20th December 2015

He is still floating in the same memory like a wingless duck, never able to consume its freshness it brought. It just came out of nowhere and shackled him to its eternity. For him, it's a fucking life. 

It was a usual Sunday morning, but a little bright and fresh for a day in the winter season. Things were slowly falling into place, birds chirping, parents hesitantly nagging their children to wake up, a warm savoring of tea by elders, and people mentally noting things in mind to spend the day ahead. 

At one such day nearly an year ago, there lived a girl in a small and beautiful town tirupathi, south of andhra pradesh, which is popularly known for its blissfulness and ambience. She was one among the very few girls who bestly suits and justifies the phrase, 'There are all types of girls in this world and then there is she!' Her day usually begins at 6:30 in the morning but on Sundays it prolongs and begins at 9’o clock as there was no college which starts at 8 am, reluctant to get up and trying to pull her whole body under the bed sheet over and over while still continuing her rolling activity, she gives an impression of Cinderella in her dreams. Her name is the doctor girl.

She got up and sat quietly for some time, feeling too drowsy to open her eyes or check Whatsapp. Then went on to take a shower and got ready to meet an old classmate ram, whom she believed when he lately confessed about his crush on her in school days.

On her way out of the house, “are you going to the college library?” her father asked, “really?”

“No, auditorium” she winked, “I have a dance practice for the college day.”

“I know” he grinned. As though he knew the answer before and just wanted to hear from her, after all, she is my daughter her father  thought.

The day earlier she was supposed to meet ram outside a fancy restaurant, but couldn’t for practical reasons though he dumbly waited with a neatly laminated sketched portrait of her. So she promised to meet him the next day at his house to take the portrait of her.

“Ram... I can come to your house to take it” she hinted.

“Would you do that!” he exclaimed.

 Oh, shit! Did I let that out loud? he thought.

“Yeah, but no... Leave it, but it won't look nice to meet outside, " she said. 

Wow, that's a paradox! Girls reasoning complexity he guessed.

“Yeah, you can come to my house but it looks like a mess if that's no problem for you then come." He said cheaply.

What the hell is wrong with you? Dude, you really need to learn the art of talking to girls, otherwise, you are doomed he exhaled to himself. But anyway the last line was a push he thought wickedly.

“That’s not at all a problem. Okay, I’ll be there tomorrow.” She said.

“Sure. But there won’t be anyone in my home tomorrow, except me” he confessed.

“Okay! We will talk outside of your house then” she replied.

She was on her way to ram’s house, at least she thought so until she remembered that she didn’t know the way. So she got her phone into hands and suddenly a message popped up from ram.

“Hey! Where are you? I’m waiting.” He texted.

“On the way! Tell me the route.” She replied.

“So, you don’t know the way and yet promised to come. Okay! Drive on to the main road and follow the pavement, I’ll be there to receive you.” He texted back.

Nothing ever is real in this virtual “WHATSAPP” world he felt sick, but much to the excitement of seeing her in a few minutes after a five long long years it drifted away.

She was there in front of his eyes after five years, beautiful, a little thin but she was amazing. She changed very much compared to the school days, she used to tie her hair but that moment it was freely dancing with the air, her cheeks grown a little chubby. The sight of her was overwhelming for him and it wetted his eyes, he was smiling which lasted throughout the day.

She doesn't have the least  idea, what this means to him he thought sadly and even happily.

He was looking at her for more than two minutes and it kind of freaked her out. She gave a sceptical look and it hit him. So he thought something was wrong and regained his senses to realize that they were in the middle of a road, while he lost in praising her beauty.

He led her to his house slowly without running frantically, which seemed tough because of the excitement.  She was all in the reddish pink dress with black patches on it, from her earrings to the footwear it all matched, even her scooter too.

He wondered if she would insist him to bring the portrait outside and talk, he thought wryly. But she too seemed to forget that.

She entered the first room, a tiny one with a TV set, two metal chairs with a laptop on one of them, a showcase and a tailoring machine on which my experiments with truth: an autobiography of Gandhi is placed inversely at an angle to make it visible while entering.

It’s all perfect as planned he thought.

"So… finally! Ah…" she said excitedly.

"Alas! At last, I see you… ha." He said shyly, just as he promised her before that those would be his exact words after seeing her.

