LOVE HAS MANY FLAVOURS

The Same Journey

The Same Journey

The train continued its steady journey forward.

Beneath its wheels, the railway tracks seemed to whisper a different story with every passing moment.

Beyond the window, Kerala slowly drifted away.

Lush greenery...

Towering coconut trees...

Small houses...

Patches of rainwater that appeared every now and then...

Everything faded into the distance like paintings brushed onto a moving canvas.

Only the sky...

The sky still hadn't made up its mind.

Dark clouds gathered close together,

hiding the rain within them,

as though they were waiting for the perfect moment to let it fall.

Inside the compartment, life carried on as usual.

A little child had fallen asleep with their head resting on their father's lap.

Two college students shared a pair of earphones, laughing at something only they seemed to understand.

An elderly man gazed quietly through the window.

"Chai... chai..."

The familiar call drifted through the coach once again.

She didn't hear any of it.

She was lost in her book.

Her eyes wandered gently across the pages of the novel resting on her lap.

Every line...

Every emotion...

Pulled her into another world.

Whenever she read, the rest of the world disappeared.

It had always been that way.

Whether she was sad...

Or happy...

All she had to do was open a book.

Within its pages, she would lose herself completely.

Time flowed quietly.

Ten...

Perhaps fifteen minutes.

Everything that had happened near the train door a little while ago...

had slowly drifted into a forgotten corner of her mind.

Once again, she was living alongside the characters in the story.

A chapter came to an end.

She turned the page.

Using her fingers, she gently tucked the loose strands of hair that had fallen across her face behind her ear.

She stretched her neck slightly.

Absentmindedly, she looked ahead.

Her gaze...

Stopped midway,

as if someone had caught hold of it.

Him.

The same young man.

He was sitting calmly in the window seat directly opposite hers.

Without realizing it, her eyebrows drew together.

Only a moment ago, her mind had belonged entirely to the book.

Now...

it was pulled straight back to what had happened near the door.

Seriously...?

Her mind sighed.

Out of all the empty seats...

Exactly opposite me?

For a brief moment, she simply looked at him.

He was staring out the window.

The next instant, her imagination began writing a story of its own.

Did he choose this seat...?

Typical...

Maybe...

One of those boys.

The kind who follows girls around.

The thought made her purse her lips ever so slightly.

Ignore him.

Just ignore him.

She opened her book again.

Her eyes read the words.

Her mind didn't.

Without even realizing it...

her gaze wandered toward him once more.

This time...

he wasn't looking at her.

His attention was fixed on his phone.

His fingers moved quickly across the screen, typing something.

There was no playfulness on his face.

No artificial smile.

No attempt to catch anyone's attention.

Only quiet seriousness.

For a brief second...

she questioned her own judgment.

Is he acting...?

Or...

Is he actually busy...?

She didn't bother searching for an answer.

She returned to her book.

A few more moments passed.

The train crossed a bridge.

The rhythm of the wheels changed.

Hearing the sound, she instinctively looked up.

At that exact moment...

he lifted his eyes from his phone.

Their gazes met once again.

This time...

neither of them looked away.

Only for the length of a single breath.

He raised an eyebrow slightly.

His lips didn't move.

But his expression was unmistakable.

What?

Why are you looking at me?

She froze for a second.

Like a child caught doing something they weren't supposed to.

Then she quickly shook her head, just a little.

Nothing.

No words were spoken.

Only that tiny shake of her head.

The next moment, she lowered her eyes back to the book.

The words were still there.

But this time...

they were nothing more than a blur.

Because...

the hero of her story was no longer inside the pages.

He was sitting in the window seat directly opposite her.

She looked at him in disbelief.

"What?"

He pointed at the ticket.

"I'm serious."

"That's my seat."

A faint smile appeared on her lips.

There wasn't a trace of belief in it.

"No way."

He replied calmly.

"Maybe..."

"...I can prove it."

He paused for a moment.

"Can you show me your ticket?"

Her expression turned serious again.

"No."

"Why should I show you my ticket?"

Without taking even a second to think, she continued,

"You show me your ticket first."

He let out a quiet sigh.

"Don't make a scene, okay?"

Her eyebrows knitted together once again.

"Me?"

"I'm not making a scene."

Her voice rose slightly.

"I should be saying that to you."

Their conversation caught the attention of a middle-aged man sitting on the nearby berth.

He smiled gently.

"Girl..."

he said in a calm voice.

"If you want, we can wait until the TTE comes."

The woman sitting beside him nodded in agreement.

"yeah."

"Let the conductor come."

"Then everything will become clear."

She remained silent for a moment.

Then she took out her phone and opened her e-ticket.

Without saying a word, she held it out toward him.

He unlocked his own phone as well.

The moment both screens were placed side by side...

the expressions on their faces changed.

The same coach.

The same berth.

The same seat number.

For a moment...

neither of them understood what had happened.

