Chink!!
The sound of glasses clinking, spoons hitting plates and a light murmur was the only noise I could hear as I waited in the Restaurant for Jahnavi to show up. Since the day we came back from the Golden Gate, the tension between us has been really high. I knew better than to ask her more about the messages, instead tried my best to ignore the incessant messaging she was having.
I could understand quite well that she was as agitated as me and that if both of us didn't do things properly we might have our first big fight coming up. Our roommates could easily sense that the situation was going out of control and they tried their best to keep us calm.
Krishanan didn't make things any better by making vague comments about seeing Jahnavi and Henry together in the cafeteria. Nor did Steph as she always saw Rebecca discussing her questions with me in class. I hoped she would understand that it was only out of my interest in Cloud Computing, I talked to her. But again, who can say what someone else might be thinking.
As it happens, Rebecca works with me on my on campus job, and that does force me into being friends with her. How could I avoid a person who was both a colleague and a classmate? Specially when I was part of the Indian Students Organization and thus, a friend of every Indian Student around.
Yet Jahnavi wouldn't even talk about it. Whenever she saw us discussing, she would turn her face away and completely ignore us. If she saw us from far away, she wouldn't even come close. I do not know what she might be thinking but I couldn't bear the way her face contorted into disgust. It pained my heart that the queen of my heart didn't try to understand her domain.
And the wedge that was coming between us was so big that I wished to break it into pieces and just hug her, never to let go. I wished that I could have more hours in my day so I could spend time with Jahnavi than work for ISO or on campus. Responsibilities to Project Teams and my love for coding kept me mentally away from her for most part of the semester. But my heart was always with her. I still shared every thing about my life with only her. And yet....
And yet...
And yet...
Here I was in a restaurant, waiting for her to come, so I could explain to her that she was the girl in my life. The only one who I wanted to be close to me. Closer than myself. And the only one whom I wanted to understand as completely as I wanted her to understand me. The only one who could reign on my heart without my heart ever revolting. I could not understand how I would tell her all this, how I would make her understand. It was the feeling I wanted her to know, not the words. And I didn't know anything about how she would react.
I remembered the first months of our relationship from our train journey to the proposal on the flight here. The love we had, the complete trust and the intimate relationship had always been the most defining aspect of that time. The more I thought about those days, the more I wanted to hug her so hard she would forget all this and simply love me back as in those days.
As these thoughts were going through my head, I saw Jahnavi entering the restaurant. I could also see Jahnavi as she had been the day she came for our first date in the mall. On one side, here she was in a green and gold saree with gold earrings, glittering and glowing to such an extent that she brought color to the whole restaurant with her entry. And right beside, her image in the blue Anarkali dress took my breath away once again.
In every way, she easily stole the spirit of the hall. Every eye in the restaurant must have turned towards her and the thing I loved and liked most about that moment was that she only looked at me, no where else. I knew then that I was not alone in hoping and wishing for us to be together forever.
As we sat down to dinner, there wasn't much talk between us. There wasn't much to talk either. We both had understood what the other wanted to say at the first eye contact. So we had an evening's worth of each other's company to pleasure. And that's what we did. Her caresses brought out pent up emotions, her kindness sweetened every pain. While her kisses would calm me down, a hug was more than enough to make me feel complete. Her hand in mine gave me the strength to face the world and her words...
...they were magic in my ears!!!
From holding hands till the dinner being served to feeding each other with our hands, we must have done every thing expected of a romantic couple on a date. But that night, as I fell asleep, the only things I could remember were Jahnavi's eyes, face and lips. Her voice was a lullaby to me. And that sent me to dreamland for the day.
The next day I spent most of my time in the office, going through crisis after crisis and making sure that the ship came out hale and hearty through the hurricanes of the day. As the day wore on, I became emotionally and mentally taxed so much that I stayed back for a while so that I could catch my breath before I broke down just like an over taxed mechanical engine powering a huge ship. Unfortunately, I misjudged the time for replenishment as Rebecca found me very nearly snoozing in my office and decided to enlist my help in solving her problems.
And so, twilight found me in my office teaching Rebecca the intricacies of Cloud Computing and the differences between the services offered by Amazon. We wound up our Knowledge Transfer session by around 7 PM and walked out the door, discussing other things. As we made our way to the bus stop, we talked about various things including our interests and stuff. The conversation wasn't much serious nor was I paying much attention to what was being said, all I wanted was for me to get home and sleep.
Bam!!
