I said everything but refrained from saying those three words that my heart actually wanted to say.
He held me back tightly and what he said started to put out the fire that had been burning my heart since so long.
“I missed you too, Maya. I cannot tell you just how much. The day you left IIT, it seemed you had taken away a part of me too. That morning I watched you from a far away corner when you were leaving with your father. I didn’t dare to come near you as I feared that I might do something stupid in order to hide my emotions. I couldn’t even visit the places where we had been together. Hall 1 canteen, its nearby park where we had made plans for your stall, going to the SAC, the black crow spot, the P.K. Kelkar library; they were all filled with memories of you. Sometime I even cried for you. It took time for me to figure this out but I realised what was causing me so much pain. That’s why I planned to come and see you. I didn’t have any idea that you had been going through the same situation” he said with his eyes full of tears.
We both held each other for a long time. I ran my fingers through his silky ruffled hair and he gently caressed my back. When I stopped sobbing, we parted and faced each other. Our eyes met and time seemed to stop forever. We did not need any words to convey our feelings. What our eyes were transmitting was clear enough. We were seeing our own images in the ripples of the deep emotions. Rajat stared at me with a piercing intensity and after a point I couldn’t withstand his gaze any longer and I looked down. His gaze sent a shiver down my body.
After a moment I managed to look up. He was still looking at me with an unperturbed gaze. He gently removed a teardrop from my lower eyelid with his finger. He didn’t lose eye contact even for once. I shivered as I felt my entire body enveloped by sudden warmth. I could see that Rajat’s forehead was creased and jaws tight like he was struggling with something. The pressure of his fingers on my back had increased. He was also going through the same tension which I was going through. I smiled at him but couldn’t dare to break away from the befuddling eye lock with him. At this moment, the barrier that had been holding both of us all the way till now, melted down. We were about to discover a whole new world which is selfishly centralised around one word – love. I knew I had found my true companion.
With a gentle smile, Rajat kissed my forehead first and then my lips very gently and carefully. That was it. The emptiness that I had felt all these months vanished in a split second. As I held Rajat in my arms I felt like I was holding my own self; my soul, my very own mirror image. I could smell his breath and I could feel my body melting into his arms. I felt miraculously happy and complete. I couldn’t help smiling widely. He looked at my face and smiled as well. My heart danced with joy
As he wiped the tears from my cheeks, we kissed passionately this time, holding each other tighter. The kiss had saturated our souls and a divine rush of happiness showered both of us. We stopped, smiled and hugged each other again.
Then Rajat took my hand and made me sit on the couch. My body was trembling. The kiss had consumed so much of energy. He gave me a glass of water to drink. Strangely, I was feeling much better. I closed my eyes to clutch on to the reality that still looked like a virtual one to me. I slowly opened my eyes and smiled at Rajat.
He opened his bag and took out a beautifully gift-wrapped box. ‘He has brought a gift too. Wow!’ I thought. I grinned from ear to ear and could not wait to unwrap the gift. I wondered what would be inside. After all, it was the first gift from my love and that had made it very special for me.
Rajat sat beside me with his arm around my shoulders. He put the gift on my lap. I remembered something as I was opening the gift.
“Oops! You didn’t eat the cake, Rajat,” I said and started to reach for the cake when he stopped me midway.
“The cake on your cheeks looks more delicious to me than that on the plate,” he said, gently pulling me towards him. He took me into his arms and then started licking my cheeks. I shied and moved away from him. He laughed at my reaction. I punched him on his chest and then we kissed again. I had never felt such passion in my entire life. After few seconds, I stopped, panting. Nonetheless I was joyous but my weak health was signalling me to get some rest. Rajat pulled me closer to him and said,
“Relax, Maya. You need a lot of rest and care right now. I can’t tell you how happy I am. I feel that I might go mad with its intensity. I also know that the same is happening with you too. I feel like I am complete now. But we will have to control ourselves, Maya. We have to preserve the purity of our love. I hope you will understand.”
