Sunflower Girl

It was a sunflower. It was a sunflower in her hand the first time I noticed her. The first time I noticed her was near the auto stand in front of MIT. She was walking down the road holding a flower in one hand and a pot in another. It was dark and I dont know why I noticed her at all.

But I did. And I couldn't stop looking at her for those few seconds - barely a minute that it took for her to walk from the gate to the auto and get inside. My eyes didnt leave her person for an instant. Not her perfect nose. Not her hand. Not the tattoo on her hand. Not the striped dupatta fluttering in the wind. Nothing. I was entranced. Officially.

It was only later, after the auto she'd gotten into had gone away into the distance that I realised that I'd seen her before. That I'd never noticed her before but I'd seen her. In college, maybe? But wouldnt I have noticed such a piece of perfection? I tried to put her out of my mind. But the image of her walking down the road, looking at her feet with her hair swishing across her face refused to fade in my mind. I didnt even regret that I didnt have my camera with me.

As I walked towards the gate she had just left, I wondered what she was doing at this time of the night. It wasnt late. Not for Manipal. But still. She had a sunflower in her hand!! What was she doing here? Had some guy asked her out? Why would she be walking all alone then, by herself?

There's this thing that I do when I am perturbed. I fidget. I fidget with whatever I can get my hands on. So there I was. Fidgeting with my bike keys. Twirling them around. Throwing them up and catching them while walki - wait. I had stopped walking. I was just standing there right before the gate and playing with my keys lost in thought. Lost in the thought of her. The watchman gave me an odd look while I sheepishly picked up my pace and walked towards my destination. I didnt stop fidgeting though.

Do you read a lot of books? I do. A number of books, propogate this new-age type thinking. Wish for soemthing hard enough and it will happen.. The universe guides you, etc.. I always thought they were nice ideas. Exciting, even. But somethign of that sort had never happened to me. So those ideas? They were just abstract concepts, stored away for later in the recesses of my mind, like packets of eats that are bought for a future time of hunger in hostel when you're broke or lazy. Today, I was hungry. Or rather.. I wished with all my heart that I meet her again. That I see her again. I didnt really meet her, did I? Though I had already thought of her so many times, she was so familiar to me. As I threw my bike keys in the air one last time I felt a chill breeze in the air. And I knew. I knew I would never see her again.

Well, I was wrong. What can I say? Fate decreed that I would meet her again. And soon.