He was lying on the hospital bed, showing no sign of life. His eyes had an empty look to them. Even though there were plenty of medical instrument supporting him, it seemed he had given up on life.

"We have done everything we can. But he is not showing any signs of improvement. All we can now do is pray to God," said the doctor to the patient's mother. The doctor's words shattered all her hopes of seeing him alive. He was her only child. She had gone through a lot to raise him and send him to a renowned medical school.

I was there standing by the patient's mother, consoling her. These things didn't happen abruptly but insidiously.

Seven years ago, I completed my undergraduate studies and aspired to work in the medical sector. I joined a famous institute in the heart of Kathmandu to prepare for my medical entrance exam. I vividly remember the first day at the institute. I entered the classroom and decided to sit at the back of the class to avoid the attention of the teacher and to indulge in some petty activities during the lecture to entertain myself.

A veteran physics teacher entered the class. After the lecture, he gave us problems to solve.

A loud voice somewhere from the front bench cried out the correct answer. The teacher gave us dozens of problems to solve, and he managed to answer all of them before anyone. I was surprised by how quickly he solved the questions correctly.

After the lecture was over, I scuttled to the front bench in a bid to find out who this brilliant student was.

He had a very fair complexion. He appeared to be in his early 20s, but he wore clothes well above his age. At first glance, I perceived this boy came from a very strict family.

"Hi, physics wizard. I'm Rajan," I said and stretched my hand towards him. "Hi, I'm Pramod," he replied, with a wide smile on his face, and shook my hand.

It was the start of a very close friendship, which endured several ups and downs.

Time passed.

During our time at the institution, I made both friends with both boys and girls. But he didn't. He was totally unaffected by the presence of girls in the class. He was very reserved, and he chose to remain absorbed in his books all the time.

To understand how and why he was so focused on his studies and didn't really bother about things that students of his age were, I would often silly questions.

One day, I asked him, "What do you think love is, Pramod?"

He smirked unpleasantly and replied, "Love is a waste of time. It ruins a student's life. You should stay away from it."

I was completely taken aback by his views.

Summer turned to spring, and then to winter, but Pramod remained the same, studious and reserved.

On an unbearably cold winter morning, a few of us decided to head outside our classroom to sunbathe. I looked around for Pramod, and I saw something I had never seen before.

Pramod was staring at a girl. I went to him and found that he was staring at a girl and talking to himself, "I have never seen someone as beautiful as the girl. Her blue eyes, they are so captivating. Man, I would love to know her better."

I was baffled. In the many months that I had known Pramod, I had never seen him show even a remote interest in a girl. But there he was, staring at one and blabbering to himself and extolling her beauty.

I nudged him out of that state and asked him to come with me.

I started noticing changes in Pramod after that day. He began to sit with me on the last bench. He even asked me to help him get her name. "Her beauty has captivated me. I can't take my eyes off her. I can't help but think of her. Rajan, you have to help me, man."

I could sense in his voice that he was genuinely smitten. He started losing interest in his studies. For the first time since I have known him, I began to worry about him. One day, I warned him that he shouldn't distract himself too much and that he should focus on his studies. "I am worried about you. The changes I see in you don't look good to me," I told him.

"Rajan, you are overthinking. Don't worry about me. I know what I am doing," he replied.

One day, the girl was standing outside her class. As he saw her, he didn't know what to do. He looked anxious. As he hadn't dealt with many girls before, he was confused about how to approach her.

After a long awkward silence and just standing in front of the girl like a fool, he walked towards me and asked me for my help. He was sweating, and his voice was shaky. It was evident he needed moral support. I asked him to act cool and introduce himself to the girl. I even opted to stand behind him, as moral support. He introduced himself to the girl. "Hi, I'm Pramod. I want to be your friend," he said. His very shaky voice made it evident to the girl that he was terribly nervous.

The girl looked at him and ignored him and awkwardly rushed back to her class. I felt sorry for Pramod.

But he savoured this moment with great relish. He just seemed very happy and proud to have mustered the courage to approach her. "I talked to her. I'll try again. She'll be my friend. Then, I'll tell her how I feel," he said.

I was amazed to see Pramod's determination. He didn't seem to be bothered at all by her rebuke.

One day, he even managed to sneak into the girl's class. He sat behind her bench. The girl was obviously very bothered by his presence. She tried her best to snub him and ignore his presence. "What's your name? I want to be your friend," he told her. The girl gave her a you-are-irritating-me look. "I don't want to be your friend. I know you goons very well. You guys don't come here to study but to hit on girls and distract them from their studies and ruin their lives. Listen, I'm not interested in you at all. Never try to follow me again" she said curtly.

Her words wrenched his heart. The incident shook his pride. I told him that he shouldn't bother her like this. To encourage him, I even said, "Forget about her. You will find somebody else."

The medical entrance examination was upon us, and I kept reminding him to focus on his studies. We both did well in our entrance examination. He got a very good scholarship, and we both joined the same medical college. That girl joined another medical college.

When our classes started, he didn't seem as interested as he was in his studies. Even after the girl's rebuttal, he continued messaging her. He even went to the extent of going to her college, hoping to placate her.

She never reciprocated his interest, and all of that began to take a severe psychological toll on him. He began to be in a depressive mood. He even failed in one of the examinations.

When I came to learn about his results, I went to his room and said, "Don't waste all these years away, man. Why are you doing this to yourself? You have everything it takes to excel in your studies, but you are wasting your life and your talent. It's high time you get a grip on yourself and take things seriously."

He smiled, and told me that he had realised his mistake and he was going to mend his ways. Hearing this made me happy.

A few days later, a friend of mine called me and asked me to come to Pramod's house urgently. He told me that Pramod had jumped from the window of his room, which was on the third floor of the house, and had injured himself. We took him to the hospital. Later that day, when I went into his room, I saw that his laptop was still on. On the screen of the laptop was a Facebook photo of the girl with her husband. They had got married a few days ago.