I realised how hard it must be for Rajat to stop himself at a stage where we could easily surpass all boundaries. But his words spoke of the true mark of his character. I felt a sense of pride that he loved me. I voiced his words.
“I too feel the same way, Rajat. You are right. I understand. We must not go further though we both know how hard it is. Let’s wait for the right time,” I said curling up in his arms.
“By the way, I have heard that girls go crazy when they get gifts. But I seem to have made my girl crazy enough to forget about hers” he said, rolling his eyes. My heart danced as I heard the words ‘my girl’.
“You are truly capable of doing so, Mr Rajat, but I am as crazy about your gift as I am for you. Let me open it.”
And when I opened it, my eyes went wide in surprise. It was a collage of photos in a large frame. On the topmost frame, there was a single photo of mine followed by the procession of several others. Pictures of Antaragni and my convocation were all there. He had put few of his own photos too. I didn’t have any idea how he got all these pictures but I absolutely loved the gift.
“Oh, Rajat! This is so lovely. I love it. When did you get all these pictures?”
“Well. I am glad that you liked it. I managed to steal some of your pictures of IIT as memories. I was confused and didn’t know what to give you, but remember, one day you told me over the phone that you miss our friendship? It was then when I got the idea to present you this collage so that you can feel and return to the past whenever you want. I thought this might soothe you. Look! How beautiful you are looking in all these snaps,” he said looking at the pictures.
“It’s so thoughtful of you, Rajat. I really missed you a lot. And we are looking so beautiful together, not just me alone,” and I hugged him tightly again.
“I guess you should claim for M.HSc by now.”
“M.HSc.? What is that?”
“Masters in Hugging Science,” he chuckled.
I laughed. But I agreed the title he had crowned me with. It suited me well.
“But I am happy that you loved my present, my love. It’s becoming late, Maya. I’ll go make dinner for both of us. Till then you watch TV,”, he patted my shoulder handed over the TV remote and headed towards the kitchen.
Well… that too came as a surprise for me. I never knew Rajat could cook though I should get used to surprises by now. I followed Rajat to the kitchen. Rajat cooked something bland, considering my health. I loved watching him work. He was perfect. I decided to ask him later.
Dinner was simple but it tasted delicious. Or maybe, I was so absorbed talking to him that I did not notice its taste. We finished dinner hastily and settled down on the couch again. He wrapped his arms around me.
“When did you start cooking, Rajat?” I asked.
“Honestly speaking, even before I met you, I have always wanted to play the role of a good husband. So I decided to learn cooking so that I could keep my future wife forever happy,” he winked and looked meaningfully at me.
I smiled as he was clearly referring to me as his future wife. But I decided to tease him back.
“Ohh! That’s so considerate. I will be happier if you can also manage the other household chores for me along with the cooking,” I said grinning.
“Hahaha. Here you go,” he laughed and then became serious.
“I learnt to cook so that my wife wouldn’t have to if she was ill or tired. I am supposed to take ca
re of her and this is the least I can do. I cannot promise that I’ll be able to do all the household chores by myself, Maya, but one thing I can assure you is that I will love you forever. I’ll never ever leave your side no matter what. My heart is tied with yours forever, Maya. I love you more than anything in this world.”
It was at that moment I realised the enormous power of the three words I love you. I had heard about the wondrous effect of love but today was the day to actually feel it. His words were softly chiming into my ears. They charged me and converted my world into a better place in an instant. As for me, I had no words to describe my feelings.
We had a heart to heart talk. I held his face and said, “I love you too Rajat… love you so very much. I am running short of words to explain exactly how I feel. I am lucky that I belong to you now. I am yours forever.”
“No need say anything, Maya. And one thing I almost forgot to tell you. I have also got an offer from a company in Bangalore. So I will shift here right after my convocation. When I am permanently settled here, I will talk to our parents about marriage. It’s really becoming hard to stay away from you now,” he said with a wink.
