Late June, when the monsoons came in with no mercy, the roads gushing with red muddy water, waterfalls from creeks everywhere, Mangalore was bustling with hard hitting raindrops and followed no rules of direction. The wind tossed all the umbrellas upside down and things went flying. She still waited for him in front of Hallmarks by Vas Bakery, completely drenched. She knew he would come. It was past class time, 3.15 pm and she always had all her books packed way before the bell rang. Everyone knew. They would deliberately try to distract her but she would run like a mad woman on fire. The convent school and strict rules, the watchman at the gates of heaven, St. Agnes Pre University - all girls' College couldn't stop this girl.

Her only goal was to not make him wait. She needed to see a glance of him.

It didn't matter the rain, storm, any typhoon or earthquake, she knew her only job in life was to find him and melt away.

Reaching before him was her win. She went into Hallmarks with zero cash and read through all the lovely red cards. The cursive words in golden ink kept her afloat. But she only focused on the bike rider. The moment he would reach, even the staff knew she wasn't going to stop. They could lure her by offering gifts for free but she wouldn't have the time to turn around to talk to anyone.

And then the dreadful thing happened! No they didn't crash. That wouldn't be unpredictable. The enemy party saw them happy. Her mother's spies!

Back then, there were only landlines but they rang incessantly. They were officially caught and spotted on a bike. She had said she was going to be at the library with friends. So her mom called those friends. They lied too.

They said they were confident that she was still at the library, very studious and wouldn't move an inch. The friends insisted that they saw her digging her face inside the books! Lover girl's Hitler mom would surely not believe a word spoken there after. The spies were real! They kept track and updated the enemy party on a minute basis!

On the bike, as usual, she would open the zip a few minutes into their ride and search for her red rose in the bag. And as always, he would have picked the best from the oldest rose seller lady in Mangalore and she knew that meant true love. He was there all four days of the week exactly at 3 and the bike rides generally ended at the beach. Her hair flew around and on days like that when it rained, the drops hit hard on her back, while she hid her face in his back. She wondered how the splashing rain never bothered his eyes or face. Her hero, she would think and smile. At the beach, there  were soft words and cutest conversations, warm hugs and tasty kisses! The spies had witnessed the extent of their emotions! That was a terrible thing to happen!! How could two young adults be in love? How could they wish to live their lives in happiness, bike rides after classes and spend time with each other with a promise to be there again the next day and every other day of their future? They spoke about common friends, things their lecturers in college said, families and themselves. It seemed too perfect but Hitler Aunty was upset! She hated the fact that her daughter was seen by the Mangalore crowd, office colleagues, classmates, neighbors and friends; and that was tarnishing the reputation of generations who believed in marriages but strictly not in love. And love before marriage was forbidden!

Unaware of the spies, she returned home with a heavy heart. It was going to be another unbearable set of hours without him in her arms. But that wasn't her only worry. Lady Anti-Love waited at the door with a fuming expression and a very shy dad sitting on the sofa drinking his coffee. He didn't look as embarrassed as what he was instructed to be but instead had a look of, 'wow, my daughter has a boyfriend now and that too my doctor friend’s son!' But he had to rebuke her! Because he was a husband first and then a dad. The beans were spilt and the little girl said it was a misinformation; there was surely something not right because all she was doing was studying at the library. Boy? Who boy? Which bike?

Going towards the beach, that was impossible. Her friends and her were preparing for the upcoming 12th board exams. It was going to decide their future, careers, their entire lives! There's no way she would be hanging out with any boyfriend. And the accused was her neighbor. They In another day or so college was closing for preparatory holidays!

There was no escape. He was already two years her senior and had no more board exams to worry about. Besides, he had to play sports, hang out with friends, make cool electronic stuff and try his hands on crazy business ideas. With no reason to step out there was no way she could meet him. A couple of days passed like that. She said she wanted to go down for a walk or to the terrace to meet her friends. But there was a curfew for her. No friends allowed. If there was a single ring on the phone that would mean that she had to move closer to the phone as it would ring again. And that's how they could talk in code language about how terrible the whole love story was going for both.

But that strategy was also discovered by her mum. Stricter war policies and stringent security features were enabled. After which the phone too was out of reach for her. Another couple of days passed.

