A Night with a Girl

A Night with a Girl

               She was a beautiful girl, gifted with charming grey and curly hair that grab everyone’s gazing whoever passed her even in the dark night. She wore a brown colour leather jacket with a black colour shirt. There was no wonder that she had also gained my attention. I tried my best not to look at her, but my eyes, as usual, never listen to my words. Is it a mistake to see if a girl looks pretty than others? I was completely mesmerized the way she walked towards me.

               Ah! I forget to tell who I am? My identity is not an issue here neither her, but the element of surprise is, would you believe me after reading this tiny piece? I hope you won’t; not only you, would nobody because I am a man. The incident occurred in one of the leading corporate outsourcing company where I was selected for a training programme. The campus was fantastic but not the people. Corporate ethics are meant to be followed without humanities. You would not postpone your task even if your intimate friend fainted next to you. Sounds like odd, doesn’t it? I mean it. This is what you have to be. The campus looks like a paradise; actually, it’s a prison-paradise. Your day-to-day life begins and ends inside the premises.

               Like me, she also felt the same thing in her mind about the unrealistic place. I am not the type of guy who easily makes conversation with girls. It may take a year to discourse with a girl. But the irony of fate is, I seemed different to her eyes and got her attention too. Its a universal idea, if you do not disturb or flirt with a beautiful girl, she will be disturbed mentally, it would challenge her ego and beauty.

Hi!,  she said.

I said, hi.

“Hello! Are you here!” again she said with a cute expression that would definitely kill any men.

“Hiiiii! Did you just say hi to me!”  I was frozen.

“Ya! What’s up! You are only here. To whom I am supposed to talk!” oh! My God! again same expression.

“No..I mean.. I.. I am a stranger to you and you are talking to me...” God, please help me to open mouth to talk.

“Ssh! Cut the crab. Is it wrong to talk with you?”

“No...no.. no.. you can.” It was the quickest words I have ever uttered in my life.

“Then what! Could you show me the way to the food court? “She asked like an innocent girl but her voice literally killed me.

“Yeah, it's straight up 200 meters from here and turns left, you could find it.”

“Oh! Thank you. Sorry to bother you, I ‘m new to the place. “

“That’s OK. So am I. Like you, I struggle for the first time to find the way.”

“Sounds funny.  Are you not coming for dinner? “

“Dinner! Ya, I‘m waiting for my friends.”  I did not know whether she asked me to accompany her or not but my mind said to grab the golden opportunity. Because girls won’t say anything directly, boys have to analyse it like a PhD scholar to get the actual context underlies in their words.

“Come on. I feel bored to walk alone. Could you come with me? You can catch up with your friends later.” I was being ready even before she had asked me. Who would deny walking with a beautiful girl during the cold night even if it’s hell? My legs had started to walk with her before I said yes.

“Thank you.” Said she with a kind of pessimistic smile. God, she knew I would come. Was I being tested? I cursed myself.

Post dinner, she asked me to take her to the mall to purchase some items. I didn’t know what was going on. I just let the moment flow on its way. We sat on a bench near a basketball ground where nobody could see us, giant trees cropped us providing a sense of horror.

To others’ eye, the scene of us went without saying as a typical lover who enjoying their time. Nobody would agree if I said, we were just strangers to each other. A million dollar question pestered my small mind that how could a girl move so freely with a stranger like me? I hardly had guts to ask this question. But she was a smart fish enough to find out what was going in my mind.

“Do you want to ask something?” She asked and raised her eyebrow which was most elegant to watch. Why God has created girls most beautiful?

“Yep... a simple question but I don’t know how you take it!” I said in a fumble voice.

“Go on. I m listening.”

“How do you? I mean how could you??? Mmm... I .. I... “

“Come on, don’t be a girl. I won’t mind.”

“Yeah... I... I m a stranger to you. How could you move so freely?”

“Oh! This is what you have been thinking. Not bad. Ok, tell me how I look?”

Girls know well what we are thinking and what we are expecting. But they pretend as if they are the most innocent person in the world. In spite of knowing it, they want it to hear from you and they enjoy the struggling of boys.

“You look so beautiful,” said in my mind.  I didn’t say it loudly to her.

“ Come on, say something. Hello! Are you in this world?”

“ How can I be in this world if a beautiful girl in the world asked me how she looks,” said I and started read her eyes what she thought. For a fraction of second, her eyes glimpsed but she pretended not pleasing for my compliment. As a boy, if you want to know what a girl thinks of your words better introspect her eyes rather than looking at their face’s expression because nothing in this world yet discovered what a girl actually thinks in her mind. All you have is less than a fraction of second.

“Don’t lie to me. I am not such beautiful” she was modest at her beauty. A girl needs more compliment than just beautiful. You need to say all the synonym, though it's a white lie they believe it because they expected it from you if they like you.

“ Yes, Really you are! I mean it.

“ Oh, Really! How can I make sure you are saying the truth?” she said in a most enthusiastic way but smartly hid it out.

