Once upon a time in Rajasthan

 

“If you have chosen to close your eyes, you are missing something!”

 

The beginning:

 

I left office early to reach Mumbai Central in time. For the first time I would be traveling on Rajdhani Express. I never had the chance of boarding this train in my life. When I got my first job, I had to come down to Mumbai from my native place, Kolkata, and there was no Rajdhani plying between Kolkata and Mumbai, as the train was meant to connect state capitals with New Delhi. So traveling by Rajdhani remained a long cherished dream for time being. I was very much fascinated when I get to know that I have to come down to Delhi for an interview. The company was willing to reimburse air tickets, but I didn’t want to lose my maiden opportunity to board the Rajdhani Express. I booked the return ticket on the same day. Finally the day had arrived and I was in the platform to board the train. I could not wait to get in. There was another reason for the urgency. When I looked at the reservation chart few minutes back, I found that someone called Neha Bhasin/ 23/ F would be occupying the berth next to me. So, that should be enough stuff for me to make my journey exiting. I straightaway called Aditya, my previous room mate and now based in Noida. Eventually he was also fond of this train and had a rewarding journey few months back when he journeyed from Delhi to Kolkata except that he had an old man of his grandpa’s age as co-passenger. Meeting with him after so many long months was one of the high priority tasks in my agenda for that Delhi visit.

 

“Hi Adi, what’s up? I am boarding the train.”

“Great! Who is sitting next to you?” he asked in reply. Surely I didn’t mentioned him about that, bur our thought process matches with each other so well that we knew what exactly was running in other person’s mind, in a given situation. We started our career together in Mumbai, stayed together for three years, hanged out together in all those days and even had a crush together on same girl in office. We could connect easily with each other without wasting any time.

“It’s a girl there, probably a college going girl” I answered.

“Wow! So god had listened to your prayers at last, don’t waste the opportunity mate! You will not always have a twenty something girl traveling next to you everyday.”

“Yes, I understand. But let me see the girl first man!” I replied, while trying to find out the prettiest girl around and hoped that her name would be Neha.

 

The train had already come to the platform by that time. I stayed back in front of the coach at the platform for a while, until the initial rush was over at the door. I had not given any berth preference at the time of booking and found that IRCTC software arranged a side lower berth for me. I was ok with that. Since it was an air-conditioned compartment and the journey will be overnight, I really didn’t bother about the berth, but a window seat was always welcome whether it was possible to open the window or not. Neha hadn’t come yet. I placed my luggage under the seat and took my laptop out of the bag. I needed to finish one assignment which I had to send to my boss, next day. Few minutes later a middle aged woman stopped at my berth, read the number plate and place one luggage on the top berth.

“This lady can’t be Neha” I told myself in surprise while looked at her as if I knew her for years “and if yes, then there was something wrong in the age mentioned in the reservation chart”.

 

“Thanks mom, now I am at my berth and you can leave” an annoying girly voice came from the back of the lady.

“Yes, I know, and don’t worry, I am not going to stay with you in Delhi, and so do whatever you want, there.”

“Thank you mama, and you know, you the best mom in this world” said Neha as she was giving a big hug to her mom.

Girls just couldn’t help themselves stop showing emotions where it was least required.

 

Neha’s mom left within few minutes, obviously with another hug from her daughter while disembarking from the train.

Finally Neha was in front of me and I could see her without any disturbances, though I was not staring at her. She was wearing a white T-shirt and blue denim trouser. One thing I liked about her that evening was she had minimal makeup put on her face and looked very fresh.

 

First impression:

 

The train had slowly started to leave the station. Our eyes were already encountered each other few times by then. Every time I returned a smile, and she finally reciprocated after few failed tries.

 

"Hi, I am Saket; nice to meet you", I said with a smile on my face. The train was approaching Borivali.

"I am Neha, Neha Bhasin; nice to meet you too", she replied, without any expression on her face. It was at par with my expectation. After all I was not a celebrity with whom girls were eager to introduce with.

"Oh, I am sorry! I forgot to mention my full name, my surname is Banerjee, so I am Saket Banerjee", I replied, for stretching the conversation, again with a smile.

