The whistles of the
wind grew louder as I went down the stairs to platform number 8. Despite the
unusual darkness, I could see the scarce trees swinging eerily. I wondered if
the cyclone had hit the city already. I hoped I would reach home before it was
too late. It was getting colder and the railway station looked lonelier that
night, surprisingly. As I walked down the platform, I saw a big-framed man
stare at me. I froze for a few seconds, frightened. He was almost naked and had
long unkempt hair in dreadlocks. I hurried past him with long steps and stopped
near an empty bench. I noticed an old lady stare at me. She was chewing
something as she stood there with a bag and her eyes bore deep into mine. I
could hear my heart thump faster and a bead of sweat appeared on my forehead. I
could see a broad beam of light and a loud horn. The train was arriving! As I
stepped in the front awaiting to board the train, the train sped past me in
lightning speed without stopping and the horn was blaring loud. The horn kept
growing unbearably louder and shriller and I closed my ears and shrieked.
WAKE UP IN THE MORNING FEELING LIKE P DIDDY
GRAB MY GLASSES, I'M OUT THE DOOR; I'M GONNA
HIT THIS CITY
She woke up
with a jolt to shut the alarm off. 5.30. Everyone had turned their heads towards
her. She had her eyes watering and she didn’t want anyone to see that. She bent
down to casually wipe the corner of her eyes. Even before she realized how embarrassing
it was, she straightened up and pretended to listen to her colleague presenting.
OH MY GOD! “I
can’t believe I dozed off again. And the alarm? Oh, no. No wonder, the alarm
didn’t go off in the morning! I set it for 5.30pm instead of 5.30am? Not again,
Shiya!”, she thought. She was doodling a beard and she just realized she had
turned it into what looked like a play-swing when she had dozed off. “Tch. What
a waste of time meetings could be!”, she thought, as she continued to draw a bandholz
beard on the notebook.
After what
felt like months, the meeting ended and she dashed out of the hall. She rushed
down two flights of stairs and there he was! “Nihal!”, she exclaimed.
She was
surprised to see him there. Well, there he was, with a bouquet of flowers and
beaming like a blushing teenager in love. He opened his arms and walked towards
Shiya, and bent down on one knee. He kissed the flowers and offered it to her,
smiling through words ‘Will-you-marry-me-Shiya?” and singing “I do I do now..I
do I do..All I am, all I'll be…Everything in this world…All that I'll ever need…Is
in your eyes shining at me”.
Shiya
laughed, slightly turning red and looking around to make sure her colleagues
weren’t watching this. She took the flowers from his hand, rolled her eyes and
said, ‘Yes! Only if we had not married each other a year ago”. Nihal got up on
his legs and hugged Shiya and whispered, “Aw, that’s bad. Happy Anniversary
month, sweetheart!”.
Shiya hugged him back and said “I thank my stars every day
for making me such a lucky wife”. She held his hands and walked out of the
office, still smiling over his romantic surprise. Nihal was always full of
surprises. Shiya felt overwhelmed by his gestures, ever since the day it all began.
She
remembers the day so fondly. December 1, 2014. Shiya sat there at Marine Drive,
Mumbai, staring at the sea. As she munched on some sukha bhel, she watched the tides
hit the tripods and rush back and forth. The sun was setting and she was happy
looking around at the kids skating, old couples holding hands and walking,
couples romantically watching the sea and whispering into each other’s ears,
men and women jogging with the earphones plugged on. She sat there silently
pondering over all that had happened. A failed and abusive marriage of 7 months
followed by an immediate miscarriage. It had all happened too quickly that she
needed to take some time to accept everything. Being an optimist that she is,
nothing could hamper her love for life or dampen her spirits. She looked
forward to life as she always did.
She looked
up at the sky, lost in thoughts. Suddenly she heard the screech of cars and
turned around to see two cars brake just few inches away from a man and a dog.
