Love makes people do strange things. There can be no classification of love but still it can be divided into two major types. One is the love that a boy has for a girl and the other is the love that a person can have for a parent, sibling a relative, a friend or just anyone in general. In this story, I talk about the love of a girl and a boy and the follies of youth, and how sometimes just one mistake can ruin the entire life of a person.

Shruti was a simple girl, devoted completely to her studies. Her parents were proud of her, but they kept a strict eye on her, lest she fall a prey to some of the bad influences that girls her age are prone to. She had a brother, another ideal of a boy. The parents had nothing to complain of, and whenever anyone said:

"You are lucky to have kids like that.”

There reply came promptly : “Luck is an excuse put forward by weak people. I know how to raise a kid, and that is why my kids are so good.”

This usually irked the listener, but what could they say? After all the kids were a living proof to the man's words, and they were liked by everyone.

The daughter had finished her college and was now going to the university. The university campus was at some distance from Shruti's  home. Every day, as she was on her way to the university, a group of young, evil looking youth followed her all the way. She was too modest and meek  to tell either her parents, or anyone else. Her silence made the boys grow in confidence, and they began to say things to her. In the beginning,  the remarks were simple and clean, and she secretly enjoyed hearing some of the things that were said. Shruti  was a innocent girl and was not familiar with the stark realities of life as yet.

But, with time, the comments from the boys began to get dirtier, and the boys began to get closer to her, sometimes threateningly close. One day, one of the boys was bold enough to tug at the helm of Shruti's dress, and that day she decided that she had had enough. She wanted to tell her parents but did not know how to say it? She had never talked about anything like this with her parents. As soon as she reached home that day she went into her room, and burst into tears. Her dad was the first to notice her.

“What’s wrong Shruti?”

The tears did not stop and no words came out from Shruti. Her father was really worried, as every father of a young girl would be if his daughter would neither stop crying, nor say anything. A thousand different thoughts rushed through his mind, and he did not know how to react. But he knew his daughter well, and trusted her to know that she would not do anything wrong. That thought gave him hope and he asked again:

“What is it, sweetie?”

“Dad, there are some boys who tease me every day on my way to class and back… they say nasty things and today one of them even touched me…,” Shruti said between sobs. It would be hard to figure out what she was saying if you were a stranger, but parents can understand the deepest thoughts of their children just by the way they look at them, and Shruti’s dad had no problem understanding what she was saying, though her voice was drowned in tears.

“Oh!” the dad was infuriated, but his face clearly showed that he was relieved too.

“Don’t worry; we will do something about it,” he said and comforted Shruti.

So, from the next day the dad began to accompany her to college, and also usually brought her back. This deterred the young Romeo’s and though they did follow their Juliet for a couple of days, they did that at a safe distance. When they realized that this was not a stopgap arrangement but a permanent feature they stopped following her altogether. But now this was interfering with the Dad's job, and he began to think of an alternate method to keep her daughter safe. One day he was discussing this with one of his friends who suggested the use of a body guard. He even recommended a man he knew, who could do the job quite well.

Shruti’s dad agreed to look at the option and asked his friend to ask Deepak, the guy, to come see him the next day. Deepak was a nice guy, soft spoken, well built and didn’t look like someone who would fit into the role of a body guard.

“Are you sure you can handle this?” Shruti’s dad asked tentatively.  

“I am very sure. I might not look like it but I can take care of more than just a bunch of guys,” Deepak said with a smile.  

Thought the words were dangerous, the tone was so gentle that Shruti’s father could not resist a smile. This would have offended some, but Deepak was not offended and joined him in smiling.  

Though Shruti’s dad doubted his efficiency as a bodyguard but he thought it would not hurt to try him out, and see how it goes.  

"Ok! Deepak you have to be here at 9 o clock, and get her back at 2 o clock. The pay can be negotiated.”  

“Ok!” Deepak agreed.  

So, from the next day, it was Deepak’s job to drop Shruti to her classes and get her back. After a couple of days had passed, Shruti’s dad asked her , “ Is it better now, or do they still trouble you?”  

“Papa, they don’t trouble me anymore. Yesterday they said something, and Deepak cuffed one of the boys and told them that if they were even seen around me, he will break one of their bones, and if he ever heard a word from them to me, they would pay dearly. You won’t believe papa, he was so menacing, the boys ran for their lives. I don’t think they will trouble me anymore.” Shruti said enthusiastically.  

“Ok! So we can tell Deepak that he is not needed anymore.” The father said.  

“No,” Shruti almost screamed. It appeared that she was still scared of the boys following her, and didn’t want to risk going through that again.  

The father was relieved, and thought it wouldn’t hurt to keep Deepak for the entire semester. He thought to himself that he would let Deepak continue for  a couple of months because that was the time left  for Shruti’s classese, after that she would be done and then either she would go for higher studies, or get married. In either case she would be safe from the boys.  

But, unknown to all, Shruti had begin to have feelings for Deepak. He was the first guy in her life that she had really seen up close. Thanks to her strict upbringing, she had never got a chance to really know any guy. So, everything that she saw in Deepak, she admired. He was her hero, but till now she had not let her feelings show, in fact she didn’t know how to. The first love of a teenager, boy or girl, always makes them dreamy and forget everything else. It has been like that since the old ages, and will be like this for all time to come. A person in love thinks that nothing else matters, but love and the beloved. In Shruti’s eyes, I could see the first rays of love spreading its wings.