It has been quite some time since
we last saw each other. I went to Mumbai in between for a month and also I
moved out from BTM. So morning tea at Ram Bhaiya’s place has almost stopped.
Down goes my hope of getting her name. I mean I don’t even get to see her how
the hell am I going to get the name.
Perhaps Ram bhaiya can be of
help… No, that won’t be a good idea I thought. After reading the last post some
of my Mumbai friends offered to help me in finding her. Their college was in
Bangalore so they know people who know people who might be studying in the same
college. I didn’t want this to be like some Indian movie where the college
students are trying to find a girl for their friend who is sad since
he hasn't seen her in a while… blah blah blah… Theek hai
yaar nahi mili toh nahi mili… Kismat mein likha hai toh milenge nahi toh
no matter what I do things won’t work out.
Now when all of this was
happening my boss asks me if I want to go to Abu Dhabi for a month. “Why not?”
without second thoughts I said. I basically wanted a break from all of this and
I thought this could be a good way to keep my mind off few things. Now
everything was in place and I was all set to go to Abu Dhabi. My flight was on
31st Aug. I reached
Bangalore airport and I was doing check-in and was getting my boarding pass. I
took the boarding pass and was walking towards the security check when all of
sudden I saw this person in the queue.
“No way!!! This can’t be her…”
Odds of me meeting her at airport are like one in million, perhaps billion. But
then it was her, can’t forget the face. I mean who would have thought that we
will meet here. At least I didn’t. Not knowing what to do I was standing there
thinking whether I should go up to her and say hi or not. She was checking her
ticket and then looked right up only to find me looking at her with a blank
face.
She stared at me for like 5
seconds and then smiled… waved at me, “Hi”. I waved back. At the back of my
mind I was talking to myself, “Bada aaya tha break lene wala… ab kya karega?
Saamne khadi hai woh tere. Ho sakta hai ye aakhri bar ho tu usse mile. Aaj baat
karle bhai, isse acha mauka nahi milega.” I was waiting there for her. She took
the boarding pass and came to me.
“Hi, what a surprise? I totally
didn’t except to see you here. How are you?” she said.
“Hi, ya… a pleasant surprise to
see you here. I am doing good, how have you been doing?” I asked.
“Going well so far… M.Com final
year so little hectic but still good… ”
We started walking towards the
security check-in… I said, “I am sorry but I don’t know your name…”
“Akansha and yours?” she asked.
“Prashant”
I said to myself “Finally I got
the name… Nice name… Akansha…”
We did the security check-in and
were now in the waiting area. We got ourselves 2 seats.
Me: Where are you headed?
Akansha: Mumbai.
Me: Mumbai? 11:20 one?
Akansha: No. Mine is at 11.
Me: Oh… Okay.
Things would have been more
awesome if she was on my flight. Well at least I got to see her that itself is
more than enough for me. We were next to each other; I mean I should have been
jumping around with joy, singing songs but something didn’t feel right. I mean
seeing her at airport itself was a big coincidence. Not everything will go well
in a day. Sab kuch ek hi din mein sahi ho toh kuch toh gadbad hai…
There was a silence between us
for a while which was broken by her question.
Akansha: You are also going to
Mumbai?
Me: Not exactly. I am going to Abu Dhabi. It’s a connecting flight
via Mumbai. My Mumbai flight is at 11:20.
Akansha: Nice. Like for holidays
or official trip?
Me: Office work.
Akansha: Okay.
She got a call in between and I
was also peeking in to my mobile for messages and all. I started playing 2048.
I was happy to have finally spoken to her but something didn’t feel right. Nahi
toh abhi tak toh 2-3 romantic gaane toh mere dil mein baj chuke hote per nahi hua.
Her call got over and she came
back to our seat.
Me: So you live in Mumbai?
Akansha: I live in Mumbai.
Me: Where in Mumabi?
Akansha: Goregaon.
Me: Sahi hai… Main bhi jata rehta hoon Mumbai beech beech
mein office ke kaam se.
Akansha: Good… Mumbai mein
kahan?
Me: Navi Mumbai. Kopar Khairane.
Akansha: That’s far.
Me: Haan. It’s far.
Me: Going for holidays or some
other reason?
She didn’t answer it. The
boarding gate of her flight was open. People queued up to get in. She started
checking the bag to make sure everything is in place.
She was doing all of this in a
very hap hazard way. It was not like she was getting late or anything. People
were still standing there.
Me: Is
everything alright?
Akansha: Ya
ya. It is…
Me: You can
relax, they are not going anywhere.
She didn’t say anything. There
was a sudden change in her mood. I was wondering kya hua isko achanak se? Aisa
toh kuch kaha hi nahi maine. The queue was almost nearing its end.
Akansha: Zindagi mein hum jo chahte woh zaroori nahi humein hamesha
mile. Hai na?
Me: Ya… but why all of a sudden
all this?
She was walking towards the gate
without saying a word. She stopped and turned back. “I am getting engaged
tomorrow… Bye tc” and she walked away.
I stood there, I was like Sh*t
man!!! Kya hua abhi achanak se mere ko kuch samjh nahi aaya. Khada raha wahan
sochne laga… A lot of questions were running in my head but the one for which I
wanted an answer was Why did she say all of this to me? I m like a total
stranger to her… We just acknowledge each others’ smile at a tea shop.
Soon she was gone, she had
boarded her flight. I started walking towards my gate with all the questions I
had in my mind for which I might not get any answers ever in my life.
Ek sad feeling agayi thi mere
andar. Pichle 10-15 min mein mere saath kya hua mujhe nahi pata… shayad kabhi
pata bhi na chale.
