Love... Lost!

His...
As he sat there in front of the holy fire, he tried not think of the past. he felt a light touch on his shoulder. it was his mother insisting him to put his hand out. he looked at the woman sitting next to him. it was not her. it was someone else, someone he didn't love... yet. you will fall in love with her. don't worry. everyone had told him but he didn't believe them. he had his doubts because he had already fallen in love. he had found the love of his life... and lost it. he didn't have the strength to go through it again. he looked at the blushing bride sitting next to him. she was smiling, oblivious to the doubts going through his head. he stared at the fire again. the past came rushing back. four years before... the same fire, the same decorations, the same guests from his side, the same food and drink, the same celebrations... but that time he was a part of it because he was marrying her... his soul mate. he remembered how she had looked that day. resplendent in a bright red outfit, decked from head to toe. he smiled as he remembered how she had whispered that she can't wait for the pheras to get over so that she can get out of of the lehanga and the n kilos of jewellery she was wearing. again the pandit said something and he came out of his reverie. his sister tied the end of his stole with that of his would-be wife's dupatta. he stood up to take the pheras. he started walking but he was not listening. he was thinking about her. how everything had been perfect. their wedding, their marriage. how happy he was and how all of a sudden everything was taken away from him. he had lost her... in the blink of an eye. three years before, he had gone to work like always. he had hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. she stood at the gate waving him off, smiling. if I had known that would be the last time I would see her, I would have never left. when he came that evening, she was not there. her cell was switched off. he had called everyone but nobody knew where she was. He felt someone touch his hand. it was his mother. she had stopped him. now the girl would walk ahead. the pandit was saying. he let her walk in front. he had gone to the police. he had done everything... well, that's what everyone told him. she never came back. she just disappeared... from his life but not from his heart. he kept looking for her for three long years. then, some six months before, her mother started insisting that he get married again. after refusing initially, he gave in. and today he was getting married to someone else. his train of thoughts was broken by a loud clank. a tray had fallen shattering all the glasses kept on it. he looked in the direction of the noise and stood frozen. lying there on the ground in a heap was her... the love of his life. The wedding is complete. now you are husband and wife. he heard the pandit say.

Hers...
She was going to a wedding her parents were taking her too. it was their friend's daughter's wedding and they were pretty excited about it. it would be the first time they would be visiting Delhi after almost two years. she didn't remember much of Delhi. in fact she didn't remember much of anything except the past three years. as she was sitting in the flight looking at the floating clouds she looked at her sleeping parents or her foster parents. They had found her in a hospital in Delhi lying unconscious. they had come there for their daughter's operation. they had lost their own child but found her instead. the doctors attending to her had told them that she had been in an accident and had lost her memory. they couldn't find any identification on her so they didn't know what to do. they would hand her over to the police. one look at her sleeping face, and they had fallen in love with her... that's what they had told her. they thought that their daughter has come back to life. they took her to mumbai with them and that's where she had been living for the last three years. they had taken her to Delhi a couple of times in the beginning... taking her to the place where the doctors had told them that her accident had happened but she couldn't remember anything. finally, after many such failed attempts, she herself had told them to stop. you are my family now. i would like to live with you guys if that's not a problem. they had agreed. in the beginning it was quite difficult... she didn't know what she used to do. how much had she studied. but slowly she started going to her father's bookstore and realized she loved books. she helped him at the store and life was good. her parents were also looking for her to get married but whenever that topic came up, she used to feel very uncomfortable. last week, her parents had introduced her to a boy. he was an investment banker. she had met him but felt uneasy all through out... like she is doing something wrong. i felt guilty. she thought staring out the plane. she had told her mother who had just smiled and said that there is no hurry. she could take her time. today they were attending the wedding and her parents were hopeful that their daughter would find someone... maybe the love of her life! weddings are ideal place to find someone. we also found each other at a friend's wedding. her mother had told her shyly. she smiled remembering that conversation. that evening, she got dressed an entered the wedding party. as she looked around, she felt uneasy. something was wrong again. i have been here before. i know these people. she looked at the mandap and saw him. he was getting married to someone else. she felt light-headed. No, you can't get married to someone else. i am here. i am here. she wanted to shout but no words came out. she felt the ground moving beneath her feet. she reached out to hold something but instead knocked the tray out of a waiter. she could see his face looking at her as she fell to the floor. The wedding is complete. now you are husband and wife. she heard the pandit say before everything fell silent.