The mid afternoon rains at Kurnool had hardly any effect on its bustling Railway Station...The local women sat in the shade of the awning at the entrance, weaving wreaths of Jasmine and Crossandra, urchins scurried around, splashing muddy water from potholes and men whiled away their post lunch recess gossiping over cups of Tea by the Paan Shop...The travellers, on the other hand, had little time and lesser respite to enjoy the languid afternoon drizzle...Some came in Autorickshaws and Motorbikes, half drenched and nonchalant, whereas others, affording the luxury of cars cursed the skies the moment they set foot on the Pavement...Inside the Station, surprisingly small for an erstwhile State Capital, commuters rushed in and out of the halting trains, some, frowns on their faces, preoccupied with work, some, beaming, elated to be home and others, like many of us, emotionless...
"I See You...Know You See Me Too" ♥
It was in such situations that Saritha and Prashant boarded the Chair Car of the awaiting Tungabhadra Express that was to take them to Hyderabad...Ofcourse they didn't do so together, Prashant was with his friends, well ahead of the scheduled departure, settled comfortably by the time the Train stirred on its tracks, oblivious to the fact that Saritha, breathless, had barely managed to catch hold of the handle and push herself up the Train...Indignant at the smirks of few teenagers who stood by the door, she pretended not to notice, subtly arranging her dupatta and combing through her hair with her hands...Giving a final tug to her kurta, and a shrug to settle her backpack, she walked into the Chair Car...We could ascribe it to fate but Prashant was the only person standing at his seat, chatting with his friends and with everyone else's back to her, it was only natural for Saritha to look his way...For a second, as Prashant looked up at her, he stopped mid-sentence, barely managing to cover his distraction before his friends turned their heads and found out the reason behind it...As has been described and documented an infinite number of times, something happened...Now there weren't any visible sparks or signs that could be of the remotest interest to their bored Co-Passengers but the hearts of a certain Boy and a certain Girl managed to leap, metaphorically ofcourse...
Prashant looked at her and thought, "Hmmm, simple, now not that fair but isn't dark the colour of the season?Well made up, as a girl ought to be...What do they call those dark eyes, aah, Smokey ! And tousled hair, must have taken quite a while to set that up..."Straightening his slouch, his thoughts continued, "Tall...Almost as tall as I am, isn't she?Healthy, (Thank God), these skinny girls of today ! I like the colours too, a bit dull for clothes though but from the looks of her, she probably works for some NGO...How I wish I wasn't in such a gaudy Blue !"
Saritha found her seat, regretting for the first time in her life that she had one at the Window rather than by the Aisle..."He's cute, isn't he?" she ventured into her thoughts, "I wish I had time to touch up a bit, my Kohl must be utterly smudged...And my hair, sheer disaster, if nothing else ! Drat the rain ! And why did I settle for beige clothes, should've worn something darker...He seems to be a Techie, might be a Medico too, seems so decent, almost shy...Hmmm, anyways, he's way out of my league, with that personality, who can match the dowry his family must be seeking?How typical, now I'm thinking of marrying an absolute stranger and possibly having his kids !"
"There's Something About Today That Says 'Maybe' !" ♥
She couldn't see him from where she sat, so resignedly, she plugged in her earphones and opened her laptop and tried, her very best, to keep him out of her mind...He kept standing so as to keep her in his sights, however, all he got was the top of her head and the illuminated screen of her laptop..."She doesn't even care", he thought and sat down dejectedly...The Tungabhadra Express ran as fast as it could but crawled to a snail's pace as it lurked outside Gadwal...Prashant, suddenly uninterested in the conversation with his friends had tried to lull himself into a nap but as the train screeched into Gadwal, he gave up the idea and turned a frustrating glance towards her seat...The dreary blue vinyl covers stared back...But then, something happened again...
From the row of seats, next to her's, on the other side of the aisle, a young woman got up with her child...Saritha was suddenly alert..."Is she getting down?I hope there isn't anybody else..."She smiled at the possibility..."But how did it matter, if he had been the least bit interested, he wouldn't have sat down !", she thought, embarrassed by the fact that she had looked over her shoulder several times in the past one hour..."Oh God, I am being desperate now...", she added glumly...
Unknown to her, Prashant had thought of the possibilities a few times over by then..."But what would he say to his friends?"...All that seemed to come to his mind was the lame excuse of his seat being too cramped and as he made this vocal, his friends wondered what difference would moving to another, exactly similar seat make?Anyways, it was a matter of his heart over his mind and in such matters, as we all know, logic had never played a very vital part...She was in the midst of a yawn when he walked over to his new seat and sat down...She tried stifling it but it turned into a grimace and she hurriedly looked away..."A yawn ! God, why on earth did it have to be a yawn !" But she was ecstatic..."He had come, hadn't he?He didn't need to, did he?But he did !" She could sense his eyes on her profile and gave a smile, unhesitant, wholesome, pure with happiness...
