The Letter - Part II

Letter - Part I

I sat down on the bed with the letter in my hand. It was completely unexpected... I had always loved movies with a twist, those mystery,thriller movies which keep you guessing whats coming up next.The irony is that we enjoy those moments ,as long it happens to someone else,when we too are in the same boat, its to thrilling to enjoy the thrill. I never imagined in my wildest dream that my life will be taking a twist like this. And to top the icing on the cake, this day has to be on my birthday.

It was now 9:45. Then my eyes fell on the mobile which lay off. I recalled that i was going to charge it yesterday when i got the damn letter. I switched it on and put it on charge. After the start up tune,the phone came to life. There were a series of beeps, signalling the receiving of messages. Messages from my friends and well wishers who will be wishing me happiness,joy and a long life... Long life !! 20 seems to be a long life indeed...

I kept the phone in my bed and went near the window. A cool breeze of air was blowing. It was so soothing ,so serene so as to engulf me in its arms. Only that i didnt feel like enjoying any of these. I felt i would have been happier if i would have cried. Strangely enough i wasnt crying. Maybe,i have been always taught that no matter what happens in your life, no matter how many stones you get, no matter how bad the life treats you,your life is in your hands. There is always something positive , you only have to keep your eyes open.

Since, i had seen Dasvidaniya, a Bollywood movie, in which the movie's protagonist gets to know that he will be dying in 3 months. He makes a list of 10 things which he has always dreamt of doing. Basically, he fulfills his wish list and dies peacefully. Well, in my case i didnt have that option too. It was more a fast track Dasvidaniya in my case. Not 3 months but 24 hours....

People say its wiser not to reinvent the wheel. i thought of doing what our Dasvidaniya hero had done. Making a list of things which i want to do most. Since, i was the youngest child of my parent's 3 children, i was confident that they will be taken care by my elder brothers. Then, i wanted to pursue higher studies, for which the time i had was not sufficient, so that goes off from the list. Then... The challenge here was that i had everything i wanted.

My parents had ensured that i was well taken care in that regard. So what else... I was musing on that, when my Phone went off... "Tujh me rab Dikta hai,...." - the melody song from "Rab ne Bana di Jodi" movie. It had to be her. I had kept that ring tone for her calls. The irony here was the fact that "Rab" had given me a visit few hours back, so the word "Rab itself (meaning God)" brought jitters to me.

Anyhow, i picked up the phone and came the fresh voice of her - "Happy Birthday Arvind. God Bless You." I was tempted to answer "Well he has", but then thought the better of it and mumbled a thanks.

She asked me - "Where were you yesterday night. I kept on calling your mobile but it kept saying the receiver phone is switched off. What happened ?

I explained that my cell phone charge had died down and the current had gone out. I put the phone on charge now only."

Oh, ok fine. So whats the plan for today...

I thought " Well, pack up my bags for the trip". But said - I dont know. Have to be at home, i suppose. Ma has some plans.

Oh, ok. I wanted to meet you for sometime. Tell me if you can meet me today. [We had an understanding about my birthday.I had told her before that on my birthday we usually go to visit my grand parents, then temple, then orphanage.She respected my plans and didnt push me much on it]

But the last thing i wanted to do was to meet her. I knew that i wont be my normal self if i meet her today. So i wanted to avoid meeting her at all cost.. I said - Hey, Ma calling me. Will call you shortly.

OK, Wish you a Blessed Day.Sweet Kisses,saying so, she kept down the phone.

I clutched the phone close to my heart. A tear ran down my face. I knew that the only thing i wanted to do was to meet her. And bless her for a fruitful and a happy life. If i could have any wish fulfilled today, i would wish for a happy life for her. If not with me, then with someone who would love her with all his heart and give the world to her. I called her again.

Hey, whats up, she asked.

I said - How about meeting at the coffee shop, at 4pm ?

Wow, Thats so nice of you. See you soon.

