The bag thief (Part-1)

 

"Just another day in this mundane life", I thought to myself, as I was leaving home that day, never imagining what surprises lay ahead of me.

 I reached the metro station and was going through the security checks, kept my bag inside the scanner and walked to the other side. Picking up my bag, I went on towards the platform, completely oblivious of the fact that  another bag had gotten entangled with it. I, with my earphones tucked in, playing the saddest songs Arijit had ever sung, was walking lost in my thoughts and the bag, was mercilessly being dragged along gathering all the dust it could find,. Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder and what I saw when I turned, was something that I  couldn't possibly  have imagined. Standing in front of me  was a girl or rather an Angel if I would describe it that way. 

She had an off-whitish Hijab over her head with tiny flowers of a light pink colour on them. They look so fragile, so delicate as if just touching them would make them fall off. But that wasn't what I was struck by. It was her eyes. She had the kind of Eyes that could make you fall Deep, make you want to keep looking, make you forget the world. There was a subtle amount of Kajal, not more, not less, just enough to be noticeable. It was perfect. 

As my gaze travelled further down, I saw that she was wearing an orange kurti, teamed with a pair of blue denims and white sports shoes. Her face, obviously was covered by a black mask. Ever since the coronavirus pandemic started, I had never been angered as I was at that moment, because the  precautionary guidelines were preventing me from seeing her face. The perfection Of Those Eyes felt incomplete because it didn't have a face, I was frustrated and I wanted to see what was behind that mask. In my mind I was giving all the choicest abuses I could find, to throw at China for having caused this outbreak and it was then, when I realised that she was saying something to me. I had been so engrossed in looking at her that all this while I just stood there gaping like an idiot, lost in my thoughts. 

 I slowly took out my earphones and all I could hear was- " my bag, my bag..."

 "Yes?" I asked. 

 "You have my bag." 

 "Your bag? What bag?", I was confused. I couldn't understand what was happening and that's when I saw the stray bag completely covered in dust and dirt, lying sorrily on the ground, tangled with mine. I realised what had happened. 

 "Oh shit! I'm sorry! I didn't see." I picked it up and dusted it, feeling stupid and hoping she wouldn't think of me as a petty thief. 

 "That's okay" she said, as she took it back.

 "I'm not a Thief though. It was an honest mistake." I had to make sure my first impression wasn't bad. 

 "I know. It could happen to anyone." 

We walked together towards the train which had just arrived and I didn't realise we had stopped in front of the ladies coach. I wanted to get right in with her, but to be very honest, I was broke. I had already given so many fines to the Delhi Metro- some for walking backwards on the escalator, some for clicking photographs and so on, that I couldn't possibly afford another one. Still not getting dejected, I got in the coach next to hers, and stood at the intersection, hoping to see her through a distance. I took out my phone and pretended to look at it but what I was actually doing was steal glances at her secretly, careful that she wouldn't notice. Maybe she found a seat, maybe she didn't, but I saw her stand diagonally opposite to me. Our eyes met, and  even though I couldn't see it, I felt her smiling at me. I could see her smile and then I saw her walk towards me and there she stood, in all her beauty, right in front of me! I don't know what made her do that, what was going on in her head, what she was thinking. But there was one thing that I was sure of. And it was that she wanted to talk to me. 

"What do you do?", I ask suddenly, wanting to strike a conversation. 

"I'm a student, but I also work part time as an intern in a publishing house." 

"Student of what?" 

"Literature. You see, I am a writer." 

I thought to myself, it could not have been better. Those Eyes combined with the sensibilities of an artist, a writer. It was too good to be true! 

"I'm sorry your bag got messy", I apologized again.

"That's okay. It's not that big of a deal. 

" I have to say this though, your back give me a chance to meet a wonderful person like you". I could feel her smile again. Gathering up all my courage, I finally said it. "There's something I was wondering about and I was thinking if I could request you for it." Puzzled, she asked, "what is it?" 

"Could you please remove your mask so that I can see your face?"

"My face? Why?" 

"From the moment I saw you, I was blown away by your eyes and I want to know whether the face that I have imagined in my head, is what you really look like. I hate suspenses and the mystery behind that mask is killing me."

She lifted her hands towards her face and had just about taken her mask off when a security guard who was standing beside us asked her to put it back on. I looked at that man with a gaze that would have dug holes into him, such was my anger. 

She saw me staring at him and probably guessed what was going on in my mind because she laughed. It was a laugh that was like music to my ears, a laugh that made me go weak in my knees. And all I could do was close my eyes and capture that moment in my heart. 

She quickly put her mask back on and was about to say something when her friends came along and she had to go stand with them. We still kept looking at each other and I could feel the longing to continue the conversation that had been so abruptly interrupted. I wanted so much to talk to her. Even more so because I had forgotten to ask her name. This wasn't the first time that I was regretting doing such a thing. I don't know why it's the name that kept  getting missed. Then I remembered that I had my visiting card with me. You must be thinking what use was a visiting card for a student like me. So, let me just tell you that it  wasn't an ordinary card like the ones the business executives roam around with. It was one of a kind, which had my name, my number and all my social media account details. I had made them exactly for occasions like these. I took it out and carefully stuck it in one of the cracks on the door where she could find it. Putting that there, I felt like those sales people who went  around advertising weight loss techniques, or those Fortune tellers who promised to give accurate details of your future, your marriage, your kids and so on. Funny that I was one of them today, trying to make a brand out of myself, good enough for her to want to get to know me more. 

I got down at Kashmiri Gate and she disappeared along with the train. I knew she had seen me put my card there. 

"Will she pick it up, or won't she? And even if she did take it, will she try to contact me? Will I get to know her more or was it just a one time thing? "

I wouldn't say it was love at first sight. It was attraction. It was the excitement of meeting someone new, someone beautiful. It was the longing to get to know her, a fellow writer with gorgeous intense Eyes. 

Oh what a day it was! With so many unanswered questions in my mind, I walked off....

Written by- Rajguru Meena

Edited by- Rissa Chakravarty