It was love that kept us together even when we were miles apart. I had never thought that a bus journey will have such everlasting impact on my life. It has been three years since we first met on that memorable walk and I still remember every bit of it. Our third anniversary was approaching and we had decided this time to celebrate it together. Nothing could ever match a place like Goa and we both agreed to meet there.
It took 16-hour long train journey to reach Madgaon from Bengaluru. She was supposed to arrive from Delhi the same day in the evening and I had little more than three hours to plan our stay there. I wanted us to spend maximum time on the beach and so booked a resort near Colva. The name of the resort, 'Colva Kinare' aptly characterised the place 'cos of its closeness to the beach. I waited for her to arrive but the great Indian Railways delayed our evening plans and when she came it was too late. However, the next three days were entirely ours and there were nothing that could bother us there.
The plan was not to roam like sightseers to every tourist spots but spend some quality time together and so we began our morning quite early with just two of us walking on the beach, barefoot and holding hands amidst sea waves. I don't know how far we walked but in no time, we were soaked in water 'cos of the playful tide. A careful start of the day soon became carefree and we ended up going for all the water sports activity which began in the afternoon. It was fun but we were hungry and had to take a break. The search for a good place to eat commenced and since she is vegan I had to go for veg as well. Eventually, we found a place, 'Sagar Kinare', as the name suggests it was not very far from our stay. It became our usual stop for food till we stayed. However, we preferred dining out on the beach. It was so good to sit together and watch sun getting drowned in the vast sea. Every time the sunset reminded me that we now have one day less to be together and I wanted to capture all of the moments with her. In the next few days, our routine remained similar though it was very restless the last day. Neither of us could sleep and we were awake all night. I saw how the darkness of night turned into daylight and I yearned if somehow I could stop it from happening. She had to go first and I realised how the time passed so quickly. It seemed just yesterday day when I was waiting for her to arrive and here I watched her go. This time her train was on time and I waited restlessly for mine to come.
I was alone there on the platform and the entire episode was playing relentlessly in the back of mind. As I boarded my train to Bangalore, I never knew that it would be the last of our togetherness.
The Last JOURNEY Together
