A Midsummer's Love Tale

A Midsummer's Love Tale - Chapter Three

                                          Chapter Three......the meeting

My law examinations had got over in the meantime and I decided it was time to take my annual break. It was the scorching month of May and the weather decided it for me, it was time to head for the lofty misty mountains.

Although I was still blissfully unaware of it, yet it was here that the story of my equally mushy romance was preparing to take off, and it marked the unravelling of my romantic life, a period cherished the most.

I remember my first visit to the beautiful yet romantic hill station of Nainital. This was sometime in the scorching sparkling month of May, when the sun decides to shine in its full glory.

A midsummer month of May meant hot and dry winds, was enough motivation to drive me away to the cooler climes of Nainital, a tiny hill station with a cool natural lake nestled in the lofty Himalayas in the North of India.

I was a collegian and in my last year of college; the ‘heart’ was led astray easily, and the spirit was carefree and flippant so to say. I was staying in a friend’s hotel on a month long visit, as college was closed for summer vacations. So time was not a constraint.

To liven up the evenings there was a ‘live’ band playing at the Boathouse Club, the only posh club available in Naini at that time, and which plays even till today.

Come evening, and the usual crowd used to throng the club, gathering in small miniscule groups at the club bar and the makeshift deck; with the clinking of crystal glasses and plates of ‘chicken tikka’(roasted chicken meat) on the ‘club deck’ from the nearby smouldering barbeque. The aroma of roasting meat and the chilly cold blast outside with the glass to warm the insides was good enough for many a soul.

 Now let me reveal something about this ‘club deck’ which I’m referring to. This is the lower balcony or jetty jutting out from the Boat House Club building, very close to the lake. The view from there is fantastic and par excellence. In the late evenings, as the lights of Nainital come alive, one can have an aerial view of the Mall Road as well as the lake all around. Since boating was taboo in the night, the stillness of the water with the shining reflection of the lights of the Mall Road of Nainital falling in it was truly a totally marvellous and unparalleled sight.

On a moonlit night, you could see the distinct reflection of the moon shining in the still waters of the lake and the sight was indeed breath taking and stupendous.

Up on the dance floor, one could hear the live musical band belting out the latest hits both in English and in Hindi, and one could enjoy the view with a glass of Scotch in one’s hand.

One could also interact with the young adventurous lady loves that used to come down to the club deck looking for a bit of privacy, rediscovering their ‘love’ and also looking for a bit of fresh adventure.

This crowd of youngsters was mostly from Delhi but also consisted of the ‘regular crowd’ who had their plush summer homes in Nainital, who used to descend here from surrounding nearby towns in the sultry plains, and wait for the scorching midsummer heat to get over and the monsoons to arrive, before when they would start to leave.

We had formed a group and there were about 30 girls and boys in that group. I was fortunate enough to be a part of that group. There were as many girls as there were boys in it, so pairing was easy, if you understand what I mean.

As I looked around and found most of the girls and guys had picked their favourites and used to hang around with each other. It was then that I noticed a young girl of medium build, with curly hair who looked more like a gypsy with a cherubic dazzling smile and a mischievous glint in her eyes.