By the riverside

   It was difficult to tell what was the reason behind this mysticism, whether it was the orange of the setting sun, or the mild breeze with the fragrance of freshly wet soil, or the charisma of her company - the two seemed to have gone with the flow of the river in front of them. In this small hill town in India the evening was no different for anyone else but the two who seemed to have met after a long time. 

   In the back of his mind a strange duel was going on; strange because he was fighting himself. A part of him was urging him to never let her go and another part, as if the same person, was saying him that every single tick of the clock was a knock of the inevitable - the separation that was imminent. A delayed flight was something that has given them a few moments to treasure. She hugged him for one last time and left to catch the flight. He kept staring in her direction till he could see her. Till that point he didn't know, neither did she know, that they were going to make a couple for a lifetime and may be for many more lifetimes to follow and that they would fall for each other and get married and a friendship would turn out to be a lifetime of celebrations of being together. But as they say, you never know what future holds; he didn't know then, either.

   He was brought back to the present time with the sound of conch shell from a temple located somewhere on the bank of the river. Her hand was still on his and she was resting her head on his shoulder looking at the setting sun, as if remembering the same evening he has just been to. It was then, that she looked at him and smiled, as if reading his mind and saying, "the mysticism by the riverside was because, we have been traveling to and fro in time down our memory lane". He smiled back... and they left, hand in hand, as if reassuring the special bond they shared.