"The Street Signs, The City Lights, All The Stars Could Lead Me To You..." ♥
Sriramnagar, Wanparti and Mahbubnagar came and went without much incidence...There were furtive glances from either side, unsure of what the other had in mind...He thought, "Maybe she isn't a good girl, good girls dont go on stealing glances at strangers !" She wondered on similar lines, "He might be just another good looking flirt, how am I ever to know !" But, strangely, both felt at ease, their hearts wanting to place its faith in the other's...A miraculous trust had forged between them...
"Does he love music as much as I do?", Saritha asked herself as her playlist reached her favourite track..."Does she read?", Prashant queried, turning the pages of an yet unread bestseller in his hands..."Would he mind that I didn't know how to cook?Or that I wanted to bungee jump off a cliff?Oh, maybe he's married, that'll sort it all !", absolutely absurd thoughts juxtaposed in Saritha's mind..."She wouldn't ever look at me once she saw the scar on my arm ! And would she understand if I told her about my Football League?Maybe she isn't even from around here, we could never be together, that would be it !", Prashant was clearly catching up...And then, as it must, something happened again...Saritha looked at her window and in the dark, tinted glass saw him looking at her...Now for most of us, unromantic souls, catching someone's reflection in the glass would merely be the manifestation of Optics taught in school, but if either one of them were to be asked to describe that moment, they'd have inadvertently termed it as "Magical"...
"Dont Need A Reason Baby...We Might Be Crazy...Am Thinking, We Should Fall In Love !" ♥
It was settled, all that was wanting was a conversation...But, pun intended, that was easier said than done...And there wasn't time..."Malakpet was a few minutes away and he wouldn't get down there, would he?", thought Saritha as she flung her bag on her back and walked down the aisle to the door...The Passengers had thinned and his friends had joined him, laughing at all the Godforsaken things Men tend to laugh on ! She gave him an angry stare from through the Glass Door and it reached straight home...He felt awkward and clumsy and perturbed..."I understand the predicament, but what can I do?!" he wanted to shout back...She looked away, hurt and confused..."Had she imagined it all?"
He was restive now...He made a silent resolve and got up...His friends had started to wonder whether he was deliberately avoiding them ! Before they jumped to a conclusion, he reassured them, making a thankfully, more plausible excuse of going to the Restroom...Ofcourse, as men are, they took no further notice and got back to their utterly useless chatter...
Prashant opened the door to find Saritha and unfortunately four other passengers cramped up, waiting to be amongst the first to alight the Train at Malakpet...Saritha did not hide her delight, she just managed to blush and look away...He smiled...The chemistry was inescapable, mushy as the screenplay of a movie and yet it caused much apprehension to the middle aged man standing next to Prashant, watching the subtle antics of the two suspiciously !
Malakpet...Saritha got down and so did many others...Prashant stood by the door, perplexed...They still hadn't spoken a word...She waited a moment or two taking one painfully slow step after another...She didn't know what to expect?"This was it...", she thought, "Well, atleast my journey was memorable...Oh no, it wasn't ! Screw him, he was playing me along the entire way ! Or was he?" She hastened her step, and as she saw the Train hasten its speed, she promised herself not to give it another thought and furiously tried to divert her mind to tonight's dinner...
Prashant hastened his step too, much to the bewilderment of his friends who saw him on the platform, through the window ! They contemplated pulling the chain but couldn't make much sense of what they had seen and delayed the thought...After all, he could always take the bus to Secunderabad...What confused them further was that he had left his bags...What was he thinking !
Prashant wasn't really thinking...He thought it was a mistake but knew it wasn't...He saw her at a distance and jogged up to her..."Hey", he shouted and Saritha turned back...It was like one of those moments in movies when things happened, inexplicably, in slow motion...
She laughed out, "Oh my God !"...
He caught his breath, smiled and said..."Hi, nenu Prashant..."
"I See You...Know You See Me Too" ♥
It was in such situations that Saritha and Prashant boarded the Chair Car of the awaiting Tungabhadra Express that was to take them to Hyderabad...Ofcourse they didn't do so together, Prashant was with his friends, well ahead of the scheduled departure, settled comfortably by the time the Train stirred on its tracks, oblivious to the fact that Saritha, breathless, had barely managed to catch hold of the handle and push herself up the Train...Indignant at the smirks of few teenagers who stood by the door, she pretended not to notice, subtly arranging her dupatta and combing through her hair with her hands...Giving a final tug to her kurta, and a shrug to settle her backpack, she walked into the Chair Car...We could ascribe it to fate but Prashant was the only person standing at his seat, chatting with his friends and with everyone else's back to her, it was only natural for Saritha to look his way...For a second, as Prashant looked up at her, he stopped mid-sentence, barely managing to cover his distraction before his friends turned their heads and found out the reason behind it...As has been described and documented an infinite number of times, something happened...Now there weren't any visible sparks or signs that could be of the remotest interest to their bored Co-Passengers but the hearts of a certain Boy and a certain Girl managed to leap, metaphorically ofcourse...
