A Few Minutes In A Waiting-Room

A Few Minutes In A Waiting-Room
 Her very presence in the waiting-room instilled excitement and pleasure  of the kind Edmund Hillary must have experienced when he found himself  atop Mount Everest. My heart pumped in more blood per second than it ever did in its history. Luckily or unluckily, there wasn’t anyone else in the waiting-room to hear it for I was sure the sound of my heart beating could be heard for a kilometre. The exhilaration and excitement was enough to make me feel in a heavenly body I’ve always wanted to be in. I wish I could live in it forever and a day. I wanted to remain there forever and a day, but she was bent on leaving me, and she did it in a most unceremonious manner, worse than anyone could ever do robbing the heavenly body of its heavenly nature.

Her presence beside me was stronger than any magnet on earth. It bewitched me and kept me by her side till she rose to leave. There were no one in the waiting-room, but I was sure everyone outside the room was affected by the magnet within the room and its immense power to pull; its pull was stronger than the gravitational force of the earth. There was a lot of my world inching towards her and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I could feel my organs moving around in my being pulled towards her as if pulled by a magnet.

There was a strong feeling of a union with the Eternal Being while I was with her. I was transported to another world while she was in the waiting-room. I held her hand in my hand and kissed it with the ardent fervor of a lover. She didn’t resist, and I knew it was a sign of acceptance of my feelings for her. For a moment, I paused to revise all emotions that ran through me at that time. There was a typical excitement rushing through me while I held her hand and kissed it; it felt like the first time, although it wasn’t the first time I had kissed somebody. I had been atop Mount Everest several times in the past, but this time, it was something special.

Somehow, I knew it wasn’t the first time for her also. She was a queen who reigned over quite a few hearts; I felt sure quite a few of the other hearts had honoured her with similar compliments. I didn’t know she enjoyed the attention I gave her or not. I was aware I was violating a social norm by kissing her being a bachelor, although I doubted her being a celibate. It made very little difference. I felt sure I wasn’t the first one to kiss her, and I wanted to ask her about all the passionate lovers she had had in the past, but somehow, I know I won’t like to know about all the hearts she ruled over in the past. There was a sense of gratitude running through me at that time for letting me kiss her hand. In a strange way, I felt honoured.

I couldn’t have done it in my senses, so I began to doubt about my being insane or it being a dream. Luckily or unluckily, it wasn’t a dream, nor was I insane, and I was in all my senses. I didn’t know the meaning of all this, I didn’t want to know anything at that moment. She presented herself in a real form before me in full regalia of flesh and blood of a young lady I knew absolutely nothing about.

She didn’t know anything me either, and the interaction at that moment was certainly a luxury considering our degree of intimacy. I couldn’t see her lips while I placed pressure of mine on her cheek, but I’m sure they parted for a while to utter the unarticulated exclamation of surprise. Apparently, she wasn’t prepared for anything of the sort although she did have a faint idea of the feelings I’d developed over the past few minutes for her.

She knew I liked her more than anyone else in her group of friends. She knew she looked better than the rest. Her group of friends wasn’t big enough to be called the entire world, but it was her entire world at that time. I’m sure she felt honoured by the gesture of love I placed on her cheek. I wanted a similar token of love from her. I wish I could articulate my heart’s wishes before her, but somehow, my words were stuck between my vocal cords and velum.

I could perceive something similar was stuck between her vocal organs too. I was a bit surprised when she turned around and returned my gesture of love the same way. I know my lips were chapped and dry at that time, they must have felt rough on her cheek, I wanted to apologise for it, for her lips were as smooth as butter. I felt my heart thumping wildly in my chest as she placed a kiss on my cheek similar to the one that had found itself on her cheek a while back. I’m  sure there was a lot more latent heat transferred in the interaction at that moment than had been exchanged a few moments earlier.

There was a tingling freshness of jasmine and roses deposited on my cheek by her lips. I wish I could see the red mark of her lipstick left behind on my cheek by the impression, but the waiting-room didn’t have a mirror in it. It was one of the sweetest moments of my life. All taste-buds on my tongue felt the sweetness of honey at that moment without it being physically present in any form.  For a while, I wondered if she felt a similar taste on her tongue for I was sure I had felt a tingling sweet taste when I kissed her.

The futility of all my imaginations was to become clear in a few moments. She simply rose from her perch on the chair and left the waiting-room. I know I shall never see her again, but my senses shall always miss the impression of her lips on my cheek.

There was a hoot of an engine that shook me up from my nap. I was in the waiting-room in Aligarh Junction waiting for the Gomti Express which was to take me to Lucknow for the winter-break. I wonder if the other passengers in the waiting-room had also witnessed such a dream. I doubt it.