Lady in the Rain....

"Don't forget the bananas. Tomorrow we have pooja at our home"....Deepa yelled at me as I roared the car out of the parking area. I was off to the supermarket to buy some household essentials. I kept the CD player on in my car at a low volume and put on the AC closing the windows. It was raining heavily outside. Dil Dhondta Hai.....was one song which I could never stop listening since the 1970's when I first saw the film. Hearing the song always made me nostalgic and took me to the cloudy snow clad mountains of the Himalayas! I felt myself there. Shimla, like a charming lady clad in a beautiful white sari......pure at heart... untouched.... What a composition! Will there ever be one like Madanmohan again? I wondered. As I took a turn to the left of the main road I saw her...She was wearing a white sari...I would never miss her...I could spot her even from a mile! She was walking all alone in the heavy rain. I slowly pulled my car alongside her."Samrita Didi"....I shouted opening up a window. She stopped. Even though she had an umbrella, she was drenched in the heavy rain. She looked sideways surprised at my loud call. I waved my hand...

She came nearer. "Oh...Mahesh"...she smiled. "Where are you going?" I asked. "Am off to the City Hospital. My aunt is lying there. She had a cataract operation." "Hop in. I will drop you there." I exclaimed. "No Mahesh. I will take an auto. I do not want to trouble you". "No Didi...its raining heavily. You are already drenched. Get in...difficult to catch an auto in this rain". She got in. After a few moments of silence she observed. "Mahesh, you still listen to the same old songs". I looked back. She was smiling. "Yes Didi....remember...your aunt was the one who initiated me into serious music listening". I just have maintained that habit." "How are the kids... and Deepa?" "They are fine". I said. She lived close to my home. But we rarely saw each other. Samrita Didi was 42 years old... two years my senior. She got married to a very rich businessman. But unfortunately he died of lung cancer a few years back. He was a heavy smoker and a alcoholic. To make matters worse for her, she also did not have any offspring's. Though she smiled, I could see the deep sorrow inside her. Her eyes told everything. She was still graceful but her miseries had taken a heavy toll on her appearance. She looked more than her age. Samrita Didi was very beautiful in her younger days. We were childhood playmates! I did not take a sure admission in a boys college for my pre-university and opted for the mixed college in which she was doing her first year degree! I wanted to see her everyday. But after joining the College, I realised that I would never ever reach her. I never ever had the guts to reveal what I felt for her. I would silently watch her whenever I got a chance, but then slowly I realised that she was too far away from me....and then she became Samrita Didi for me...

"Mahesh....why are you so silent?" I suddenly sprang up from my dreams..." No Didi....just went back to the old times. Remember... the day it was raining like this and you were stuck up at the College without an umbrella. I shared my umbrella with you and we walked all the way home."..I looked back and smiled. "Did we? She murmured...I do not remember that Mahesh....I think we have reached the hospital"....I pulled up the car to a stop. "Mahesh, thank you so much for the ride". She got out and waved her hand....

As I drove to the market, I observed...She will never know....she will never...ever know that she was my first love... my first crush!