me: May I come in, sir.
cp: Yes, please come in.
me: Good morning ma’am, good morning sirs.
all: Good morning.
cp: Please take a seat.
me: Thank you sir (adjusted the chair a bit)
cp: Please make sure you are comfortable.
me: Thank you sir, I am comfortable. (smile)
cp: So, you are from Aligarh.
me: No sir, I am from Mathura, Aligarh was my birth place.
cp: Oh, alright. (pause for few seconds) (with big smile) Tell us something about what is “Norway’s egg on delhi’s face story” (everybody else laughs)
me: Sir, this was a headline in today’s newspaper. Story is related to custody of two children in Norway. The parents, who are Indian, requested Indian government to intervene in the issue as they argued that it is an issue of culture insensitivity. Govt of India registered the protest, even sent an special envoy to Norway to resolve the issue and bring the kids back to India. But now the news report is that the issue was related to domestic problem of the couple. So, govt has to retract its intervention. That is why such a headline.
cp: Do you think govt was wrong to intervene?
me: Sir, I think it is proper for govt to intervene for interest of Indians abroad, but govt should have investigated a bit before getting involved in the issue.
cp: What was the role of media in this case? Do you think that affects the decision of govt?
me: Sir, media in general tend to put emphasis on the emotional content of issue without thinking about rational dimension. I think sir, govt should be careful and should consider the interest of our foreign policy. Otherwise such small issue can give rise to bigger diplomatic crisis, which is not very good for our position in the world.
cp: Okay, what is this red-cross competition that you won in your school time? What was involved in that?
me: Sir, it was a state level competition among various schools. I was part of the team of my school. Competition involved some practical tests based on the knowledge of primary basic treatment given to wounded person, tying the knots, preparing stretcher etc.
cp: Who was the founder of red-cross movement?
me: Sir, Henry Dunont from switzerland.
cp: Okay, do you know what is the structure of red-cross at district level?
me: Sir, i know that there is a committee at state level. But I am not aware of exact situation at district level. Sir, collector is in-charge of such operation.
cp: (laugh) Yeah, collector is in-charge of everything, safe bet, isn’t it so?
me: (smile) Yes sir. He is the co-ordinator of everything
cp: So, What are the major works undertaken by red-cross?
me: Sir, in India or in general?
cp: Tell us first in general then in India.
me: Sir, in general red-cross is UN authorized body to take care of wounded soldiers in battlefield. It works as a neutral body… (interrupts)
cp: okay, okay, in India now.
me: Sir, in India, red-cross has worked at the time of various wars like kargil war. It is also active in maoist affected areas.
cp: You are missing a major work done by red-cross.
me: (a bit thinking) Sir, they organize blood donation camps.
cp: That’s alright, but I was pointing towards AIDS camps. They have done good work in that area.
me: Yes sir, thank you sir.
cp: So, you have written debating as hobby. Do you start to debate wherever you go? Would you start a debate right here if I provoke you. (big smile)
me: (smile) No sir, I was part of debating team in my college time.
cp: Did you win any competition?
me: Yes sir, I won prizes in IIT Kanpur and IIT Delhi in inter-college cultural festivals.
cp: What kind of topics were there when you won those debates?
me: Sir, there used to be many rounds in debate competitions. As I recall when I was in IITK, there was a topic on the emerging patterns in electoral politics of UP. This was right after 2007 election in UP.
cp: Can you tell us few trends emerging in recent election without naming any party or person?
me: Sir, first I would tell about +ve then -ve trends.
cp: Yeah, go ahead.
me: Sir, positive trends are, number one, election are violence free, they have higher voter turnout. Then sir, people are giving clear mandate. So the hung assemblies are becoming a thing of past. Then sir, most important trend is that shift is taking place towards developmental politics… (interrupts)
cp: So you mean issue like bijli, sadak, paani are main issues now.
me: Yes sir, however the traditional caste politics is still there but emphasis is shifting. Then sir, negative trends that I could think of, is related to communalizing the election un-necessarily. There was also a tendency to confront EC on various issues.
cp: You are from UP, you must know what is social engineering?
