Short Stories to Stimulate Your Senses

The Incomplete Story

2013-06-08T22:27:00.000+05:30

Stories have their own way of narrating themselves out. However, there are always a few which are left unfinished. Sometimes, people do pin their hopes on such life stories completing themselves to achieve a sense of contention.

During his annual cleaning spree, Sam switched the light on in his closet on a bunch of forgotten stuff. It was all the items which he seldom or never used. As he was browsing through all his childhood stuff, he came across a box labeled “old school stuff”, memories flashed through his mind. He found that old school tie which still had those stains from ketchup and curry that he used to hurriedly eat during the 30 minute recess. The tie even had the “backup” meal coupon tucked in it which Sam would use if his friends ate more than his fair share of food. He found his old school shirt, the one which he wore on his last day. The one which was never washed as it had a farewell graffiti of all his friends “promising” to keeping in touch. A history textbook was uncovered in which he had given Gandhiji an extreme makeover (he was a Pirate!).

While going through all this old school stuff, a smile broke out on his face every now and then. However, the smile turned into a rather uncomfortable grin when he saw something which wasn’t his. Lying in front of him, tucked inside his school bag, was an old Math rough book. The handwriting in it was poetically cursive and was nowhere close to the elephant-style writing which he has mastered over the years. The math sums, although done in rough, still had that proper indentation worthy of an A+. Flipping to the 1^st page, he gave out a dishearten chuckle by looking at the name written in 2-3 different colors & styles- ROMI.

Romi was a quite yet fun loving member of his school class. She always loved to have fun and was a classic extrovert – unlike Sam. Both of them were together since 2^nd grade. Sam could still remember the day that she had walked in. A confused, scared girl with 2 pigtail style pony with a huge bag for her size walks into the class flanked by her mom. The teacher directs her to sit next to another timid girl in the 2^nd bench on the 3^rd row – Sam on the 5^th bench. Her mannerism easily sold her off as a studious yet artistic girl who had the outgoing spark in her.

As Sam flipped through the pages again, he came across a loose piece of paper. At 1^st he thought that the book was wearing out. But when opened that piece of paper, his eyes widen and he couldn’t imagine that he still had that letter in his possession.

It all happened sometime during the final few days of school. Being the shy guy that he was, Sam had never, in the past 8 years, mustered the courage to go up to her and tell her how he felt about her. He never got the right motivation to walk up to her and explain his puppy love for her. The fact that he alone knew of his emotions made matters worse as there was no one else who could push him into talking to her. Finally, rallying his emotions, he decided that he had to convey his sentiments through the most basic of ways – the thought of writing a letter.

That very letter was in Sam’s hand at the moment. It was pleasant as well as surreal to read it again.

Dear Romi,

My name is Sam. I am in your class 10B. I sit 3 desks behind you. I always like when you wear a single pony instead of 2 (although PT Teacher doesn’t like that). I always come 2^nd in Maths as you get better marks then me. But I am not sad about that. I like it when you smile very big when teacher shouts that you have come 1^st in Maths.

I don’t know if you know, but I always liked you since 2^nd grade. In all grades, I used to sit 2 or 3 benches behind you. So, you may not have seen me as you always concentrate on classes. But I like you. I wanted you to know that. I wanted to be your BF if it was ok with you.

I know that after today, we don’t know when we will meet. But I just had to tell you. But if I tell you this in front of class, you may get angry and then everyone will make fun of me. I didn’t want that. So, I decided to write this letter.

Sincerely,

Sam

“What a dork!!” let out by Sam as he finished reading the letter. He marveled at the fact that he was such an immature kid at that age. However, what amazed him was as to how this book and the letter in it ended up with him in his old school bag.

He remembered that he had taken this letter and placed it in her Maths rough book. During the hustle bustle of the last few days, he was disappointed that Romi had never walked up to him and talked to him about the letter. He had thought that she must have discarded the letter as just a piece of paper sticking out of her used book. He was afraid that she might have read it, showed it to her friends and laughed all about it.

However, he never remembered seeing this book ever again after that letter incident. So, it was quite surprising for him to see this turn up in his bag. After trying hard to remember, Sam gave up and thought that he probably forgot putting the letter and the book in Romi’s bag altogether!

As he was folding away the book and amount to stove it away, he noticed something different about the book. On careful examination, he noticed that the book had some scribing on the last few pages.

When he opened those pages, his eyes lit up. A broad smile came on his face and he said “She responded that very same day”.

Cat Mouse and the Cupid!

2010-02-08T10:52:00.000+05:30

Love hits your senses in a number of ways. It hits you when you least expect it. It hits you when you have lost all hopes of achieving it. Something similar was going on with Sammy last year.

Sammy was a very calculated guy. Always knew what to do and how to get what he wanted. He had an acute understanding of life which no one ever knew. I was always marveling at his approach to life. Unlike me, he was totally into science and was the firm believer of the 1 true fact – Everything has an answer. Using this attitude he carried himself through school, college and stepped into the professional world. At the same time he was shy and he suffered from the 1 syndrome which affects almost half of all the male population – Approaching Girls.

Sammy’s eyes were always following 1 particular girl for the past few months – Romi. Well all I knew about Romi back then and even now is that she was an honest, fun loving reserved girl. She was the kind of girls, guys really want on their facebook/orkut accounts just to get their reps up!! But somehow Sammy knew that there was more to her then just getting your rep up. Yes, she was complicated, but my dear friend Sammy had the tools of decoding this female. Everytime Sammy would just – one way or the other – find out some information about Romi and try to understand who she is and how she is. I always find it amusing. His reaction always reminded me of myself when I was at a shopping center every weekend passing by a toy store!

Every now and then Sammy would make up his mind about talking to her and then as time passed, I would see Sammy’s enthusiasm deflating and finally he would sink into his Economic Times, occasionally surfacing to share the Daily Dilbert comic strip to which I would respond saying “You’re a real fattu!”.

This cat and mouse gave me real fun to look forward to in an otherwise dull morning bus rides. I would always see Sammy twitching the moment Romi and her friend walked into the bus. In most cases, when Sammy and I would arrive late in the bus, Sammy would react as if he had just scored a wonder goal when he got a seat right behind his dreamy lady! Believe me, my jokes had no bounds back then.

Anyways, entertainment is indeed expensive. Sometimes on Sammy’s request, I had to race the bus in our trusted autorickshaw, overtake it and then board it! These requests were taking a toll of my fitness as well!!

Anyways, the moment when this all turned on its head was when Romi suddenly spoke to Sammy “Hi, excuse me, can I borrow your newspaper? I really want to read about Dilbert”. That entire bus journey, Sammy’s smile was as beautiful as the one which the Grinch wore when he stole Christmas. Make no mistake about it, he wasn’t ecstatic becoz she asked for ET, he was overwhelmed by her love for Dilbert.

Well, this was the opening that Sammy required. Requests like these turned into conversation, conversation turned into more conversation which turned into more. It was as if someone jump started the talkative part of his brains!! She really did bring a smile to Sammy’s face and the moments of entertainment ceased to exist for me!

“Hey dude, listen, I need to get Romi some gift. Valentine day is coming up and I really want to go for it”. I knew this was just the beginning. He would go through a dozen shops, look for the perfect gift and then identify her with it and then evaluate, using his scoring mechanism, whether she would love it or not. I remember him doing this when we went to shop for his computer RAM chip. Anyways, finally after hours and hours of digging through what not, he finally found something fun for her – a pearl bracelet.

So, the moment had arrived. It was Friday morning, a day before V-day when Sammy, in his nice new smart guy tshirt waited in the bus for his lady to arrive. I was half expecting all the bachelors in the bus to stand up with roses the moment she stepped into the bus but Sammy was hopeful that wont be the case. Anyways, she entered, looking super cool and hot in hot rod red! Sammy was floored. I bet he swallowed his tongue that morning as during the entire journey all he could do was either nod his head or say the words “hmmm”.

The day was passing by. According to Sammy, the Sun was trying to move quickly in order to give him less time – something to do with his Zodiac sign. Sammy received, suddenly, an Instant Message at around 4 pm, It was Romi “Can we meet in the Café?” Sammy jumped and quickly agreed to meet. He cancelled all his meetings and his weekly status discussion with his manager (boy did he talked out of it) and headed for the café (almost forgetting the gift).

Romi: So, how was the day?

Sammy: Day was good, not much work.

Romi: Did I interrupt you in your daily activity?

Sammy: No No, I was just winding up. No work at all today

Romi: Well, what was the urgent thing you wanted to talk?

Sammy: Romi, I wanted to give you this. (Saying that, Sammy popped out the bracelet case)

Romi opened the package and was awestruck at the bracelet. Smiling she hinted at Sammy to offer it to her. For the 1st time in his life, he understood such a gesture and proceeded to tie it around her arm. With a romantic twist to this moment, the mouse said “Can you give me the opportunity to be with you. I am just asking you to give me a chance”

The Cat said “Of course idiot, you took 5 months to tell me such a small thing? Thank god your friend asked me to talk to you!”

Cupid was sitting a few tables away…smiling….

Anarchy: A.Joker Story - 1

2009-08-21T23:39:00.002+05:30

Chapter 1: Court Room and The Jester

“All rise” said the Court baliff. The Judge, in his mid-60s, was just making his way to the seat. Stupid old oaf that he is, he doesn’t realize the significance of the moment which he had at hand. All his life, he was just bringing the hammer down on proceedings without any consent of the accused!! I mean how the hell can someone be so naïve and not ask the accused whether he is actually guilty? Why doesn’t someone abide by the testimony of the person committing the felony!!! This is what I call a state of anarchy.

“Johnny Chester, you have been found to be guilty of the charges applied onto you by the State of California. Please let me know if you have anything to say about the conviction”

Jackass…with my mouth heavily bandaged, he expects me to challenge the decision made by multi-breed, beefed up a**holes who think that the system has hired them to do a job!!!! Wake up you SOBs, the system is playing you like a violin and you are just as f**ked up as my mouth is right now!!!!

