Monday, March 13, 2006

My First Story

He was restless, he brushed his hand through his hair for 99th time and made sure that he was looking good. He pulled out a small paper from his pocket and read something that was written, he closed his eyes and recited it. He was sure this time. He can tell that even in the middle of night. He looked at the black board in front of him, he was sitting in the bench in which he sat four years, four years ago.

He felt as if he was taking his final exam, but he had a lot of training for this, his friends worked hard on it. Everything was planned, the venue, the dressed, the phone calls, the date and the dialogues too. He is here to deliver it. He looked at his watch it was five to five. She would come in five minutes.

She was his friend, something more than that, they were in the same class for four long and memorable years. They knew each other well, their relationship was not remarkable in the early years, until he started to take lenience and tease her now and then. Together, they shared their feelings and emotions, they had some unending conversations, but he feels now that some thing was missing in those conversations, he wants to fill it up now. He was waiting. He had a medley of dreams last night, a hug, a slap, a ridicule, a rejection, and a kiss.

Only one would come out to be true this time. He had experienced many of those from her. The one he cherishes most is that one tight slap. Once in his college days, he told her that he would accompany here to a book exhibition, but he went to a movie with his friends, the next day she was furious and she was like a beautiful beast with that frowning face and semi closed eyes. At that moment he tried to explain her, he managed to smile, she could not manage, and she just slapped him. As he was thinking the sound of slap still rings loud in his ears. She was still furious, she couldn’t tolerate that, suddenly tears flowed down her cheeks like waterfall, and she hugged him tightly and cried. It was hard for him to adjust to the high paced transition of emotion. But he cherishes it to this moment. That is why he is here, he cannot forget her.

He had his chances after discovering that he admired her, but he just missed them. Once after a lot of training and rehearsals, she couldn’t come. They left their college and the farewell day was planned as the final chance, but he couldn’t attend as he had his visa interview. After that he flew off to the US for his masters, but he believed that he would comeback and someone would be waiting for him. His belief was proved true, she was not married. He called her this morning and told her to come to the place where they came to know each other. He was waiting in the classroom. It was 4:59, as the seconds were ticking, he brushed his hair for the 122nd time and for the last moment, he closed his eyes and thought of her.

The smile, that made her look like divine goddess. Those eyes that always used to say something enigmatic. The cheeks were hard to find grip and had the real thing of beauty in them, those dimples, he used to tease her saying that he could cook food in those dimples. She was fair enough to show him way in the darkest nights. But more than anything, he loved one thing he could not see, he could only feel, he loved her conscience, her heart, her mind, her soul-- He loved her.
He heard something. He heard the ring of the anklets slowly approaching him. He looked at the door. She was there, he had not expected her to be the way she was, she was – he had no words, she was wearing a saree, red colored, a crape, it was dazzling, more than anything she was beautiful. She wore a necklace, the bangles, they were also red, the glittering silver watch, that was his gift. She knew, he loved that colour. He didn’t get a chance to observe all this, the cherubic smile and those cute, cute dimples arrested him. She was smiling at him. He was gaping at her.

“Hai, There you are!, you have changed a lot” said she.
“Ah!” he fumbled, he came back to his senses and said, “that’s nothing when compared to you”

She came nearer and took her seat in her bench, the bench next to him. He still couldn’t believe the way she looked. He was mesmerized.

“What is this you have changed the whole outfit” he said.

“Why!? Don’t I look good?”

‘Great!! This would be the dress for their marriage’, he thought and said “not bad, I think you overshadowed the beauty of the dress.”

“I know, you wouldn’t change, the same teasing, Come on, this is specially for you, you like red sarees, Don’t you?”

He was afraid that he would die out of happiness, he still couldn’t believe, this is not a dream.

He said “Thank you, Madam, Now tell me, How are you? How did you spend these four years, how many bakras did you make out of people like me, How many people went head over heals for you?”

“Will you stop” she put a break closing her ears “that should be my question, I know, you would have roamed about all the beaches in US, running after those bikinis that you dreamt of, all through our college”

“Hey, you are insulting me”

“Sorry, you have nothing special to be insulted”

“Ok, now! We are not here to fight OK”

“Aha! Then what are we here for” she asked nodding head to all sides like a cute girl.

The question was there, he had the answer, but he is to wait for at least 15 minutes after the start of discussion.
“We are here to talk all that we missed to talk for these four years. Lets keep walking around the college. I think we should leave before 6:30, they will shut the gates by then, lets move.”

“OK” she said, as she stood “as you said there were many guys after me, but I was not interested, you know that guy in our class, smart, tall and handsome, who used to come first all the time.”

His heart skipped a beat, ‘nothing like that’, he thought ‘for god’s sake!! Not before me’.