I got up from the bed and starting getting refreshed. Then i put my favourite dress and went down. Papa had left early regarding his business. Mama was reading a book. As soon as i came down, she got up and planted a huge kiss on my cheek. God Bless you , my sweety. Papa said sorry about not being able to be at home today.He has some important meeting with his clients today. He told me to wish you on his behalf..

Thanks Mom i said bringing up a smile.

Come on, have your breakfast now. I have made your fav dish today .

I had few morsels and got ready to go to grandparents place.My grand parents were also ready in the home by the time we reached there. I took their blessings and grandpa/ma gifted me a gold chain, Grandma said it will make me more handsome. Grandma was always like this. Nowadays she has taken to giving lectures on finding a suitable girl for me. It will be sometime before it actually happens,but i suspect that she was the real reason for making love blossom in my heart. Due to her persistence talking,i had began to get thoughts that maybe its not bad to have a girl friend. Thats when i met my dream girl and whatever happened next is all known. It was 3 pm now. We started to the temple to offer prayers to our family god. Ma and grandparents prayed for a long life for me. I could only laugh at the irony of it. Then i bid my grandparents and Mom adieu and told them to proceed to the orphanage as i had some other work to do.

It was close to 4pm when i reached the coffee shop. She was already waiting for me there. Very much like her. Always on time, sometimes before time too. She gave me a hug and a short kiss and wished me happy birthday. We took our usual place in the coffee shop, the corner one with a small pool nearby it.

Do you remember our first date, in this coffee shop, i asked her.

Yes, how can i forget. You were blushing redder than a carrot.-She said.

I wasnt blushing. - i said back.

No. You were.. , she said.

We spend some time remembering the times, reliving the memories of our being together. Then she gave me a present. It was a triangular glass crystal with a red heart glowing inside.

I looked in to her eyes and gave her a smile. We just kept looking at each other.I had read somewhere that the closer people feel to each other,the lesser they need to talk. Emotions have a way of expressing and i think we understood each other perfectly well. I think she must have guessed that something was bothering me.

Whats the matter,Arvind - she asked.

Nothing dear, i replied. Trying hard not to lose control.

No, something is there. You can tell me - she said.

Do you love me - i asked.

I love you more than i love myself - she replied.

Iam very lucky in that regard. But i want you to promise me something. - i said.

What do you want me to do - she asked.

Promise me that you will love yourself more than me. Promise me that you will be happy no matter what happens.Promise me that you will carry on in your life and take care of yourself. I felt like a fool telling the above things. Yet, the only reaction i got from her was a strange stare. Not the stare again. She gives these kind of stares when its like she knows what Iam up too. Well, iam sure she wouldnt have known this, know about what had happened to me 24 hrs back.

She slowly replied -

Arvind, i dont know what to say. I never imagined that i will meet a person like you, and i consider myself lucky for that. Yet i want you to promise me the same things which you have asked me. Can you promise me that ?

I was tempted to tell her about what had happened 24 hrs back, that by tomorrow i wont be in this green earth. but i didnt want to scare her off. The last thing which i wanted to see on my last day was see her crying. I just smiled and shook my head. I found it hard to see that she was saying my dialogues. 'That she wanted the best for me'. Something was bothering her, but since i wasnt a good mind reader as her,i was left guessing about her botherations.

It was close to 7pm.The waiter came,kept the bill and went back. Its my treat for you, saying so she paid the money.

Well, time to say good bye - i said.

Seems so. Wish you a long and a Happy life. Saying so, she left.

Iam not sure if i saw it, but i think i saw a tear in one of her eyes. Someone had said that If there is one thing which is unpredictable in this world, you can be damn sure it will be the girls. I pushed my chair and was about to get up,when i saw she had left her handkerchief in the table. I reached across to take the kerchief. Something white in color fell down. It was a letter. It opened it and it read:

Dear Asha,

This is to inform you that your life validity expires in 24 hours.....
......

