EXCERPT
2011
It was drizzling and the night had fallen.
The wind was slowly turning stormy and the roads were almost wet. Pitter-patter of the rain was the only sound, that evening apart from the sound of the burning gas stove from a tea stall a few meters away. The rain must have helped the chai wala in anticipating unusual profit margins contributed by his beloved customers. I looked at the new Titan that showed half past seven which I got as Gift from Pooja on my last Birthday.
I waited behind the red bungalow for her that was diagonally opposite to the barren land which was located at the rear side of the tea stall on the lane. Tea stall faced the main road. This half lit lane by the sepia lights led to her house. Thanks to the Corporation for lights with less voltage. The rain cooled the atmosphere and I was shivering.
She could predict few things. One, the next morning news will be announcing ‘a heavy rain last night’ and the other that I would hardly be ready to leave the place without seeing her face and exchanging few words. What could she possibly do? Though I belonged to a middle class, Pooja had fallen for my masculine charms and my athletic build. Besides she never believed in discrimination. Alas! The drizzle has turned into steady rain. She could either meet me behind the red bungalow or sit back into the comforts of her home before anyone realizes her absence in the house. It was a tough call to make. There was a debate of mental impulse and heartfelt warmth inside her. The girl chose her heart. The rain was God’s way of testing her – she thought, and she was determined not to fail. Not this time. I waved my hand in delight as I saw her. Taking long strides, she smiled to brag about her brilliancy in taking a ‘wise’ decision.
She checked her watch and showed me her palm indicating ‘five’. Hope they would have meant hours but I knew it was just, “five minutes of gain with two minutes of pain”. She never understood my phrases. But then I was always like that – using phrases which never made any sense to her.
At that point of time nothing could have made any sense to her because she knew that she was in the safest arms of this universe. No sooner her hands were over the sides of my neck. I held her from the waist and her wet locks fell on my fingers caressing through her shoulders. I wished the shoulders were mine.
I asked, “Why did you get so late?”
She kept mum.
It was still ‘love in the rains’ or ‘Loving the rains’.
I went closer to please her rosy lips. I felt her warmth and to give way to our lust…
BEEPED – THE NON LIVING ‘MAN MADE’