I’ve learned some of the lessons about life and relationships from my friend Aarushi, not from advice, but by watching her life. I saw the decisions she regretted, and how one choice after another slowly made her life more complicated. Eventually, she was pregnant on her wedding day. Aarushi was my roommate, and we became close friends very quickly when we first met. She was talkative, cute, and the kind of person who could start a conversation with almost anyone. She had a soft heart and trusted people far too easily.
She was sweet and caring, always with a smile on her face. But deep down, she was struggling with a relationship that was slowly taking away her happiness. Her boyfriend at that time, Raj, had a terrible short temper. He was possessive, controlling, and verbally abusive whenever things didn’t go his way. For a long time, Aarushi tried to make the relationship work, hoping things would eventually improve. But when he started to cross the line day by day, insulting not only her but also her family, something inside her finally changed.
That was it. She ended the relationship and decided never to meet or speak with him again. Aarushi was four years older than me, and her parents had already started looking for a suitable groom for her. They began pressuring her to consider arranged marriage proposals, believing it was time for her to settle down. But Aarushi was terrified of the idea. She had seen many unhappy marriages in her family, which made her afraid of marrying someone she barely knew.
She worried that she might end up with another controlling man who would make her life miserable after marriage. She just wanted to choose a partner she knew well and felt comfortable with. After everything she already had been through, she finally understood what she wanted in a relationship. She didn’t want a man who showed off his money or tried to control every part of her life. She wanted someone calm and patient.
A man who would listen when she spoke, respect her opinions, trust her without constantly questioning her, and make her feel safe rather than trapped. Finally, Aarushi met someone who seemed to be exactly the kind of man she had been looking forr. It happened at a friend’s birthday party, where Varun approached Aarushi and started talking to her. He worked in the private sector, carried himself calmly, and seemed mature.
Unlike her previous boyfriend, he didn’t appear controlling or short tempered. For once, Aarushi felt she might have found the right person. But this time, she didn’t rush into anything. She took her time getting to know him, observing his behavior, and talking to him. Gradually, her doubts disappeared, and she finally agreed to commit to him. Their conversations over messages and phone calls grew longer, and before long, they became emotionally attached to each other.
After talking for more than a month, Varun started feeling physically attracted to Aarushi and wanted to meet her in person. I knew this because I had sometimes overheard their late night conversations and could tell how obsessed he was with meeting her. Finally, Varun asked Aarushi if they could meet in person and spend some time together. He felt they knew each other well enough to take their relationship beyond messages and phone calls. But Aarushi wasn’t ready to meet him yet, so she refused.
Since we were roommates, I knew what was going on in her life. She explained that she didn’t want to meet Varun until her family agreed, especially since so many relatives were around. She was afraid someone might see them together and tell her parents before she got the chance to tell them herself. Aarushi wanted to do things properly this time. Before meeting Varun privately, she decided to introduce him to her family and tell them about their relationship. If her parents accepted him, she could meet him openly without having to hide anything.
One day, Aarushi finally gathered the courage to tell her parents that she had found someone she wanted to marry. She hoped that being honest with them would make things easier. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as she had expected. Her parents started asking questions. They wanted to know who Varun was, what he did forr a living, and what kind of family he came from. They looked into his background to decide whether he was the right person for their daughter.
But when her parents found out that Varun belonged to a different caste, everything changed. They rejected him. Aarushi tried her best to convince them, but they refused to change their minds. Aarushi was caught between two people she didn’t want to lose. On one side was her family, whom she loved deeply. On the other was Varun, the man she had slowly learned to trust. In the end, she made her choice. Her family came first. With a heavy heart, she told Varun what had happened and explained that she couldn’t continue their relationship against her parents’ wishes.
Varun was deeply hurt. He tried to convince her that they could talk to their families together and change their minds. He believed that if they stood by each other and showed how serious they were, things might eventually work out. But Aarushi had already made up her mind. She couldn’t imagine going against her family for someone she had known for only a short time, no matter how much she cared about him. As Varun became more emotional, he even cried for her. Seeing him like that made Aarushi feel guilty.
She had never wanted to hurt him, and it was difficult for her to see someone who had treated her so kindly suffer because of her decision. Eventually, she couldn’t bear it anymore. She still didn’t want things to end that way, so she agreed to meet him one last time. She made it clear that she couldn’t marry him or promise him a future, but she wanted to meet him so they could say goodbye in person.
Varun accepted. Aarushi invited Varun over for one last meeting. They both knew their relationship was coming to an end. They talked about what had happened, the future they had once imagined together, and why they couldn’t be together. They remembered their conversations, their promises, and the happy moments they had shared over the past few months. Varun wanted to capture every moment with Aarushi, so he asked me to take a few pictures of them together. As their feelings grew stronger, Aarushi finally leaned in and kissed him.
I captured that moment too. They slowly started losing control of their emotions. I said, let me bring you some bottles of beer, guys, and then I left the room and came outside and give them some personal space to enjoy their last moment. So I left them for a while and came back with a few bottles of beer. By then, it was already night, and Aarushi asked Varun to stay over and leave in the morning since it was getting late. So, we started drinking beer together.
After finishing one bottle, Aarushi started talking romantically, and they became more intimate and started to touch each other, slowly crossing their boundaries in front of me. Aarushi starting lost her control over Varun, so I also captured a few pictures of them when she sat on Varun’s lap and started kissing him. By then, they had become bolder, and things were getting a little awkward forr me, so I decided to leave them alone and give them some privacy. Our room had two connected sections, a room inside a room.
There was a door, but no windows in the inner room. They stayed inside while I came out to the outer room. There was no window in the inner wall, and my bed was right in front of theirs bed, so I covered the opening with a blanket because they were starting to take each other’s clothes off. As the night went on, things between them became more intimate. I couldn’t see what was happening, but the sounds from inside made it clear that they had crossed a line.”Ek time pe mujhe laga ye aaj bed tod ke hi manege.”
Everything was too loud and louder and clear. I also noticed that during their final moments together, they were capturing private moments too. Aarushi trusted Varun completely and was madly trust him. Finally, after their T20 match finished, I fell asleep. When I woke up the next morning, Varun had already left. I didn’t even know when he had gone. Aarushi was too happy and thought their last meeting had ended on a sweet note, and she was ready to move on with her life. But she had no idea that everything was about to change.
Later, our college ended, and Aarushi’s arranged marriage was fixed with someone from a respected, high profile family. Everyone was happy and busy preparing for the wedding. Everyone seemed excited about her new beginning, except Aarushi. When I met her, she was very stressed and anxious. So, I asked her if she was unhappy about the marriage. Her answer left me shocked. She told me that she had received her private pictures from an unknown number. They were the moments she and Varun had captured during their last meeting. But that wasn’t all…..