Let's not be sad. Let's go to the Maidan together, roam around, and take lots of photos. You be my Valentine, and I'll be yours."
The next morning, after offering prayers at Saraswati Puja, the two of us went out to the Maidan for घूमना (a walk) and a photoshoot.
On the way, we met two more friends—Riya and Muskan.
I asked, "Where are you guys going?"
They said, "We're going to the Maidan. What about you?"
"We're going there too."
"Great! Let's all go together then."
Sonali said, "After the board exams, it's been so long since we all met!"
Riya said, "I really miss those days—sitting together on one bench, bunking classes, sharing tiffin… I miss everything."
I said, "Oh come on, leave all that. We came here to enjoy—focus on that!"
There's one common problem with girls—no matter how good a photo is, no one is satisfied.
While we were busy taking pictures, a group of boys came towards us and said,
"Hey beauties, take some photos with us! Don't you get bored taking pictures alone?"
We didn't respond and continued taking photos among ourselves.
Suddenly, one of them came close to me and said,
"Wow… you look so beautiful."
At that moment, some of the boys started misbehaving with my friends.
One of my friends cried out, "Is anyone there? Please help us! Why are you doing this? What have we done? Please let us go!"
Hearing the noise and seeing the situation, a gentleman came forward. He grabbed the collar of the gang leader, and the other three boys got scared and ran away.
Seeing that his friends had fled, the gang leader said,
"Brother, please let me go. I won't do this again. Forgive me, I made a mistake."
The man said,
"If I ever see you again, it'll be your last day or mine."
The boy was tall, wearing a red kurta, with curly hair and small eyes.
After saying this, he let him go, and the boy ran away.
As the man was about to leave, I called out to him and said,
"Excuse me… today, if you hadn't been there, I don't know what would have happened to me and my friends. Thank you so much. Today I realized that along with bad people, there are still good people in this world."
He replied,
"There's nothing to thank me for."
Then I said,
"If you don't mind, can I ask you something?"
"Yes, go ahead."
"May I know your name?"
Argho.