Continued from Part 1.
The train continued to gain momentum, and with each passing moment, Arjun felt a part of him is moving away from himself. "Why do I care so much about a random girl whom I have never met in my life? I don't even know how she looks! What are her likes, or if she has a boyfriend already!"
A gentle breeze flowed through the door caressing his face, played with his hair for a while and parted with him as he heard the mellifluous voice, "Is this S4?"
Arjun turned towards where the voice came from and found a girl clad in jeans and t-shirt, rolling her luggage through the vestibule.
"Yes, it is," he replied with a pleasant smile. "God, please let her be Niveditha!", he made a silent prayer.
She smiled back with thanks, rolled her luggage to find her seat. Unable to stand the curiosity, Arjun walked back to his place to see her again pushing her luggage beneath her berth. "God! A billion thanks to you!", he cried out of joy.
Changing to an expressionless face, he mumbled hello to her, removed his slippers, and was getting ready to settle down on his berth. "Hi!, nice to see you again,", she replied with the same smile. Arjun vowed in silence to all the Gods that he would do anything to see that smile on her face forever.
He glanced at seats numbered 45 and 46 which were now occupied by a couple, the husband on the upper berth and the wife holding the middle one.
The train had crossed the Basin Bridge junction and was running at full speed, just like Arjun's thoughts. Several call-outs and plenty of questions did rounds in his head when he heard her voice again.
"Will you do me a favor?"
"Anything under this sky!", he wanted to say.
"Sure, what is it?"
He observed that the lights were turned off already, and the fans were moving at their maximum speed. What else could she want me to do?
"Will you please wake me up at 4.30 AM? I have to get down at Cantonment".
"But haven't you booked until the city junction?"
"How did you know?", she looked into his eyes, trying to gauge his thoughts.
He let out a sheepish grin.
"While looking for my name in the reservation chart I took note of my co-passengers as well," he replied.
"Hmmm. I asked my friend to book the ticket. He didn't know that my parents live near cantonment, so he booked it till the city junction", she said.
"Oh! Well, sure! I will wake you up at 4.30. Goodnight then."
"To you too," she replied with a smile.
He retired to his berth, took his cell phone and set five alarms starting from 2.30 onwards at every half an hour in vibration mode and went to sleep.
The coach vibrated more intensely than his cell phone so that he missed the first two alerts! He jumped up in his seat when he got the third one only to find that he still had an hour more to go. Arjun turned around in his berth, peeped over to look at her. The brilliant moon from outside the window was casting its light on her hair, making her appear like an angel.
"Why is it that when cupid strikes, everything about her looks beautiful and romantic?", he wondered.
Amused by his poetic thoughts, he went back to sleep again and woke up when he sensed the next vibration alert. "Is this fourth or fifth alert? Wait a minute! I did not sense the vibration from my cell phone!"
"Sir, city junction has arrived," the TTR was waking up the sleeping passengers.
"What the hell?" He looked at his watch which showed the time as 4.55 AM. "The train arrived fifteen minutes early momma," he heard a passenger talking over the phone to his mom.
"Oh! I am sorry, Niveditha! I overslept and couldn't keep my promise!" he wanted to apologize. He quickly got down from his berth only to find the lower berth that was occupied by his dream girl vacant!
A gentle breeze flowed through the door caressing his face, played with his hair for a while and parted with him as he heard the mellifluous voice, "Is this S4?"
Arjun turned towards where the voice came from and found a girl clad in jeans and t-shirt, rolling her luggage through the vestibule.
"Yes, it is," he replied with a pleasant smile. "God, please let her be Niveditha!", he made a silent prayer.
She smiled back with thanks, rolled her luggage to find her seat. Unable to stand the curiosity, Arjun walked back to his place to see her again pushing her luggage beneath her berth. "God! A billion thanks to you!", he cried out of joy.
Changing to an expressionless face, he mumbled hello to her, removed his slippers, and was getting ready to settle down on his berth. "Hi!, nice to see you again,", she replied with the same smile. Arjun vowed in silence to all the Gods that he would do anything to see that smile on her face forever.
He glanced at seats numbered 45 and 46 which were now occupied by a couple, the husband on the upper berth and the wife holding the middle one.
The train had crossed the Basin Bridge junction and was running at full speed, just like Arjun's thoughts. Several call-outs and plenty of questions did rounds in his head when he heard her voice again.
"Will you do me a favor?"
"Anything under this sky!", he wanted to say.
"Sure, what is it?"
He observed that the lights were turned off already, and the fans were moving at their maximum speed. What else could she want me to do?
"Will you please wake me up at 4.30 AM? I have to get down at Cantonment".
"But haven't you booked until the city junction?"
"How did you know?", she looked into his eyes, trying to gauge his thoughts.
He let out a sheepish grin.
"While looking for my name in the reservation chart I took note of my co-passengers as well," he replied.
"Hmmm. I asked my friend to book the ticket. He didn't know that my parents live near cantonment, so he booked it till the city junction", she said.
"Oh! Well, sure! I will wake you up at 4.30. Goodnight then."
"To you too," she replied with a smile.
He retired to his berth, took his cell phone and set five alarms starting from 2.30 onwards at every half an hour in vibration mode and went to sleep.
The coach vibrated more intensely than his cell phone so that he missed the first two alerts! He jumped up in his seat when he got the third one only to find that he still had an hour more to go. Arjun turned around in his berth, peeped over to look at her. The brilliant moon from outside the window was casting its light on her hair, making her appear like an angel.
"Why is it that when cupid strikes, everything about her looks beautiful and romantic?", he wondered.
Amused by his poetic thoughts, he went back to sleep again and woke up when he sensed the next vibration alert. "Is this fourth or fifth alert? Wait a minute! I did not sense the vibration from my cell phone!"
"Sir, city junction has arrived," the TTR was waking up the sleeping passengers.
"What the hell?" He looked at his watch which showed the time as 4.55 AM. "The train arrived fifteen minutes early momma," he heard a passenger talking over the phone to his mom.
"Oh! I am sorry, Niveditha! I overslept and couldn't keep my promise!" he wanted to apologize. He quickly got down from his berth only to find the lower berth that was occupied by his dream girl vacant!
will be concluded in the next part...
Hmmm Too interesting! (A mix of Chetan Bhagat + Gautham menon :))But, a quick question (perhaps I had not visited ur blog for a while now and finding it difficult to get the hang of the plot). Well, are u writing a short story? Who is Arjun? :)Btw, I did read part 1...
ReplyDelete@Aishwarya: chetan bhagat + gautham menon? that's a compliment! thanks :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm planning to write a few 3 part series. Niveditha is first in that series. All stories are real, with some fiction to spice it up ;)
am curious:)
ReplyDelete@Jam : Wow! Real! Its getting interesting.. Although I wouldn't go deeper to know the real characters.. Let me enjoy the story as it is... Good work! Go ahead!
ReplyDelete