Looking at this Judge simply makes me sick! I mean this is a guy who has came out of 3-4 school and thinks he can decide the fate of millions of people? What a sorry state of affairs!! But the real reason I feel gutted is that this jackass resembles my father. However, my dad was better than him. My father was a drinker! You know that term “womanizer”? My father was not at all that..but he was definately a “woman basher”. That SOB used to hit women only becoz he knew that the guys would f**k his a** if he ever messed with him. All around my childhood, I kept hearing “Johnny, the man is the king and he should be treated like one”. Then the king of our house used to go and kick the living hell out of his queen aka slave! I saw him you know. The fire in his eyes, the coldness in his voice…he was one scared cat I tell you. He made me watch, the way he kicked my mother’s guts in and then raped the shit out of her as a way to “console” her. I used to enjoy his rage sometimes, that’s becoz he used to pass out and I got a chance to watch television…that Saturday night shit still cracks me up!!! Anyways, his heaven was halted the day someone heard my mom die. That’s the day I realized 2 things:

Guts have a limited life expectancy
My dad cries like a girl….the 4 cops and the neighbours showed me that part

That was the day I last saw my dad…couldn’t tell whether he was crying tears or blood but then people like these do make a whale of an impact on your life right? Foster parents were really nice but they did suck the fun out of fun…I became a good boy!! Hehehehahahahhehehe

Anarchy: A.Joker Story - 2

2009-08-21T23:39:00.001+05:30

Chapter 2: The Love of My Life

Well, as the judge kept rambling on with the convictions that I had achieved, he kept on referring to me as “The Accused”. Man, how can names just change right? Just a few years ago, I was addressed as “Johnny Chester, the Jester”. The guy who was the center of everyone’s entertainment, the person on whom everyone can wipe their hands and feet and this person won’t respond to anything! Seriously time has changed. Now I am the center of attention but I am having my own version of fun!!

Well I had a wife, my high school sweetheart, nothing very fancy, not a head turner but my very own doll. I loved her!!! She was a hard to get chick I tell you. Anyways, through my college days of being called a clown, getting elected as a Prom Jester, she warmed up to me on that very night…figure everyone likes a wit cracking nut right? Anyways, she was honestly the most beautiful person I had ever seen. She did have a very huge smile...you see... The one which I am currently wearing? It was as if she had just swallowed an ostrich egg and turned around to tell its tale. Well I was happy with her…but then a funny thing happened…it all came to a crashing halt.

Life, I believe is always about ups and downs. You go up and you come crashing down. It’s like ying and yang…apples and oranges…blah and bluh!! The up was when I married her…boy I haven’t had that much fun in my life until just recently but we will get to that later. Everything was just like a fairy tale you see…fate had painted me a very beautiful picture…the irony is that fate pissed on it while signing at the bottom.

My wife was a fun loving gal. But fun came at a price….a broad price…you know banking pressures are more than a mouth full for anyone…the market as life goes up and down and down and up…Due to these moments, I got into a lot of shit…I mean huge pile of it! My wife, darling that she is, got fed up of my absence and my dark mood during our little family dinners…she advised me a lot…”Johnny, smile!! Let’s see a smile on that face…it’s our anniversary”. Don’t mistake I loved my life but when the system screws you, getting a smile is just as difficult as using a blunt knife to kill someone in 1 stroke!

She got the taste of vodka and when she did that, she and her gal pals got into gambling a lot…and I mean a lot!! A banker knows when he says…”A LOT”. Anyways, under the effects of this pure liquid, she did go deep with those “glorified accountants”, dumbasses lending hard cash in exchange of a favour!! Those bloody sharks wanted an interest over the payment…as lucky as I could be that time, my purse was as dry as sand. So I couldn’t help her and she was f**ked. She came home crying like a little girl with a face which looked like someone just ran a damn truck over her...her smile intact of course. She went to God in my arms as I wondered…..how can a banker pay for a funeral which he didn’t ask for?

You know, that moment, when she died in my hands, I came to know what she truly was! She looked up to me and told me that life is all about choices, I can either choose to bury her and run out of the state or I can choose to get my butt kicked and try and get back some retribution! I choose the latter! So, I left on my journey to bring the people to justice who killed my wife and that changed me forever…literally…hehehehehahahahehehe!!!!!

Anarchy: A.Joker Story - 3

2009-08-21T23:38:00.000+05:30

Chapter 3: Drawing Cards

I am a man of simple tastes. I got into a simple school, was beat up by simple bullies, married a simple girl…was about have a simple family…that’s when things got complicated. The entire world around me crashed and burnt! I remember the court room trials which I had. Those were fun! That was the day I realized how fragile the system really is! How people just screw with the system as a whore…stuff her up real nice in the night and pay before leaving in the morning. They tried to stuff me but I, at that time was like a thanksgiving turkey that had animal rights issues! So they did the next best thing….they paid the judge…The judge had his own agenda…..he turned the trial on me on grounds of Wife abuse!! I mean..Do I look like my Father you a**hole? However, the trial did help me…it made me realize that if you are going to dig a bottomless pit, you start from the top!

Scouting your opposition is the best job in the whole world. It has its own perks…but above all it just give you a feeling of stalking your prey…and then as all hunters do, you get to pounce on it and kill it for good….the trials were only just the beginning…I wasn’t even interested in convicting them you know….I wanted them to pay…Pay for the little “fun” they had in recovering the money my wife owned them…These people were definitely weird! They moved in packs and so close to one another, they would make a gay parade look like a jog in the park! Boy, the “bodyguards” were a bunch of sissies…No guts…The 1^st one of them cried like a little girl left alone at a fuel station by her mommy when I slit his throat…Mind you, people say that the 1^st kill is always the difficult one…That’s just a bunch of bull, for me, the 1^st kill came shortly after the judge laid down the law while munching on the cash stashed in his wallet…It was nice and easy…This a**hole was having an ham burger outside a church that day…I walked up to him and said, “How you doing mate?” and bam! I f**ked his face with a baseball bat…Then all that was standing between him and death was his skin….tough hide that SOB had…took quite an effort to get it ripped open!

Well the unique thing about life is that whenever you do something out of the ordinary, your name suddenly gets into circulation. This henchman was just one small guy but the novice that I was, I left traces of my presence during his death!! The one thing I learnt then was to clean up before you leave no matter what business you do!! Anyways, the gang who crapped all over my wife became aware of my presence as a merciless killer and they did try to get their hands on me. Do you know the funny side? I wanted them to do it!

So, I waited, whaling my time away at a cheap diner on a happening Friday night, when another “bodyguard” came by to pick me up. I obliged, keeping him in the dark about my true intentions. He took me inside the car and locked the door. That was the last act he carried out in his life, becoz with a 12 inch machete inside his stomach, going gutful work would be really difficult! Just as I was cleaning the knife off his expensive Red coloured suit, his phone rang…The gentleman that I am, I checked who was calling. The understanding of that answer was the real bomb! Its not everyday you find out that your latest victim is the son of the top dog!

Oh well, that was it. I knew that moment itself that the end was here. The swansong was about to be sung and my machete just helped in fine tuning the orchestra. The top dog was devastated. He wanted revenge and he wanted it quickly. My mouth was watering with the proposition, but you know me, I don’t like to do anything stupid. So I asked for a meeting, again same diner same time tomorrow. I promised the topdog that I would be at my best behavior and would leave my knife at home. The mistake was – I didn’t ask him to do the same.

So, there I was, alone and waiting for the top dog to arrive. The clock struck 9 and he arrived, but with his entire fleet!! The diner had to bare a very hefty repair cost as I spent the next 20 mins bouncing off walls, tables, glass! My a** was kicked to a bloody pulp but I wasn’t killed…yet…You know what? That was his mistake!!heheehahahahahehehahehahaahha

Anarchy: A.Joker Story - 4

2009-07-04T10:22:00.001+05:30

Chapter 4: The Make-over

The 1st thing I remember after been tossed and f**ked like a turkey on Thanksgiving Day was the heavy thud on the head when I woke up! How many times have I told people not to do that as it makes the victim very fuzzy!! As my eyes got acclimatized to the light in the room, I heard the top dog coming into it! For around 30 mins, that guy was barking about how precious his son was to him and what I would be made to undergo just to understand the pain!! The mother f**ker forgot the fact that the predicament was on him beocz of his choosing. I never asked him to come over and put a few bullets in her!

A rusted nail tests awful, especially if it is mixed with your blood. As usual, I learnt this interesting trivia the hard way! This huge man came in through the door after the presidential speech showered on me by the top dog. He got in, removed his gloves, opened a box which had been arranged for him and brought out 4 rings each with a small nail in place of a diamond which I had expected! That really got me giggling! If those nails were brand new, he would have looked like the most hideous cross dresser in history! He put those on and came closer to me, laughing as he does it! With a huge chuckle, he let me have it, right on the mouth above the jaw bone! The funny part about his punches was that he didn’t just hit me, he brushed his thick a** fist on my mouth to inflict pain. This program continued for about 15 odd mins where he just rearranged my facial features as a top class plastic surgeon. Continuous punching does takes its toll, especially on a hefty guy, fat a** was out of breath before you knew it!! Looking at his face, my smiled with what was left of my lips and said “Why So Serious!!!”

The biggest trick the devil ever pulled was to prove to the world that he didn’t exist. Well the biggest trick I ever pulled was to escape with my dangling face from that basement when the helpful considerate guard brought some water when I asked for it. However, instead of taking a smart decision to go out and fight another day, I took it on myself to take my newly acquired smile and finish his once and for all. So, I borrowed the gun from the lifeless guard along with a few rounds of ammo and went out as they say “All guns blazing!!” I was supremely disappointed and insulted! Only 20 people in the house to watch over me? I did quick work of them but didn’t wait around to savor the moment of their passing as I was in a hurry to get to the top dog.

