“How long has it been? 16 years?” Nisha whispered.
“16 years, 4 months, 11 days.” I said.
She smiled.
“School was indeed long time ago. I feel so old,” she
said.
I looked at her, nothing had changed.
“I do see grey hair,” I said.
She smiled again.Maybe things had changed. The Nisha I knew in school would
have punched me in the gut or at least would have returned the insult with a cunning
smile. Maybe time does change things.
For a brief moment as our eyes met, my world seemed to drift
away into another dimension. The loud music playing in the background was
barely audible. The only coherent sound I could hear was the rhythmic beating
of my heart. And just as soon as the moment could feel like eternity, it
passed.
”Isn’t it nostalgic to meet our school buddies after such
a long time?” Nisha broke the silence.
“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “I hardly
remember anyone here.”
“You know, if it wasn’t for Sonam, this reunion would not
have been possible.” Nisha muttered while looking at a bunch of boys and
girls who we had known long back. The scrawny ones had put on weight. The
brainy ones wore Armani and Jimmy Choo. The
naughty ones cradled their kids. The shy ones spoke with gusto. The great debaters
stood near the bar sipping their drinks. The fat ones looked like pin-ups from
a health magazine.
Time is a great artist. It incubates personalities, mends
relations and guards perfections in ambiguous ways.
Nisha looked at me. “What are you thinking?” she
asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing
in particular,” I replied.
“You were always an enigma. It looks like you have an
ocean of things to say, yet you are as calm as a frozen lake,” Nisha said
“That’s an interesting way to put things. You have always
been great with words,” I said looking at the mischievous strand of hair, blowing
across her cheek. It finally rested on the corner of her lip.
“You did turn
me into an atheist.”
“Was that a compliment or a thinly veiled insult?” she
grinned.
I put my hands up in surrender and laughed.
Sonam and Annabel joined us shortly.“Are you guys having a good time?” Sonam asked. Sonam had been busy floating around from table
to table chatting with everyone ensuring everyone had their glasses and plates
full. She had an uncanny knack of making everyone feel special and part of the
gang.
“Yes Sonam. You are a darling. You made this happen.”
I said, giving her a brief hug. Sonam blushed a deep crimson.
“Do Annabel and Nisha know how we met?” Sonam said
excitedly. Even before anyone them could reply that they did, she launched into
her story telling mode.
“Well, it’s like this,” Sonam began. “I used to blog
right... One day while browsing, I came across an interesting fellow blogger
right... I read his stories right... They were quite intriguing right... So, I
check this guys’ bio, right… and there I see, that he has mentioned our schools
name right... I was like whoa… right? Turns out, this guy passed out the same
year as us. I told him, we shared the same 2000 square meters of space for forever,
never meeting yet meeting in the virtual world, right? How weird is that right!”
Sonam was able to talk and talk and talk without stopping
for a breath of air. And as suddenly she had come over to chat with us, she ran
off to help a drunken friend back to his chair. “You guys carry on, don’t
leave without having dinner. Oye Rohit…” She was gone before anyone could
say ‘okay’.
Annabel leaned into me and said, “She said ‘right’9
times!” We burst out laughing. I looked at Annabel. Every time Anna smiled, it reminded me
of Julia Roberts. She had the broadest and brightest of smiles guaranteed to
make anyone’s day.
“You look good Anna,” I said.
“You know what they are calling me these days?” Annabel said in between her flashy smiles.
Nisha and I raised our eyebrows. ‘What?’
“Yummy-Mummy!” she said and burst out into bouts of
spontaneous laughter.
Nisha and I joined in the laughter. Another couple of
friends came over to talk to Nisha. I excused myself and went to the smoking
zone and lit a cigarette. I went back to my thoughts. I felt like a snow-flake
about to be trapped in an avalanche. Such was the power of memories. The good
ones make you cry, the sad ones make you wonder and the saddest ones always
seem to want some closure.My chain of thoughts was broken by a tap on my shoulder. It
was Nisha.
“Mind if I join
you?” she said with a smile.The expanse of my smile was a derivative of hers.
“Let’s get some fresh air,” I suggested.
She tucked the rogue strands of hair behind her ear and
walked beside me to the courtyard.
The lush green carpet of grass smelt
heavenly.I felt Nisha holding my arm. I stopped. She took off her heels.
“I love walking barefoot on grass,” she said as she picked up her heels
by the straps in her right hand; her left hand still holding on to my arm.
“So, how have you really been?” Nisha asked.
“Happy,” I said.
“I wish we could stop being strangers.” Her words
were barely audible.
“I wish you could have believed it when I said I love
you.”
She could sense the regret in my words. If only she could
see and hear beyond the spoken word. “I remember you used to say, ‘Everything happens for the
best’”. She quipped.
The night was still young, the lamps in the courtyard spread
shades of golden light. I turned to face Nisha and held her hands in mine. Her
gaze made me feel naked, weak and exposed. She could see the damaged stings of
my soul. I could feel a slight twitching of her fingers. The synapses were all
over the place. No words were necessary when silence did all the talking. I
knew she was hurting. She knew I was hurting. Life had laughed at our plans.
Here, standing in front of me, was the girl I was in love
with yet, we were separated by destiny.
Nisha came close and rested her head on my chest. “I miss
you,” I wanted to say. I held her lightly. I said nothing.
“I better get going. Navya would be waiting,” I said unwillingly. Her warm embrace was somehow very comforting.
Nisha let go
of me. Her eyes welled up as she spoke. “It was nice seeing you here.” Somehow
I want to believe it.
“Say hello to Navya for me.”
“I will,” I
said and walked towards to exit.
I reached home. My thoughts were still at the courtyard with
Nisha. As I opened the door to my house, Navya jumped off the sofa
and came running towards me and gave me a big hug. “Daddy, you are back!”
“Yes my little darling,” I said and lifted my 7 year
old and held her tight.
“Did you meet
mummy?”
“In fact, I did!” I smiled. “Mummy says hello to
you.”
“When can I see her?” Navya asked excitedly.
“Like always, during your summer vacation darling.” I
said holding back the tears.