"Nice name, so you are a bong...” she replied with a smile (for the first time!). Any reply from a girl means there is a definite chance to continue talking with her, no matter what the topic of conversation is. So without wasting any chance, I continued, "How do you know that I am Bengali?”

"Your surname”

"Oh; it seems that you have good knowledge of people from different parts of India", I stopped myself here, I was about to ask as many question as possible, whether she was a student or not, if yes then from which college and what was her major and so on. But my intuition said that keep that questions in reserve for later usage.

 

"Not really, some of my friends are from Kolkata, so I just familiar with a few bong surnames, that’s it", she said while pulling out an ipod and a paper back book from her bag.

 

I knew that the first episode is over. Girls’ don’t prefer any unwanted attention, and I had to stop if at all I wanted to resume later on. It was time to enjoy the train ride by looking outside the window. This makes train ride more enjoyable than a flight.

 

I had finished the pending work and few phone calls by 8.30 p.m. and shut down the laptop. The second next day was a big day for me. I had to attend an interview with a very reputed semiconductor MNC. If I could crack it, it would be the beginning of a new chapter of my professional life. It was one of my dream companies to work for.

 

Neha was still submerged in her ipod and book, totally cut off from the world around. I looked at the other co-passengers in the compartment. Most of them looked business travelers, but there were some odd couples and families also. The six berths, just opposite was occupied by six middle aged man. All of them were mature looking senior executives. Sometimes I thought how I would be looking after 15-20 years and what would be the other changes in my personality. But these thoughts dried out very fast as soon as I realize that, I even didn’t know what to do day after tomorrow, or where I would live after two months. Globalization had created so many opportunities for our generation that a boy like me couldn’t really think of settled down in his twenties. The whole world is our work field. There is no question of belong to some specific location. We will be there, where the opportunity is.

 

Wait for next day starts:

 

Our dinner was started to come by then. Neha finally put the book in her bag. She still plugged in the ipod earphones in her ears. No sign of breaking more ice in night. I just managed to smile while looking at her eyes when she was moving to her upper berth.

 

I woke up next morning little early; rather I would say my sleep broke up due to some noise. Lot of people in the coach had been awake by then. There was some problem outside as the train was also not moving. Still there was some time to dawn. The outside was dark enough so that very little could be seen from the window. Two security guards had come to the coach by then and alerted us not to open the doors until they advised us to do so. They were also not aware by then, what was happening in front of the train. We were still in dark on what was happening outside. We could only figure out some intermittent torchlight outside. I choose not to indulge in details of what was happening and went back to my berth to sleep. Neha was not there on her berth. I was feeling very tired and pulled up my blanket for another spell of sleep. I just thought that there would be major technical snag in the engine and we would be on track again within few hours.

 

The trouble begins:

 

Once again my sleep was interrupted. There were multiple factors responsible for it. But then I just realized that I was in train not in my flat. It was 7.55 a.m. I felt little warmer as strong direct sunlight was on my berth. I forget to pull the window curtains after trying to peep outside few hours earlier. The AC was also running in low intensity. In short the overall atmosphere was started to deteriorate than that of Rajdhani Express.

 

"What make you sleep so long? Do you aware of the outside situation?" asked Neha who was sitting on the next berth. I was surprised. I certainly didn't expect that Neha would be the first person whom I will be talking to in the morning. Before replying, I just looked around the compartment. It seemed that something was wrong outside. People were looking anxious.

I came straight to the point, "what is wrong outside? I need to be in Delhi today."

"I guess everybody in this train need to be in Delhi today. Anyways there is an agitation going in this place on the railway tracks and the villagers have uprooted rails in few places in both up and down sections. We are in Rajasthan right now and more importantly stuck here."

"Is not there any police around? Why they are not flushing out the agitators from the tracks?" I was asking these questions like a snob. Actually I was trying to figure out the extent of the trouble that I was going to face.

"Better you go outside and take stock of the situation. You will get answers of your questions" she reluctantly answered. I felt awkward for asking so many questions to her. Ideally, I also should be aware what was happening outside.

