Love

   At that moment he agreed wholeheartedly with all those numerous people with Ph.D’s in love. There were indeed butterflies flying in the pit of his stomach. And not just ordinary butterflies. These are the kind that spread its wings and flutter to its fullest intensity, screaming of its presence whenever she comes near and reduce doing so gradually as she passes, strangely as though she is the flower they are hoping to hop onto next! After his numerous not-so-elegant episodes with other women in the past, this he decided was undoubtedly love! Oh and what a feeling it is! To stand in that bus stand wearing those Fast track coolers and a branded T-shirt (which were until yesterday in the form of a bundle of notes in his dad’s pocket) just to get a glimpse of her by the window sill.

           

       And just when he was starting to think these window episodes have lost their initial ‘kick’ they used to have on him, she smiled. She smiled a smile which was not too inviting for him to directly approach and talk to her, not too restricted to doubt if it was just a twitch of mouth or an actual smile but the right amount(the amount passed from generation to generation among girls)  that admonished even his thought that the window episodes were losing their sheen thus instantly making him a bit guilty. Yes! This must be it. The guy who struggled to get a 50% in English during his 12th has now become a man who mastered the language of eyes!

       

         “Can’t wait to see you. Come and pick me up by 8 tmr, good nit darling. Love you”. He smiled at the sms he received. It’s been almost 6 months after that killer smile. His life has changed tremendously since then. Mobile phone is next to God for him(the God being she),  missed calls have become the most romantic gifts which he received almost 10 times a day, interest in politics and GK has risen enough to notice the increase in petrol prices and life seemed to be 10 times more interesting. Getting his usual share of pocket money from his dad and brilliantly convening a lie about some coaching class, he drove early morning all the way to her meeting place to pick her up.

    

         “Hey, Sorry did u wait for a long time? I am sorry I overslept and got up late. So sorry da”, she said with that cute face.

    

        “Hey cha cha I came just 5 minutes back”, he said his anger from that 40 minutes wait vanishing in an instant. He gunned the vehicle to life. She sat nimbly with her hands on his shoulder. The vehicle as a response exceeded its startup speed.

 “Rahul, Can I ask you something?”, she mouthed after a few hundred metres.

“Yes anything”, said our hero driving his dad’s bike. 

“This mobile I have is very basic model da. Messaging and all ok. But when I miss you so much I feel like seeing you”, she said in a pained voice.

“Yeah, but you can’t come out of your house after 7 na? then how? “, not understanding how seeing him can be related to a basic mobile set.

            “ Aama, my mom is damn strict. Hmmm…But if its not too much of a problem for you, can you get me a video call mobile? I can understand if you can’t da. No problem”, she added with haste.

“Uhhmmm”, started Rahul. She butted in-

“It’s just that Nisha’s boy friend had bought one for her and its really useful for them to chat at night seeing each other, but yeah he is a bit rich… ” she said hesitantly watching his reactions in the rear view mirror. Her hand lessening its grip on his shoulder with every passing second of his silence.

“Well…” ,Her hand slid faster, Rahul already intimidated at his alpha male ego level gave in to the falling hands. “Hey don’t you worry. I will make sure you get the best 3G mobile there is by this evening, ok a?”, said he finally. “Thank you da… I know I could trust you. I love you sooooo much” she hugged him.  The butterflies did their dancing again and he could think of nothing other than how lucky he is to get this loving and caring girl in his life. Love, he thought can justify anything.

            Back home, googling the model(which she said just before leaving) she asked for, updated him that it would cost around Rs.30,000. He cursed himself for borrowing his friend’s costly mobile whenever he went to meet her.  Not wishing to step back now Rahul did the unthinkable. He took one of his mom’s golden necklaces which he calculated would come upto two thirds the sum. He decided to ask the rest 10k from his dad as a coaching class fees.

 “Ethuku da ivlo panam? (Why do you need so much money?) Already join panna courses ella paathilayae nikkuthu.”(already you have stopped in midway all the courses you joined previously), his dad enquired.

“Paiyan padikrakuthaana kekraan, konjo kodungalaen?”(Our son is asking for his studies only right? Can’t you give him?), his mom argued over the sound of the rumbling grinder from kitchen.

“Ippo la ennaala mudiyathu, yaerkanavae neraiya kadan irukku. Ivan phone bill katrakae en sambalam poiduthu” (I can’t pay him now, already we are in debts. And his phone bill itself takes up most of my salary), then seeing his forlorn face, “Seri konjo poruda, maasam porantha odanae tharaen”(Ok wait. Will give at the start of the next month), saying his dad walked away.

          Rahul cursing his poor origin and annoyed at dad’s response sat in a corner. His mom came over to him. “Ennada moonjiya umm nu vechurukka? (Why are you so dull faced), seri unga appa kitta sollatha, intha itha vecha evlo varum nu paaru”(Ok don’t tell your dad, here see how much you can get from this), saying she removed her gold ear rings and placed it in his hands. “Nalla padiknum enna?” (You should study well, ok?), she walked away back to her daily chores of cleaning and cooking as if she nothing different happened and she gave out gold ear rings on a daily basis every morning. Stunned, Rahul heard her boast to the house maid, “En magan Intha computer class a mattum mudichitta, moonu maasathula America poi kai neraiya sambathika poraanam!” (When my son finishes this class, he will go to America to earn lots)

         A single drop of tear trickled down his face. He slowly got up and as if in a trance replaced the necklace as it was. Love, he thought, is amazing. It’s the most wonderful thing there is. It can make or break anything in this world. At that moment with a crystal clear clarity every single cell in him felt his mom’s love and trust on him and for the first time in his life he paid no attention to the hormones playing as butterflies in his stomach when he heard the familiar missed call from the ‘girl from the bus stand’.