I and the Nameless
Stranger
I stood amidst a large crowd, a bit nervous; as it was the first
time I was doing something so important on my own! On top of that I was late. I
struggled past the mob, somehow pulling the huge suitcase along with me. Soon I
spotted the train and I was relieved... I had made it within time. Once inside,
I put the luggage in its proper place. It was the Purba Express and I was going to Delhi from Kolkata to attend my
cousin’s wedding and for the first time I was going to travel ALONE! It being a
pleasant winter time the compartments were packed. People, in the mood for a
fun filled holiday, had set out from their homes. All this merriment touched me
too and I fell back to ponder…
Jhinuk, the youngest of
us, maternal brothers and sisters was getting married. It felt strange to begin
with! She is a child- all of 22 years was my first thought! The idea that she
was getting married was unnerving, to me. I was older to her by 2 years and the
thought of marriage figured nowhere near my recent life plan. I had a few boyfriends
and crushes here and there but nothing major had ever occurred in my placid
life. Perhaps love was like that, perhaps love made you do things like this.
I was pondering over such things when a boisterous woman’s
booming voice calling out to her mischievous son just on the next berth, tore
me from my thoughts and brought me back to reality and just then I remembered
in a fit of shock that I had forgotten to pack in or buy a bottle of mineral
water to begin my journey with. Then my eyes fell on the station stalls where
hundreds of glistening mineral water bottles stood on the racks. It was still
five minutes to go for the train to start. I weighed the odds and then decided
to take a chance. I sprinted out of the train.
The station was not extremely crowded but groups of people were
strewn here and there. Porters, luggages, stalls of books and stalls of fast
food gave it its characteristic look. I inquired at the nearest two stalls but
they were out of stock of the brand of mineral water I was looking for. I went
towards the next stall when I hit a large man, not a large man but a tall man,
a slightly heavily built man. It was not a direct hit, but I bumped on him
sideways and my upper arm got hit by the guitar he was carrying! Gosh! It hurt
a lot… It was entirely my mistake yet the man apologized “I am very sorry.”
Catching up breath I managed to squeak, “Its ok.” He was smoking and I hate
smokers so I was more annoyed with him! Perhaps my face showed my resentment
too.
I was late buying the bottle and terrified I saw the wheels of
the train roll slowly in motion. I panicked and ran as fast as I could. Hell!
It seemed so far away! I musted all my strength and was within a few paces from
the compartment door when a hand pulled me up on the train! I only just
realized who had helped me get aboard was when I regained my composure and
steadied myself. It was the same man! The musician I had bumped into few
minutes ago. Oh no! I had done it again! Hit on the same man twice in one
single day (no pun intended)! This time I had gone overboard and almost fallen
over him. It was embarrassing to say the least. I gave him a faint shy smile,
“Thank... you”, I trailed off. He was a handsome sight, tall, dark and a
healthy proportion of lean and muscular. The soft rays of evening sun fell on
his face and I could clearly see his fixed gaze on me, from below his shades
which moved all over my sweaty face and the wet locks that had got stuck on my
forehead. There was no way I could stand there any longer. I turned and went
towards my seat.
I kept the bottle of water in my bag and then went to the
washroom and splashed water on my face. It felt just so cool and nice. I
thought I was looking awful before. Why the hell was that man ogling at me?
Strange! A smile left my lips unknowingly. I wiped my face and looked into the
mirror again, “Hey not bad”, I always thought girls’ faces looked best in their
freshly washed avatar. “But that man is really too appealing! How old is he?
Definitely not more than thirty. In fact he looks even younger.” All these
thoughts began floating in my mind. I combed my hair, applied a bit of kohl to
my eyes and stepped out of the washroom. On my way back I saw a group of young
people making merry. Perhaps they were school kids going on an excursion. It
was a happy sight. I couldn’t wait to reach Delhi and meet up with my folks.
**********
A little surprise was waiting for me back at my seat. My heart
skipped a beat as I saw that musician person sitting on the berth diagonally
opposite to mine.
I sat there like a statue never daring to look up at him. At
long last I did. He wasn’t staring at me! I relaxed. I kept on looking at him.