“ Ok, let's do one thing, just walk from here to the coffee house and see how many boys look at you and then believe me. Wanna a try?” I said in pessimistic because girls always need proof for everything that a scientist. They just don’t trust your words, they demand an exaggerated demo.

As we started to walk, she focused on counting than me and cleverly acted as if she never bothered about it but she often adjusted her curl lock that falls on her face; a girl does it often when others look at her.

“Oh my God! Totally sixteen boys looked at you about just five hundred meters. Do you believe my statement now?”  said I with a little bit happy tone so that she would think its true but actual count was twenty-one.

“ Are you not good at math? Your count was wrong, actually, it was twenty-five” she said it so hurriedly without expressing her excitement.

“ I thought you didn’t pay attention to passers-by,”  I said in interrogation tone.

“ I feel hungry, let’s eat something, come on,” she said simply. Your question is always unanswered if you ask smart questions to girls and they can easily drive it off without giving an answer.

She didn’t allow me to open my mouth, she kept on talking till I forgot the asking question. Having a long chat, I checked my watch it was 11 pm, the moon was peeping through the branches. We were sitting on a stone bench near a volleyball ground where no sign of others was.

“ Time is 11 p.m. Let’s go to the resident. My friends are waiting for me and I need to pack my things to check out tomorrow” said I in order to move away from the place.

She thought for a moment and said “Ok. Let’s go”

As we had reached our resident to go to our own rooms, she asked an earth-shaking question to me, almost the surface below me slipped far away.

What did you ask? Said I, not believing what I heard.

“Would you like to have a cup of coffee with me in my room?”  she said it so simply.

“ Are you serious?” I didn’t have any idea what to say.

“ What are you, man? Have you not heard what I told? Come on, Let’s have a cup of coffee.”

The sound of my heart-beat was so loud. I wet my lips as it suddenly became a desert and went inside her room. There was no doubt that my confidence and attitude went deep down to the earth.

“ Are you okay?” She asked me as if she was innocent of the world.

“Yeah. I’m fine” said I.

She cleared the bed as it was filled with her clothes. She had started to prepare coffee for us and asked me to lock the door to avoid gossip of others. As I locked the door and turned, she just stood behind me and handed me a cup of coffee.

“ How is my coffee? Is it okay for you?” she said.

My lips were stuck, tried hard and said “  Nice”.

“ I don’t think so. You seem to have something. Do you wish to say or ask anything?”

“Yeah, I have but no idea how to ask “

“ Go on”

Then I asked the question which had been haunting my mind right from the beginning since I met her.

“ How do you talk to me so freely and how do you allow me inside your room at late night with a locked door? Still  I’ m a stranger to you.” I said all those in a single breath.

“ Hold on your horse, man. Is it a big deal to chat with a guy?”

“ yes. It is a big deal for me. I have born in a village where even talking with a girl is a wonder. Though it is a city, letting a guy inside your room at late night is a big deal to me. I want an answer. Are you testing me?” said I as I had taken a class seminar.

“ you had so much in your brain. Can you take that diary on the table?”

“ Answer,” said I as I took the diary and gave it to her.

“ what answer? Oh! Ok! I let you in because I trust you. Come here, see the poem lines that I have written.” As usual, she said it so simply.

“ How do you trust me? I m unknown to you.  How?”

“ I have a bunch of reasons to trust you though you are a stranger to me. No more questions. Come, see the poem.” She said in somewhat serious tone first time.

“ Give me one reason,  I won’t ask again”

‘’ Promise me, you will here up to 4 a.m. I will say”

“ Ok, I give my word. Say now”

“ You look at only my eyes while talking”

‘’ Ok... for that.......”

“ No more questions, you give your words”

I didn’t talk anything regarding that again. Sitting near to her, I just read her poems and discussed various topics. All of her poems dealt about feminism, suffering and freedom and she shared her views on gender inequality. I had no clue how the time went so fast. The wall clock hit 4 a.m. l went to my room to pack my things to go back to my locality as the training programme was over.

It was one of the remarkable days in my life still it seemed like a dream. Nobody would believe me, if I say, I just met a girl, spend my night with her and just reading her poems in her room throughout the night up to dawn. Would you believe me????

TRAIN TO HYDRABAD

Erode, One of the biggest railway stations of India, was in its high temperature, where people were scattered every nook and corner of the station, some with a purpose, some without a purpose. The bus conductors yelled at passengers to alight the bus as if they were the only perfectionists of the world. Vendors welcomed the passengers to visit their shops. Everyone was moving except a few people who stayed there forever. Not only the train used to come late but also the passengers who always had the habit of catching their train at the last moment because of having strong faith on Indian Railway timings.

I was surfing like a snake in the crowd to get into the platform where my train would come. It was not a piece of cake to walk swiftly in the crowd, it needed a lot of skill and strength and stone heart, because you wouldn’t have time to apologize for dashing a person accidently , if you did so, you would get many apologies.

