The Two Lost Hearts

Rakesh and Sudha were two complete strangers; they hardly knew each other. They had never met before. They encountered each other for the first time in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the Metro train when they were on their way to work. They almost bumped against each other, off balance, all thanks to the steel pole inside the Metro train; they held on in the nick of time, touching and brushing each other’s hands before anything fatal happened. Otherwise, they would have seen twinkling stars in the broad daylight in front of their eyes. They gazed at each other with rage, as if they wanted to blow the fires of their anger at each other like two fuming dragons, and they wanted to blame each other for the mess and imbalance. There were no exchanges of pleasantries or any kind of apology between them. Instead, they rushed to occupy the vacant seat, challenging each other. They sat calmly and relaxed. But their minds were restless and impatient, still racing to argue and blame each other. Every day they met with each other not by choice, but by default. They just looked at each other from the corners of their eyes, but they never dared to talk to each other. Both of them sat in their respective seats like the other co-passengers in the Metro train. For one hour on the way to their offices and one hour on the way back to their homes, they sat opposite each other. I meet her every day, and she always sits opposite me. Rakesh said to himself, "How rude she is! No manners at all. She doesn’t know how to show her courtesy." "Why does this guy always sit opposite me?" Sudha’s mind was racing with wild queries. "Why doesn’t he sit in the other seat? Is he starting to follow me? Damned, all men are the same. Shameless creatures." She couldn’t resist the man who would look at her or stare at her. Sudha turned her face away from Rakesh, wryly. Her manner of behavior was irresistible to Rakesh. He couldn’t digest her strange manner. "Hey, ma’am. Whatever your name is," Rakesh wanted to bellow at her. "I am not looking at you. Don’t turn your face like this. You are not the only beautiful girl over here. There are lots of beautiful, charming, gorgeous, hot, and sexy girls here. You’re no match for them, not the size of a thumb. Don’t try to show me your tantrums. You’re not a Miss World or Miss Universe." Their mental tussles were going on and on, every day. Nonstop. They were like yelling at each other with their mind waves. Their eyes glazed with the fires of hatred and rage, ready to burn each other whenever their sights collided for a microsecond. Their hearts were volleying with the acidic words of curses and a***e toward each other. They were fighting with each other with their brain waves. Their opposing senses were ramming into each other. Their six senses were reluctant to match with one another. They were like two repelling magnetic poles, by no means ready to attract each other. For more than one year, it had passed in the same fashion. There was no exchange of any kind of communication between them—only non-verbal gestures and mental tussles. The cold war inside their brains was like the two superpowers: the USA and Russia. But gradually, their behaviors changed. Their stone-like hearts started melting for each other. Perhaps Kamadeva, the God of Love, had bestowed upon them the seeds of love in their dried and barren hearts. Dramatically, their unmatched vibrations started matching with each other. Their blazing hatred and rage in their eyes were no longer shelling balls of fire but welling with fountains of love for each other. Their blazing hatreds and rages in their eyes were no more shelling the balls of fire, but welling with the fountains of love for each other. Their opposite magnetic poles were responding to each other, trembling to attract one another and wanting to embrace each other. They started passing gentle smiles to each other, shyly. But they didn’t know anything about each other. They were still completely strangers to one another. They had different backgrounds. They had different lives. They had different worlds. They had different likes and dislikes. They had different ideologies. They had different pasts, presents, and futures.