It could have happened before!

How many of us have experienced déjà vu? Well, most of us would have. Getting a strong sense of déjà vu can be exciting and cause your hormones to move to a higher than normal state. That moment, where you will feel “Oh! Yeah, I knew that was going to happen” or “Holy Christ! I know that guy” or “Come on! I know this place! I have been here before” can be an experience by itself. The irony is that- you would not have truly known that it was going to happen, you would have never met that “Holy Christ” guy in your life and you would have never been to that place before. It is simply more exciting that way! Isn’t it? Welcome to the world of déjà vu.

     Sitting in an almost-empty (there were only 3 people, including me) waiting room, at a railway station, that too in a totally strange small town called gooty ( It is a beautiful  town in Andhra Pradesh, where people speak Telugu which we don’t see or hear in any Telugu movies) can be a near to deadly boring experience. I was waiting for Kacheguda express, which was scheduled to arrive at 22.28 pm and depart at 22.30 pm from gooty. I had reached the station well in advance (2 hours in advance to be precise) to avoid the last minute confusion and also because I didn’t know that place and the language (though I could read Telugu).

I had just finished eating my supper (the mandatory southern-railway- special idli vada) and was sitting like one clueless duck at the waiting hall. Slowly, my attention was diverted towards this guy, who was sitting right opposite to me (Yeah, I was fortunate to spot a young man there rather than an ageing bald man). When I saw him minutely, I could strongly tell that he resembled someone I knew real close. It was an intense thought process which I went into but I couldn’t get back to whom he resembled.

 He was wearing a stripped blue (dull blue) shirt with perfect jean to match, Levis I guess. His hair was trimmed perfectly (not too much cropped and not too stylish), it had little waves, only at the extreme ends. His eyes were blueish to some extent but they spoke innumerable words (If only I could describe them). A small stud in the left ear was the “wow” accessory. He kept tapping his foot while his red Lumia earphone was plugged on to his ears. It was Dark blue sports shoe with red colored lace. Finally there was his black color medium sized fast-track back pack. He seemed pretty rich to me.( Lets call him Lumia )

On the other hand, I was listening to the same evergreen Ilayaraja songs on my phone and was pretending as though I didn’t even know that he existed in that room (though it was obvious to the other man in that room that all my eyes were glued to Lumia. I was trying to relate his resemblance, you see).

Time passed slowly and a call broke the chilling silence of that room. Lumia answered the call and spoke to someone in Telugu (This was ‘the pakka movie Telugu’ and so I could understand). From what he blabbered over the phone I guessed it should be either his close friend or his girl because once he kept that call he started texting and was silently laughing at the texts. 

When all this was happening, I had this constant feeling that we would travel together. I felt we had travelled together before! How on earth was that even possible? I don’t know what made me think that. There were 4 trains scheduled at around the same time as that of mine and were towards Secandrabad, Bangalore, and Mumbai. The worst case was that, my ticket was waitlisted and I had very less chances of getting a confirmed berth. Amidst this hard situation, I had that thought of travelling together with Lumia (Ok, who wouldn’t expect a varanam aayiram scene in their every single train journey. If you don’t know the movie, watch this link).

So, yeah, time flew away and it was 22.25, already. Time had come for my train to arrive. No announcement was made till then and so I picked up my bags, gave Lumia my last sight (slow, melancholic back ground tune-may be) and started walking towards the station master room to enquire about the arrival timings. I was informed that train was late by 20 minutes and would at around 23.00 pm. With a little disappointment and excitement I went back to the waiting hall! YAY! And again there he was, Dear Lumia, smiling at me this time. He started the conversation in kannada “Chennai train ge wait madthidhira ?? Yaavaglu adhu late e kanri, 11 o clock ge train barodhu” (Are you waiting for Chennai train? It’s always late. It’ll come only at 11) 

Mind voice: Wow! So, he knew that I knew Kannada. How? Oh! I talked in Kannada over phone to appa. So, he listened to my conversations as well. So, he was also noticing me. YAY!! But, he speaks Kannada; he must be waiting for Bangalore train then :( 

 

I thanked him but didn’t ask him where he was headed to, simply, to shut off my train of imaginations. Soon, Announcement was made about the train and I waded away in search of my platform number and coach number. My mind still didn’t believe all this was happening. My situation two hours before was just pathetic and opposite. I had met (okay; just saw) that man few minutes back and I was feeling that I knew him all long? I asked my heart to stop ringing tunes and then came the train. I boarded S8 compartment and randomly sat in one empty berth (remember? my ticket was waitlisted). 

Guess what! Lumia was there- right opposite to me - again- in my train. I told you? Didn’t I? He started the conversation again and this time, I didn’t stop my heart from ringing. It rang loud and beautiful with Ilayaraja Background score. We indeed travelled together!  It was the picture I had in my mind. It was the timing which I had imagined. Everything was so picture perfect. It seemed so familiar yet strangely new. It felt so relieved yet so very confused. Or was it an omen just like Paulo Coelho wrote in The Alchemist “When you want something, the entire universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”

Or simply, It was déjà vu.