That jackass was in his bedroom trying to get over his son’s death by having some girls around for enjoyment! It was extremely easy! I took the last few rounds left and put all of them in his gut….even donated a few to the naked ladies in the room. They tell me that I was continuously firing bullets at the corpses of those people long after their deaths!! At one point the ammo was finished and the only sound that was coming was of me laughing my a** off with my figure glued to the trigger!! I think it took 3 Policemen to convince me or rather force me to release the gun and end all the fun that I was having! Revenge is indeed sweet, but mine was just as tasty as blood.

This entire fiasco was not my doing. I was just an accountant, leading a normal life but the system, the people, the criminals did this to me! I was innocent! These were the lines which the police wanted me to say but all that I could say to them was heehehahahahahehahahahahahaheha.

Anarchy: A.Joker Story - 5

2009-06-29T10:18:00.003+05:30

Chapter 5: New Home

Well this is how I got into this court room, in front of this judge, who according to my calculations right now should be severely dehydrated right now! Everyone was convinced that I was psychotic. But I begged to differ. Psychosis is an obsession of madness. It is like a hangover of permanent kinds where you just go out and bang up people literally and figuratively. You are just a screw up screwing around with people’s mind becoz your mind is not large enough to house the devilry that is psychosis. But I aint all this. I am just a bird in the free sky. I just keep on flying and dump out all the people who come in my way. I am not a psychopath. I am just a man with a plan.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, in summary the jury has pleaded the accused guilty of all charges applied onto him by the State of California. As Mr Chester doesn’t wish to appeal against the charges laid down on him and considering the situation under which the crime has been committed. It is wise not to sentence Mr Chester to county jail for a long jail term. Considering that the accused is suffering from a mental paranoia of mass murder, I would be sentencing him to a mental asylum for a period of 3 years. During this time, it is expected that his paranoia be cleared and then on completion of the treatment, he be moved to County Jail where he would be then serving out his life sentence”

Just as the Judge brought the hammer down, a very familiar look dawned on me. I smiled, I laughed. I smiled so hard that the bandage covering half of my f**king face slowly turned scarlet and then deep hot rod red! But the audience didn’t share my enthusiasm; they got afraid, very afraid!

“Respected Judge and Jury members, here I sit before you as an Accused. But who made me that way? Your system aint it? I don’t blame you. You had a job and you did it to perfection. Just that, perfection here isn’t the one which can be taken in the positive spirit. I believe that human are just like a pack of cards...all dependent on each other…all toppled by each other. In a system like this, fairness always takes the high road which goes straight to hell and takes along with it, individuals not playing by the rules. But in a system modeled on the pack of cards, a Joker is the only one which doesn’t abide by any rules, makes his own rules and can topple anyone in his path! heheheehehehahahahaheheahahah”

Well, my speech didn’t really melt any hearts, but it did make me undergo another mouth stitching process! A few days into the joint, I came to know that I would be shifted to a very famous yet notorious facility in a place called Gotham. The joint’s name was arkham. Sounds like a good place to start a new relationship. At the end of this episode I truly and deeply feel that correcting the system is like sticking your hand into mud. All you are going to get on your hands is crap with a scent of things but the mud remains..in fact the mud becomes even more black with each hand!!! So, the best way to deal with such system is to bend it…bend it to the extent that it breaks and when the air clears, you only have 1 rule…..URS!! ahehehahahahehehehahahahahah

26/11

2009-02-15T23:28:00.002+05:30

“Good Morning”, I said in a sleepy voice. It is the middle of the week and as any office goer, I am having mixed feelings about going to office today. Adding to this was the fact that today is my wedding anniversary. It was 5 years ago when I married my Romi (against my parents wishes) and brought her to this house. Its been a long journey and there is still more to go!!! Today is her day. Today is her special day. Her sacrifice on this day 5 years ago was nothing as compared to anything I have done in my life. She left everything for me and trusted me. So, based on only this fact, I can credit this day to her and her only. Now Rohan, my 3 and half year old son is the current apple of her eye but today I might just get that place from him….on lease :)

“You are up early today”, she said in her soft humming voice. Yes, 7 am is a bit early for me.

“Yes dear, today is our day! I wanted to spend as much time as I could with you!”

“Yea, I know, I know, that’s why you are planning to goto office na?” she said in a sarcastic tone!

“You know the situation na. Things are getting bit difficult around here and I as manager, need to ensure that my neck is safe! I would have taken a leave today but…” I said in a slightly apologetic tone. It is true that today I should have taken a leave. But the world is such right now that I cannot afford one. Else they would just ask me to sit at home!!

“Here is something for you. Nothing to make amends for me not taking leave but something which we can look forward to soon” I gave her a nicely wrapped envelope. This is something which I was planning for….A weekend getaway to Kerala. “This can be our second honeymoon!!!!”

“Come on now, don’t butter me, you still aren’t forgiven for your office today. Try to come home early.” She said in a very magnetic voice, something which often pulls me to her.

“I would not promise anything but would try my best. Tell you what, tonight, we would go out for a drive around Carter Road and Bandstand, a nice romantic drive post Rohan’s bed time. Mom can watch over while we are out!” I said with a hint of smile.

“It’s a deal Sammy dear!”

Breakfast was awesome as usual and I enjoyed every piece of it. Romi has that special touch for special occasion. Her daily stuff tastes just that good on a day like today. Kissing her and Rohan, I said bye to my mom. Today I have an important meeting.

“Hmm, 9:15 am, I think I can catch the 9:25 am local to CST” I said to myself in a bid to motivate. I got moving and finally reached on time on platform 3. I met my friend Sunil there. Both of us managed to get into the local and reached our office.

“Its lunch time!!” I exclaimed! The presentation which we just had was impeccable. Boss loved it and gave us the approval for the necessary funds to pull it out!!

“This calls for a celebration. Lets all go to Pizzera. I know it is a bit far, but what the hell, my anniversary party along with the funding approval one, lets club it”. I said to Sunil and a few of the people who really made it happen today. I am feeling a part of a team today, so much so that I can see their happiness and club it with mine. Everyone has and have been working hard on this and it has finally beared the fruits of success!

Once the lunch was done, I told Sunil “Dude, I have to slip out, need to buy Romi some sari or something. Just to cover up for today”

“You do feel a hell lot guilty. Don’t worry, she is a smart girl. She will understand”

“I know, but she also deserves a piece of this success. After all she tolerated my absence!!”

Its been an hour and finally I have found the most perfect salwar suit for her. She is going to look fabulous today! It is bit expensive but no worries, she would really enjoy it! I am dead sure!

Day’s over now. Its late. Almost 9 now. Romi would most certainly kill me now. Since lunch, it just has been a rollar coaster of a day. Approvals and approvals and more approvals!!! I never knew a simple funding request needed to be routed to so many people once it has been authorised! However, no complains as it is a learning experience non-the-less.

“Hey, Sam, do you want me to drop you? I know its late. I will get you to CST station, will speed up your home reaching!” Adi said while he saw me hurriedly packing my stuff.

“Yaar, I could really use that lift. Thanks mate” I said. Gathering all my stuff, I started walking alongside Adi. All my energy is focussed now on meeting my Romi!

“Thanks again dude, helping me get to station so quickly is really a bonus. I can now manage to catch an earlier train” I said to Adi.

“Aare, no probs mate. I know you would also have done the same” Adi said. He is a nice chap and is shaping his career as almost how I have. Nice to see someone so motivated by me :)

Well now all I have to do is reach home, go to Romi, beg for forgiveness and hope that she is just as kind to me as she is to Rohan when he makes a mistake. Hope she likes the suit I got for her, he wont be surprised but still a surprise gift is a gem!! I can almost see – Hey, what is that noise? Heard like some gun shots, is it some encounter?

It was then I saw them. 3-4 guys firing mercilessly at will on others. I can see a guy stuck and wanting to escape. I should help him.

“Dost, tum yahase likhlo” I told him pointing towards the narrow road which linked to the other side. I will follow him out and run as far away from this place.

Oh no!! The shooter in the navy blue t shirt and cargo pant just saw me. I have to run. I have to reach ho-----------------------------------------------------------------.

Writer note: This is dedicated to all those people who lost their lives in the attacks on Mumbai. My heart goes out to everyone’s family and friends who lost their love ones and lost their supports in sickness and in health. May god help all of them and take special care.

Valentine @ KFC

2008-12-29T12:20:00.000+05:30

Valentine day is a day of expression. You express your love for that someone special. In other words, it is a day on which record number of people say “I LOVE U” and hope to say the same a year later to hopefully the same person. This day is the most planned of all days in the entire calendar. Everything from “good mornings” to “good nights” is planned well in advance. Important office/college work is kept on hold just so that the mornings and nights are not only good but excellent.

The planning is not only confined to the people who do a “celebration” of love but also by the resource providers. Who are they you may ask? These are no one but the florist, Archie’s gallery, hallmark people who sell stuff at higher prices on this day with a view to recover all their year’s costs! All in the name of providing your respective love one day of happiness which should be enough to last for a year (even though you don’t care to express it for the next 364 days).

But ultimately it is the pressure to conform to such rituals which drives all couples to conjure various routes of expression. Hence I set out on a journey of self righteousness to find a way to provide the most perfect articulation of love. Heavy isn’t it??
It was my 1st valentine and I made the biggest rookie mistake – I forgot to plan! So here I was on 12th February amidst high valentine day inflation to create a plan out of nothing. Then in a “Home Alone” kind of way, I drew up a baby plan to support the cause. Flowers in the morning, good happiness lunch in the afternoon, snacks on the house and then a lavish dinner. Pls don’t ask for the quotations for this plan. Let’s just say that if there was anything more than this, I would have most certainly required to take a small loan or something from friends, family, RBI etc.

“Ye bouquet ka 300 rupees hoga sahib (this bouquet is for Rs 300 sir)” barked the extremely busy florist. 300 bucks for something I would call a small twig planted in a takeaway pav bhaji style plastic container with a few roses who most certainly passed their prime (they might as well have been last year’s valentine day rejects). When I complained about the sky high price and quality, the florist replied “2 din pehle toh aisa hi hota hai, kya aapka pehla hai kya? Log toh pehle se hi order kar lete hai! Dekhiye Bhabhiji ko kush karna ho toh ye chal jayega…nahi toh thoda aur paise dalke “MEGA Bouquet” le sakte ho. Ek Cadbury iske saath free hai (you will get such prizes 2 days prior to V-day. I think this is your 1st time. Others do ordering in advance. Let me tell you something, add some more money, get this bouquet on which you get a Cadbury free!)”. WOW!! Valentine day combo offer from a florist for my lady love!!! There can be nothing more uncomfortable than to discuss what my lady love would like and what not with a florist!

