'Akhiyan jo anjur ud gaye'
She kept her eyes closed after finishing the song as her fingers caressed the strings of the guitar. A smile appeared on her face, a blissful smile.
Blame it on my vocab, but I can't find a more suitable word than mesmerize to express my feelings then. Yes, I was mesmerized.
"How was it?" she had opened her eyes.
"It was awesome" I answered, emphasizing on 'awe'
"Thanks" she beamed "actually, thanks to you"
I felt something tugging at my heart. The sun was quickly descending and her beautiful face was glowing under the dying sun rays. I was breathless for a couple of moments and this time it hit me.
I was in love. Yes, I was in love ... with my junior.
I turned my face away. This isn't right, this can't be right.
"When will you be leaving?" She asked me
"On 17th" I replied without looking at her "last day of my engineering life"
"Will you miss me?" She threw a bouncer at me and I was caught in two minds.
"Ah y... yes yes, definitely. You have been a very good student"
She smiled and began putting her guitar in the case.
Guitar. My genius with guitar had brought her into my world. I was a typical nerd who loved his books and lappie more than anything else. Few would have known me had it not been for the magic of my fingers on guitar. In the past 4 years many girls and boys had approached me but I declined most of them. Few backed out after just one grueling session with me. Shipra, however, was different.
She was serious and passionate. I remember how I had made her practice so much in the initial days that the pain was visible on her face. But the girl never broke down, never opted out. That made me interested in her and today I was here, getting head over heals in love with her.
But (I sighed) she deserved someone who could compliment her. I was a nerd with little inkling about the things that constitute a smart personality. She was beautiful, intelligent and had a high level of social IQ. She didn't belong to me at any cost.
"Can you drop me to my hostel? It's getting dark" She broke my chain of thoughts.
"Yeah, sure" I replied
We were silent most of the time as we walked towards her hostel. I was mulling something and had made up my mind before we reached her hostel gate.
"Shipra" I cleared my throat "I .... I think I .. love you"
She didn't say anything for next few seconds, just kept staring at me. I became uneasy and waited for her reaction. The 5 seconds long deafening silence was broken with the sound of a tight slap across my face. If that wasn't enough, tears burst out of her eyes. A mixed feeling of fear, embarrassment and pain seized me.
'You screwed it up royally, dude' a voice boomed inside my mind.
"Think" she wasn't done yet "You bastard! Do you even have an idea how many nights have I spent crying due to the pain when you made me practice for hours. I endured that pain just to be with you. I knew it then, I knew it now and you still think ... think. How come you never saw it in my eyes?"
I was speechless. The hints were always there. The way she never missed any of my guitar sessions, looked for reasons to discuss and talk with me, & the way she smiled when she looked at me.
She had stopped crying and the expression on her face had now changed into that of a concern
"Oh God! I'm sorry I called you .... it must have hurt ... I'm really sorry'
She hesitated a bit and then placed her palm on my face.Though her hand was cold, a warmth spread across my body. I closed my eyes to completely soak myself in that soothing experience. She still had that worried look on her face when I opened my eyes.
"Reality check" I smiled " I needed it badly"
"Can we walk around a bit? The evening has just begun." That mesmerizing smile was back on her face
The moon had appeared into the sky and was showering our path with a pure milky light. We just kept walking with our hand in hand. For there was no need to say anything, at least for now.
- Theway