I felt something held my leg and I was immobilized where everyone walked so fast, when I was submerging in my thoughts. An ugly boy in his mid of 12 years held my leg like a snake trapped its prey. Yes, I was a prey to the boy, and he would not give it up unless he was paid. To the beggars, you need to beg to leave you, because they are at home in psychology who use to choose the person who is about to catch their train in less than a minute. So, you have no choice but to offer them what they ask for or else it is not possible to catch your train. To my surprise, he left me without getting any offer; maybe he aimed for a better prey.

I saw that pitiable man with a huge luggage, struggling to move forward in the crowd. The radio voice announced the late arrival of train. A vender came and asked me to buy something from his mobile shop.

   “You will not get anything good if you move from here. Have some good snacks saab”.

He told me like a brilliant guide. I gave him a blur look at his grey eyes. He was a little pessimistic of his valiant effort.

            Dead platform came alive with the horn sound of the train. My mind became a small boy who got his long awaited candy. To be frank, I didn’t have a handsome travel, though it is one of the dreams of mine. But, that day I got an opportunity to travel in a sleeper class. I had never traveled in sleeper class coach thus far. I felt so excited. The train skated on the railroad with its hallmark magnificence.

                         I board the train to fetch myself. Every passenger’s face seemed happy of not having more number of passengers in the coach. The irony is that you should not sleep in a sleeper coach; each and every minute you will have visitors.

                        “Bhai! Buy this.It will heal anything.”

                        “Sab! Take this One, it’s a lucky amulet.”

                        “Ji! Have this for evergreen success.”              

                          Throughout your travel, you’d be able to see half of a shopping mall. Train was speeding up. It crossed every station just like a jet did. I took a novel and started reading it. I had an intruder when I was at the tenth page of the novel. He was a small boy in mid of fourteen, looked ugly. His hair hadn’t been combed well. His trouser tried its best to cover his leg. His shirt had holes.

                               “ Eami , okkada kusttaru?” He asked.

                                                I had no idea what he was saying. But I nodded my head with a smile. I wasn’t ready to admit that I didn’t know his language. His accent was like a saw cutting a wood. I nodded my head without any interest.

                                    The boy was a smart fish. He smelled it out that I was not able to understand his language. I was happy of his understanding ability which would help to put a full stop for our discourse.

                        To my surprise, he resumed his conversation in another language. I was struck with wonder of the ugly boy who was speaking fluent English, as if he was born in England.

                        I tried hard to answer his question as if I was a boy, where he was giving casual answer.

                         He had a sister who had been hospitalized and had none to take care of her. He was the only soul in the world she had. He was working as a page boy in the train for living.

                         He had triggered my curiosity to know more about him. I asked his whereabouts. He started to narrate his pathetic story.

                        His father had left the family when he was a small boy. He had no choice but to survive on his own with his mother and his sister. His earning was not sufficient for the bread and butter of his poor family, though he worked hard. To make things worse, his mother had been affected by HIV and her life would be shorter than expected. On suspicion, he checked it out his sister whether she was affected too. The result was positive which made his life negative. He admitted his sister in a hospital and started to work as a page boy.

                         There was a complete silence except the sound of the train. I pushed myself hard to say a few words to console him of what he had suffered.

jeevan ko aage badhana hai bhaiya - Oh! you don’t understand Hindi. NO problem. Life has to move on.  Vaalkai apditha aana, nama munneri poitea irukanum.” He said in Tamil.

                         I stopped myself to say something which was going in philosophical way. I offered him lunch which I had recently bought from a vendor, because he had seemed like being hit by a drought. He refused and said.

                        “No, thank you.”

                        “Why? You haven’t had food. You look so hungry.”

                 “Ya ,bhaiya but my sister is not eating, so I am also not eating. How can I eat without her?”

                         “You can afford her later.” I said.

                        “No, bhaiya, she won’t take anything unless I eat in front of her.”

                        I did not know what to say. I tried to speak something but my effort was in vain. I was searching for words that would be apt to cheer him up.

                        “Then, what do you want?” I asked.

                        He fumbled and said. “Can you give what I demand?”

                        I checked my wallet and said. “I will try.”

                        “Can you give me the Rubik’s cube which you are solving now?”

                        “The Rubik’s cube?”

                        “Yeah, I want to solve it but nobody teaches me. Can you, if you are willing?”

                        I smiled and taught him how to solve it. He was so happy of solving it and he learnt it faster than I thought.

                        “Wow ! You solved it.”

                         He smiled as if he won the world. “Can I keep it?”

                        I stared at him for a moment and said, “Yes, of course.”

                        He jumped off his seat and hugged me.

                        “Thank you, baiya.”

                        I patted oh his back and said, “You don’t worr………!”

                        He had already moved to the next berth and started to talk in Bengali.

               “Āpani kōthāẏa yācchēna” (Bangla for “Where are you going?”)

I was staring at him as he was solving the Rubik’s cube and was talking with the family.