Chie (Part-I)

“What comprises you?” I asked.

“Pain,” She replied. “So beautiful and tempting”.

I was surprised with her answer. How can pain ever be tempting? All of our lives we try to stay away from pain, we pray that no pain shall besiege our happiness. And now the most joyous girl I ever met was telling that pain was what comprises her joy and it is tempting.

I looked at her confused and she knew what was erring me.

“Pain is so uninviting yet so tempting, so dark yet so beautiful. Why else everyone would be attracted towards it, when all their lives they apply measures to avoid it. Why else it would be living inside everyone. Go outside and see people’s lives, everyone is in pain. No one can distance themselves from pain. People choose pain one way or the other, knowingly or unknowingly and each time they have an option to avoid it. They turn blind and ignore all the other options but the one with pain. And once they exercise the option, pain overcomes them, attacks with troubles, stress, failure and regrets”.

I was stunned at her logic, but it was Chie, and she had a different way of looking at things and a different idea of living her life. And what I am going to tell you today is her story.

I first met her in an interstate debate competition few weeks ago. I with other fifteen enthusiastic debaters representing my state had prepared well for the competition. We had just one mission, “trophy to Aceh”, and it was our slogan too. We had been working hard for the competition since three months and we had prepared well in almost all the probable topics. I was very excited to get to the podium and show how well I had prepared, same was with my friends. We were fully exhausted when we reached Jakarta, and all my friends were snoring on the couch very soon. But I needed some warm up. The competition was due to start tomorrow and I had to revise some probable topics. But it wasn’t possible in between all those snoring. So, I carried a book and a pencil and went for a walk around the hotel. I chose a lonely bench beside a crowded swimming pool and started flipping my book.  It wasn’t the best place for study but I could enjoy the perfect view of all the glamour and bikinis without being spotted as pervert. My eyes started running around, first to the fat girl with top heavy then to flat chested, then to stumpy, skinny and plus sized, oh god there was so much glamour. Their wet skin radiating light in the sun and some perfect and some imperfect curves were dazzling my eyes. And suddenly my eyes struck on one of the perfect curvy body. I followed my eyes to her face and again struck on the best pair of eyes I had ever seen. I suddenly realized I had a lot of times complimented many ladies for having a beautiful pair of eyes but this time, this was out of the world. She had what it’s called as poetic eyes, I literally could recite the poem flowing through my brain.

She is an angel, I duly reckon it;

Face of a cherub, demeanor of diva;

Doing magic on me are her eyes

Choking my gullet, raising my lust;

Suddenly my eyes met hers and I let my pirate eyes away from her because there was no way I could sustain. She started waving her hands came towards me and with each her steps, I could feel the upsurge of coolness of sweat on my back, causing spasm. At the same time my heart was burning as a furnace and my nerves were confused whether to feel hot or cold. The temperature anomaly raised to its peak and elapsed to its lowest as she passed me and hugged her friend in joy behind me. I could hear their giggle in all embarrassment to myself and shame of yellowness. I was there for the greatest debate tournament and I was nervous to speak. She had emptied the mind of the state champion of Aceh with just her looks. Then I realized she was a competitor too and I had lost before the battle began. Shame sometimes provides strength and it did that time, I turned around and walked to her. As I reached to the girls and their eyes fell on me, I realized my mind was completely empty and the thought center had already given up but the motivation muscle was full on.  “You can do it”, I said to myself.

“It was very rude of you to wave me and approach her”, I regretted the moment I said so.

They both cracked into laughter, and her friend said, “We’re sorry, but the way you were seeing her we had to do that!” Their laughter grew louder. They had intentionally done it, and my approach how stupid it was, had hit the right nail. I was no more embarrassed.

“Well I couldn’t help but let the poetry flow into my veins through my eyes.”

“You are a poet, then!” She spoke for the first time.

“I try.” I deliberated my swag which at once fell to new low when she asked: “Let’s hear few lines then.”

I had to contend my pride and there was already red signal of retreat for which I told her;

“Poetry isn’t something that I have or make and give it to you darling;

It is a harvest of empathy that flows in right place with right person,

Be my companion for a rendezvous, oh fair angel of tenderness;

I shall portray every bit in paean, the growth you in me after then.”

“You are in a wrong place, mister.” Her friend tweaked me out of my verse. “It is a debate competition, not poetry. And you need to earn a date with Chie.” She said playfully.

“I think he already did,” Chie said with her eyes straight on mine and flirtatious look in her face.

Next day was the day of competition. All night I thought about her. It was wonderful how a person can change your whole priority of being there. The most important competition for which I was there, for which I prepared so hard was not so important anymore. All night I was waiting for the sun to rise but not to rise and shine on the grand stage but on her beautiful face. All the members of my group were having discussions on strategies and having debate sessions with each other. Time and again a friend would call me to join them but I was no more interested in that. They wouldn’t insist because of my past performances and everyone thought that I was revising and rehearsing on myself. Everyone believed that it was the silence before the storm. But only I knew about the storm that was going on in me. Only I knew I had already won much bigger prize than the competition, a date with Chie.

(To be continued………)