I gave her my phone number and she kept her word; we started talking from the very next day. It was her vacation and she was home alone most of the days. She shared all those moments with me over the phone and day by day we were becoming closer than before; there were no days unlike this. Our relationship continued over the phone for several days and at last, we decided to meet for the first time. As it was her vacation time, she used to go to her best friend Parvana’s home occasionally. One day, she agreed to skip the visit to Parvana’s home and we made another plan. We decided to have our first meeting on 27th June at TDB Junction, which was half a kilometre away from Parvana’s home so that Namratha and I could meet and easily get back to Parvana’s home before Namratha’s mom comes to pick her up from there.
The First Meeting
27th JUNE 2011: MONDAY
I was waiting for Namratha at TDB Junction as planned. Unlike every other day of that month, it didn’t rain that day. I called my office and got a half-day leave sanctioned so that I could be with her for most of the available time. I was waiting for her from 10AM at the same spot and kept on looking at my wristwatch.
‘It is really true that a girl and her love can bring a guy to the roadside.’ – I said to myself and continued waiting for her.
There was a curve on the road, fifty meters away from me and at 11:15AM, I could see Namratha walking towards me from the other end of that curve. The sun was shining behind me and the rays falling on her face made her more beautiful than what I have seen in her photographs before. When she saw me, she waved her hands with a smile and I returned one too. My heartbeat was increasing as her steps grew and it sounded like drumbeats in my ears.
I had no idea what to say or how to behave since it was the first time I was meeting a girl on a similar occasion. While I was trying my best to hide my nervousness, she came near me and said – ‘Hi’, extending her right hand for a handshake.
‘Hi.’ – I said with a trembling voice, shaking her hand gently.
I expected our first meeting to be a very filmy one, but it wasn’t and many thoughts travelled through my mind with the speed, which is greater than 3x108 meter/second; the speed of light explained by physics that I had studied.
‘What happened?’ – ‘She asked.
‘What?’ – I said like there’s nothing wrong with my mind.
‘Then leave my hand.’ – She said, pulling her hand from my hand.
‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ – I left her hand for that moment, which I was holding for at least thirty seconds from the start; but I definitely had plans to hold her hand for a lifetime.
‘So, what’s the plan?’ – She asked doubtfully.
‘I don’t know. This is my first time.’ – I played safe.
‘Oh yes, this is my Nth time dating a guy.’ – She responded with a shade of anger on her face.
‘I didn’t mean that. I was just asking for a suggestion. Do you have one?’
‘I think I’ll need to buy something. Shall we go shopping?’
“Oh-My-God” was the first reaction exited my brain listening to that idea as I was meeting her for the first time and she wanted to take me for shopping. I had past encounters of going for shopping with some of my female friends and I knew to what extent it would take a young lady to choose her necessities while shopping. I was totally terrified by that idea of hers and I stood silently.
‘Shall we?’ – She asked, breaking my silence.
‘Sure.’ – I responded and walked towards a shopping centre, which was just 100 meters away from the spot where we met and we didn’t talk even a word till we reach the shopping centre. I lacked words, but I was constantly thinking about what to do after getting there. ‘Should I buy something for her on this very first day? If yes, what would she like to have on this first date? What if she denies the gift that I buy for her?’ – These questions ruled my brain till we reached there. Whatever be it, I just wanted to spend maximum time with her.
‘What do you want to buy? Here, they have separate sections for everything and if you know what you want, it would be helpful for you to find those things.’ – I asked her, entering the shopping centre.
‘Actually, I come here every week for shopping and I don’t need anything specific. It’s just a casual visit.’ – I turned silent with her reply.
We went to the pen section, watch section, perfume section and even to the blanket section, consuming almost an hour inside the shopping centre. I had no idea what to do, but she was surfing through all the products out there. I was just looking at her and what she was doing all the time. Every time she asked my opinion on the items she liked, I just expelled words like cool, fantastic, awesome, and perfect from my mouth; not because I didn’t want to be there, but I knew that I was not good at selecting things for women.
After that one long hour, she asked me – ‘What should I buy?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘So, you’re bored.’
‘No! I’m not.’ – I replied, wondering how she had found it; might be an inborn talent of every woman in the world.
‘Stop telling lies on the first date itself.’ – She said, sewing my lips.
She continued – ‘My suggestion to go shopping didn’t work. Now let’s try your suggestion. Where shall we go?’
‘Zoo?’ – I said without a second thought.
She stared at me for almost five seconds and burst out a huge laugh. I felt too ashamed, but she had no plans to stop laughing. Everyone at the shopping centre was looking at us, including the closed circuit cameras. I immediately grabbed her hands, pulled her out of that shopping centre and asked – ‘What? Do I look like a laughing stock or did I tell any joke?’
She did not stop laughing and asked – ‘You think the zoo would be the perfect place for our perfect first date, right?’
