Summer Rain

Summer Rain

She looked around her in a wondrous mix of awe and apprehension. As she gazed at the tall buildings around her, she walked past the basketball court to enter the main campus. It was her first day in college and she was understandably nervous.

And then she saw him. The moment she saw him something inside of her lit up. “He’s the one I want to marry”, she said to herself. She didn’t plan to say it. The words just filled her mind. Spontaneously. Instinctively. She felt a sudden surge of happiness inside her.

As she reached the campus she began to check the timetable board to figure out where her classes would be. But even as she kept on searching for her classrooms, he was in her mind. “When will I see him again? I’m sure I’ll bump into him again. After all its college. I hope we become friends one day.”

 Her mind was racing ahead with thoughts.

Then she saw him again. And again. In fact he wasn’t hard to spot in college. As captain of the gym team he was a popular guy. Girls swooned over his looks. Over 6 feet, wavy hair kept short, clean shaven, a fit lean body, he was the veritable heartthrob of college. But, as she found out, he had a serious side to him as well. He was into debates and elocution and the couple of times she heard him speak, she was bowled over even more. And she particularly found him irresistible when he wore his black rimmed glasses. “If anything could make him look better than he already looked.”  She found herself swooning like most other girls in college.

She never got to know him though. There were friends who said they could introduce her to him, but she always backed out. A strange inhibition stopped her from wanting to know him. Deep inside her maybe, she didn’t want the bubble to burst. What if, he turns out different from what I picture him to be. Silly thoughts that kept hovering around her stopped her from ever getting introduced to him.

They say the best years of our lives also pass on the quickest. College breezed by her as she went through her share of crushes, heartbreaks, serious friendships and casual encounters. She couldn’t have asked for a better phase. Some of her best friends were made at that time. But despite all that she never forgot him.

He was senior to her. So on the last day of his college; she had this terrible urge to go and talk to him. The years had flown by and now it was time for him to leave. I should talk to him at least once, she thought to herself. She blushed at her own thought.

But she was invariably tongue-tied in front of him. She had practised what she would say to him, the whole day, but when the time came she developed the proverbial cold feet. She saw him sitting with his bunch of friends making plans post-college. He was wearing his glasses too.

In a matter of sheer impulse and exuberance of youth, she rushed to him and gave him a tight hug. It was so spontaneous that he was taken aback and she, when she realised her action, kept hugging him for a few lengthy seconds more, not knowing how to get out of this embarrassing situation. And yes. He smelt so nice! She released him from her hug and ran across the canteen in a delirious mix of adrenaline-flowing-thrill and embarrassment.

Present Day…

She leads a happy life now. She’s married to perhaps the best man she could’ve dreamed of being together with. They worked together and that’s where they both fell in love. He asked her out and a couple of meetings later they realised they wanted to marry each other. And now, 11 years of relatively married life and two wonderful children later, they are an ideal couple to most of their friends and family.

She usually loved driving. Especially when they went on long drives outside the city and back. However he insisted on driving that day. “Let the husband pamper his wife,”  he joked as he sat at the wheels accelerating on the highway. As they approached the city the traffic slowed them down till finally they had to stop at a signal.

She looked out of her window. And there he was. On the driver’s wheel of the car standing next to theirs. She was amazed that she could remember him after all these years. But she did. He hadn’t changed much actually. Just a few steaks of grey on his hair, the glasses now seemed as if they were permanently on. He had a lady sitting next to her, but she didn’t bother about her. She kept looking at him, ogling almost, as memories came flooding back to her. For once she was angry with her husband as he sped on no sooner had the lights turned orange. “What’s the rush? We’re only going home,” she muttered, as she lost sight of the car next to her.

She was a mix of inexplicable happiness and a tinge of sadness. The thing about memories is most of the time we don’t know whether they make us happy or sad. She messaged her best friend from college after a long time. She wanted to tell her who she’d seen today.

She woke up the next morning feeling really happy. She tried to remember her dream of the previous night but she could barely remember the events. She only remembered he figured prominently, almost solely in it. She lazily stretched her hand outside her window. It was raining. It was summer. It wasn’t supposed to rain at this time she thought. But somehow the rain made her happy. She felt a flush of happiness all inside her as the raindrops kissed her hand.

Copyright (c) Pratik Majumdar