How I Lost A Pretty Damsel to Silence – Part 1

I met this pretty damsel – my girl on a train. I prefer to take the train as they are cost-effective and I like to sleep under the rocking motion(I am an insomniac but do get some sleep on the train).

The year being 2014, I was coming back from my hometown after an illness, to join my workplace. It was an early morning train, and on-boarding I went off to sleep. Woke up at midday, had my lunch, and again went off to sleep.

It was evening when I finally thought of waking up, and I saw this pretty damsel sitting right across my berth. I was very sure she was not there when I boarded the train. I pretended to behave as if I hadn’t noticed anything. I sat up and went back to the virtual world of social media. I don’t have many real friends in the real world(some 2–3) and I do crave love(for some weird reason), so I spend a lot of time in the virtual world.

She got up, and went somewhere, by the time she came back someone else had sat at her place, so it was natural for her to sit right next to me on my berth. And right in front of us was a mirror.

And as any guy would do, I started looking at her beauty in the mirror. She was lovely, beautiful, etc. I instantly felt a connection with her but didn’t dare to start a conversation. I started looking the other way knowing that I was not worth her. On looking back in the mirror, I found her looking at me. She was shocked to see that I saw that.

I turned to her and said ‘Hello’. It felt like a tough job that I did, like climbing 10 floors through the stairs in one single breath. She replied with a simple ‘Hi’.

Me: How’re you?

She: I am good, how’re you?

Me: Sleepy. (A burst of laughter). From which station did you board the train, I didn’t see you boarding.

She: I boarded at Howrah, where did you board?

Me: I boarded at Bhubaneswar, but I didn’t see you.

She: I tend to sleep with the blanket over my face, I was on the middle berth.

Me: Ahh! So you are from Howrah?

She: No, I am from Jamshedpur. But I don’t get a direct train to Bangalore, so I have to take one to Howrah and then switch to another to Bangalore.

Me: That’s tough. At what time did you start from Jamshedpur?

She: I started late at night, reached early morning at Howrah, and then boarded this train.

Me: So your parents stay at Jamshedpur.

She: No, I stay with my grandparents

Me: Why?

She: Can I talk about this later?

At this point, I remembered that my research instinct had kicked in which she didn’t want.

The rest of the train journey till the next day we binge-talked about shitty movies we had watched and any random topics that crossed our mind. She talked and talked and I was the one listening to her voice and being swept over every time she paused to take a breath.

The train reached Bangalore the next day. We were all lined up at the aisle to de-board the train. She was standing right next to me and I was gathering courage from the Universe to ask for her number. Finally, I climbed another 10 floors and asked for her number.

…to be continued

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