Was it love ?

At the end of a long sultry day, sapped of my vitals, I needed to unwind somewhere in the greens under the expanse of the blue sky. With no particular destination in mind, I rambled along the street, throwing my gaze around, watching trees and plants slowly swinging, fondly cuddled by the evening breeze. Butterflies of multiple hues were flipping their wings around a creeper which had numerous clusters of little flowers on its bosom. Sometimes going a little farther and then trailing back again. I slowly ambled along till I found the place I was looking for- behind a thick ring of trees, with branches interlocked as if to camouflage something very valuable. It was a small children’s park where a few children in colorful attires were engaged in the act of merriment, frolicking and prancing, enlivening the ambience with their joyfulness. On the pavement, that surrounded the square landscape of the main park area, a few elderly men were strolling with an unconcerned look and a dispassionate gait.  I walked upto a bench standing a few yards away from me and took my seat comfortably. Lying back to me was a thin strip of land that circled around the pathway bordering the boundary of the park and there were thick bushes intertwined to form a long and curvy stretch.

 

Just while I was limbering up, to relax my strained muscles, my angular vision caught a splash of color waving from a corner,  I lifted my gaze and what my sight beheld was a delightful spectacle- sashaying towards me, was a pretty girl.. a sculpturesque  beauty, oozing charms of a full moon  and freshness of a dewdrop. Her hair swept by the mischievous evening breeze were straying up her shoulders and falling scattered nonchalantly over her beauteous face. She was at pains to ward off those trespassing hair strands, wading her fingers through, over her cheeks and lifting those from her eyes to keep her face to the full view of the world surrounding her. She was coming, like a fairy with silken wings, her effervescence cascading around, towards the place I was sitting. Now I had to lower my eyes and turn aside, as she came tantalizingly close, lest I could be mistaken as an ogler. Still, I managed somehow to keep her movements within my peripheral sight. The air was carrying a whiff of fragrance that I could sniff and it was from her that it was stolen from. Now she came closer, and I had to let go off that demureness   to have a closer look at her well contoured mien. . And I did…  and to my utter delight I saw a wave of smile laving through her lips, perhaps due to the titillation of a fond memory of any of her sweeter moments. I looked up,   when she was fairly a yard away form me, and yes.. it was a revelation, the effulgence she exuded with the glow of her honeydew smooth skin blanked out my sense partially,  for a moment , all thoughts disappeared, and what remained was the glory of her beauty. I looked into her eyes and our eyes met just for a fraction of a moment, and it was enough for my residual sense to be lost in that ultimate spot of beauty.  She walked past me, and for a few seconds, I couldn’t realize that ecstatic moment is past. She was walking away from me, and with every inch of distance, my heart got heavier. She didn’t look back, and with the steps of a danseuse, meandered out of my view. A strange silence engulfed me, a few minutes before, neither was she nor was the moment I passed through, but in the intervening period she blessed me with that rare moment.  For once, I understood that it was a moment what we all call by the name ‘Nirvana’. May be it was for a few seconds, I felt.

 

I returned home, but with her sweet memory etched in my mind, and heart enriched with the experience. I didn’t think about her later nor do I wish to see her again for I know a desire for recurrence entraps one in its vortex ultimately. But I am still inconclusive about the nature of that feel. It was definitely not infatuation, crush or obsession, but was it LOVE?