Suddenly he turned and our eyes met. Shit! I moved away my face as elegantly as
I could. This is gonna be interesting I thought…
Within an hour I grew bored. Our little hide-and-seek had begun
attracting attention so I refrained from looking at him too much! I started
fiddling with my hair and hands. Maybe I should just take a nap. That musician
person was listening to his ipod. Let’s call him Mr. X, what say fellas? I
picked up my phone and dialed my masi’s
number. “Yes everything is fine ma. I
can take care of myself, ok? Ma is Jhinuk there? ... Hey my li’l bride
how’s it going? Ya I am enjoying the journey so much!” I said and rolled my
eyes. We were laughing together. She asked about any handsome prospects for me
in the train and my eyes shot towards Mr. X in reflex. He was looking at me in
such a manner that I couldn’t move my gaze for a second or two. Soon I ended
the call, “I am missing all of you. See you soon. Bye”
Silence prevailed yet again. Everyone was busy doing their own
stuff. I looked out of the window to catch a glimpse of the outside. But it was
becoming dark and nothing could be seen properly. When I was a kid I enjoyed
train journeys. I never sat on the berth and sprang about the whole
compartment. So much has changed. So much more will change. I felt the train’s
movement in my body and heard the motion. I closed my eyes and saw a face. It
had deep intense eyes, short hair, and sharp features on a scarcely bearded
face. I can’t say for sure that I was not smiling. It felt peculiar. I couldn’t
stop thinking about him. All the moves that I made I felt conscious of his gaze
even if I was not seeing him, even if he was actually not looking at me at that
time. “Heck I don’t know a thing about him! He could be anybody. He could be
bad, you idiot. He’s just a stranger. Grow up!” I scolded myself.
Erich Segal’s ‘Only Love’, one of Segal’s lesser known novels is
my favourite romantic novel written by the stalwart of romance, though I know ‘Love
Story’ is a more coveted one. I had read it once before when I was in school. I
happened to carry it with me that time, so I again started flipping through its
pages but this time I couldn’t concentrate on it whole-heartedly. Soon it was
time for dinner. I noticed that Mr. X had ordered vegetarian food for himself.
‘Does that mean he is not a Bengali?’ I started wondering but then I thought
‘How does it even matter to me? This is just a stupid silly encounter that
would end in another day.’
The food was delicious and when I dozed off after dinner,
contented, the last thing that I remember was seeing Mr. X fiddling with his
phone in between stealing glances at me. I don’t know if it was my imagination
but I even saw his gorgeous lips curve into a tiny smile. My heart skipped a
beat and my ears turned a pale crimson. I quickly shut my eyes and melted
inside the warm blanket, only to open them at the hustle-bustle of the vendors
inside the train. It was a beautiful morning with soft peachy rays falling on
my birth. A new day had started. I had no idea then how long and eventful it
was going to be.
***********
I went to wash my face and brush my teeth at the washbasin. When
I returned to my seat, Mr. X had just woken up and looked too cute with unkempt
hair wearing a loose white tee and track pants. He looked so adorable looking
here and there like a lost puppy; I felt a tug at my heartstrings. Perhaps I
felt a bit sad too. Just one more day and then I shall never see him again. He
bought a cup of tea from a vendor who was passing by. I too bought a packet of
biscuits and a cup of coffee for myself.
The next two hours went by in the usual manner- me reading a
novel and Mr. X just sitting there looking out of the window and occasionally looking
at me. The rest of the people were doing what Indians love to do most- chatting
with friends and family, laughing hysterically and gorging on food!
Soon it was afternoon and we had finished having our lunch, yet there
hadn’t been any effort on Mr. X’s part to strike up any conversation with me. I
started feeling a bit upset for this. As if reading my mind Mr. X came and sat on
the berth exactly opposite to mine. My heart started beating frantically and I
stopped breathing. But he just sat there and began looking outside the window.
When Mr. X did not show any signs of eagerness to talk to me after a while, I
became easy again.
Lush green mustard fields straight out of the Hindi blockbuster ‘Dilwale
Dulhania Le Jayenge’ ran past our train, grey and white clouds accompanied us
all along and a bunch of naked, running kids waved at us from outside the
window.
A mixed feeling of delight and melancholy gripped me. I longed
to go back to my childhood, to the days of dolls and Disney. (I still loved
Disney but that’s another story altogether!) The thought of my younger cousin
getting married was weird to say the least. Here I had not even acquired my
dream job and there she already was all set to leave the country. While I was plunged
in these thoughts I heard a husky yet pleasant male voice say “Hello, Major Kushal
Sen here.”
********
O my God! My Mr. X was in the Armed Forces! I felt giddy with
excitement. I got to know his name and designation while he was talking to
somebody over the phone. I knew it was a matter of a few hours after which the
train would reach its destination and I would never get to see him again but nevertheless
it felt no less than a beautiful dream and I knew that this train journey would
feature in the top of my list of memorable journeys.
