Humse ishq ka itna fiturr nah rakh
zalim-eh-sanam
Ki teri rihai k baad khud he kaidi bann
baithe…..
I thank the almighty for giving me a chance to live in this breathing and alive city. This city is really magical but travelling in second class compartment of local is like daily World War. Specially in western and central line. its only in harbor line trains that you while find couples travelling together in the second class compartment. All the more because its never too crowded. And its this beauty that I really like. I bet you will never find a dull moment while travelling on harbor lines. Be it the scenery or inside the local.
“taste it… its good” she said to me a we stood in the 2nd class compartment of the 5:37 local for panvel she was wearing a golden yellow kurti and black leggings.
Even though there was ample space for us to sit we still preferred to stand. She rested herself on the door partition and I stood in front of her, facing the wind. It was how we commuted every day.
“What is it?” I asked her looking at her palm. They were creamy white (itne safed ki kaato toh khun bhi na nikale). She was holding popins in them. I always admired her white creamy colored palms. More so because I rarely get to hold them. But they looked soft and gentle. Although she was a bit messy with her nail polish but whenever she would apply nail gloss, her fingers resembled candy sticks. Trust me her glossy nailed fingers looked tastier than Cadbury gems.
“kha ke toh dekho, achi hai” she said lifting her hands up.
“nai I don’t like poppins ” I replied.
“Since when?” she said while pinching my chest with that mysterious smile which I was never able to decode.
She deliberately shoved a green colored popin in my mouth. As its flavor started to explode it initially tasted like chilly, then a bit sour and then bitter by the end. As the flavors varied so did my expression.
“oh my god!!!!.... What flavor is it” I cried.
“What the matter?? Achi nahi hai?” she asked me in a worried ascent.
Suddenly her voice pitch also changed according to my changing expression until she had my full attention.
“acha nahi hai toh just spit it out?” she ordered.
That’s exactly what even I wanted to do, but where???
“mmwwweeehhh” I murmured.
“Are stupid spit it out.!!!!!” She started screaming
“mmwwweeehh mmwwweeehhh” I repeated until she understood.
“In my hand… in my hand!!!” she said.
I was dumbstruck did she really meant what she said?
I didn't understand whether she was trying to help or just fool me. Or was it something else.
It is one of those awkward moment for which your cerebral cortex has no response. And for that little instant I happened to look I her eyes and for the first time I saw anxiety. Somehow it felt that for this little time there was no naughtiness, no arrogance, no shields, neither shades nor disguise. As if her heart beamed right out of those black eyes, breaking all the barriers and hurdle within me. It just lasted for a second but felt like infinity.
It’s that rare feeling you want to hold on for the rest of your life. Something that can only originate out of selfless belonging. Even though now she was insisting and the poppin tasted no better I could just not spit it out on her hands. But her gesture was indeed very sweet and surprising too.
I wanted to take her to taloja creek which is 10 mins walk from kharghar station and so eventually we got down as the station arrived. And trust me kharghar is the most awesome looking station I have never seen after Rajiv Chowk Metro station.
We reached just as the sun was above to set in the horizon beyond the endless mangrove. There was a strange silence for a while and then she took a deep breath and asked
“hum yaha kya kar rahe hai? What’s going on between us?”
I thought she would never ask this.
“You know I really like your gloss nail polish, it seems like candy-stick. I wanted to tell you this for a very long time, and it’s not just about your nail-polish. It’s just that I feel very light around you. You know the air that I breadth somehow becomes cooler and more lively. Such a breadth fills your soul to its fullest. It starts a catalytic event which in no time entirely transforms the way I see things in and around me. I no longer feel scared to sit on 72723”
As the moist monsoon winds strolled past the mangroves and pushed her hair few inches in air.
“just like this winds, no matter how hot, cold or humid it may be just a mere thought of you brings this magical light fresh winds and flows past me as if I am totally opaque. You know it lifts me purifies me. You know there are very few things that I love about this city”
“And what are they?” she asked.
“the mornings… oh my god they are just amazing, I have no words to describe it. Its just perfect. Second would be the winds, all the more because it reminds me of my engineering college in Nagpur were such winds would blow all day long. But there was one thing that was missing with the winds back there which Mumbai has given me.”
And again there was this silence from me.
As I again took a step back from my thoughts and tried to walk away, someone held my hand and stopped me.
“You know why I always like to stand in front of you facing you in the train?” she asked.
“mam I am still trying to figure out your smile how am I suppose to know what’s going on in your mind” I answered.
“Stupid because even I like to see your short hair dancing to the winds, to see the peace in you when those winds gush past you and watching you loving it makes me happy” she concluded.
“Come on iggy… let’s start falling in love” she said as she held my arm from inside walking proudly and happily.
It here where for the first time I realized that love is more than just a relationship. Its that obvious comfort and relaxation that you feel when you are around someone. Its that small space between two lover in the crowded train, the high gust of wind that somehow makes its way to you. Its that crazy stupid smile the greenish moist winds brings on your face or a very sweet memory which like a ghost take over your body every time you pass through a certain station or a location en-route to your destination.
Lastly that sweet accidental hug you get when the guy behinds you pushes you. Hahaha….
And that where I realize that love is very similar to travel. It’s more about the journey than destination.
happy RAMZAN to all.
feedback and suggestion are welcome.
