Episode 6 By him
Studying in a girls only convent school till 12th, she never really knew about the other side. It was in engineering college that she encountered the wild 'other' side. Even though boys mostly seemed stupid and thoughtless to her, there was one thing about which she felt that the grass was immensely green on the other side . Freedom! Boys did seem free and seemed to have more fun. When she look back at how easily she decided that she wanted to be with him for the rest of her life, she does remember that one thing she was sure of - life was going to be lots of fun!
As a child, she would go with her family to the typical family trips of the 80's - to Ooty, Malampuzha etc. The whole family will book a big ambassador car with a driver, travel all the way to the place in the car, stay in a hotel and see the botanical gardens and museums. She would look at the small hills, the beautiful hills on the way and wonder - if I was an adult, and if I wanted to, could I just stop here and climb this hill up and see. She was never interested in the destination. She always wanted to stop, and enjoy the sights on the way...
He and his friends were going for a small trek to a nearby place. She was invited. It was a one day trip, so she knew she would not need elaborate permissions from parents. The word 'trek' sounded exotic to her - she has never been on one. She arrived excitedly at the office early enough. But they had to wait for the friends and it got delayed. Finally when they arrived at the place and walked to the start of the hill, she couldn't believe her eyes. It was one of those insignificant hills which others would not look hard enough on their hurried journeys to other, better places. She was thrilled. It was hot and when they started climbing, one by one his friends started dropping out. One person said something about a leg pain and wanted to read a book under a shade on the way. They left him there to collect him on their way back.
She was confused. Why didn't anyone enjoy this place. She tried walking backward to extrapolate how it will be at the top - she could imagine it.. Already it was windy and the town was starting to fade into oblivion. She was sure that at the top, they would feel detached from the world and that there would be a wonderful view. She tried asking someone - won't there be a view at the top? There will be, he tried to convince his girl friend who didn't seem too keen to go all the way up.
It was tiring, but totally worth it... At the top, it was her own small world of people and the view. She was sitting with him quietly at the top, with the wind and the quiet and the rest of the world not able to affect them..Life should be like this, she thought. On the way back, it got dark and late sooner than they expected. His friend and his girl friend were taking turns on their bike, but he seemed really tired and moody. She wished she could drive the bike to alleviate his trouble a bit. But once they reached the lighted city back he seemed to be back in his spirits and they called it off as a wonderful day. They would go on many more trips like this, which would be teasers into the bigger adventures they would have, in life.
~Her
© 2019 Shenuja Subhash