Part8
"Hello"
"Hello Cabir, this is Nandini, Can you tell me where's Manik?" She was gasping for air. Her skirt was dripping and so were the ends of her long hair.
Cabir was shocked to hear Nandini's voice but more shocked at her question."
"What do you mean? Don't tell me he is not with you..." Shit, this is exactly what he was dreading. He had warned Manik atleast 10 times before literally begging him not to step out. But when did he ever listen to anyone, especially when it came to her.
"Cabir, maine use kitni baar call karne ki kosish ki but his phone is out of range. Who kahan hain..please use bolo ki wo ghar se na nikle, its really bad here."
"Where the hell are you Nandini? "
"I am calling you from school, somehow managed to reach here."
What exactly was happening here? How could she reach school ..and if she was not with Manik, where the f**k was he?
"Didn't your bus get stuck in the flash flood?"
"No it was the other one, the one next to us. It happened seconds after my bus crossed the river bank."
Cabir was losing his temper. He could literally kill Nandini for endangering his friends life. "Shit!!! Do you have any bloody idea what you have done...where is your God damn phone Nandini? Manik must have called you a hundred times before he left house to search for you."
Nandini didn't know anymore, what to say or do. She was blank.
It hadn't stopped raining since the previous evening. What had begun as a slight drizzle had eventually turned into torrential rain. So heavy had been the downpour, that many scattered pockets in the valley had started flooding. Nandini, however, had absolutely no clue.
It's tragic & ironical because she was up all night listening to the frenzied banging of the rain against her window pane & yet she was oblivious to the mayhem in the valley. Well, one couldn't blame her either. She was hardly in herself. After Manik had dropped her home in silence, all she could think about was him and their kiss. Yes, the kiss had been beautiful...how could his first ever touch on her lips be anything but intoxicating? She had never been this close to him, except perhaps in her dreams, where his scent could fuse in her soaked skin. But it wasn't just the physicality of it that had caused her to feel restless.
What he had never accepted in words, he had confessed through that kiss. It did matter to him, no matter what he said or did. It did, because his melancholic eyes carried immense pain. He was clearly afraid of losing her, of not being able to see her again. He hadn't answered any of her questions, yet his trembling hands and throbbing heart had given away his tiny secret. And the entire night she couldn't sleep thinking about the next morning, about how she would confront him and his probable denial. But destiny, it seems had other plans for Nandini.
In the morning, when it was still raining heavily, Amms had strictly instructed her to stay back home but Nandini was desperate to meet Manik. she made the quick excuse that since she had been absent for the first three days of the new term, if she didn't turn up today, she might have to face disciplinary action. Carrying her umbrella, she happily boarded the school bus like any other normal day. Only that it wasn't going to be a normal day.
Nandini lived near the hilly coastline, far away from her school, tucked deep inside the valley. Everyday, she had to commute 40 minutes each way in the school bus, down the hills, along the banks of a river to finally across the old town and then further couple of kilometers towards their school. There had been a major upsurge in the water levels today and just as her bus crossed the bank, a sudden flash flood happened, trapping the bus trailing hers. The driver of her bus somehow managed to keep driving through knee deep water, to drop her in one piece at the school gate.
"Manik ne subah ko hi tumhare ghar pe call kiya tha, but by then you had already left home. Then he tried to call you on your phone but didn't get through. When he heard in the news that the school bus is stuck, he thought you were in the bus and he left alone in the middle of this rain. I told him not to but he wouldn't listen aur main bhi nahi nikal pa raha because my house is almost under water. We are on the 1st floor."
"Mera phone kal se kharab hai Cabir, baarish mein bheeg ke dead ho gaya. Ab kya karun main Cabir, Manik ko kaise dhundhu? His number is out of range."
"Nandini why don't you just spare him. Why don't you let him be in peace yaar? Ek insaan kitna seh sakta hai?"
"What did I do cabir? Why are you saying like this?"
"May be you didn't do anything but pareshaan to wo tumhari wajah se hi hai. Do you have any idea how he has spent these two months that you didn't come to school? Do you have any freaking idea Nandini? The last time he touched his guitar was two months ago on the annual day. Since then, all he has ever done is to study and keep vigil outside your home."
"My home? What are you saying?"
"I am saying what I should have said long ago. He was there every single day, he would drive 40 minutes and park across the street from your house just to keep a tab on you, just to know that you are ok. He never called you, he made us do that and when we didn't, he made blank calls. Do you think the principal called you on her own or any of us were bothered about whether you appeared for the exam or had an year loss."
Nandini only listen in silence.
"Just leave the poor guy Nandini..he has suffered way too much."
"I will not leave him Cabir.. Sorry I can't... not after all that you have just told me."
Cabir let it all sink in. He didn't want her to leave him for he knew what she meant to him. He just wanted to make sure that she wasn't like others because just about anyone couldn't handle Manik. One needed immense patience and perseverance to love that boy.
"If that's your final decision, then promise me you will never leave him, he is a gem of a guy, he deserves some happiness nandini."
"You have my word on this cabir, but right now how & where do I find him?"
Nandini stayed by the phone while cabir kept on calling Manik till he luckily got through once. Manik was still stuck in the old town which was couple of kilometers away from the school and water was steadily rising. Cabir told Manik that Nandini was safe, but he didn't tell him that she was out looking for him because if he did, he would have started panicking then and there.
Cabir then passed on Manik's location to Nandini, but he was worried, how the girl would manage to wade through knee deep water for two kilometers. But even before he could express his concerns, she had disconnected and started towards the old town. She had to do it, she just had to..she needed to find him, co
me what may. As they say, where there is a will, there is a way, she found hers in a van returning towards old town.
*****
The condition was progressively deteriorating, water was rising every second and she being tiny, it was much more difficult for her. It was almost thigh deep now where the van had dropped her and there was no one around. If she didn't find him here, this would be pretty much the end of her life. There was no way she could survive through this alone.
"Manik"... "Manik" she kept calling his name with all the strength in her body with an earnest prayer for him to respond.
On the verge of giving up, almost 20 minutes later, she finally saw a lean frame approaching her. "Manik!!!!" she lost it when he was within arm's distance. He was beyond shocked. Cabir had told him that she was safe, how on earth could she be here, looking out for him. What if... he couldn't even dare to think.
"What are you doing here? How did you come here?" He looked around for a place to escape. At this, the water would soon drown them. In this old part of the town, there were only shops and few dilapidated buildings. They were the only two souls here today. He picked her up on his shoulders and made his way through the water towards one of those old ragged building which could collapse any moment. But then did he have an option. They climbed up the stairs to what was an open roof.
Soaked and exhausted, they kneeled down on the roof, next to each other.
