It is rightly said that to complete a beautiful painting there has to be a touch of every single element
that the painter has thought of. Everything about her was just perfect expect for the fact that there was something amiss there, it didn't felt complete. But as I stood up after taking out the book the painting was complete. For there it was the one thing that has been missing till yet, her smile. As she smiles and the way her lips just parted away it made one of the majestic views I have ever seen. Her smile just completed what was otherwise a nearly perfect face.
The problem with strangers smiling at you is that you don't know whether they are smiling to you or they are just mocking you. And that right there was a big problem. emIs she smiling because I was also incidentally reading the same author, or has she understood the reason behind my act of reading/em - I was thinking. I didn't see why se would not have understood what I did for as far as I could tell every person who would have seen her might have tried someway or other to gain her attention. But what had been done was past , it was time to move ahead. For even if she had made out , I was still the beneficiary with that smile of her.
emalga station Rajiv chowk h/em, the next station is Rajiv chowk - the announcement was being made in the metro. Not that I had to deboard the train at Rajiv chowk but I was fearing that she might actually get down there. For Rajiv chowk is a major station in Delhi metro , it is like a barter exchange station. Where as many people would board the train as would deboard it, and it's only during that exchange when you get time to adjust yourself a bit comfortably before the other lot of commuters step inside and start invading your personal space. I was curious and hoping that she should not go emnow/em, not before I have made all the possible efforts. And as the day clearly belonged to me ,we- if I could say that because she wasn't thinking the same thing as me- happily crossed the station and that too without compromising my position.
"Excuse me", the words were clear enough for me to hear , but everything was so still during that moment that I could not do anything. It was like everything froze right there for a very long time. The moment that I had hoped for so long was there , but I was thunderstruck and could not move. emsay something you idiot, say something/em , a voice was telling me, but it was like the voice was not coming out although inside me it was one freaking rock show that was going on. It felt that I took eternity to reply and the reply being "yes". There are very few moments when you want to dance and sing with loudest and craziest of moves but you have to pretend on your face that everything is normal, i had heard about it a lot , but now I understood how difficult it was to do that.
" Is this the latest book by Malcolm??", she said. emOh Malcolm my dearest friend how would I ever repay you, from now on only original editions of your book ,I promise/em.
"Yes, this is the latest he has written, it contains his essays and theories he has accumulated over time". emwhat was the need of that gibberish explanation, couldn't you keep something for later , you idiot./em . "Ohh, I didn't know he has written another one, have you read his earlier books??" she said. emyess, this is going just in the right direction, but remember answer to the point, don't try to read her the preface and epilogue of his all books/em. " yes , I have read all three , they are really good. I think he brings some simple things very artistically into light" . It surprises me how sometimes the words would find their way when you want them to do so. emthat was brilliant/em. "Yeah exactly, these are very interesting to read. I remember I started with Blink on a friend's recommendation and right away liked it". emGod bless that friend whoever she was/em. " Even I started with Blink and not with his first book, I then made a point to read all his books for sure".
I know you must be thinking I was lying, but I wasn't. Call it coincidence or whatever but it was right I too had started with Blink. God , I was just loving the day, metro , Malcolm more and more with ever passing moment. Now that I was talking to her , I was able to make out more clearly every feature of her and it was just getting better and better. The way she would put her hand to part her hair sideways when they would try to interfere with her eyes, the way her smile adjusted itself according to the matter being discussed, it was just perfect. We were doing good with our conversation on books and writers. I was trying to make as much conversation as possible but I still hadn't got her name. em'what's in a name' , just keep talking, be patient for everything to fall in place/em. " What are you doing these days??" , I asked. "I am doing engineering form IP university, and what about you??" she replied. " I am doing MBA from FORE" .
"that's nice, even I am preparing for CAT, I will take the CAT this year. I hope I can make to a decent college". It's a belief that sometimes , the One above sends you signal when something good is going to happen to you. All we have to do is to catch those signals and try to understand them.emif this is not a signal , then what is??/em. I mean here it was a girl whom I was hoping to talk to and now here she was trying to pursue the same thing which I was doing. emhurray , yuppiieeee, I wanna dance, I wanna shout, but please do not let her see that/em. "I am sure you would do good, by the way which college are you from??, even I have done my engineering from IP itself" , I eagerly asked. " I am from IG..." , - emalga station Kashmiri gate h, the next station is Kashmiri gate/em. I was interrupted from hearing her answer by that announcement. emnow , what to do??. You have to get down at this station. Why the hell does this station has to come so early. I haven't got her name yet. How would I find her on facebook if I had to??. 'What's in a name' , just keep,talking /em.
" I am from IGIT" I was finally able to hear her, she continued " ohh you are also from IP??, what a coincidence , which college are you from??". Sometimes people just say things in between which for then are just normal but for you they become the centre of attention and everything other they say just revolves around it. "what a coincidence" was one such thing which she said. Now I really have to get her name and take this further. emthis is my day bitches/em. " I am from NIEC, yeah what a coincidence." I replied , holding my pleasure at the coincidence. emtrain se utarte samay kripya darwazo se durr khade ho /em , the announcements were getting quicker and quicker. emthink something think/em. I wasn't going to let metro decide what's going to happen that day. It was time to take things in my hand , to make my own way. " I have to de board at this station, it was really nice meeting you. I am Aakash" I said and held out my hand. If everything that had happened was a book then the next moment was the magnum opus. She met her hand with mine and the combination of her smile as she began to speak and her touch was something which was what I can not describe without writing at least 20 pages about it. "Yes it was really nice meeting you.
My ....." emkripya sahe yaatrio ko dakha naa de/em.
emwould someone please stop this nonsense , we all know what we have to do in metro, please stop./em.
As she continued " my name is 'BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEPPPPPPPPPP.........
The alarm clock as always has an extraordinary timing. If it could just have buzzed few seconds late. Goshhhhh, that was close. But then emwhat's in a name/em
