life between two headphones

It was 1st November and i got stuck up in DAKC with my access card issue. It was almost 10.30 pm by the time I swiped out. The hunger seemed to have vanished and all I wanted was to drag myself to my flat and make a crash landing on bed. The weather too seemed a little foggy and dusty.

I could easily feel every step I took because my new leather shoe was torturing my ankles with excruciating pain. My walking stance changed to a limping one after some time.

It’s almost 2 weeks that I had joined DAKC. It was just what i had dreamed of "to work in a big company both capital wise and campus wise." I never thought that shifting here from Delhi would be so easy because language and cultural difference were the prominent fears that I had while landing here. One thing that I really liked about this city was its awesomeness. The evenings are equally chaotic as the morning calmness.  The long walk back to my flat from DAKC was a lonely one this time and brought back the Delhi memories.

 By this time you could feel the mild winter chill crawling up your legs in Delhi but not here. It’s just the same weather all the time. I was feeling sunken by it as I stared down the maroon and yellow colored tiles of local station which I cross daily to reach my flat.

So I thought that listening to some music would be a better Idea to float from delhi thoughts.  My face felt completely dry and life less dumped under a layer dust. I took out my headphones and felt listening to radio music might cheer me up. The song in the air was ‘phir se udh chal’ the ROCKSTAR song and after a while something happened.

The tune of this song filled my lungs with oxygen. I thought I wasn’t breathing until before that and then everything started looking a bit brighter and clear. The more I breath the more thing began shining. I looked up at the sky for the first time I could see the bright yellow colored “M” of McDonalds on the background of dark blue night where the moon seemed like a drop of light leaking through the roof of sky just about to fall on earth.

It just hypnotized me and before I could realize I was standing at the entrance of the restaurant were the red haired and yellow pullover statue of the McDonalds guy sat in the middle of a bench smiling at nothing.  By the time I walked in it was closing time and waiters were busy cleaning the chair and placing then over the tables. My hungry stomach made me buy a McEgg and pepsi. The ambience was calm and some song was playing in the background.

At one corner of the restaurant sat a couple. They seemed newly married and supremely hungry as well. The lady was wearing a pink kurti with puffy shoulder stitching very similar to what the 60’s heroines used to wear. This is the best way I can explain it. She was wearing loads of silver golden and red bangles in both her hands like a bride. She had narrow eyes and they were sharply pointed at the outer edge like a knife. Her hairs were curly and were bunched together like a bun. She had a frail and thin figure very similar to a special portrait kept on the walls of my heart.

The man brought some burgers and sat in front of her and they looked very similar to how we used to look. Felt like I was seeing myself from the outside. The boy gave first bite of his burger to the girl and so did the girl to boy. Both were smiling and the smile made their teeth sparkle and the happiness just made her lips lusty red and formed dimples on her cheeks. They went on eating and talking and laughing together. I don’t know for how long I was staring at them but all seemed like a replay of a fragmented event from my memory. The events of Rajiv Chowk blindsided my vision as I got carried away by them. Smiling and remembering those days. I never knew when they left but I was still starring at that corner and smiling like a stupid.

By the time I came back to myself my burger was stone cold and the melted ice made my Pepsi very dilute and tasteless. There was absolutely nothing in my mind at that moment just shire happiness. And the moment I stepped out of McDonalds and starred up towards the white droplet of light in sky only one sentence came in my mind

“MISS YOU MAM”.

It transformed the happiness in my mind into a big smile on my face. It brought a gush of cold fresh air into my lungs and this just made my vision fresh and clear as I started my journey back to my flat with headphones in my ears and listening to radio. The only difference this time was now there was a hop in my walk.

HAPPY DIWALI TO ALL MY READERS

hope you leave a comment on this article too.