"I think its time to meet. How about I come to Mumbai over the weekend?", Rajan finally spoke after what seemed like hours on the call. The silence and the suspense had almost killed Revati, when his words sprung her back to life. She shrieked with joy, jumping up and down the couch. Rajan was sure her voice would still have reached Delhi sans the phone. But he kept that joke to himself. Revati on the other hand was already day dreaming about the weekend. They had waited long enough. Making calls back and forth for months together and having video chats on Skype, it really was time to meet. Their steady long distance relationship was going to take the next logical step and it excited them to no end. He was wanting to meet her since long, but had only managed to speak up now. She had already made up her mind but just wanted to be sure if he wanted it to. How a quantum physics nerd had fallen for a fashion designer was something no one knew for sure. As they say, Love does find its way.
Saturday arrived. Rajan was already on his way to the airport. He had called Revati earlier to tell her about the plan. He was planning to put up with his friend and would borrow his car for the evening. He would pick her up from her apartment and then the evening was wide open with endless possibilities. She could take him to her favorite restaurant, or maybe they could go for a long drive, or maybe they could just have a stroll in the park, who knew! All they wanted to do was meet up and say things they could have said only in person.
The flight landed on time and Rajan was soon at his friends place. Revati already knew of this, since his Facebook notifications had kept her up to date. They had a quick chat and finally decided to catch up at six. Rajan was taking more than usual to get ready for his date. He wanted to look his absolute best. He did and re-did his hair a dozen times, before settling for his final look. Dressed in blue denims and a white shirt, he bought roses for her and got into his car. He had the address with him and just let Google guide his way to his love.
It took him a little under an hour to reach Revati's place, but he was right on time. Nothing can possibly go wrong now, he thought, while planning the rest of the evening in his head. He called up Revati who said she would be down in five. He waited with excitement, eagerly looking at the main gate for first signs of Revati walking out. Sure they had seen each other on video chats but a sweet mix of curiosity and anxiety filled his heart as he just stared out from his car window. He was parked right in front of the gate so he knew he would be able to spot her right away.
Ten minutes passed by. "She should have been here by now" thought Rajan. While anxiously waiting for her, even minutes felt like hours and he became really restless after some time. He was still not able to spot her, when his phone rang. Revati was calling. "Hey Rajan, where are you? I am waiting at the gate for almost five minutes I don't see any cars parked outside". Thats strange, he thought, he was parked right in front of the gate. "I am right here Rev, just outside the main gate. I don't see you either. Is there another entry into your locality. Am I at the wrong entrance?". "No, its a single apartment building with just one gate" Revati replied, clearly confused with what was happening. Rajan wasn't able to understand anything either. "Green Park, Lane no 5, Santacruz West, that's the address you gave me right? That's where I am." He replied on the phone and even shared his location with her. She was surprised to see that location matched with her location, but there was still no sign of any car around. Though they were on the phone throughout the time, they were just not able to pinpoint their respective locations. "I am parked right at the road junction, I see a couple of auto rickshaws at the stand. There is a huge hoarding for some cosmetics company". Revati looked around for all these things and saw the exact same things from where she was standing. If he is this close, why don't I see him, was all she was thinking. "Look there's a blue merc driving into the main gate, I can see it right here" said Rajan. Revati was now flipping out, as she saw the blue merc drive past her and into the gate. She was standing right there.
"Please don't play these pranks Rajan, this is freaking me out now. I just saw the blue merc drive past me and into the main gate. I am standing right outside. How is it that you cant see me?", Revati was unable to believe what was happening. "Okay, what else do you see?" Rajan tried to find out more details. "Well, there is a tea shop besides that rickshaw stand, and also a bus stop few meters away. Wait... a city bus just made a stop there, bus number 89, its headed to Worli". Now Rajan was for loss of words, he was seeing all the things she said at the exact locations. "Okay, you see the bus stop right, I am just walking up to it and will wave my hand once I am there. Maybe that will sort this confusion once and for all. We are not here to play hide and seek, are we?". He was at the bus stop in no time. And had clear view of the Green Park's main gate, still no sign of Revati.
