A DREAMY DATE

The moon was shining at the peak of its luminescence… The stars were twinkling with an aura of magnificence…. The wind was filled with the aroma of flowers…. Yeah!! It was a typical unorthodox night in the city…. And it had every ingredient of a poetic paradise… But hey! I was no poet & I never desired for a paradise! So what the hell was I doing in the midst of such scenic wonder?

                      

Yes, that was the million dollar question for me; I analysed the scenery again, the street was almost deserted, quite unlike the city I had known for years…there were no pulsars rampaging through the street… no swarm of humanity racing for the urban life and no stray cattle taking a nap on the road. But there was this pristine calmness, peace at its best and peaceful humans at their very best, walking through that beauty of a landscape. It was all unnatural for me, the calmness, the scenery, I kept wondering about my existence on that place as a feel good sense was creeping inside me, the feeling took a halt as a feminine voice from behind yelled musically “ HEY! Where do you think you are going?”

The voice was the sweetest I had ever heard, potent enough to raise your sugar level. I turned behind to see the “sugar” and there was this girl exhibiting a combination of smiling & blushing, my eyes bulged to the widest possible extent as the background scenery faded out of my mind and I got busy admiring her beauty.. “She” was a maiden from the abode of beauty and she was coming towards me and again the voice – Were you walking away without me? What are you looking at boy? I wished I could say – It’s You O Angel… I am looking at you. You are the cynosure of my myopic vision! But I was muted; I was under a spell, mesmerized by her charm.

Minutes ago the only dilemma I treasured was the question about my presence in that place, now I had this gorgeous girl dictating terms to me, Who is She? Why is She here? Where is She taking me?

I had answers to none of the above questions and yet I followed her like an obedient child. She led the way walking away ahead and I followed her hypnotized. That gave me an opportunity to scrutinize the mystical maiden, her face radiated a glow of pure beauty, her long hairs were flowing with the wind and she continued her stride through the street. I got indulged in relishing the sight when She turned around, once again, and said – C’mon you are being too slow, Do you want us to be late on our first date? Date!! Date?? That word kept echoing in my big ears. Our Date!! I was supposed to be at my home sweet home, on a date with my dear bed, but here I’m, on a date with this girl whom I’ve never known, never seen and even I’ve never flirted with her! All this was getting on to my head and adiing to the dilemma, I felt like giving her a Houdini demo and flee from the scene, but then the voice within, my conscience made it’s presence felt, “This is the moment for which every boy drools, every boy longs, after a long penance which included chasing a half a dozen girls and a dozen proposals, I’m actually on a date, that too with the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. “ 

And my dear conscience was victorious over me again, The feeling to flee got submerged and I increased my pace to walk beside her, She was love’s most beautiful bait, She was all over my mind, “She” was all I could think, I looked around, the scene had changed, now the never ending street was swarming with couples, arms around each other, heads on shoulders, hand in hands, it seemed the whole population was on a dating spree.

I was back to being with my “girlfriend”, yeah we are on a date, so she must be my girlfriend or atleast a prodigy to be my girlfriend!! I had been a mere spectator till then muted by the situation, the scenery and the beauty near me. I felt the need to open my mouth although I was short of words and guts. Suddenly I spilled out – “You look so pretty today”. There was a moment of silence after I spilled out the words. The silence prevailed as I waited anxiously for her reaction when I felt her soft hand slapping my back. “You would never give up flirting, would you? And there was that amalgamation of a smile and a blush. Girls love being flirted but they never admit it and Guys are born with the flair of flirting. 

I observed we were walking with our hands inches away from each other. 

I felt the urge to emulate the other couples around, I just wanted to hold her hand and walk away with her wherever she took me. 

I made the first move, my fingers reaching out meet her hands, the hesitation subsided and our hands met each other. The feel of her soft hands was blissful, she threw a quick glance at me and quickly grabbed my hand and said – “There You are!! Finally! “

I was in a trance, I was walking hand in hand with the prettiest girl I have ever seen, all I could do was hail my destiny, and we kept on walking till infinity. We did not speak a word, we did not stop the walk, I was engrossed in her.

I felt her steps stopping and she pointed towards a miniature building, “CAFÉ COFFEE DAY”, yeah It was “The CCD”, the mecca of lovers and to-be lovers!! And I was on the verge of invading it for the first time or rather making a CCD debut! That too with my gorgeous “girlfriend”. I quickly checked out my wallet for bankruptcy, there were three fresh notes of thousand rupee currency, I was awestruck, I was often impoverished by my wallet during such occasions but now I had these shiny notes to counter self-recession. 

I felt like a hollywood star on a red carpet as we entered “The CCD” with our arms around each other. We found a cozy corner to sit and make ourselves comfortable and starter coffee was ordered, the ambience was perfect for a romantic encounter, I looked in her eyes, I could see only myself in her eyes, she was an embodiment of pure unspoiled spotless beauty, I was getting drowned in her admiration when a sudden realization dawned on me, I don’t know her name!! What is the name of my “Girlfriend” ? 

My conscience was back from vacation and was forcing to me ask her name, I was more than scared to do that, It was an absolute harakiri to ask her name after flirting with her, walking with her hand in your hand and that too after invasion into “The CCD”!! I looked around for inspiration only to find the spot bustling with couples, some laughing, some sipping coffee and others just lost in the aroma of love. I felt sorry for myself, I was going to blight this romantic paradise or rather my question was going to do that, all this time my maiden was poking the CCD menu, occcupied with her own dilemma of choosing the menu, I looked at her face again, there was an unmistakable sense of innocence in her, it was pure joy, probably the joy of being with me, But I had to ask her. I took a deep breath and announced to her – “I wanna ask you something. Can I?” She was all smiles and yes also blushing, her hold on my hands became firm as she came closer, her eagerness clearly refelected in her eyes. I realized she was expecting me to propose her, I assembled all the courage mustered during the two decades of my existence and let out the words – “Excuse me, but what is your name?”

Her face wilted like a flower, the innocence paving way for anger and dissappointment, she freed her hand from my hand and moved it towards the glass of water, every thing went blank for me and every thing seemed to be ultra slow motion, I could see the droplets of water flying towards me, splashing on my face like bullets as I gasped for breath. Then a voice said – “Wake up Kumbhakaran!! You are already late for college!!” I opened my eyes to find my mom standing near my bed with an empty glass, it took me a second to conclude the water in the glass was emptied on me. Mom yelled again –“ Now give a break to your dreams and get out of the bed quickly”. I smiled hearing the word “dream” as my mom grinned, and I continued smiling like an idiot…..