Then with a lot of lightness in my wallet (around 350 rupees lighter – 50 rupees “special delivery charges”) I gave the florist the address of delivery and then went off. On 13th February, I realized another fact – I haven’t purchased any gift!!!! Getting off my bus @ 9:15 pm, I rushed to Archies gallery fearing that it might be closed. But no, it was open, special valentine day thing where they remain open for a fairer part of the night for bakras like me who forget stuff! They guys at such shop are really laid back people who know that I am the person in need and would give any prize to escape the wrath of my lady love. They have catalogue specially placed to confuse you and put you in a bigger dilemma – what to get!! Finally after going through the entire catalogue for more than 45 minutes, I got a gift which would ensure that I am safe for at least a year.

So the day finally arrived, my 1st valentine day!!! Morning was perfect. I got up, called her in order to make her day ;). Then I got my 1st shock, the florist who was suppose to reach her place by 8 am was late by a big way!! Maybe the logistics calculation went wrong somewhere!! Anyways, I was at a loss, 350 bucks on a bouquet and no smile on her face - a raw deal indeed. I liaised with her roommate to ensure that she was late that day. The place worked and they got the bouquet on the road to office! A smile on the face which implied 350 rupees well spent!

Lunch and snacks went to plan and through my wallet! Office was a breeze that day as most of the people were either busy forwarding valentine day emails or on call with their respective partners. Basically, telecom industry works and toils hard for this day!! Surprisingly this day doesn’t see any network congestion or sms delay! It’s like they flip a switch to get that extra spectrum for such times!!

Anyways, after an eventful day @ office, we left for dinner which highlighted my second mistake – No reservations! Guys and girls, let me tell you something, you can forget the flowers, gifts and cards, but you cannot afford to forget reservation, single most important aspect on valentine day - something which can make or break your day, something which puts the “!” mark or “?” mark on your love commitment!!

However, this was my second mistake and I had to deal with it. We went to a restaurant and asked for a table for 2. When explained about the absence of a reservation, the guy at the reception gave a chuckle and asked us to wait for a very small duration of time – 90 mins - to get a table. Sighting some good opportunities on the horizon, we left the 1st place and went to another one. Slowly, slowly, the horizon became an oasis and the prospect of having a nice fun filled dinner was looking like a remote possibility.

Finally, the most regrettable decision was taken and we headed over to KFC for our valentine day dinner. The shock of my life would have been a waiting list for that place also, but God isn’t that cruel. KFC, Macdonalds are places made for boneheads like us who forget the 1 important things on a day like this. So, there I was, in KFC, at a small table, biting in on a freshly oiled chicken drumstick and pushing towards her the gift of Valentine! She was happy!! After a very average day, she was happy and that put the “!” mark in the relationship!

I would never forget this day on 2 counts, it taught me the very beautiful yet often ignored art of planning and KFC chicken is really good!!!!!!

Why Do I even bother?

2008-07-04T09:36:00.000+05:30

As i loved along the road,
Looking behind like an eager toad.

There she was, the angel of my dreams walking,
Carefully stroking her hand as on the phone, she kept on talking

Slowly i reduced my pace,
As she came close to me, my heart began to race.

But alas, I saw her with the class bully!!
I started devicing methods to get rid of him fully!

Luck finally became came to me like a moth to a flame,
the bully went to his friends who were also very lame!

In quick time now minus the phone, she caught up with me,
She was besides me, all for me to see

She looked at me and gave a big inviting smile,
but clumsy as she is, she tripped, dropping her file!

I jumped at the chance and offered to help,
I picked up her file which made me feel good about myself!

She was grateful and acknowledged the fact that i assisted
Her eyes met mine and the smile on my face persisted.

She looked at me and was sure to say something sweet,
I had summed up the courage now to ask for a coffee meet!

She said with a open heart, "Your so sweet, your just as helpful and cute as my little brother!"
I thought with a broken heart, "Oh,my god! Why do i even bother!"

The Will of the Heart

2008-06-19T22:33:00.000+05:30

The door bell rang. Shilpa, sobbing as ever, got up to open the door. She was crying since last yesterday. She had a big fight with Aneesh, the guy she was in a relationship with for 8 years over some decisions of future which either of them weren’t agreeing to. Although the decisions to be taken were straight forward, they did have a direct effect on the way both of them had perceived their married life to be.

The argument grew and went totally out of proportion eventually leading to a thought of breaking up for the better. This dented Shilpa bringing her to tears, which haven’t left her eyes ever since their arrival.

The door bell rang again. She had to clean her face thoroughly to remove any signs of the sadness that was on it just a few moments ago. Once she was prepared to face whosoever was at the door, she turned the latch.

As soon as she got a glimpse of the person who was waiting to come in, she couldn’t hold her tears back. It was Aneesh. All the emotions of yesterday which she thought had drained off with the tears came back.

Aneesh: “Can I come in? I think we need to talk”

Aneesh, who is usually neatly dressed, was looking bit ragged in his outfit. Clearly a sign of how much he also was affected by yesterday’s fight

Shilpa: “Yes..” she squeaked while trying to control another round of uncontrollable tears
Aneesh entered and sat down on the sofa. After closing the door, she also settled down emotionally and found a place on a sofa chair near to Aneesh.

Aneesh: “Love, I know what happened yesterday was not right. So what if we had a disagreement but that shouldn’t have caused us to end something which is so beautiful? Something which we have treasured and dreamt about for the last 8 years?”

Shilpa: “I know Aneesh. But we want different things. Just that we didn’t realize this earlier……”

Aneesh: “Agreed Shils. But considering that we knew each other for so long, I think we should have found a common path for us to work this out. You know how passionately I think about our future. You know that our future has always been the pivotal point over which all my plans/activities have revolved right?”

Shilpa:”Ani, I know. I understand. But I was scared. I don’t want us to end up in a tough spot in the future. That’s what I wanted to tell you since long!”

Aneesh:”We wouldn’t have ended up in a tough spot. Both of us were well off. You personally had a lot to look forward to. Now, that I think about it, I feel that you should pursue your dream and during the course of that pursuit, find ways to ensure that your love ones are taken care of and are secure.”

Shilpa:”Its easy to ask me to pursue my dreams but you know every well that it wont be possible if I get married to you”

Aneesh:”That should not be a problem. I wont pressure you to marry me now. You can complete your thing 1st. Remember dear, no matter what you do and how you do it, I would always love you and be there with you. I would want you to ensure that your life is set before you get married”

Just as Shilpa was going to say something, her cell phone rang. However, there was something different about the ring. She went inside the room to closely hear the ring tone. That was the time she realized that it was infact Aneesh’s ringtone!! Bit annoyed, she came out and looked around but no one was there. She picked up the call. The voice from the other side destroyed her completely.“Madam, I found this phone next to your friend. He has met with an accident and in his last few dying moments, he wanted to talk to you. Are you his family?”

The Last Phone Call

2008-06-19T09:47:00.000+05:30

A cell phone rings. We fade in on the cell phone light which can be seen coming from the pocket of a young man who seems to be enjoying his sleep on a garden bench. However, the buzzing and the ringing of the phone broke his sleep and compelled him to answer the ring.

The caller: “Happy Birthday Arjun! Wake up! It’s your birthday. 25 years ago, around 4 hours from now, you made your way into this world. How does it feel Arjun? How does it feel to share your birthdate and time with the 1 person who ensured your existence in this world? The 1 person whose name you take in 1 form or the other and whose word you abide by? Well Arjun, this is your lucky day, you are going to meet him today!”

Arjun: Hello!! Who the hell this is! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh

Caller: Now now Arjun, do not work yourself up. You do not want to meet your God early do you?

Arjun (in a scared tone): What?? What are you saying??

Caller: hahahahahah. I am merely saying what you are destined to be! You are destined to meet the person whose number is all over your birthdate!! Yes Arjun, you have a date to keep. A date with god!!

Arjun: Oh no..no non no no n o !

Caller: Don’t deny that you cannot negate. However, as I would eventually step into God’s shoes, I should show some of his world renowned mercy also! As it is now, you have a small needle placed in your lungs! Any heavy breathing, friend, and you would be as flat as a punctured tyre! However, that is not the only problem you have got on your hands. A couple of kilometres away from the park, we have your girlfriend hanging upside down and tentatively scheduled to be submerged in acid!! You can save her though. All you have to do is cycle your way down to the shop and have your love! Would you do it? Do it for your love? Location is mentioned on the cycle handle. You have 30 mins. Please try not to be late! – The call disconnects!

Arjun: Hello!..ahhh. (now shouts)..helllllllllloooooooooo.ahhhhhhhhhhh

Thoughts and sweat both running fast all over Arjun’s head! All he had to do was to cycle all his way to his girlfriend and she would be safe. However, now he realized the catch. The 2 km stretch was a ride up the hill!!!
Mustering all his courage he started peddling up the hill. He could feel the needle, teasing the side of his lungs with every breath. The feeling of being slowly peeled open was gripping him. By the time the 1st km was over, the needle did the job it was kept in for! It pierced his lungs!

Arjun collapsed on the ground. He knew his time was up! However, he had to get up! He had to save his girlfriend! He got up and with awesomely great difficulty he made his way to the top of the hill and entered the house where his beloved was kept. Opening the door, he collapsed. Too much internal injuries had caused him to be on the verge of death!
He looked around! He couldn’t see anyone. Just then, his phone rang again!

Caller: Do you think I am barbaric? How could you even think that I would harm someone not born on the 7th of July? Good night my friend, may you give the God company he needs during his retirement!hahahahahah – Chunk. The call as well has Arjun’s last few breaths are cut!