“Oh wow!” I screamed with joy. I was so thrilled that I jumped up and did a little dance. I had never imagined that Bangalore would prove to be so lucky for me. Rajat laughed and watched me dance until I ran out of breath. He was as happy as I was. Finally I sat down next to him, still mad with happiness. He gave me my medicines and we talked for hours. We talked about the different phases of our lives; right from how we got into IIT and our first few months there to the countless sleepless nights we spent studying.
Rajat was a sincere student just like I was. But we both had done a few crazy things at IIT. Bunking classes was child’s stuff but fitting a button sized micro camera on one of his friends’ shirt just before the beginning of a class was something that I had never heard of and that was exactly what Rajat had done. Rajat told me that whenever he couldn’t attend a class, his friend with the camera had done this favour for him. He did it just to be able to see catch the entire lecture and to jot down notes. I had heard people using camera phones or audio recorders but a micro camera was something new! These cameras are expensive but Rajat had got his from one of his aunts as a gift. It was crazy, I told him. He also told me how the boys used to secretly watch ‘pondy’ a slang they used for pornography at night. I bit my lips when I heard this but I guess it was all part of college life.
I also shared some of my secrets like the time when I was once playing ‘Truth or Dare’ with my friends and I had chosen Dare and had ended up kissing one of my female friends. That was indeed the craziest thing I had ever done in my life.
Rajat also told me that he almost had a crush on his Teaching Assistant. I rolled my eyes. We both were fondly reminiscing our college days.
“Seriously, Rajat? Tell me when did you realise that you had fallen for me?” I asked playing with his key ring.
“Actually I didn’t, until you gave me the news of your job. When I realised there were only a few months to spend with you, for the very first time I felt strangely sad within. The thought of you leaving IIT was unacceptable. I couldn’t understand how to react. Antaragni had made us best friends and I didn’t want you to go. That was why I couldn’t talk to you much. We met and we chatted but I was not the same.”
I was startled to hear this.
“Really? The same was happening with me too, Rajat. I was going crazy because I was clueless about why it was happening. But I never told you in fear of what your reaction would be.”
He was surprised.
“Is it? And I thought I was the only one going overboard with emotions. But I couldn’t figure out my love for you even then. I deeply realised it after you came to Bangalore. Last month I dreamt about you; you were crying and calling my name out and I was trying to reach you but was unable to do so. The dream was so vivid that when I opened my eyes, I was sweating and my hands hung in the air as though I was trying to reach out to you. That was it. I realised that it was you whom I had been looking for. It was like I had been waiting for you ever since the beginning of time and when you showed up in my dream, I decided to visit you at once.”
Now it was my turn to be surprised. It was true that love has its own strange ways to touch your heart. It has a unique repertoire to surprise you, hurt you, love you and finally win you over at the end. Unless you are drenched with it, you can never experience it.
“I know what you mean. It truly feels like I too had been waiting for you since forever,” I said looking into his eyes and hugged him.
There was the exodus of memories that couldn’t be sealed in just one night. He went on about how he had a crush on his TA during his first semester. Rajat’s TA was an M Tech student who was undeniably very pretty. He could not concentrate on the language she was teaching their group. We laughed at his adolescent behaviour.
I also told him about my upbringing and childhood. I was the only child of my parents and they had big expectations from me. He told me about his rich family and how he had pictured his future. We kept talking until our eyes shut involuntarily. Since my flat was a one bedroom flat, Rajat chose to sleep on the sofa cum bed in the living room.
The next morning when I awoke, the world had changed. My room looked more beautiful to me. Birds were chirping more melodiously and the sun rays piercing through the windows were warmer and soothing. Every inch of my body felt like it had been beautified and I had changed from an ordinary girl to a princess overnight. Everything felt perfect. The world seemed to be floating in love along with me. I had always heard that love changes something in you but I never had a chance to feel it. But today was different. I was an extraordinary girl who had her best friend as her lover. I was feeling much better. In fact, it felt like I wasn’t ill at all.
