Dole monn akarono horshe!

“Get up fast, fast!” Nobonita said as she pulled Shriya out of her chair.

Shriya reluctantly got up. “Girly, you are crazy. It is still some time for the bell to ring. The sky won’t fall if you enter the class 5 minutes late.”

Shriya continued talking, “Have you got the assignments completed? That old Gupta will be pissed off if you go without it in his class. Last week he kicked that Suman guy out remember na? ...”

But Nobonita was not listening. Her mind wandered somewhere else. She seemed confused, looking for something around. Something very important.

“Now will you walk faster? You got my lazy bum off the canteen chair and now you can’t even lift your leg?” Shriya complained.

Nobonita smiled but still walked at the same slow pace. She had nothing to say, but was deep in thoughts. She checked her watch. It was just moments for the bell to ring. She slowed down even more.

The bell rang. Anush picked up his bag and ran out to meet his friends. He rushed past the group gathered around the professor out the door.

He didn’t see her coming, bumped into Nobonita. In the process, she dropped her bag. Already in a hurry, he looked into those eyes, and the world slowed down. But his mind was flooding with thoughts. He had to rush, he was late, but he was lost. He gathered his stuff, looked back at the sparkly, Kohl eyes. Damn Bong girls!

“Sorry!” He said and ran again.

Nobonita’s world still ran in slowmo. She would love to rewind and relive it!

When snapped out of her state of trance, Shriya teased her, “Mission Successful?”

“Huh? What mission? What are you talking about?”

“Oh come on girl, I know you feel the butterflies! I know why you run everyday to make it on time! I am not that dumb a girl!”

Nobonita still wore a smile! Her mind was intoxicated. She remembered the lines her granny would sing, Rabindra Sangeet, Mor bhabonare ki haway matalo, dole monn dole akarono horshe!!!

(My thoughts are confused by which intoxicating winds? My mind sways for no reason, with a delight!!!)

Be Bold, Take Risk!

He could see the spark in her eyes. It was difficult to explain the vibes he encountered with every glint. He thought of them as glowing fireflies. When she looked at him, when their eyes met, the fly glowed and then she looked away perhaps shy. But that moment felt as if the firefly disappeared, only that he realized that it was not the glow or the firefly that diminished, it was his world growing dark when she looked away.

He knew this time that she was the one. He should not lose her. He’d been shy earlier and now he repented every moment of it. But now he could not afford to be bereaved of the magic moment he would share with her because of his coyness. If he’d learnt anything from his earlier afflictions, it was this; to be bold. If you don’t ask her out, someone else would. You would need to take risks. “To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure. But risk must be taken because greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing”. He could feel the words coming from an unknown source in his mind. He would realize the miracle of life only when he’d start to live an unexpected life. We have to convert the mundane to extraordinary and that takes courage. Risks need courage. He remembered Paulo Coelho’s word: Magic moment. “…that (magic) moment exists – a moment when all the power of the stars becomes part of us and enables us to perform miracles.”

He mustered all the courage he had and walked up to her. He feared nothing but being away from her for being a coward under the pretext of being shy.

He got up to walk to her desk. She looked at him getting up and smiled. That smile gave him some confidence. He rolled back his shoulders and held his chin high.

His heart hammered against his ribs. He took a deep breath and said, “Hi!” She smiled. He smiled back coyly and continued, “Would you like to go out with me tonight? We could have dinner together and catch a movie perhaps. If you can’t or have some other plans, it is okay. I won’t feel bad. I completely understand it’s such a short notice and I’m not sure if I’d be the best company to spend a Friday night with…..” After the first two sentences, his manly voice had micrified to a feeble mumbling. She cut him out and said, “Actually I do have some plans for tonight, so I can’t really go out with you for a movie.” His face still wore a smile but he was despondent inside to the core. She continued, “I need to go to my friend’s pretty late tonight so maybe we can go out for dinner!” his heart was now racing. He wanted to say a lot of things, wanted to act as if it was not a big deal, and he was cool, and he wasn’t really excited, but true emotions can hardly be hidden behind a mask. He was ecstatic and it reflected on his face and in his voice as he said, “Thanks! See you at 7:30 then, I’ll pick you up!” She gave him an ethereal smile as he turned back towards his desk.

It wasn’t that difficult, he thought. Perhaps it was a magic moment!