me: Sir, social engineering is a political concept where political parties try to form a coalition of social groups based on caste or religion and then use that as a vote bank.
cp: Alright (points to next lady member)
m1: Tell me name of any musician from south India?
me: A R Rehmaan, ma’am
m1: Right. Anyone older?
me: M S Subbalaxmi, but she is more famous as singer.
m1: Chakresh, why is kannauj famous in modern time?
me: Ma’am, Kannuaj is famous for ittra industry.
m1: Tell me the detail of this industry? Is it being exported?
me: Ma’am ittra is made in kannauj from the locally produced rose, chameli and other such flowers. Factories for this are located in every street of kannauj. Then the products are exported, mostly to middle east and south-east asian countries. The local consumption is very small, if I recall it correctly.
m1: What are the main problems of this industry these days?
me: Ma’am, most important problem is related to the marketing and competition from products of other countries. In today’s globalized world this industry is not able to compete properly. In Kannuaj, the technology used is still very old and there is no organized efforts to increase the sell of ittra.
m1: Can govt do something to face this situation?
me: Ma’am, govt can provide basic infrastructure and can take care of supply chain. It can provide training for latest technology. Other than that, in today’s competition based economy, survival in dependent on market mechanisms only.
m1: Do you know anything about co-operative moment in India? Tell us whether it is successful or a failure?
me: Ma’am, this movement started at the time of national struggle for freedom. Co-operatives are formed by forming a group of small scale producers, farmers etc. They were very much popular in 70s and 80s, but now the influence of these co-operatives is reducing. One famous example of co-operative is Amul.
m1: So, what is the main difference in a company and co-operative?
me: Ma’am co-operative is formed by a community and profit is shared among members. While company is profit oriented organization. Co-operatives are mostly in rural areas, while companies are urban centered… (interrupts)
m1: co-operatives are in cities also.
me: Yes ma’am, but mostly in rural areas.
m1: Okay, How do they work?
me: Ma’am companies have a board of directors and CEO as its head. Co-operative are a mutual election based organization. I do not know much details about this ma’am.
m1: Okay, how are they formed?
me: Sorry ma’am, I do not understand the question.
m1: I mean, under which act?
me: Companies are formed under company act and co-operative under co-operative act (smile)
m1: Good guess, was it a guess? (smile)
me: No ma’am (smile)
m2: Which country in Africa is famous for its co-operative movement?
me: Sorry sir, I don’t know, but I can take a guess.
m2: Yeah yeah go ahead.
me: I recall faintly, It is Kenya.
m2: (laughs loudly) nahi, galat zabab, it is Tanzania.
me: Thank you sir (smile)
m2: What is the full form of NHRC?
me: sir, National Human rights Commission.
m2: Who is the chairman?
me: ex-CJI K G Balakrishnan.
m2: Okay chakresh, you must have read about nuclear disaster in japan. So do you know any nuclear summit taking place on this issue?
me: sir, I know there is a international meeting, but i don’t remember the details of this meeting.
m2: Actually it is taking place in this month itself and our PM is also going there. What in your opinion would be the most burning topic in this meeting in context of japan incident?
me: Sir, right now major issue is the security of nuclear reactors from the natural disasters and terrorist activities. There is a growing fear in public worldwide about the security. I think, the strategy to face this challenge would be the major issue in any such meeting.
m2: Go on. How to remove these fears from mind of people?
me: Sir, in my opinion, people must be made aware of the technical details of such reactors. New cutting edge technologies should be imported in developing country like India so that our reactors can be made with best security features in the world. Then the publicizing these security measures can remove fear from people’s mind.
m2: Good, have you heard about 2G scam?
me: Yes sir, It was a scam … (interrupts)
m2: Wait wait, have you read anything similar in today’s newspaper?
me: Yes sir, there is a news report about allocation of coal fields to private and public companies without following the proper procedure. CAG has estimated a loss of more than 10 lac crores. But I think sir, it would be pre-mature to comment on this issue without reading further about the issue.
