Translated from the Original Hindi by

Kanwar Dinesh Singh

“Come on, have tea,” I said while bringing tea.

“Hey!  I  would  have  made  it.  Why  did  you  go  through  this?”  she  said,  taking  a cup of tea in her hand.

She must have been barely twenty or twenty-two years old. Having passed B.Sc.,she  has  recently  taken  admission  to  M.Sc.  She  keeps  coming  to  me  to  discuss studies. But I feel a twinkle in her eyes as long as she stays here.

“You know what…” she said while sipping tea.

“What?”

“I  also  want  to  be  something  in  life…Really,  I  want  to  do  something

worthwhile.”

“Yes. Of course…You must…You must do something significant.”

She  kept  quiet  but  said  after  a  while,  with  the  same  glow  in  her  eyes,  “Only when you’re with me.”

Hearing  that,  I  smiled,  “Of  course,  I’m  with  you.  I  bring  you  study  notes  every day.”

I  know  that  she  comes  every  day  to  take  these  notes…She  sits  here  for hours…She  does  her  work,  and  I  do  mine…now and  then,  she  stares at  me  with oblique eyes.

“Pass  your  M.Sc.  with  a  high  grade  and  then  prepare  for  civil  services.  You’ll achieve it,” I said, taking the last sip of tea and placing the cup on the table.

“It’s possible only when you’re with me,” she said, laughing.

“I’m always with you,” I joined in her laughter too.

Moonlight spread outside.

“Your head hair is turning gray!” The same glow appeared in her eyes again.

“Come on, I’m forty now. It’s time for graying of hair,” I laughed while saying.

“…But you look good!” her lips fluttered.

She  wanted  to  say  something  else  but  could  not  say  it.  She  picked  up  the  notes and went away.

I  kept  sitting.  I  felt  the  glow  of  her  eyes  inside  me.  A  blurred  picture  from  years ago floated to my eyes….

*

Kanwar Dinesh Singh

Poet, Storyteller, Critic and Translator (English/Hindi) ,Associate Professor of English & Editor: Hyphen

Email: kanwardineshsingh@gmail.com

Mobile: +91 94186 26090