Wednesday 9 February 2011

How Jagat Loved Me


It was love at first touch.
The kind of love that starts with lust
It was love at first touch.

I can’t explain it the way you want it explained. But I can say so much.
I’ll never get over it. I don’t want to.

There was sand pouring out of his ear.
There was a gash on his neck.
There was blush on mine.

We didn’t talk about it.
They did.
We didn’t giggle about it.
They did.

We didn’t hide it.
They…

Needless to say, Tups, Tash, AWme and Niki (a.k.a. Nboy) were in the know. They seemed to know better than we did.

To make this less of love story would be a crime. To leave out the ferry ride and the strange meals would be worse.

There was one evening when I found myself sitting on a rock with waves crashing all around me. I had the hugest grin on my face just thinking of how good life is and
all the things I should be so grateful for. Sigh...

Life’s been treating me well and keeping me happy. There wasn’t a regret or an empty space to fill. And yet, when he came in, it fit.

Again I can’t explain how it happened. Just that it did.
Somewhere between the stars and sea.

When I fell in love with you
Every star in the sky knew
Every grain of sand knew
Every wave of the ocean knew
I myself had no clue

This night was unmistakably the life of the fantasy. At one point I couldn’t help exclaiming how the stars seemed to be giving birth to younger twinkles. At another I couldn’t stop him from hiding my view of the twinkling sky.

Later, they talked of how it was enviable, exciting, every girls dream…
We hardly talked at all.

Truth & Truth. Memory. 7Up.
There was one evening of drunken games.
Mushrooms. Hookah. Weed.
There was one evening of stoned bliss.
Sunset. Watermelon. Prawns.
There was one evening of satisfaction.

Much to everyone’s pure excitement, we stayed an extra night.
The way I see it, there were only 2 times we journeyed through the field of flowers. Once when we were rushing to cancel tickets and once when we were rushing to catch our bus. Both times, it was thoroughly ignored!
There is just one more auto driver story to tell. But I’m afraid it will take way too long…just like he did.
Back on the beach, we’ve made new friends. We’ve created Prawn Bonds and Girly Giggles. We’ve taken way too many pictures to fit on one camera…

It was the first thing I liked about him. His DSLR. I almost drowned it in sauce once. But that’s beside the point. I was promptly forgiven. Just like the cows that ate our veggies and drank our whiskey. Ok, not JUST like that!

When all the bottles were empty and the bills tallied, we had one last hour of revelry. We still weren’t talking about it. They were.

Well-travelled-English-lady: So you’re going to Pune and she’s going to Bangalore?
Us: Yes.
WTEL: So, what’s going to happen with you two?
Us: We don’t know!
WTEL: Will your parents be ok if you said you’ve met someone and you want to go to Pune to meet him?
Me: Yes.
WTEL: Will your parents be ok if you said you’ve met someone and wanted to marry her?
Him: Yes.
WTEL: Well, not necessarily her, but you know…

Later, after he had left, I went back to say goodbye to WTEL and she said, ‘I had cancer last year and I thought I’d never come to India again and here I am. You can’t give up darling. It’ll happen if it has to.’
I was near tears as she hugged me and said ‘Have a good life!’
I’d never thought of it like that. But these beach buddies were just once-in-a-lifetime friends. Friends, who may have changed the once and the lifetime.

1 comment:

  1. Witty, smart, cocky and emotional...fast moving young love story. I loved your speech patterns."

    ReplyDelete