 

I took up my toothpaste and toothbrush and went outside to see what exactly is happening. There was large number of police present in that area and specially on the side of our train. But to my surprise, their number was in no comparison with the people around. Their number would be at least 1 lac. On asking one of the policeman there who the protesters were and what they want, I came to know that they were members of one of the backward communities of Rajasthan and want some reservation in government jobs. It’s a political issue. They were holding "fast until death" kind of agitation for quite sometime now, but government did not bother to listen to their demands and now they want to escalate their demand to the centre and that’s why they had captured the rail routes here and will not clear the tracks until their demands were met. Assessing the situation, I was sure there will be no short term solution to our current problem, as they already uprooted some parts of the rail tracks, no way could this train reach Delhi anytime soon. The first thing that I started to think that how to reach Delhi in shortest possible time? I was stuck in a mess and didn't know how to come out of it.

 

I returned back to my berth. Our breakfasts were already there. But the railways staff told that breakfast was the last food, they can serve to the passengers as there was no ration available on board. On questioning what the rail department was doing for evacuating the trapped passengers, they said, few senior officials soon visit the place and would made alternative arrangements for the passengers.

 

"So, what will you do now?" I asked Neha. She was still sitting on the window seat in front of me.

"Not sure, I have not decided yet, my mom had already called me more than 10 times since the news broke off and asked not to leave the train. But I have to be in the University tomorrow. Let’s see, what alternative arrangements railways make for us" she replied with a pale face.

 

"In which university do you study?" I enquired while eating the sandwich.

"JNU, I am doing masters in mass communication. By the way, what are you going to do in Delhi?" she asked in reply.

"I am going for an interview and that too is scheduled for next morning" I answered as we heard some announcements on loud speakers outside.

 

The railway officials had come by then. They told us that the tracks were badly damaged ahead and if the blockage was removed, then also it was possible to run the train towards Delhi. So they arranged return journey for us. Yes, I heard that correct; the train would be started to going back to Mumbai within 2-3 hours and necessary arrangements had been made. Two engines would be coming within 2-3 hours and food and drinking water will be available within noon at the nearest railway station.

 

The great alternate plan:

 

I already started to evaluate my options, quickly. The train would take at least 12 hours or more to reach Mumbai. If I opt for return to Mumbai, then I would need to spend a sleepless night at airport to catch the first flight to Delhi, which I considered very hectic. Now the other option would be to reach Delhi by road from there. But neither anybody here had a vehicle to give me a lift, nor I knew the details, where to find the public buses or hire private vehicles, how long it would take to reach Delhi from here by road etc. I went to a nearby police man and enquired about the high-way conditions to Delhi, and what kind of road transport facilities available to travel to Delhi and how long it would take to reach Delhi by road. There were few other people also who was discussing the same options with police. I decided to join them. The final information that we had was that Delhi was straight 8 hours distance from there by road. Jaipur was at 3 hours away. There were little chance to catch a bus or hire some vehicle from that place to Jaipur, but we could get a lift by trucks. Once we reach Jaipur, we could get a private or public vehicle to Delhi. Finally after lots of discussion, four people including me agreed to proceed to Delhi by road. All of them looked more aged than me; nevertheless, another exciting journey was waiting for me. I never thought of this kind of adventure on my way to Delhi on my maiden Rajdhani journey. But that’s life; you never know what was waiting in the next turn.

 

Actually that was just the beginning of one of my memorable journeys till date. Though I never had a chance to travel a lot, and initially it seemed that I was in big trouble when the railway authorities decided to take the train back to Mumbai, but finally the rest episodes of it proved worthy later that day.

 

The biggest surprise of the day:

 

I rushed back to my berth, and started to wrap up my belongings as we had agreed to set off as soon as possible. There came my first surprise. "Why are you packing your stuffs in hurry? Are not you going back to Mumbai?" asked Neha while strangely looking at me.

