Since Six Years

5th September 2005, i was sitting in the last row of the class with my best friends. Its not that we are backbenchers, but when we dont feel like studying, we do it.

Since last one hour we have been listening the words values, morals, and ethics again and again. That day all the seats in that large classroom were filled, as the other batch had joined us for this module, and so it was possible to dream all of this world without being caught by the teacher.

To me the teacher looked like Musharaff. Similar hair, moustache, spectacle and the lines on his face typical of that of Mush. With every word that he spoke, he looked more like Mush. It was funny, and i could not stop myself from smiling. Occationally, i tried to match my smiles with his words, when i thought he must be joking. And i tried to look at the expressions on all faces in the class, which i usually enjoy watching.

In the third row, just in front of me i noticed someone in red dress. Probably from the other batch. She was holding her chin in her hands and listening to the teacher, carefully. There was something familiar in her manner which caught my attention, and i wanted to see her face. I tried to bend left and then on right to have a better look, but didnt get anything more than a side glimpse.

As i was sitting, curiously, wanting to know more about her, a wiff of past memories sifted down the thickness of time and brought tears in my eyes, and i was beginning to feel week in my chest.

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Its been six years since i met Her last. I can clearly recollect that day, as if it all happened yesterday. It was the day of an examination. The gates to the examination halls were to be opened only fifteen minutes before the exam. Minutes before that, i was talking to Anjali in front of the gate. It was then that i had noticed a scooter that came and stopped near us, just few feets away, and had noticed someone walking towards us. Without a loss of moment i recognized Her, though it was after three years that we were meeting at that time.

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We had studied together in Hyderabad, in the same class. And when we were in high school She moved to London with Her parents, forever, leaving me all alone. That day i went on the roof, and had cried continuously for hours in privacy. I felt so week and broken that i didnt even went to see her off, not even to say goodbye. I know she must have wept too.

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As if the God wanted us to meet again, he gave us a second chance, and there we were in front of examination hall after a long gap of three years, in Chandigarh.

As She moved towards us, I said hello to her. At first she stood still for a moment, maybe trying to remember who this stranger was. But, soon i could see a beam of smiles surfacing on her face, brighter than the sun. We had hardly come to know that both of us are living in Chandigarh since sometime, that we realised that only few minutes were left for the examination to begin. We had moved in the gate, silently, looking in each others eyes, smiling. She was wearing a red dress, Her hair made in a long braid swaying sideways as she walked taking subtle steps.

It was a three hour examination and I had left the hall half an hour early, though there were few questions unanswered, which i would have got correct had i stayed in the hall. I was hoping to see her again, thats why i came out early and was waiting at the gate. One or two people kept coming out of the hall after an interval of few minutes. Soon the three hours were over, and i was searching for Her among the crowd coming out of the gate. I waited there till the last trickle of crowd, but She was not there. I ran inside, panting, on both the floors, searching in all the rooms, one by one.