“Excuse me Ma’am, you can use this if you wish to ? ” He said to her, softly, that only she could hear. Without turning , she takes the handkerchief and wipes her tears! At the movie interval she turned to her left side to return the handkerchief to the good samaritan, but, he was gone! Hoping to return it when he came back after the interval, she keeps waiting for him. But he was gone! She couldn’t even thank him.
That’s funny! She thought. How could anyone leave a movie as good as this one in the midst? She waits for a few minutes at main entrance of the movie hall, at MG Road, Bangalore. But he never came back! Though she had not seen him, his deep voice was etched on her heart!
His deep voice had struck and registered somewhere in her memory for life. She came back home and looked at the small piece of cloth, that seemed to be telling her something, something that her young school going mind could not perceive then. Faces, sound, smell and touch were a few senses that she could never forget, once in touch!
A year later, she got admissions in an engineering college located on Bangalore- Mysore Highway nearly 25 km from her home! While attending lab, she missed her college bus back home. She was in tears. This was her first week in the college and she was still as naive’ as a school going kid. It was dark, windy and raining hard. Rain drops were falling initially softly and later quite harshly on her face. Yet, she could differentiate between the warm tear drops rolling down her cheeks from the cool rain drops hitting her soft skin! Wondering how long now she would have to wait for the next bus, in the dark, her heart was racing as fast as her tears. A totally drenched young lady can be a feast for lustful eyes peeping out of the passing buses, hostel windows and people passing by. She was dressed in a white chicken work adorned kurta that did not have enough opacity left under the heavy downpour! She tried to adjust her red bandhini dupatta slowly all around her frail figure, in a desperate attempt to ensconce her discerning apprehensions. Lost in her thoughts, she did not realize that a bike had come very close to her.
“Excuse me Ma’am, can I help you?”
She is taken aback when she hears a voice that sounded very familiar to her ears. She turns back to look into a dark full visored helmet! The rider was sitting still, as if very sure of his anticipation. She looked at the rider, who was wearing a pair of black jeans and a black wind-cheater; both soaked and didn’t seem to have done any good to the rider in protecting him from the piercing rain drops. The longish boots were dripping too, making a trail for all the water falling from his torso towards gravity. She looked at the number plate of Fury Enfield 500, which had the up arrow sign, and was relieved somehow! Without another word, she went behind him, and sat up on the pillion seat. Still no word from either of them, as if their silent minds were in conversation. She held on to the sides of the bike seat, trying desperately not to fall off when the biker took turns. The wet and slippery seat was making it harder for her to keep seated safely behind him, also may be because this was her first pillion ride ever! In normal circumstance the touch of wet skins would trigger an avalanche of sensuous feelings ready to devour and be devoured, but here, there were no such feelings, except that both became aware of the powerful aura of each other rather strongly. An unspoken psychological bonding of two souls was in the making, which definitely was emanating from the aura of friendly romance in the nature! The rain water was now melting slowly on their faces, the rough breeze had transformed into sweet fragrance of “Rajnigandha”. The once in while jerks seemed like the gentle waves splashing, into soundless fall”. After crossing some distance in complete silence, except for the beautiful sound of the heavy downpour, no one said anything. She didn’t even realize that they reached her home! She thanked her stranger and ran inside her home. He rides off fast! Why did she take the first lift of her life from a stranger, she could never understand nor did she try to reason it out.
After reaching home she explains to her sister, all that had happened and how this young man came to help her out of blue! And that’s when she realizes that she had not mentioned her house address to the biker, then how did he drop her right in front of her house!
A few months later she goes to watch the air show at HAL grounds, Bangalore. She has the pass to be seated in the front row, of the air show, as her sister was working on a defense project at HAL, as a research engineer. When the show was close to the finish, she sees her sister coming towards her with a very handsome young man in tow. Dressed in the dark blue pilot suit, he was a perfect picture straight from theHollywood movie, Top Gun, when Tom Cruise walked towards the audience!
“This is my sister Mithu, joined first year engineering from Bangalore university, and this is flight lieutenant, ElD, posted as test pilot at Air Force Test Pilot School!” Her sister excuses herself when the GM of HAL waves at her from a distance, to introduce her to the other dignitaries.
