When I was young, I had a dream - to join the Indian Air Force as a fighter pilot. The dream became an obsession, and I wonder today how my parents and friends put up with me during my childhood.
As a result of my obsession, I joined NCC when I reached college, and I joined the Air Wing, no less. Due to my unusual high interest, I excelled and was chosen to represent my unit at various camps and competitions.
At one such camp, I came across Vasundhara - she was the niece of one of the Lt. Col.-ranked officers, and was well known in the camp because of her gooseberry-green eyes. She also had a very desirable bod, and I am sure she inspired many a wet dream among the guys at the camp. I later came to know that she stayed in the same town as mine, and therefore we would be traveling together on the train back to our home town once the camp was over. I looked forward to the journey.
One afternoon, during a common lecture class we had with the girls, she happened to sit next to me. I had had a very tiring day and leaned back in my chair, since I was sure that the instructor could not see me showing so much indiscipline. She was leaning forward in her chair, listening attentively. I put my arm across the back rest of her chair, and she unconsciously leaned back the next moment. Her bare neck touched the bare skin of my arm, and her warmth and softness were electrifying. I did not move my arm for fear of alerting her to my presence. After some time, she again moved forward and I removed my arm, thanking my stars that she hadn't noticed it. At least that was what I thought.
On the day of our return back to our town, we faced a 36-hour journey back from Delhi, where the camp was held. There were five of us from our State, two boys and three girls, including Vasundhara. As luck would have it, all our seats and berths were confirmed, except Vasundhara's. Try as we pleaded with the train ticket examiner, but he did not allot her a seat or berth saying there were none vacant. We decided to stay together, and manage through the two nights we would be travelling. She could share the berth of one of the girls during the night, we reasoned, and asked the TTE to at least allow her to stay with us. He agreed. So, here we were, five people with four berths between us.