It was 2011.

I was studying Automobiles at Sharda University. I used to go every Monday morning and would return home on Saturday evening. While coming back home, which was in Mewat, I would get off the Metro at Rajeev Chowk and would walk around Connaught Place before winding up home.

I was a teenager then, barely 15 and a boy from an area where the sight of beautiful girls in new dresses and revving cars would amuse me.

One day, a girl, she couldn’t have been a day older than 17 approached me. I was walking around, somewhere around Gate No. 8 when I saw her. She was wearing shabby clothes but was definitely the prettiest girl I ever saw.

She looked hungry and when she saw me looking at her, she gestured to me and I realized that she was indeed a beggar.

I quickly took out ten rupees and gave it to her, while continuously starting into her innocent, yet bold eyes. The next Saturday, I sat on the marble seats, right in front of KFC and that’s when I saw her again. She was trotting down the pavement, with her right hand asking people for change. Again, my conscience bit me and I followed her and put a ten rupee note in her hand.

This kept happening for many Saturdays after, and I don’t know how or why, but I realized that I had developed feelings for this beautiful girl, and before long, it wasn’t just ten-rupee notes, but a burger, sometimes fries, or sometimes something to drink. My heart sent vibrant emotions through my body, I felt extreme happiness, and sadness at the same time. I started loving my Saturdays, and my Saturdays began loving me back.

It didn’t’ take her long to start recognizing me; and soon, she began waiting for me by Gate No. 8. And there I would meet her, with a huge smile on my face and something for her to eat in my hands.

And whenever I would, I always left with a huge smile on my face and a calm heart.

One Saturday, as I waited to Gate No.8, she wasn’t there waiting for me. There was a slight flutter in my heart, but I tried to ignore those feelings. Soon, it got dark, and I knew that it was time for me to head home. I felt incomplete that day. I tried to push away the feelings that sent horrible thoughts inside of me, but I knew all I could do was wait until next Saturday to see her again.

Finally, it was the weekend and I almost ran back to Metro station, to Gate No.8 and what I saw, broke my heart.
She was disfigured. She was leaning on a crutch, she had just one leg. As I walked closer, I noticed some scars on her face.

I tried to say something to her, but she didn’t even notice me. She tried to stabilize herself on her crutch, took what I offered her, and with empty eyes, slowly walked away from me. All that charm, that innocence in her eyes, it had all vanished. I wanted to say something to her, but the right words left me, just as she walked off.

I went and met her the next Saturday, and then the next. Sometimes, she just sat in one place, other times, she would walk slowly down the pavement. This lasted for a month, until one Saturday, I couldn’t find her.

I waited for a while, even after it got dark; but every Saturday after that, she was nowhere to be seen.

Today, it’s been more than six years, and I am not sure where she is or what happened to her that day.  
My eyes still search for her, as I walk through the people at this station, wondering where the girl with the innocent eyes, who made my smile on Saturdays, disappeared.

Share This Story