m2: That’s alright.
m3: You have mentioned that you worked for tsunami relief fund in your college days.
me: Yes ma’am.
m3: What could be done in the field of disaster management in our country?
me: Ma’am, disaster management involves four steps, mitigation, preparedness, response and rehabilitation. The most loss of life occurs due to lack of pre-warning system and the diseases in aftermath of disaster…(interrupts)
m3: Okay, lets go one by one. What should be done for preparedness?
me: Ma’am we can face such disasters better if we follow certain steps such as installing pre-warning systems in case of tsunami, earthquake, floods. General public can be trained for such disasters by mock drills similar to one in delhi few weeks back. Then a important point is to establish the alternate, more secure mode of communication from districts to central national disaster management authority. Training special task force to face such disaster is also a good step.
m3: Okay, what is mitigation?
me: Ma’am mitigation is process by which we try to avert a natural disaster even before it takes place. Like banking of rivers, coastal area management to avert the effect of tsunami.
m3: Okay, so what is the difference in leadership at the time of disaster and normal time?
me: As in public administration theories ma’am, at the time of disaster leadership should be centralized and top-down, while in normal times it should be participative and bottom-up.
m3: Why centralized?
me: Ma’am at the time of crisis, time is most important factor and there is a need of quick decision making. This can be done in centralized leadership only.
m3: Hmmm, okay tell me what is difference between aptitude and attitude?
me: May I think a bit ma’am.
m3: Yeah sure sure.
me: (5-10 sec pause) ma’am aptitude is the technical and educational suitability of a person for a job and attitude is the trait of personality, which we showcase towards others in any normal condition. I am not sure ma’am how this definition match to the psychological definition (smile)
m3: (smile) no no, its quite close. Attitude is this only, but definition of aptitude is wrong.
me: May I try again ma’am?
m3: No, its alright (points to m4)
m4: What is CNG?
me: Sir, CNG is compressed natural gas, it is used as fuel in vehicles.
m4: Is it better than others?
me: Sir, it is better in terms of pollution but it can be used for short distance only. So it is good for metropolitan cities as Delhi because distances are small here, but not so good for longer travel.
m4: What are the other fuels used in transportation.
me: Sir, other than CNG, petrol, diesel, coal, organic fuels are used. Now a days new technologies are coming with use of hydrogen and electricity also. Some vehicles use LPG cylinders also.
m4: What is the main gases in pollution?
me: Sir, pollution is caused by oxides of nitrogen, sulfur, carbon particles, ozone
m4: Ozone!
me: Sir, there is nascent oxygen present in pollutants which forms ozone.
m4: So, do you think Delhi is very polluted?
me: Sir, Delhi has high level of pollution compare to other cities in world. But level of pollution has come down after metro and use of CNG.
m4: How many percentages of pollution is caused by transportation sector?
me: Sir, I don’t know the exact figure, but I read an estimate in newspaper that it should be around 15%.
m4: Hmmm, may be in rural areas, but in cities it is around 25%.
me: Thank you sir.
m4: So, tell me few factors that cause air pollution and few for water pollution?
me: Sir, air pollution is caused by traffic, industrial units, rice cultivation. Water pollution is caused by industrial waste, dead bodies in rivers, fertilizers etc.
m4: Okay, what is water harvesting?
me: Sir, rain water harvesting?
m4: Yes yes, the same.
me: Rain water harvesting is a method of collecting water locally for use in irrigation and drinking etc.
m4: (smile) what you mean by locally?
me: Sir, rain water is collected in reservoirs or tanks locally before it can go to the river. Then it is used locally
m4: Okay, water level is going down in whole of our country, do you agree?
me: Yes sir.
m4: Why?
me: Sir, main reason is the excessive use or wastage of water in daily activities. Then there is lack of proper management of rain water… (interrupts)
m4: Alright, good good, you are from UP?
me: Yes sir.
m4: okay, have a nice day. That’s it from my side.
me: Thank you sir, nice day.
cp: (with a cunning smile) Okay chakresh, answer my last question then you can go. Who was the most famous king of Kannauj?
me: (smile) Sir, king Harsha Vardhan
cp: (smile) Okay, interview is over, you may leave now.
me: Thank you sirs, Thank you ma’am.

