A Fateful Encounter
When twin souls met and what followed next
Baishnabi Monger
Anything can happen in a women’s washroom, apart from changing, touching up your forlorn make-up and using the ‘hygienic’ commodes-it is a place for smutty hot gossips, goof ups and page3 paparazzi, espionage into your best friends life, plan secretly to destroy your ex’s wife, discover speckled brands of make-up viable in the upscale markets, discuss boys; all kinds, heal cracked hearts and heels, get free advice (more conjecture) on any topic, escape tantalizing attention, crush hearts and people’s reputation under the high stilettos and platforms, remove the invisible mask, breathe and be at ease while nervously rummaging your Gucci, if that is not enough then accidentally bump into your twin soul. This is what happened to Lisa.
20th August 2010
Sixteen eye balls fixed on Lisa as she opened the door, it was reporting class and people were already bored on a sticky New Delhi afternoon. Everyone in the class wanted to grab the evening tea. Lisa didn’t notice anything as she sat next to a fair, and tall girl from Assam and her name was Amy, which she discovered later through a doodle in the back page of her fresh notebook. Fortunately, Amy was the only other girl in the class who had joined the institute five minutes before her, making them the apparent new students in the School of Journalism.
It was a common string of nervousness and home-sickness that struck the cord instantly between them, however, the big presentation next day already separated their course of action as they were placed in two alien teams.
Next day came with challenges leaving Lisa unnerved and scared to death. She thought she could collapse any moment, but as she stood up to deliver her concluding piece, an equally nervous eyes were glancing at her, extending warmth and cheering her on. Lisa quickly gathered courage and blotted out whatever came to her mind, in no time to hear the hall roar in applause. She quietly thanked Amy for her unstinting, non-verbal and effective support.
In just three days Lisa and Amy had accepted each other effortlessly in their lives. Those days culminated to decades of knowing each other and above all trusting a stranger in a new city, rather instantaneously; the concept just left them baffled.
The day
“Click- Click, zoom in and out, photoshop- photoshop”, echoed every inch of the class room as Neeraj sir meticulously instructed the class, while the two people, sitting next to each other stole the precious moment to escape into their world of solace and fantasy- the chat messenger to their rescue. Both keyed in.
Amy: I am pissed!
Lisa: I am pissed!
A bemused glance was enough to make these girls realise the experience of thinking the same thing at the same time (on their own), confused? This was not the first instance. Many recurring moments were enough to prove their coincidences and upheavals of déjà vu.
Lisa: “Hi Amy, I trimmed my hair yesterday, how is it looking?”
Amy: “I did the same, how am I looking?”
From wearing the same colour top on the same occasion, liking the same flavour of ice cream, talking about psychology and clairvoyant abilities, thinking creatively, photography, an obsession with hair and red, liking animals, just day dreaming and standing for each other in crisis, indeed defined their similarities and planted their feet firmly on the grounds of friendship, an indissoluble string, and all these happened in the first week of college.
Among many, it was undoubtedly one of their regular and favourite activities of visiting the lavatory together, as it permitted them to continue their tales of conquering the world (dissecting agendas and innocuously gossiping). Looking into the mirror and rubbing ‘their’ favourite nivea strawberry lip balm, lisa said, “Ams, I was thinking maybe I can come down to your place, for the summer break and we can plan a trip to Kaziranga? I bet we can deluge our albums with the “wildlife” theme this year, and even use a few shots for our long-term photo assignment?”
“I would love that! It’s a great idea. Moreover, I can celebrate my birthday differently then, come by May end, what say?”, said Amy and her big shinning eyes.
“Oh! I forgot to ask, when is your birthday?” replied lisa.
“Why? It’s in the first week of June.When is yours?” asked Amy casually.
“So that makes you a Gemini? Ah ha! Me too, the 1st of June and yours?” replied lisa with enthusiasm.
For a flick second Amy couldn’t register what she heard, and in amazement she inertly asked, “What did you say? When is your birthday?”
“June 1st” saying this Lisa looked directly into her wide and dilated brown pupil, about to pop out in shock. What followed was a minute of unwanted and awkward silence. “I knew something was there”, said Amy shaking her lips and pinching herself.
In a jiffy, they were on the tiled floor rolling with loud burst of accumulated laughter and tears flowing down their pink cheeks. Not only did they discover their birthdays together but a long-lost connection that was missing in their lives making them grow closer to each other.
Lisa hailed from Darjeeling, schooled in a convent with a younger kid brother and had traveled to Bangalore for her higher studies. She was short with dancing eyes and animated expressions. No one had ever called her hot or sexy; though she was a volcano of talent well fitting the adage, “good things come in small packages” perfectly.
Amy, quite the opposite, not just her physical appearance even her past was strikingly different, had changed school twice in her childhood, with a younger brother too, she was ‘beauty with brains’. And here they were sharing the same institute and lives. They had become mirror for each other, reflecting one soul trapped in two bodies.
The Ah ha moment!
Even after months of unprecedented discoveries and unfolding mysteries, both toppled into the unimaginative. They were about to unearth the big ‘Whys and hows’ of their lives. While handling an article on past life regression, Amy was mesmerized by the concept, which eventually lured her into inducing trial and sit through a session. This particular event in their lives is considered as an indisputable occurrence, an unmeasured highly intensive detection that joined an important piece of the missing puzzle.
Since childhood Amy used to frequently get a particularly dreadful dream, she only saw her death and separation from her twin sister, the dream vividly showed fire and how it engulfed their pretty house on a hill top. She couldn’t bear the painful severance from her sister. The revelation was appalling as it confirmed the dream. It seemed that they had died 22 years ago on the 20th August and had apparently united on the same day, when they were 22 years old. It didn’t take much time for Amy to figure out that her twin sister was at that moment.
Tears welled up their eyes and hairs stood on ends as they acknowledged their inexplicable merger later. That night, sitting by the swimming pool and staring at the moonlit sky, both marveled at the nature’s mystery and God’s timing of bringing together two lives from two different parts of the world.
Graduation day
Since the revelation seven months ago, the happenstance were taken care of and avoided by both the sisters, they had especially started discussing clothes and colours for all occasions, and for ‘Graduation’, they didn’t want to take risk and make it perceptible, so they decided the colour of their sarees (after a great deal of fighting over the same combination of beige and red). Lisa finally wore a silver and royal blue. Both excited and confident on combating the twist of fate sat comfortably on their respective chairs. No sooner had the certificates been awarded than Amy dropped her file, while collecting it, she noticed something.
“Lis, what colour heels are you wearing?” asked Amy suspiciously
Lisa replied, “Don’t tell me it’s white this time”.
“Indeed” yanked an excited Amy. Both happily surrendering their fight against nature and accepting defeat laughed a little and scurried out of the conference hall into the cold night, engulfed by the thought of uncertainty and future.
In life nothing can be a coincidence, everything happens for a reason and this time it was the union of two lost souls. When they met, it was a miracle!