Epilogue: Thats the way she was. Not only she didnt show her sorrow to me, but to keep me happy on my birthday she acted as if nothing had happened. No wonder my instincts had always told me "She was the one for me".

The End.

The Letter

The man stood near the window with his hands folded..He had a calm demeanor and was smiling benignly. I couldn’t really understand how could he be smiling on this occasion.

A few moments earlier....

The charge in my mobile had dried up. I was just going to put my phone on charge when the electricity got cut. If there is one thing in India which you can say with certainty, it is the fact that when you have an important work to do, you can trust the government to cut it off... Cursing them for the nuisance, i lay on the bed and spend the rest 15 minutes to curse those guys with well learnt curse words.

I presume i was about to doze off when i felt a hand tapping my shoulder. I woke up to see a man with a letter bag at his side. He introduced himself as "God" and took a letter from the letter bag and gave it to me. He then went on to say 'You have 24 hours to live and that we will be departing to heaven/hell tomorrow'.

All i did was to keep staring at him. He told me to have a look at the letter and went and stood near the window. I opened the letter and read:

Dear Arvind,

This is to inform you that your life validity expires in 24 hours. One of our people will come down to meet you and you will be sailing in the "Ship of Departures" along with other inmates. Kindly plan your schedule so that you finish off whatever you want within this validity time. No luggage’s will be necessary as everything will be available in the ‘Home’.

Your final destination aka Heaven/Hell will be decided based on your liabilities and assets which you have accrued over your life time.

Hope to see you tomorrow.

Regards,
God.

All i could say was "Is this some kind of joke"... All he did in return was to keep staring at me. I repeated my question again. he asked me "What do you think". I told him "I don’t think people receive termination letters informing about the remaining life time. And what is this, Liabilities, assets. I never knew that material assets and liabilities are valued in after-life. 

"Very typical of humans", remarked the God. You haven’t heard about the termination letters before because you get it only once. You don’t live to tell about it. And the assets and liabilities which i mentioned are the good deeds and the bad karma which you earn in your life time." This came as a complete shock to me... I never knew that the final day can come just like that. I had lived 24 years of my life time and had never bothered to think about the so called good deeds and bad deeds. I had hardly known any hardships, since i was provided with all luxuries. 

A lot many questions were running in my mind. [As in why he had come delivering this information when he can send across someone else, What had i done to get this call so early, Wasn’t he supposed to be wearing a white suit, as Morgan Freeman does in Hollywood movies]. I assumed i could guess the reason for his coming alone to deliver the information. After all, it was recession time now, so there could have been job cuts there also. Currently i was concerned about my situation, so i was wondering what to ask him, when suddenly there was a pop sound and Gosh, the man simply disappeared before my eyes... 

The feeling you get when someone next to you pops off in thin air makes you feel that even you can pop off anytime. You fear to tread another step not knowing when you will pop off. No wonder, the people in the medieval ages used to haunt the witches and considered them as outlaws. And the feeling when someone has informed you about your demise and has suddenly left you alone gives you no little consolation. Well, i never had hoped for this in my wildest dream. 

I kept the letter in the diary on the bed-side table and then kept staring at the ceiling. Why me. It’s not fair in any way. and Why now ?? Why now when i had found my dream girl. It’s been 3 months since we met. It was an instant liking from our first meet and i knew that if there has to be a girl in my life, it has to be her. She had all the good qualities which a Man could aspire for in a girl. I had proposed to her 1 month back and she had accepted it. We had planned up so many things for our future...The big bungalow, the children we would have, the fun trip….So many in the to-do list. But, it seems life had other plans. No wonder, people say Life is unfair. This is not fair, this is not fair.... I kept on muttering the sentences....

"Sleeping till 9am on your birthday and saying 'it’s not fair' isn’t fair too" - came the voice of my Mother. She tugged the bed sheet and woke me up with a birthday wish and a sweet kiss. I looked at her as if i was stunned. Birthday, oh, yes it’s my birthday today. I made up a smiley face and mumbled a thanks... Get ready soon, son. It’s your DAY today. Don’t you have plans for today.. Come-on get ready, son...God Bless you, saying so she left the room. 

