It was cold on that January night. The minute’s hand of the watch tower crawled lazily to signal the change of the hour to three. There were never a lot of people on the station at this hour. And on a cold night like this, most people were inside the warmth of their homes with their loved ones and those who were not, wished to be. The silence of the night was broken intermittently by the announcer’s sleepy voice declaring the arrivals and departures of trains.
It was in this cold and foggy setting that her train rumbled to a stop at the station. She checked her watch. It was unusually on time that winter night. Maybe it understood her need of urgency. ‘Yeah, if only that made the Indian Railway run, we would never be late’, she thought with a wry smile as she put on her gloves, tugged at her scarf and prepared to alight. She hadn’t slept well during the night long journey. She found it difficult to sleep in trains. The rhythm of that rickety-clack sound that trains made never let her find peace. But she didn’t complain, not today. She didn’t have time to. She had to get to her place fast. Someone would be waiting. And then she laughed in the darkness, ‘Sure that someone would be waiting, at this hour and in this cold! And that when he doesn’t know that I am coming’. For the whole idea she had planned as a surprise. And made sure he didn’t have an inkling of her visit. But the thought made her smile and made her warm and anything that makes you warm on a cold night like this is good.
She made her way outside the station to the taxi stand. It was not a big town but being a university town and well connected by trains, no time of arrival was that unusual and you could find taxis with ease. She was aware of the eyes of the few men she passed. Eyes gazing at her from behind shawls and monkey caps and smoke from their beedis. But it didn’t bother her. Nothing could, not at this time. She found a cab driver and he agreed to take her to her destination for three hundred rupees. The usual fare was two hundred but she didn’t mind the extra money. She didn’t want to haggle and waste time over something as inconsequential as a few notes of currency. They had been apart for more than a month and now, being so near, she wanted to be with him as soon as she could.
It was an hour’s drive to her hostel and she spent it thinking about the wonderful times they had had here. And she thought about how stunned he would be to see her and what he would say. Then a thought struck her. Should she wake him up at this hour? Poor fellow, he did say last night that his professor had loaded him with a lot of work and she knew that he hadn’t slept well the past week. He had said he would get it done tonight and then finally get some rest. ‘No you won’t’, she had thought mischievously. But now she thought maybe it was best if she let him rest for another couple of hours and then wake him up. She had told him last night that she would call him at seven to wake him up and wouldn’t it be just dandy if instead of calling him up, she would just knock on his door and look at his sleepy face when he would see her. ‘Fine’, she decided, ‘I will wait for a couple of hours, let the poor bugger have some rest and then wake the living daylights out of him!’. She imagined the startled look on his face and it made her heart smile.
She got out of the cab and paid the driver. And made her way to her room. They lived on the same floor, with only a few rooms separating them. Her bag was light and she carried it carefully, not making a noise, not wanting to wake anyone. As she made the final turn towards her room, she just peered towards his. And in the dim glow of the tube light, she saw his little head looking towards her! She could barely believe it. He didn’t have his glasses on and his eyes were full of sleep and his hair was all disheveled. He had obviously been sleeping. She pushed her bag inside her room and ran to him. He was dressed in only a t-shirt and shorts and when he saw her, he was surprised but she was even more, and with reason. She hugged him and he kissed her on the forehead. He felt warm and fuzzy, just out of his quilt.
‘How can you be up at this hour?’ was the first thing she could think of to ask.
‘I wasn’t,’ he replied, ‘you woke me up when you knocked on my door’.
‘But I didn’t! I just came in and didn’t even put my stuff inside and I did think of waking you but then thought you must be tired with all your work and decided I would let you sleep for some more time and then surprise you in the morning. You were supposed to be asleep. It was my surprise! How can you be up?’. She was saying things so fast and repeating them, almost child-like, like she did when she was excited and he couldn’t help smiling.
‘Well, it is a surprise alright, my dear. And if you didn’t knock, then maybe the only explanation is that I am psychic after all’, he beamed, not one to miss a chance to show-off before her, kissing her on her forehead again and holding her close. ‘Get inside, kiddo. Your nose is so cold’.
‘No you are not’, she said slowly. ‘There is another explanation. It was magic!’ and entered the room.
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