"When will we reach Vadodara junction ?", a man asks the coach attendant. "Around 1 pm sir", the attendant replied, man curses "Damn" this landslide!!” A 22 year old guy was very keenly listening to the conversation sitting on the side lower birth of the same compartment. After hearing this, he looks in disgust towards his friend and asks, "is this train going to Vadodara also? this is not good!”
Aniket and Srik are two friends who just graduated from college and wanted to get over with the past and give life a new start. But they didn't know that past doesn't let go that easily. They boarded the train from madgaon station (goa) to Delhi, returning from their holiday. The train was late because of a landslide in Ratnagiri and it was going to be a long trip for them, especially for Aniket.
Aniket's joy disappeared after hearing that the train is passing through Vadodara. Looking at the let down face of aniket, Srik said, "Hey, I didn't know that Vadodara is also a stop!”
"You booked the tickets and you didn't know about the route? How lame!" Srik looked at aniket's face and turned back to his tea. Aniket leaned his head on the glass window and blankly gazed outside. He was sulking because Vadodara was home of his ex-girlfriend, Tanya.
"Hey!! You okay?" Srik asked.
"Yeah, i guess i am" aniket replied.
"Dude, don't think about it much. it will pass soon… as long as you don't do anything silly" srik said.
"Don't worry, I ain't gonna do anything this time. Even though i want to!" aniket said.
"Hey i'm gonna go take a nap now. see ya srik"
Srik:"I know how much u gonna sleep"
With that, Aniket went up on the upper berth, pulled the curtains and buried his face in the pillow. The past was flashing in front of his eyes now. He was still thinking if he should call her. He dialed her number but his ego made him disconnect. He was boiling with emotions inside him and was battling with his thoughts. He felt like sharing the situation with someone, and called one of his best friends, Sara.
“Hey aniket, still stuck in the landslide? I'm at hostel and missing the fun times in Goa!” sara said.
“Ya!! i'm too missing good times!!' aniket replied as he sighed.
'hey don't get upset. blocks will be cleared soon, cheer up' sara said.
'well it's not the landslide i'm worried about' aniket said.
'Then what?' sara asked.
'well you know what,This train is going to Vadodara also' aniket said.
'WHAT!!'sara was shocked. 'hey you didn't called her? did you?'
'No, not yet but i so much wanna call her' aniket said.
'hmmmm, well i know you don't believe in god, aniket. but i do and i think it’s not just a co-incidence. It’s a sign, you should call her' sara said. 'put down the fone and call her, i'm sure she will be pleased to hear from you'
'yeah okay' aniket said and disconnected the call.
Many things were going through aniket's mind as he dialed Tanya’s number. “Will she pick the call? will she come to meet me??” Mixed emotions were juggling in his brain.
The call got connected, aniket’s heart started beating faster. he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A soft tender voice came from other side.
'hello'
'hey' aniket said.
'who is this' Tanya asked.
'oh you don't even recognize my voice now!!' aniket said. 'you even deleted my number from your fone or what?'
'hey aniket!!My fone is again not working properly' Tanya said. 'how are you?'
'you didn't wish me on my birthday even this year. by the way just returning from Goa. how are you?’, aniket said.
'Got busy with college things i'm sorry. So, at last u went to goa!' Tanya replied.
'yeah your college.. well, my train is gonna stop at Vadodara station. Wanna meet you.' aniket asked.
“I don’t know if I’m gonna make it” Tanya said “have college”.
“well your college is just 5 minute away from station” aniket replied “its ok if you don’t wanna meet”.
'At what time you will reach here?', Tanya asked.
'around 2 pm', aniket said.
'Okay, i will be there.' Tanya said. 'I have class now, see ya at station'
'okay, i'll be waiting' aniket said.
Aniket’s face was glowing now. He was full on energy and very excited. he was checking his watch every five minutes and kept asking the attendant when they were gonna reach Vadodara. Everyone around could probably sense Aniket's excitement and knew someone special is waiting there for him.
