“Us raat wo mujhe apni shaadi ka card dene aayi thi….”
That night she came to invite me for her marriage. It was around 8 – 8:30 pm when she arrived. As always, I switched on the TV so that neighbors couldn’t hear us. I asked her, “Pizza order kar dun?” but she said that she had dinner before coming and she need to go back immediately. She gave me the wedding card and stood up to go. While I was reading the card, she started playing with my hairs, looking at me, as if waiting for me to say something but I had no words. I just sat quietly looking at her engagement ring hovering just above my eyes, playing hide and seek in my hairs. I wanted to kiss her for a last time but she would have thought that at this moment also I have only lust in my mind, so I refrained. But that urge remained in me, not due to some wild feelings but due to my love for her. My thoughts were interrupted; she said, “chalo mujhe room tak chhod aao.”
We started walking down the lane. She was telling me about all the shopping she had done and I was listening to her as curiously as I could. At Bhel chowk, I asked her for Ice-cream but she said that dinner is ready at her room. I reminded her that she had told me that she had her dinner before coming. She replied, “Ji no, maine yehi kaha tha ki khaana bana kar aayi hun. Tumhe kuch yaad nahi.” At that time I didn’t wanted to argue with her, so I showed as I had really forgotten what she had said about dinner. I knew that a little poking may again start the never ending arguments that I had no answers to:
“Tumhe meri kya fiqr hai?”
“Tumhe to kuch farq hi nahi padta.”
“Main hi itni buri hun naa.”
“Tum to ladke ho.”
“Pehle to itne caring they.”
To avoid the bombardment of such one liners again, I changed the topic. She now started telling me about her loving in-laws and sweet hubby. I also faked about a new gal I had met. Both of us were pretending that we were too happy in our own Different worlds, but I was not. She wasn’t either.
Soon we were a few steps prior to her building’s gate. This was the point where I had to part from her each day. Generally, she would talk to me standing there for a few minutes before going in. But that day, she just said “bye” and moved ahead of me. I couldn’t move or even say anything. She entered the gate without looking back at me and now I could see only her hands closing the door. Those were her last physical features I saw, her hands parting away from me and vanishing in the darkness of night.