“Hello Ma’am, pleased to meet you, hope you enjoyed the air show?” He said taking her delicate hand and he plants a kiss on her hand when she involuntarily offers her hand! His lips didn’t touch her hand, but his warm breath gave her a slight twinkle, both under the skin and in her eyes!
The look in his eyes was like a pair of rainbow enveloping her soul, her body and lifting her from the material world off to the dreamland of love and trust.
The voice, that had been ringing into her ears for more than one year, the voice which would always bring her soul to serendipitous peaceful state, whenever she was reminded of him in the past! Yes! That was the same voice she had heard twice before and here he was, finally standing in front of her, face to face! He had a very cute smile on his face as if trying to tell her that yes, you are right and whatever you are thinking is right. She was lost in her thoughts and the dilemma. Was he the angelic apparition she had been imagining always?
“Hope you like this?” He said, handing over a cup of steaming hot tomato soup to her!
“Hey! I love tomato soup! How did you guess that? “ She said breaking her thoughts and silence. No answer. He was mesmerized by the simple light blue jeans and the casual white silkish sheen shirt she was wearing. The small diamond pendant over her golden skin would sparkle involuntarily, trying hard to compete with the moonlight sparkle in her eyes.
As they walked little away from the crowd, he told her casually. “Ma’am, that handkerchief is mine! “. Her hand froze; she dropped the handkerchief on the ground. The pilot bent down and picked it up and whisked it in the air to blow off the red mud off the white cloth.
“That was you in the movie hall?” she was now sure of all her doubts.
“Yes Ma’am “he said coolly.
“Why did you go away before the interval? I waited for you the whole second half of the movie! “She asked him, with a tone that was more of a complaint.
“Well, I was paged by my seniors. Even on weekends we are on duty. So I could not take my hanky back.” He said still smiling and pocketed his long due possession.
“And I hope you never have to take any more lifts again. It’s not safe, you know.” He took the empty soup cup from her hand.
She stood there still. Staring through him, as if to reconcile that it was him all the time, who would appear out of the blue like a knight and then disappear into oblivion!
She wished the time froze and all humans became masterpieces of beautifully sculpted figures, in open land of vast green lush fields, where just the two of them existed. Frozen apples and sculpted serpentine adorned the stone statues.
Why? How? What and several questions were making quick rounds of tornado simultaneously inside her mind?
“How is that possible?” both of them questioned in unison! Only the tone was different. Her tone was that of an unknown question, whereas his was a tone of the known question.
“When I left the theater, I really had no clue about you. I was only being courteous when I handed over the handkerchief to you, as you were sobbing tearfully. Infact I only saw an outline of you in the dark, with tears glistening on your cheeks in that flashy blue light! Then a year later, I saw your picture in your sister’s album. Even then I didn’t know that it was you I had met in the theater a year back! The second time, I was out to enjoy my ride on my bike in the rain and had gone beyond the planned distance towards Mysore. And while I was returning back, I saw you, but this time, I knew you, obviously you didn’t know me at all! So while you sat there trying your best not to hold me, I felt the strangest feeling of being with someone, who seemed to be known to me for life time! And even though we did not speak a word then, I dropped you at the doorsteps of your house, but this time I left with a heavy heart! I still don’t know the reason behind our past sudden rendezvous, or my feelings. And now looking and sensing your reactions and reading your face today, I am assured that you have felt the same strange feelings and wondered about us, our unexplained meets and most importantly, you still remember me, even though it was a year back that we met ! And that you still have my handkerchief with you and you still remember my voice! “
“Now that even destiny wants us be together, can we be friends Ma’am “, he said putting out his hand to her!
He was so sure, so handsome and so convincingly trustworthy.
How could she defy destiny. Yes, it was written in bold letters, that they were made for each other! How dare she even give this divine friendship a thought?
Life was no longer the same for both of them! Life turned into poetry from a prose! Endless discussions, mindful arguments, countless topics and truthful emotions bonded them into the purest form of relationship, called friendship! The world seemed unblemished and all the people around seemed angelic and ethereal acting as an intermediary between him and her!