‘See Namratha, most of the people in our city had already been to zoo many times and there’s nothing new there to be seen. So, the chances of meeting our friends or relatives inside the zoo are very less. Even if we see someone whom we know, they would also be spending their time at the zoo with their boyfriend or girlfriend. The rest of the people would be tourists whom we never have met before. So, the chances of meeting someone we actually know and who can cause us problems are very low.’ – I explained.
‘Nice logic. I’m impressed.’ – She said, and smiled.
●
Trivandrum Zoo was very beautifully and naturally built with too many trees, small waterfalls and the animals were kept almost like they’re in their natural habitat.
‘What do you want to do with your life?’ – I asked, walking along the walkway with Namratha.
‘I guess I have told you before. I want to become an architect.’
‘That I know, but I want to know what plans you have to do with me.’
‘I have read somewhere that human meat is the tastiest flesh on earth. I have plans to cook and eat your flesh.’ – She said, looking at my face.
‘Unlucky me, I can’t eat animal flesh. I’m allergic to it.’
‘Thank god, I’ll live a hundred years.’
With that walk, I gathered so much information about her and her ambitions. She had a clear view of her future. Her ambition was to become a well-known architect and create a strong portfolio that can make her career vibrant. I generally accepted that individuals without a clear aim in life are like dead people in light of the fact that they aren't giving hints of life inside them. Simply taking breath can't be considered as a proof to demonstrate their existence.
Her religious views were also interesting. Her mother was a Christian and father was a Hindu. So, her father kept Namratha’s religion as Hindu on her birth certificate and it was copied by all other certificates and identity proofs. At the same time, she was practicing Christianity, as her mother was a Christian. That means, every Sunday she went to her church and also took part in Hindu rituals. Loving a Christian girl and marrying a Hindu one; that too being the same person s
eemed to be an interesting idea.
‘I currently work as a Radio Jockey with India’s largest FM radio brand and I want to try my hands in movies too. I love to act and write; I have done some short movies too. I have been trying to get into the movies for so many years and if everything goes fine, I’d be in it within a short period of time.’ – I explained myself to her.
With these conversations, we covered almost half of the zoo, but we didn’t pay attention to any animal or bird or human who were present there to witness our love. We sat on a wooden bench opposite to the natural lake inside the zoo and I had something to ask her. While we were walking along that walkway, my hand touched hers so many times unintentionally and sitting very close to her, I wanted to touch her; intentionally.
‘I like you and your attitude a lot. I think I need you for the rest of my life. You have already accepted my proposal and now I am just asking for a personal face-to-face confirmation. Will you be mine for the rest of your life?’ – I asked, extending my hands towards her for a promise.
‘Yes, I will be yours for the rest of our lifetime.’ – She said, placing her hand on my hand.
Joy overflowed me and I was in elation. I could already feel angels dancing around my head and before I could completely endure the feeling, she applied a break by asking – ‘What’s the time now?’
‘It’s 1’o clock.’ – I said and showed her my watch to prove my statement.
She jumped up from her seat, pulled me up and said – ‘My mom will come to pick me up at 1:30PM and I have to be at my friend’s home by that time. Let’s go.’
‘Okay.’ – I said as I had no other option and we ran towards the exit.
●
After the first date, as typical couples do, we texted over chat and talked over the phone for long hours. Home, office, roads, buses, parks, beaches and every possible place were witnessing our love. After almost a month of this regular routine, one day she called me and told that she wanted to say something very important and that she wanted to meet me. I was so happy to see her again and tensed at the same time thinking about what that important talk was about.
‘When do you want to meet me?’ – I asked.
‘Tomorrow.’
‘Place?’
‘Zoo! The same place of our first meeting.’
‘It seems you liked that place a lot.’ – I said, with a mild laugh.
‘Might be. I want to meet you tomorrow at 11 in the morning.’
‘Okay.’ – I said and disconnected the call in a confused state of mind.
●
JULY 20, 2011:
The day of our second meeting; I reached very earlier than the said time. After almost two hours, she came and I could read the tone of seriousness from her eyes. She bought two tickets from the counter and signalled me to follow her. She entered the zoo without even uttering a single word and I quietly followed her. She knew that I was behind, but she didn’t even turn around or look at me and I was becoming tenser with this behaviour of hers. After almost 50 meters, I ran to her and grabbed her hand. She turned, but didn’t look at my eyes at all.
‘What’s the problem?’ – I asked.
She didn’t even say a word and continued counting the pebbles on the ground. I lifted her face and asked again – ‘If not to tell, why did you ask me to come here?’
‘If you didn’t want to come, you could’ve told that earlier.’ – She responded with an inborn girl characteristic. She was not talking about the actual thing, but was trying to cover it up with her attitude.
‘You wanted to meet me and I am here. Now tell me why you wanted to meet me and what you have to tell.’
‘I don’t know how you’re going to take that.’
‘Stop thinking about that and please open up. Don’t make me hyper tensed.’
‘I’m going.’ – She said.
‘You just came. How can you go just like that?’ – I asked.
