summer loving

chapter one

chapter one

The shouts of tea vendors woke me with a start from my deep slumber. The rhythmic sounds of the train on its tracks had lulled me into a deep sleep after only an hour of boarding the train. I looked down from my berth to see my friends laughing and playing card games. We were finally here.

For the past two months, my friends and I had been planning on going white water rafting in Rishikesh. We filled up the forms as soon as they came out, scared that there might not be enough seats, and from there on there was only the painful anticipation and the multiple FaceTime sessions discussing what we were going to pack to keep us going.

It was the middle of April and from the window of the train I could see the dry and scanty foliage of Gujarat. Coarse grass was speckled with lone trees across the distance. My heart sank as I imagined children and women having to walk miles under the scorching sun just to get to school and provide water for the family. Men would have to spend hours in the unbearable heat on their farms, working endlessly to generate wealth for their families and here I was, in an air conditioned railway carriage, about to have one of the best weeks of my life.

As I wondered about the disparity in my country, my friend, Rhea, noticed that I was awake and beckoned me to come down the bunk and join them. I lowered myself down the ladder and noticed that my group of four had been joined by three people who I had seen on the bus when we were making our way to the railway station. Two boys and one girl were sitting on the berth opposite from the ones where my friends were.

The railway compartment had walls and berths of a dull, greyish blue. There were four berths: two sets of bunks. The sheets and blankets provided for the night were lying in a pile on the top bunk opposite to where I had been sleeping moments ago. A little table that came out of the wall had a messy stack of cards, a bottle of water and a pair of sunglasses. I slipped my feet into may shoes and mentally prepared myself to talk to these strangers.

There was only one open space for me to sit between one of the boys and the girl. The boy, who had jet black hair and rich caramel skin, didn't seem to be quite interested in the prevailing conversation as he looked out the window. I couldn't look at his face clearly since it was turned away but I noticed that he wore a pair of large black spectacles. His face was spattered with what looked like a day old stubble and his mouth was set in a straight line. I gave the strangers a little smile and introduced myself.

"Hi, I'm Ananya."

One of the boys nodded smiled brightly and told me that his name was Rohan and the girl beside him waved at me and introduced herself as Tara and let me know that they were from the compartment next to ours. She had short, straight dark hair that barely brushed her shoulders and big kind eyes. She gestured for me to sit beside her and picked up her backpack from the berth and set it on the floor.

I looked at the boy beside me, waiting for a name or any form of acknowledgement but he simply looked at me and turned back to look at the view outside. His mouth was set in a straight line and he had dark captivating eyes behind his spectacles, deep abysses that made me want to jump right into them.

Tara patted my arm and rolled her eyes as she said, "That's Varun. Don't mind him, he's always PMSing."

He turned his head to glare at Tara and showed her his middle finger. Charming.

His gesture caused Alia, one of my closest friends, to laugh. Conversation built up and I was informed that Tara, Rohan and Rohan studied at the same school and had been best friends since they were little kids. Tara and Rohan had actually been dating since they were in eighth grade, and as Tara said this, they shared a secretive, tender smile which made jealousy spike in my stomach.