Let's Become Strangers, Once Again

I stared at the half-finished coffee; the mug had my lipstick stains on it. At first, I had the urge to remove them with tissue, but I didn't know what made me stop. 

I sat on the verandah to watch the rain fall. A little kitten came and curled up on my lap. Earlier, when you were here, I was just another person for it. But now it also tries to find you in the sound of rain, in the droplets, in the petrichor. We both listened to the rain falling on the slate roof and slid down with heavy downpours. We had never bonded before, but now this kitten never leaves me alone whenever I'm at this place. How peacefully it was sleeping on my lap!  I had no idea how I would be able to leave it alone here. But this kitten is made for the wild. Whenever it misses you, it sits by your door and leaves. You can't cage a wild bird like I couldn't cage you forever. Even the mental pictures are blurred. You know it had been a long time since I had sung a song. I started to hum with the rain:

“ चलो इक बार फिर से अजनबी बन जाएँ हम दोनों ”*

(let’s become strangers, once again) 

in a faint hope that I could relive those moments once again.

As the rain stopped, I returned to my room with the kitten. I ran my fingers through your handwriting on the back of the cassette you had gifted me. I put the cassette in my backpack and turned to look at the kitten. But the kitten was gone. Maybe the kitten also wanted us to become strangers once again. I picked up that half-drunk coffee mug, removed the stain from it and lipstick from my lips, emptied it in one go and went for a walk, humming

“ चलो इक बार फिर से अजनबी बन जाएँ हम दोनों ” 

* Sahir Ludhianvi; Movie: Gumrah(1963)