Solitary rain

I just finished with my night shift yesterday, and I went up to the cafeteria to have my breakfast. As I sat down at a table, I could feel tiredness creep into my body. I was watching the television when I suddenly realized that the hall was unusually dark. I peered out of the window and looked in amazement.

It was around an hour and a half left for mid-day, but I could have sworn that the failing light outside resembled the early sunsets that Kolkata was quite accustomed to. But being a newcomer to this city, it was a sight that left me awestruck. I was no longer looking at the television. Nor was I having my breakfast. I drew myself to the window and continued to admire the vista. Just then, a drop of water splattered on the window in front of me. I was taken aback for a moment, and almost immediately, I began to smile. The number of drops began to multiply and more appeared on the window, blurring my view of the darkened sky. The rain had arrived. And just then, I became the loneliest person in the world.

Never in my life did I feel anything when the rain seeped to my skin and drenched me completely, but when I watched her for the first time in the rain, I knew I felt different. I had laid my eyes on the most beautiful thing. I watched her closely as she stretched her cheeks to a smile, and closed her eyes from the piercing sharp cold drops that rained down from above. As each drop hit her taut skin, it exploded like multiple sparkling gems. As each drop bounced off her skin, she tingled and broke into a laugh. Her hair was now thick and heavy with the rain, and she shied from opening her eyes for too long, lest the raindrops hit her at the wrong spot. She lifted up her hands, and roved her fingers through her hair. Her hair was now disheveled, but the look on her face was clear and obvious. She was thrilled. Like a small child, she hopped around in the rain, turning round and round, as if she could catch more raindrops. I just stood and watched her, oblivious of the fact that I was now slowly getting drenched. Then the wind blew.

Clearly she was shivering with the draft hitting her. Almost immediately, she clung to herself, arm to arm, and ran for safety. I too felt the chill, but I was lost, mesmerized by the actions of the girl in front of me. I watched her run to the confines of a bus stand, still holding her arms together. She was still shivering, and I could barely tell the goose bumps from the droplets that glistened from her arms. As I saw her hold herself tightly with her arms, I so badly wanted to be there with her, clasped all around tightly in between her arms. It was only then that I realized that I was now soaking in the rain. So I rushed for cover nearby. But I was unaware that I was heading to the same stand that sheltered her from the chilly rain.

I was beginning to feel conscious of her presence next to me. Initially, she glanced at me, and continued to rub some warmth into her arms. I pretended to ignore her, stealing glances of her from the corner of my eye. We stood in silence, and looked onward into the rain. Though I was standing next to a complete stranger, I felt an innate connection with her through the rain. It felt like I knew her since a long time. I did not feel alone anymore. But she eventually moved away. And I did nothing to hold her back. After all, she was just a stranger. I had nothing of hers to hold on to, but she had taken my imagination as she departed.

And now, every time I see the rain, I am reminded of the stranger who seemed born for the waters that poured down from the heavens that meandered with purity all over the body of this angel that was in her element in my sight.

And as the rains fade away, I miss her even more…

Lub – dub, lub – dub, lub – dub...

The noise of traffic is deafening, the honking of cars, the roar of engines, the shouts of people, it all is bound to disorient you. When you get to work, the channel music in the elevator is boring, the same piped music wafting from the brass lace affixed overhead. The telephone on the right side of your desk never ceases to stop ringing. Every time you bang the phone shut, you wish you were able to kill the forsaken device. Even the mobile phone in your pocket contributes to your slow death with its subtle, but very distracting vibrations. Your ears start to ache as you can feel your boss literally breathing down your neck, loudly reminding you of your deadlines, as if you were deaf. The chatter of your colleagues makes no sense to you, and you are polite enough to sit through their intelligible chatter without embarrassing them.

When evening comes, you just cannot take it anymore. You long to leave this place and return to your sanctuary, where you are certain of being reminded of the person you really are. When you are haste to your sanctuary, the entire volume of noise around you seems to increase. And just when it almost engulfs you, the key in your hand twists in the lock and gives you entry through a door. Immediately, you enter and shut the door behind you and all the noise that had plagued you since morning has suddenly vanished. You are home. You let your coat and with it your bag fall off your shoulder. As you lumber on, you see a bed in front of you. Your legs give way, and you crash into bed. Fatigue overcomes you, and you lay still as a stone in its cold covers. As you lay in bed, you can feel something slip in beneath you, and suddenly the bed seems warmer than usual. And then, through the silence of this sanctuary, you hear a faint and rhythmic beat. ‘Lub – dub, lub – dub, lub – dub…’ it goes…

It’s not just a sound; you can actually feel it throbbing at your ear. Your head rests on the bosom of your loved one, who unfailingly runs her fingers through your hair, soothing your tense and stretched nerves into submission. Her bosom not only heaves rhythmically with the throbbing of her heart, but it also intoxicates your cluttered mind, drawing you into a deep and much needed slumber. A memory of the morning’s noise has now ebbed away, and your ears welcomed the delicate throbbing of her heart. And as you drift into deep slumber, you know that every day, you would give anything just to hear that pulsating throb every time you retire at the end of the day. Because that’s the only beat that would keep you going through every passing day.

Lub – dub, lub – dub, lub – dub…