I sat on the bed and tried remembering what had happened.. What about the letter, the God visit and the message... Was it a bad dream after all. I couldn’t express the happiness i felt at that moment. A dream, a bad dream, Gosh, it had felt so real... Thank goodness. Pushing the bad thoughts away from the mind, i threw the bed sheet away and got down on the other side. Then i saw it. A small white envelope was pointing out slightly in my personal diary!!! The whole room seemed to freeze. 

Slowly, with shivering hands i reached across to the dairy and took out the letter and opened it. 

It started "Dear Arvind,

..............

To be contd....

P.S: I had written this before. Posting it again for the benefit of the current readers. Hope you liked it.

The Orange Girl - II - Contd

As i gradually floated back to reality from the wispy magical romantic moment, i was in for another great shock. There sitting before me was the Orange Girl. I was sitting in the side window seat and she was sitting in the opposite corner at the window seat. The movie reverie started again, this time with images of Rajesh Khanna humming the tune "Mere sapno ki rani", and chasing the heroine Sharmila Tagore,aboard a train. The only difference was that we were sitting on the opposite ends of a single compartment, instead of she on a train and a me on a jeep. But why bother about such small details when you are focussed on the big picture !!

Just then my reverie was broken by someone. Now obviously irritated by the sudden intercession, i looked on to see who was it. An man was standing on the inner side of the compartment. He was of middle age. He asked me: Son, is the lower side berth your seat. I was like yes it is. He then asked me if i can shift over to the middle berth as he had muscular strain and he can take the lower side berth. Usually this had become a natural phenomenon whenever i traveled by train, i had to exchange the seats with someone if i had got a lower berth. Actually its not the concept of giving my seat that annoyed me, but the fact that once you feel that you have settled comfortably when someone comes and asks you to move which didnt go with me. And in this case, not only was i disturbed from my reverie but also was asked to give up my seat.


Just when i was about to say no, without giving it a thought, when my super conscious mind began to work. It dawned on me that if i exchanged seats with the person, i will be sitting on seat opposite to that of the Orange Girl and that i had a good chance at having a conversation with the girl. I had heard of the adage "Give something to win something" Now i was seeing it working in reality ;) So i in all my best manners pro-offered the man,my seat , which the man accepted happily and i was a much happier than him. I always took precaution to book upper berth so that i needn't have to exchange the seat.. but in this case, i got lower seat against all my expectations which ended up with me getting a chance to sit opposite to the girl. (Another proof of divine premeditation). Just when i went and took my place opposite to the girl, a boy came and sat near her. This was some thing completely unexpected.

You had all the necessary ingredients for a movie. A hero, a heroine and a villain. Though masquerading as a hero was pretty easy and romantic, the concept of villain entering the picture was a sore thought. As long a villain appears in a movie , it is fine as our Super heroes are bestowed with unimaginable luck and power and they thwart the villain easily. Where as in real life, its a different ground altogether. I dont have supernatural powers,(though luck seemed to be in my side, divine premeditation ;) ) and i was wondering how to face this new challenge. .The girl had become just one of the other girls. Not any more a Dream Girl, the status reserved only for my soul mate.The girl and boy were talking happily obvious to their surroundings and to a smoke burning opposite to them. [me ;( ]. You see, life has a funny way of throwing up surprises. When you feel that you have scaled the world, it comes behind you with a lead pipe and know what leave you wondering what the hell went wrong. And sometimes, when you feel too lost, you have the lady luck smiling on you.

