The story of a ring.

Ananya was upset. So upset that she decided go sit in the park in the cold Delhi winters. She took her activa and drove to Lodhi gardens.

In the midst of the chilly evening she found most of the benches occupied by couples sipping tea, eating bhutta or just sitting really close to each other to feel the warmth and be a little romantic. She walked a little further and found an empty bench. But she found something else too.

A young man in his mid twenties was sitting on the grass. He wore a crisp shirt and by the looks of his tie and bag he looked to be a successful investment banker. Curious about what he was doing she moved towards him.
"Hey, what are you doing?" She asked with a little impatience.
"Nothing!! Just pulling out some grass" he replied with a lot of arrogance and anger at being questioned.

Ananya sat down on the bench right near Rohan. "Will you have tea? Its getting cold and you're not wearing a wind cheater. You will catch a cold. You can find whatever you're searching for after sometime" she said politely.
Rohan looked at her angrily but then gave in and sat on the bench.

"What are you searching for?" She asked while they had sipped half their teas.
"I'm searching for my fiance's ring. I am supposed to propose to her and in my carelessness I dropped it here. She's going to be so annoyed at me. It was worth 3.5 lacs." Saying he got down frantically searching for the ring again.

"Hey hey calm down!! Its just a ring." Ananya said in a tone portraying her impatience. Why am I even caring for a guy I dont know? I already have a lot of my own problems, why do I even care?? Ananya thought and looked away.

Ananya kept thinking about how she had fought her parents because they kept nagging her for marriage, her career, her aspirations all at stake. She had decided to run away.
Ananya just wanted peace. She wanted to to her own thing and not hurt her parents but eventually she will have to sacrifice one of them. She kept thinking and soon went home forgetting that there was a guy still pulling out the grass.

Next evening Ananya went to the same park and to her surprise she found Rohan near the same bench searching for thing. She tried to ignore but something just pulled her towards him.
"You are still trying to find the ring? Why? Why not just leave it?? You lost it fine. Humans make mistakes. Just calm down and go tell her the mistake. She won't mind." Ananya said in a comforting tone.

"This is the same bench where we spent the most romantic moments of our relationship. Her smile, her tears, her successes, her problems everything" Rohan said with a little pain and sadness

"And yours?" Asked Ananya
"Uh and mine too" Rohan stuttered.

"Its getting late. Go back and tell her. Things will be fine." Ananya said and walked towards the exit. In the misty winter evening she was out of sight very quickly.

The next evening Ananya came to the same bench to find Rohan still trying to search for the ring. But today he had tears in his eyes. He was searching for the ring as if his entire life depended on it.
"What the hell are you doing? Ananya asked though she had understood things hadn't gone as planned.

" I need to find the ring at any cost." Rohan said frantically searching for it not paying attention to Ananya.
"Hey calm down and just sit here" ananya said pointing at the empty side of the bench she was sitting on.

Rohan reluctantly sat on top. His trousers stained with soil from sitting on the grass.

"She called off the marriage. How could I be so careless? She says If I can't take care of a simple engagement ring what will I take care of her? She says I'm the most careless person she's ever seen." Rohan said with tears in his eyes.

Ananya pulled out the ring and placed it in Rohan's palm.

"Where did you find it? Rohan asked with a small smile.
" I found it on the first day in the grass. Did not give it to you on the first day because I wanted to see if you really love her."

"And the second day?" Asked Rohan.
"I wanted to see if she is worthy of you." Ananya said and started walking towards the exit.

"Its getting dark and cold. I live in Cannought Place. Can I drop you somewhere?" Ananya said sitting on her scooty to Rohan, who was waiting for an auto on the exit.

"Sure." Rohan said with a smile on his face.

They steadily moved away into the thick mist of the Delhi winters.