Of Deepa from Dil Chahta Hai...

You remember Deepa from Dil Chahta Hai? The girl who used to keep running after Aakash. I absolutely love her. There are some characters who remain etched in our mind forever. And for me, Deepa is one of them. She is one of the characters that I completely identify with. She kept running after a philanderer who avoided her like anything; who used to change his path when he saw her face; who hid behind bushes in hotels; who jumped in the middle of the sea as soon as he heard his name being called by her. In spite of all this, she loved him. Isn't it difficult to maintain the same feeling when you know the person you love totally ignores you? Being totally crazy about a guy who at that point in time did not even believe that there is something called love. Why did she do this? Weren't other guys available who could love her? Why only Aakash? That brat who never left a chance to make fun of her, and the one who got beaten in front of the entire crowd for teasing someone else's fiancée. Wouldn't Sid be a wonderful partner for her? It is this fascinating thing called love. It has no control over anyone. It makes one run after people that Monica would have labeled "What were you thinking?" (Rachel: Well, I should then just go across the hall and write that on Chandler) It was fascinating to see Deepa's eyes, the way she blushed when Aakash called her name. I wish there was more of her in the film. She was not dumb, but a very sensible and a smart girl. It was perhaps her love for Aakash that made her do silly things. At the end. when Sid sees another girl near the fort in Goa, I at first thought it was Deepa.

Would it have been wrong if Deepa and Sid became a couple? Would her love for Aakash be called as crazy infatuation. I don't know. I somehow cannot picture her with Aakash. What would have happened to her? Where did she go? I wish there was some closure to her story. Will Farhan tell us more about her? Someone who completely ignores you but still somehow you can never let them go. We can imagine what she would have felt by Aakash's behavior. Her story was of hope, courage, determination. Maybe she was banking that one day Aakash might change his mind. She was one of the strongest characters in the film in some ways, even stronger than Aakash, who in spite of loving Shalini, did not even say it once to her, and only does so on the day of Shalini's wedding only after Mahesh makes him realize why Shalini is marrying Rohit. Did he understand then how Deepa would have felt? Didn't she deserve Aakash's love? Was she unlucky in love? Why are people unlucky in love?

In one of the movie's best scenes, Sid and Deepa are sitting on the beach side.

Sid says, "दीपा तुम इतनी  खूबसूरत हो, इन्तेल्लिगेंट हो, तुम्हे तो आकाश के अल्वा कितने अच्छे लड़के मिल जायेंगे."

And, she heartbroken replies, "अगर मैं इतनी ही अच्छी हूँ तो मुझे आकाश क्यूँ नहीं मिल सकता."

Sid says, " हाथ में थामी मिटटी को जितना पकड़ने की कोशिश करोगे उतना ही वो हाथ से निकल जाएगी."

I love you, Deepa. You taught us many things about life. To be never afraid of rejection, to always say about things openly, and to express love without fear. Here's hoping you got what you wanted.