The passengers nearby leaned in, comparing the two tickets one after the other.

"This..."

"Looks like it's a Railway mistake."

Silence settled over the compartment.

Then the middle-aged man chuckled once again.

"Looks like both of you were assigned the same seat."

"I've never seen anything like this before."

His laughter slowly dissolved the tension that had filled the coach.

A small smile appeared on his face as well.

But she...

was still staring at her ticket,

as if she couldn't quite make sense of what she was seeing.

A little while later, her phone rang.

"Hello..."

Holding the phone to her ear, she slowly walked toward the coach door. Completely absorbed in the conversation, she smiled from time to time, occasionally glancing out through the window.

Meanwhile, he got up from his seat.

"I'll be back after using the washroom..." he murmured to himself as he walked toward the other end of the coach.

Just then, the TTE arrived to check the tickets.

"Sir..." a passenger from a nearby berth called out. "There's a small problem here. A man and a girl have both been assigned the same seat number."

The TTE examined both tickets carefully.

After thinking for a moment, he smiled.

"This isn't uncommon. Sometimes it happens because of a system error. You can adjust for a little while."

As he started walking ahead, he noticed her standing near the door, talking on the phone.

His expression changed instantly.

"Madam...!" he walked toward her with both surprise and respect.

She ended the call and turned around.

"Madam... you're here...?"

She simply smiled and nodded.

"Which seat has been allotted to you, Madam?"

"S-2, 31."

"Yes... that's the one. A gentleman has also been assigned the same seat number. Are you facing any inconvenience, Madam?"

"No."

"Madam... this is a general coach. If you'd like, we can arrange a more comfortable seat for you in the VIP section. Please come with me."

She smiled softly.

"No... I'm comfortable here."

"But, Madam..."

"Please."

Her voice remained calm.

"I enjoy travelling with them the most. They're human beings just like us, aren't they? I'm happy to spend a few hours with them."

The TTE looked at her silently.

He knew her nature well. To her, people had always mattered more than status or position.

She spoke again.

"In today's India, fewer and fewer people take the time to understand ordinary citizens. At the very least, I want to do that."

The TTE bowed his head respectfully.

"Alright, Madam. If you need anything at all, just call me."

"Certainly."

After a brief silence, she smiled and added,

"One more thing... don't tell anyone who I am. On this journey, I'm just an ordinary girl."

"Yes, Madam..."

He was about to say something.

"But, Madam..."

She smiled gently.

Without finishing his sentence, he lowered his head respectfully and quietly walked away.

She returned to her seat.

By then, he had returned as well.

For a brief moment...

their eyes met.

The awkwardness that had lingered between them earlier...

was no longer there.

The TTE walked over to them once again.

"We won't be able to change the seat until the next major station. Until then, could you both adjust?"

"Sure."

He answered first.

She gave a slight nod.

"I don't mind."

That was all it took.

A small misunderstanding...

ended with a simple agreement.

They sat facing each other on either side of the window seat,

with only a small table between them.

Outside...

the clouds had claimed the entire sky.

But the rain still hadn't arrived.

It seemed as though it enjoyed making people wait.

She opened her bag and took out her book once again.

The pages unfolded.

The words became her world once more.

After a while...

his eyes drifted toward the cover of the book.

She noticed.

Without closing it, she asked,

"You read?"

He nodded with a faint smile.

"Whenever I get time."

"What do you usually read?"

"Mostly biographies... history... sometimes fiction."

She looked at him again.

"Good choice."

After thinking for a moment, she opened the bag hanging from her shoulder.

She took out another book and held it out to him.

"You can try this."

He accepted the book.

"Thank you."

"My pleasure."

She returned to her reading.

He opened the book as well.

On the very first page, a sentence underlined in pencil caught his attention.

Before reading it...

he glanced out of the window.

Then he looked back at her.

"Can I ask you something?"

She lifted her eyes from the book.

"Go ahead."

"You really like rain... don't you?"

The moment she heard the question...

her eyes instinctively searched the clouds outside the window.

A gentle smile spread across her lips.

"Like?"

She slowly shook her head.

"No..."

"I love rain."

She paused for a moment.

"It makes me happy."

"Really happy."

There wasn't even the slightest hint of pretense in her answer.

It carried only the innocent sincerity of a child talking about their favorite toy.

With a small smile, he asked,

"Then tell me..."

"If it starts raining now..."

"How will you celebrate it?"

She looked out of the window.

The sky was still holding the clouds close to its heart.

Then she looked back at him.

The same playful sparkle danced in her eyes.

"Let's see."

"If it rains..."

"You'll know."

She opened her book once again.

He resumed reading as well.

The train continued its rhythmic journey forward.

Inside the coach...

two strangers...

sharing the same silence,

without even realizing it,

were quietly turning the very first page of a new friendship.

- AKSHARA SHAJU WRITES