Sach hote Khwaab

Kahkasha

Probably, for the past one hour, Randheer was sitting on the porch outside Raizada Sadan and I stood in my balcony, leaning cross-armed on the hand rail - just looking fixedly at each other. It was past midnight – long past midnight. Everyone was asleep, except us. I had changed into a simple salwar-kameez but he hadn't changed yet. On asking, he had gestured that he wasn't ready to part with the rose just yet.

Suddenly he stood up. Gesturing me to wait for a while, he disappeared into a lane nearby. With a sigh, I looked up at the sky. Nowadays I was under the sweet delusion that the stars shone only for me. Perhaps the stars do shine more brightly for lovers.
After about fifteen minutes I saw him returning with a ladder. I straightened for a second but then inclined yet again on the handrail. He placed the ladder against my balcony and started climbing up. It was a mammoth risk we were taking, but I somehow did not resist. This was reckless but I didn't want to stop him. 

He climbed up, his head slightly lower than the hand rail. He placed his arm against the foot of the hand rail and stood there silently. Is it possible to just look at him like this all my life? Was it too much to ask for?
After a while, he plucked a bougainvillea blossom off a climber, dangling from a pillar beside us and carassed my face with it. I shut my eyes and quivered a bit. There came a delicate blow of wind, which soothed my flushed cheek.

yeh kaali raat jakad loon...
yeh... thanda chaand pakad loon...

oh yeh kaali raat jakad loon
yeh... thanda chaand pakad loon

din raat ke bairi bhed ka
rukh mod ke main rakh doon...

tujh sang bair lagaya aisa...
raha na main fir apne jaisa...

mera naam ishq
tera naam ishq

mera naam ishq
tera naam ishq

mera naam ishq
tera naam ishq

mere naam, tera naam,
mera naam ishq

ye laal ishq...
ye malaal ishq...

ye aib ishq...
ye bair ishq...

He moved up one step, and I resisted my urge to take a step behind. Holding the handrail, he climbed another step and I could feel my heart beating faster. One more step and our noses were touching. I caught my breath as he gently held my cheek with his other hand. He looked at me for a while and then kissed me tenderly.
I loosened my hold on the hand rail. As he withdrew, I glanced down nervously, garnering the courage to look him in the eye. I breathed heavily, trying to pull myself together. My jittery self was just too apparent. 

Our foreheads still touching, he caressed my cheek with his hand. We stood so for a while and then kissed again.
After a while I looked at him edgily. Gently he pulled away with an abashed smile, getting down the ladder. I was still coming to terms with things. 

As he removed the ladder, my dupatta got stuck on one end and fell. Seeing this, he hastened to put the ladder away and returned. 

My dupatta drifted down towards him with the gentle wind. He caught it in mid-air. A hand over my neck, I looked at him uncertainly. With a glance at me, he kissed the dupatta and dreamily walked backwards, into Raizada Sadan, taking it with him.