Your Dreams Are Mine Now (16 page)

Far away from Rupali, Arjun was still at the reception. His entire day had been full of unplanned, impromptu, last-minute chores and he had intermittently bumped into distant relatives. He danced when he was forced to dance. He drove when he was asked to drive his cousins to the beauty parlour. From monitoring the catering guys to helping the flower man instal the entrance gate, he had done a hell of a lot of work. But all this while he had been constantly in touch with Rupali. The cheerful smile that he had been carrying the whole day was not due to the spirit of the wedding. It was due to him being in constant touch with Rupali. Her frequent messages kept him moving and helped him accomplish things one by one at the wedding.

Late in the night, when his cousins and their friends had forced him to drink a few pegs, for the first time Arjun seriously figured out what his heart wanted. He didn’t announce it to his relatives and distant friends. But alcohol had made it evident on his face. They had all seen him continuously texting someone the entire day. In an atmosphere suffused with music, dance and alcohol, the joy of the heart often comes out in the open. But for Arjun, more than anything, that was the moment of self-discovery. With his mind still under the influence of alcohol, it was his heart alone that was talking to him. And he understood what it wanted.

Later that night, about hundred kilometres away from Rupali, a drunk Arjun made up his mind to tell her what he had been feeling about her since morning and, more so, in the past few hours. He didn’t intend to propose to her, but just wanted to let her know. He didn’t want anything in return but just wanted to be honest. He typed and deleted the text message a few times and then finally stuck to what he had typed at the very first go.

Then, a second before he could send his SMS, his phone battery died.

It is the dawn of December. The darkness at this time of the day is quite pleasant. Rupali is standing at the entrance of the rooftop of her hostel block, where the cemented five-storey-high staircase finally ends. It’s cold there. She is continuously rubbing her palms and occasionally blowing on her fingers to keep them warm. She is shivering. She is trying to keep herself warm in the shawl that she has wrapped around herself. Her hands are numb and her teeth are chattering. It’s not only the dip in the temperature that is making her tremble like this. It has to do with the reason she is here.

At the entrance, she looks here and there. Far away from her, in every direction, she sees glowing streetlights. It’s peaceful everywhere. A few commercial establishments have left their billboard lights turned on. At times Rupali can see a few moving lights—the taxis and lorries moving on the roads of Delhi. But she can’t hear the noise of the traffic. They are far away from her. The only sound that persists is the sound of the night.

Up above her, the dark sky looks beautiful. The moon continues to glow, just like it did the night before; but its position in the sky has changed by now. Similar is the case with the constellation of the seven stars. All of a sudden, a bat swings over her head. She pulls herself back reflexively. The next moment, when she recovers her position, she isn’t able to trace the bat. It’s gone.

She is scared to be here in this isolated place. But she is overcoming her fears and going ahead. She is looking here and there in search of something; or rather someone. The badly illuminated rooftop is making it difficult for her. Some seconds pass. She still hasn’t found the one she has been looking for. She is getting impatient. She wants to shout out the name, but fears that someone else will hear her; besides, she doubts if in her terrible condition she would be able to shout. Her teeth continue to chatter.

She knows what exactly is happening to her. It is some sort of anxiety attack; an intense one. Her heart is pounding fast. She needs to calm down but in this moment, she is losing her control over her body. Her body is experiencing goosebumps; one after another in tandem. In tandem they lead to a tickling sensation.

Unable to wait any more, she slides her hand into the pocket of the pyjamas she is wearing. She takes out her mobile and dials the last call that she had received on her phone a couple of minutes back.

She is breathing heavily. She somehow manages to speak, ‘Wh . . . where . . . Where are you?’

The voice in her ears says, ‘Behind you.’

Rupali immediately turns around. Just underneath the giant water storage tank, she sees the faint light of a mobile phone.

It’s him! It’s Arjun! Her Arjun!

He had come back. He wasn’t lying when, moments back, he had woken her from her sleep and asked her to come to the rooftop.

Oh! My God! He wasn’t lying . . . he is actually here for me! Rupali thinks to herself.

