1098. Will I Get the Signal?

Raghuraman first saw her at Pallavaram railway station, but he didn't remember when he saw her for the first time. 

He thought that he she could have attracted his attention, after he had seen her a couple of times, without being conscious about it.

Raghuraman would come to Pallavaram railway station at 8.30 a.m. every morning, to catch a train to Guindy, for commuting to work. Hundreds of faces would come to his sight every day at the station. Those were the faces of people, who, like him, came to the station every day, at that time, to catch the train. Beyond that, he had not thought any further about those faces.

But, looking at the face of that girl a couple of times had resulted in his getting attracted to her!

Raghuraman usually boarded a compartment, which was next to the ladies' compartment. That girl always boarded the ladies' compartment. So, she would be standing at about ten feet from him on the platform, while waiting for the train. Some more ladies would also be standing at that spot.

Every day, she would arrive at the station, before he arrived and wait for the train, standing at the same spot.

'Why did I particularly notice her?' he asked himself.

It had been several days, since Raghuraman began to notice her. By that time, he had come to the conclusion that he was, in fact, in love with her!

But he didn't know whether that girl had even noticed him. 'Is she aware that I keep looking at her, from the time I arrive at the railway platform, till the time she boards the train?' he pondered.

Some times, he would think of approaching her and engaging her in conversation. But, he had a a fear that going near her and talking to her, when several other women were standing nearby, might prove to be a misadventure, if some people considered his advancing towards her an aggressive move.

He was not even sure whether she had looked at his face even once!

That day, after the train arrived at the station and halted there, Raghuraman was looking at the girl, till she boarded the train, as he always did. Before getting into the train, she turned her face towards him. It appeared to him that she looked at his face and even smiled. But, he was not sure whether it was a real happening or it was just his imagination. 

The next day, when Raghuraman came to the station at the usual time, he couldn't find her on the platform. Even as he was wondering whether she would be coming late or won't be coming at all, he sensed some movement near him and turned. 

He was astonished to find that she was standing near him!  

Raghuraman felt a current of emotions running through his body.

It took him a few seconds to realize that she was standing near him, contrary to her practice of standing a little away from him, at a spot, where the ladies' compartment would halt. 

He looked at her face, with even the thought of smiling at her not occurring to him.

She looked into his eyes directly and smiled.

When the train arrived, she got into the same compartment, in which he got into.

Thirukkural
Section 3

Love

Chapter 110
Reading the Cues

Verse 1098 (in Tamil):
asaiyiyaRku uNdANdOr EryAn nOkkap
pasaiyinaL paiya nagum.

Meaning:

When I look at her, she returns a gentle smile. Oh, what

bewitching charm fills the tender maid’s look!

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'signal kidaikkumA?' by the same author.)

Verse 1099
Verse 1097