1.
Of Endings and Beginnings.
Swayam Shekawat
Present :-
Date :- 7th April 2010
Time :- Early Morning
Location :- Singapore
"Destiny conceals what dreams reveal.
When darkness exudes warmth, your dream,
She sits with me.
Laughter & tears - the two impressions of every expression,
Darkness again..
She caresses my hair,
silk soft - her fingers,
warm, motherly - her lap,
Darkness again..
Her heavy breath engulf me,
Darkness again..
A high mountain, a floating cloud, a setting sun,
A soaring bird - the zenith of our existence,
Darkness again.."
Light - it murders the darkness..the dream.
I got up with a start. It was the same dream again. The dream which like a shadow accompanied me through the day, vague yet intense; the dram mirror, A ghost living through night, haunting my existence.
I sat up in my bed and reached for the bottle of water kept on the side - table. My lips kissed the top of the bottle and liquid trickled down my throat in its most pious form. Sharon would have hated this. " Use a Glass ", she would have said angrily had she been here..only if she were here. I smiled in the warmth of my best friend's memory.
I got out of bed, walked up to the window and drew the curtains away. Singapore. My dream, stared back at me; the dream I had lived for ever since I had met Ishita a year ago, back in India.
" I love her ." I had declared to Sharon and all my other friends, soon after our three day encounter had seeped into every crevice and every pore of my mind, my body and my heart.
The telephone bell rang. And here I am back in my present. I rushed back to pick up the call "Hello," I said carefully.
"Swayam I just called to wake you up. Is everything packed.?' asked Mom, her voice with concern.
"Yes Mom, everything done." I replied and looked around my bag resting peacefully in the temporary darkness that could dissolve with one touch of the switch.
"Finally, my son is returning to India after a week. Dad is so proud of you; he has been boasting about your achievement to all and sundry."
I smiled at myself- an achievement that was a facade; a false escape; a prelude to the harsh reality. I basically a loser; a loser who had lost friendship and love, both.
"Swayam! Swayam!!" Mom's repetition of my name brought me back to real mirage I considered life.
"Y..yes Mom," I repiled.
"Son, all the best for your flight. We will see you at the airport"
"Alright, Mom. Bye"
And just as I was about to hang up, Mom began, "By the way, I forget to tell you..Karan had called last night. She is still in I.C.U. We all are praying for her."
Emotions chocked my throat, leaving me with no alternative but to disconnect the call.
~*~*~*~
Swayam Shekawat
Past :-
Date :- 9th August 2009
Time:- 1.30 p.m.
Location:- The India Habitat Center, New Delhi
"Strangers till yesterday,
Acquaintances today,
Friends now.."
A 17 year old boy and a 17 year old girl sat in the upscale restaurant at the India Habitat Center, New Delhi. The boy in question is me, Swayam Shekawat. I am tall & admirably long and with her in front of me, hard too..
Oops, my honorable hormonal hopes !
The girl in front of me is Ishita. She is from Singapore and she is my dream, my destiny, since the past two days at least !
"So, what type of music do you like? " she asked, taking a large sip from the cold coffee glass.
" Ummm...soft, subtle, sweet...seductive," I replied saucily.
She stayed silent for a moment before saying "Hmm...So Mr. Swayam, what soft, subtle, sweet and not to forget, seductive song would you like to dedicate to me, that is, if you had to? "
I grinned sheepishly when she fired the question at me as it totally caught me off guard. The way her hazel blue eyes stared at me I couldn't help but try deciphering the hidden romantic agenda the question carried, making it all the more difficult me to answer. But something inside prodded me to be at my wittiest best, " I don't know. It will probably be something unplugged, you know from my heart to your heart."
' 1-1, the flirting game is on,' I excitedly thought.
"So, when are you going back to Singapore?" I questioned after a few seconds on hearing nothing from her in reply.
"I think it'll be..'When you say nothing at all'," she replied, as if addressing her own question and ignoring mine.
'Oh yes, she did get the catch, Mr Wit-hit, 2-1.' She was leading while I was being led.
" So what makes you smile or shall I say, blush?" she asked, looking straight into my eyes.
'3-1. Go baby, you win at my expense.'
"The fact that you so cleverly extracted your farewell treat from me..or is it that you won't get to see and talk to me after tomorrow?" she asked.
Pop, the bubble just burst by a pin named reality! She was going back tomorrow and we would probably never meet again.
"Excuse me, I'll be back in a jiffy," she said as she looked in the direction of the washroom. "Be ready with an answer that bowls me off," she said, touching me momentarily on my shoulder. I couldn't help but mutter to myself as I saw her proceed,
"Girl, you sure did bowl me out."
I was still dreaming to be more precise, fantasizing, when she returned.
"Still thinking of an answer," she commented as soon as she caught me in the act.
"Err..Ummm..no. It's just that you are going away tomorrow,"
I replied lamely, trying to cover up for my bold thoughts.
"You already occupy a place in my virtual world, I mean, Facebook, MSN and all. Silly," she said in such a cute tone that the gloom engulfing my face suddenly broke into a glorious smile.
"And we have our whole life ahead, We are just 17 and not to forget, Singapore is a nice country to holiday in," I replied, sounding hopeful.
"I think we should finish this quickly. My teacher should be here, somewhere around," she said, surprising me with her abrupt, discomforting tone.
Silently she kept looking down, unable to meet my eyes.
~*~*~*~
Edited by Sneha_TaaRey - 10 years ago
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