‘Arjun!’ she shouts his name.

She isn’t scared any more. A part of her wants to rush to him. The other part is still trying to get a hold of her physical situation.

Arjun doesn’t say anything. He has simply walked a few steps ahead into the faintly lit portion of the terrace and opens his arms. As he continues to stand there his eyes are stuck like glue to her. There
is a sense of satisfaction in them; the satisfaction of seeing Rupali after so many hours.

Beep!! Beep!!

Rupali walks slowly towards him. And then she increases her pace, but stops just about two metres ahead of Arjun. Under the dim light of that yellow bulb installed over the water tank, she can see Arjun’s face now. He is smiling.

‘Arjun,’ she calls his name again—this time with immense passion.

When, with a nod Arjun signals her to come into his arms, Rupali can’t stop herself. She runs to cover that distance between them.

The shawl that she had been wearing has slipped down from her body. Instead, Arjun has wrapped her in his arms. Her head rests on his shoulder, while she locks her arms affectionately around him. Her eyes are closed. She doesn’t want to see anything but just feel Arjun. He senses her quivering body. He rubs her back and tries to calm her down. Rupali believes that she won’t be able to hold herself back. She is going to cry. It has been such a lovely surprise.

Beep!! Beep!!

‘I am here! I am here!’ Arjun whispers in her ears as he continues to offer her the much-needed warmth.

A tear rolls down her right eye and falls on Arjun’s kurta. Her shaking body gradually calms down. She has tightened her grip around Arjun. With her ear over his chest, she realizes she can listen to his heartbeat. The smell of Arjun’s body soaked in the fragrance of the cologne he is wearing mesmerizes her. She realizes that she is in a man’s arms.

Beep!! Beep!!

No one says anything. There is no need to. Underneath an open dark sky on a silent cold rooftop, it is a magical experience for them. It
is a beautiful moment. They want to live it to the fullest. They want to live it for long. The warmth of their bodies locked in an embrace comforts them in the cold.

Beep!! Beep!! Beep!! Beep!!

When Rupali finally opens her eyes, she sees over Arjun’s shoulder a shadow against the horizon. The colour of the sky in that direction is transforming from black to red. It must be the east. The sun is about to rise. A brand new day is about to begin.

Beep!! Beep!! Beep!! Beep!! Beep!! Beep!!

Then, all of a sudden, Rupali wakes up to the horrible sound of the alarm set on her phone.

Eighteen

It must have been somewhere around 4 in the evening when he pulled down the stand of his bike.

Ahead of them was a vast piece of flatland, the periphery of which was marked by a barbwire, a few feet high, that ran from one vertical pole to another. Being a massive patch of unoccupied land, the place was a bit windy. It was a cloudy day and it felt as if it must have rained at a nearby place. The December air that was already cold, was moisture-laden as well.

As they took off their helmets, the cool breeze blew on their faces, refreshing them thoroughly. They rested their backs against the seat of the tilted bike.

Rupali felt nice. She closed her eyes and stretched her neck upwards to feel more of the breeze on her face. The air smelled of wet earth. Arjun looked into the mirror of his bike and ran his fingers through his hair ruffled by the helmet.

Behind the two of them, the traffic continued to zip past on the busy Delhi–Gurgaon National Highway no. 8. There were hundreds of cars and other vehicles on the road at any point of time. The combined noise of the engines of the running vehicles and that of their tyres pressing against the road, on the multi-lane highway was quite loud. It was a constant noise that had drowned every other sound in the vicinity.

Then there was a piercing whistle followed by a sound just like that of thundering clouds in the sky.

Even before turning back and looking at it, Rupali could make out what it was. Thrilled, she looked up immediately.

‘Oh wow! There it is!’ she said, pointing towards the sky.

It was an aircraft just above the highway, which was about to land and was flying towards her. Its rumble grew in a matter of seconds.

‘Wow!’ Rupali exclaimed joyfully. Her mouth was agape and it didn’t close till the plane had come quite close to her. Then, within a split second, the plane flew right above her.

