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  “Maybe some other time, Mr. Rahul Kapoor,” Seema teased.

  “So, back to being friends?” Rahul asked, almost extending his hand into the receiver.

  “We always were,” Seema replied, doubling his happiness.

  “Can... Can we go out somewhere again? Just the two of us. I mean, if you don’t’ mind,” Rahul closed his eyes and crossed his fingers.

  “I... I...” Seema was trying to frame something in her thoughts.

  “IF YOU ARE DONE HELPING YOUR FRIEND, PLEASE LEAVE THE PHONE ALONE. POOR MANJU CHACHI IS WAITING SINCE LONG TO MAKE A CALL TO HER

  IN-LAWS AND YOU WON’T BUDGE. 15 MINUTES ON THE PHONE!” Rahul could hear Seema’s mother in the background.

  “I’m sorry for this but I had to, I won’t be seeing you for

  four days and I didn’t want the misunderstanding to linger on,” Rahul explained.

  “It’s ok. I got to keep the phone down, sorry!” Seema replied in an even more hushed manner.

  “Hey, no sorries from you. Angels are pardoned the three magic words and you are the queen of all angels, so you should be setting examples,” Rahul quoted his heart out of the blue.

  ‘You could make do with some other three words though and I would gladly accept them,’ Rahul said in his thoughts.

  “SEEMA, KEEP DOWN THE RECEIVER NOW!” her

  mom bellowed.

  “Ok Sapna, thank you, sorry, please take care,” she shot the words into the microphone.

  Rahul sensed the line go blank and disconnected the call from his end, a happy smile setting on his lips, a euphonic melody playing in his heart.

  ***

  NEVER ‘KISS’ GOODBYE

  Rahul twirled the loose end of the curtain with one hand while holding a book, he had been trying to read since the last month, in the other. His roommates were away for a date with their respective girlfriends in this pleasant warm weather, as the next two days were public holidays. Sometimes he would hear them, near the hostel’s common washroom, discussing their escapades at the green Fairmount Park near the Schyulkill River. Beyond

  it was Philadelphia’s museum of art, a treat to true connoisseurs of art and he personally wanted to visit it to see the works of

  Van-Gogh but he just could not bring his mind to drag his disinterested heart into things. He would try to struggle with his own, to get away from the onslaught of his past but it was glued to him. He searched for ways which could undo his earlier life altogether, if not correct it.

  He wished he could start his life all over again or at least relive

  some moments and correct those mistakes which he so regretted now, which had cost him his love. He just thought that

  sometimes even if a person would want to take a relation

  forward, circumstances might fail him; but in this case, he had failed himself.

  Today, he thought he had seen the love in her eyes for him back then but what had happened? Where did it disappear?

  Rahul saw images moving in the skies he was staring into. The projector was in his mind and the pictures appeared to their solitary audience as the projector played the scenes from the mid-monsoon period, when he had just started his tenth grade. He hit the PLAY button and the clouds began their telecast as if they were just waiting for his command.

  Since there’s not help, come let us kiss and part;

  Nay, I am done, you get no more of me;

  And I am glad, yea, glad with all my heart,

  That thus so cleanly I myself can free;

  Shake hands for ever, cancel all our vows,

  And when we meet at any time again,

  Be it not seen in either of our brows

  That we, one jot of former love retain.

  -Farewell to Love, Michael Drayton.

  It seemed that she had loved him; at least by the looks of her constant turning back from her classroom to catch each his eye. It seemed so true to his mind that she had loved him, at least when she allowed herself to be escorted to a certain safe area near her locality by him after school. There she would be, right below the school gate, followed by a long line of admirers. She would be waiting under some stupid pretext and a lame excuse in order to be with him. It seemed that she had loved him, noticing how she had pleasantly reacted when Asif had easily broken the ‘secret’ that Rahul liked her. And so it did seem that she indeed loved him, when they had nearly kissed each other in the school laboratory.

