Jouney with her..

23/06/2010, Wednesday

Its few minutes past mid-night, 15th June ’09. The railway station at Nagpur is quiet; no train has arrived or departed recently. The hawkers were yawning with smugness; the only sound audible was of various nocturnal creatures including some humans. I could actually hear the silence. It echoed. If you happen to be an orange, Nagpur is the best place to stay. You can always smell one in the surrounding. Even the announcement lady seems to have slept. The foul smell of rotting garbage at railway tracks suggested that cleanliness is more important, when godliness is unlikely. The very thought of missing the train was haunting otherwise I would have gone inside the waiting room and slept.

Train was at right time, got the berth after some negotiation with T.T. Q was in the AC compartment and I was more than just excited to meet her. I switched towards my coach, chained into the train, rushed on the lights, ran the luggage and jumped towards A.C compartments. To my dismay the shutters were down and I had to wait till morning. It’s like ripe guava hanging on the tree and you can’t eat it because it’s on the other side of your wall. I messaged my berth and coach number to her and slept peacefully as if nothing else can go wrong. It was like 5 am when someone disturbed my sleep. I was in a semi-conscious state and I couldn’t believe that it was her; so I continued sleeping believing it to be an illusion. It was then, when she hit on my legs, I got up.

While having morning tea it seemed as if only a day before we were sitting at the corner of our college gate gossiping and teasing each other. The interval of 15 days which felt like 15 months few minutes ago was reduced to 15 minutes. I don’t remember for how long we talked and gossiped and teased each other, the only thing I remember is holding her hands. I held her hands even after they turned sweaty. It's so easy, to think about it, to talk about it, to wish for it, but it's not always easy, to recognize it, even when we hold it.... In our hands.

Our discussions included random stuff mainly news and gossips of the college. I know it’s very mean especially when the topic of discussion includes heartbreak and break-ups but, I accept that I enjoyed it. Okay, i'll give you a sample:
Me: Hey, You remember “R”, girl from the class next to us?
Q: Yeah, of course I know her. Now, don’t tell me she ditched “A” and is currently roaming around with his friend “B”. That’s old news baby. Tell me something new. Are “A” and “B” still friends?
Me: Gosh! You know details even better than me. Well, both “A” and “B” are now best enemies and trying to find some way to quarrel.
Q: You know what? That “R” is really enjoying the situation and don’t tell anyone that I told you this but, “R” is dating another guy at her home-town also. They talk all the time on cell phone at nights and when her BF (temporarily “A”) calls her she tells him that she’d been talking to her brother. I pity “A”,poor chap..Huh..
Q: You know “Who dumped whom”? Blah blah blah….
Q: You know “Which guy she’s dating" or "How he managed to get away with her MMS”? Blah blah blah….

I just kept listening to those similar cases and shared few more details where long-distance relationships were coming to an end. In some cases the reason was jealousy because, the partner now has a better job and pay package and some had even weird reasons. Drastic changes in 15 days itself? Reminded me that time is very powerful.

MMS outdated, news which give limelight now is dating someone BRANDED. Girls’ hastening to date the handsome HR’s whom they met at placements meanwhile trying to find an IIM or IIT pass-out. All the IEEE and IEC standards of love set inside the college boundaries violated. People struggling to increase their TRP’s like any of Ekta Kapoor’s serial. Everyone wants to seek the lime-light and become a true professional. They want change just for the sake of image make-over.

Wait, do all these things really matter? I always thought that these cheap tricks existed only in movies and politics. Now I’ve seen that everyone practice flim-flam and deception at their own level, only the degree varies. I guarantee you, there's not a single exception. There’s no self-less deed and acts of kindness. If you consider me as a cynical, so be it.

Rest of the journey passed quickly and when we reached Chennai it was too late. Closing time of girl’s hostel was 6 pm and reaching the hostel would have taken another 1.5 hours. It was already 9 pm and I wanted to take no risk by giving her any suggestion about where to go. I maintained silence on the issue and went by her decisions. What was her decision? I’m afraid you need to wait for it.. Catch my next post..