Letters were out of scope as the post office was out of reach and handwritings could be recognized. She was running low on reserves!

His warm hugs, soft voice, kisses and looks were her tonic; but with each passing moment her anger for her mum only grew exponentially.

Another day passed and she did not study at all. She was becoming a rebel! She was also quietly strategizing! No game plan was working. Her mum was far more intelligent and had a hawk's view. There were soldiers everywhere and the little princess in love was just not able to meet her handsome prince! No one spoke during lunch. She didn't eat much. The fish eye stared back at her from the plate and the chicken drumsticks kicking her in the face. The cucumbers seemed to be laughing at her plight and the tomatoes red with unease! The only monologue was a few taunts on how kids her age were all focusing on education and she was bold enough to go to shady places with the meanest boy in town! The sound of him made her blush. But meanest?! He was the handy boy to her through the years. And was suddenly meanest because he loved her daughter and that wasn't allowed. There's an age to love. It can't be at a pre-teen age because that's when maturity hasn't kicked in. It couldn't be after puberty because that was becoming a pervert. It couldn't be during board exams because education and love for another human being don't mix well. It couldn't be after that because job hunting should be a priority. What's the point in having love in a marriage? It's only knowing how to control the other person’s body, mind and soul to make ends after that!

But she was with the sweetest boy ever. The sun, moon, stars and clouds had seen them together. The waves of the Mangalore beach had mixed their body smells with the mad summer breeze. The rains had washed them in the open. The bike had taken them places. The roads smiled when they rode on them. The earth was blessed when they walked hand in hand. That was different. It was a different kind of experience.

The silly mom knew nothing about boys, kisses or love for sure! Then came the terrible evening time. Instead of being on the bike holding on to her hero she was behind closed doors with a book open in front of her! Her mum and dad sat together in the balcony, sipping on coffee and all she could hear in the distance was her mum's voice with high and low pitches with occasional sobs of failure! She dared and asked if she could go out. At first her mom said, "Do whatever you want to". As she happily jumped to get ready, she heard her say, "STOP!!! Go back to your room, shameless girl!" That was the end of her moment's joy! She looked at her dad and from behind his wife, he shrugged and waved at her to calm down. Oh her dad. Her real true hero. Her reason to love and Then came dinner time. Her elder sister was home to spend her pregnancy; for most of all the months and even to stay for months after her niece was born. She loved her big sister. She had always taken her as a role model. Her hair was flawless, just like her skin. Her face glowed just like how she did. But the big sister found it hard right from the time the new thing was born. That black sheep just stuck around, eating, sleeping, using all the things at home. She even called her mum, mum and her dad, dad! That was an invasion from within. The pirate was born from a thing her parents did. And she being the older one had to even take care of this hovering parasite! This little weird human wrote poems and loved everything crawling, be it snails, caterpillars or black tickling ants! She wrote poems, stories and drew pictures of dreams royal people dreamt. She read horoscopes and loved beggars, retards and old hags. She shared food with them, maids and watchmen. She knew their kids by name and played with them like she lived in slums! Then she would get back into the palace like she owned it and spoke about the outcasts and low lying dirt with smiles and plans!

The big sister, she was allowed to be alone in the bedroom talking to an absolute stranger they picked up from the matrimonial column, while the parents sat outside discussing the marriage. This was a repeat with so many boys. That was fine because they were rich, educated, clean and employed. The final boy she was talking to was nice. Little sister couldn't reason it out. How could someone want to share their body, their thoughts, plans and life without being in love? How would the first kiss be? Would it not be strange to know that everyone would celebrate the license to have sex by distributing cards, gifts, food and sweets?

The brother in law they settled on was brilliant, no doubt about that. But that level of leniency for someone off a newspaper? And so much brutality towards their 6th floor neighbor?! The pregnant one had not even fully fallen in love with him and everything about the lovelessness was celebrated. And there she was, roaming around like a girl wearing a tiara, madly in love, where eye to eye drooling and finger to finger holding meant the universe lining up together. Plus they hadn't had sex to happen.

