" You read my mind Mind Reader...."

"Could I hold you for for a lifetime 

Could I look into your eyes.... "

And so the music continued.....

The annual show was coming up.....

And I had decided to perform with one of my friends as my partner....

I was teaching him.. and he was doing pretty well......

Most of the steps were set..... 

The song chosen was a little slow.. with good beats... And we had decided to experiment with the styles...

At the moment...the music was slow and sensuous.. and it completely complimented our steps.....

But

But something was wrong.

I wasn't doing it right...

Or rather.

WE weren't doing it right.

Something was missing

But what?

I went and stopped the music....

" Lets take a 5 minute break, okay? "

The leads were right

Our steps were right

The music was right

Then why did it feel so wrong?

"Let's talk. "

" What happened? Am I going wrong? You can correct me you know " (grin)

(weak smile) " I know... its just... that nothing is like.. you know..... that SPARK is missing"

" So, what now ?"

"Hmmm...... I just remembered one thing.... that my instructor had told me.. 

" FEEL the music within you.... YOU have to FEEL it.. to be able to do it "

I just realized.. that both of us were focusing so much on the leads and steps.... that we're not getting that feeling right. Let's try one thing. Look at me when you dance. Nowhere else. Let's just try it with music.... Let it go slow... I don't care.. let's try this out, okay? "

" Sure, And we'll do it "

The music started.....

And our eyes met....

He took my hand in his hand..... And we started dancing... 

" You're getting nervous... just relax. And don't be afraid or scared. You're getting nervous with the fall and drop..... I won't let you fall, okay?  

I nodded.. And decided to let go.

For some reason.....

It became easier.

It was as though.. we communicated through our eyes...

I could guess all his leads in advance... and our understanding helped....

We were both smiling now.

It was perfect finally....

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

The BIG DAY arrived

Everyone was nervous.

We were both backstage.

And I was a nervous wreck.

What if I messed up?

Okay, Let's think positively... I'm going to do it all right..... Relax....

" And Now, after that wonderful performance.....

Our next performance for the evening..... presented by..."

There, that was us. We were next.

We stepped on stage....

And it started.

The music began.... and we took our positions...

" One two.. and Three... "

We moved gracefully.. and I started relaxing..

...  "And then, Yeah, now the drop right... "( My thinking continued..)

But no, this step had been modified.... last evening..

And then, I moved apart.... thinking it was the previous step and he would follow....... And he stepped back too.

" Oh God!" I realized, this step had been changed....

Now What!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" Congratulations! You were fabulous......and steps were simple awesome! "

" Oh, thank you. But, my partner deserves equal credit.,,,

And really, for a moment.. I thought all would be in vain......."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That moment, was one I shall never forget.

When he stepped back as well.... It suddenly came back to me. The step had been changed by both of us last evening.. AND I, had conveniently forgotten.

Ten seconds passed.

We were both frozen, as though thinking what to do. The music continued....

And then, I smiled at him, he smiled back.

As though... sensing the next move.. we both moved back into place.

 And then, just picked up the dance from there.

And we ended up changing all the steps.

Nothing was rehearsed ...

He gave any lead.. And I followed...

As though.. He was now the teacher.. And I was the follower....

It became more like a practice session....

He  lead me......and I followed perfectly....

And the final pose, was better than I had expected.

I didn't panic... and he was able to manage it well.

At the end of it, both of us were laughing.

We had absolutely NO CLUE what we did up there.

But all we knew was... that we had one hell of a time up there on stage...

But, when the winners were announced, I was speechless.

We had come Runner's Up.!!!

The judges had never realized that there had been confusion on the stage.

The way both of us stood.... had made it seem as though it was a pose.. or had been planned as a abrupt break....

Both of us were absolutely delighted!

And this would be a day.. .which none of us would ever forget........

"When this blogger met God...."

" Aye! Blogger! What you doing here? So nice to see you again... " 

" Hey, Do you have any idea why we're all waiting here? "

" Oh, I guess.. we have to meet someone.. before we like.. umm.. go on"

I was confused. I was dancing a few minutes back.... and now, suddenly..... I found myself in this huge hall.

And thankfully, NOT alone. 

Someone called my name..... And I looked around.

And..

And I saw someone..... who was breathtakingly beautiful....

She asked me... to step into the room....

I was just stunned.... How did I reach there? What was I doing there?

Well, I guess the answer to my questions lay beyond the hall.. and so I followed her into the room.

AND

The minute I entered.....