  Rahul still remembered that day vividly in his memory. It was etched in his cerebrum, as fresh as ever and whenever he thought of it, he did not know why, he got those funnygoosebumps all over his body! School had just reopened after the long vacations and the fresh smiles and expressions on their faces openly showed how much they had missed each other.

  Rahul, Seema and Jess were preparing their respective projects for the upcoming inter-school science exhibition, which had been scheduled earlier for that academic year. Being the Science committee head, Rahul was required to inspect each project personally and highlight its importance to their laboratory staff. The ideas that they had conceptualised in the vacations began to take shape in the school laboratory. The lab assistant was away for his lunch, leaving the lab in the hands of these responsible students.

  “Hey, does anyone have some glue?” Jess asked from the corner table.

  “What do you need glue for?” Rahul questioned from the opposite end.

  “I need to put a layer over the thermocol to paste other objects,” Jess said.

  “Try looking for it in the cupboard behind sir’s desk,” Rahul pointed towards the opposite end.

  Jess hurriedly walked forward with her hips swaying dangerously close to all the things on either side.

  “Hey Rahul, there’s nothing here that resembles glue,” Jess shouted from the opposite end.

  “In that case, you might as well look somewhere else,” Rahul replied without looking up from his table.

  “Go and borrow it from someone in class,” Seema, who was working in diligent silence, advised.

  “Oh, that’s a good idea! Come, we’ll go,” Jess invited, moving towards the door.

  “No, you go ahead and get the glue. I’m realigning some objects in the layout,” Seema said.

  Rahul looked up from the corner of his eyes. Jess had left in a frown and Seema was looking at him from his right. She turned a vivid scarlet as he caught her glancing at him, working away on his industrial waste project. For some unknown reason, it made Rahul’s concentration fade away from his project. Whenever he managed to take surreptitious glances above, he would find Seema doing the same. It was as if they were going through the same tumultuous emotions inside. A harmless game of hide and seek – where none could hide their feelings for each other – was in motion.

  “Hmmm...” a voice very close to Rahul hummed.

  He looked up to notice Seema with her downcast eyes

  moving awkwardly.

  “Yes, how may I help you?” he mocked.

  “I have attached this dummy windmill that works on the motor and it’s not starting,” Seema said.

  “Did you switch on the power?” Rahul asked.

  She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

  “Ok, I’ll have a look ,” Rahul said, shutting down the idea of fixing the discharge pipe he was trying to work on and moving to his right with Seema behind him.

  He took her seat to inspect the connections and ran his fingers over the wires, checking and rechecking their twists and turns. He made some basic corrections to the positioning of the wires and all this while, Seema kept peering over his shoulder to look down upon the connections. Rahul bent down to switch on the power supply and the windmill whirled in the clockwise direction. That done, Rahul smiled in content and suddenly got up, in the process his head bumped into Seema’s jaw.

  “Oww!” Seema screamed.

  Rahul’s hand immediately flew to the area of concern.

  “I’m so sorry, Seema. How stupid of me! I should have l
ooked up before getting up so suddenly. I’m really sorry...” he said.

  “It’s ok, it’s ok,” she replied.

  Rahul tried to rub away the small swollen area and at that time, Seema looked upto him with her hazel eyes that were filled to the core. They seemed to be lit with a golden glow. Wispy

  bangs fell across her forehead and Rahul felt himself melting like an ice-cream in the sun. Rahul too looked up, sensing her discomfiture; and their gazes were locked like that for what seemed like an eternity.

  Rahul did not realise the fluttering of the pigeons that so often disturbed everyone in the lab, by darting in and out of the ventilators. He did not realise the long, loud bell that went off, signalling the end of the last lecture, nor did she! They were living in the same moment, the same time, the same feeling, the same thought. Everything had slowed down to that moment. It was as if everything had stopped and all that existed were two people

  bound to each other by a string of their feelings, two young people finally realising what life really meant and what they were supposed to do – love as one!

