My Dream Girl at Kamakhya...

I knew her...(?)

Whistling a melody to myself, I looked out the window at the gilded green stretch of wilderness rushing by as the train trundled on to Guwahati. The rosy, red sun about to kiss the horizon, the golden hued sky and the whistling winds had a palpable magical effect on the ambience. The evening, you might say, had an air of romance about it. You could feel it in your heart. You could breathe in a curious fragrance in the cool winds...like that of a fresh, fully bloomed flower.

I was going back to my home after a weeklong official work at a nearby town. Smiling contently, I laid my head against the window sill, closed my eyes and allowed my thoughts to wander off to faraway dreamlands...

Few minutes later or so, the train seemed to slow down and I opened my eyes to found 'Kamakhya Junction' written on the signboard. The train would halt here for five minutes before heading to Guwahati.

I got off the train to take a stroll. The platform was deserted, except for a vendor selling tea and hot pakoras, few local people sitting on rickety chairs and stray dogs chasing each other about. I bought myself a tea, leaned against a pillar and sip ofped on, enjoying the peaceful evening.

The guard blew the whistle. I got into the train and was about to go back to my seat when, on a sudden inexplicable impulse, I turned around and looked out the carriage doorway. Someone caught my eyes.

A girl, about the same age and height as I, lithe and thin, in a white-blue Salwaar Kurta with crimson dupatta draped around her shoulders, had just entered the platform and was walking, or rather running in small trots towards me, a small bag in her hand. Jingle-Jangle, Jingle-Jangle – the music played rhythmically as the bangles rustled around her wrist.

The train gave a lurch and began to move. I watched the girl quickening her pace to catch up. Curiously enough, even in her hurried jog she seemed to glide gracefully, carrying herself with dignity, her slender frame adding elegance to her gliding gait, her long hair and dupatta billowing back.

"C'mon, quick, grab my hand, madam!" I shouted, as I held out my hand to help her.

The train gathered speed, the girl was close enough, she grabbed my hand and in a matter of few seconds, I pulled her in. She stumbled and nearly fell over me. I grabbed her by her waist to steady her.

And then it happened...the game began...

In a second containing an eternity, I found her very close to me. Intimately close. So close, I could count the eyelashes around her almond-shaped, hazel eyes; I saw her straight nose and could make out a dotted beauty-mole just below the fullness of her lips; wisps of her dark hair brushed my face and I got a whiff of fresh jasmine...

The moment passed, she had retreated few steps back, adjusting her dupatta.

"Thank you..." The girl thanked in her surprisingly singing voice, smiling her dimpled smile.

"You are welcome..." I said and, strangely, my voice trailed off.

Ah...well...you might be thinking this tale as another "love at first sight' love story with the girl as beautiful as an angel from the heaven...no...let me be categorically and firmly clear...indeed, she was a ravishing beauty of a rare kind, and you couldn't help getting entranced; but, believe me, something unlikely was happening.

I felt I knew her...She rang a bell of familiarity in my mind, I didn't know why...but the way she smiled a knowing smile, her hazy eyes spoke something as if...well, how could I explain...as if she knew me. It was a kind of Déjà vu...

Oh yes...yes, yes, yes, my heart, my instinct was uncannily sure about it even when my rationale said otherwise. I had met her but couldn't recall when and where? It seemed quite long ago as though it had happened in another lifetime...