Love From Window
Sohini Halder
I was so devastated about my flight which has taken off just a minute ago.
So basically, I missed it. And now I am thinking about my previous minute which was so stressful and disappointing. Around 7 am I had my breakfast and left my home to catch my flight. I booked a cab so that I could reach there on time. But destiny had other plans. I got my cab on time and everything was fine until the tyre got punctured. At that moment I was literally thinking that “Please God. Please don’t create any more problems”. I don’t know why but I don’t have any good relationship with God since my childhood. Every time I prayed for something good, he just betrayed me. My family keeps saying to keep faith on him. How am I supposed to keep faith on him? At that moment I felt irritated. Is he even there for me for my bad days? Because it is continuously happening with me and today, I am late because of this and I missed my flight.
After sometime I reached airport and decided to have a cup of coffee to calm my mind and to control my emotions. Then I opened the app on my phone to check if there is any flight available. I was so sure that there won’t be any because from my previous experiences nothing good happens with me which is very frustrating. However, when I opened the app, I found that there is a flight available and it is delayed by an hour and tickets were available. I was shocked and happy at the same time. I immediately booked the ticket and I was very happy. It was my first ever flight journey and I decided to capture the moments of the take-off. So, I buckled up my seatbelt and kept my phone on window and decided to take a nap. There was still some time left for the take-off.
After sometime, I heard someone’s voice. I groggily opened my eyes. It was a man with a calm voice. He says,
“Excuse me?”
I said “Yes”.
“This is my seat”, the stranger said.
Upon hearing this I checked my phone to check my seat number. Upon checking the seat number I thought,
“Shit! How can I this be missed by me?”
I told the stranger,
“I am so sorry for the trouble. Please have your seat.”
“It’s okay”, the stranger said.
I took my bag, a handbag and moved to the right seat which was allotted to me which was next to him. The middle seat. I thought I booked the window seat but it was the middle seat altogether. The flight took off and reached to the stable position in the sky.
But, why was I blushing hard? Was it because that man was sitting next to me who was so charming or was I still embarrassed from the earlier incident? I looked at my left. I could not see that man’s face properly as he was wearing a mask. I just saw his eyes which were so beautiful and I could not stop myself from thinking about it. I also noticed that he was carrying a sketchbook with him. He opened it and I was speechless. The drawings were so good. He was making a doodle art. After thinking about it for a minute I gained some courage and decided to ask him if he would prefer me to be a part of his sketch.
“Hi. Um, are you a professional artist?”
He calmly said, “No, it’s just my hobby”.
“Would you like to add me on your art? What I mean is would you draw a doodle art of me too?”, I asked.
After hearing this question, he looked at me like if he has heard something wrong. He then asked,
“Do you think my art is beautiful?”
“Yes, of course. It’s beautiful. You are so talented.”, I said.
“Actually, no one has ever told me that. So, I was quite shocked.”, He said.
“Oh! But you are so good.”, I said.
“Thank you.” He smiled and replied.
“I am Natasha. Your name?”, I asked.
“I am Rick from Kolkata. Where are you from?”, He asked.
I raised my hand for a handshake. But he greeted me with ‘Namaskar’. I took my hand back and said ‘Namaskar’. I replied to him,
“I am from Lucknow.”
He then asked me to sit properly so that he can take a portrait of me. I followed the instructions. What I saw that he wasn’t looking directly at me but was asking me to move to different directions or to move my hand or leg a bit. I wasn’t sure about it but I followed the instructions.
After an hour, he completed and gave me the portrait of mine and it blew my mind. It was so beautiful and accurate. My father once told me when I was a child that only pencil and pen are the best things to use to write or to draw and do many more things.
Upon hearing a voice, I came back to the reality. The flight landed and all the passengers were requested to depart. I got out from the plane and airport. Suddenly I realized that I forgot to thank him for the portrait he made of me and gave to me.
I saw him in the crowd and called his name. When he looked back, I was puzzled. He was wearing a black spectacle and was holding a cane in his left hand. I immediately realized that it was not a sunglass. Also, I noticed someone was holding his luggage. He replied,
“Yes?”
I said, “I forgot to thank you for the portrait you drew of me”.
He smiled and said, “You’re welcome” and he left.
From that day to present day, I have never put my mistakes and my fortune on the God. Whatever he gives to you will be the best for you.
—oooXXooo—