"What do you mean you are there and waving and still cant see me? I don't see anybody at the bus stop either. Stop this nonsense at once please. This is not a joke." Revati was furious now. She did not want to be stood up by Rajan and certainly not like this. "I swear I am right here and still no sign of you", Rajan replied honestly. "This is crazy, are you telling me that I am seeing everything else at just about the same time as you, except I don't see you! How is that even possible? The world around us is in sync, things happening at about the same time and yet we are invisible to each other!?"
Rajan got a weird feeling about what was happening. He remembered his time spent at the university studying advanced physics and concepts of time warp and how things could exist in space and time co-ordinates. But this was something else. If what they were experiencing were true then there was only one possible explanation. Beyond the coordinates of space and time, the dimensions had to be considered. "Shut your scientific brain off man", Rajan said to himself. "Is this even happening? What if it were true? How is it that things can exist in multiple dimensions and still interact seamlessly. I mean we are chatting on a live phone connection for God's sake."
After few more mind numbing thought, he called her up and said "Rev, you wont believe what I think this is. Don't freak out. Just hear me out. To meet someone you would need a time and a place right? So here we are at your place and at the agreed time. I am here and no doubt you must be here too. But I think we might be in parallel dimensions. So all of it is in sync, the place, the time, the events happening around us, except we are in separate dimensions. Like having another world that looks like this but is not this. I am in my world and you in yours".
"What rubbish! You nerd, stop pulling these pranks on me. All I know is, I am waiting for someone who is really important to me and fearing that this might go nowhere because he is a no show. I would hate to be stood up like this. And I suppose the cellular network also works across these dimensions since I am hearing you loud and clear, blabbering about some stuff from sci-fi movies. I don't care about your space and time and dimension. I just want to meet the guy I had those long chats and video calls with. The one I thought was special and with whom I would have wanted to make this day memorable. As far as I know, I don't see that guy"
Video call. Rajan finally stumbled on what could possibly prove his point. Hell yea, if cell networks can work across these dimensions, so can a video call. "Okay, okay! Don't buzz me off. I will prove it to you. I am making a video call to you. Pick it up and lets chat there. Okay?". Revati reluctantly agreed and checked her Skype for incoming calls. Rajan dialed in a minute later. "Hey there", he said," Just look behind me, I am walking around in your area. Notice any familiar buildings or maybe check that huge hoarding and there's the rickshaw stand". Revati was seeing stuff in background and it was obvious that Rajan was nearby and walking towards her. She just stayed put and peered curiously at the phone screen. "And now I am walking up to Green Park main gate, here is the security cabin, I also see that blue merc parked inside and yet there is no sign of you".
Revati was in disbelief. She was right there at the gate but was nowhere to be seen on the video images sent from Rajan's phone. She moved round and showed the video feed to Rajan who was unable to find himself in the spot where he was currently standing. Different dimensions indeed.
Both were unable to understand what this meant. Did multiple dimensions truly exist, were they in different worlds, was cell connection their only way to communicate? When Rajan thought the evening was open to endless possibilities, this particular outcome would not have crossed his mind in a million years. The scientist in Rajan was elated and already trying to find answers to this mystery of the universe, but the guy, who had fallen for the smart and chirpy Revati, was not able to comprehend, let alone figure out how to meet her. Their's would become the ultimate long distance relationship with zero possibility of ever meeting.
Rajan thought of one last thing to prove his point. He kept the video call on all the time and walked up to Revati's apartment. Revati could see him get off the elevator and go to her front door. And guess who answered the door! A splitting image of Revati, her clone who existed in Rajan's world was right there giving him a bewildered look. Yes she looked the same and talked the same, but Rajan was a complete stranger to her. She had no idea who he was or why he was at her door or why he had his video call on all the time. She slammed the door shut.
Revati saw the entire episode on her cell phone. Tears gushed down her cheek. She did not want to believe what she just saw. Time, space and dimension were still stuff sci-fi novels were written about and though their video call just proved Rajan's theory that they did exist, he would never exist in her world. What did exist was a clone who had no memory of her and what their relationship was all about. For the Rajan in her world, she did not exist either.
They guessed it was their last good bye. First date gone horribly wrong. They could choose to continue their relation on voice and video calls but that was about it. As of now they were stuck where they were. Mere prisoners of their dimensions.
