The Magic Carpet..

“ I’m really sorry love got low balance, before the call drop’s, I want u to know that I LOVE U and I’m gonna be there for you always. Good night…”

Most calls would end with similar words..but tonight was a little diff. The entire Talk time exhausted over an hour and half’s conversation. How.. ? A story! Yes, a story!!.. straight from the pages of Arabian Nights.

I was happy and I knew she was too. It made us happy to fly on a magic carpet… across vast ocean’s, between the clouds, a flight with birds. Enjoy the moonlight by the brook! The vast spread of Blue Trumpet Bush, Rain Lily Pink’s and flowers we never saw, put a smile on her lips. I loved her smile and it was more beautiful than the word could even describe.  Our eyes met..the moment  infused passion, so real..it brought us close..closer drew our lips…and then..

…the god damn bell had to ring! It was 6 in the morning and the milk man was at the door. Wow! Thank you, Mr. for dropping the curtains just at the time, when the drama had reached the peak of the story line!

 It was college romance, the usual story…boy sees girl, find ways to get noticed, a brief introduction.. coffee…conversations, dates and finally ..’yup we are a couple!’ . Now we live in diff. parts of the country, she is finding way’s to invest her savings and I’m struggling to prevent money from drying up before the 3^rd week of the month.

We were happy. The frustration of a long distance relationship never crippled our little world. It was hard but, we were madly in love with each other.

 Time flew, we got busier in our social and professional lives. Hours of telephonic conversation’s wrapped themselves up in few mins. “And what else…” was becoming the monologue of our chit-chats.

Was something wrong? I didn’t understand. Everything seemed usual, fine.. normal. But nothing was!

One fine evening She called me. “ I’m sorry, please forget me and if u can forgive me!” .  Before I could say a word the phone disconnected…its been years and her no. still doesn’t ring. I went hysterical, called friends…mine, hers and common one’s…no one had a clue what was the situation. Flew to her place, but she was gone. She had quit her job, vacated her apartment a week back..i never knew her folks place, tried to locate it. I could not find her. She just vanished into thin air.

Life seemed like an array of scenes straight from the pages of a bolly script. And quite rightly it was! I quit my job, started the no frill, pure liq. Diet( u got it right!), n my DTM ( Dad vich Teller Machine) with very insignificant portion of what I called my saving served as my passport to travel the length of the country. To visualize it better, imagine the classic ‘Devdas’ ; but this time in denims n faded t-shirts paired in converse . Don’t imagine striking looks, but unshaved face with dark circles and patchy skin. And instead of “Chandramukhi’s” magnificent  “ kotha” with the splendor of princely chandeliers, and bed sheets of silk and velvet…imagine night clubs with shiny disco balls and shady lodge rooms with no ,or at times dirty bed sheets. Please refrain from over imagining… present day sluts and satisfaction of carnal desires. I had lost interest in this life. So, no matter how much tight their dresses would stick to their curve or how lil’ effort their tops would take to less emphasize their bosom…I really didn’t give a f%*k !  

The only question which never seemed to lose track was “why?” …and it would be followed by a series of other “ why’s” and eventually they would inter twirl to perform the same old sequence. It was more than six months and my state had raised the emergency alarm. My folks were scared and worried. A broken rather smashed cell phone doesn’t serve as a good communication tool, so the only communication medium was the local phone booth.

A new drama unfolded in my family! Yes, it’s the oldest trick in the book and it still works! My mom had fallen seriously ill..previously I would blow the heat off such conversation, but this time I had to head back home.

It was more than 8 months I had been running away from reality. The reality, that she was  gone. I accepted the fact that she was not in love with me no more, hard it was to get it in my system…but I hated her. Hated everything we shared..dreams, words, emotions.. . I was a diff. man.

Took a couple of months to be a normal guy; and this time it wasn’t a character from the pages of a script. Time flew, and the scars healed. Life was diff. Yes I still thought about her, but the anger and pain was less! Much less !

It’s winter now, and our old rugs had faded quite a bit to make way for the new one’s. I hate shopping, but was convinced to pick up mom’s ordered rug from the emporium. It’s nice to see a shop full of colorful carpets , intricate designs and pattern…such hard work! I meet the manager of the shop, and provided him with the note of delivery. While I waited for him to pack the rug, I saw these two kids.

They looked cute in their pink floral cardigan and spider man inspired clothes. Hoping the entire shop they stopped at a corner. With vigilant eyes, they  checked if they were being observed. Seeking confirmation from self, they unrolled a carpet and sat on it. The cylindrical waste bin from the display, was used as a steering wheel. Sounds of a car engine were being imitated pretty well as they moved right and left, synchronizing with the turn of their make shift steering arrangement. I was curious to know what these lil rascals were upto. So, I moved to the captain of the transportation and asked him, “so… which car are u driving?”

The kid looked upto me with disinterest and said, ” It’s not a car! Can’t u see I’m taking my girl friend on a MAGIC CARPET ride!”




PS: Yes, i did pick up the carpet i came for!But i did collect a fragment of past that was lost in the ashes of time!