Crossing the Mirage:Passing Through Youth

Putting the trespasser on the back burner, in despair, she sank into her familiar posture. Elsewhere in that park, Chandra began to take stock of the situation.

"Did I ambush her?‟ he thought. "Oh, hadn't her body language betrayed that? Won't that be on her mind though she might not focus on me as such? It boils down to the same, after all. Isn't it a good beginning for befriending? A job well begun is half done. Isn't it?‟

Chandra remained daydreaming in the garden till the watchman's whistle called the time.

The next day, as Nithya crossed the gate, she looked around tentatively. Not finding Chandra around, she felt at ease, but as she reached the hedge of the haloed spot, she became uneasy.

"Is he lurking in the corner?‟ she thought suspiciously. "Maybe, his gesture could be a ruse to lure me here. How can one be sure when it comes to men out to woo women?‟

However, reconnoitering the area and finding it vacant, she entered the arena.

"How wicked of me to attribute motives to an unknown soul,‟ she felt remorseful. "But then, how am I to fault myself for doubting human nature after all that? Well, once bitten twice shy, isn't it? But won't he appear naïve and considerate even?‟

As the kind feelings she experienced for the stranger affected her own embitterment, she found nursing them in myriad ways. And discerning the changes on the skyline the setting sun brought in, she could sense the turnaround of her feelings ushered in by the feeble impulse of his goodwill. And, when it was getting dark, feeling lighter, she pulled herself to go. All the while she walked on the pathway with circumspection though in vague anticipation. But, as she reached the gates, her mood turned into one of despair.

Chandra that day, as though to get an overview of his position, went to the nearby Tank Bund instead. Sitting on a bench facing the Hussainsagar, all evening he was engrossed envisaging Nithya's condition.

"Had we met here, would the tank bund have acted as a bridge between our hearts?‟ he thought, alluding to the symbolism.

Thus, pleased with the idea itself, he recalled the five-century old romance of Quli Qutub Shah and Bhagmathi that had led to the founding of the city. And, he began to daydream, feeling that the coincidence of his idea might portend a good omen. But, by the time it was dusk, he was disturbed by the swelling crowd as well as distracted by the noisy traffic. When he could bear it no longer, he headed home.