I did not bother to give her a damn look as I assumed that my flirting quota with Neha had been exhausted and its time to concentrate on only one thing, how to reach Delhi in shortest possible time, safely. I really could not afford to lose the next day’s interview. You never get interview calls from your dream companies every week. "No actually I am planning to leave for Delhi by road; there were three other people also who are agreed to part of it. We just want to start as soon as possible" I said.

"How long it will take to reach Delhi from here by road?" she asked curiously.

"According to our approximations, it should not be more than eight hours" I replied while zipping off my rucksack.

"It means if you leave now, then you will be in Delhi by eight in the evening" she commented while doing some brisk calculations on her mind.

"Yes you are right" I replied while about to take the bag on my back.

"Can I join you?” I really did not expect that question from her. I looked at her and said "are you serious, I mean there are no girls in the team and we did not have any vehicle right now with us. I might take longer than 8 hours".

"I am ok with all that as long as all of you ready to include me into your gang”.

"I have no objection if you are comfortable, and hopefully others also will not complain of a girls company" I resumed flirting and started to make plans for next 8-10 hours. After all now the journey should not look dull "but what about your mother? Did you tell her about your plan?"

 

"Ok done. Then wait for a while. I need to pack my stuff and you need not to worry about my mom, I will take care of her" she said and started to wrap up her belongings.

"I am not worrying about your mom, but for her daughter".

She replied back with a naughty smile which indeed set the tone for the journey.

 

The actual journey starts:

 

When all of us meet outside to set off, the other three guys questioned me "You were saying you are alone, now where did this girl come from?"

"No, actually she was traveling in the berth next to me and she also had an urgent work there tomorrow. When she came to know our plan, she wanted to join. Hopefully its ok with you guys; by the way, she is Neha" I introduced her to them.

 

"Let’s go" said one guy and we were off the railway tracks.

The first thing we did was to buy some dry food and water bottles from the first grocery shop we saw on our way to the highway. The highway was almost two kilometers away from the railway tracks as told by the policeman. There was no proper road leading to the highway from there. So we had to walk through the fields. Few minutes later we luckily found two people with camel driven carts. They offered us to take the cart ride to the highway. On enquiring about the place and its whereabouts, we came to know that there was a dhaba nearby on the highway where truck drivers were usually halt for some food and nap. We decided to go to that place so that we can get a ride to Jaipur. We reached the dhaba within half an hour. Two people from our group approached some truck drivers and after some apprehension, one of them agreed to drop us to Jaipur. In the front compartment, there was place for three people. The truck was carrying paddy straws. I blindly choose to ride on the back of it. Now there were four people from our group and one had to give company to me for the next 3-4 hours. I crossed my fingers, would it be Neha? Within few seconds Neha decided to come with me on the back of the truck. I guess she didn’t have a better choice either. Otherwise she had to adjust with odd strange people in the driver’s cabin. On the back, she would at least attract least attention. I did not consider myself as stranger to her any more. When lots of co-incidents happen together, it happens for a reason! And not to mention, I had to pull her up to the back of the truck, never mind the strange looks from the other members of the group.

 

As the truck started moving, she finally settled at one corner and exclaimed "I never thought of this kind of journey to Delhi in my wildest dreams".

"I too, by the way have you informed your parents about it? They must be concerned about you".

"It seems to me that you are more worried about my parents than me".

"Not really, just for sake of conversation, I asked these. There should some topic on which we can have a chat; after all we couldn't just sit silent for next 9-10 hours and seeing each other. Oh sorry, I don’t know about you, but I just can’t! And as far as your parents are concerned, they should worry a bit. After all, you are traveling with some strangers on a truck." I explained all these at one go. Though she was beautiful and attractive, I was older to her and I was not saying any wrong thing; so I should not fear.

 

"Oh; I can give you better topic for chat", she said after a brief pause, "Tell me something about yourself, what you are doing in Mumbai? I have told you quite a detail about myself, but never have the opportunity to hear from you".

 

"Well, I work for an IT company in Mumbai for about four years; I stay in Navi Mumbai. And you already knew that I am from Kolkata", I said while taking out one of the water bottle.

 

"I expected some more details" she said pretending to appear serious.

"Sorry! I did not get you?"

