Yuden… Yuden…

Away in the midst of crowed street, I take a ride to my university on a bus. I ride the bus every afternoon to my university where I spend six hours listening to monotonous lecture on theories and the science of applying those theories in practice when I return home after another two years. Yes! I have been away from home for a year now and I still have two more years before I bid farewell to the fast changing urban life that is chewing away my soul.

My soul was pure when I was home. I had nothing to fear and nothing to worry about since I lead a sheltered life-first with my parents and sibling and later on with my own small family. But things are changing now. I am no more the innocent person I was a year earlier when I left Bhutan to pursue my master’s degree for the experience of living in a foreign soil has changed my inner self. Previously I trusted everyone whom I came into contact because having led a sheltered life, I never came across such a thing call deceit or betrayal. After coming here, I have learned a harsh reality that people are not actually what they seem in the beginning. The cliché “never judge the book by its cover” found its real meaning in my life when I found that I was jilted by the very person whom I had trusted with my life in this foreign land. 

Experience has been teaching me never to take things for granted because in our time of darkness, even the very shadow of ours leaves us alone. At such time, I found solace in the social networking site where I started chatting with strangers who listened to my emotional outburst. Sometimes it feels nice to let your emotion flow because it relieves us from the suffocation we are experiencing. Thus began my chat with Yuden. Yuden -a pseudonym she used in the social networking site was as charming as her name. She was charming and listened to my despair and nonsense. She had every valuable advice for me to get through my rough times. She urged me to call home every week and I kept my promise to her. My stay became more enjoyable and I started liking my very flat mate whom I detested earlier. I started finding my old self again. I started smiling to strangers and found that smiling was infact a very simple thing that could change the mood of any person. 

In the midst of all this changes happening to me, I wanted to know the real Yuden. But she was reluctant to reveal her identity. She assured me that it was best I did not know her identity because she did not want complication in her life. She liked to help the people who turned to her in time of need anonymously and she did not take any credit of her help.

After a year of chatting with her, I found myself falling in love with a complete stranger. When I say, I am falling in love with Yuden; it doesn’t mean that I love my wife less. They have their own places in my heart and nothing will change my feelings for both of them. 

When I revealed my feelings to Yuden, she said, “You must be kidding! How can you fall in love with someone you have never seen?” 

I just replied; “I have seen your soul and you have a beautiful soul. I don’t care about how you look physically”. She just laughed and said “You would be surprised”.

After that she didn’t want to hear anymore about how I felt for her.

I did not want to lose her friendship though strange as it might sound. I had to be contended with a few minutes of chat once a week and a daily exchange of mails. This is all I seem to do as of now and I don’t know where this will lead but I am happy that I found myself again in an alien land because of my stranger.

As I ride to the University, I play the song ‘Yuden…Yuden…nye sem kha dren…’ on my IPod and hum along ….

(Note: This is a fictitious tale purely based on imagination)