  Rahul was unaware of his hand moving up towards her wet eyes and slowly wiping away the solitary tear emerging from her right eye, using his thumb. Seema sighed at his touch, she felt a current tinge her spine and of all things that he could think of, Rahul chose to remember that since the current passed to him as well, human beings must be good conductors of electricity for sure.

  Unconsciously, he touched her trembling lips with his index finger, tracing their outline. Evading his gaze, she slowly thrust her fingers in his curls as he reached out to clutch her hand. His freehand moved recklessly on her neck drawing invisible circles of pleasure. She withdrew her hand quickly and turned away. She was halted by an iron grip on her wrist which made her turn again to look into his wanting eyes.

  The slight perspiration on her brow made her seem all the way more beautiful and involuntarily, he tilted his head towards his right shoulder and moved in close to her face. He cupped her chin tenderly in his warm hands. Her eyes closed, she raised her chin, assuming all the dignity she could muster. She tilted her head in the opposite direction, staying put, shivering, waiting for his lips to touch hers, and anticipating the feel of young passion. Rahul could sense the entire blood in his body go dry as he just felt the skin of her lips brush his. He realised that was where he wanted to be forever, freezed in this moment, as he barely sensed the hypnotising whiff of her rapid breath.

  Seema’s chest rose and fell, breaking the last traces of resistance. The blood coursed through their veins like an awakened river and their heartbeats skyrocketed. Rahul saw the heart rending tenderness of her gaze and his heart turned over in response. She radiated a vitality that drew him like a magnet and a sense of urgency drove his actions as he put his hand to her waist and drew her into him with her lips as close as their hearts when with hurried footsteps Jess walked back in, looking at the papers in her hand, announcing her arrival with a “Hey Seemz, I did not find the glue…”

  At that precise moment, before Jess could comprehend anything, there was a loud thud and Rahul was down on the floor.

  “What the heck are you doing on the floor, Rahul?” Jess asked rushing towards him.

  “Are you all right? What happened?” she asked as Rahul cleared his mind and attempted to lasso his wild heart.

  “Oh, nothing to worry, I dropped the screwdriver and it rolled under the table. I was just looking for it,” Rahul said sheepishly.

  Turning her face away from her friend, Seema wiped the colour of her cheeks and let out a stifled laugh. Looking at her, he found himself turning the darkest shade of red.

  ***

  “Seema, both me and Sapna won’t be giving you much of a present this time, so keep your expectations curbed,” Jess said when Rahul was searching the tool box for some nails.

  “I don’t expect presents anyways,” Seema replied in an undertone.

  ‘Presents? Expectations? What are they talking about?’ Rahul thought and then it suddenly dawned upon him that they were discussing her birthday which was the very next day. A shiver of excitement ran through his body and he decided that he will do something special for her.

  He wanted to be the first one to wish her. He faked being

  asleep so that his mother would not threaten him of waking up early for school. He remained awake, the blood in his heart rushing and the pulse in his veins hastening. He was not so sure of dialling her number at this time knowing her family’s traditionalist attitude.

  With trembling hands, he dialled her number and disturbed the serenity of her sleeping household. Her mother shouted at her to answer the phone in her half-asleep state, cursing the caller.

  “Hello…” she sounded so appealing to him in her sleep. Her groggy voice sounded cute even though there was a tinge of irritation in it. He promised to donate a coconut to the Hanuman temple the very next day as a show of gratitude.

  She had to repeat the ‘Hello’ twice before he actually found a voice in his throat. Her voice still froze him in limbo, rendering all thoughts and actions impossible.

  “You sound really cute in your sleep,” he said slowly, imagining her in a nightgown, holding the phone close to her ears.

  She juggled with the receiver; all traces of sleep had

  suddenly disappeared.

  “Are you mad? Do you know what time it is?” she said in anger and disbelief as slowly as she could.

  “Yeah, it’s exactly 12 in the night and it’s someone’s birthday,” he said coolly.

