Yet Another Love Story

The Mail Express was very late that day when it reached Cannanore Railway Station. In its last leg of journey, it looked like an old man. The sound and smoke of the engine reminded of person vomiting blood after severe cough. People had begun finding their ways out, to continue their onward journey. And by the time I got down last from that compartment, she had got into the arms of her parents. I could see the happiness of home coming in her tired face.

There was a reason why I noticed her even after getting down. Hours ago, probably I must be the first person to notice the wetness on her left eyelid. Next to her he was sitting, with the closeness of being more than a friend. I was sure that they were not a married couple, the signs didn’t say so. But it was my friend, who was an expert in Man-Woman relationships, who confirmed that they were young human beings who are inseparable in life.

I wouldn’t have noticed them and would have indulged into my reading until he put his left hand behind her neck, clutched the steel rod of the window and brought her close to him. She rested her head on his shoulders and held his right hand. My mind was getting dirty, hoping to see some romantic actions that might come up, and since I sat across them I had a nice view of them. They should be students studying in some big college out of the state. It was vacation time and they are coming back. They were surrounded with more young people, who seemed to be their friends or classmates. But they never disturbed the couple in their private moments.

She was talking to him continuously. Their acts and faces clearly said about the separation they were about to face. Minds struck with grief of a possible break-up. It reminded me about the ‘couples’ who sat on the college gallery during my college days. Most of the gallery portion will be crowded by the final year students. A boy and girl, either of them who will be leaving the college in few days, will be walking hand in hand. They will then walk down the ground through the sides of the Chemical Block and finally reach the Ladies Hostel. In front of the Hostel Gate at the Dispensary, they will sit and talk till its time for her to get in.

What was the difference between them and the couple in the train? Romance built up on the same mould. Some stay, some separate – all decided by destiny.

As the train approached the station I heard silent sobs across the seat. She was crying and his face was red. From a mature young man who was consoling his mate a few minutes ago, his face now turned to that of a young kid who couldn’t control his sentiments. Suddenly he took her hand from his, stood up and walked to the doors and stood there. She looked at him. The moist eyes were calling him back and she yearned for a hug from him.

The train blew out a long horn, indicating its entry into the station. She started packing her bags. Handkerchief wiped out the final tears on her cheeks. When the train stopped, she got down through the door opposite to the one he was standing. Later he too got down, and behind him I and my friend.

We stood there on the platform drinking a tea, browsing the Higgin Botham’s book store and saw her pass by along with her parents. She was a cheerful young girl now. As we climbed the over bridge I saw him sitting on a bench, looking at a walking her in the distance. Once she looked at him and smiled. He buried his heart-aches in that smile and then he walked away, in the opposite direction.

I and my friend discussed about them and their relationships. Her transformation from a crying lover to a happy daughter was something which I could never understand. My friend explained the intricacies of those relationships and the state through which her mind traveled. It is either love or lust, nothing else. He concluded.

At night, as I wade through the pages of my book, she came to my mind again. Whom did I see? A lover going to bed, after a long phone call with him, with mind full of him and his memories? Or a student sleeping deeply with the tiredness of the final exam behind her?

After a long study, scribble and dinner as I switch off my bedroom lamp late in the night those two young love birds and their love stayed on in my mind.

As my characters.
As an ever lasting picture in the mind of a writer.
Above all, as an unresolved mystery.