After weeks, I was able to sleep soundly the previous night. A perfect day to start with I thought and came out of the room. Rajat was still sleeping on the couch. He must have been exhausted from his journey. He slept so soundly and looked so innocent to me. I bent forward and kissed him on his forehead softly so that he would not wake up. Then I headed towards the kitchen to make something special for him… not for him only but for us.
After he woke up, Rajat told me he had come down to Bangalore for a week. I decided that instead of staying home we should visit a nearby place; a place where I had never gone to. After some research, we finally settled with Yercaud, a hill station in the Salem district in Tamil Nadu. It is situated above sea level and popularly known as Shevaroy Hills. It is a beautiful place which attracts hundreds of tourists every year. It is no wonder that it is called the ‘Jewel of the South’.
We left Bangalore the next morning. We reached Yercaud late in the afternoon. We had already booked two rooms at a resort before leaving Bangalore. We stayed in Yercaud for two days - sufficient to explore it. It is a small place with a population of a little more than 40,000 people. It is paradise for nature lovers. There are coffee bushes and fruit trees lining the roadsides. There is also the beautiful Yercaud Lake, wide and serene guarded by rows of plants and trees along its shores. We went for a boat ride on the lake and enjoyed ourselves in the evenings.
Yercaud has many remnants of the British era. The resort where we stayed had antique British furniture and artefacts, and we felt as though we were in a different time. While its scenic beauty makes Yercaud stand out among other hill stations in the southern region, it has a comparatively small market. We did some trekking as well. We had never trekked before but completely enjoyed the adventure. We stopped at several places on our route like the Lady’s seat, Botanical garden, Bear’s cave, Killiyur falls, Servaroyan Temple, Pagoda point and the Rose garden. We took a lot of photographs and Rajat was very impressed with my photography skills. His fun and romantic companionship turned this trip into a very special jaunt.
Thereafter, he stayed with me for few more days. He met all my friends and they were very happy for both of us. Th
en he went back to IIT for his final semester. The time we spent together was the best time of my life. When he was with me, time seemed to fly but after he left a minute felt like an hour. It had become gloomy. I hated it. He was unhappy at having to leave me behind. The only thing which kept us going was the job that awaited him in Bangalore. He would be in Bangalore after a few months and then the long wait would be over.
*********************************
Counting the days on the fingers, the months flew by quickly. Rajat finally came to Bangalore and settled down. And when the right time came, we spoke to our parents and told them we wanted to get married. After a few formalities, things worked out in our favour and we got married within a year. No one could be as lucky as we were. We both were extremely happy.
Honeymoon in Paris
After our wedding, we went to Paris for our honeymoon. The luxury cruise package tour was a generous gift from Rajat’s parents. Paris is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and we were awestruck by its beauty. It was a two night three days package. After reaching Paris in the late morning, we freshened up and were taken to see the River Siene and Louvre on the first day. River Seine is surrounded by various channels and bridges. Watching them from the boat was a wonderful experience. A light drizzle made it very romantic.
We disembarked to see the world’s most visited, and one of the largest museums, The Louvre in the Louvre Palace.
After we entered the museum, we saw a huge inverted glass pyramid surrounded by three other small pyramids, in the middle of the floor. This huge pyramid is situated at the centre of the museum and is built in the diamond shape; half downwards and half upwards and is a spectacular piece of architecture as it is made up of rhombus and triangular shaped glass pieces.
Our guide told us that it was during the French Revolution, that the Louvre was turned into a museum accessible to the public. This museum houses an eclectic collection of more than 35,000 sculptures, drawings, engravings and paintings right from the medieval era to the present including the remarkable Winged Victory of Samothrace in the Aegean Sea. It is a marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike in a sea battle. It is also one of the most famous sculptures in the world. We were amazed to see the how beautiful and intricately detailed the sculpture was.
It’s Never Too Late Page 9