“Zorro!”,
screamed a teenage boy as he ran towards the greyish white dog, a husky mix
breed, and pulled him by his leash. “Thank you, Sir. Thank you”, he told the
man who saved Zorro and walked him away from the road, on to the pavement.
The man, now
she noticed had a big beard and rough hair, limped back, panting slightly and
sat down, examining his ankle. As he sat down, she read what was written on his
T-shirt: Sometimes all you need is to talk to someone. I’m a shoulder-tap away.
As he bent down to check on his ankle, she peered and read the name ‘Nihal K’
at the back of his T-shirt. Nihal K. The name struck a chord somewhere, but she
was unable to remember anything more.
“Madam,
kulfi?” She was startled by this sudden voice to her other side. “Nahi, Bhaiyya”,
she said, as she politely refused to the guy selling kulfis. The beard man
turned towards her and that’s when she saw his face clearly. Familiar and yet
it wasn’t. She noticed him stare at her for a few seconds more. “Shiya?”, he
asked.
Surprised,
she smiled, ‘Yeah?’.
“Weren’t you
my classmate back in school, 7th grade?’, he asked.
‘Oh, Nihaaaaal!
The fat guy from last ben-..sorry, I mean“, she bit her tongue apologetically. Of
course, she remembered Nihal. She remembers the guy who had no surname, but initial
K.
“Ha ha..yes,
that’s pretty accurate..I was fat..ha.. that was 15 freaking years ago!”, he
said, laughing.
“So, long
time! How have you been? What are you up to, these days?”, she asked, curious
about him.
“Hmm, I
teach. I travel. Well, both, to be precise. I travel wherever I feel like, I
teach kids there. Uh, not formal education at school. But I teach them, just
anywhere”, he replied.
“Wow, that’s
interesting!’, she exclaimed.
“Yes, it
is.. ah, if you don’t mind, I have got to go now.. I’m meeting some kids at
Girgaon now.. Let’s connect, please take down my number.. I’m just a mess-“, he
said, as he stood up.
“A shoulder-tap
away?”, she said in an amused tone.
“Ha ha..
That’s right. That started right here at Marine Drive. I met someone who was about
to end his life by jumping from here. I talked to him for a few hours and the
talk changed his mind. I am glad he was convinced that nothing was worth taking
his life. I have been talking to random people here and in places where I
travel around. I realized that sometimes, people just need someone to listen.
When people put up sad posts on social media and seem depressed, I randomly
message them like –Hey, how are you? I know we haven't connected in ages. I
just saw your post. Take care. Sometimes all you may need is to talk to
someone. Remember I am a msg away!..”, he said.
“Hmm, hmm?”,
she said, with a keen look in her eyes.
“..And it works
sometimes. Some people think I’m creepy or maybe that I’m hitting on them, ha
ha..but yeah, some people choose to open up and yeah, it helps them”, he
replied, casually putting his hands inside his pockets.
“That is so
sweet, very sweet”, she said. She couldn’t help but notice his radiating smile.
A very kind smile.
“Thank you,
madame”, he said, bowing jovially, “I’m late. I will see you around sometime. Bye,
Shiya”, and there he was, jogging away with a slight limp.
A beautiful companionship
began that evening.
Love followed.
Her life had turned unexpectedly magical.
On 20th,
January 2016, they got married in a small low-key wedding ceremony. The next
one year, they had traveled to as many places in the country possible. Nostalgic
nights of star gazing at Marine Drive, evenings spent hanging around with kids
in the slums, movie marathons on weekends, too many surprises every now and
then, their bonding grew stronger and Shiya never looked back to the times she
has spent trying to become a stronger woman. She had never been happier in love.
He was a kind angel. To her and to everyone.
She smiled
as she thought how much she loved him, as they walked back home, hands held.
She pulled him closer, leaned on his shoulders and whispered, “Thank you for
gate-crashing into my life”. He laughed and puller her closer and said, "I'm glad I did".
Magic
happens. To anyone. Anytime.
