The Da-Vidya Code

For Nishi it was just another evening. He had no idea that it was going to change his life forever. He was strolling down the dark lanes of Bangalore, playing his mouth organ. He usually used to get so deeply lost playing the instrument that he often had no clue about where he was or where was he heading.
That evening, about 3 years back, he was playing the tune, ‘hai apna dil to …’. He was unaware that he had come a long way from his room, lost in perfecting the tune. He was inadvertently walking right below Vidya’s house. Vidya was his colleague at BPL Telecom.
Vidya was busy reading a book at that time. But the tune was too melodious to be ignored unless you were deaf. Initially she thought that it was being played on the radio. But the radio was off. She sensed that the source was right below her window. She rushed to see who it was. But it was too dark outside and she could only see a shadowy figure pass by.
The way the sound died was like a child watching a ship leave the docks. The child thinks that if he keeps on watching the ship can never go out of his sight. But the ship keeps on getting smaller and smaller as it ventures into the deep sea. A time comes when all that remains is a tiny dot and eventually even that disappears. The child tries to relocate the dot but it’s gone!
Vidya was quite restless that night. How badly she wanted to see the person playing the tune! She was not sure whether she would ever see/hear him again. She thought the next day she would write to the civic authorities to get the street lamps fixed at least in her lane. Such dark lanes could encourage crime she thought.
The next day, in office, she told Nishi about this mysterious man playing mouth organ in her lane. But she made it sound more like a complaint lest Nishi started teasing her for liking it. Nishi didn’t suspect that could be unknowingly talking about him and advised her to keep doors and windows securely closed.
After a few weeks, Nishi once again happened to pass through the same lane playing the very same tune. Again, Vidya couldn’t figure out who that person was. She was becoming increasingly curious about his identity. That night Nishi stumbled over something in the dark and his mouth organ slipped out of his hands. He did pick it up and continued playing as before. Vidya had noticed this small accident.
The following day, Vidya narrated the entire episode to Nishi. Hearing about the accident, Nishi thought that she might be talking about him. He decided to check it out. The next day he passed the same way and the following day Vidya talked about the musician passing by her house. But Nishi wanted to be absolutely sure and hence the next time he played a different tune. From Vidya’s version of the story, the following day, Nishi was now sure that all the while she was talking about him.
By now Nishi had sensed that Vidya was almost in love with her mysterious musician. But Nishi was enjoying the way things were and wanted them to continue this way a bit longer before coming out with the truth. It made him feel like God. He was the one who decided when the mysterious musician would appear, how long would he play the tune under Vidya’s house, which tune he would play and so on. It was like a baby girl deciding when her Barbie doll would be happy, when she would cry etc.
After a few months, Nishi was tired of being the director of the play and wanted to become the hero of it. So one day he asked Vidya out for lunch and told her the real story of the mysterious musician. But Vidya dismissed his story outright. Nishi had anticipated this and therefore was carrying his mouth organ. He repeated the tunes he used to play under her house. But Vidya was convinced that what her mysterious musician played was much sweeter. Nishi tried hard to recreate the same magic but couldn’t change Vidya’s opinion.
Then, Nishi decided to play a trick. The same night he again went near Vidya’s house playing his mouth organ. When he saw Vidya come to the window to hear him, he climbed up the stairs and knocked on Vidya’s door, all the while playing the tune. Vidya opened the door and before Nishi could say anything she admonished him for playing this dirty trick. She told him that from the way the tune was being played she always knew that this was not her mysterious musician. She let off Nishi warning him not to repeat this act in future.
However, that night she felt bad about behaving that way with Nishi. She explained herself that Nishi wasn’t all that bad with the mouth organ and that for a moment she did feel that it was her mysterious musician. He wasn’t as good but then he wasn’t as bad either. And importantly he loved her. It was for love that he had done that foul play. As for her mysterious musician, she didn’t know who he was, what he did and whether he would like her in the first place. He was so talented that there was no reason for him to fall in love with her. And then some things are better off as dreams that never materialize, pretty much like the following 2 lines from a Marathi song,

Swapnat lya kalyanno
Umalu nakkach kevha
Godi apoornatechi
Lavel ved jeeva

The following day she went and apologized to Nishi. She also expressed her desire to marry him. Nishi was angry with her but hearing all this even his heart melted and he too agreed to tie the knot. And they lived happily ever after. The mysterious musician did make guest appearances under their window, of course, when Nishi was not at home.

PS.: The above 2 lines from the Marathi song could be translated as:
May the buds in my dreams never bloom,
The sweetness in their incompleteness is driving me mad!

I would suggest you get the lines translated from a better source!

(written - 1st Jun' 06)