The Conjure

After having stayed two days with Rameez and Nashmal, at their rented flat in cochin, I and Wasiq were to set back our journey home. The holly month entering its last ten days and the believers of the book doing any thing and everything possible to forfeit their sins, we re-scheduled our selves so as to reach home in time for break fast.

As per Nashmal's enquiries, the bus to my home town was at 2 pm, by the time we reached the depot, it was already over crowded like any Indian bus. Having no uncertainities in mind I and Wasiq borded the bus, walking past the standing passangers, we settled our selves in the later half of the bus, where there were no standing passengers.

The bus started to move and we were lucky enough to notice a man of late fourties trying to vacate his seat, with immense joy, i made Wasiq to sit, not just that he was my younger sibling, but he is a Middle east product as of now and havent had the experience of long travels with out a seat.

It wasn't much to the embarkation that i found a girl of early twenties standing at a distance of 10 feet. She looked like those ones who took an oath in her mother's womb, that she would never give up her 'size zero'. Wearing a skinny salwar kameez, her hair's length almost touching the end of her spines, spoting the typical keralite 'sindoor' on her forehead, eyes full of innocence, specs that had a thin frame black in colour, and a dark blue school bag on her shoulders (i still wonder why she never kept that in the luggage rack) and with a partly made up smile she stood there holding the metal bar on the roof.

There was some sort of an electric vibe that struck me, i happened to gaze at her, and it continued for quite some time, i turned of the music in my head phone, turned my eyes on to other things around so as to deviate my attention from her, i at times felt there was a spark in her eye that kept me gazing on to her, scratched my head in thoughts, trying hard to find out the last time i had met this lady standing ten feet away.

The bus moved at its constant speed, passengers moved in and out, the girl still didn't move out of my sight. Was it at the Ideal feasta that we met last, or was it at the 'Sicasa' in chennai, i cursed my brains for not responding in time like an out dated processor in Azad's laptop, the inability to recognise her turned the nostalgia into sadness and anger. It was then i realised that she was gazing at me too, not always but our eyes did meet at times, and each time our eyes met her lips widened a bit, and she turned her eyes down.

I recollected all that i could from the one fourth of my brain that was in use, her face did appear to be known and seen many times, but her name nor the place where i saw remained a question mark. That was the time i thought i would put my steps forward and try and talk to her, find out the last time we met, as i put my right leg forward the bus stoped at the Trissur bus depot and she walked smiling towards me, i for once did thank god for giving the girl the memory and courage to walk up to me. With a small smile and a ' do i know you ' attitude on my face, i was almost to forward my hands for a shake and a pretty beefed up shoulder rubbed my hand and i lost balance and slanted onto the seat next by, and with utmost anger when i turned back i saw the girl shaking hands with the man who was behind me. Immediatly changed my facial expressions, herd the message tone in my mobile, recollected my sence, found a vacant seat and looked back to the girl, and saw both of them walking out hand in hand.

Shrugged about the whole event, i read the text message on my screen. It read " beautiful women are like the mirage in the desert, attainable from far, deceptive at the end ". I raised my eye brow to make sure the sender wasn't GOD.

The bus moved on and Wasiq got the seat next me, and with a light voice i whispered..GOD DAMN - ILLUSION...!!!

T.R.K