Sunday 2 September 2012

Strangers in the Night

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 31; the thirty-first edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The theme for the month is 'Strangers in the Night'

A dark february night and i was walking briskly on the lonely streets. A february night couldnt be more chilly when its 10 pm in the night and you have very well crossed your deadline set up by your parents.

What was driving me crazy was a missed call by my dad which infact happens on the rarest of rare occasions. I had no sense of the time as i was enjoying merrily in the fest of the LSR college. I hurridly rushed to the nearest metro station and boarded the standing metro at the station which was set for central secretariat.

At central secretariat i needed to change for the yellow line. presumly the last metro was waiting there and i wasted no time in reserving my seat which was not difficult as the metro was relatively less crowded at that moment of time. As the metro doors began to close, a girl hurridly rushed in. she was panting and after a while grabbed her seat opposite to mine.

That girl, She was wearing a dark tight dress, had few crimson locks in her lush dark hair. Her eyes were full of anxiety but were deep enough to kindle any poets imaginations. Ofcourse she had kindled mine and i couldn't resist looking at her, staring at her, compelling me to drown in her profound enchantment. she slided her crimson locks over here ears and looked at me.

Caught offguard, i looked at the other side.

"Hey are you from Apeejay school?"  She fired a question at me
" Hi Neha" i launched the reply.
" umm well its Nihita"  she said.
"oops, sorry"  I answered sheepishly


" Never mind, anyway glad to meet you" she said with a smile and came to sit near me. I could sense her presence giving me goosebumps.
" Same here, So how are you? And by the way in which college have you taken admission?" I asked
" I have taken admission in JMC, today was their fest so i got quite late in that stuff. what are you doin here at this moment?"
I tried to evade this question but couldnt escape her questioning eyes.

" I attended the LSR fest today" 
" Well thats nice" she said with the smile, the smile covered some secrets, some anxiety and i wanted to uncover that.

" Howz ur College goin? " I asked.

she hesitated for a while and said " well not so good," Seriousness wrinkled on her face silently ebbing her smile. " Since you are from my school, i can discuss about that with you. I am not sure whether i could continue with my subject. I liked it initially but now i am finding hard to score in this. I didnt get good marks in the semester exam. I am in a serious doubt whether i have made a right choice about my future. Oh God, what shall i do now" she sunk her head into her hands.

" If you believe me, you were one of the most brillant minds i have ever come across. Initially in my 12th i couldnt score well in my economics despite having interest in it. I took a deep breath and restarted my effort, cracked the basic of the subject. as a result, i scored 95 in my boards. This was your dream, your passion. The spark needed is clearly visible in your eyes. Just dont give up. Wait, analyse your shortcomings, work on your strenghts listen to your heart and the most important of all, Have faith because we all had that on you." 

I could seen her smile reinventing itself on her face, a true one which lighted my heart, a spark in her eyes which captured me once again in its grasp and i kept on looking at her till

"Hauz Khas station, Mind the gap" the lady announcer announced. I stood up and spoke

"Well i have to take a leave now and by the way, I am not from Apeejay school"

She was shocked and speechless "Then whaaai"
"It was fun talking to you" i interrupted " Best of luck and good bye Nihita"

She paused, her smile grew once again "Same here, Thank you and good bye!!!.. Stranger"
I gave a loud chuckle.

* * * * *

As the doors of the metro closed after me, I turned to see her shaking her head on her stupidy, but i knew she had not commited one.

Nihita Mathur, class topper, a prolific debator. Sober and humble. A member of the prefectorial board. My junior.
I had a secret crush on her but my heart knows it was much more than that. I always wanted to talk to her, befriend her and tell her what my heart thinks for her but was never able to muster that confidence. When i got to know that she had a boyfriend, i concentrated hard on my studies, stopped thinking about her. Eventually they had a breakup after their board exams. I hoped that we could meet someday somehow,sometime soon maybe as the "strangers in the night", Today was the day...

My legs worked on their own as my brain had become saturated with these memories. Suddenly my mobile sprang to life waking me from the trance. I answered it, it was mom.

" Beta where are you? Its 10:45 and your dad is really upset."

"Coming mom, on my way" i answered

I gave a sigh as i mounted on my bike and saw the mist dissolve into the thin atmosphere amidst the blinding lights.