‘Not that. I’m going to Chennai.’ – She said, not looking at my face.
‘Okay. Go, enjoy the city and come back.’
‘I am not going to enjoy the city. I’m going for my higher studies.’
‘What?’ – I asked in a higher voice note and I had no clue what she was talking about.
‘Yes, that’s true.’
‘How can you do that? You told me that you sent applications to all the colleges here and you are likely to get admission in any of those.’
‘Yes, I did. I applied for admission through the centralized allotment, but due to some errors, they didn’t consider my application. When my dad came to know about this, he tried to get me admission in some other college outside Kerala and it ended up there.’
‘Are you serious about this?’
‘Yes, I am. Why would I tell you a joke in this regard?’
‘I can’t even imagine a situation when I have to live without you even if it is just for some moments and now I have to live like that for some years. It’s been only a month since we started our relationship and you just can’t go like that.’ – Explaining my situation to her was becoming tougher than expected.
‘Even I can’t. But…’ – Her words broke.
‘How long is your course?’
‘It is Bachelor of Architecture course; a five year one.’
‘Five years? No Namratha, I can’t let you go.’ – I shouted.
‘Please Arjun, I have to. Even I have that pain of being away from you, but I can’t lose my one whole year doing nothing here. Please, Arjun.’
‘No Namratha, that’s not happening.’
‘I never asked you to sacrifice anything for me yet and will never do that. My parents have decided to send me there. They’ve already finished the admission formalities and even booked the tickets.’ – She said, holding my hand.
‘Oh, that’s good to know. Now, why would you need my permission? Do whatever you want.’ – I said and sat on a wooden bench.’
She sat near me and held my hand, saying – ‘Please Arjun, please try to understand. I can’t go without your approval and I can’t stay here without my parents’ permission.’
I neither did look at her nor say a single word. I kept quiet for almost ten minutes and after those long minutes of silence, I said – ‘Okay, go. I am never against your wishes or ambitions. Go, get your graduation and come back. I’ll be waiting for you.’
I have no words to explain the happiness that glowed on her face when I said that. She held my hands so tight and said – ‘I love you more than anything else in this world. You’re the best. I will be yours till my last breath.’
‘I know that’
‘What?’ – She asked in doubt.
‘I know I’m the best.’ – I got up from the bench saying this and started walking. She held my hands keeping her so close to me and walked with me.
‘When are you going?’ – I asked, holding her tight.
‘Tomorrow, by the evening train. Everything was quick and there was no ticket availability for flights. So, we are going by train.’
The Rail Trial
21st July 2011 – TRIVANDRUM RAILWAY STATION:
The train was scheduled to depart at 7:30PM, but I could reach there only at 7:15PM because I had a celebrity interview to finish. Celebrities don’t wait for us; it was always our fate to schedule the interview as per their convenience and then to wait for them. I looked at the platform allotment list for the trains and found that the train was on platform number 3. I had to take an overhead rail bridge to reach the third platform and I ran to the platform taking the bridge. In some seconds, I reached the 3rd platform and found the train waiting for its time to depart. Finding the train wasn’t that tough, but finding Namratha really was. I had no clue in which compartment they had reserved their seats because even Namratha was not aware of it as her parents didn’t share that piece of information with her. If she was aware of that, she would have told me and I could’ve found them much easily. I looked at my watch and it showed 7:
20PM. I realized that I had only a few more minutes left to find her and it was not practical to go inside each and every compartment and search for her in this limited time.
I got an idea. ‘Her parents had already booked the tickets. So it can’t be in a general compartment and a list containing the names of all the passengers will be pasted on the sides of every reserved compartment of the train.’ – I appreciated myself for that idea and started examining all the list of passengers, which were pasted outside each compartment like an employee of Indian Railway. I tried reading all the lists from sleeper class to air-conditioned class and at last, I found her name on the passenger list pasted on one of the air-conditioned compartments. To confirm her identity, I read the names of her neighbouring passengers too. By that quick check, I found the names of her father, mother, sister, cousin and her uncle on that list.
My wristwatch showed 7:25PM. I went inside the train and checked their seats, but I couldn’t find any of them. The chance of them cancelling the trip was bleak because she confirmed me about her depart the previous day. The train was about to depart in just five minutes and I couldn’t understand their careless behaviour. Bemusedly, I stepped out of the train immediately and there I could see Namratha and her family coming down the overhead rail bridge. All of them were carrying big baggage and that was enough for me to understand it was going to be the biggest separation of our lives. Namratha saw me waiting for her, but didn’t pay much attention; might be because she was with her parents. They went inside the train and the time was 7:28PM on my watch. I had no time left and I jumped into the train. I went directly to their seats as I have already found those and peered inside their cabin. When my eyes fell on her, I stood rooted to the spot and she was throwing her eyes at her family.
‘Yes, what do you want?’ – Asked, her father.
‘Nothing. It’s just a mistake. I was looking for someone.’ – I answered and walked out of the situation and the train blew its long horn.
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