Fortunately this time, i was on the kinder end of the life. A lady(The Orange Girl Mother, i came to know this later) came and said to the boy, "Arun, enough of pestering your sister. Now come out. The Train will start shortly.". The words couldnt have been any more sweeter. My lousing spirit became lively again and the back ground music of "Mere Sapno Ki Rani" song started off again with renewed enthusiasm. The boy went outside, the girl also went outside with her
BROTHER, and said Good bye's to her parents and relatives. I didnt mean to eaves drop on their conversation, yet it was like the Orange Girl's parent had escorted her to the station where they had met one of their other close relatives. So they were in the next compartment having a talk, wherein the Orange Girl had come to her seat.The Boy(her brother) who got bored with the elders talk had come along to talk with his sister. So All is well that ends well. The train took off slowly and the journey started. It was like only 3 of us were in the compartment, (I, the orange girl & the Old man who was in the opposite side seat). I wanted to have a conversation with the girl but being not exactly a REMO, i preferred her to start the conversation.

As her parents had left, the Orange Girl took out a book and began to browse through that. I had heard that Like minded people tend to go well together. So not wanting to stay behind, i also took out my book, and began flipping the pages, emphasising more on making sound turning the pages rather on on reading them. Sometime went by. I wanted to ask her name. For that starting a conversation was imperative.But then my tongue seemed to had made a decision to play tongue twister. Even if you tried to speaking, no sound came out. Yet, since it was lucky predestined day for me, i had another chance. The Orange Girl searched for something in her bag and let out a sigh of desperation. And then she looked at the Old Man's bag.Being a born Sherlock holmes, my intuitive detective skills suggested that she had missed something. But what, i think, my intuitive detective skills weren't sufficient to fathom. But then i followed up her direction of eye vision and found that she was looking at the water bottle in the Old Man's bag. Putting together the jumble
pieces, i figured out that she would have missed her water bottle and that she was thirsty now.I thought i will ask her if she needs water, and hence bringing together my best manners, i said "Water". Actually i wanted to ask her "Do you want Water", yet due to the tongue twisting game, my tongue was indulged in, just the last word "Water" came out. On hearing water, she got a bit surprised and presented a blank look.

Reprimanding myself , i repeated again "Water"( Ooof,Not Again !! ), but this time, i shook the water bottle which i had for emphasis. She smiled a bit and took the bottle and drank water. Then She returned the bottle with a sweet Thanks. Words couldnt have been anymore sweeter. The word 'Thanks' kept on echoing in my ears for sometime.I tugged the water bottle to the safe interiors of the bag as i didnt want any more people to come asking for water. Its not like i didnt wanted to give water to other, yet this water bottle had achieved a significant value. Then only it occured to me that i hadnt yet asked her name. Now that her thirst was over, she went back to her book reading. I had a pretty uphill task at hand.

Starting a conversation would not only be hard but very tough. You see, when you get smitten , not only your tongue refuses to abide with you, you have heavy gushes of air going up and down your wind pipe, making it look like as if you are inhaling huge gushes of air. Not to say about the heart beat. It skyrockets to around 120 beats/minute as if you had just finished a mega marathon race. Yet my brain with divine intervention, recalled a learning attrributed to my reading habits.I had read somewhere that when you feel highly tensed up and unable to concentrate, follow the steps to become calm again. 1) Close your eyes. 2) Take a deep breath. 3) Count from 1 to 10. 4) Then, how many times should one do that ... Hmmm.. Ya, got it. 3 times. Ya. Repeat the steps 3 times. . So applying Zen methodology to effect, i did the required steps. By the count of 10 at the 3rd time, i had returned back to my normal state.(Amazing Isnt !!). For those of you Agreeing, Thats a stupendous 'No; for you. Its like this, i had returned back to normal state because i had concentrated on my breathing. By focussing on something else rather than the one which caused the anxiety, i was able to calm myself.