Never once did they feel the need for physical proximity. Never did either of them indulge in the expression of any carnal desire for the other! They would discuss the most taboo to the most lascivious and yet never feel any such need between themselves. There was a strange merging of two souls temporarily residing in two separate bodies. More than it could be believed, one sided communication was all that would happen, because their minds were tuned to similar frequencies that needed no second decibel.
Then came the day when his training as test fighter pilot was complete. He was posted to Jamnagar. She was still in her first year of engineering.
The most obvious question was not at all on their focused, career oriented minds. Although the parents and friends had already presumed about the inevitable truth. They both handed over their parting gifts to each other. He kissed her forehead and pinched her nose in his typical style. “I’ll be there for you, whenever you need me“, he smiled. She hugged him tight for the first and probably the last time and punched him in his abs, in her typical style and said “Don’t you ever forget me!”
She came home and cried for hours under the shower, relived the time when they had met under the powerful showers of the fateful rain three years back!
Later she opened the gift pack to find the same music CD she had gifted to him too, “The Carpenters” along with a sparkling gold anklet!
Smiling all the way to his destination, he wondered what destiny had in store for them now; first brings them together in the strangest of the ways and then parts them after three years of blissful friendship!
Yes destiny did have something unexpected in store for both of them ! He had promised to write back the address and phone numbers once he reached his destination and once he was sure of the posting. But destiny took charge of their friendship. He was posted to a place where communication to and from was not allowed for next two years as he was to live incognito in another man’s island!
continued from
Made in Heaven, Separated on Earth !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Part 1
http://madhuriesingh.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/07/made-in-heaven-seperated-on-earth.htm
She waited endlessly for all the mails she was writing to him, each day. Meanwhile she did her MBA from Delhi, and was engaged to a very gentle and handsome young man. The only person she wanted to share it was no where to be found. India Air Force would not divulge any thing to any one.
She joined an MNC at Hyderabad. Her fiancé’ was working for an MNC at Delhi. The D date was not fixed yet.
After his anonymous posting completed, he was handed over a big box of letters! He read each letter at least ten times, till he became part of each word on every letter! Even though he was an over sensitive pilot, he never had any feelings, any emotion run through his mind ever in the past while he bombed the enemy territories. But this day, he had lost control over his emotions. Tears betrayed him, logic failed him and he felt a pain in his heart at the game destiny played with him. He had lost her address! Where should he reply or who should he call to reach her! He was lost and distraught! He went into a state of inebriate mentally, when the heart was inundated with grief. If tears reflected colors, it would be of blood! If grief had any odor, it smelled death! If body could break open, his body had crumbled into useless shrapnel.
He played once again the only thing that he was allowed to take with him in the posting. The music cd titled “The Carpenters”, the parting gift, which he listened to each day and each night in the past 600 odd days!
The next morning, turbulent winds made scheduled sorties not just difficult but life threatening. It was hot already even though it was early morning. He met with a dangerous air pocket while flying his MIG, but managed to bring her down safely.Destiny was as if beyond its goodness and bent upon proving its powers and exercising its diabolical abilities at its best. He was again asked to fly and this time test a newly purchased MIG. The time was close to mid night. He flew fromJamnagar! The aircraft air-conditioner caught fire in mid air: Zone One fire in turbojet engine: Grade one emergency…
He had to eject, though he tried to force land in the desert between Jodhpur n Jaisalmer. But, it was late. His whole body caught fire ! His legs were entangled in the metallic mass of the MIG, which he had to crash land away from the population after ejecting himself! A small blast near his legs, transformed his legs into a mass of bloody flesh, with skin, muscles and bones charred beyond repair into a pulp! The survival rate as per the doctors was only 1%. It was again raining so hard that theworld seemed to be mourning and lamenting in his misery, and yet not willing to snap off the umbilical cords with the world around him.
He was admitted in the air force hospital, where a lil doctor attended to him, until he was flown in to Bangalore, still in coma! The doctors at Bangalore hospital advised to amputate his legs! But he refused to give permission for the same. How will he look for her without his legs!