Dinner was done! The elder sister looked at her with disgust. How could that tiny swine spoil the name of their kingdom! How would she face her husband's family? Everyone would soon know and it was horrible to have a perp at home. Little princess couldn't eat too well. It wasn't the hunger of food she was struggling with. Oh it was his softest palm when he held her face, the touch of his shaved cheeks on hers and her eyelashes on his face that she needed more than anything at all. By 10.30 at night, everyone was in bed. Fast asleep and snoring after ruining her days. She sat with books around her, pens, pencils, highlighters, old question papers and guide books. She knew what was in them. How long and how many times could one read the same things, over and over again! It’s not like the prints would mysteriously change just by sitting there as ink in books! There wasn't anything she didn't know already. She knew she was a prisoner of love and it was the most unfair thing to happen. She hated holidays and hated her home more.

Little princess was generally happy. She had tried a few odd things for fun though. When she was much younger, one of her older friends wanted to end her life because she thought it was pointless to live where parents fought all the time. Her best friend was about a few months older than her. She asked for help and the little princess at 10 years of age said that the pest control guys had left some poison at home. If it killed cockroaches and rats one could only imagine how dreadful that could be to humans. Older friend asked if she could bring some for her. Little princess said she loved her friend so much she wouldn't want her to die alone. So she bought enough, they said cheers and drank a bit. It was the worst tasting drink one could drink. Her friend passed out after a bad stomach and nothing happened to the little girl.

She drank more comparatively and her throat tasted bad for days; but nothing else and surely not death. But back then, her best friend's brother was only the best friend's brother and not her prince charming!

She always loved how she got her gifts; the throwaways from the gorgeous ladies! Her mum, not too much, except for more fruits, vegetables, meats and milk but her big sister for sure shared a lot with her. Not much into the sharing but more about the donating. Those high heeled shoes and fancy clothes, nail polishes and hair bands, bracelets and lipsticks and little princess loved to look good. Her dad said it was all in the food she ate, the thoughts she thought and the way she treated the people she met. Nothing else was more beautiful than the drawings she made, the stories she said and the poems she wrote. He told her stories of real heroes, princesses and wars. How countries were conquered and battles won. He sang songs of praises of those who feared nothing and went along with the voices they heard in their hearts. When he spoke, she felt the universe surrounding them. There was no flaw in him when he said that there was no reason not to reach out to what really mattered. He said it with confidence and could draw lived.

But all she really wanted was to sneak out from her house and somehow find her big boy in her arms! And just as that thought crossed her mind, a smile flashed on her face! She sat up straight and took that deep breath. That was exactly what she would do. She was on the 5th floor.

He, just a floor above hers.  

She went to the washroom first. The clock struck 11, only an hour away from midnight! Fixed her face and brushed her long brown hair. Bit her lips and filled them up with her special pout! Giggled a little and turned off the lights. She tip-toed her way past the kitchen. Checked on the doors. Her Older sister was fast asleep. Mom and Dad, snoring in peace!

Paradise she thought! Without giving it any more thought, she stepped out of her prison and latched the door from the outside. She counted her steps up to the terrace which was only a floor higher than his. She got to a position from where she could aim tiny pebbles and broken pieces of cement to his window. The curtains were drawn and the lights were out. But the sky was gorgeous. It was as if they had stolen her nervousness away from her. The clouds were shadowing her and the moon winking her luck. The sparkling stars were in for adventure. She felt her heart pace with joy. The cement pieces struck the iron rods of his window pane. The curtains flew like those in fairytales and romantic scenes. After a few attempts, the lights came on. He drew the curtains and looked straight at her. She gestured to him to find her and in a few minutes he was up with her. It was simply as easy as that. They embraced in peace and she looked up at him. Her hair still clinging on to his beard and he loved to push his chin on her head. The spikes of his chin pricked the top of her head and she always giggled at how it tickled.

No clocks, no phones, no letters and no spies. They walked through the night on the otherwise lonely terrace. They sat and watched the world around them. His arms were her jewelry and his lips her makeup. Minutes passed and so did the hours. When the sun rose to warn them it was time to depart again. The birds were only sounding a little different.

The owls were sleepy and the sparrows were waking. The crows were singing the bats to sleep. The day began with the church bells ringing, the temple prayers and the mosque reciting the melodious Azans. It was time to leave, to sleep, to study a little and eat. She had to be back to the reason she had chosen for life.

.    .    .