He had not thought of her in what felt like an age, and it had taken him a lot to keep it that way too. And now, after all this time unbidden, unprovoked, breaking all the dams he had built around them, there they were, her memories drowning him in their torrent of bitter sweet torment, till his head swam with them and he could see her so clearly he thought he would turn a corner on the old campus and bump into her again.

Of all the times they had shared he remembered her as she had been on that evening. They had met accidently and ended up spending the evening together. He was surprised he could remember it with fondness and nostalgia and had to concede it had been a beautiful time. He remembered the whole evening with exquisite clarity. Her he remembered as if that time represented the essence of her soul her whole being distilled into the perfection of that evening, a miracle only memory could manage.

It had been an evening in late spring when the wind had the sharp bite of the coming winter. He had whiled away the afternoon watching some stupid movie and wandering around aimlessly. He was on his way back to his room when he saw her. Normally he would have thought twice before approaching her,especially if he had planned to do so, but this just seemed much less stressful. And she had been graceful as a dream and generous with her smiles like an appeased goddess.

They had walked around the old market of Malleshwaram talking about random nonsense. The temple bell like quality of her laughter rang in his ears again full of promises and anticipations. Her watery brown eyes had darted everywhere stealing glimpses of him while he shamelessly stared at her. And boy did she like to eat! They had chat at every other stall along the street and she still thought she could have more bhelpuri with kaccha aam in it. He had always thought he would feel connected with someone talking about common interests and shared things and here he was walking around a bazaar and talking nonsense and feeling like he had always known her, a lost childhood memory waiting in some corner of his mind to be recalled and cherished.

It was night by the time they wandered back to the campus and a bulbous moon was out spying on them. There seemed to be no one else around and somehow they found themselves talking about lost loves and heartaches. “I never liked the way my first boyfriend kissed me!” she said, “ It was my first kiss and I expected it to be more…gentle, caressing…and I donno…everything it was not!” she sighed. He stopped and she stopped in front of him. He did not know what came over him, would probably never know, but he said, “ Well, let us make sure your next kiss is more memorable!” and he leaned in….there was a moment of delay that seemed to stretched on and on…until she leaned in. This kiss was gentle, caressing and everything he could have ever imagined it to be. After the kiss, she sighed and said, “I think I made a memory of a lifetime!” He had hoped that the moment would never end, and thinking back upon it, he felt like it never had.