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Truth and Only Truth!!!.....

I was excited; I was going to make a legendary journey in a train, not just any train… The Navyug Express, from my home town, Mangalore to Jammu Tawi… must be one of the longest journeys by train, with 61 halts covering 3609 km in 68 hours and 20 minutes…. I was excited
It was also supposed to be one of the loneliest trains, because less people preferred to travel to Jammu by this means and especially in the A/C sections… I was waiting for the train to leave, when a girl just comes in and sits in the seat, exactly opposite to me… she looks at me and smiles and I smile back…
“Hi, I am Dr.Priya”, she says continuing her smile.
“I am Darcy”, I say…
She suddenly gives me a “What??!!” expression…
“Just kidding… the copy of Pride and Prejudice you were holding in your hand as you came in tempted me to say so, I’m Rohan. I’m a writer”
“What do you write?” she asks me…
“Just about anything , anything that inspires me… this journey is my next project, it might be the journey or Jammu that might inspire me… or even you”…and I give a smile.
“Me, what can you write about me??” sounding a bit confused.
“Forget that. Let’s play a game that I play with my friends usually. I play this game with them online. It’s called ‘Truth and only Truth’… kind of like truth and dare, but since we are in a train, and only two players, we will cancel the dare part”, I say
“Ok, but!!”
I interrupt,” Don’t think, you might end up being my inspiration”
“Ok, you start”, she says sounding ‘not quite sure’.
“No, no… Ladies first, you start”, I say
“Ok, let me think…..and I’m not good at personal questions….
Ok, why did you choose writing??”
“That’s an easy one… I wasn’t good at studies, I was good at writing… so that’s why I’m a writer…simple as that”, I say…
“Ok, it’s my turn…
Did u always wanna be a doctor??”
“Yup, since my childhood days, my mom and dad always wanted me to be a doctor… and that became my dream”, she says feeling proud…
Just to add to her ‘Feeling proud’ moment, I say” they must be really proud of you”…
And she smiles again…
“Ok, let’s continue”, I say…
Questions went on…
“Who was your first crush??”
“Whom do you share all your secrets with??”
“Have you been in love??”
“Which is your favorite book/movie/tv series??”
“Have you lost your virginity??”
What’s ‘losing your virginity’ mean???...”Question at the end of the story, dear”, I say hoping she would forget the question at the end of the story….
“Which is a place where you would wanna settle in your future, with your family???”
…….. This went on for a whole day; though we didn’t realize how time passed… it was around 6 in the morning, when I barely knew anything about her, now it’s 7 in the evening, and we are still excited… popping in with questions…as we reach the border of Tamil Nadu and Andhra…
Next Day…
“Dad, stop!! … ‘Next day?’… now in an hour… the sun’s gonna set… and mom won’t let me go out and play”
I look at Priya, she nods…” Ok, go out and play”, I say.
“Do you think is she ever going to listen to our complete story??” I say…
“Yes, she will… but now she’s only 5 years old, you can’t expect her to listen to something that happened in 68 hours and following that….I know you are a big fan of Ted Mosby, and you want to tell ‘the story of how we met and all’…  She will listen…. And next time, don’t mention the ‘virginity’ question”, Priya says, with an ‘expecting an OK’ expression…
“Ok, I’ll remember that… but still look at us, 9 years ago this happened, and even now we are talking about that… If we had listened to our parents, and had not made that journey or if you hadn’t taken that job … we wouldn’t have been here… and Aakansha also wouldn’t be there…”I say dramatically…
“Ok, True… but what are you trying to say??”Confusedly she said…
“In a few minutes, it’s going to rain… and you will call her inside, What makes you think… she is going to listen to you, and get back in???”, I say in a funny way…
“Ok, shh!!... This is not your books, and she’s only 5 years old…. She will understand our story in her own way… and our situation and this has no connection whatsoever…”, she says disagreeing to my previous statement…
“ I know, but still…”
“Shh!!!” she interrupts…
“I was just kidding, pulling your legs”
And she gives me that evergreen smile…And moves out. Even I walk to the door… I can see the two most beautiful people in my life, in the most beautiful background… It’s drizzling… and Aakansha wants to enjoy the rain, and Priya doesn’t want her daughter to be sleeping in the bed, catching a cold for the next two days… I can’t hear what they are talking….but they might be making a deal, mostly Aakansha might be asking for pakoras… because that’s what she loves…. And they are coming towards the door…
“C’mon love, help me make some pakoras”, Priya says with a smile…
“I was right”
“What??”She says…
“Nothing”, I say…
“Dad, why does it rain every year we come here???”
“Because your mom loves it here in Chickmagalore… the rains, weather, this house”
“Like she said in the game”
“Right…” I say… and I ask Priya,” Hi Priya, Am I your Darcy???”
“Dad, who is Darcy??”
“You see that book in the shelf… the one that your mom always reads… when you grow up and you read it, you will know”, I say… looking at her
“Dear, you are better than Darcy, just come here and help me with the pakoras”, she shouts from the kitchen…
And we both run to the kitchen……




                                                                                                           




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