A Day in 2 Diaries

2008-02-21T14:07:00.000+05:30

Girl’s Diary:

“Dear Diary. Today was an interesting date in my life. It began with the most melodious tune, my favourite song, my secret favourite song (the one I don’t disclose to others). `Bazigaar..Oh Bazigaar`. I really enjoy this song. I feel that the special one is just around the corner. And you know what I think I found him today.

Well I will come to that later. I got up, did my usual morning routine. I went out to jog in the park, enjoyed my music, came back, had the most beautiful bath possible and then sat down for my look of the day. After pondering for a good amount of time, and after trying out a dozen hair styles, I went for the `Kate Winslet from titanic meets Kate Winslet from Finding Neverland` hairdo. I was looking so beautiful today! I am so proud of myself!

Taking this getup to college was like taking a fat guy to dance! It was such a waste of time! Anyways, I had to do what I had to do. I attended all the lectures today. Not becoz I wanted to but becoz I had to! Attendance was low and had to prep it up! But luck was in my favour, all lectures had professors whom I don’t despise. A very rare occurrence indeed!!!J. Anyways, once college was done with, another piece of good news came my way; no practicals!!!! I was so happy. Immediately I called my gang and all of us went to Mocha for a blast. Boy I was glad I decided to go there!

He was sooo cute!!! I really adore him!!!! He had the sweetest smile that can be offered!! Well he came in while we had ordered our 1st round of coffee (low fat of course). He came and sat on a table in front of me. He kept looking at me for a long time. Then finally he I think made up his mind to come and talk to me. But since the gang was there, he was a bit shy. I understood that and pushed out and went to the counter. To my liking, he followed me there!!!! He said `Hi, My name is Akaash. I am in Dr Pai’s Maths class, same as your batch` I giggled. He was just magic. I said yea and just started talking. I know I am not the kind of person who would just start talking to strangers but this guy felt right. He was sweet, cute, kind and loveable; oops did I think too much? :)

He has promised to meet me tomorrow night, Saturday night! He is taking me out to have a nice dinner. Hope he sweeps me off my feet!!! I was in his spell the entire journey home, had dinner but under his enchantment!! God, please let him be the one for me! Good night! Bye!”

Guy’s Diary:

“Hi, I had a reasonably good day. I met a hot chick at mocha while I was waiting for Romi. She was so sexy and hot. Had a bit weird hairdo, but I think that was a one off thing. She bought the class thing which I told her, gosh girls are just so easy! Well she has decided to go out with me which reminds me to cancel my plans with Romi. The guys should know about this. I would get some popularity points for sure. Akaash-The guy who is double dating!!! Now that’s Kewl! :))”

Appraisal Time!

2008-02-21T14:05:00.000+05:30

The situation was tensed. Everyone had gathered in the lobby waiting for their chance to go in. People were going and coming down in a hurry. Curious faces in the lobby wanting to ask the people going in and going out of the room about the status. One of the curious faces was of mine.

I was really tensed and serious about the outcome. I had been looking forward for this day from the past year now. I was especially concerned about this day from the last 2-3 months when the hard ships had increased. I was thinking if my efforts in keeping things good and comfortable for others had helped in any way. I was only hoping that the outcome should be beneficial not only to me but to everyone in my family.

I looked down the line which I originated. Everyone was pounding their fists to their hands, moving around in anticipation that my name would be called and then eventually their own. This added to my nervousness standing at the helm of the room. It was like a runner at the start line; when will the gun would be fired, the flag would be waved and he would start running towards his destination!

Finally the door opened, and the person I wished to see most came out with a smile on his face.

“Congratulations!!!! You have been promoted. From a loving husband you have now become a proud father!” The doctor gave the most blessed news I had heard this year!

My Angel….

2008-02-14T00:39:00.000+05:30

This article is dedicated to the love of my life....My Angel....

All through his childhood, Sam was a loner…never mingling with people…always wanting to be by himself…I would look at him as being an independent person….whenever he used to be brought into company he used to be very witty and a sport as well…..

That was Sam, on the other hand, Romi was the coolest chick in the house!!! Acting like a typical blonde coming out of a teen movie from hollywood, she was so opposite in real life…Smart, dynamic and sharp but a controlled loud mouth….She wasn’t the apple of everyone’s eye but whenever she met a sad individual she used to cheer him/her up like Sunflowers glazing in the morning sun!

These 2 hardly interacted in school and junior college…Even harder to believe when I reveal that both of them had adjacent roll numbers throughout school and both belonged to the same group!!!! Well the trend continued in college as well and then came a time when everyone of us had a decision to make….Post 12th std, everyone wanted something different in their life….Sam was more of the techy guy, so naturally engineering was the way to go for him…whereas Romi took the most surprising decision of them all, going in for dentistry as a profession!! They last met during their farewell party that year….The exchange of words was brief and quick:
“So best of luck for your studies, heard it is very difficult na..engg?” Romi tried to make a conversation…”Yea it is…but am looking forward to it..Congrats and all the best for your choice of career, its going to be exciting for u as well” Came the prompt reply…”You always have been mysterious…I will make it a point to run into you sometime in the future” She said….”Me too”. He quietly ended the conversation…

A good 6 years pass, after degree got over, Sam joined an IT firm whereas Romi started her internship at a local dentist clinic….

“Hi I have an appointment for 10:15 am?” Sam spoke to the receptionist…”This is killing me, requesting you to please attend to quickly”..Over the years, Sam’s outlook towards interaction seemed to have changed…”Madam, a patient for u to see…he is kinda in pain” The US sentiment in the exchange evident! “Yea send him in, lets see what he has got” Came an answer from inside…Sam went inside and sat on the seat “Sammy, is that you?” Romi shouted, “Finally after 7 years we meet and the thanks for that goes to your obviously decayed tooth!!! The chances of that to happen!!” She was good and he knew it…“6 years Romi, and yes it has been a long time..by the looks of it, you haven’t changed…Dentistry or not you would always be chirpy!” Sam in his usual sedate manner… “Yea I think they made Munnabhai and looking at the way I move around my college, the mammu style was the only thing they invented themselves!!! “ Both of them smiled and then seeing each other smile, laughed aloud!! “This is the 1st time I have ever seen u laugh!!Gosh you have changed” Romi made an uncharacteristic remark!
Then it came..on the dentist chair as she was drilling into his mouth, their eyes met and Sam said “We need to catch up…can we meet for coffee sometime in this week?” Without breaking eye contact, Romi said “You know na, too much coffee is not good for your teeth?..But I never cared about such thing ever!!” Again a sync laughter followed where she almost drilled into his tongue :)

1 coffee outing turned into multiple ones, Sam and Romi used to meet, discuss life in general and then make their way home, carry on with their lives and like this 7 months passed….One day Sam couldn’t make it for their weekly coffee and requested Romi to come to dinner with him…They met at the restaurant they had planned to….Romi was looking very beautiful that night, Sam was looking like a gentleman himself….”Sam, whats the occasion today? Why did u want to meet today, we could have met tomorrow as well na” Romi inquired, curious as she was…” it’s a special day, can I explain to you the significance?” Sam replied…”Yea yea, sure”

“Romi, sometimes in life, things don’t happen for a reason, they are made to happen that way, I still remember an angel walking into my class room, her eyes as beautiful as black pearls in snow, her hair, all bunched up like a long flowing waterfall, her attitude, as if someone won a million bucks!! I was totally floored!! I followed her throughout school, noticed her, admired her whenever she was in front of me, never missed my attendance as I went up just as she did….But I was scared, scared that she might not accept me, never spoke to her, showed an uptight attitude, but still she kept coming to me…talked to me….smiled with me…For the past 6 years, I have been building up the courage, never attended reunions just becoz I didn’t want to face her till I am ready, but kept a tab on her through friends..what is she doing, how is she fairing…where has she been employed…A cavity could have been taken care of at the very beginning but I kept it to rot just so that I could find the exact clinic, to come back, to show her that in life, there are no coincidences, no destiny, just love and a desire to be with her, to go at length just to meet her again and tell her this…on the very day 18 years ago, an angel, my angel walked into my life and here I am asking her, the most important question of my life… Will you partner me in this journey called life and make it paradise?”

“Yes I will Sammy, I will”

Need Change?

2008-02-08T14:18:00.000+05:30

It was salary day….smiles all around….everyone checking their bank accounts and seeing a pleasant sight….a lot of cash in their kitty…like small kids eagerly awaiting to open their piggy bank, they all dream of withdrawing cash, hard cash…make their pockets heavy again so that they can party….again. With such ambitions I too made my way to the ATM counter….i had a host of things I needed to do with my withdrawal…”ahh, finally all my debts settled today!!!”….I went to the ATM machine…as expected, there were around 7-10 people in line for withdrawal…I was expecting this…and had brought my cell phone along for some gaming…..

After around 15 mins my chance finally came to get the dough…..during the course of these 15 mins, I saw a lot of happy faces…faces which reminded me of cats when they have had a lot of milk and are ready to go into the sun for a nice warm sleep….at ease....I entered the room and came out happy…I had a rocking 5K in my pocket (I had a lot of debts to settle this month) and had a lot of places I could spend it….

A day passed, and I revisited my wallet and was shocked to see the sight…a very gruesome one, total devastation…I had only 500 rupees!!! And the worst thing was…it was only a single 500 rupee note!!!! I was terrified…Getting a change is a mammoth task in a city like Mumbai!! But I kept my cool…it was snacks time so I went downstairs to canteen where I knew the owner would give me the change I most desperately needed..and I got it 4 cool 100 rupee notes and the change for the rest….it was so easy…….for now…

Next morning, I had to goto office, so I set out on my mission…got onto a bus…and was busy humming the songs thrown out by my radio….the conductor came and asked for hafta (read bus fare)..i checked my wallet to find that there were four 100 rupee notes waiting to be pulled out…I pulled out one and gave it to the conductor….An expression which would make a monkey (not used racially here) smile and giggle came on the face of the conductor…. “Chutta nahi hai kya?” (I don’t have change) came the thunderous voice (along with some spots of spits) on me….I gave a classic clueless look to which he said “tu logon ko chute paise rakhne mein kya jata hai” (what will happen for u to keep change?)…with a lot of arguing, he finally gave me a change to the 1st of four hundred rupees….

