It was just another day for Rhea, travelling back from her college in the, as usual, stuffed-with-people metro. Looking at other compartments, she couldn't help but wonder how did the females survive in those overladen compartments and the lecherous eyes prior to the ladies' compartment. Sighing, she moved on and got into the last door of the ladies' compartment. After the doors shut, she leaned on to the glass of the door, longingly looking at the junction of her and the trailing compartment. No, she had no intentions of moving from her safe haven. All she longed for was the fun of standing at the junction, for now the place had been occupied by the "sophisticated gentry" overflowing into the ladies' compartment.
As she looked up, she saw a guy looking at her. The meeting of the eyes left a flutter in her heart and she quickly turned away her gaze. Recollecting the face she saw, she gave the guy an above average rating for looks. She hadn't noticed the dressing sense.
Damn! she thought. She was going to have to risk another look. Risk, because in case he is not up to the mark, he might unnecessarily feel that she's interested in him, and the rest of the journey would be troublesome. How she wished she had any of her girlfriends travelling with her! It wouldn't have been such a task then. Finally, gathering the guts, she stole another look. The guy had also turned at the same instant. And hence, once again she had to turn away quickly. Now she was feeling very embarrassed. Her train of thoughts went from "What would he be thinking about me? Checking out guys!" to "But he's cute! And smart, too!"
Stupidly smiling to herself, she took out her novel from her bag. And soon enough, she had forgotten about the world (and the guy) around her and was completely immersed in her book. Believe it or not, the whole scene was no longer than three minutes, precisely.
That's the thing with girls. A number of emotions, thoughts and visions can occur in a flash of second, triggered by the smallest of things. Trying to put them in words is what gets the usual revert of "You think too/so much!'. Rhea was an MBA student, who had just started her final year in the course. The metro commuting, like for many other Delhi-ites, formed a part of her travel, and hence, her daily life.
Having read a few pages, she realised with a jolt that she hadn't paid any attention to where the train had reached. The LED on the map indicated that the next station was her. Looking around, she saw that the guy was gone. As she got out of the train, she smiled stupidly to herself once again. By the time she exited the station, she had all forgotten about the guy.
But, this was far from the end of their story.
Two days later, when she boarded the same metro, a split second after taking a look around, she realised that the guy from the other day was also there! This time the smile escaped her lips as she could tell that he recognised her too. Making way to her usual place, she decided not to read her book this time. Instead, she took out her ear phones and started listening to music on her phone. This way she could look around more than she would have if she was reading her gripping novel again. On that journey, she was able to take in more of his outlook, and, consecutively, have more embarrassing eye contacts, than the previous one. While glancing here and there, she saw that he was also a student, considering he was carrying a backpack. He was carrying a nice, not-so-brand-new, touch phone. The attire consisted of a decent dark-blue shirt and, as is the case of most guys, a low rise jeans. Thankfully, there were no "cool" sunglasses.
In the observing and judging, she had, yet again, lost track of which stations had passed. Her station was two stops away. She breathed a sigh of relief, but also started keeping a more strict eye on him, to find out on which station did he get down. He didn't get down at either of those two. So, when her destination was near, she felt weird.
This wasn't possible, she thought, because if he would have got down at my station, I'd have remembered distinctly. She got out of the train at her station but the guy hadn't moved. Shoving away her useless thoughts, she exhaled and exited.
Four days passed. She hadn't seen the guy. On the fifth day, there he was! Right at the spot he was supposed to be. She could have jumped with joy, but she controlled. The travel felt the same, but her excited, detective self couldn't help but wonder where he would get down today.
That day, he got down at what she assumed to be his original destination- the station he must have de-boarded on the first day she had seen him. Her mind started making connections of all sorts, mostly nonsensical. The clues didn't make sense and the pieces didn't fit in the puzzle. But then, as was usual for her, she forgot about it. Though that day, the scenes from metro lingered on for a few hours.
The next day, Rhea was running late. She sprinted and entered the first coach she saw in front of her. Sadly, it was the last compartment. More sadly, it was packed. She frantically looked for a space to stand on both her feet. The junction wasn't far and wasn't as cramped. She made her way towards it, and upon finally reaching, she slouched against the walls for support and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened her eyes, she saw him, standing right in front of her. The questions returned. She started becoming a bit conscious of herself, and restless. In order to portray herself as calm, she put on her ear phones and also started reading her book. Her mind had already forged a plan to get down one station ahead or prior to her's. She had almost blocked him out by concentrating on her reading, when she sensed that he was trying to strike a conversation. She ignored. But he persisted. Finally, Rhea, looking as surprised as she could, took out her earphones.
"Pardon?", she said.
"Which book?", he asked.
Rhea wasn't the type of girl who would easily display what she was reading and, therefore, to protect her privacy, she always covered her book. This interference made her irritated, if nothing else.
"Not your business", she replied.
"Sorry?"
"Foundation and Empire". Rhea, not wanting to have to make it awkward, gave in.
"Oh.Writer?"
"Isaac Asimov". She answered through clenched teeth.
