Whistling a melody to myself, I looked out the window at the gilded green stretch of wilderness rushing by as the train trundled on to Guwahati. The rosy, red sun about to kiss the horizon, the golden hued sky and the whistling winds had a palpable magical effect on the ambience. The evening, you might say, had an air of romance about it. You could feel it in your heart. You could breathe in a curious fragrance in the cool winds...like that of a fresh, fully bloomed flower.
I was going back to my home after a weeklong official work at a nearby town. Smiling contently, I laid my head against the window sill, closed my eyes and allowed my thoughts to wander off to faraway dreamlands...
Few minutes later or so, the train seemed to slow down and I opened my eyes to found 'Kamakhya Junction' written on the signboard. The train would halt here for five minutes before heading to Guwahati.
I got off the train to take a stroll. The platform was deserted, except for a vendor selling tea and hot pakoras, few local people sitting on rickety chairs and stray dogs chasing each other about. I bought myself a tea, leaned against a pillar and sip ofped on, enjoying the peaceful evening.
The guard blew the whistle. I got into the train and was about to go back to my seat when, on a sudden inexplicable impulse, I turned around and looked out the carriage doorway. Someone caught my eyes.
A girl, about the same age and height as I, lithe and thin, in a white-blue Salwaar Kurta with crimson dupatta draped around her shoulders, had just entered the platform and was walking, or rather running in small trots towards me, a small bag in her hand. Jingle-Jangle, Jingle-Jangle – the music played rhythmically as the bangles rustled around her wrist.
The train gave a lurch and began to move. I watched the girl quickening her pace to catch up. Curiously enough, even in her hurried jog she seemed to glide gracefully, carrying herself with dignity, her slender frame adding elegance to her gliding gait, her long hair and dupatta billowing back.
"C'mon, quick, grab my hand, madam!" I shouted, as I held out my hand to help her.
The train gathered speed, the girl was close enough, she grabbed my hand and in a matter of few seconds, I pulled her in. She stumbled and nearly fell over me. I grabbed her by her waist to steady her.
And then it happened...the game began...
In a second containing an eternity, I found her very close to me. Intimately close. So close, I could count the eyelashes around her almond-shaped, hazel eyes; I saw her straight nose and could make out a dotted beauty-mole just below the fullness of her rosy lips; wisps of her dark hair brushed my face and I got a whiff of fresh jasmine...
The moment passed, she had retreated few steps back, adjusting her dupatta.
"Thank you..." The girl thanked in her surprisingly singing voice, smiling her dimpled smile.
"You are welcome..." I said and, strangely, my voice trailed off.
Ah...well...you might be thinking this tale as another "love at first sight' love story with the girl as beautiful as an angel from the heaven...no...let me be categorically and firmly clear...indeed, she was a ravishing beauty of a rare kind, and you couldn't help getting entranced; but, believe me, something unlikely was happening.
I felt I knew her...She rang a bell of familiarity in my mind, I didn't know why...but the way she smiled a knowing smile, her hazy eyes spoke something as if...well, how could I explain...as if she knew me. It was a kind of Déjà vu...
Oh yes...yes, yes, yes, my heart, my instinct was uncannily sure about it even when my rationale said otherwise. I had met her but couldn't recall when and where? It seemed quite long ago as though it had happened in another lifetime...
The moment passed, she turned and walked past me, inside the compartment, leaving me dazed. I shook my head and made my way to my seat. To my pleasant surprise, she was sitting by the window seat opposite mine.
I walked slowly and seated myself opposite her. There was no one in the compartment except us. She was tying her long beautiful locks into a bun, her head bowed low. As she looked up, I hastily looked out the window, my mind running. The sun was halfway below the horizon, about to set.
Now and then, I threw covert glances at her and had to shake my head to not let myself stray off in those wild, wistfully romantic thoughts. I racked my brains, did a trip down my memory lane, thinking about every girl I had come across in my life.
To speak of my love life, I had never been in a serious relationship with a fairer gender to make it very clear, if you don't count the transient crushes or fleeting infatuations natural to all young lads of our age...no...I was a simple, naïve young man, and had always stayed away from the dangerous clutches of love affairs...