He managed to say ‘ya’.

“He proposed to me, it was really great, in a posh restaurant. He was good, in fact-- Hey! Are you listening?” she shouted, as his face was almost ashen pale.

“Ya, Ya, I am, so you did it ha! Congrats”

“What!?, what for congrats, I rejected ra , I was not interested”

“I know, I know” he smiled, blood returned to his face “ I know you love adding names to your bakra list, thank god I am not there “, he didn’t want to say that. But he did.

She gave a queer look and a sarcastic smile.

“I know you are really out of discipline these days, that’s why you are speaking like this, you are missing something.”

“Is it? What do I miss madam?, would you please give me that?” he asked, unaware of what was going to come.

“With pleasure sir” she said and she gave one tight slap. “ Ha, ha, you got it, you asked for it “, she was laughing in his face.

He was having some big surprises, his hand to his cheek with his mouth open “You!!” he shouted, she started to run, and he was after her.

She was still laughing and running, it was difficult for her to run with that saree, she turns back at every few steps and laughs at him, the sun was setting, he couldn’t run, the beauty hypnotized him, it overtook him, the smiles struck him like cupids arrows. He stood there watching his all-time sweet girl smiling at him, she too stopped. She came back and held his shoulders and shook him and asked, “ what happened, you don’t need so much of discipline, OK!”

He smiled and thought ‘God Help me’ “I will take revenge and I know when I should do that. Anyway, thanks for that sweet slap” he said rubbing his cheek.

“Ok then, how is your job? You know that I am also working here, but it is pretty boring ra. It is not as good as our college days. You know….”

They went on like that for an hour and they recalled many moments of their time, laughed, teased and ran after each other, he told about his job and the bikinis and the beaches. He forgot the 15 minutes constraint, it was 6:20, and it was getting darker. They talked as if they had no idea of parting today, they stopped under a light, and he looked at her. He never saw her in a saree before this. His friends said that she was beautiful. She wore it for their farewell, he was not there that night. But he didn’t miss the train this time. He forgot everything, he forgot the paper in his pocket, his training, his rehearsals, he has no mood in telling her now, she was the same he saw her for four years ago, the same friend, he thought ‘she wouldn’t accept the change’.

“So, I think we should leave now, I might be flying away next week, I never knew , time would move at such a pace, hope we had some more time” he said , his face was almost dull, he had no more chances, its now or never , he decided never would be better.

“Ya that’s right “ she said “it was like hell when you were away, time used to go so slow and now! – Funny! Isn’t it? So when are we going to meet again?” even her face was gloomy like the moon behind the clouds.

“I don’t know” he said, he felt ashamed of himself for his fear, he cursed himself, ‘say it, say it, say it and run from here’ he thought- he couldn’t “ I will be out of station for the next week, I do not know when I would come back, I would meet you then, if you are free”. He was afraid of losing her, he was shivering within himself, he was crying within. He took her hand and left it” I will miss you a lot”. He headed towards the exit.

He was stopped, she held his hand.

“I too will miss you a lot, but I do not want to miss you. I was waiting for you for four long years, in fact for longest years in my life, now I do not want this to end just like that, I had dreams, I had sleepless nights, I had thoughts, I had tears, smiles everything for you, I longed to see you, you know this dress, today its for you, if I am like this here, its for you, I was going mad taking proposals and rejecting them, I believed in you, you would come back for me, I cannot wait any more” her head was down as she said this, her voice was shaking, she was crying “please do not say no”, she lifted her head , tears were rolling down like golden pearls as the eyes opened like oysters, he couldn’t see into those eyes, he got his biggest shock of the day.

He couldn’t believe his eyes, he is seeing the girl of his dreams standing in front of him and saying what he wanted to. The love of his life is here.

She fell over him and hugged him tightly. There were emotions everywhere, words had no place to get through them. He loved the moment, words turned into tears, his eyes were filled with them to the brim, he closed his eyes as he closed his arms around her, giving her the warmth of love that they both were longing for.
At last, he spoke “ I am sorry, I was late, I would never ever leave you, even if you give me those tight slaps for hundred more times”

They both smiled resting their heads on each other’s shoulder with emotions overflowing. Thus their conversation ended, which was still devoid of something, they forgot to say,

I Love You.

-K.Kartheek


P.S. It took almost three hours to write this, it was almost 1:30 when I completed this. I do not think, I ended it as well as I started it due to fatigue. But I hope my first attempt in writing a dialogue is good. It is my friends and my dream to convert this into a short film, which was almost fulfilled in college if we had found the girl to act.

1 comment:

Sri said...

ammai ni inta andamgaa varchagalavu ani telsinaa ee ammai oppukpledaa buddy.....chii ee ammailu antaa inte....