We snuck out of the house and walked to Yamuna ghat. It wasn’t too far from the house. It barely took us ten minutes to reach there. Late at night, with no soul in sight near the river, I was walking with Krishna in silence. We didn’t talk much on our way, but it didn’t feel awkward. It felt nice. The air permeated with flowery fragrance from the nearby temples present at every nook and corner in Vrindavan. Krishna had been away from Vrindavan for around five to six years, yet he was able to find his way.
The streets were empty. There were some dry colours and flowers strewn on the road from the morning celebration. A car would occasionally pass us, but other than that it was all quiet. Had I been alone, I would have felt a little creeped out by walking outside so late in the night. It was a wonder that I was trusting myself with Krishna. In today’s time, you can’t trust the people whom you know well, forget a stranger. I could hear my mother gasping if I ever told her about Krishna and about me walking with him at night with no adult to accompany us.
“There you go. This is the place I was talking about,” said Krishna, as he walked down the steps of the ghat. He sat down on of the dry stairs and patted the ground.
I looked around. We were away from the street into the dark river, which appeared darker as the night progressed. The ghat was lined up with a few diyas that were on the verge to extinguish. The tiny flames of the diyas sparkled in the dark waters of Yamuna. The starry night contributed to enhance the beauty of the river and the moon occasionally peeped out from the clouds.
“Is that all you are going to do over here? To sit and look at the stars?” asked, Krishna with a light chuckle. “I thought I had charmed you, but it looks like the stars are competing against me.”
“Rolling my eyes, I turned my head towards him. “Come on, Krishna, we both know you are lovelier than the stars. Besides, my stars will feel sad, if I don’t glance at them before I spend the entire night gazing at you lovely face.”
He smiled and picked a pebble and threw it with a flick of his wrist. The pebble drowned in the water with a splash and he looked at me, his head tilted towards the left, saying, “I would say, you are lovelier than me.”
Laughing, I threw a pebble into the water. “Now that’s a compliment, I would like to hear from you. Tell me, honestly, Krishna. How many people have you found ‘lovelier’ than you?”
Without waiting a second, he answered, “Radha and you.”
Radha. A lovely girl with a beautiful smile that lights you up and being around her feels like curling up in a warm blanket on a cold winter night. Maybe it was a best friend thing, perhaps? Just like Krishna, she took an immediate liking to me and I to her.
“Tell me more about Radha and you. What were you like when you were a child here? How was your bond?” I asked.
“Okay, I will, but first, you need to allow me to put my arm around you,” said, Krishna.
“You have my permission.”
He gently moved his arm around my shoulder and sighed. He threw his head back up and looked at the sky, and then focused his eyes on me. I couldn’t help myself but break into a goofy grin and began laughing.
“What now?” said, Krishna, laughing with me.
“Just answer my question now.”
He moved his index finger in circles over my arm and began. “Radha and I were inseparable. She was born a week earlier than me and she always took advantage of that by making me listen to her when we were were little kids. But then I grew up to be the most mischievous kid and troubled Radha a lot. Even though I created a lot of mischief and pranks on Radha as well as on my other friends, I loved them all dearly. Yashoda kaki whom I as a child often called her as my own mother was so gullible to my mischief. She would always defend me and pamper me as if I were her real son. Kaka and Kaki joke that I never miss them but it’s not true. The day I had to leave Vrindavan and them, I had cried bitterly even though I was smiling and teasing all of them that I would come back and play again.”
Krishna paused and stared at the river for a while. I remained silent and looked at him. His eyes were not looking too bright like he usually did, and a small nostalgic smile graced his lips. I placed my hand over his shoulder and whispered, “Krishna…”
He blinked and moves his fingers through his hair, saying, “Oh God, I wasn’t supposed to be all sentimental now. But anyway, my childhood was the best and the most beautiful one. I wish every child should have a childhood like mine filled with laughter, fun, and love.”
“Now, let me ask a question,” said, Krishna. “What’s your favourite childhood memory?”
“Now that’s a difficult question, for I have many of them. I think it should be the day I attended my first day of dance class. I was no prodigy that I was able to dace flawlessly, but the first day I entered the premises, it felt like a magical world to me. I guess, as children we find magic everywhere even in the smallest and mundane things and growing up we lose that magical vision. The large Nataraja murti appeared as if Shiva himself was calling to me and the senior dancers wearing colourful sarees looked like those apsaras with flowers in their hair. I still remember that day when I was returning home, I couldn’t sleep that night and was eagerly waiting for my next class.”
“I think the world could be better if we kept a bit of magical vision with us. Growing up, we find wonderment and magic to be silly or childish and become such boring individuals,” said, Krishna who was now tapping his fingertips on my arm.
