Calling…Calling…

It is such a wonderful feeling to wake up to the call from a loved one.
I think I had a dream after a long time and so was in deep slumber. It was about some old friends from school, never mind about the dream. It was then that my phone started ringing, the familiar ring tone. Thank god, the mobiles have an option of assigning a ring tone and makes you realise who is calling even without looking at the name. Without any hesitation, I reach out to my phone, my eyes still closed to listen to that chirpy voice. Had it been for anyone else, maybe I wouldn’t have answered the call and instead cursed for disturbing my dream. But this call was special and always welcome.
Just the thought of the person on the other end of the line brought a wide grin on my sleepy face. In his usual happy, cheerful tone he greeted me and I could feel the warmth in it though miles away. I returned the greeting with a mixture of excitement and astonishment, as the call was mostly returned and not voluntarily. I tried recollecting if last night I had given a missed call and he was returning the call now, as was the usual habit. But no, it was not that. I asked him unable to hold back my thoughts anymore and he said that he had called to say that he loved the previous day’s article. Wow!! I was super-excited now and wide awake. I checked the time on an impulse, wondering what was he up to and I realised that I’m running late again.
He is surprised that I’m still sleeping and enquires if I don’t have to be at work today and I find myself already thanking him for giving the wake-up call. He laughs it off saying, at least he’s spared from reading another article today, but I don’t think he’s that lucky. Wink. He goes on to compliment a little more on my article saying how he couldn’t stop mid-way and went on to finish it before starting his day. That was the best compliment I ever received I think, to stop someone’s work and get them engrossed in your reading. You get the attention without even asking for it.
I think my articles about the typical day-to-day life in India get the NRIs nostalgic. I am forced to end the call as my day starts and his ends. On the two extreme ends of this world, poles apart we continue our lives, eagerly waiting for THE day when our souls will meet. Though miles away, yet so close to my heart, forever and ever. On this note I fondly recollect the words once told by him to me-
For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul..