I was 14 when I first saw her. My brother was a teacher at a village and I had gone there on his request as a volunteer to help conduct classes.

She was in the class and when I noticed that she was watching me, really watching me, I blushed a bit. And how do you describe beauty? I have no words to describe the first sight of her.

In the weeks that followed, we became friends. I would go to her house after school and met her family and friends. We would go fishing at the local stream and have lots of fun.

She even told me she found me smart.

As the days passed, we began to like each other and we both realised how much we had come to mean to each other when the time came for me to leave for the city.

We met again the following summer for a week or so. As the previous year, her company was refreshing and and gave me a different kind of warmth.

The third time we met, I was eighteen and it was at a bazaar. We talked about serious things like love and marriage.

After my intermediate, I won a scholarship to study abroad. I had to leave without meeting her. I wrote to her once, but never got a reply.

Returning after four long years, I learnt that she had eloped. I felt bad but I had to accept it.

And last week I bumped into her at a green grocery store. She had her three-year-old son with her. We both did not know what to say to each other.

She invited me to lunch, which I accepted.

Her husband works for an NGO and does not seem to be very happy with her husband as she does not feel loved.

She said she misses me a lot. I miss her too. But there’s nothing we can do about it. We are socially obligated to do nothing about the turns our lives have taken.