Nisha sat up in her bed. She could no longer fool herself. She had been awake all night, dreaming…with open eyes. “I think I am in love”, she almost said to herself and giggled at her own foolishness.

It was 5 a.m. on a cool October morning and even though the warm blanket was inviting, she got up and went out for a walk. And while she was braving the morning chilly winds, she was totally lost in her thoughts. She had changed. And how much. She couldn’t believe she was the same person she had been 2 years before.

She had always been an opinionated person, had her own set of morals and standards she stood by. She always prided herself on being an honest and fair person. She had had a theory of her own on almost every subject. And she did what she said. “I hate snakes and hypocrites”, used to be her mantra.
And now, she couldn’t believe herself. She was doing things she had never imagined she would ever do. She felt things she never believed could happen to her. She was saying things she could never ever even dream of.

But life had its own ways. We are foolish to think that life will the turn the way we think it will. And it teaches us precisely that. In its own worldly ways.
When she reached back home, she took a bath and got ready. She checked her appearance in the mirror before leaving the house. “Perfect”, she said smiling ,”just like love”.

She reached her ‘office’, a small rented room taken only a week back. Outside the board read ,”For exciting job offers in Dubai and immediate Passports. Satisfaction guaranteed”. The ‘office’ was located on the outskirts of the city. Gullible people would walk in and hand over their life’s savings to her so that they could go abroad and earn thrice as much for their families. “So what is the harm if I am doing the same for my family”, she justified to herself as she saw people started to come in for the day.

A month later, there is no sign of the ‘office’. The room is empty, save the weather beaten bare walls. People start to gather outside the office before the start for the day. Some have come on the pretext of being promised of a job, others have come to collect their Passports who have already landed a lucrative job in Dubai. As the sun travels across the sky, a little uneasiness sweeps over the crowd. By the evening, the crowd is an angry mob and as impatience gets the better of them, they break open the door of the ‘office’ only to find their worst fears come true.

And a hundred kms away, a train leaves the station and with it the unfulfilled dreams of the scores of people whose money Nisha is eloping with. She has a grim satisfaction on her face. She has fallen into a deep slumber after destroying any signs of an ‘office’ and then travelling 40 kms to catch her train before people were out of their beds. She is dreaming of the time , 2 years ago when her father was alive.

Then ,she had never thought of money more than a means to an end. But after the tragic incident when her father had died in a car accident, the responsibility of her mother and younger sister fell on her. And carefree and playful childhood years ended when she had to do odd jobs to support her family. And her heart cried out for her baby sister, who was eight years younger to her, and she found it difficult to support her studies.
As the train halted at the next station, Nisha was jolted out of her trance and she double checked the locks on her bag which contained her earnings. When she was satisfied, she sat there thinking about her next plan and next destination. She made a mental note to call home and send them a money order as soon as she reached there. She took her diary out and started to scribble,“They say Love makes the world go round. And I think they are damn correct :-)”.

And with these thoughts she turned to her booty in the bag, gave a soft innocent smile and said those magical words “I Love You”.

PS: This is an old post written by me. SOme of you might already have read it on a different forum.