And when she spoke to 'him'

After so many days, she could go there.......all alone!

.....She had been waiting for this opportunity since a long time......


She just loved the place, but many others too loved it the way she did. She looked around.....too many people there: kids, grown-ups, lovers, joggers, evening walkers, couples, hawkers, entertainers.........The loud waves rushed towards them, gradually going down as they reached their feet, welcoming them all.......inviting them to feel their rhythm, read their 'shallow' depth!


She looked around quickly, taking the small flicks of her hair away from her face........She thought again.......She just loved the place....!

"But how will he listen to me? There are so many here...! Will he listen to me now? I want to talk to him.....yes, today I will...!"


It was strange. She loved to make a 'crowd' but never liked to be a part of it.....She liked to be a part of 'the people' but never liked 'them' surrounding her. 'The people' thought, they didn't understand her. Sometimes she thought the same about her own self. But he had told her once, "Don't worry! I am there....talk to me.......I understand you very well.......!"


And so she came here. She had so much to talk; words accumulated for so long, they were tied but not too difficultly knotted. She knew how and when to twist them around. She was holding one end of that string..........for so long.......so many days, so many weeks, so many hours.....well, so many days and so many nights.......!


Her mind was making the preparations, her eyes were searching.........WHAT?
She was making faces........talking to herself...... "Here? no...not here!!......Hmm.......There? no.....not even there.....!! Think faster.....but where....??"


And she had a smile on her face, one similar to that on the face of the infant, when he thinks he has recognized the person who will always take care of him, always.........the unforgettable 'innocent smile', worth treasuring for the whole life......!

Her smile grew as she started walking in that direction......


As she walked on the wet sand, it absorbed her footprints, she tried searching them.....looking back immediately as she placed her feet down one after the other......but she couldn't say them,"Hey, STOP!"..........the sand defeated her every time.

She was losing the game, but she never stopped smiling..........!


What kind of defeat was this which made her smile more........?

With every futile attempt, she became more joyous.....!


She never questioned it; perhaps she had this 'only' reason to love the place. It was just here she could talk to him, freely.........



She liked the game, but....... finally sat down, very close to him.......the waves just touching her feet. She felt the waters, looked at him and said, "Hi dear, How are you? Long time naa......hey, why are you so cold? What happened?"


The waves this time got closer to her.....And she shied off a bit, as she felt him holding her hand...
"You know....I wanted to meet you for so long, but.........." she looked down as she spoke.

The waves were quiet now. And she continued, never looking up.......her fingers playing with the sand......drawing lines, writing names she knew, names she loved or just to say, the name she loved......


She wrote and scribbled......her head was moving, nodding; sometimes in agreement, sometimes in disagreement......her eyes sometimes looked at the sand, the name written on it......and sometimes at the water that wiped it away.......She was talking, without a voice......her hands were narrating things and........he was listening.....!
She looked sad.


But suddenly,...... "You know what happened that day! We were just thinking............"

and she smiled as she once again started talking with her hands. At one moment, she realized, she had drawn an interesting picture on the sand. And got too engrossed in making it a fine one, leaving him alone.


But he was patient. He let her finish her drawing...... for he knew, at the end of it, she would smile.......the 'innocent smile'.......one that he knew he would find on her face only when she was with him......!


"Yeah! See.....I got this done......!" her face smiled, it looked brighter this time, may be for the fact that she had accomplished something successfully, after a very long time......!
It appeared that she felt so.



Just when she was relishing this moment of joy, the waves washed it away, gently. The face she drew had disappeared in the waters. And she looked up. For the first time during this whole conversation. Straight into his eyes. The stare was constant, the face blank, her eyes didn't blink for the next few moments, and there rolled down a drop of tear down her cheek.....

She felt it, inside her, she felt something was hurting her......The pain became unbearable and one after the other, many of those tears started rolling down.......

Her eye-brows raised, her eyes questioning......perhaps she tried to open her mouth to ask....."Why?" ..........but she couldn't......!

The tears still kept coming out, one after the other.......


She looked down, took the sand in her hands, holding it tight in her fists. But it slipped away faster as she held it tighter.

She felt the water touching her feet again. It was not as cold as before. She opened her fists, placed her hand in one of the receding waves, looked at her completely clean hands......not a single grain of sand was left...........and had a smile, the lovely 'innocent smile'......!


The next moment, she felt the waves touching her feet again........and she closed her eyes as she felt him hugging her......!


"Thanks a lot!.... I knew I would talk to you today......I knew you would listen to me.........!!"




She turned around, looking back once again to the world surrounding her.