They were forced to reconstruct his legs. He was operated upon for 24 days continuously, day and night. For next six months he was recovering to first get his legs back, then to learn to walk on them!
While at the same time she was hospitalized for a month suffering from an unknown disease she had in both her legs. Doctors suspected blood cancer, but later it was diagnosed as SLE, a disease that has a survival rate of 5 %. Her veins were bursting with severe burning pain below the knees. Why or how this SLE happens, even today it is a mystery ! She was put on heavy dosage of steroids to keep her vital organs working safely. Her parents and loved ones prayed and cried to see a beautiful and lovely lass turn into a helpless mass. Her fiancé flew down to be with her and promised to marry her even if he had to carry her in his arms forever ! His love did the magic. She recovered faster than the doctors’ imagined. Nizamuddin Medical College, Hyderabad, celebrated the day she was discharged! She was to be married next month to her angel. So she planned to spend some time with her sister, who was still working for HAL, at Bangalore.
Her sister had some work at the NIMHANS, Bangalore. She wanted to meet a friend who was getting discharged after months of surgery and recovery.
She tagged along with her sister. She saw the dedication of the doctors when she was in the hospital and had emotionally grown close to the medical fraternity. She promised herself, that whenever possible, she will work for the society in whatever way it was feasible!
They both entered the hospital room. No one was around ! The nurse told her sister to meet the patient in the CMO office. Her sister left for the CMO’s office.
Suddenly she was all alone in the room. She looked out of the window and felt a familiar pain in her heart , when a noise made her turn and look into the eyes of the most trusting friend she had seemingly lost exactly two and a half years back!
“What are you doing in my room, Ma’am?” He said and later realized who he was talking to! ”I came to take back my CD, that you gave me ! Am I dreaming?” His voice chocked. She punched him softly on his abs and hugged him tight and said, “No Darling, we are still on earth, alive!” He kissed her forehead and pinched her nose. “Mithu! My dearest, I survived only for you! Whenever I missed you, and felt lonely, I would just look at the spaces between my fingers on my hand and imagine your soft fingers interlocked in mine, for life! “
In a month that they spent together, they shared, lived, cried and laughed every second in each other’s company. They never tattled idly, it was the most colorful drama of the neurons that seemed to be creating sparks between the nerve endings, causing the most creative light and fireworks show! Surely, they did not fall short of any blessings, when they had knowingly and unknowingly never hurt a soul.
A lot of people thought and prayed for the lovely couple they made. They both promised to live happily and trust always. They both promised to make their married life a success, and promised to sacrifice their most loved possession for making it a reality.
A month later they both got married….
Made in Heaven, Separated on Earth !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Part1
http://madhuriesingh.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/07/made-in-heaven-seperated-on-earth.htm
Made in Heaven, Separated on Earth !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Part 2
http://madhuriesingh.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/07/made-in-heaven-separated-on-earth.htm
A month later they both got married.
She married her angel and he married his lil doctor. Neither attended each other’s marriage. They had again parted with no exchange of contact details. With a promise that if destiny brings them together, only then they will meet. This time they challenged destiny to keep them away!
“But I will always be there for you, remember that, whenever you need me ” He said.
“But you don’t miss me now, ever!” She wanted to tell him but her voice choked and failed her!
Eight blissful years had passed. They both were living happy married life with successful careers.
Once , she wrote a blog on a TV commercial for an automobile brand, under a name that was fictitious. While replying back to one of the comments, she noticed that the reader had become member of that site, that very day and the comment on her post was also the first comment posted! Out of courtesy, she welcomed the reader to the site with a welcome note, and added “Mithu” as her signature…..
The reader replied, “Hearing your voice was always better than touching you, because even though I yearn to touch your hands, it’s your voice that touches my soul”, not forgetting to write his signature “ElD” …….
She looked on in glee at the sender’s name, with that knowing glance and smiled. Destiny could not hold them back for long!
She wrote back her contact details and added a message,
“I used to think that two souls can never be separated but now I believe that there is only one soul residing in two different bodies “
The Soulship continues…..
(This is an inspired story from true lives, with several fictional additives. ..)
…
hehe she-man!!! 
