They talked for another hour about themselves. He learnt that she was supposed to travel with her cousin, who had to cancel at the last minute.
“I thought it’d be an adventure to travel to Lonavala alone without a plan. Now I think that maybe it’s too much of an adventure for me! I don’t even know anyone there!”
She learnt that he would be entering the third year of his engineering soon.
“I’m in Civil. I wanted to be in Computer Science. I’m doing this project to strengthen my resume for CS jobs.”
They discussed their hobbies and lives in general. He felt a connection. They compared their colleges and their parents. He confessed how he always wanted to travel but never had the time or resources.
“You only need the will to travel. Everything else will fall into place. Why don’t you come with me to Lonavala? I do have an extra seat. Also, no TT will come at this time. Even if he does, I’ll deal with him.” She winked.
“I… really shouldn’t. There’s so much work to be done. I didn’t even spend any time at home because of this project.”
“Are you sure you can’t give one day for fun? Where’s your spontaneity? Where is your sense of adventure? What is a life lived without ever living? There is no fun in always planning ahead and making the safe choices. Sometimes you just have to take the leap without seeing what lies beneath. Also, you’d be helping me immensely.”
“Thanks for the offer, Purvi. You are very persuasive. But I really can’t take a day off. If you need any help from me, give me a call. I’ll help you to the best of my ability.”
“No problem at all. I thought you’d enjoy too.” She smiled.
“Sorry”
They talked for some time, after which she went back to reading her book while he set his alarm and tried to take a short nap.
It was almost three in the morning. Panvel station was approaching. He had not been able to get much sleep but now there was no time. He had to get down. They exchanged numbers. “Let me know how your Lonavala trip goes,” he said.
“Sure”
“Maybe we can go on a trip like this sometime when I’m free”
“Sure. Let’s see.” She smiled.
He got up and wore his bag. She extended her hand for a handshake. They shook. He couldn’t help but feel that there was something different about that touch. It felt surreal. It had the quality of a dream. Admittedly he was still groggy from the sleep. He climbed down onto the platform. She was now sitting in his old seat—looking at him smilingly.
The train slowly started to move again. Like every other station before it, it’d leave this one too. He peered longingly at her and waved once more. She waved back. It was 02:45 am. The platform was almost empty. The train had started to move. What is the meaning of life? What is a life without a few mindless adventures? He half suspected that she wanted him only because she didn't want to deal with the trouble of not knowing the local language. But--what the hell?!--he needed it too. He felt like he--the unsatisfactorily-slept teenage philosopher--was being pulled towards her by an invisible thread. He moved ahead as the train did. He walked, strode and then finally ran, as the train gathered speed. Purvi ran to the door and in a reversal of sorts of the Bollywood archetype, she held out her hand and Raj ran towards her—ran like his life depended on it. The platform was slippery. He kept struggling to reach her hand. He’d get closer but then slip a bit and have to cover some more ground. The train had started to gain some serious speed. He kept running but kept losing to the train. It all felt dream-like.
“Take the leap, Raj! Jump!” she screamed.
He looked into her eyes and in a dilated moment in which he felt as if everything had stopped (including his heart), he leapt!