"No, you can always tell me something more, like something about your family, I will never mind".

"Excuse me; I think we should stop this introduction part now. I am not getting what you really want to ask about, and I guess you are also not sure what you want to know about me" I replied as we were laughing on our conversation.

 

"Ok tell me, have you been to Rajasthan earlier?" I asked.

"No. Actually did not get a chance yet, but I love traveling, especially the mountains attract me more. I have been to Manali, Haridwar, Simla and many places in Uttarakhand and Himachal in last two years. What are you interested in?"

 

"Actually I also love to travel a lot, but when in college, there was no extra money to roam around and now, I do have money to spend on holidays but I did not get leaves easily, that’s the irony. You will realize when you start your career. Life will not be same again."

"Yes, I know, one of my cousins is in Infosys. After joining that company, whenever we talk on phone, she complains about the hectic lifestyle. But these are professional hazards. You have to live with it. Have you been abroad for any onsite assignments?"

 

"Not yet. Actually I am happy with my work here and want to continue working in India. Life is lot more difficult in abroad. And if at all I have to work there, I would like to have short assignments. Many of my friends have been gone to many places in Europe and USA for long times. Majority of them were not able to adapt with the lifestyle there. The only thing attracts people there is money. But nowadays the distance does not matter at all, no matter where are you working from. Life has been very kind to me till now. Don’t know what lies ahead for me.” I continued "Tell me what your plans are, after studies?"

 

"Not yet finalized. As of now, I want to work for a reputed publishing house after completing my masters" she replied as the truck was trying to park along side a dhaba. I did not realized how one and a half hour has passed away.

 

Stage was set for another disaster:

 

"Come down Banerjee; we will have some food here. Take Neha along with you", somebody tell us loudly from ground.

"Yes, coming" I said while climbing down from the back of the truck. Obviously I had to help Neha to come down. This was the second time I had to hold her hand. First time was when I helped her to climb up to the back of the track. Holding hands, in these occasions was not a very big deal, but I am mentioning it here because of the following series of incidents, unfolded later that day.

 

Neha was wearing a high hill shoe. I advised her to remove it while she was trying to jump from the top of the rear wall of the truck.

 

So far the journey was good. Jaipur was another two hours drive from there. We were discussing about the way ahead from there. The dhaba owner gives us a mobile number and an address of a travel agency of Jaipur, from where we could hire a vehicle and drive to Delhi. If somebody knows driving and ready to drive till Delhi, then they would simply give the vehicle to us. We have to submit the vehicle at a pre-defined address in Delhi. That was a very good option as all of us knew driving and ready to take the eight hour driving challenge. Otherwise there were state transport buses and private vehicles which ferry people to Delhi. We decided to hire the standalone vehicle.

 

After lunch, I and Neha again climbed to the back of the truck as other people were having a smoke break. After few minutes, when the truck still not started, I had little doubt what was going on down. I tried to peep into the driver's compartment but could not see anybody there. I climbed down and nobody from our group was nearby. I looked around for them and after a while asked the dhaba owner who was sitting outside, about our men. His reply was shocking. He said they had left just ten minutes before, and he thought we were in that truck only. We were in more trouble, no doubt about that. But I was trying to figure out how this misunderstanding could happen? We were right there at the back of the truck. Within minutes I found that we had boarded a wrong truck. Actually there was another truck which was also carrying paddy straw and by mistake we climbed on that. I realized how fool we were as we did not note down or remember the truck's number. But that’s not all, there were more surprises was waiting for us. Even the other people were not confirmed our presence while boarding the vehicle, and above all neither I nor Neha had their phone numbers and hence we could not contact them for our rescue. The only mobile number I had was of the travel agency in Jaipur, from where we could hire a private vehicle for Delhi. It was evident by then that we were in a big mess. Now I had to plan faster, how to reach Jaipur. Neha was still on the top of the truck unknown from the ground realities. This was the unique situation of its kind, where I was stuck with a strange beautiful girl in an unknown territory, and did not know, how to get out of it. I went to the truck, called Neha and asked her to come down immediately.

