First Touch

Today is a day I'll remember forever. Though not as monumental as April 11, May 15, or August 13, it is a day to cherish nevertheless. The day when I finally got to touch the love of my life, albeit through a letter. But just touching something she'd touched, kissing something she'd kissed, was such a wonderful sensation that it cannot be matched by anything that has happened in my life thus far.

During the lunch interval, I had planned to go outside the campus for a recharge. While on the insti main road, I saw a friend walking with a letter (a speed post, I think) in his hand. So the post office was open (quite interesting to note that after two years in this place, I still don't know the post office timings), and it was about time the letter arrived. I decided to check, hoping that the postal department hadn't screwed up this time as well (her first letter got lost in transit).

At the counter, I asked if any speed post had arrived by my name. He asked, confirmed rather, if it was a hostel mail, and also what kind of mail it was. Envelope, I said, and he began sifting through the stack. As he dismissed mail after mail, my impatience grew. I prayed to God that it be there, but it simply didn't turn up. I was almost resigned to fate when the last few were left. Zilch. And as he looked at the last one, he said "nahin aaya", before looking at it again, and exclaiming "haan aya hai". I can't exactly describe what I felt at that moment. perhaps it was a mix of euphoria and relief. And when I finally touched the envelope, I could resist blushing. This was it. Her handwriting was beautiful, as beautiful as her. I couldn't wait to open it.

Finding a bit of privacy, I turned on Yanni's First Touch. She'd sealed the envelope with cellotape. I peeled it off slowly and gently, as if she'd hurt if the tape peeled off the paper's outer layer (which happens all the time). I stuck the tape on the back of the envelope, not wanting to throw away any part of her first mail. The card was beautiful. As if it was meant for us. I knew what was written inside the card was exactly what she wanted to say.

The first thing I did with the letter was to touch it with my fingertips, as if I could reach out to her. And I did. I really felt I did. The text hardly mattered, the feelings it conveyed were loud and clear. A line in the latter part of the letter made me laugh, and immediately, I felt overcome with emotions, and cried out while laughing. I never knew that could happen. Such is the power of love, that it can make you cry when you laugh. I took my tears on my fingertips, and put it on the letter. As if to mark it forever with my love. Forever.

This is something we'll look back upon later in life, and we'll always smile when we do so, remembering our first touch.