Close Encounters Poem by Sanyukta Dharmadhikari

1.
Her hair bounced off her shoulders as the flurry of wind met her full in the face. Her eyes flickered, as she stood in her balcony, waiting for him to pass by again.

He waited two blocks away, hesitating to go forward. Will she be standing there yet again, waiting for her unknown person to discover her? He wondered whom she was waiting for. His heart sank as he thought of her hugging a faceless man.
He could not go forward. But he did.

Her heart thumped as she saw him. The subtle indigo colour suits him, she thought. She closed her eyes, imagining the day she would find the courage to actually go and talk to him.

As he walked past, he glanced up at her. But her eyes were closed, deep in thought.
His heart drowned.


2.
The Bazaar was mostly empty. She paid for the half a kilo of potatoes that she had picked up. Then she turned, and gasped. It was him. Right in front of her.

She looked heavenly in the pale yellow saree. He just stared at her, not able to speak. It was as if somebody had picked her out of the dream that he had had few hours back and placed her in front of her. He wanted to extend his hand and touch her…just to see if she was real. But his body had stiffened.

She didn’t know what to do. He was standing there, just staring at her. What was he thinking? Did she look ugly that day? She hoped not. She hoped her hair was in place. She hoped her saree was neat. She hoped he saw her.

He kept seeing her. Then he let out a sigh.

The sigh alarmed her. For an unknown reason, she turned away from him, and started walking hurriedly.

He was going to utter a hello, but she turned away. Just like that. Turned away and walked away. He stood there with his mouth open, the greeting stuck in his throat. He slowly closed his mouth into a firm line. Then, the line curved.
He smiled.

She walked fast at first, and slowed down only after she had turned into a lane. She stopped and leaned onto an electricity pole. She had seen him from up close. That was enough for her.
She smiled.


3.

She rubbed her finger along the shiny card which her mother had handed over to her just minutes ago. It was glossy red, with a golden Ganpati embossed on the cover and shiny letters inside which read: ‘Sharmila weds Rajeev’.

He was just running his hands through his mail when the bright red card fell out. He looked at it in intrigue. And then he read the names of the two people getting married. He let the card drop out of his limp hands. She was getting married. Was that why she had turned away in the bazaar?

The whole neighbourhood was invited. But she wished he wouldn’t come. What would happen, if he saw her in the shimmering red saree? How would he look at her? How could she look at him? She suddenly got up. She could not live with this.

He ran towards her house, but stopped two houses away. What was he doing? He could not convince her. He stood there, gazing at her decorated house from afar. He wished he could see her at that moment. But he could not go ahead. He turned away and started walking. He would go far away. Away from everything. Away from her. He walked towards the railway station.

She wrapped her dupatta across her face so that nobody would recognize her. The fresh dust from the train settled down on her shoulders. She was scared, but confident. Giving one last look towards her home town, she boarded the train.

He boarded the train. He went over to his seat, and sat down beside a girl whose face was covered with her dupatta.

She glanced away from the window to take notice of her co-passenger. She stopped breathing for two seconds. He dupatta fell off revealing her face.

The train started.
They smiled.