But she soon knew there was something more. There was one thing to be done. It shocked her that she was even thinking of doing such a thing. 'I really can't do this,' she told herself. But she knew it was the only way... She had to do it, however painful it was.

 

She sat with a blank look on her face. The autumn gold leaves and the light breeze were giving the indication of the winter being around the corner. She felt very lonely in this city of London. She came here with so many dreams, so much enthusiasm and grit. Her thoughts went to the day before her trip to this city. Her mom was packing her bags with pickles and papads. This was the first time that she would be going abroad. She had got a scholarship at the prestigious UK School of Computer Sciences to do research on artificial intelligence, a subject so close to her heart. A first class merit student all through her life, Anjali had never let the goal of being an ace research scientist get out of her view. No woman in her small village of Rajasthan had ever gone past the eighth grade, and the thought of going abroad for studies was alien. Yet her mom had always encouraged her in spite of a lot of opposition from her other family members including her father.

 

Today it was a decade since she had come to this city. She had got accustomed to the fact that the British are very disciplined and absolutely emotionless. However her guide Mr. Samson was an exception. He not only guided her in her research but also doubled as a guardian and father figure. She lived as a paying guest with an Indian family named Ranganathans who had come to settle in London a generation ago.

 

Anjali spent most of her waking hours at the Computer Laboratory or Library, blissfully unaware of her surroundings till one day at the Library a voice disturbed her by saying, “Can I sit here?” “Sure,” she muttered before even looking up. The person across the table smiled at her. His looked were Asian, most probably Indian. Somehow after that smile she could not concentrate on her book. There was something about this person, which seemed to attract here attention. After that it became almost a routine. They would meet at the library, exchange smiles and continue to look into the books. But Anjali was distinctly distracted in his presence. Actually even after he had left.

 

Surprisingly one day while she got into the bus that she would take to the institute, she was surprised to meet the same guy from the Library. “Hi!” her voice sounded very excited. “Hello there, I am Karan. In the Library we are not allowed to speak, so I could never get to talk to you.” Anjali was very pleased. She could see that this person was genuinely interested in her. Soon, they became friends. They would meet over coffee or lunch and often speak for hours. In spite of all these meetings, Anjali realized that she hardly knew much about Karan. All she could gather from their conversations was that he was two years her senior and was working on some important special project.

 

But the meeting with Karan had changed her outlook. She became more conscious of her looks and dressing up. She distinctly wanted to look her best. She had fallen behind schedule but she did not mind it as she was having a good time with Karan as her friend, or that is what she thought about him. They would often chat on the Internet late into the night. Days turned into months and years.

 

It was 2 years since they had first met at the Library. Anjali decided to take him out for a surprise dinner. She called him on his phone to fix up for the evening. “Sorry Anjali, I have a very important meeting in the evening, I just can’t avoid it. In fact, I will be out of town for a week and will catch up with you when I am back. Thanks for the invitation and keep it pending. I will call you as soon as I am back.” He did not give her any details of where he was going. One week turned into two and then three. No sign of Karan’s return. She sent him SMS and emails, which were never answered. He was never online on the Internet either. Try as she would, she could neither concentrate on her studies nor get Karan out of her thoughts.

 

On evening, like today, she was sitting in the park. The old trees and the fresh lawns always soothed her nerves. Her cell phone rang. The name on the cell phone window made her miss a heart beat. “Hi, how are you?” she felt as if she missed a heartbeat. “In one piece yet” was the reply. “I missed you so much” she could not hide her excitement. Karan reciprocated in a similar manner. “So do we go out for the candle light dinner tonight?”

 

The soft live music in the background, the dim lights and the fresh breeze from the Thames River made the venue of the dinner very romantic. Anjali was dressed in a black and red salwar kameez, and Karan was in a mauve coloured T-shirt and dark brown semi casual trousers. “How about a dance, ma’am?” The dance and dinner went late into the night. There was no point in going home, as it would only disturb the Ranganathans. She decided to be left at the computer Lab. Karan invited her to his home, but she politely refused. Today she felt happy she had done that.

 

Her mind was very relaxed and alert after the lovely dinner. Now she had no doubt in her mind that Karan was the person she would want to spend the rest of her life with. At around dawn she sipped her last cup of coffee and headed home. After reaching home, she almost immediately fell asleep. After a very long time she had slept soundly. She woke up with the sound of her cell phone ringing. She looked at her watch. It was around 10 pm. “Hi Anjali, all well? I’ve been trying to reach you since morning.” It was Karan on the line.

 

The days seemed to just fly away. Karan and Anjali would meet often over coffee or diners. Karan would visit her at the Lab and show a lot of interest in her work.

 

One day while Anjali was returning from the library, she saw Karan at the cafetaria. He was sitting with a girl who was wearing a western outfit with a blue scarf. Anjali felt a pang of jealousy. She went up to the table and wished Karan. He asked her to join them and introduced the girl as Madhavi his colleague. Madhavi said, “Oh so you are Anjali, Karan speaks a lot about you. Pleased to meet you.” Anjali politely excused herself and went away. She did not like something about Madhavi, but she could not point a finger at that. She shrugged the thought off as being plain jealousy. She was happy that Karan had introduced her as a friend and Madhavi as a colleague. In the night Karan was on-line on the Internet and they chatted for a very long time.

 

One night while they were chatting Anjali saw a message from Karan saying, “All under control, Insha Allah on target.” Immediately there was another message asking her to please ignore the message, I was chatting with my colleague Ahmed on the other line.

 

The Easter holidays were close and Karan told Anjali that he was planning to go home for a week as he had some important issues to be finalized. He asked for a photograph of Anjali. She thought that might be what he wanted to tell his parents about her.

 

Easter was being spent at home, as Karan was away and the Labs and libraries were closed. She was sipping a cup of coffee and watching the news. There was a breaking news story, stating that an unknown man had hacked into the computers of the secret services and transmitted confidential defence information across the globe. The police had got a tip from an unidentified lady over the phone and had managed to catch the culprit. The man was shot at and died in the police encounter. His name was Karim. The picture flashed on the TV screen. Anjali’s heart missed a beat. The culprit looked so much like Karan except that he had a beard. She suddenly felt very lonely and called him on his cell. There was no response; the message said the cell had been switched off.

 

It was Palm Sunday and Karan had not returned nor called or been on-line. But the experience of the last time made Anjali think, may be he is still in India. There was a knock on the door. It was Madhavi. Rather surprised, Anjali called her in.

 

She felt as if she was about to faint. Madhavi told her that Karan was a professional hacker and had committed a lot of crimes. His real name was Karim.She was not Madhavi but Mariam, his accomplice. He was shot at the police encounter on Easter day. Anjali could not believe her ears. Madhavi went on to say that she was the unidentified lady who called the police. She loved Karan but he never reciprocated. After he confided in Madhavi about Anjali, Madhavi could not bear it and decided to take revenge. 

 

Anjali came back to this world. She knew there was one more thing to be done. She entered the police station to claim the body of Karan. She identified herself and was handed over the body. Anajli’s photograph in his pocket made it easy to prove that she knew Karan. She knew that this meant that the police would keep a close watch on her movements, but then with the only person she ever loved gone away, she knew she had to do this. Give him a decent burial.

 

She was now sitting in the park with tears flowing like a river and Mr. Samson beside her trying his best to console her. She knew the winter would be unbearable.