Weekend came and so did the next peril….how to get a change from an autorickshaw for my 2nd black pearl!!! The drivers never seem to carry any change….everytime it is a new excuse…”today I didn’t get any fare”…”just now I gave all my changes to that person” etc etc…u name it and they have the excuse…anyways so here I was with a 100 rupee note in my hand going around asking for change…I asked the paan bidi shop guy, a barber, cobbler, coffee shop, general stores…u name it, I asked it!!! Finally when I achieved the distinction of being a begger with 100 rupee note, I got the change I needed…came another very convenient mistake..”I don’t have even coin change”..so finally I had to donate 4 extra rupees to the rickshaw who left with a end to end smile on his face…

I kept on repeating my mistakes, after a few days, i bought the most expensive chewing gum I could ever….from a general stores, I got a chewing gum and popped it into my mouth and as I checked my wallet, horror struck!! No change to pay for the gum!! The shop owner, lazy as he was, gave a look which can easily give our angry politicians a run for their money and screamed “2 rupee ke chewing gum ke liye 100 rupee nikalte ho!!!” I tried a lot, argued, even offered to carefully package the chewing gum back and give it to him but he was adamant…he had a sole purpose in life…he desperately wanted to earn that 2 rupees and also didn’t want to fork out the change for the 100…

Finally since I was in a hurry to reach office, I had to give in and had to buy a stuff worth 37 rupees so as to get change I wanted….Finally when I reached office, I had a surprise! Something which I had forgotten…I forgot that my friend had borrowed 400 rupees from me and he was waiting to give it back!!! I got very excited and happy and removed my wallet…at the back of mind I made a promise to myself…to ensure I have change as I have in my pocket right now….Thats when I landed back at square 1!!! My friend gave me a 500 rupee note, took the hundred rupee note from my wallet and ran off to catch his bus….

Broadband…..Anyone!

2008-02-08T14:14:00.000+05:30

All my life I was a humble follower of the dial up internet service which was provided by our govt affiliated firms…never in my school and college life did I feel the need for speed…A download rate of 3.5-4KBps was enough for me….This internet access I carried forward into my office life also where I got 1st hand exposure to the fast pace evolution of broadband…..Ah! the speed, the quick downloads, no more click-and-get-a-coffee-till-site-opens funda! I finally had a desire….a desire to promote my home internet use from dial up to broadband…

So my search began, I found that we had a variety of ways to get an efficient and affordable broadband connection. My searches were very intense and took around a month to zero down to the more reliable ISPs in the market….While my research was going on, I found a new ray of home….I came to know that there is a ISP in UK who provides broadband at home in 5 working days with installation completing in 3 days itself!!! My hope was magnified…I made plans….Since this is India and we are 3 times slower than other developed nation, I assumed that once ordered, broadband would be gracing my desktop in max 15 days!!!

I called up a number of ISPs for enquiring the amount of time it would take to get me on the information superhighway at a speed of a harley! But the fun was about to begin…
Each ISP wanted to do a “feasibility study” about providing me with a broadband connection…..I provided them with all the details that could help them in this RnD they wanted to do…The address was explained in such detail that that even a blind man would have been able to turn up at my house without any help..The address details had everything, right from BEST stop to the local paan wala and banana seller (including physical description)

However, the fun was about to start….each and every ISP person told me that the “in-depth” feasibility study would take atleast 15-21 days to complete and provided me with a reference number on which I had to call back on after some days!
I saw my dreams crash as my old Pentium 1 did…in a puff of smoke….My assumptions were thrown out an English window!!! I was dishearten….and I searched even more for getting the best and quickest internet connection…

Anyways, all ISPs took their own sweet time and the results of the feasibility were finally out….after a month for all….I failed the test miserably…My house seem to reside in an alien location…something like Area 51! No one knew where I resided…and if they did manage to trace the presence of my locality, they didn’t have the means to provide me with a broadband connection…I was depressed again…but then I saw an ad in the paper which gave me hope….”Briband” yes that’s what I want to have!!! Oh my god, why didn’t I think about this before!! It was always right in front of my eyes and I never noticed!!

“HELLO” Someone screamed into the phone…

”I am interested in Briband for my house”…

”Yes Yes, everyone is” came a crisp and delightful (NOT) reply…”Exchange ka naam toh bolo” (tell me exchange name)…

”Andheri”…

”Kaunse number be chahiyeeeeeee”(which number do you want it?”…

”123445678”…

”thik hai, time lagega, 2 mahine baad phone karma tab pata chalega ki kitna time lagega!” (Call after 2 months to know the amount of time taken)…and before I could respond, the phone came down at a speed which would have put Neo to shame….

2 months went by…I called again…

”hello kya chahiye” (what do you want)…Felt as if I called some second hand shop vendor…

”I had requested for broadband 2 months from andheri exchange” ….

”hahahahahahaha, aare yahape log 6 months se wait kar rahe hai..unka number nahi
laga..aapka toh time hai” (ppl are waiting here for 6 months, ur still in line)…CLUNK!
The phone came down but this time from me!! I cursed the location where I was residing….Then I took the decision which I didn’t want to…

Cable operator is the best…”broadband” connection in 2 hours at a cost very small service time and outages at the time when most unwanted!! And guess what….8.5 months have gone and I still call up “Briband” with a hope….”Mera Number kab aayega”!!!

3 Things I knew about her

2008-01-18T12:29:00.000+05:30

Well it was the season of festivals…not any religious festivals but of college festivals…the time of the year where a bunch of super cool wannabes come together to organize a “cultural” festival to revive our dying hope of clearing the semester without any KTs. Our hopes or rather our spirits did get revived with these set of activities…but it came at a price…..no studies for a couple of weeks at least….well we preferred this opinion :)….This was the best way to cut classes and enjoy college life as we haven’t enjoyed in the past 3 years…after all engg always brought some kind of surprise in each of the past few years which prevented us from enjoying these events…but the final year wasn’t going to slip out of my hand so easily!

Anyways, we went to the auditorium to have a look at how the dance rehearsal was going on..I hated dancing…absolutely hate it..but that didn’t deter me from going there and make fun of my friend who was living out his ambition of been the twinkle toe of our group….however, once we reached the audi…our expression changed..the new girl whom everyone was talking about was there on the stage!! She looked like a goddess..beautiful black brown hair….black eyes….a smile to rival the best in show business….the mannerisms to woo any soul walking the god’s green earth…she was eternally beautiful …as usual all of us flocked to the stage to get a closer glimpse of this new age marvel…swear to god she looked divine….angel on earth…but as is the case with good looking girls, this girl also came with a tag….rather a DO NOT DISTURB (read “I am reserved”) sign invisible to teachers and non flirtu people but visible from a long distance to romeos like us….Since she was new, no one knew her…all that was known is that her name was Snehal and she was an NRI migrated from US to India and into our college becoz her dad lost loads of money in business…

Anyways, everyday she used to come to the audi…rehearse with few of her friends (all girl group) and go out…Everyday we used to regret…regret the fact that we should not have made fun of that girl group or we would have gain automatic entry and in turn intro with that girl!! Needless to say that the powerpuff group (girl group) would have told this beauty a thing or two about us….So my goal for the next few days was set…to find a common friend, bribe him/her into coughing up some info and then be bold enough to get urself introduced to her! All I need were 3 pieces of info….her favourite color, her favourite drink and her favourite pass time

After loads of eavesdropping, line cutting, practical missing, we finally got a lead…one of the
power puff girls had a weakness for Aamir Khan’s photos and my friend happened to have an autographed pic of his (my signature on Aamir’s photo)…So the trap was set, in the class room where no one lurches the photo of Aamir laid and approached our star informer…With admiration and a sense of achievement in her eyes and tears (yes she cried LOL) in her eyes, she took the photo, touched my handwriting (the signature) and opened pandora’s box..We got what we wanted to know….Mission accomplished!!

So the next day, I was ready…ready to impress the beauty and get an intro based on these 3 little things….With a RED colour tshirt which sported a nice little slogan (just the way she likes it), I entered our café cum canteen...looked around and found her…She was sitting next to
window trying to catch up on studies….Taking 2 bottles of Mazza I walked up to her,

“Can I sit here”….She looked up and with a weird look she said “hmmm yea….”

I sat down and with a great deal of authority interrupted her studies with…” So you fond of Agatha Christie novels??”

SMACK!!!!!!!!!! The entire canteen stood up….”I knew you would be coming….One of my friends told me that a guy dressed in Red, carrying bottle of Mazza would try and flirt with me over a couple of Agatha Christie novels…I know you guys very well….All you can think about is girls, girls girls…..”

Saying this she walked off….The entire canteen burst out into laughter…my friends came running to me…I was shocked…The little powerpuff girl had double crossed us….But a smile came on my face….The most sort after girl had just slapped my block off……

Heart Broken

2007-12-26T11:37:00.001+05:30

Shocked and stunned were his expressions as he climbed down from the water tower of his building…the lcd of his cell phone the only source of brightness at that moment….apart from that small ray of light his life seemed totally dark…his climb down felt as if he was carrying a lot of weight on his chest…..his eyes were totally dark with sorrow and his brow was totally wet with sweat….it was easily the most difficult moment of his life…His so called life partner had just left him…left him to be alone in this world

His thoughts brought him some old memories…some very refreshing memories…he could see the very beginning of his magical story….he saw the canteen unwrap in front of him…he saw her again…she was so beautiful…like a smooth candle in the wind, walking around…sharing a joke or two with her friends….he was sitting on the table opposite to her….she gave an inviting smile….he passed his physics journal towards her….hoping that she would just give it a glance….the hope which had persisted with him for a couple of weeks now…well today was his lucky day…..she opened the journal…Success!!! She saw it…the beautifully painted portrait of hers…..the pencil drawing had a small note at the bottom which read “only someone truly beautiful can be loved so much as I are”…at once her eyes were full of tears…he feared for the worst…but all his fears were lead to rest when she came over and sat next to him….hereby proclaiming that they are now together….