In between waking and sleeping by the window the sky gradually
turned dark and soon it was impossible to see anything outside. Just this night
remained before we reached Delhi. Once or twice I even thought of making the
first move myself but couldn’t muster enough confidence. This was a first for
me. At long last I decided against it.
After dinner when it was time for me to sleep I saw Kushal write
something on a piece of paper, crumple it and dropped it just below my berth
while he went to stand at the train’s door. With trembling hands I picked up
the paper and unfolded it.
PLEASE MEET ME AT THE DOOR AT 11PM- this was written on it in
the neatest handwriting I has ever seen. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Goosebumps
erupted all over my arms. I looked at my watch. I still had 40 minutes to pass,
40 long minutes. A funny childlike excitement gripped me and I could feel the
butterflies in my stomach after a long time. But soon indecisiveness crept inside
me. It rebuked me for acting like a reckless teenager. My radical mind warned
me from doing anything stupid. It was a tug of war between my heart and my
mind. And as always my heart won hands down. At the 23rd hour I
slowly stepped down from my berth, slipped on my flip-flops and walked towards
the train’s door. The only thing which I feared was that Kushal would be able
to hear my heartbeats which were going frantic!
************
To anybody who must have passed behind us we must’ve looked like
two lone figures standing at a arm’s length at the door who weren’t even
talking to each other, only looking at the rushing blackness outside- together.
I was too nervous and shy to open my mouth infront of Kushal. In
fact I was not even being able to look towards him much. I don’t know how many
minutes passed like that. Words had become superfluous and the silence between
us said a million words. Once I felt a finger brush at my hands; Kushal had
moved closer to me and now we were standing just side by side. Then Kushal held
my tiny fingers in his hand. I looked towards him and we kept on looking at
each other for which felt like eternity. Thank God the corridor was not
properly lit. Then Kushal took me inside the washroom and I followed him in a
trance.
Once inside the washroom Kushal whispered into my ears, “I’m
sorry I called you like this. But I couldn’t help it. If I wouldn’t have talked
to you I would have gone mad. For the last 30 hours you are the only one on my
mind!”
I closed my eyes. Kushal’s breath mingled with mine and his
smell made me dizzy. He again started speaking, “Please say something. I don’t
even know your name but you’ve made me so crazy! At least look at me. Please.”
His voice was so heart breaking that I had to comply. I opened
my eyes and looked at him. But I couldn’t say a word. I had lost my voice.
Suddenly his face came very close to mine and his lips touched
mine. It felt like I had touched a live-wire. Then I don’t remember how many more
times we kissed each other, our bodies pressed together in that dingy smelly
toilet. He kissed me all over my face, ears and neck. When we were spent like that, we held each other in a hug
and then I spoke comprehensible words after a long time, “My name is Irene” and
then we both smiled.
**********
Morning came and with that came into view the Delhi station. I
hadn’t slept much the previous night and so I was prepared with the entire
luggage in place and also myself. Only nobody could guess what I was going
through on the inside. ‘Last night was beautiful but last night was a sin too.’
I felt. Besides the thought of never seeing Kushal again, was heart-wrenching.
Ever since I came to my berth last night Kushal had started behaving strange.
He didn’t look at me once after we slipped into our respective blankets. With
these disturbing thoughts I was slipping in and out of sleep and then morning
had come.
When I alighted the train my eyes searched for Kushal but he was
nowhere to be seen. Also his luggage was missing. I tried hard to stop myself
but a lone tear fell down from my eyes. That’s when I realized all over again
the difference between movies and reality.
***********
Five days later-
I was sitting in the veranda of my masi’s house while the whole
house was abuzz with activity. I was just flipping through the book ‘Only Love’
again, pretending to read and sipping on coffee when I spotted something
written at the last page in the most wonderful handwriting I had ever seen.
“IRENE I FOUND THIS BOOK UNDER YOUR PILLOW. I’M SO SORRY BABY,
THERE’S AN EMERGENCY AND I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GET DOWN WITH YOU AT DELHI. I
WILL GET DOWN AT A PREVIOUS STATION WHILE YOU SHALL STILL BE SLEEPING. PLEASE
DON’T MISUNDERSTAND ME. I’M GIVING YOU MY NUMBER 97542108xx. PLEASE HONEY CALL
ME AS SOON AS YOU GET THIS MESSAGE. I’LL WAIT FOR YOU WITH ALL THAT I HAVE GOT.
LOVE, KUSHAL.”
With trembling hands I dialed the number and the voice that said
“Hello” on the other end was a deep husky one. For me it was the most magical
voice in the whole world. The tears that I had been controlling somehow did not
listen to me this time. They just flowed down.