Too many people there: kids, grown-ups, lovers, joggers, evening walkers, couples, hawkers, entertainers.............

She went past 'the people'...... smiling........still with that innocence into it.....and headed back to the place from where she had come all the way just to meet him.......!

They came, they saw and..........

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. No relevance made.

She is informed about this the previous day, "You will have to take a holiday dear, they are coming tomorrow."

On this note begin the preparations. The next day, entire house is cleaned extensively, all scattered things are kept systematically and in place, new cushion covers, new dining table sheets, new curtains and almost everything that is old gets replaced with a new one. Special care is taken to see that the flower vases have fresh flowers in them and the entire house looks as fresh and good as heaven.


The clock is ticking. The day is passing gradually. It's 5 in the evening. The wait is on. "They could be expected any moment now. Dear, have you got all the refreshments ready? And what about the new crockery? Do clean it and keep it ready before they arrive. I don't want anything to go wrong." The message goes clear to everyone involved in this event: "The Exhibition". After sometime, things are quiet in the living room. It's just a wait which now prevails around.

Hey, but what about her? Well, she is inside her room, getting ready; after all, presentation matters, you see...!
New dress......(well, sometimes there is a dress code as well), matching jewelery, supporting make-up,etc,etc. Actually no stone is left unturned to make her look gorgeous and pretty as also simple and sober; all at the same time......(Now that's an expert's job!)

The last minute preparations are on: a set of instructions with special emphasis on Etiquette, a list of "Don't ask and Do ask....." and loads of unasked advices. Even the smile, not more than so and so centimeters.....(I don't know if you can measure that......? Well, they can....!)


Amidst this, the doorbell rings. Everyone takes their positions. And she is rushed into the kitchen. The door is opened with smiling faces all set to welcome the guests.....( no, guests is actually not the right word.....)

"Welcome! Welcome! It's a pleasure to have you at our 'small' home...."(the use of this adjective is seen very often.)

Seats are taken and the discussion is on....

"Did you find it difficult to locate our house?"

No doubts you get an answer "Yes, actually we.........." and then comes a list of all the difficulties faced by them, in spite of they being provided with a very precise postal address.......( I wonder when the 'posts' can reach properly at a given postal address, why do 'people' find it difficult to reach the same place? ) And thus the discussion continues........

But, now it's time for her to make an entry. For the moment, the discussion stops, there is pin drop silence in the room as she comes with the tea, nicely balancing the tray and without losing her grace, though in her heart she fears....one small fumble and the scene would be created. But she manages to reach the center table with a poise.

'Hmm......Impressed!', comes the expression on their faces....but for her....it's the first hurdle cleared......she sits quietly on the chair, specially kept ready and vacant for her, with just the perfect adjustments so that everyone can see her.

The conversation begins, ofcourse with a different topic but all eyes are set just on her, especially 'his'....

Suddenly everyone realizes that they should be given a few minutes to talk to each other in private.....(ok, here privacy means that they both sit in the adjacent room with the door open and after every 2 minutes someone just comes in,enquiring, if things are fine with them and if they are comfortable talking or not?....But it's not surprising.....when asked so....both of them nod with a "Yes, it's all fine here!" kind of a look......) So, they are ushered into the adjacent room.

Well, as a part of the audience sitting in the living room, one may find it difficult to describe the exact mood of the adjacent room. But 5 minutes later, everyone starts looking at their watch. Well, the clock is ticking......10minutes......ok......12 minutes gone......and it's a unanimous opinion, they should come out now.

By this time, I think they must have finished their first few questions in the permitted 'privacy'.

So here enters the girl's Aunt with a 'Afsos! Samay samapti ki ghoshna' expression on her face....(I must tell you, these elderly ladies love doing this to the youngsters....)

But they have to step out of the room.....and face them.....ya.... face THEM...!!


It's really hard to explain what it takes to come out of the room and sit again in that crowd....Yet with a brave smile on their faces, they meet the expecting eyes, all asking the same question...."Yes or No?"

So, runs a quick eye-talk between the guy and his family.....and finally they decide to keep it a secret; the verdict of the entire show....!

"I think, we should take your leave now, it's too late....we will let you know our 'answer' by 'tomorrow'....I hope you don't mind that...."

"Oh no, not at all, it's absolutely fine....let him take his own time.......we will definitely wait for your answer.....", the father of the girl says with a smiling face.



On this note, the meeting gets over......!




Well, people say "Tomorrow never comes"....But for this family many tomorrows have come and gone away....
And the status still remains the same:

'Mission 'Exhibition' Successful, Results pending.'