If I Had A Love Story - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Within the blink of eye, the semester exams were upon us. There were plenty of sleepless nights (There were none for me, I slept tight) and sojourns at coffee huts at evenings for snacks and chit chats with friends persuading them to take time off from studying. Movie nights were mind refreshers. The season finale of Game of Thrones was airing then. I watched G.O.T. even on the days of the exam while my roommates were studying sincerely (That season was a complete disappointment though). That was also the time of water crisis, people went from hostel to hostel to bathe while some never bothered.

In the middle of everything, Diya and I spent our time preparing for exams together. The tables at the Science and Humanities building had witnessed all our stupid jokes and geeky gossips. In the times I spent with her, I was into a phase of rediscovering and unravelling parts of me that I myself seldom knew existed. I was like a caterpillar in its cocoon undergoing metamorphosis waiting for the moment it would fly. 

The canteen catered to most of our cravings during our study hours. The fried rice she ordered had lost its warmth as we lost ourselves in a deep conversation. I managed to bring her back and shifted our thoughts to food. She extended her hand, offering a mouthful of fried rice to me. I was wise enough to instantly open my mouth as she gently pushed the fried rice into my mouth (Any resistance meant I would be sitting with my mouth stuffed with food, choking). Unusually the fried rice tasted great if not heavenly. It had one thing that I had been missing - her essence. 

The darkness that fell upon the skies was just beginning to disappear as the sun started liting the sky. Diya and I were waiting on Platform 1 under the canopy of the Guindy railway station. The semester storms had subsided. The last of the 'M' series was done and dusted (Honestly that wasn't tough but we had a long holiday in between which had stimulated the end of exams mood). The train honked announcing its arrival and we boarded it into an almost empty carriage. I occupied a seat at the last seated comfortably with my luggages by my side while Diya occupied the one opposite to me. I glanced through the window to see the sun dawning, emanating its first yellowish rays of light. Diya's yellow chudi radiated the same. 

Alighting the train at Chennai Park, we entered into the subway. The subway was dim, crowd packed and had no advertisements stuck on the walls. I hadn't been to Chennai Central except for a couple of times and I was watching the route that we were taking as I would be returning back alone.

"Follow the crowd" she instructed. She apparently had noticed me looking all around.

"What?" I blinked skeptically.

"Follow the crowd and you'll not get lost" she said gleaming.

"How do you know?" I questioned her.

"I do that all the time" she replied.

I laughed.

We were now standing in front of the 147 year old building in all her grandeur dressed in red and white which happened to have the longest name in all of Indian Railways. Even at that early hour, people were swarming around. I offered to carry some of her luggage and we walked to Platform no.10. The train was already there and she had around 30 minutes for boarding it. 

She put her luggage under her seat and came to sit alongside me in a bench in the platform.

“There’s no good looking boy in the coach” she said sadly.

I chuckled. In the bench next to us, there sat a boy and a girl. The girl was lying on his shoulder with her hand in his chest while the boy sipped his coffee in one hand while his other comforted her. I smiled at them before I turned my attention towards Diya. We then started chatting random stuffs.

“That girl’s looking at you. Don’t look…”

Before she could finish I turned to where her eyes were pointing at to see two girls who went past us few moments ago. Apparently one of them was looking at me but she had turned back when I looked at them.

Her hand hit my head hard.

“Ouch! That hurts” I murmured rubbing my head.

“Won’t you ever learn? Why don’t you turn around casually?” she protested.

I was toast (I still try to hear out the speaker fully before turning to look at what he/she’s pointing at but never happens). It was almost time and Diya got into the train. I bid her a safe journey as the train started moving. I took a few strides catching up with the train waving good-byes to her as the train sped past me.

I went out of the station to witness an even more massive crowd. Much to my frustration, I was unable to remember my way back. I stood for few minutes with the intention of asking somebody for help. “Follow the crowd” Diya’s voice echoed inside my head. A rush of passengers flowed out and I joined them. At the end, I was indeed lucky. The crowd took me to exactly where I wanted to go.

I was back at Chennai Egmore at Platform 4. Buying myself a Times of India newspaper for company, I took my window seat in the Guruvayur Express waiting for it to take me home.