She giggled with a blush on her face.

He gave her some homemade snacks, saying that his mother had asked him to give her. But she curtly refused to take it, except one.

“No formalities, please…”

"But please," he asked.

“Okay! Just one” she took one hot snack.

“You are so late. You just missed my father, he wanted to meet you.” He declared.

Ram’s father asked his son to join the marriage function of his colleague’s daughter, but then ram told him about the meeting. His father, a little worried, waited for some time to meet her, which seemed late and so left.

“Oh, my dad and cousin stopped me in the middle. You know Deepa, right? She is doing her BDS and she also has a program in her college…and she is worried about that. Their college is small, but ours is big. Then how much do we have to worry? So she was talking about that and it became late.” She sighed.

“Oh…” he mummed.

She talked about something else… but he couldn’t remember, he was all busy observing and praising her beauty. Her wet hair which gave a pleasant odour was still playing with the air, they seemed to like each other very well, which he envied. And occasionally she swings her hair to the other side of the shoulder and soothes with her hands very gently, making his heart skip a billion beats.

Oh, I could sit for hours just watching her he thought.

“So, where is it?” she asked controlling her excitement.

“Can’t wait… ha?” he smiled and went inside to bring the portrait, while she was texting her replies in WhatsApp.

He was worried if she was texting to a guy like him, who is also desperately trying to meet her.

“Here, you go” he gave her the portrait.

“Wow! It’s nice, I look a little fat though” she said impressed.

I know that’s apparent because I couldn’t sleep that night, so woke up at 2:30 in the morning and drew it up to 5:30 am, a little dizzily. My dad was the first one to see it at that time and I’m pretty much sure that my dad got his theories in the place he thought.

 But fortunately, he saved her from the whole story. And simply said “Yeah, well take it as an inspiration then... Ha ha.”

“Yeah, sure” She smiled too.

Silence, awkward!

“You know, I’m in fact saving you from a grave danger” she blurted out.

“Oh, how is that?” he enquired amusingly.

“If you keep this with you, you will not get married.” She said pointing to the portrait in her hands, apparently seeking an evil pleasure from doing so.

"Be it that way, I don't mind." he said grudgingly.

“Ahaa...” she blushed.

Or else what do you expect me to say, I know you said that to see my reaction and now you have mine.

But decided to say something else,

“And where is my return gift?” he asked.

Earlier when both of them were in their best moods, and in fact liked each other very much up to some extent, she asked him to sketch any one picture of hers to which he happily agreed.  After that he crazily decided to play a theory which he dearly fancied, to bring him a return gift, which she readily agreed. His gift for her needs a pure heart completely willing to love her and turn every feeling he has towards her into a pencil stroke, with care, and sometimes feel guilty if one stroke isn’t perfect. So he wondered if she would spend some time and effort to make something for him, as she knows quilling.

“No, I forgot. I didn’t have time” she answered.

Time? Like she didn’t have at least an hour in two months period. Even if she had brought a grass herb and said it was for him, he would have prayed to it. But just no. oh okay. He felt low and it soon became large enough to drown him. But he was too strong to become bait; he wouldn't break down just like that.

“Oh... next time maybe," he said plainly.

"Maybe..." she said.

“Hmm... okay," he said thinking, she being here is more than a gift, and how can I expect more than that?

“Shall I go?” she asked enthusiastically raising her eyebrows, somewhere expecting a little bit of funny novelty denial, at least he thought so for his own satisfaction.

“What? But you came just now... you have to be here at least fifteen minutes” he demanded.

“Why? Did you decide some span of time?” she giggled.

"Yeah, I did" he replied leaning back, watching her laugh. How I even survived these many years without seeing her laugh daily, he lost into the thought.

She went to practice and after that to her home. In the evening she texted to him, even before he realized the miracle of the day, saying “thank you for the portrait, my mom liked it very much”

“I’m glad, she did” he texted back.

He then slowly slipped into the thoughts, reliving the time they were together, improvising it and feeling stupid for doing so both at the same time.  Whereas she returned to her more known and the comfortable company of her WORLD EVER MET COOL COUSINS!

                                                                    ------END------

                                                                   THANK YOU.

                                              ----------------------X----------------------------