 

She crossed the rear cover of the truck and called me up for helping her to jump down. I went there and stretched my hand so that she could grab it. The heavenly feelings which were prevailed just an hour back were gone. Had it been I alone, I did not cared about the situation at all, but Neha was with me and we were in an absolute unknown territory. What I feared the most, about our security, to be very specific about Neha's security. Suddenly the stranger started to give me some strange feelings. We had to get out of that place and reach Jaipur as soon as possible. These random thoughts were surfing through my mind when I heard some screaming voice of Neha. What I saw that she was half lying on the ground and trying to hold her left ankle with both the hands, but I still was holding back her left hand. I was not readily able to realize what had happened. As the people around were rushed to the place, I found out about the mishap and the cause of it. Neha was still wearing the high heel shoes, which triggered me to understand, what had happened. This time, I forgot to tell her to remove her shoes while jumping off the back of the truck and she did not remove it at all. Also I was in a pseudo minded state while helping her to climb down. The cumulative result of all these was she jumped but could not balanced herself properly and fell off the ground and more importantly injured her left ankle.

 

The dhaba owner was very kind to us and immediately brought a tray of ice so that Neha could get some instant relief. Now there was double trouble for me as I found out after some time that Neha was unable to put her left foot on the ground and I had to grab her from the waist to enable her to stand on her feet. Though she was brave enough to try to stand up on her own, but without help, she could not. Also I had to escort her like this to washroom after some time. I had never held any girl like this earlier in my life. It was altogether a unique experience for me, but whenever I saw her face; all my fantasies were dried down as she desperately needed some rest. She too was very embarrassed about the situation but neither of us could do much about it, then. The demand of situation was that I needed to be responsible enough to drop Neha to her place in Delhi, safely. I thought of it as my duty and started to perform that.

 

The dhaba owner was really more intelligent than I anticipated. Though he was a ‘Sardar’, but after experiencing his hospitality, I really wanted to stop reading those Santa-Banta jokes. When I asked him to suggest us any idea to go to Jaipur, he told that he already arranged a car for us to drop us to Jaipur. The car came off exactly after fifteen minutes.

 

Journey to Jaipur:

 

"How are you feeling now?" I asked Neha. I was speaking to her after a while. I had spoken to her long before while taking her to the restroom. She was so happy after getting those ices at the dhaba, I thought that not to bother her by asking "how are you feeling" again and again. Anyways she would be with me till Delhi and I would have enough time to know more about her injury.  By that time, after being with her for that many hours, I was gradually came to know about her status from her body language. This was the new found communication channel between us. So I choose to take care of other things. When we were finally off to Jaipur, I took a long breath as we were again started to getting closer to Delhi.

 

"I am fine now" she said with such a sorrowful voice "actually I wanted to say you thanks many times before, but could not gather the courage. I am really sorry for all these, which is in-turn multiplied your pains."

"Not mention. You don’t have to feel guilty. It was just an accident and could happen to me also. You just feel yourself comfortable and leave every thing else to me. You will be at your place, safely. But one thing I must say that in another way you were also lucky, because not so many people in this world experienced this much care and hospitality from me, and now you are the part of that exclusive club!"

"Oh, I am privileged", she said with a smile while trying to put her injured leg in comfortable position.

"Actually it was written in our daily log somewhere with God that on this day I have to serve you, so don’t deny what you are deserving" I replied as I was trying to place her legs on my lap "you will fell better now".

"You don’t have to...." I stopped her before she finishes. "Just shut up and relax".

 

The dhaba owner had already called up the travel agent on our behalf and booked an Indica for us, and I was so courtesy-less that I even did not bother to get his mobile number so that I could thank him after reaching Delhi. From my experience of the world out side my home, you can always find this kind of helping people every time you are in trouble outside, no matter in which part of the world you are. After the payments and other formalities I took Neha into the car. Everything happened very smooth and we did not have to bear the pain of finding a vehicle.

 

Once again I thanked god for landing us at such a nice dhaba on the highway. I just thought of other three people with whom we were set off in the morning, what they would think of us. No doubt they would be worried, but nobody could change the destiny and it was our part of the destiny that I and Neha had to scale the distance from Jaipur to Delhi, alone.

