Tring! Tring! Very softly she picked up her phone and said “Hello”. Her heart was throbbing like a steam train, racing with excitement. Emotions started off in the brain, then rippled through her whole body. She thought that he was kidding when he asked to call over message. She had jokingly replied “yeah, sure”, but he wasn’t joking at all. What to say now? This was the first time he had called. It was not that she hadn’t talked to him before, but it was always in a formal way, in a formal environment. This was different. It was quarter to midnight, and they were on phone. Although she was acting like a tattletale over WhatsApp, but now a cat had gotten her tongue. She was speechless, a bit nervous too. Conversation, sometimes, can be as novel and challenging as anything.

Finally, it all started happening. One thing led to another and she gradually started getting more comfortable. Their conversation ranged from soil to flower to rain to stars; entire universe seemed small to talk about. Sometimes it was about dazzling hazel eyes, sometimes it was about mellifluent poetry. Sometimes, there was titillating flattery, sometimes brutal honesty. All the chit-chats were fine, but the thing that sparked a connection, more than any other, was mutual vulnerability, powered by self-disclosure. This is where the real magic happened. She let go of the barriers she had created around herself and opened her heart out. Their discussion moved a bit more from the surface when she talked about her inner demons; specters of past. She confronted her fears and expressed, although a bit hesitatingly, things that bog her down from pursuing this path. The train was waiting for her yet again, and this time she didn’t want to miss it. This was bold, very brave.

She had owned a pair of wings and was flying high with him. And the higher she went, the more she was falling. Falling in love. Tingling sensation was making her entire body go warm. Her breaths had gone shorter, heart rate spiked out and entire body draped in a mantle of unusual scent. She was astonished at the calmness emanated from the other side of the phone, though. “He is some secret conspiracy of composure, wit and wisdom”, she thought. It was well past midnight but there was no end to their conversation. As if, it was some long-lasting wish which they were yearning for since eternity. Even the moon started feeling drowsy and embarked on its return journey with its multitude but these insomniac eyes were still alive. Sleep was a luxury which these poor souls couldn’t afford today. She mustered her courage and asked him “We have been talking for quite a while, don’t you sense something unusual? What is this?”. Neither of them had an answer. Despite talking for hours, this is when a deafening silence prevailed. Tongues were tied, lips were sealed, but a tornado of emotions was clamoring beneath. And a song started playing somewhere –

hum tumse na kuch keh paye, tum humse na kuch paye
lagta hai darr ye baat ye dil ki, dil mein na reh jaye …