From that distance, even the wheels of the plane were clearly visible. Rupali could see the exact position of the flashing light on the wings. To observe that aerodynamic body, which appeared so big from so close, flying over her, was a treat to her eyes. Its noise levels began to go down.

‘Did you see that?’ she asked in sheer excitement. Her eyes followed the plane till it released a huge burst of air the moment its wheels touched the airstrip.

Watching the joy on her face, Arjun said, ‘That was amazing!’

‘Seriously, you liked it too?’ Rupali asked excitedly. She thought it was too childish for someone like Arjun.

‘Liked it? I loved it!’ Arjun laughed. He was glad that he had been able to make Rupali happy.

‘See, I told you naa . . .’ Rupali said proudly and looked back at the airstrip where the plane was.

It was for the first time in the entire day that Rupali had enjoyed something beyond the thoughts of Arjun. Ever since she had woken up to that dream of being in his arms on the rooftop, she could sleep no further. Thoughts of Arjun did not let her sleep again. Even though it was just a dream, it had changed the entire meaning of her association with Arjun. It had shown her what till then she had been denying to herself.

She kept tossing and turning in bed, recalling that dream again and again. There was some sort of secret pleasure that she derived every time she recollected what she had seen. Step by step, slowly, everything in sequence, just the way it had happened in that dream. She had savoured every bit of it.

How sensuous it was for her to relive that embrace every time, for just one more time. Every time she did so, she felt Arjun’s hands over her back. She wanted to touch herself exactly where Arjun had touched her. She imagined the masculine scent of his cologne and the smell of his body. She had taken a deep breath believing that she was inhaling it.

How she had wished to sleep again, hoping that the dream could proceed from where it had stopped. She had wanted to get hypnotized and let the drug of that dream completely take over her and transport her to a distant world, where the rooftop of her hostel block had become the best place to be. But then sleep had been miles away from her.

There had been moments when she was embarrassed about thinking that way. And when that had happened, she had pulled up her blanket over her head. She continued to have mixed feelings—sometimes she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about it and sometimes she wanted to hide her thoughts from her own self.

‘Have you ever sat in one of them?’ Arjun asked, pointing to the plane that had just landed.

‘Not yet,’ Rupali replied and looked at Arjun. ‘But someday I will. I have this dream of taking my family on a Euro trip,’ she said and her eyes twinkled.

They were now talking about dreams; exactly what Rupali had suggested the other day over the phone—
I want to see planes landing and talk about our dreams.
‘How easily the two things had happened!’ Arjun marvelled.

‘You mean your husband and your kids!’ Arjun asked. This time he wasn’t looking at her but at the taxiing plane.

Rupali immediately responded, ‘No, no. I meant my parents and my younger brother!’ blushing shyly.

‘Oh! So you plan to leave your husband and kids back and only fly your parents and brother?’

Rupali finally took the hint about what was cooking in Arjun’s mind. She pretended to be angry.

‘Arjun, why are you asking me all this?’ she widened her eyes and gave him the look that meant—change the topic!

But Arjun was in no mood to let go. ‘Oh, come on! Assuming you would get married in the future . . . so, then your family will also include your husband and your kids. Right Miss Rupali Sinha?’ he asked.

‘Hello! Mr Arjun Tyagi. I was talking about the near future. After I get a job for myself! Now will you change the topic?’ she clarified but in a playfully aggressive tone.

Arjun enjoyed teasing her. But seeing her irritation, this time he let it go. ‘Okay, okay. I got it. Relax now.’

After a few seconds, he thought of something and again asked, ‘But in your not-so-near future, will you take your husband and kids on a holiday?’

‘Hey Bhagwaan!’
Rupali exclaimed, slapping her hand on her forehead. ‘You are enjoying this. Aren’t you?’

‘Why are you dodging my question?’ he accused.

‘I am not!’ Rupali reacted furiously.

‘Then you are too shy to discuss that.
Hai na?
’

Rupali now kicked the ground with her foot. She could not decide what to say, so she turned back to face the airport with her arms across her chest, annoyed by this line of questioning.