Suddenly, a girl collides with me. Rebecca holds me back from falling and once I have my balance I look around to find a girl in the garb of some rap model or somebody. She seemed to be in quite a hurry. She waved two tickets in my face and pointed towards the event center. And before I even understood her intentions, Rebecca simply took the tickets and led me into the event center all the while explaining that one of the best bands was performing and how lucky we were that we got the tickets free of cost at the last moment.
All through the show, there were quite a few uncomfortable moments for me that are unforgettable too. I tried my best to keep a respectful distance but Rebecca would hear none of it. From linking hands to sitting too close and once or twice almost kissing my cheek, she might have given me the chills more number of times than I care to count.
And yet, the crux of the day which blew me away, which gave me the hibbie jeebies and the jitters, which froze my heart and then roasted it all over was something I wouldn't forget for a long time to come. Cause I saw Jahnavi in the blue Anarkali sitting with Henry and enjoying the show. I knew she was enjoying because I could clearly see them laughing together.
The beast in me reared up and wanted to roar out to the crowd with complete finality that Jahnavi, the girl in the blue Anarkali, the Desi Maiden who could Steal the Spirit of any Place, was mine!!
I remembered the first months of our relationship from our train journey to the proposal on the flight here. The love we had, the complete trust and the intimate relationship had always been the most defining aspect of that time. The more I thought about those days, the more I wanted to hug her so hard she would forget all this and simply love me back as in those days.
As these thoughts were going through my head, I saw Jahnavi entering the restaurant. I could also see Jahnavi as she had been the day she came for our first date in the mall. On one side, here she was in a green and gold saree with gold earrings, glittering and glowing to such an extent that she brought color to the whole restaurant with her entry. And right beside, her image in the blue Anarkali dress took my breath away once again.
In every way, she easily stole the spirit of the hall. Every eye in the restaurant must have turned towards her and the thing I loved and liked most about that moment was that she only looked at me, no where else. I knew then that I was not alone in hoping and wishing for us to be together forever.
As we sat down to dinner, there wasn't much talk between us. There wasn't much to talk either. We both had understood what the other wanted to say at the first eye contact. So we had an evening's worth of each other's company to pleasure. And that's what we did. Her caresses brought out pent up emotions, her kindness sweetened every pain. While her kisses would calm me down, a hug was more than enough to make me feel complete. Her hand in mine gave me the strength to face the world and her words...
...they were magic in my ears!!!
From holding hands till the dinner being served to feeding each other with our hands, we must have done every thing expected of a romantic couple on a date. But that night, as I fell asleep, the only things I could remember were Jahnavi's eyes, face and lips. Her voice was a lullaby to me. And that sent me to dreamland for the day.
The next day I spent most of my time in the office, going through crisis after crisis and making sure that the ship came out hale and hearty through the hurricanes of the day. As the day wore on, I became emotionally and mentally taxed so much that I stayed back for a while so that I could catch my breath before I broke down just like an over taxed mechanical engine powering a huge ship. Unfortunately, I misjudged the time for replenishment as Rebecca found me very nearly snoozing in my office and decided to enlist my help in solving her problems.
And so, twilight found me in my office teaching Rebecca the intricacies of Cloud Computing and the differences between the services offered by Amazon. We wound up our Knowledge Transfer session by around 7 PM and walked out the door, discussing other things. As we made our way to the bus stop, we talked about various things including our interests and stuff. The conversation wasn't much serious nor was I paying much attention to what was being said, all I wanted was for me to get home and sleep.
Bam!!
Suddenly, a girl collides with me. Rebecca holds me back from falling and once I have my balance I look around to find a girl in the garb of some rap model or somebody. She seemed to be in quite a hurry. She waved two tickets in my face and pointed towards the event center. And before I even understood her intentions, Rebecca simply took the tickets and led me into the event center all the while explaining that one of the best bands was performing and how lucky we were that we got the tickets free of cost at the last moment.
All through the show, there were quite a few uncomfortable moments for me that are unforgettable too. I tried my best to keep a respectful distance but Rebecca would hear none of it. From linking hands to sitting too close and once or twice almost kissing my cheek, she might have given me the chills more number of times than I care to count.
And yet, the crux of the day which blew me away, which gave me the hibbie jeebies and the jitters, which froze my heart and then roasted it all over was something I wouldn't forget for a long time to come. Cause I saw Jahnavi in the blue Anarkali sitting with Henry and enjoying the show. I knew she was enjoying because I could clearly see them laughing together.
The beast in me reared up and wanted to roar out to the crowd with complete finality that Jahnavi, the girl in the blue Anarkali, the Desi Maiden who could Steal the Spirit of any Place, was mine!!
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