Post - 5

The hair had augmented the grace and charm of her face.

Samedha opened her eyes. “What are you doing, Sid?” she rebuked as she had caught him red handed.

He had committed a crime of sitting there and appreciating the decorated walls of the temple. “I do not know how to pray!” he confessed.

“Praying is not a rocket science, Sid. Just sit quietly for a while. Close your eyes and think about the most beautiful moment in your life and then just thank God for that precious gift. Tell God how deeply indebted you are for that ephemeral joy, you will automatically feel the connection. Talk to God and the conversation will solve many predicaments. You will reach at peace with your problems.”

Siddharth’s eyes appeared bigger. “I did not know praying was that easy? I have seen people reciting tongue twisters called Mantra’s. I am not good at remembering them and so finally I had dropped the idea of praying.”

“Now you should resume praying at least once a day. Promise me that you will do it.” Samedha tried to persuade him.

“Yeah, I’ll try.” Siddharth gave his assent. He looked at her and a lovely smile unfolded on her face and stayed there. “You are so adorable”, he spoke to himself.

“May we move now Sid”, she reminded him and they both stepped out of the temple premises.

“Have you been to Lotus Temple Sid” Samedha asked curiously.

Siddharth pressed the panic button “No... not again. I am not going to another temple Sam. I had enough of it already. Don’t you think so?”

“Don’t go by the name” she said further. “Well, it is the most visited monuments in India and one amongst the best architectures. It is not a temple but a prayer hall. You will not find any Idol inside. Religion is not a bar. So only I love this place. Delhi city bus directly goes there and it will be an easy commute for us. Come on Sid, we need to get going. You need to catch your train tonight, Isn’t it?” Samedha put her best effort to explain the situation

“Do you know one thing, Sam? You are a great explainer.”

“No I am not; actually you get convinced very easily.” She countered and smiled.

Both of them started walking towards the bus stop and while waiting for the bus, Siddharth read the board and came to know he was at Nizamuddin bus stop. Prior to that he had no idea where he was going as he was just following Samedha. He had no reason to doubt her ability of judging things before hand as she had been there quite a few times. Both boarded the right bus to their destination for the Lotus Temple.

The bus was overcrowded as if the entire Delhi had come out for sightseeing. With great difficulty both found a place in the corner to stand and they stood there still, facing each other. He was trying his best to protect her from such an unpleasant bus trip.

“We should have thought about some other alternative Sam.” He tried to tell her but the annoying noise of the crowd swept away his words.

“What did you say, Sid? I didn’t follow.” Samedha almost screamed to say that.

He reached over her ear to repeat. “I said we should not have come here.”  “Ouch” was his next word.

He had a scratch on his nose. Samedha’s ear ring went brushing his nose as someone must have readjusted the standing posture behind him.

Samedha couldn’t stop laughing but the next moment she was concerned. “Show me. Hey take this”, she took one end of her dupatta and pressed his nose.

“It is alright Sam. It is just a scratch.”

She immediately took off her hand and blushed.

Siddharth gave an unsure smile. He liked the fragrance of her dupatta, the caress and the blushing too.

                                                                                       - to be continued ...