I froze to the spot.
No word could describe this.
Not Bizarre... awesome... fantastic.... NOTHING.
What lay before me.. was something no mortal could even dream of......

The place I had just stepped into.... was NO room.
It was one of the MOST BEAUTIFUL garden.. I had ever seen....
I could see green grass everywhere.. benches.... flowers.....  a light breeze which seemed to whisper... a stream flowed by...... birds chirped..

And then, someone called me.
It was the most amazing voice ever... a voice.. that compelled me to listen.. only listen.... 
I turned around.....
My confused eyes... met those calm ones...
And then, as though.... everything changed.
I just felt serene... calm... and as though... I was free.. of everything.. my troubles.. my worries.. hurt.. pain... I felt nothing.....
A different feeling filled me.....
And suddenly... my mind began questioning it all..
The first question I felt like asking was.. " What did you do? And what's happening to me..."
But the first thing that I said was......

" Have we met? Who are you ? "
He just smiled......
And as though... understanding struck me.....
I felt foolish asking such questions....

We spoke for some more time.....
I felt relaxed... and calm...


" So, how is everything going on in your life? Are you satisfied with it all? And well, I finally see that you began writing...... "
"Yeah.... I Did.. I thought.. that maybe my ideas.. could make a difference.. so i decided to reach out.... I know not many people read what I write.... But I hope, that it makes a difference.. even if it is in a very small way... And yes, I am satisfied. Sometimes.. my heart does ask for different things..... But in the end I do realize.... that no matter what... I'm sure you'll do whatever is best for me.... "
" But just tell me, when you made all this.... you made it all happy.... then why did you bring in sadness and pain ? Sometimes.... I feel very low.... as though.. no one is with me.... And sometimes.... as though even you seem to leave me.... Why?  "

"Child.... the answer is within you..... think. And tell me...
If I gave you everything, would you realize the value of getting it all? Why does your heart crave for things..... it's because you don't have them.....
So, value all that you have in life... all the people who love you.. care for you... Thank them. ... and be grateful to them for being there.....
If you always got happiness.. would you ever know what it means to be sad? Would you ever realize... the actual and true value of that happiness?
When you feel no one is with you.... it's because I want you to understand.. that YOU are your greatest friend.... help... strength.... and everything. All that strength is within you... YOU just need to find it..... AND JUST REMEMBER....... "

And this is the point....
When my alarm went off..........

And I spent the day thinking.. that what exactly was I supposed to remember.....
If anyone can guess.. please let me know :P

" JaB wE MeT ..... "

" When would he come?
How much time would he take?
Was I  supposed to call?
Would we recognize each other....?
What should I say?.. "
All these questions were pulsing through my mind.....

I never liked waiting....
But TODAY
Today it was different....
Infact.. I was praying for more time...... more time.. to calm down...to think..what to say....

He was late.Ten minutes late

Somehow.. I just had a feeling that he would come late. Intuition you know....
And see, I was right.


Have you ever met someone, whom you've never seen before..... But, only spoken to? Someone, who is like you're very close friend.... who knows nearly everything about you... who can litrally predict all your answers.. ( Mind reAder..! :P ).... Understands you well... someone you just love talking to.....and time always seems less when you start talking...
                      
You sometimes have nothing to say... but still want to talk..
Even  silence seems to speak a lot between you'll.... which makes the friendship even more special....
Even one smiley less in a message, or a short 'bye'  conveys many things..... Saying bye..lasting a  minimum of ten minutes...
Not talking for a day...  seeming like ages....
 But, you haven't even met him.  And then, comes the 'Big Day' when you decide to meet each other....

It was something like this for us...
Speaking was a different thing... and so was chatting...
But meeting in person.... was something completely different..

This was something we were waiting for since a long time.....
AND
that day finally arrived..

I was waiting at the airport...
AND
He was late.

We had decided to meet near the caffeteria...
People around me... were all busy... some with luggage.. and some engrossed in talking....
And I was lost in my own world....in my own thoughts...
When, I was suddenly interrupted.......
BY .....

........

..........

.............

Oh! It was not him. Some random guy just banged into me by mistake. He apologised... and went his way...


And then....
Then I saw him.
My mind froze.....


He was wearing a blue T-shirt.....with faded denims...
A brown jacket under his arm, and glares in hand....
He saw me...
And then....
Everything just clicked into place.......

We both saw each other...
And then, there was a huge smile on our faces...
It seemed so instictive.... and we hugged each other.
It felt just perfect to meet each other there......
The very place....from where our lives would take a new turn.. a new beginning to our careers and lives.....

Before actually meeting him.... I was a little nervous...
As to, how it would turn out...
Would it be the same?
Would we be formal?
Or too casual? And I was hoping nothing changed......
I had imagined... that the first thing I would say to him would be.. " Hiiiii!! How are you.. And we finally Met!"

But, to my surprise...
And to his amusement...
The first thing I said to him was...

" Sleepyhead... I hope you don't plan to sleep during the flight..... Because we have LOADS to talk....  "

" When I met a Character......... "

Today was 'supposedly' a big day.

Not for me, but for all those people who would be giving this exam with complete dedication and interest. .....

Today was the MH-CET

Now, for those of you'll know have no idea what I'm talking about.... Let me explain.

This examination, is for all those losers( 'to be' future engineers... And guess what, I might be one of them as well) who apparently think, that it can be easily tackled... and for all those, who have one after the other... given up on IIT, then AIEEE,  BITS and so on... finally end up with this 'so called' final resort.

Well, so, even I was giving this examination. Now, for reasons, I am unable to explain at the moment, I was least interested in this one. For me,it was frankly a waste of my day. I would have sat online, chatted online... or invested my time.. better than going and sitting in a classroom full of over- enthusiastic and scared kids, who were eagerly giving it. 

Well, I have to admit  one thing....

One experience.... in this day... made this day a lot more bearable.

Not because I actually enjoyed the experience...

But because.... I was, in any way, eager for any distraction from the so called exam. 

All of us were seated.. ( I will NOT say seated comfortably. Bad chairs.. with no fans. seemed like hell) And then, the invigilator entered with the papers. She had a VERY fake smile on her face, which seemed to add to my disinterest. People around me,  were looking on frantically.... and all of them seemed nervous. I even saw a few of them closing their eyes and praying. And so, even I closed my eyes and prayed. Though, my prayer... was to the effect that.. " Please God, Help me get through this without losing my head and patience. Please make this experience more bearable..... "

The examination started, and I actually started reading the questions, and a few of them were interesting..... and I solved those.. The rest, looked like absolute Greek to me. And so, I decided in favour of my favorite option for all those kinda of questions - The BIG C

I was done within an hour... and then, I started looking around. One guy, was chewing his nails in nervousness. The one behind him, was gazing out of the window. Another one, had  closed his eyes in concentration.. and was seemingly  solving the questions mentally... ( And, he looked mental too) 

Well, it was a lazy hot afternoon.. and the fans had just started working.... and I was starting to feel sleepy.. Last night, had not gone too well... I was up till 2 at night.. and then... had finally got about a 4 hours sleep.......

And then, It started.........

For a minute, I was slightly abashed...

and then puzzled...

And this puzzlement,... soon turned to surprise....

When I realized, that the guy sitting right behind me........

Was singing!

And this surprise, soon turned to irritation.. !

It wasn't even like... he was singing something nice. And the voice, was NOT making me sleepy... Rather, it was getting on my nerves. And he was a total nuisance!

I was subjected to a half an hour torture of horrendous and dreadful singing! He began with a song like " Character Dhiila" ( Now, for those of you'll who have not heard this one... Please try not listening to someone actually singing it.. else you will be soon writing a post like this! :P )

 And then, he went on to some weird Marathi songs, whose names I had not even heard.

My plan of having a small nap, went completely down the drain.....

He was continuously humming and singing  the song.. and then, when I thought, that maybe he had finally stopped.. I put my head down...

But Alas! Within the next few minutes... He began again......

Aarghhhhhhh...

I turned around..... And gave him a look...

( Trust me, any 'normal'  guy would have just seen that look and shut up)

But, the look was completely lost on him. 

And he shameless went on and on.......

So, all in all, he not only made sure, that I had the most tedious time ever, but also made sure, that I would not have a minute of peace... and as mentioned.. my sleep was already disrupted beyond measure...

At the end of the exam, I was the first one to get up, and get out of the place. For a minute, I felt like going and confronting him, and telling him to never do something like this next time...

But, then... I thought.... " Why make someone else lose out on the opportunity of listening to a  SUCH A" Promising  singer" 

And now that you have read this...

My parting advice to you is.....

Next time, you ever go for any examination, and are done with everything early....

Please,  DO not disturb those poor souls who are hoping to sleep in peace.......... and if you ever feel like trying out your singing skills on anyone.... make sure, it is NOT in a examination hall! :P