And yet, oddly enough, I knew this girl, this dreamy-hazel eyed, haunting beauty, sitting right in front of me...and I was sure somehow that she knew me. Once again, I cocked my head ever so slightly and threw her a glance.
She saw me seeing her and smiled.
I blushed red and looked away! She was looking at me! Oh...creepy! Okay...but why on earth was she smiling ever so slightly...or did she had those naturally smiling lips? Or was I going off the rocker? And now it occurred to me. Beware! She might be setting a trap, I warned myself. She could be one of those who bamboozle young boys with their breathtaking beauty and rob them. But, still, I could not bring myself to think lowly about this girl. There was a palpable aura of innocence about her.
Deciding to unravel the mystery once and for all, I dared to look at her again openly. She was looking out the window.
Gearing up all the gallantry, I asked, "Ermm...Do I know you, madam?" She stared at me, blushing ever so lightly. My pulse quickened. She didn't smile but was merely looking at me, piercing my soul with her hazel eyes. Had I offended her? Did she think me as some offensive, ogling, discourteous youth? You never know what's going on in a girl's mind.
"How can I know if you know me or not?" she replied in her lyrical voice. Then she smiled her dimpled smile.
"I mean..." I leaned forward, eager for the conversation to go on but careful enough to be tactful, "I mean...I think... I think I know you. I saw you somewhere." I finished rather lamely then added hastily, "Don't take me wrong. Of course, I might be wrong! You can right me if I am wrong!" I stopped. I was getting jumbled in a morass of words.
The girl chuckled quietly and became sober at once. I waited.
"Yeah...You are right," she said slowly, her lips lifting upwards in a rather twisted, mischievous smile. The effect, together with rosy glow of the evening on her face, made her look dazzlingly beautiful. "Perhaps, you know me!"
There she was! She had me stumped. I knew her...even when I couldn't make an inkling as to why I knew her? She was playing a game I was sure, daring me to unravel her identity. Whoa! What a girl she was - Shy, witty and bold all at the same time! Regaining my composure, I went on with the game.
"I am sorry, I couldn't recall...but why and how do I know you?" I asked politely.
"Perhaps because..." she said, and then nothing could have prepared me for what followed. The girl seemed to fade away from me; a blurry curtain fell over my eyes even as her voice echoed distantly in the walls of my mind, "I was in your dream!"
I woke up with a start from this bizarre dream!
My neck ached. I had fallen asleep with my head at awkward angle against the window. Massaging my neck I gazed out. The train had stopped. "Kamakhya Junction" was written on the signboard. What a weird dream it had been. Every passing second, the dream was becoming vague...a strange girl...whom I knew but...well...whatever...it was just a dream, isn't it?
I got off the station and bought myself a tea. I sipped on, leaning against a pillar. Something strange was going on in my mind. Vestiges of a dream...I couldn't remember well...was flashing before my eyes. I got into the train as the whistle blew and the carriage jolted forward.
"Hey, mister! Help me!" A curiously familiar, singing voice shouted. I spun around.
A girl was running towards me, a small bag in her hand. Jingle-Jangle, Jingle-Jangle - the bangles sounded...I felt my heart thumping faster as blurred visions of a faraway dream came tumbling before my eyes...it was a sort of a déjà vu.
I held out my hand and helped her get in. She stumbled and almost fell over me; I knew she would fall so I grabbed her by her waist. She smiled her thanks and went along her way. Dazed and disoriented, I made my way toward my seat, and it did not surprise me in the very least as I saw this haunting beauty sitting by the window seat opposite mine. I knew this girl I was sure of that...But who was she? I took my seat opposite hers and watched her tying her long, beautiful locks into a bun, her head bowed. Unable to contain myself, I blurted out without any preamble: "Do I know you, madam?"
She looked up at me, her piercing, dreamy, hazel eyes sending shivers down my spine. She smiled her bashful, dimpled smile and said in a lyrical voice, 'Perhaps, yes. I was in your dream...!"
***