I couldnt resist a reminisent smile.....
The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. Introduced By: BLOGGER NAME, Participation Count: 02




39 comments:

  1. Ash,

    Welcome back to Blog-a-Ton! I've updated your link properly! Chill! Please update your participation count and Referral Code.

    PS: I'm yet to read your post

    Someone is Special

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    1. Thank you sir, i will surely do it

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    2. Neha! Nah, Nihita Hmm the technique worked out well. It was a good read. Also, please use the phrase, 'Strangers in the Night!' in your post. Good Luck! Keep writing!

      Someone is Special

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  2. Very beautifully thought up and executed
    superb.

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  3. The post kept me on the back-foot because just as I thought I had it figured out, you turned it around, and then around once again! Complicated, but pulled off very well. All the best!

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  4. nice nice :) such stories are always fresh to read!! high school crush later life encounters :)

    all the best for BAT :)

    if you have time do visit
    Strangers in the night

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  5. Ash, when I read the first past, I started guessing the second part, which seemed to me as they would meet again and the boy will be in trouble..

    But no, you surprised me :-)

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  6. Nicely written and, yes, surprised me too!

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  7. Yes, nice twist in the end, liked it.

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  8. Nice tactic to know her name. As I read, I thought OK, so they were strangers! But then, when you gave the second twist! :) Well done! Best wishes for BAT!

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    Replies
    1. Yes.. That guy already knew her name but fumbled because.... You know now after reading the second part :-). He never wanted her to remember him after their encounter, so he lied. Name fumbling was a setup. Thanks for dropping in..:-)

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  9. liked the way you kept turning it around...the high school crushes go a long way always!!!
    ATB for BAT :)
    i could not participate...but u can see my post here
    Karan - Strangers in the Night

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  10. Enjoyed reading you, Ash :)
    all the best to you dear!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks simran... Thanks for dropping in.. :-)

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  11. Cute one..liked the tongue-in-cheek humour...
    But do avoid the SMS lingo on your posts...they kind of spoil the beauty of narration.
    ATB for BAT :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks. :-) i deliberately used that in conversation just to give the real accent effect like howz u doin. Accent effect.. Thanks for the suggestion. I will keep in mind from now on. :-)

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  12. School-cum-college love. So, do you think they will keep in touch now?

    Any chances?

    I liked the simplicity in the story.

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    1. Thanks :-)
      Its kind of complicated. In school he always wanted to have a talk with her, express his feeling. When he met her after a while, he wasnt the same guy anymore but on the other side he hasnt completely snipped off all the feelings about her. He felt the unexplainable contentment after talking to her, helping her. A guy who lived, existed behind the curtain chose to stay behind the veil. So no chances.

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  13. Nice and sweet story with a googly in the end, eh?

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    Replies
    1. Thanks. :-) as a story yeah abit googly but as an experience, bit complicated

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  14. Definitely a lot of surprises in there! :)

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    Replies
    1. Readers love surprises. It adds bit of freshness, i hope you liked it. Thanks for visiting :-)

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  15. Ash, Wow. That was engaging. The twist towards the end was stunning! Frankly...i didn't expect! But, the delhi roads/ college fest/ metros made me nostalgic---that's the city where I was born n bred, u know :))

    So good to see you back here. How have you been..?

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    1. Thank you mam. Last time i kind of missed the prompt so couldnt participate. Its nice to know that you were born and bred here. As you know, feb time is the most amazing time of your life as a student in delhi, numerous fests, retreating cold, approaching spring chilly breeze round the clock, classes in the sun what not. So i decided to use this period as my setup and it turned out engaging i guess :-). I am glad that you liked it. :-)

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  16. very touching and youthful story

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  17. Unrequited desires need to be fulfilled! Your protagonist is damn lucky!

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    Replies
    1. Yeah.. Last line of the story depicts that.. Thanks for dropping in :-)

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  18. Reminds me of the Cadbury's advert :) Nice one..

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  19. Ha Nice one ! Strange that he doesn't want to reveal his intentions even now though!

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    Replies
    1. An unexplainable contentment he felt after talking to her. He didnt spoke those three golden words but spoke everything else his heart wanted to say. Thanks for dropping in. :-)

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  20. All I can say is "cute story"

    Cheers
    CRD

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