A STORY
It was slowly getting darker and the last sunset view of 2011 was creating a mood for all three of us to welcome New Year 2012. In Sauraha, you can get all that feel of healthy celebration, aloof from the city crowd; set your own mood and welcome New Year. Life couldn’t get any better than this. On top of that Beatles and The Doors playing on the background along with a bottle of whisky on the table were adding to the awesomeness of the evening. The open bar, although full of people, seemed calm, relaxed and patient. With the rays of setting sun slowly fading in the misty clouds all over the sky, I could clearly see 2011 was saying goodbye to all of us. It seemed as if a crowd of peace loving people were waiting peacefully for the arrival of New Year 2012 in the midst of a Jungle.
The bright lights all dispersed in the foggy weather created different images. I would look at some of those dispersed lights creating my own mental images while Raju and Animesh were busy talking about their resolutions. I would imagine an angel appearing from the cloud with a beautiful smile welcoming the new year with new visions, and then she would suddenly dismiss like some incomplete dreams. The more I stared at the lights dispersed in the fog, the more beautiful pictures were drawn in my mind. At this point, lots of pleasant thoughts were hovering inside me to welcome the existence of brand new year 2012. Suddenly, I felt a light pat on my shoulder ,there was this girl with beautiful black eyes standing behind me. I was awestruck by the beauty of this girl;I thought the angel I was imagining just came down wearing a red sweater with black stripes and scarf with 60s hairstyle.
‘Excuse me, can I borrow this chair?’ she said pointing towards an empty chair in our table.
‘No’ I said. I was not even thinking what I was saying ; I was just looking at her. I knew it would be real creepy to stare at any girls like that. But when pure beauty of your imagination strikes your eyes, you have no choice but to fall for it; I just couldn’t refrain myself looking at her.
‘I don’t see anyone sitting on this chair’ she said in little bit loud tone.
‘Why don’t you guys join us, we will celebrate together’ I was completely unaware of where the conversation was heading to. I was just telling things that flashed into my mind the very moment.
She looked at all of us for a moment. ‘ok I will ask my friends’. She smiled and went to her table.
Raju and Animesh were starting to get mad at me. ‘Dude you ruined the whole plans of celebration; iam not in the mood to hang out with any girls tonight’. Said Raju with an angry tone. Animesh was also equally agitated at my idea of celebrating with them.
After few minutes the very lady in the red came with her two friends and they agreed to join us for celebration. I should have felt quite romantic at the moment with all the colorful lights around, and‘stand by me ‘ playing in the background ,but no such feeling grew inside me. It only happens in movies , I guess. My dreamgirl was sitting right in front of me, and I was getting completely nervous, my ears were on fire.
I am not a shy guy, and I have lots of female friends, and I don’t hesitate to talk with any girls anywhere, but I realized that day when something you have imagined appears right in front of you, mind goes completely numb.
‘so what brings you guys here in Sauraha?’ I tried to break the ice with the entire focus of my confidence and energy.
Everyone laughed.
‘we are all here for new year eve celebration, idiot’ she said with a smiling tone.
OMG now I saw her smiling, and it just blew me away. I don’t know what magic she had, she smiled the heavenly smile with her lips closed, everything seem to fade away with its brightness. How come anyone have so much charm on face and smile?
‘I am Rashmi, and my friends Sapana and Sabnam’. We also introduced ourselves, and there was this awkward silence for few minutes. However, Raju cracked a joke to break the silence and everyone started talking about their resolution and blah blah. But I was quiet all the time.
‘Rashmi, you look pretty; I mean that’s a beautiful sweater’. I burst all of a sudden, and this made everyone chuckle. Perhaps everyone in the group knew I liked her so much.
‘Thanks’ she smiled that smile again.
TO BE CONTINUED…….