It was half-past 12, a hubbub of laughter and murmurs at the Manipal University lunch area. I was busy having my lunch and the phone vibrates. Hello, Hi amma how are you? I and mom had a long conversation over the call in Marathi. Just on my back, a boy was silently listening to our conversation. Sometimes some thoughts strike our head unknowingly, and yes that happened with that boy. Now it was time to gang up with my friends and start our tradition- gossiping, Yes it is a girl’s birthright!
Hey, can I take your picture? Immediately the crowd became silent. I was blown. Again the shivery but confident voice came, hey can I take your picture? I came back to the present with a slight jolt, but my senses were out of the station. Yes, I said. The Nokia 6600 captured my face in a fraction of seconds. Just a thank you and he went in a flash. My mind was switched on and before getting connected to him, the network of the brain was lost again. Okay, let me talk some sense, Lead was a beautiful and knowledgeable journey that I had experienced in my lifetime. I met 149 friends but my heart got connected with only one man, RAJ.
There was an inspirational talk going on, but I & Raj were busy typing the buttons on that Nokia 6600. The high cost of messaging didn’t allow us to send our long stories and lovey dovy talks from our respective phones. Raj, an engineer had some jugad plan to save our money. We always sat together, on his turn he typed whatever he wanted to express and passed it to me, when it was my turn I first read the message that appeared on the screen, next erased it and typed a reply for it. Isn’t it interesting? We conveyed our feelings like this. Love is in the air. He was high all the time and followed my heart.
Raj who was a stranger till today suddenly turned out to be a friend, in fact, a best friend. He once told me: It was you, It was me, it was the silence underneath the hot roof that understood my hot beat. I dragged you near and held you tight, I could feel your racing heartbeat. The long shiny hair, the soft hands and your brown attractive eyes, Oh god I found my life, I found my wife at that moment.
I was always mesmerized by his thoughts and feelings on me. He cared for me like no one. I didn’t know what happiness is, I had no idea of my dream coming true, I could not believe myself falling in love until I met Raj.
The Prayana was about to end and everyone was packing to leave to their respective places. It was 10.30 PM, a message popped on my phone screen, Hey come out I’m waiting for you at the stairs. It was Raj. I stopped my packing and rushed to the door. Hmmmmm and some giggles on my back. My friends were trying to colour the moment with their taunts. Raj was already made himself comfortable on the single couch and I could see his waiting eyes that caught me suddenly. Hey come sit, he pushed himself a little and asked me to sit in that small place. I tried to sit but did not feel comfortable. Raj is brilliant in understanding my feelings as if he has done his degree in understanding a girl’s feelings. He held my hand and took me to the stairs. The privacy was interrupted by a couple of our friends. We all made our place on the stairs, but raj again made a brilliant move and took his seat behind his queen. Like a protective king in chess.
As the darkness grew, the batteries became low and everyone started moving back to their rooms. We were still three of us. The other friend of ours became extremely busy on his phone when suddenly I could sense the pricking sharp but short beards against my neck. I grew a little anxious and before I could resist that act, his pink lips slid on my cheeks. My heart was heavy, it was almost on the verge of blasting out, but he woke me up and made a wise move again by that time. Hey, your eyes are filled with sleep, come I’ll walk you to the room. At that moment I felt a little irritated and asked him to stay there. I walked alone to my room. I was sweating profusely. I was thinking nothing but that KISS.
Tik, Tik, Tik….. Someone is knocking on the door, one of my friends screamed in sleep. It was 6 AM. I was still thinking, ahh that first kiss, a real hangover. My friend pushed me out of the bed and asked me to open the door. Rubbing my eyes and with small footsteps, I finally reached the door. There he is. Raj was awake for the whole night. Do you know why? The Prayana was over and I was leaving. He was scared that he would miss saying a bye to me. After hearing this from him I was dazzled. Suddenly he dragged my hand and took me aside. Raj was still tight, he tried to recreate the last night’s scene. This time he stamped on my heart with his Kiss. My soul returned to my body which was dead for a long time and I was alive.
With heavy hearts, we waved our hands. And that was the new beginning…..
“The endless kisses still send me the ripples of the first KISS
That electric spark was enough for this electrical engineer
Yes, you kissed my soul & I still remember our first kiss
And thus a kiss turned to three knots”