Salim and Kayal #Watty's 2016 # YourStoryIndia #ProjectWomanUp

The Proposal

Readers please vote, comment and share

Kayal's POV

I think it was John Keats who said 'Touch has a memory' and the memory of Salim's touch was igniting fire in my body. To add to my sorrow Mohit Chauhan and Anirudh were singing 'Po nee Po' song in our Car's stereo. Dhanush is a great lyricist. I too started humming with them.

Please go, I am struggling alone

I don't need company

I am a corpse, I don't need life.

Get away from me

The places where you touched me are burning now

Please go

"Kayal what happened?" My Amma's question brought me back to reality.

"Amma, can you please stop that song? It is adding fuel to the fire in me."

"What fire?" Appa asked me by looking in the rear view mirror. He then switched off the stereo. There is no point in hiding anything from my parents. I said everything which happened last night. I started to shiver slightly while talking about my phobia. My Appa stopped the car. Amma who was sitting in the passenger seat came to the back seat and hugged me.

Appa yelled at both me and Amma, "How many times did I tell you not to travel alone in a train? See what happened? It was Murugan's Arul (Grace) both of you were saved."

He now turned towards Amma, "You were the one who supported her stupidity. Can you imagine what would have happened, if not for Ali?"

I turned towards Appa, "Appa please, can we not talk about it? If it can ease your mind, I promise I will not take a train to Delhi again."

My Appa then started the car. I lied down in my Amma's lap. Amma was gently stroking my back. It reminded me of Salim. Last night when he first touched me, I was out of my senses and tried to wriggle free from him. But, when he whispered his name in my ears, I felt guilty for making him do Haraam stuff. Only when he yelled at me, that he is hugging me just to relieve me of my fear, I felt okay to touch him. At first, I felt a little secure in his arms. But when he started to make some sweet promises in my ears, I felt loved. Anyway, it took me just few seconds to realize that he was some other woman's man. He might be giving those promises to me out of pity. The last thing I needed from Salim was pity. So, I quickly came back to my senses and moved away from him. But in the night I cried myself to sleep because I missed him. I have never been hugged by a man before. In Tamil families, Fathers are also not encouraged to touch their daughters after puberty. My Appa, occasionally keeps his hand on my head as a blessing. Other than that I don't remember him touching me in the recent past. Salim's hug was manly, fiercely protective.

He is not the only person who is protective of me. I am also over protective about my heart. Lest it should go behind him, I tied it with my mind. If he can act as if nothing happened and tell me a proper 'Good Morning', I can also move on. I don't want to fantasize about somebody else's man. He is like a mirage to me. I need a proper bath to get myself rid of my painful memories. As soon as we reached home, my Appa settled in his Pooja room to say thanks to his Lord and I went to the bathroom to wash my pain away.

*******************

My internship started off nicely. I was asked to attend an interview for the post of Reporter in Political beat. Thankfully it went well and I got selected. After finishing off my internship, I will be attending my college for two weeks and then I will be back to join as a reporter. This is my dream job. I asked my parents to get ready in the weekend for a treat when my Amma received a call and went inside their room. Within few minutes she called my Appa inside. I thought of getting ready, so after a quick bath I changed to my favorite Blue color Chudithar. Out of nowhere the song 'Po nee Po' came to my lips again. Just then, my Amma came to my room and asked me with a playful smile in her lips, "Kayal are you missing somebody?"