Prashant looked at her and thought, "Hmmm, simple, now not that fair but isn't dark the colour of the season?Well made up, as a girl ought to be...What do they call those dark eyes, aah, Smokey ! And tousled hair, must have taken quite a while to set that up..."Straightening his slouch, his thoughts continued, "Tall...Almost as tall as I am, isn't she?Healthy, (Thank God), these skinny girls of today ! I like the colours too, a bit dull for clothes though but from the looks of her, she probably works for some NGO...How I wish I wasn't in such a gaudy Blue !"
Saritha found her seat, regretting for the first time in her life that she had one at the Window rather than by the Aisle..."He's cute, isn't he?" she ventured into her thoughts, "I wish I had time to touch up a bit, my Kohl must be utterly smudged...And my hair, sheer disaster, if nothing else ! Drat the rain ! And why did I settle for beige clothes, should've worn something darker...He seems to be a Techie, might be a Medico too, seems so decent, almost shy...Hmmm, anyways, he's way out of my league, with that personality, who can match the dowry his family must be seeking?How typical, now I'm thinking of marrying an absolute stranger and possibly having his kids !"
"There's Something About Today That Says 'Maybe' !" ♥
She couldn't see him from where she sat, so resignedly, she plugged in her earphones and opened her laptop and tried, her very best, to keep him out of her mind...He kept standing so as to keep her in his sights, however, all he got was the top of her head and the illuminated screen of her laptop..."She doesn't even care", he thought and sat down dejectedly...The Tungabhadra Express ran as fast as it could but crawled to a snail's pace as it lurked outside Gadwal...Prashant, suddenly uninterested in the conversation with his friends had tried to lull himself into a nap but as the train screeched into Gadwal, he gave up the idea and turned a frustrating glance towards her seat...The dreary blue vinyl covers stared back...But then, something happened again...
From the row of seats, next to her's, on the other side of the aisle, a young woman got up with her child...Saritha was suddenly alert..."Is she getting down?I hope there isn't anybody else..."She smiled at the possibility..."But how did it matter, if he had been the least bit interested, he wouldn't have sat down !", she thought, embarrassed by the fact that she had looked over her shoulder several times in the past one hour..."Oh God, I am being desperate now...", she added glumly...
Unknown to her, Prashant had thought of the possibilities a few times over by then..."But what would he say to his friends?"...All that seemed to come to his mind was the lame excuse of his seat being too cramped and as he made this vocal, his friends wondered what difference would moving to another, exactly similar seat make?Anyways, it was a matter of his heart over his mind and in such matters, as we all know, logic had never played a very vital part...She was in the midst of a yawn when he walked over to his new seat and sat down...She tried stifling it but it turned into a grimace and she hurriedly looked away..."A yawn ! God, why on earth did it have to be a yawn !" But she was ecstatic..."He had come, hadn't he?He didn't need to, did he?But he did !" She could sense his eyes on her profile and gave a smile, unhesitant, wholesome, pure with happiness...
"The Street Signs, The City Lights, All The Stars Could Lead Me To You..." ♥
Sriramnagar, Wanparti and Mahbubnagar came and went without much incidence...There were furtive glances from either side, unsure of what the other had in mind...He thought, "Maybe she isn't a good girl, good girls dont go on stealing glances at strangers !" She wondered on similar lines, "He might be just another good looking flirt, how am I ever to know !" But, strangely, both felt at ease, their hearts wanting to place its faith in the other's...A miraculous trust had forged between them...
"Does he love music as much as I do?", Saritha asked herself as her playlist reached her favourite track..."Does she read?", Prashant queried, turning the pages of an yet unread bestseller in his hands..."Would he mind that I didn't know how to cook?Or that I wanted to bungee jump off a cliff?Oh, maybe he's married, that'll sort it all !", absolutely absurd thoughts juxtaposed in Saritha's mind..."She wouldn't ever look at me once she saw the scar on my arm ! And would she understand if I told her about my Football League?Maybe she isn't even from around here, we could never be together, that would be it !", Prashant was clearly catching up...And then, as it must, something happened again...Saritha looked at her window and in the dark, tinted glass saw him looking at her...Now for most of us, unromantic souls, catching someone's reflection in the glass would merely be the manifestation of Optics taught in school, but if either one of them were to be asked to describe that moment, they'd have inadvertently termed it as "Magical"...
