Janpath on a rainy day can be quite a romantic place. I realized that a few days back when I met Gayatri. It had just rained and the aroma of freshly bathed earth lingered prominently in the air. She was bargaining with a junk jewellery vendor, and I, I was shopping with an old friend. What attracted me was her voice. A shrill octave of rhythm purposefully modulated to convince the vendor that what he was quoting was the wrong price.
"Bhaiya, the final rate is 50, no more"
And she bought herself a pair of glistening rajasthani bangles. It was then that I observed her more closely. She was around five feet three, dressed in a pair of lee cooper jeans and a short kurta with a bead necklace. Her hair was exceptional, with a lock gracefully touching her left cheek. My friend, in the meanwhile, was having a hard time choosing a lehnga for his German friend. My knowledge of female attire is limited only to accessories. So I did the next best thing.
"Excuse me. Hi, I am Sahil and he is my friend Namit. Actually, we are having a hard time finding the right lehnga for our friend. Could you please help us out?”
The initial shock on her face was replaced with a smile.
“Well, I would have liked to help you Sahil, but I am sorry, I don’t talk to strangers."
Oops...a bad start.
"Oh, I am no stranger. For starters, you know my name. What’s yours? "
A giggle and then
"All right, I am Gayatri, tell me what kind of stuff are you looking for”
An exhaustive 2 hours shopping session ensued, starting from Janpath and ending at KFC,
"So, what do u guys do? "
" I am a mechanical engineer and am doing my MBA in International Business from IIFT"
" And I am a computer engineer working for Infosys Technologies at
"What about you Gayatri, What do you do ?"
"Well, I am a Mass comm graduate from Jamia Millia Islamia"
Now that was coincidence for me.
"Hey, that’s great, it’s my alma mater, did my Mechanical Engineering from there "
" Wow that’s coincidence"
More idle chitchat and then we parted.
"You dumbass, wipe that moron smirk off your face, it looked obvious"
"Huh, What? "
"Stupid, you were gaping at her so prominently; I thought that you would drool anytime."
"Oh was it that clear”
We had exchanged our visiting cards. The thought of emailing her as soon as I reached hostel, grew stronger. The hard part was that I found the room computer occupied. Then some work and gradually the thought slipped off my mind in the busy schedule that followed.
Namit did his "good friend" part really well.
"Did you call her?"
"Call whom?"
" Gayatri "
"Oh shit, I forgot '
" A typical KC behavior, knew you wouldn’t have called her up”
Thanks to Namit, I realized that I have a social life as well and was back on track.
I emailed her, she emailed me back. We talked and decided to meet on the weekend.
"So tell me, how have you been? "
"Good, I have been making a documentary on street children"
"Your work is interesting"
"So is yours, college life is the best, enjoy it"
"Yes it indeed is"
The ice broke and we became more pally. To have a crush at the age of 24 is immature and kiddish. But cupid was far too subtle for me. On a lazy sunday evening, I asked her out.
“You are a slow mover, do you know that", and I just blushed like an idiot.
The movie was superb, though I hardly noticed it because the company was awesome, just the two of us. After dinner, I went to drop her to her apartment at Saket. Life is unpredictable and so is the weather. It rained and it rained cats and dogs. By the time we reached her place, we were thoroughly drenched. She invited me in and asked me to stay till the rains stopped. Pakoras, tea and soft music on a rainy night can do magic. When I woke up in the morning, I saw her standing by the shades looking more beautiful than ever. She smiled and sat down besides me.
"I have to tell you something."
"Tell me afterwards" I said, as I snuggled closer to her.
"You know it’s not easy for me to tell you this, but I must"
By this time I was wide awake and wondering what the matter was.
"Tell me"
A moist warm tear rolled down her face onto my open palm. I hugged her and she started sobbing.
"Tell me what the matter is, I might be able to help."
"No, you can’t do anything now"
"Anything now...What happened, I haven't seen you so sad ever"
"You were the most wonderful guy I had ever met, and I know that I always hate doing it."
My knuckles were white as I held the bedside in anticipation of the unknown.
"Tell me" I said hoarsely.
"Come, I will show you"
She took me to the bathroom.
"Look"
Her fingers pointed towards the bathtub. In the water lay a familiar lifeless form. I don’t know whether I screamed first or fainted as soon as I realized what it was. When I came back to my senses, she was by my side, stroking my hair.
“You know, it is hard to adjust at first. But you will learn. You are always welcome to come here. Now you can do what you always wanted to do, Travel. Now you have all the time in the world, now that you are dead"
I closed my eyes.
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