  She saw the old round clock on the wall. She herself had not remembered her birthday as towards the end of the day, she had been busy with her studies after coming back from her tuitions. Her anger slowly evaporated. No person, family or friend had ever wished her at the stroke of midnight. A little tear began to take shape in her eye. His gesture had touched her heart.

  “Happy birthday!” Rahul wished in a low tone.

  “Th … Thanks!” she stammered in a shaky voice.

  “May God give you all the small and huge joys that you could ask or never imagine asking for! Wish you many happy returns of the day,” Rahul said happily.

  “That’s so sweet of you,” she said in a suffocated whisper.

  “Before you demand your gift, let me tell you that I have a small surprise for you which I will hand over to you tomorrow after school, ok?” he said.

  “You shouldn’t have bothered…”

  “Oh, shut up! What to do Seema? We cannot go anywhere as your Hitler of a mom…”

  “SEEMA! WHO IS IT? WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?” a voice boomed in the background.

  “Talk about the Dev… Hitler… and…” Rahul’s voice began when Seema quickly cut in,

  “I’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks, once again. Good night!”

  She quickly released the receiver.

  “WHO WAS IT?” Seema’s mother asked fiercely.

  “Wrong number!” Seema answered ‘but it came at the right time!’ she told herself before curling up in bed and smiling in her sleep while cherishing the music in her head.

  At the other end, Rahul was preparing himself for a long

  night ahead.

  ***

  The next day in school he gave her a nice greeting card in a deserted classroom. The beauty of the card was that it was hand-made by him. He had missed an entire night of sleep and next day’s school, locking himself in his room and skipping his mid-day meals to prepare the card for her. He had rushed out to meet her in his school uniform just when the school was about to leave. The cover of the card was her sketch. It was exquisitely detailed and she thought that she was eyeing a mirror.

  Her free flowing tresses and her searching eyes were captivated by a similar image on paper. Her long eyelashes beneath whose shadows he so desired to lie, had been sketched to perfection. He had painted her as she was, as he knew her, as he saw her. She let her hands roam the beauty of his artwork, finding no words capable of praising him.
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  “It… It’s beautiful… Rahul, I can’t say…” she stuttered.

  He just smiled at her, basking in her unsaid praise and pulled out a rose from his bag. He handed it out to her.

  “To the most beautiful creation on the planet,” he presented, hoping he sounded the same as his reflection while he had practiced.

  She blushed and accepted the rose. Two dimples appeared on either side of her cheeks as if loving fingers had squeezed them. She slowly opened the hand-made card.

  Rahul had written a couplet for her.

  “The skies bend, the time stops, the lanes move and the

  fires dance,

  It can mean only one thing that I am with you.

  You are enigmatic yet so beautiful that I have lost my sense,

  You are as immaculate as the unadulterated morning dew

  And your beauty leaves me in a mystified trance.

  I do not foresee what you and I will be

  But I promise to be with you till the rocks keep meeting the sea.”

  She folded the card back to as it was; a tear fell from her eye onto the cover.

  “Hey! no crying It’s your special day, ok?” Rahul coaxed while patting her back softly.

  Seema continued to cry, her precious pearls falling on his neck as she leaned forward to meet his embrace.

  “I seem to have lost something very important,” Rahul said ignoring her sobs and gently pulling away from her hold. He started searching for something frantically under his pockets and looking underneath the classroom desks.

  “What?” she asked in between her sobs.

  “Bloody, it was the most important thing to me. Now where

  will I find it?” Rahul said to none in particular and increasing

  his desperation.

  “What is it? I can also help in looking for it,” Seema said wiping her eyes.

  “Your smile!” he said, grinning at her.

  And she found it impossible not to return his disarming smile and before long her smile deepened into laughter.

  “There ...found it!” he exclaimed.

  “You’re mad!” She hit him playfully on the arm.

  “It’s the best birthday I’ve ever had,” she said.