"Rain rain go away, come again another day"... That is what a child sings when it sees the rain. I was in no different state of mind. I too had sung the same song that day. But somewhere deep down a chill was running continuously through my spine. Deep down, I wanted it to pour down cats and dogs. It was like the sky meets the sand. This was the day when we were going to meet for the first time. First time ever in a manner which I was feeling for her. First time in a manner, when I was proposing a girl (atleast...)
"Aaj unse pehli mulakaat hogi,
Phir aamne saamne baat hogi,
Phir hoga kya kya pata kya khabar...
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I was waiting at the coffee shop that we both knew off. It was getting more and more tense before I could see her coming. I was keeping an eye on every similar vehicle which she rode. It started raining hard and I thought to check with her. But the phone remained unanswered. A sense of fear struck me. What if she's not coming? This rain.. .aaah... Why is it pouring down now? Should it not wait till the girl reaches the point. What if she doesn't come because of this? I'll never have a chance again. I might not be able to gather the courage to meet her.
Trring Trring... Trring Trring..(I don't remember what was the ringtone of my cellphone), my cellphone rang. It was her.
"Kahaan pe khada hai tu?"
"I am standing at the main door."
"Ok.."
Before I could disconnect the call, she was right there in front of me. Aaaaah! she was right there.. There.. yes, there she was. I swear it was an disastrous moment for me. Ha ha ha.. I laughed.
We went inside and found a place at the corner. That was the only place remaining to be occupied. Even at that moment I felt that it was virtually reserved for us. Wow! the eternity was playing its part too.
"Hmm, so tell me. Kya hua achanak tuje?" She asked with a typical smile.
"Umm.. well ...aaa... u know it was like..umm..." I stuttered.
"Cool down, its ok.... aaram se bol"... she consoled me.
"You know, there were instances which led to...
"Arey, tuje nahi lagta yahaan pe bohot shor hai?, can we go to some place else?" she intterupted.
"Huh! yeah, we can, well we can go for a drive, in my car... Yeah infact, we can do that. Atleast shanti hogi gaadi mein"
"Ok Lets go" she confirmed
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We drove all the way in the city for almost an hour and half. I initiated by telling her about what I felt and what I expect out of this conversation. She listened carefully. I fumbled a thousand times when I tried telling her looking into her eyes. I stuttered while using English and I lost the words while telling her things in Hindi.
"Its ok Jay, u can use Gujarati if you want.." she consoled again while smiling.
The meeting went well. We went to our regular tea stall. I narrated everything about my engagements in the past. She was still listening it, while giving the verbal nods. I felt like I was almost there. But, but, I didn't propose her. Instead....
"See, I don't expect any answer from you, not atleast now. Cause I just felt telling you how I feel about you and seriously I do not care anything about your answer. All I wanted to do was to tell you how I feel. So faltu ka load mat lena.".....
But I knew by tell her this, mein faltu ka load lay raha tha.
She kept on listening, and she questioned me few things to which I answered promptly. All the while talking to her I was too busy in maintaining my mood, such that she doesn't feel offended.
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Finally the day came. She buzzed me on the messenger. It was her turn to tell me her side of the story. The day when I told her everything, I was the one who talked. Now, she was doing all the talking. She gave all her reasons, the way I did. She told everything from her side, the way I did. She told everything about how she feels about me, the way I did.
She was at relief and so was I. She was at content and so was I. We talked further and things started to roll...It rolled the way we both concluded.
-----
Rainy season, this year. It was raining heavily. Heartily is an understatement. The message from the girl elated me. We were going to enjoy the rains. She confirmed her arrival, while I was waiting for it sitting at my desk in the office. The day was over for me and I moved down for a ride on her moped....It was raining within...