The train reached the station’s outskirts. Aniket started calling Tanya to let her know that he had entered Vadodara, but her fone kept busy. He redialed several times, each time without success. Train reached the station and Aniket got off the train. He started looking around for Tanya. He was expecting her to be there before the train arrived. After he was done searching, he again tried calling her number. This time she picked it up.
'where are you? I'm standing at platform no.4', yelled aniket.
'Hey i was there but i had my friend’s bag with me and i have come out of the station to return it to her', Tanya said.
'Why are you doing this to me? you could have said a simple NO if u didn't wanted to meet', aniket said in broken voice.
'Wait!! i'm coming, you never believe me!' Tanya said as she disconnected the call.
Srik was watching all this standing on the gate of their bogey. He was pitying at Aniket, while Aniket eyed the foot-over bridges waiting for Tanya. Suddenly he yelled “Tanya!” and started running. Soon he slowed down as he realized that it wasn't her. Several minutes passed she didn't show up. Aniket tried calling again but the phone was switched off, his heart skipped a beat at that moment. He just sat on the bench at the platform restless then he heard a voice calling him."ANIKET?". He turned back in a jiffy but he was disappointed. It was Srik, holding a big packet of lays, and with his own mouth full with it.
'hey, you want some?' srik asked
Aniket just gave him a disgusted look. He wanted to shove up the whole packet in his mouth but he kept calling her phone. Their train’s whistle blew, signaling the departure. Aniket got up but his eyes were still searching for her in the crowd. The train started moving and Srik kept pushing Aniket to board the train. The train started gaining pace and srik pushed aniket into the train.
'Dude! are you crazy? what the hell you think you are doing?' Srik yelled at aniket.
Aniket ignored him and hung on the door and kept looking at the platform till it disappeared. His eyes were wet. He was broken. Srik pulled him in.
'its okay dude, you did your part', Srik tried to console him. 'it’s her loss, not yours'
'i knew she'll not come. why she promised and why the lies??, 'aniket said with a low voice and started walking towards his berth. He quietly climbed up the berth hiding his tears from the people. He dialed sara's number.
'I told you they were not signs, nothing’s gonna happen', Aniket broke down.
'aniket!! stop crying, what happened?', sara asked.
'she promised that she’s gonna come but she didn't and was making lame excuses' aniket replied.
'its okay aniket, you did it because you wanted to call her. rest was her decision', sara said. 'don't cry on her decisions, be strong'
'What has she got after doing all this?’, asked aniket.
'Stop crying and think from her prospective, aniket. she has moved on and you are trying to go back. It’s not easy for her, too. Cry if you wanna cry, but make sure it’s the last time you are crying' sara said.
Sara's words pierced into aniket's brain.
'I'm okay,i'll call ya when i'll reach delhi', aniket said.
'hmmm! take care, aniket and let it go now', Sara said.
Aniket got into some deep thoughts, weighing the situation from each perspective. soon his hatred for her came out from his heart in form of tears. Again, her face was clouding his mind. Aniket thought about it all over again and sighed. And lost in those thoughts, he quietly fell asleep. He woke up at night and stepped down from his berth. Everybody was busy talking and going about their stuff. He looked for srik. He was sleeping on the lower birth. He went up to the washroom, freshened up and sat besides srik.
“So boy, slept a lot huh?”, a co-passenger asked aniket.
'ya sir, was feelin too sleepy', aniket replied.
'good, you woke up at right time. they will serve dinner soon', the co-passenger said. 'till then, enjoy these songs'
By saying so he raised the volume of the songs playing on his mobile. aniket rested his head on the window, watching the moon that was shining upon the dark world outside. He wasn't interested in the songs untill a particular song played, the song that he used to sing for Tanya. “This is OUR song!”, he used to tell her. "TU JAANE NAA" was playing again. Aniket just smiled at that moment and got lost in the song, watching the moon. Restlessness turned into prayer. He prayed for her happiness, as a drop of tear sneaked out from the corner of his eyes.