 

The long drive:

 

It was almost 4 o'clock in the evening when we finally set out. It seemed that we could reach Delhi only after midnight. Neha did not bother about the time when I told her about it. I just thought that she had stopped consider me as a stranger and was preparing to enjoy as much as possible from the long drive ahead. Finally, we were on the highway..........

 

The road was very nice and there were not too much traffic also. I was really enjoying driving on it. I was not that kind of avid driver and never drove so long before. But there were always a first time in life for everything, and frankly speaking, I love doing things, first time. The excitement of unknown drives me to do the experiments. I just thought of sharing this fact with Neha who seemed to be lost in her thoughts.

 

“Why are you suddenly become so silent? Doesn’t like my company any more? But you really don’t have any option now” I poked her.

“Bored of you? Not yet really. I am just trying to feel the essence of nature; Mumbai doesn’t offer you to feel the dusk like this” she replied.

“Philosophical thoughts, good” I said “I just thought of sharing a fact with you. Though I have a driving license and know driving car, but this is the first time I am driving on a highway for such a long distance. I am not a driving enthusiast and yet to own a car. I like it although. I am telling you all these because you have to ensure that I stay awake after dinner so that we reach Delhi safely tonight.”

“I am very sorry. I wish I could help you. But this time I really don’t have any choice other than to enjoy your hospitality and believe me, I am quite enjoying it. You are very good at it. And you can drive through it. It is not very difficult” Neha replied.

 

“Thanks for keeping my morale high. When should we stop for dinner? Is 8.30 to 9p.m. ok with you?”

“Yes, that will be fine.”

 

We stopped at a highway restaurant exactly at 8.40 p.m. Considering Neha’s situation, I decided to parcel the dinner so that we can have it inside car. I preferred a light vegetarian dinner as I had to drive for another 4-5 hours. Neha chose a rice item, and I was sure that I had to deliver ‘sleeping Neha’ to her hostel.

The atmosphere was excellent. It was a quite February night and waiflike chilled breeze was making it very enjoyable. I was not feeling that much tiredness what it should be.

 

“Have you informed your parents about all these?” I tried to poke her as I had seen her rowdy face whenever I mentioned about her mother. She at least could not hide it from me as I was there when her mother came to drop her in the train.

 

“Yes I did, barring the leg injury. Also I have told them not to worry as I am with a brother like person.”

I hate this kind of prototyping nature of girls. They always try to put everyone in a predefined frame, be it her mother or her friend. We boys are more generic on this topic. We refer ninety percent people in this world as our friends; it is a bigger frame indeed. No matter what kind relationship we have with other person, it is irrelevant whether we met in a railway platform, bank, multiplex, and cigarette shop or in a bar. Good strangers are always friend.

 

“What makes you consider me as your ‘brother like person’?” I asked with a subdued voice.

“You are so caring and responsible. A person shows his true character in the time of crisis. Today, one time I felt that the accident is actually a blessing in disguise, otherwise I could not…” she stopped as I interrupted.

“Ok, I got my answer. No more praising please” I tried to change the topic as my tries of poking her came back as boomerang.

 

“Can I ask you a question? Please don’t take it otherwise, take it sportingly” she was anticipating my nod.

“Yes go ahead. See, I am a mindless guy, so no question of minding it” I replied as both of us giggled.

 

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

Now that’s the tricky one. Even I didn’t know the right answer. All my hard work of last twenty-four hour was at stake. I didn’t know her relationship status and surely didn’t expect that question so early. In short I was clueless and in a mess. I never had been into this kind of situation before. But there was always a time for everything, called first time. Suddenly my class teacher’s face came in front of me who always preach about honesty. I had left school at least 10 years ago and could not remember when else I remembered him. Actually, by that time, I remembered his name also. I was simply puzzled and could not link him to Neha’s question. Time was running out and I had to answer smart. I tried the honest option.

“Are you counting any number?”

“No; not really. But before replying, I should know why you want to know it?”

