It was a lazy November afternoon, and I was sacrificing my beloved sleep for a suddenly scheduled exam at my Medical coaching center! Okay I seemed to have confused you a lot, to tell you, I am a small town girl, residing temporarily at New Delhi (Dilwalon ki Delhi as people call it). I mounted the Delhi Metro which usually remains crowd free in the late noon! If there is something very adorable about Delhi, it is the Delhi Metro...The trains are well maintained, neat and comfortably air conditioned. The frequency of the service and the extensive network, made life easier no doubt, but I liked it for a different reason!
If you love to observe people, like I do, Delhi Metro is then a pilgrimage to you! I love to sit and watch people, listen to the fragments of their chats and see how they react to things! Thus unlike people who read books and listen to radio to shrug off their boredom, I enjoy much of my journey.
Coming back to where I left the story, I boarded my train from the scheduled station, and settled down in a corner seat! For a few minutes I sat idly watching an under-aged mother, amusing herself with her baby and then brought out a text book for a last minute flipping!
As the train moved for a few more minutes, I saw a young man board the train and take the seat beside me! I did not look up from the book and continued reading! However my 6th sense signaled me that the man was staring at my book...
PS:- All things other than the song of swallow and the eyes mentioned here are fictitious...!!!!
If you love to observe people, like I do, Delhi Metro is then a pilgrimage to you! I love to sit and watch people, listen to the fragments of their chats and see how they react to things! Thus unlike people who read books and listen to radio to shrug off their boredom, I enjoy much of my journey.
Coming back to where I left the story, I boarded my train from the scheduled station, and settled down in a corner seat! For a few minutes I sat idly watching an under-aged mother, amusing herself with her baby and then brought out a text book for a last minute flipping!
As the train moved for a few more minutes, I saw a young man board the train and take the seat beside me! I did not look up from the book and continued reading! However my 6th sense signaled me that the man was staring at my book...
Suddenly he asked me 'Preparing for medical entrance! Eh?' That was quite obvious as the book in my hand had the words medical entrance inscribed in big letters! I looked up to say the same thing to him and that was the first proper glance I had of him and suddenly I fall short of words! The last rays of sun entering through the glass pane illuminated half of his face! The light impression of beard that unshaven for a day or two made him look strangely attractive! But the thing most prominent in him were his eyes behind his heavy framed glasses! The words like bright, expressive or dreamy wont suit them! There was something strange about them that you cant stare at them for more than a second! I suddenly forgot what I meant to tell him and just rapped out 'Huh?!' He repeated 'Are you preparing for medical entrances?' I said 'Yeah'. He smiled and looked at me, and I remember the famous lines of Tagore that meant 'Filled with the light of last hours, spring it was, I saw my destruction in your eyes...'. No it was not spring,but how did it mattered if your inner swallow sings even in winter?!
Yes, i could hear the swallow in me singing! I folded my books and smiled back at him! He kept saying that he was a doctor who passed out that very year and that was the reason he got attracted to the book in my hand! Then he talked of his own preparation days and many tits and bits which some other time would have been enough to bore me! But I was not bored at all then! The next forty five minutes passed like a single second and it was time to utter goodbye! I dint know his name till then! I was wanting inside to talk some more to him, but my station was already there! I stood up finally and extended my arms and said 'I am Aratrika, it was nice meeting..' He shook hands and said 'Udhbhav Goyel'! I smiled and deboarded the train! I turned back after a few steps expecting a wave, but nay he was neither looking here nor waving! I smiled and said in my mind, 'Rest my dear swallow, its not spring yet! But the sudden receipt of your untimely song is also worth an applause...' I stepped forward to my destination...
PS:- All things other than the song of swallow and the eyes mentioned here are fictitious...!!!!
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