An Encounter

Last Saturday Night 12.30, dark, drizzling with lightning out side, the male frogs were singing on top of their voice in anticipation of a mate. I was alone in my small cottage with a peg of champagne in my hand, looking at the TV and trying to bring one or two celebrities heroines into my dream to have something out of nothing!!! What a poor state!!! My wife has left me a year back and never turned back even with a SMS to me forget about calls or email. I had given my best to keep her happy. Perhaps many of my male counterpart might not even think of doing, I had done it to keep the relationship growing or going, I still doubt on me, Was I doing all these ! I wanted to prove each time, I was better than any of her boy friends with whom she often compared me. May be I was not as good looking or as intelligent as the others but, I was always there at her time of woe. I used to keep my eyes & ears shut when she never used to acknowledge my care for her to any of her friends. She still feels herself proud to be what she is!!! Is it a female ego? I don't believe in such comparison of male and female. Both are important in their position and they are complement and supplement to each other! What ever I was doing was she thinking these were my duties as a hubby, I was supposed to do? Duty as a hubby, am confused???  

Heard, my mobile was crying trying to get my attention may be tired of getting charged in the charger. Oh God is it going to explode? I saw a new number in the missed call. Who was this??? Thought may be some wrong call, but I recalled the same number was ringing while I was driving in the traffic. I tried calling back, it was switched off.  I sent a SMS," Hi, sorry I could not pick you, please SMS me who you are?"  

Morning I woke up as usual at 8 and found I had a massage. "Hi this is Reema, remember me? I guess you did so!!! Do call me once you wake up." I called her up and found she is never changed in these 15 years, bubbly, vibrating and warm in talking. She had come to my town to carry out a research programme. She works for an NGO. She got my mobile number through an advertisement in the local news paper. May be or may not be me, She wanted to take a chance. I invited her to my hut that evening. Looking at her I was a bit nervous, what to talk to a girl friend meeting after so many years, do not know how she would react now to my scrap jokes. Especially, girls, they change faster. I have never been a serious person. I was trying to balance all in all. She asked my how is my family life? I was looking blank. What to say? "Oh yeah fine, going on". Where is she? "Oh! She, she stays with her parents." How about kids? "Kids? Yeah only one daughter and she is in a boarding school at Panchkani."

I asked her. "What about you?" "Yeah, I got married had three kids, two sons and a daughter. About him, he is software professional. too busy in his various projects, currently in New Jersey." What about your kids? "Yeah all are grown up and left them in a boarding school near Bangalore." I could not control my scrap joke, oh so we both are married bachelors!!! We both had grown up a lot in these years . Got older but still we both bring cheers to anything we talk. We tried to catch up some glimpse of our past.  

"When we met each other in our college days, I used to be very shy, it was she who had approached me first hearing I was the topper in the class. We started getting friendly. We used to discuss everything with each other without having any secret or shy. Three years passed so fast in the college we did not know till we separated. Our friendship was more than a friendship with lots of care and respect for each other. We wished, we could have been together life long. She left for Delhi and I left for Chennai. Then we never met no phones, no letter, no contact "

By the time it was 8, we left for having some dinner in the near by Punjabi dhaba. Both of us have the same taste except that still she loves lots onion with tandoori chicken, I don't. Food was not our priority. We were too nostalgic of our college days and trying to recall one-one day of those 3 years we were together.

On the way back I dropped her in the hotel where she was staying. Puffing off my cigar, I drove down to my cottage humming an old song,

 "O hansini meri hansini, kahan ud chali

Mere armaanon ke pankh lagaake kahan ud chali

Aaja meri saanson mein mahek raha re tera gajra

Aaja meri raaton mein lahek raha re tera kajra

Ho, aaja meri saanson mein mahek raha re tera gajra

Ho, aaja meri raaton mein lahek raha re tera kajra

O hansini meri hansini, kahan ud chali

Mere armaanon ke pankh lagaake kahan ud chali ."