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Love,

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HOT OFFthe press

the Digital Way

by Sreelekha Chatterjee

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nita walks inside the café with a throbbing heart. She looks around. The air is still, somewhat meditative Most of the tables are empty, except a few with occupants showing absorbed attention to their respective activities a young couple having toast and coffee, a teenybopper jammed onto her phone

At the farthest corner, a young man is working on his laptop, sipping his coffee occasionally, heedless of his surroundings Anita wonders whether he is the one, but he seems to be much younger than her fiancé, Sanjay He is an IT professional who has been working for quite some time in that field, probably in his thirties or at the most, early forties from what she could make out of his online AI avatar His image gathers in her mind from the bits and pieces of information that have trickled down gradually from him over their more-than six-month relationship in the digital realm, enlightening her twenty-year-old, university-attendee mind in their own good time

“What’s age got to do with love?” He often mentions whenever she poses any query regarding his age

Sanjay should have been here by now. Did he get the café’s name correctly?

He’ll be crossing three mountain ranges and three rivers to reach her a trip via plane from the southern to the northern part of the country.

#beingdelayed

She chafes at the idea of a long wait, takes on a table, and sits facing the transparent front door to keep an eye on whosoever is entering the place A waiter walks up to her, smiling genially

“I’m expecting someone ” She says, nodding her head, with a fast-beating heart, before the waiter speaks

Why on earth did they choose such a cloudy, windy January morning to fix a real-life meeting? How will they know? Isn’t love as unpredictable as the weather? In this vertiginous world, their love is perhaps the only constant

It all started when Sanjay and Anita met on the dating app, formulating algorithms that claimed a hundred-percent match of personal interests and life goals Both are introverts having similar taste buds along with specific Bollywood music tastes;coffee, movie, and literature aficionados;and believers of happily-ever-after ideas.

Right from the start a sense of connection clicked, turning their friendship into romance. Their relationship spiraled from the dating site onto the visual-sharing network, Instagram, expressing their special love with hashtags They exchanged messages each day about everything, except their looks, age, and personal struggles, transcending their technological chemistry into an emotional one Two souls in each other’s virtual company after a long, harried day found solace in words of love Their back-and-forth, the conscious stretching of time, suddenly found to be spent at their own leisure, delaying their bedtime, comforted, as they basked in the privilege of their camaraderie

Anita was relieved when Sanjay expressed his fascination with loving the soul and not the physical appearance of an individual She is after all a plain Jane whom perhaps people wouldn’t give a second thought, let alone staring back a second time After meeting her, will his expectations be disappointed? Is Sanjay as handsome as his AI avatar? Is he like the frog who will become the handsome prince when she kisses him in real life?

#frogprince

While scrolling through his messages received earlier that day, she recalls the moment when Sanjay sent an opulence of Instagram posts exhibiting his love for her His AI avatar recognized with esteeming airs and gestures found appearing in light cotton clothes during summers, raincoats during the monsoons, Eskimo jackets during winters, but all truly, madly in love with her, adding digital footprints to reveal his deep feelings. She has always showered her love and kisses in essence, always wondering, or rather worrying, about their first meeting in the real world. In a private Instagram ceremony, their avatars exchanged rings, in the presence of virtual, unknown friends women came in palanquins and men on horseback.

#lovelife

“It’s time now We need to meet in person ” Sanjay sent a message a few days ago to which Anita agreed almost reluctantly There is nothing to worry about She thinksshe knows him inside out Does she know him really well? She had often read online about fraudsters who con innocent people, hiding behindthe unreachable masks of this online world

This sort of augmented world did exist in earlier times where husbands and wives never met in person Brides and bridegrooms of royal families sent messages through their pet pigeons similar to any messengers’ app and got their dolls married just like it happens on any online app Kings would send their musical instruments like veena to participate instead of them in marriage rituals Princess Sanjukta was in love with King Prithviraj without even meeting him Seeing his statue at the court entrance, she garlanded it on the day she was supposed to choose her bridegroom from a hall full of royal suitors King Prithviraj emerged from nowhere and whisked her off to his kingdom Will Sanjay be her Prithviraj?

#Anita’sPrithviraj

What if all that Sanjay has told her about himself isn’t true? How will she deal with a fake relationship in the real world? What if her expectations are shattered? Are the virtual conversations enough to know a person? His otherworldly avatar, brimming with expressions of sensitivities, may be the upshot of nothing but a wellthought-out computerized simulation

Will the rendezvous be flavorful like filter coffee or overly bitter like tea brewed for too long?

#reallifemeeting

“There seem to be chains about my feet,” Anita mumbles under her breath, in the voice of reason that she keeps for herself.

With her thoughts, it’s like squeezing through prickly bushes. Before she can pull them free in one place, they get trapped in another.

His cuddly words have always generated a feeling of love in her but never unified the lovers Of late, her life has been nothing but a plodding serial drama Perhaps he has remained this distant, digital foreigner who hasn’t been able to traverse the infinite abyss between their virtual worlds That gap has weighed down her soul She wishes to be free but is stuck, akin to a gas balloon tied onto the ground like a prisoner who only has the independence to sway with the wind but never soar in the sky

A sudden hubbub of some argument going on in the room breaks into her thoughts Releasing her mobile phone momentarily, she leans back, her eyes their widest, and observes the young couple closely Newlyweds The woman is wearing red bangles that one wears for an entire year after marriage

Anita doesn’t wish to express avid curiosity and learn something she isn’t supposed to listen

“Who is this woman constantly sending messages? Who the hell is she?”

“She’s just a virtual friend ”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I’m sick and tired of your suspicion.”

“Yes, you’ll say so now. After all, the grapes that hang higher up are always sweet.”

Abruptly, the man gets up and barges out of the café, leaving the woman in tears

Anita senses beads of perspiration rolling down her forehead A moment earlier her mind was buzzing with thoughts Now, it’s unexpectedly empty, desolate like a haunted house, with all the windows and doors tightly shut She tries to make an effort to rise to her feet to console the weeping lady, but then stops on her way, as her feet are numb and tingling

Sitting like a woman under a spell, Anita momentarily gapes at the lady who has got up from her seat while resorting to sobbing brokenly, attempting to make a move. Outside the door, she notices a big dog with a lolling tongue watching them with the attention of a match referee.

A notification on her phone commands her back to her own world.

It’s from Sanjay.

“Poor visibility and rough weather Flight canceled ”

“No problem ” Anita finds her fingers hurriedly typing out busy and intent

“Don’t know when I’ll be able to meet you Work pressure, you see ”

Anita sends a smiling emoji

“Meanwhile, let’s get married online Yes, I’m proposing to you ”

“Yes!”

#onlinewedding

Trembling all over, Anita gazes outside the transparent door It has started raining She feels as if the pregnant clouds earlier held powerless, hemmed defencelessly in with the threat of non-precipitative expectations have at last released their burden of rain

Sreelekha Chatterjee’s short stories have been published in various national, and international magazines and journals like Indian Periodical, Femina, Indian Short Fiction, eFiction India, The Criterion, The Literary Voyage, World of Words, Writer’s Ezine, and Estuary, and have been included in numerous print and online anthologies such as Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul series (Westland Ltd, India), Wisdom of Our Mothers (Familia Books, USA), and several others She lives in New Delhi, India

You can connect with her on Facebook at facebook com/sreelekha chatterjee 1/,

Twitter -@sreelekha001, and Instagram @sreelekha2023

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