He did not ask any further questions. All the above average ratings Rhea had assigned him, had gone down to below average. After some time, he was asking something again. Her station was almost there. Yet, she pulled out her ear phones, and heard, the most horrible and horribly put sentence.
"Can you be my friendship?"
As an answer, she stepped out of the metro without looking back.
As she looked up, she saw a guy looking at her. The meeting of the eyes left a flutter in her heart and she quickly turned away her gaze. Recollecting the face she saw, she gave the guy an above average rating for looks. She hadn't noticed the dressing sense.
Damn! she thought. She was going to have to risk another look. Risk, because in case he is not up to the mark, he might unnecessarily feel that she's interested in him, and the rest of the journey would be troublesome. How she wished she had any of her girlfriends travelling with her! It wouldn't have been such a task then. Finally, gathering the guts, she stole another look. The guy had also turned at the same instant. And hence, once again she had to turn away quickly. Now she was feeling very embarrassed. Her train of thoughts went from "What would he be thinking about me? Checking out guys!" to "But he's cute! And smart, too!"
Stupidly smiling to herself, she took out her novel from her bag. And soon enough, she had forgotten about the world (and the guy) around her and was completely immersed in her book. Believe it or not, the whole scene was no longer than three minutes, precisely.
That's the thing with girls. A number of emotions, thoughts and visions can occur in a flash of second, triggered by the smallest of things. Trying to put them in words is what gets the usual revert of "You think too/so much!'. Rhea was an MBA student, who had just started her final year in the course. The metro commuting, like for many other Delhi-ites, formed a part of her travel, and hence, her daily life.
Having read a few pages, she realised with a jolt that she hadn't paid any attention to where the train had reached. The LED on the map indicated that the next station was her. Looking around, she saw that the guy was gone. As she got out of the train, she smiled stupidly to herself once again. By the time she exited the station, she had all forgotten about the guy.
But, this was far from the end of their story.
Two days later, when she boarded the same metro, a split second after taking a look around, she realised that the guy from the other day was also there! This time the smile escaped her lips as she could tell that he recognised her too. Making way to her usual place, she decided not to read her book this time. Instead, she took out her ear phones and started listening to music on her phone. This way she could look around more than she would have if she was reading her gripping novel again. On that journey, she was able to take in more of his outlook, and, consecutively, have more embarrassing eye contacts, than the previous one. While glancing here and there, she saw that he was also a student, considering he was carrying a backpack. He was carrying a nice, not-so-brand-new, touch phone. The attire consisted of a decent dark-blue shirt and, as is the case of most guys, a low rise jeans. Thankfully, there were no "cool" sunglasses.
In the observing and judging, she had, yet again, lost track of which stations had passed. Her station was two stops away. She breathed a sigh of relief, but also started keeping a more strict eye on him, to find out on which station did he get down. He didn't get down at either of those two. So, when her destination was near, she felt weird.
This wasn't possible, she thought, because if he would have got down at my station, I'd have remembered distinctly. She got out of the train at her station but the guy hadn't moved. Shoving away her useless thoughts, she exhaled and exited.
Four days passed. She hadn't seen the guy. On the fifth day, there he was! Right at the spot he was supposed to be. She could have jumped with joy, but she controlled. The travel felt the same, but her excited, detective self couldn't help but wonder where he would get down today.
That day, he got down at what she assumed to be his original destination- the station he must have de-boarded on the first day she had seen him. Her mind started making connections of all sorts, mostly nonsensical. The clues didn't make sense and the pieces didn't fit in the puzzle. But then, as was usual for her, she forgot about it. Though that day, the scenes from metro lingered on for a few hours.
The next day, Rhea was running late. She sprinted and entered the first coach she saw in front of her. Sadly, it was the last compartment. More sadly, it was packed. She frantically looked for a space to stand on both her feet. The junction wasn't far and wasn't as cramped. She made her way towards it, and upon finally reaching, she slouched against the walls for support and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened her eyes, she saw him, standing right in front of her. The questions returned. She started becoming a bit conscious of herself, and restless. In order to portray herself as calm, she put on her ear phones and also started reading her book. Her mind had already forged a plan to get down one station ahead or prior to her's. She had almost blocked him out by concentrating on her reading, when she sensed that he was trying to strike a conversation. She ignored. But he persisted. Finally, Rhea, looking as surprised as she could, took out her earphones.
"Pardon?", she said.
"Which book?", he asked.
Rhea wasn't the type of girl who would easily display what she was reading and, therefore, to protect her privacy, she always covered her book. This interference made her irritated, if nothing else.
"Not your business", she replied.
"Sorry?"
"Foundation and Empire". Rhea, not wanting to have to make it awkward, gave in.
"Oh.Writer?"
"Isaac Asimov". She answered through clenched teeth.
He did not ask any further questions. All the above average ratings Rhea had assigned him, had gone down to below average. After some time, he was asking something again. Her station was almost there. Yet, she pulled out her ear phones, and heard, the most horrible and horribly put sentence.
"Can you be my friendship?"
As an answer, she stepped out of the metro without looking back.
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