She...

The beginning of yet another new year, Jan 1st 2006, was a bit of a mixed bag of emotions for me. The year 2005 was about to leave the platform. It was around 11:55 in the night and I was trying to complete one of my writings. But I was never there to conclude it. The mind inside deviated time and again, looking for someone, thinking about somebody. I just wanted to talk to a particular person, just to greet her very happy new year. After every half a minute, I was going through my yahoo messenger friend list just to know if she had logged on. The mind knew that she wasn't there. But the heart and the soul were not ready to accept the fact. Every person in the cosmos was preparing to welcome the New Year but I was alone in my room, still waiting for someone to appear. I could feel the loneliness around and inside me. There comes the New Year. Delhi was shining brightly in the light of those grand firecrackers. I was asked to join the birthday treat of one of my mates. The foggy nature of a biting winter in Delhi was good enough to freeze the blood flowing in the veins. But I had to be there. I slowly walked the lonely streets to reach the party spot. Everybody was greeting the birthday boy and celebrating the New Year eve as well, letting each other know about their respective New Year resolutions with laughter all around. They knew those resolutions won't last for too long. I was asked for my New Year resolution. I had a false, contrived smile on my face without any word. The time was passing by. The mercury level was falling by the minute. The sky that was once sparkling with expansive firecrackers had returned to its normal gloomy hue. The giggles around were slowly but surely turning into dark silence. The people around were preparing to get back to their respective abodes. And so was I, with a hope of talking to her once, just once. The feet were moving fast. I hated the silence in the atmosphere. So I made sure that the tapping of the shoes was breaching the muteness. I reached my hostel. Guys were still enjoying the liquor. But I had no interest in it. I sprinted along the pavement, reached my room just to know if she had signed in. My heart was swimming in the ocean of hopes. All that excitement on my face turned into sorrow when I couldn't find her. I kept thinking about her, her smiling face, her large wide eyes, her soft voice, her teasing nature, her stubborn attitude, her hastiness. I don't know when the blanket of sleep covered me. It was only the vociferous knock on the door that woke me up. I was pleasantly surprised to see my closest mate in IIT, who had just arrived from his home, standing outside my room. He wished me a prosperous new year. It was certainly a blessing in disguise. But I was still waiting for her...