But now at the roof top, all the proclamation he could do is to tell the entire world how much pain was there in his heart….how many tears were shed on the water tower….as he held his t shirt to wipe his face something brushed his cheeks….he realized what it was…..he at once was teleported to the sweet memory of their 1st year getting together anniversary…he had grown a bit while she was just as beautiful as she was in the photo…..they were at a bazaar looking at some dresses for her…it was her cousin’s wedding…she was eager to marry him….they stopped at a small jewellery shop…he simply loved a pair of earring and a beautiful diamond ring while her heart was transfixed on a locket which had her initial R on it….she didn’t want such an expensive ring at that stage of their relationship…so he agreed to keep it back and just take the earring….the gifts were exchanged…the love grew!!

However, now that growth seem immaterial…he let out a big cry of pain….in that cry was hidden months of anger and anguish…..he was asking himself…why…why did he fall in the trap….how could he be so stupid…..he should have seen it coming…he should have checked it before….he should have understood the consequences of his actions….but he couldn’t help it…beauty is such a intoxicating thing!

He still remembers the incidences that occurred a couple of days ago…..the coffee shop was not that crowded….he was waiting there for her….she came in a hurry….as if someone had just set a timer on her…she didn’t have much time….he asked her to be with him…she said yes she wanted to…but this time the kind of conviction that used to be there in her voice was not there….she seemed scared…she seemed worried….but not about him……she seemed more concerned about herself…she stood up and was about to leave when he asked…..do you really want to be with me?? If yes then please do come to the college café on Saturday…he knew the café was very close to her house….but he had to take that chance….her father knew but still he loved her so he had to do it…

The entire day today morning he spent at the café…no one came….he tried her cell…no one picked up…he sat there the entire day..without food without water…love indeed makes people crazy….all these memories totalled up to the last few lines of conversation he had with her just a few moments ago…she had stuck with her dad….she decided to give up on her “love” so that her dad can marry her to some rich guy having tons and tons of money….she was rude she was brutal….she never hesitated one bit…like a mass murderer pulling a trigger she told him that it is over and she kept the phone down….She was not to be blamed for this…maybe she had her own reasons….maybe this decision would work wonders for her

Now as he stood there…hands over his head…on the edge of the terrance…and as he was about to move out..his hands opened and something fell….even in the darkness the sparkle of it was unbelievable…the ring which was not supposed to be purchased was falling……..

The last bid to Escape

2007-12-24T15:39:00.000+05:30

Terror was all over his face as he ran for it in the alley a few lanes away from his house…he was almost home but yet was very far from it….the night breeze brought with it a chill and silence which he was afraid of….like a blind man in a hurry he kept bumping into objects small and large as he made his way home….He was focusing his thoughts totally on getting home without much time to spare….

As he was running he remembered about a shortcut which he used to take when he was a kid….Although he hasn’t been living in this neighbourhood for a good part of the last decade, he was very much aware of the place how it was before….before darkness had covered the town completely…

When he had left the town, it was a very peaceful locality…dominated by middle class workers who worked on the day and enjoyed like anything during the weekend….He loved the town but when his dad for some reasons left it he had to give up on his dream….a dream to make the town he so much love, where he was born and brought up to be so self competent that even the middle class people would live like rich millionaires….But when he returned after his dad imposed exile he now thought that he shouldn’t have returned….

Smash!!!! The jump went too deep and he fell on a glasshouse roof top crash landing on top of a bed of lilies thru the glass…..He was cut all over the place…but he couldn’t stop..he didn’t have time to nurse his injuries…he had to run he had to go quickly into his house…grab his gun and some bare essentials and get out of the town as soon as possible…the scene that he witnessed was something that he could die for sure….

He ran thru the glasshouse into the open and came up to a fork in his path….”When did this happen? There was no fork at this end of the shortcut!” he thought as his mind and heartbeat were racing…The sudden noise in the distance caught his ears…the chilling breeze now was making a lot of noise…something which he was not at all comfortable with….He took a chance…he choose the path on his right as that was the direction his house was located….scampering thru the rubble he made his way out when he heard another fearful noise..The swish of a bird…a bird so big that one whip of his wing caused a gush of wind to blow towards him…hitting the back of his head, he felt the chill…..There was no escape…there was no chance in hell he had…his was the date which would be etched on his tombstone….if he ever got one…

Running thru the chosen path he landed up at a dead end!!! He was petrified!!! The wall was too high and there was no time for him to use his mountain climbing skills….he searched for a ladder in that alley..but luck is never so convenient….There was nothing but a dumpster by the way….He thought of taking a chance…He got on top of the dumpster and pushed off as if he wanted to fly!!..But to no avail…he hit the wall with his hands barely reaching the top and fell right back where he started….And then he saw it!

The big bird flew down from the sky…its eyes menacing..its flight elegant….It had marked its target in the alley….he flew down and aimed itself straight at him…then something happened…as the bird was close to the group, it transformed….and then finally it landed on him…..And when it was all said and done, all was left was a dead body with 2 holes in its neck..the vampire had done its job to perfection!

Girl Plan

2007-12-23T23:41:00.001+05:30

“Oh man she is so hot…look at the group actually…they all look so beautiful!!” my friend shouted in my ears as I was busy munching down on our canteen famous parachute sponsored hakka noodles. I gave that irritated look to him as you would give if you are disturbed watching your favourite movie but he was unfazed….she continued his stare at his pray….a fresher girl group…name of the pack leader-Romi (name changed to protect her from others)…taking the fork from my hand, he forced my attention on her..

She was really beautiful…but not my type…she was one of those who took her looks very seriously…spent hours and hours in front of her mirror and when hands were not applying lotions, combing hair, doing nail painting etc she used to spend time on the phone or the internet chatting away with all sorts of people….But my friend was all mad for her…I thought he is just getting into “hot girl-must make friendship” phase but I was wrong….as the days went on and the price of cold drinks in the canteen went on increasing, his affection for her went on increasing and was at an all time high when he came to me saying “how r u doing today…I am feeling very weird nowadays when someone is around.”

With a nervous tone I asked him “what did u do now”

“Its Romi dude, I think I am in love in her”

“hahahahahahahahahahaha…drink this thumbs up bottle in 1 go and you would get over it”

“No re…I knew you would say this..but I feel different about this one…whenever she is around me I can feel her presence, I can sense her breath, I tend to laugh at her dumb jokes…”

“Ya ya don’t get all DDLJ with me….just tell me what u want.”

“I am still gutless when it comes to talk to her, can u help me”

Here I was….totally unaware that someone like him would ask me something like that for a girl like that!!!! He was one of the best friends I had so I agreed to help.

“ Listen ok..if u agree to not do feeling vomits all over me, I will help u but you should not ask questions as to why this and why that ok?”

“Fine fine” the eagerness in his voice was so loud that even Romi who was sitting a good 100 meters away from me turned around to look!!

“Now to start things off do this, we have friendship day coming up and you have to ………”
Friendship day came and so did the nerves…”I cant do it..its very weird ..what if she misunderstands”

“don’t worry if she likes you I know how she would react”

So in the canteen the so called stud walked up to Romi and said:

“Hi Romi, My name is ******. I have been observing you in college for the last few months and I must say you are something…if you wanna know what that means, give me a call….btw happy friendship day….” Saying this he tied the friendship band on her wrist and continue “If you are really curious you know where to look for my number”

After saying this, he walked off leaving the girl shell shocked….he quickly ran out of the canteen into the bathroom on the 2nd floor and vomited his morning missal pav, omelette and coke…once his deployment was successfully completed, he came out where I provided him with his personal handkerchief. “Man I tell you she aint calling me”

“Dude she is a proud girl, she will not let u have a upper hand like that she will call in the next couple of hours becoz all she can think of right now is to get even”

3 hours went back when his phone finally buzzed. “Hi Romi here, Smart idea to put your cell number on the friendship band..i like that..but I didn’t like ur attitude…do you want to explain yourself.” The threat on the speaker phone was very precise. Mr Stud went into his bud. Then on my request he said

“Apologies for being a bit rude with you either but you only tell me how the hell I can get the attention of the most beautiful angel on earth without doing a stunt like that?”

With a slight giggle she said, “Well I got your attention. Now what?”

“Now evening coffee, at CCD, come alone and with a open mind”

“I will..you are interesting I must say. Lets see how it goes.”

“Yea lets see” He said my prompted words. After cutting the call he said, “Wow dude, she said yes for a coffee!!!”

“Now listen dude, she is not what I expected to be…she seems a nice person who gives others a chance. I helped you this much now, you are on your own”

“Dude!!! You cant leave me like this…what will I do..what will I say..what will I drink…which sandwich should I order..”

“Easy Mr. i-have-worthless-doubts. This is what you do..Be polite and a perfect gentleman. Give her the space she needs and at the same moment, show her how her life would be with you in the picture…talk about her likes and dislikes and try to make them to yours. You don’t need to agree with her on all fronts. The important thing is that you need to make her feel free when talking to you. She should be able to express herself fully. Also remember, 1st dates should not be it. This evening the focus should be only on her and during the conversation, try and see if you 2 actually are compatible or is it just an infatuation. If she finds that there is something there between you 2, she will ask you for another date. Also, please don’t tell her I was ur adviser”

“Are you crazy??? Do you think this will work???”

3 years on, I guess it worked and you know how I know? I just received their marriage invitation.

Am waiting!!!

2007-12-23T23:39:00.000+05:30

Playing the waiting game is something wise people advise us to do…but this is the literal meaning of the word… for me “waiting” word depicts the sentence “am always late and this is your punishment” But on some occasions, waiting for someone is always fun as the people around you provide you with the sort of entertainment you need…

So this one time, my friends asked me to come to a pizza place at sharp 2 pm in the afternoon…for the normal human ears 2pm felt as 2 pm but for my friends and most of the people I know the words that fell on the ears is “2 pm + as much time as you wanna take”…anyways since the pizza place happen to be in a mall area, I hovered over to the theatre section of the place….the place was crowded by lots of people (nothing surprising)…most of them looked like they ran out of a fashion show to catch the afternoon show…some looked like they were about to take a family photo when the show time arrived...some looked as if they were so late for the movie, they forgot to wait clothes, make their hair etc etc….