Now i felt confident to start conversing with the Orange Girl. But again the very thought of her threatened to raise my anxietiness again. Immediately launching into action, i asked her "What is your Name" ? 'TICKET' ,came the reply. Whatever the answer i was expecting, 'TICKET" was way beyond what i expected. It might be true that along with globalisation, Indians had taken a liking to foreign culture, adopting various practices of the foreigners in our life. Assuming that people had taken a liking to English Names like Briddget, Matilda, by all standards "TICKET" seemed an unusual name... Again the sound "TICKET" came. I looked to my left and found the Ticket Collector checking the Orange Girl's ticked. I realised only then that i was lost in my own world, and had not seen the TC and mistook TICKET for the Girl's name. I took out my ticket and waited. Meanwhile the Old man furnished his tickets and was explaining to the TC that his friend will be getting on to the train. He was pointing the name, Arun in the list saying that he has his ticket who will be joining him in the next station. Sometimes, one experiences a stroke of brilliance. Similar one happened then. I was planning to ask the girl her name, why not look it outright in the TC list.Congratulating myself for coming up with a clever strategy, i went near him and gave the TC my ticket , all the while scanning the page to find my name and a girl name neaby.

Aha, i found the name easily and brimming with excitement as if i had been awarded the Nobel Prize, i came back to my seat, her name already imprinted in my grey cells.It was quite late by now, and it was time to sleep.The girl started making arrangements to sleep. I too realised that having a conversation was not possible now and that i will do that in morning once i get up. I too went to sleep. It seemed that i had slept for a while, because when i woke up , and checked out the Girls seat, she was not there. Which meant i had slept late, i checked if it wasnt too late. I saw that in the corner of the seat, she had left her handkerchief. I took her kerchief and went out the train. The train was still standing at the platform, meaning that i still had time to find the Orange Girl.. I went outside and saw in a distant distance, she was walking at a slow pace. I raced fast and called out her name. I reached her fast and offered her the kerchief.

She smiled and then took the kerchief and said Thanks. Since i had run, my heart was beating fast, i somehow managed to say- Anything for you. The next answer was like a slap in the face.."Naiye"(translates to Dog). I was like what.. After all the romantic thoughts, ending up like this. Though i didnt want to utter obscenities to a girl, i thought i will get the kerchief back from her. I pulled the kerchief from her hand for which she pulled it back. I wasnt going to let it go like this and if she persisted i will show who Iam. I heaved the kerchief with all my might, for which not only the kerchief got pulled from my hand, i felt a hard hand on my back. "Ravi naiye, get up from bed". Its 9 now, only 3 more hours for the exam to start. It was my friend Mohan who was pulling my bedsheet away from me and was trying to wake me up. Meaning, Orange Girl, Ticket, Kerchief all was a part of the dream. ;-( Today was the last day of the exam after which our semester hols were supposed to start. Seemed like, i started imagining about my holiday schedule even before it started.

Mohan said that he was trying to wake me up from 8 and i was uttering words like "Tickets", "Water" etc. Thanking him profusely and cursing myself for sleeping over time that too on a day of final exam, i rushed up to refresh myself and do a final round of revision. The fact that the Orange Girl had come only in dream making my point stronger that my dream girl was somewhere waiting for me. You never know When you dream materializes, yet will cherish the memories of the Orange Girl till then. :)

THE END.

Note: I hope you liked the narration and if you have any comments on that i would like to hear from you. I also thank my roomie Laxman for his help in framing some parts of the story and for patiently listening to my countless narrations at weird timings.

Dedicated to all the singles looking for their soul mates. :)

The Orange Girl - Part I

Hmmm, seems a pretty yummy name for a topic, Isnt ?? Permitting our imagination to spread wings for sometime, one might be tempted to assume that the Girl is orange in color. Well, thats too fanciful.

There are white girls, black girl, even yellow( when down with Jaundice), but Orange simply doesnt agree with our notion of a color of a person. Or maybe we can assume that the Orange Girl is a girl selling Oranges.,. This definitely appeals to our mind and to our imagination, but sorry to upset the ingenious find, it is much more cheerful than that. The Orange Girl, is a girl wearing an Orange dress.