"Dont Need A Reason Baby...We Might Be Crazy...Am Thinking, We Should Fall In Love !" ♥
It was settled, all that was wanting was a conversation...But, pun intended, that was easier said than done...And there wasn't time..."Malakpet was a few minutes away and he wouldn't get down there, would he?", thought Saritha as she flung her bag on her back and walked down the aisle to the door...The Passengers had thinned and his friends had joined him, laughing at all the Godforsaken things Men tend to laugh on ! She gave him an angry stare from through the Glass Door and it reached straight home...He felt awkward and clumsy and perturbed..."I understand the predicament, but what can I do?!" he wanted to shout back...She looked away, hurt and confused..."Had she imagined it all?"
He was restive now...He made a silent resolve and got up...His friends had started to wonder whether he was deliberately avoiding them ! Before they jumped to a conclusion, he reassured them, making a thankfully, more plausible excuse of going to the Restroom...Ofcourse, as men are, they took no further notice and got back to their utterly useless chatter...
Prashant opened the door to find Saritha and unfortunately four other passengers cramped up, waiting to be amongst the first to alight the Train at Malakpet...Saritha did not hide her delight, she just managed to blush and look away...He smiled...The chemistry was inescapable, mushy as the screenplay of a movie and yet it caused much apprehension to the middle aged man standing next to Prashant, watching the subtle antics of the two suspiciously !
Malakpet...Saritha got down and so did many others...Prashant stood by the door, perplexed...They still hadn't spoken a word...She waited a moment or two taking one painfully slow step after another...She didn't know what to expect?"This was it...", she thought, "Well, atleast my journey was memorable...Oh no, it wasn't ! Screw him, he was playing me along the entire way ! Or was he?" She hastened her step, and as she saw the Train hasten its speed, she promised herself not to give it another thought and furiously tried to divert her mind to tonight's dinner...
Prashant hastened his step too, much to the bewilderment of his friends who saw him on the platform, through the window ! They contemplated pulling the chain but couldn't make much sense of what they had seen and delayed the thought...After all, he could always take the bus to Secunderabad...What confused them further was that he had left his bags...What was he thinking !
Prashant wasn't really thinking...He thought it was a mistake but knew it wasn't...He saw her at a distance and jogged up to her..."Hey", he shouted and Saritha turned back...It was like one of those moments in movies when things happened, inexplicably, in slow motion...
She laughed out, "Oh my God !"...
He caught his breath, smiled and said..."Hi, nenu Prashant..."
"Let's Go Slow...We Got All The Time We Could Ever Need...We Could Catch A Movie And Possibly,
We Could Get Together More Frequently..."
We Could Get Together More Frequently..."
♥
Author's Note:
#1: As I wanted my characters to be Telugu, I've spelled the lady's name as Sarit'h'a, as is commonly spelled in the Southern States...
#2: I've taken the lyrics (The sentences in pink with little hearts at the end) from one of my favourite tracks currently, Estelle's "Fall In Love"...
#3: The story bears no resemblance to any real event...( Or does it? ;) )
12 comments:
was engrossed in it .........
gr8 Vasudha ...
Best Line of all-
Now for most of us, unromantic souls, catching someone's reflection in the glass would merely be the manifestation of Optics taught in school, but if either one of them were to be asked to describe that moment, they'd have inadvertently termed it as "Magical"...
Thanks Tushar ! The scientific mind that you have, it isn't surprising to see which part of the story you liked ! :P
Supperbly written Vasudha.....the description Wen they sat facing together was awesome..poppped up a screen in front.:)
Please have a look at what you've created.. you'd easily give a tough competition to Chetan Bhagat (just for a start). Start working on a novel.. Trust me!
P.S.` Though I do not have a scientific mind like Tushar but even I loved the lines he mentioned!
Thanks guys ! It might be good enough for a blog but too predictable and cliche for a book...As long as I have you all to give it a read, I'm happy ! Luv you guys... ♥
Vasu darling, according to 'author's note no.3', if this story bears any resemblance to real event, i'l b more dan happy ;) hehe.. cheers to a luv story!!!
write more of these please..
i happnd to read it half den had t go to office n i was in dat trance for d whole day n den after gettin bak home, i hurriedly finishd it,.... luvly :)
Thank you so much Pallu ! ♥
Well, unfortunately, #3 was just to stir up some curiosity, nothing more !
Tumko to PhD karna chahiye Psychology me...waise management bhi sahi hai tumhare liye ;)
He he he, bhala lagila na nahi? :D
oh how i wish it to be true ....!! now let me reveal sth ! I always had fantasized such a love story beginning in a train !! :P :P
you truly rock babes!!
btw going by the coincidences and similarities .... does anybdy need to guess who would be the person to face similar incidence/s...
Vasu do act on the script !! <3 <3
Thanks babes ! ♥
Lemme say, the story had its own inspiration !
Let the story continue...
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