Life is in total dumps...... As always nothing new about it. Anyways, that's a tale for some other time. It's 2AM, and I am at the airport on an unusually pleasant weathered March night. Pleasant, yes! Just the weather.
The airport was alive with people. Most of them have come to see off some one or the other. Next arrival was at 3AM, flight from Singapore; so there were a few at the arrival area, waiting for some one or the other. Thing about airports is that it makes you feel rich and affluent.... You end up paying 200 bucks for a tea or a coffee and you savor it as if it is usual thing you do everyday. So, while I was ordering for my portion of "nectar", my attention was drawn to an odd couple.
The guy in his late twenties, balding, dark and lean. The girl too in her late twenties, long smooth black hair, fair and lean. The guy was holding a helmet in his hand, the one that is of the shape of a cooking pot (meen chatti (fish pot) in malayalam) and a shabby bag on his back. The gal had a black over coat and a hand bag, on the ground was the big jumbo VIP check-in bag.
The guy, obviously had rode a bike to the airport and the girl definitely did not come pillion with him. It intrigued me, everything about them. The girl looked way out of league for him. There was an untold sadness in their face. The guy had put a hand around her, as if consoling her or to an effect consoling himself.
By the time I got my pipping hot tea, the couple had hugged each other in a sad intense manner, mumbling precious nothing and proceeded towards the departure gate. Both looked tensed and sad. The guy looked more emotional than the girl.....!
I stood there sipping my tea watching them indulge in their slow tragic good bye. There were people jostling all around and I wasn't at a vantage point anymore; So I now moved closer to them and in the way ended up photobombing couple of group pictures.
Finally, the time had come for the girl to enter the security cordon, she holds the guy's hand and nods her head as if telling him not to worry and we will meet soon.
He says nothing, just looks on. She strides into the departure lounge, the bag on wheels in one hand. After a couple of steps...she gives a tentative glance back. The guy hadn't moved from his place, the last permissible area for the visitors. He looked on from there, with his helmet in one hand and the other hand on the barricade. She goes thru the initial security and enters THE airport, from there she waves at him, he
waves back. He stands there motionless, eyes fixed on the girl. Once she got in I couldn't find the girl, she was lost in the crowd inside, but I saw her thru his eyes. His eyes following her, unwilling to say the final good bye. She carried on with her check-in processes, he stood there waiting. I waited with him.
The hot tea was now cold; cold, like the breeze that caressed my face. Momentarily, he looked back, his eyes met mine. I could see the tears he had stopped from rolling out in his eyes. He glanced back once more, looking at me for a brief moment longer than what is normal. I looked away.
I stood there, watched him wait till she got into an escalator. As the escalator went up, I knew those were the final seconds of his vigil. He sighed, his shoulder drooped. His gaze was fixed on the escalator, the last place he had seen her. Slowly, he turned back and ambled to the exit. He took his mobile out and tapped on it couple of times before taking it to his ears....looked like he dialed a number; but suddenly, withdrew from completing the call. He puts the phone back into his pocket and walks off.
I stood there wondering about the odd couple. What could be and what not. There was an overwhelming sense of pain in him and somehow unknowingly, I carried back with me a portion of his pain.