Well i have been thinking about it for sometime, and i really feel that it was a divine plan that i met the Orange Girl. I tell you, it was definitely premeditated, How else can you explain the cancellation of my bus ticket and the unexpected obtainment of a railway ticket. You might be asking why the cancellation of bus ticket,for which we need to rewind back our watches for a while.

I was returning back to my college after what you can call a Vacation. It didnt go quite as one would expect on a vacation, it was boresome, mainly because of the fact that most of my friends back home, were having their exams that time.So, i was left all alone contemplating ways to kill time.

Well, i did visit few places on my own, but that damped my spirits rather than enliven it. You see where-ever i went there were lots of couples [Mostly IT people], which made matters worse. It was like adding salt to wounds. You see, you are already single and the sight of doubles, makes you look more isolated... It started a chain of thoughts in my mind about thinking on ways and reasons for me being single.

I got affected by what you can call a Single Syndrome(SS). .Now, you might ask what is a Single Syndrome. Its a kind of feeling wherein you are single and are happy about it, (for having escaped the trap), at the same time, occasionally you have bouts of times, where you regret the fact that you are single.

It has been a much widely discussed topic and we have had many discussions,back at college where we ,a dedicated group of friends who were proud to be single the pros and cons of getting stuck up with a girl. But you know deep down, there always is a soft voice crying out for your soul mate , which no matter what you tell , simply refuses to subside. So All in all, my vacation passed off with a good piece of time, being spent on musing over the Single Syndrome.

To make matters worse,the bus which i had reserved made headlines. Rather it was the route which the bus takes which made the headlines. Thanks to few people among the junta,who were unhappy with few of the regulations passed by Govt and they had protested by alighting (Read--> set fire to) a bus My parents who were very much concerned by this new development were strictly against me travelling by bus(as if the group of people were waiting to strike again in the bus which i take) and suggested me to travel by train. (As if the same kindred junta wouldnt dare to think about a-lighting a moving train, other than the fact that iam yet to see anyone who dared to stop a train by lurching ahead in its path,as they do with a bus).

I couldnt care more about the mode of travel,(still recovering from the effects of SS), atleast to please my parents agreed to go by train. Somehow i got my ticket and had to take one day extra leave as i got a ticket for monday(weekday tickets were over). I tell you again , this was another proof of premeditation.

Setting aside all matters, the important thing to note is that i was a bit fussed due to SS, and was cursing every Tom,Dick and Harry who had one. Now coming back to the moment in the train journey, i had come an hour earlier and found the station aloof, unlike during week end, where you can see a horde of people flowing here and there.

The train had come and i took my seat in the First Class Compartment. I have this habit of carrying a book whenever i travel, yet due to reasons known, i simply didnt have the mindset to read it.. So it was at this moment that the universe in all its grandeur, decided to make a move in the unexpected game , what we call life.

It was then the Orange Girl entered the train.,. I was like looking outside the window, when i felt an impulse to turn. First it was a fleeting glance. Then i turned my head again. And there i see the wondrous image.,. It was as if the Almighty had given a physical shape to your imaginations about your dream girl. I felt as if the time had slowed down and that only the two of us were the only people around. I must have lost sense of time because when i came back to my senses, there was no one at the entrance. I whirled around to see where she had gone. She was standing at the opposite entrance, looking here and there. Probably she was looking for her seat.

I had read Alladin's Story before yet Iam not sure if i had ever wanted a genie lamp as i wanted on that moment. I somehow wished that she be put up in the same cabin as mine. Images of me being the Alladin and 'her' as Jasmine, began floating in my mind.

You see it only in movies, but believe me, i had never thought that happens in real life, yet what to say, creativity has its own ways of manifesting itself.. It indeed was a sensuous experience(Imagining youself with your lady love).People have said that i very creative, but i hadnt thought much on that and havent considered myself worthy of such extolments. But lost in my pleasant reverie, i got a proof of my hidden creative talents..!!

To be continued...

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