“Have you ever sat in one of them?” Arjun asked, pointing to the plane that had just landed.

“Not yet, “ Rupali replied and looked at Arjun. “But someday I will. I have this dream of taking my family on a Euro trip, “ she said and her eyes twinkled.

They were now talking about dreams; exactly what Rupali had suggested the other day over the phone – I want to see planes landing and talk about our dreams. “How easily the two things had happened!” Arjun marvelled.

“You mean your husband and your kids!” Arjun asked. This time he wasn’t looking at her but at the taxiing plane.

Rupali immediately responded, “No, no. I meant my parents and my younger brother!” blushing shyly.

“Oh! So you plan to leave your husband and kids back and only fly your parents and brother?”

Rupali finally took the hint about what was cooking in Arjun’s mind. She pretended to be angry.

“Arjun, why are you asking me all this?” she widened her eyes and gave him the look that meant – change the topic!

But Arjun was in no mood to let go. “Oh, come on! Assuming you would get married in the future . . . so, then your family will also include your husband and your kids. Right Miss Rupali Sinha?” he asked.

“Hello! MrArjunTyagi. I was talking about the near future. After I get a job for myself! Now will you change the topic?” she clarified but in a playfully aggressive tone.

Arjun enjoyed teasing her. But seeing her irritation, this time he let it go. “Okay, okay. I got it. Relax now.”

After a few seconds, he thought of something and again asked, “But in your not-so-near future, will you take your husband and kids on a holiday?”

“Hey Bhagwaan!” Rupali exclaimed, slapping her hand on her forehead. “You are enjoying this. Aren’t you?”

“Why are you dodging my question?” he accused.

“I am not!” Rupali reacted furiously.

“Then you are too shy to discuss that. Hai na?”

…”Why would I take my husband on a holiday? Rather he should take me na,” she spoke.

She knew exactly which way the conversation would flow in a few minutes from there onwards. Yet she pretended as if she was just being honest. Maybe because pretending made things so much easier. It made her comfortable.

While she said so she was unable to hold back her smile; she didn't look at Arjun but continued to focus on the taxiing plane. It kind of helped her. Even though her ears were tuned in on his response.

Seeing Rupali step into the conversation left Arjun amused. He hadn”t sensed that coming – not after how she had reacted till a few minutes earlier. Her response became Arjun”s cue to carry on that discussion. And when he heard what he had least expected from Rupali, in a state of overexcitement, he ended up doing something that he didn”t want to do.

“Hmm . . . of course! That’s what I would do!” he said and then realised his blunder!

What have I done! What would she think! he panicked. Then he tried to correct himself, “I . . . I meant . . . in my case . . . my wife!”

Rupali was shocked and too embarrassed to acknowledge the first part of Arjun’s answer. She pretended she hadn’t heard it and responded naughtily, “Okay, so where will YOU take YOUR wife on a holiday?”

Arjun was yet to recover from his blunder when Rupali dropped this other bomb over his head. And he conveniently fell into the new pit that Rupali had unknowingly dug for him. Unable to zero in on one holiday destination and caught in a strange feeling of imagining himself as a married man, he stammered, “Where . . . wherever you want me to take . . . !”

That took the count of blunders to two; both in such a short span of time. And this guy was a youth leader!

Rupali froze, like a statue. She didn’t even blink her eyes. She had never seen Arjun in such a state. Was he actually nervous now that she had turned the tables on him?

Arjun immediately jumped to rescue whatever was left of his dignity. He stammered again, “S . . . s . . . s . . . sorry! I . . . I . . . Okay . . . I . . . meant wherever she, I mean my . . . my . . . wife, would want to go. And if you could advise me on a good . . . a . . . a . . . yes a good holiday destination . . . then why not? That”s what I meant. Yes! Exactly!”

Then he shut up.

…
“My dreams are quite simple, Arjun . . . “ She paused for a moment and then continued, “I want to do well in academics, secure a good future for myself and fulfil responsibilities that I have towards my family. I want to continue to stand up for things I believe in. I wish to see happiness around me. And while all this happens, I want to . . . “ She stopped again, but only to resume after a second or two, “. . . I want to see you by my side. Arjun, I want to live the rest of my life with you. “

And then there was a silence between them as the words sunk in.

Even though the noise of the traffic persisted just as before, it was as if time had stopped and nothing moved. Even though another plane landed, neither Rupali nor Arjun looked at it. It was a moment that was about to change everything between them for rest of their lives.

Rupali turned her head and looked right at Arjun and finished whatever she had to say with her final line, “That’s what my dream is. “

Bliss had made its way into Arjun's eyes as he heard those final few words. Rupali had already successfully put to rest every bit of anxiety and panic in his heart. She had said it all so simply and with such ease! It had saved Arjun from the great difficulty of overcoming his fear of expressing his feelings to a girl. A deep sense of satisfaction came over Arjun's face. He was yet to speak and all this while he had been admiring the guts of the girl who stood in front of him. Who, only a few moments back, had proposed to him, something which the world expects to be a man’s job. But isn”t that why he admired Rupali – for her sheer courage to speak her heart; to call a spade a spade; to propose to a guy whom she believed she loved. That’s what had always made her a special girl in Arjun’s eyes.

It was going to take some time for the unimaginable amount of happiness to settle in. A few seconds or a couple of minutes were not going to be enough for him. For that matter, even a day’s time was too less.

Excerpted with permission from Your Dreams are Mine Now, Ravinder Singh, Penguin Books India.