Those moments you will never forget.

Coming into the room to find clothes randomly hanging off a light-bulb or the wall hooks.
A broken egg on the counter.
Dirty footprints leading from the hall to the bedroom.
More dirty footprints on the doormats.
Laptop lying on the floor.
Cuddling up in front of the television on the floor, watching Clerks.
Laughing and guffawing at the antics of Veronica and Dante.
Learning how to download torrent files and stream videos.
Arguing long and hard about the merits and demerits of Liverpool FC and Arsenal FC (the former pwned the latter obviously!)
Awesome curls and absolutely gorgeous dimples.
Standing by the kitchen counter, dicing bhindi and onions, frying them and garnishing them with a lot of love and a tiny bit of chilli flakes.
Going out shopping and doing the impossible – shopping for a guy.
Picking out stripes and checks (solely in shades of black and grey), formal and semi-formal trousers.
Teaching proper table manners, how to hold a fork, and how not to spill on the table.
Promptly having ice cream spilled on your t-shirt.
Being remonstrated for not knowing how to cross roads properly.
Keeping track of every appointment and article, piece of paper and receipt.
Clicking an insane amount of pictures.
Giggling like little kids.
Paneer and
Thinking of ways and tricks to troll friends. Laughing crazily when the imbecile plan succeeded.





It all started in Alleppey. At the beach, situated beside the small, quaint railway station. The sky was flecked with lovely white clouds, dotting the blue background like white, cottony wisps. Almost ethereal. There were boats -- lots of them. Wooden, painted ones. Old ones falling apart. New ones standing tall and proud with their fresh coats of paint, all blemishes sandpapered away. There were fishermen all around. The tide would break by the shore, shells scattered as the waves receded. A couple of birds flew over the water, merrily cackling, gliding around on white wings.

The two walked beside the water. The girl was barefeet, slippers in hands, a rucksack slung across her back. The boy was dressed in a sweaty black t-shirt and classic blue jeans, with black Reebok shoes on his feet – the attire showing off his lean physique. They talked of school lives and their shared interest in geography, and inane stuff like the difference between a beach and the sea. The two walked for what seemed like miles, almost easily covering the length of the beach.

They shared a butterscotch cone, it melted and dripped down the boy’s finger and right hand. He had a train to board – the return one to Ernakulam. The one in the afternoon. It was a passenger train. Both wanted him to miss it. Stay in Alleppey. But they reached the platform nevertheless. Sat on the hard marble bench there for close to 40 minutes, waiting for the train to roll in. Looked at each other, then furtively looked at each other when they caught the other one staring. Looked down at their hands. Pretended to count the dust motes on the platform. Loudly laughed and chuckled at ridiculous jokes, their so-called ‘defence mechanism’ to hide the sadness and pain. Watched the train slowly rumble into the station. Saw passengers get off and others get on. Waited until the final whistle and until the conductor waved the green flag. Hurriedly boarded the train, jumped down one last time for a very awkward hug. The train moved away. What remained were tears and disappointment. And then some more tears. Until the next time they met again. And it rained.