Definition of a beautiful girl

“Everything is so silent here; even the wind is a bit shy and hesitant to cross through the leaves as if it’s playing its part in maintaining the calm of this park. I like this place. We should come here often.” Raka said in a relaxed and sober tone induced into his demeanor by the atmosphere in Lohia park.

I like it when they write our names together in that entry register.” Sirka replied, walking by his side, hand in hand, fingers entangled together.

Uh-oh, our favorite tree is occupied today”, Raka exclaimed, dismayed.

“Now what?”

“Now we will have to find a new place to sit. Although I loved that tree…its in the middle of garden and look how generous it is with its shadow… and also the area around it is so clean. Too bad we missed it”

“Common then, there are a million other trees in this park. Let’s venture to the far off end today.”

“Ok, let’s just sit by this tree”, Raka pointed her to a small tree with a few leaves by the side of pavement. Sirka deliberately sat a step away from him, knowing that he would be annoyed.

“What?” Raka expressed his annoyance… “Why are you so far away from me?”

“Let’s just sit face to face today and not side by side. I want to look into your eyes”, Sirka explained herself in a placative manner.

“Well atleast come close enough so I can hold your hand”, he urged her closer. Sirka looked into his eyes, with her chin on her knees, her left hand holding his left hand. The way she looked at him was too soft to be called a stare, yet it had the intriguing boldness of appropriating the right to look deep inside him… to look into his soul. He looked back at her in an attempt to help her through her way. The mild, almost unnoticeable smile on Sirka’s face hinted him that she could now see how much he admired her, that he was smitten with her and that he loved her beyond the limits of his will. Shied by the fact that his feelings were exposed naked in front of her he tried to concentrate elsewhere… to his own reflection in her eyes but that didn’t help him long enough and he finally surrendered by lowering his glance to her anklets.

“Why don’t your anklets make noise like my mom’s does?”

“Because mine don’t have jhumars attached”, Sirka replied and continued as if trying to form her thoughts that were left unsorted previously… “I am not as beautiful as you believe me to be. Even my skin color is not fair enough for a girl to qualify as good looking. Everybody think that I am just another girl… and then…and then there’s You”, She kept on trying to articulate her conservations when Raka slowly slid his hands along the length of her’s  and signaled her to the contrast.

“Do you see how fair you are? And forget about all those who say that you are just another girl. Look at yourself through my eyes and you will see that you are the most beautiful girl in this world.”

“And what’s your definition of a beautiful girl?” Sirka asked cheesily.

“A beautiful girl is the one who loves me”