“Nothing special as such; just curiosity. It’s ok if you don’t want to share.”

 

“There is not too much to hide about. As you may have already observed that I am little flamboyant in nature, I was never been into a serious relationship yet.”

“I interrupt. You are not a little flamboyant, but an avid flirt. But one thing I must say, you posses a good heart” she interrupted by saying this.

“Let me complete. Your question takes me back to my college days. I had a huge crush on a girl who was one year senior to me. This crush is actually a secret one and very few close friends of mine know about it. I did managed to establish a communication channel between us, but never really able to convey the message. On top of it, she was engaged with one of her classmates later. But today’s ground reality is that she is in London right now and her old relationship did not sustain. We are still in touch and incidentally, we both are still single yet” I stopped and took a deep breath.

 

“I hope your good old crush would not mind it, if I wished to put my head on your lap for the rest of the journey. Please don’t be angry. I am really feeling very sleepy and we don’t have any pillow with us. So I thought this would be a good idea.”

 

“This is not fair, you promised me to keep awake till we reach Delhi, and its only 10.30 p.m. Delhi is still good three hours away” I protested already knowing that I could not do much about it.

“My part of the hospitability is due with me. Next time I will drive and you can sleep on my lap!” said Neha as she had already put her head on my lap; typical Mumbai girl.

 

The farewell:

 

It was midnight and the highway was almost empty. Only the vehicles from opposite direction were speeding fast in the next lane. My speedometer clocked around 90kmph. Neha was lost in her dreams. I too was love to dream, but this time I was living it. The last 24 hours was undoubtedly the most romantic and exciting hours I spend in my life till then, and that too, when I least expected it. That situation was so unique to me that I forgot my other fantasies. In my wild dreams, I might has spend some exotic nights with Swagata (my college-hood crush, now based in London), be it in Switzerland or in Mauritius, but that simple day’s experience was nowhere comparable to my flight of the imaginations. I had been nurturing the dream of marrying Swagata for long, not knowing her side of story and by that time, she was clear about my intentions. But I didn’t force anything to her as I believe, if our destinies coincide, we will be together in life, at some point of time. I didn’t know what her game plan was, but she never initiated to take our relationship to the next level. We did share everything about each other and distance never stood as a barrier, but in the way, we had become best buddies. We share such a platonic relationship that only destiny could re-mold it to marital one. And talking about destiny, it always surprised me in each crossing of my life. The latest one was Neha’s induction into it.

 

But wait, I was not going to propose or marry Neha the very next day. I was very happy with my destiny as long as it played games like this with me. I prioritize my next course of actions. Delhi was not very far. I had to collect her mobile no and e-mail id while dropping her. I knew I would be fantasized by Neha for next few days, but eventually I would overcome it. People come and go in our life, but what remains with us is their memory. And Neha’s story would surely occupy a big chunk of my memory. We had no photograph together, that’s why I planned to pen it down the experience, so that whenever I want to remember my first unplanned, unexpected and most romantic date, I can read it back. And for the rest of my life, I left it to destiny. After all, I was not complaining as long as my providence continues to surprise me like this.

 

I had already entered Delhi by that time and on way to JNU and just following the roadside sign boards to JNU campus.

“Neha, wake up. We are in front of your hostel” I shake her.

“What time it is?” she asked in a sleepy voice.

“Ten to one. Now please call up your friends so that they can take you to your room. I have to leave for Noida now.”

She called up her roomies and her transfer procedure was over within few minutes.

“Thanks for the ride, had a great day with you, thank you very much.” was her farewell words to me.

“Not mention and take care. Bye” I replied as I started for Adi’s place in Noida.

 

I reached there sharp at 1.30 a.m. I had already called up Adi and he had stayed awake for me. After reaching his place, I just remember the most important thing that I forgot. I didn’t ask for Neha’s contacts. For a moment, I just thought that, this had to end like this. But by that time, my conscious was started to getting back and my brain resumed working, as it should be.

 

Neha Bhasin/ female/ JNU/ mass communication/ 2008, these information were enough for me ……………………………….