The Pink Saree and Black Coffee

“Ready? Give me 2 minutes please” She was hurrying up.

He completely indulged himself in that moment, quietly sitting on the low-slung, quilted, cozy chesterfield sofa, dressed up and watching her getting ready. He was tall, well built, with longer black hair combed backwards, a well-groomed full beard and thick moustache. He wore a simple, roll up sleeve shirt which had black and maroon shepherd’s checks and a straight cut, stone washed jeans. He paired it up with brown suede shoes.

She was facing the dressing table and was almost done draping the beautiful pink saree with a golden tint and sprinkled with maroon prints. She paired it up with stunning gold and maroon jewellery. She was tall, pretty and athletic. She efficiently turned her long black hair into a triple twisted ponytail and secured it with a black braid.

He had gifted the saree as a token of love on her birthday. They had gone together and bought it in a mall. She loved the saree for its striking design and flamboyant colours. It became one of her favourite wardrobe collections.

Both looked extremely attractive and flawlessness in their respective outfits. Back then, neither of them had any clue that this was the start of a long lasting, memorable relationship as they lived in different cities, had different lifestyles, were poles apart in every aspect. But over the years they developed a close bond. They loved similar kind of music: Beatles, Abba, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The XX. They had similar reading habits and had common movie interests too. She liked his sense of adventure, humour, his beard, and the fact that she felt so comfortable with him as if they were old childhood friends. He liked her spontaneity, long hair, and found her equally intelligent that stimulated him. Eventually they found a new language to break the barriers, voice out their experiences of life, explore the meaning of existence, philosophical approach to marriage, sexuality, love, family, and life.

Precisely after 25 minutes, she turned towards him and asked in a hushed tone “Shall we go?”.

Anticipating that moment, he stood up at his own pace, went up to her, gazed into her eyes, leaned forward, whispered gently, “You look stunning. This saree suits you so well”. She reacted to the emotion with a mild natural blush. She smiled at him and said, “I am horrible at receiving compliments, so please stop.”

She leaned forward, kissed him affectionately and said, “Thank You for the nice gift and this will never fade away from my memory”. They looked at each other and smiled.

Realizing that they were running out of time and had to attend a cultural event, the reason she was in the city, they rushed to the parking lot. She picked the keys, hopped into the car and started driving. They reached the cultural centre within few minutes as there was not much traffic. There was decent crowd at the cultural centre. She parked the car and they walked together. As they entered the auditorium hall, the event had already begun.The event was organized by eminent writers, speakers to pay tribute to a theatre artist. He was a playwright, actor, film director, activist, speaker and a multi-faceted personality who had recently passed away.

The auditorium was packed but they managed to find two empty spots. They comfortably settled in their seats. A short biographical film about the playwright’s life, family, hometown was screened. Both sat mesmerized. He was a scholar of Philosophy, Economics and Politics from Oxford during British India. The playwright was famous for his unique way of blending history and mythologies into his contemporary works. He was awarded the highest literary honour for his contributions to literature and theatre. There were eminent writers and speakers on the stage who spoke about the characteristics, nuances of his playwriting and their rare personal reminiscences of him. The 3-hour event got over and it was an honest tribute to the playwright who contributed immensely to the society. 

People started leaving the auditorium at the end of the post credits session. Since she had to catch the train back to her town, she passed the keys to him and requested him to drive. They reached a restaurant for a quick snack and black coffee. They did not talk much. Her mind was racing. She avoided his eye contact. Caught up in reality and filled with uncertainty, she wanted to get over it and feel better. He was calm and composed, but had a strong feeling of regret – Could this day get any better? 

She loved travelling by train as opposed to any other mode of travel. Train journeys brought in meditative calm. Relationships are like train and tracks. The long, smooth, stretched, uninterrupted tracks are always apart from each other but form routes for the journey. Tracks do not meet often. If they meet or merge, the direction of the journey changes and the tracks never meet again.

They left the restaurant as soon as it started drizzling. They reached the train station. The weather was chilly and the station looked gloomy. They reached on time and the train had not arrived yet. Both felt the rainy day couldn’t make the moment any better. It eased her mind and turned out to be a perfect ice breaker. They got to know that the train would reach the station in a few minutes. While waiting for the train, she kissed him reluctantly. Within moments, the train arrived and she started walking leaving him behind. The kiss was so strong and subtle. But it was not as deep as the one they had last night. As a matter of fact, it was as bitter as the black coffee that defined the magnitude of the night and he stood there stranded adding the priceless moments to his memory.

Image Credits:

1. Couples at Sunset https://wallpapercave.com

2. Driving https://www.mydomaine.com

3. Train Station https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uşak_railway_station