We grew quiet after that and stared at the river. I could hear the gentle lapping of the water and Krishna’s breathing. The night grew deeper and the lone cars which often passed sometimes stopped coming. At home, I would have felt sleepy by now and would have dozed off. Surprisingly, I had enough energy in me to keep talking and listening to him.
“Do you remember what I told you in the morning?” Krishna suddenly asked.
“There were many things you told me, Krishna.”
“I told you in the car after singing. Don’t tell me you forgot already.”
My nervous laugh gave me away…
“Our singing session, Bhaishmi! You forgot that. How could you?” Krishna whined, which made me laugh even more.
“Okay, you beautiful dramatic boy, I remember now. What song should we sing?”
He had the audacity to smirk and demand me. “Sing a song which will remind me of you when we go our separate ways after Holi. And yes, it should also remind you how pretty I am.”
I facepalmed and muttered to myself and giggled. “Okay fine. I have two songs for that. Let me sing for the first case where we go our separate ways.” 'Separate ways' left a bitter taste on my mouth.
‘Mere dil ki raahaton ka tu zariya ban gayi hai
Teri ishq ki mere dil mein kayi Eid mann gayi hai.
Tera zikr ho raha hai tera zikr ho raha hai
Tujhe yaad kar liya hai O tujhe yaad kar liya hai aayat ki tarah…’
I successfully made Krishna blush! Surely, his blush wasn’t visible, but he looked down bashfully and smiled, causing me to chuckle.
He cleared his throat and with a twinkle in his eye, said, “And what’s the next song?
I scratched my nose and began singing the next song, praying to the Gods above to not let my voice falter.
'Kadmon ko sambhalein, nazron ka kya karein.' My finger lifted his curls away from his eyes and I looked into his eyes while singing the next line. 'Dil ko sambhale zubaan ishq hua hi hua.'
We didn't know when our hands interconnected with each other. He clasped my hand and locked his fingers with mine, his thumb gently brushed against my skin as I continued with my song.
'Aise chale jab hawa... ishq hua hi hua.'
Krishna leaned in to my eye level, and I saw the moon in his eyes with the little flames of the diya dancing across his face occasionally.
"Toh ishq ho gaya?" He asked, a teasing smile on his lips, but his eyes carried a different expression, as if he was asking it earnestly and not for fun.
I gently pushed him away with a shy smile. "Dhaat iss time bhi flirt karna hai?"
To the ones who love the boys written in romance novels over which we fawn over, you would love Krishna now a lot more.
He grabbed my wrist gently, stopping me from moving away from him and sang in the softest voice possible. 'Dil kahe ke aaj toh chupalo tum panaho mein ke darr hai tumko khodunga.'
And another moment straight out of my bollywood dreams came up when he pulled me towards him. We were far too close to each other. His face was mere inches away from me and if I would step in towards him, our lips could easily meet each other. This definitely wasn't something I had signed up for before planning for my Holi trip.
My hand went to his chest and I felt his heart beating rapidly. Boy, he was nervous too just like me, but unlike me, his nervousness never showed up on his face.
'Dil kahe sambhal zara khushi ko na nazar laga ke darr hai main toh ro dunga,' his finger traced my chin and I swear to God, I felt I was going to melt into a puddle under his touch. One moment we were talking and now we were on the verge off.... I can't say it out loud or more like I can't write it here.
I knew what the other lines were in the song. Krishna had paused and looked at me expectantly, so I continued with the song. 'Ho karti hu sau vaade tumse baandhe dil ke dhaage tumse ye tumhe na jane kya hua.'
He leaned in towards my ear, whispering, "Ab toh pakka ishq ho gaya hoga."
Groaning, I moved myself away and he too left my hand laughing while teasing me, "Arey sharmao nahi batao zara."
I climbed up the stairs of the Yamuna ghat when I heard him say, "Krishna agar woh tumse pyar karti hai toh woh ek baar palat ke dekhegi."
Obviously I didn't turn back and focused on the stairs. "Now I am no Simran and you are no Raj." My words had no effect on him because he started saying, "Palat." As if I was going to palat.
The Gods above in the heaven probably loved Krishna a lot because I did exactly what Simran did and Krishna began dancing on the Ghat making me worry about him falling into the river.
I had turned around to tell him not to become Raj at 2am only to realize that I was Simran in the scene.
He jogged towards me and swept his arm across my shoulder. "Toh jaaneman ab pyaar ho gaya?"
I huffed and replied, "Pyaar ka nahi pata lekin thappad khane ka kisika chance zarur ho sakta hai."
We erupted into a joyful laughter within the next second. His arm never left my shoulder nor did I leave his side as we walked back home in the dead of the night.
Hi! Surely BKH is alive. I wrote it on my phone that too in my car toh thodi quality niche ho sakti hai but do tell me if you liked this part or not.
Ab next vali Holi vala chapter! 🥳
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