Amidst of such chaotic scenes, there were a few characters that caught my eyes…..there was this uncle who was standing very close to me….i think Aunty was late and Uncle was pretty damn cranky about it….he was keeping himself busy browsing through the brochure provided by the multiplex owners...every now and then he used to look at his watch and then look at a few pieces of paper which felt like tickets…for some reason he was very anxious about the timing..i have known my share of uncles and believe me this guy was very very nervous about going to the movies…the nervousness coupled with anger was becoming very visible now….Was he doing something that he shouldn’t do? Was he enjoying the 60+ but still young age? Lots of thoughts ran through my mind when someone called his name and he turned…the anger melted into a smile and like a small kid about to get a candy he went inside the theatre with his wife (believe me she was) and entered audi 3…the title of the audi read “Basic Instinct 2”…Some elderly are indeed weird!

Well as the uncle and aunty disappeared, a total punk group of wannabe cool kids entered…These were the classic “Oh see I am cool please be my partner” kinda group…one of the girls was laughing so hard and walking so fast that she unknowingly bumped into me…. “Sorry heheheheh” like a drunken dancer she went ahead with her set of friends…cracking jokes on everyone, making fun of each other was the usual thing which this group did…the guys were spike haired, gym going, funky clothes wearing style bhai whereas the girls were fashion show dropouts and were laughing as if they are in the audience of the laughter challenge finale…The guy very coolly went over the counter and asked for some movie tickets….As he was buying a ticket, there was a scream…..one of the girls wearing a mini skirt (the shortness one possible) in the group had noticed someone in the crowd..she was petrified…then a big shout came out “I thought you were going to your dance classes to learn the fine art of kathak!!!!” Her dad was super pissed….all the coolness had evaporated from everyone’s face and the girl was already filling up the Arabian Sea with tears….As the dad pulled his daughter out of the cinema hall he turned around to her friends and said “If I were you, I would not rush home”….listening those cold words really threw the cats amongst the pigeon and then it happened…as if someone had raised a fire alarm the cool dudes and the pretty chicks ran like their life depended on it!!!!

For a guy who was merely looking out for some timepass, these were few incidences in that 45 mins interval which looking back I really get a kick out of….there were the usual crowd also….a rich man with his mistress….the engaged couple licking ice cream at the same time….the married couple standing 2 hands apart….bunty bubli kinda school/college kids etc etc…but these 2 incidences really stood out….

As the guys and girls were running away I looked at my watch and found that it was almost 3 pm…I rushed to the pizza place to find all my friends there pissed like hell

“Do you know what time it is….we have been standing here for half an hour and no sign of u…this is not right re..whenever you give time you should honour the commitment!!”

For me the fun never stops!!

Flashback: New beginning and an old end

2007-12-23T23:38:00.000+05:30

27th June 2005 saw the demise of a college student in me. From its ashes a professional was resurrected. Looking back, it sounds comical to call myself that. I didnt know shit about being a professional! I was an avg college going fun loving , movie watching metro boy who was holidaying in the beautiful cold mountains of mount Abu when the call came.

I still remember the day... 18th June, i was taking pictures of my cousings when my cellphone gave a buzz. Dad had called who told me that someone from MBT had called and wanted me to join on 24th!! My heart raced!! The change was inevitable! However, there was a catch which made me feel that the job which i had secured beforehand was slipping away. I was due to return to Mumbai on 26th! From my cell, i immediately gave a call to the MBT number! The MBT HR phone rang and a very nice gentleman picked up. I explained the situation i found myself in to him...the guy must have smiled and then he told me that i can join on 27th

Taking you back a bit to collage final year B.E final Semester, i dont remember then the last time i wrote formal clothes...might be during the disastrious project presentation i had to forcefully give! Never really liked complusion, i was always a rebel when it came to someone enforcing his/her authority on me..however, looking back i think college attitude was more or less an enigma which corrupted the very mind that was forced to do a particular thing in a particular way. You can ask my HOD with whom i shared lets just say a very warm (not very heated) student teacher relationship....i think she still hates me!

Anyways, cutting back to my return journey from Mount Abu to Mumbai, it was night, cold misty night with darkness engulfing the train like a fat guy eating a couple of burgers at the same time...Fear clouded my thoughts and provided that chilling spike in ur spine...Will i be able to adapt? Will i still be a rebel? Will i be accepted? A lot of questions but no answers! Very frustrating situation which leads to insomnia for one night only!

Once i touched down in Mumbai, i had an agenda, buying a lot of formal clothes...dropping my bags at home, getting bit refreshed, he headed out to the nearest clothing shop to buy myself some decent lookiung clothes...This was the most expensivest shopping i had done in a long time...Anyways, came home, decided on the clothes which i would wear the next morning, had a quiet dinner and then went to my one night stand...another round of insomnia...

27th June 2005, 8:57 Am, a hefty built guy entered the main reception doors of MBT, headed up to the reception and asked for the HR person i spoke to earlier... Was advised to sit on the couch!. As i watched, people walking in with a purpose, with haste, some with fear...terror and a chill covered my senses which was very rudely broken by someone who shouted, "You can goto the 5th Floor new wing"....I took a temporary card and left for the elevator, There i was a college rebel in company of the finest employees of the company..this time fear showed its ugly face on me!

My life as i knew it was changed forever! The college going, care free attitude was no longer required in my personality... now more than fear a sense of anticipation filled my expression, as i opened a training room door, i saw similar expression on the faces of 60 odd other individuals who like me had stepped out of the shadows of college life into the sun of office world....End of one phase and the beginning of the other...The induction started.....

When a Guy meets a girl!

2007-12-23T23:36:00.000+05:30

We as humans meet a lot of people in our lives...some really inspire us...some really annoy us...some simply sweep us off our feet...all it takes a meeting...a single "Hi"...single "hello"....single look and a single nod of the head...these interactions are awesome and can tell you whether you are attracted towards an individual or are detested by the person...all in all, it is really fun to walk (as a third person) when a guy meets a girl for the 1st time...

Once i was at a coffee shop where i was hanging around waiting for my late but idiotic friends...it was a nice cool monsoon evening where the rain gods had mercy on us (in mumbai we have to say that nowadays)...it was "love is in the air" kind of atmosphere....i was missing someone....But just when i was about to enter my dream house where my queen would shower loads of love, food, drinks, and tv on me, my attention was caught by a couple next to my table...I could make out that they were meeting for the 1st time...the setup was perfect....both were very neatly dressed...hair combed and all....he had a mobile in his hand which he kept fiddling around (sign of nervousness)...there was a modestly big bouquet on the table whcih took around 25% of the table top space...a typical amateur setting...In my life i had never seen a guy so much hesitated to talk to a girl!!! This guy no doubt was a macho in his college but here i wish there was someone from his college so that i could join them to pull his leg....anyways, the waiter came to take the order:

"you want cafe frappe?"

"No" said the girl... "just a Americano would be fine"

"ok....one americano for the girl and a mochachinno for me"

Once the waiter left, the girl asked him "You knw this is the 1st time i have been in this part of town..does it rain here more often"!!...Now what kind of a question was that!!! Of course dear, you havent travelled to Sri Lanka to meet this guy...but i have to give her credit...she made the 1st move...the guy looked petrified by the question...as if his HOD has caught him applying super glue onto her chair (swear i didnt do it)....The guy responded.."Yea it does....the trees save a lot of rain from falling on us...they r really a life saver"..said our environment concerned friend! Then it began....a contest to decide which one of them is more environment friendly....Eventually the guy had to give in...the girl won Round 1!!!

The time rolled on...my friends arrived and then left for some work...i choose to stay back....as i am too lazy to move...all the while my friends were there...just out of curiousity my attention was on the couple...every now and then the guy would either crack some 2 cent jokes which even joke book makers dont publish....and the girl laughed as she was advising a orbit white ad with Dr. Bhatavdekar!! Finally it was 8:30 pm...the girl spoke something about curfew which meant that she had to leave early....the guy agreed that it was the case....now came the difficult part....asking for another date!! Gathering his courage in a way as if he was going to spit, he asked her," you knw i had a nice time today....we should meet more often...u still owe me the cup of coffee"...smart bugger....asking for coffee when he just finished 2 cups himself here....

"hahahahaha" (OOOOOOORRRRRRRBIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTT)......."i would love to meet again...but wont be till end of the month"...the guy froze...'why would she not meet me after having such an awesome time'...He saw his entire bragging speech which he was going to use in front of his friends flash before his eyes! He mustered up his courage and asked the most idiotic question of all "You didnt enjoy this evening?"...The girl gave out a hugh laugh which scared the hell out of me! "No silly.. i did enjoy...actually i am going out of station in the next week and will only be back by the end of the month...dont worry i really enjoyed ur company and had a blast..u are a delight to hang out with"

Battle won!!!! the guy was doing jumping jacks in his head but only had a modest smile on his face. As the girl left and was about to turn into the corner, in typical hindi film style she turned around and gave a nice little wink and a wave at the guy! Once she was out of sight, i saw the dude, jump around as if he was Elmor Fud who had just caught Bugs Bunny!!!

Months passed...i forgot about this little observation....Then one fine day, i was at a restruant wanting anxiously for my pasta to come when i heard the scary laughter again...i remember it becoz like that day, i jumped out of my seat even this time...i frantically searched around for the source of terror and found that same girl at a table with a guy.....images of the coffee shop came flashing back!!! the Orbit white laughter, the VPJs (very pathetic jokes) everything! I saw the guy she was with...this time around there was no distance between them, they were as close as they could be in a public place...moreover they were soooo in love!

Sometimes, Magic happens when a guy meets a girl!!