Interview board was very cordial. Everybody was smiling the whole time. So, Harry potter came out of azkaban waving his wand happily. Now the wait for marks and result begin. I hope the smile is still there after the result

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अब प्यार की गहरी कब्र खोदूंगा
चेहरे पे झूठी मुस्कान चढ़ा लूँगा
मर मर कर तेरे बिन जी तो लूँगा
पर यार मेरे, तुझे कैसे भूलूंगा

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किसकी शिकायत करें अब, खता उनकी तो नहीं है
प्यार के इस बाज़ार की दुनिया में, ईमान नहीं है
दिल में प्यार है तो क्या, हम कोई सलमान नहीं है

हम तो उनके इंतज़ार में जाने कब से टकटकी लगाये
उनके कमेंट्स, उनके लाइक्स, सिर्फ अपने लिए समझते आये
पर उनके लिए तो फ्रेंड लिस्ट का, बस एक नाम बनते आये

- चक्रेश मिश्र “अनजान”

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Just a few hours before, Vinay was sweating heavily. Still, he thought that he should run atleast one more round. He had this routine of running for almost half an hour daily since his childhood. He remembered, when he would just about to stop, his late father used to tell him to keep moving atleast for ten more steps. Somehow after those ten steps running becomes easy. Is it about motivation or some physiological hidden power that all of us posses so that pushing our body further has almost no upper limit.

Anyways, the main reason why he wanted to continue was another. Tiwari sir was still not there. He kept running but his eyes were fixed at the gate of that park. In this colony he was living for last two years. When he moved to Shahjahanpur as a history lecturer in a degree college, he was a little paranoid. He grew up in Lucknow, which is not a metro but still a decent city. Shahjahanpur was just a small town in his opinion. So he was afraid that he would never find any worthwhile people to make friends with. But this habit of running had proved godsend as he found tiwari sir here, in this park only.

Tiwari sir, Jay Shankar Tiwari, well, Major (retired) J S Tiwari was a seventy two years old fellow, a retired RAW officer, who was also a regular at his morning walks. The impressive personality of tiwari sir coupled with his knowledge of indian history attracted the curious kid inside Vinay to come closer to him. They would sit on the bench of park and chat for hours. The job of a degree college lecturer has this unique advantage of having ample time. Just three lectures in a week and a few hours of college social visits. Rest is all God’s time. That is why we can easily notice that these fellows are most active in local politics, social work or tuition business.

After few minutes, tiwari sir walked in. He was five minutes late, just five minutes than usual, still good enough to make Vinay worry about him. Army people have this reputation of being on time and tiwari sir was a complete army man in all senses. Also the old fellow was living alone, as he had no children and his wife passed away almost two years ago, so Vinay was worried whether something happened to him. There was one more reason why these two men had such a good repo with each other, cigars, good quality cigars, which are very difficult to find in that small town, Tiwari sir always had one. Well army contacts, Vinay assumed.

Vinay always enjoyed puffing a good cigar after that exalting run of his. Tiwari sir came and they both sat on the bench. Tiwari sir was looking a bit washed, as if he was crying for hours before coming there. Vinay wondered whether he should ask. He had mixed feeling towards tiwari sir, one of childish fear, another of friendly respect, almost like a kid looking towards his father. He had in many ways accepted tiwari sir as his father because deep down he missed his own father sourly. He asked finally and tiwari sir explained slowly that this was his last cigar as he promised last night, in front of his dead wife’s photo, not to smoke again. Vinay never understood this compulsion of many people to attach morality with smoking. It is not as if old Major is going to die younger due to smoking, he is already seventy two, Vinay chuckled inside.

Vinay took the cigar from his hand and lit it, then extended his hand towards him. Tiwari sir, looked at that cigar, quietly, almost for fifteen seconds, then smudged it into the bench furiously and said, “I want you to have it”. Vinay was puzzled. Tiwari sir looked back sharply, his confidence was back, eyes stable and a gentle smile on face, “Vinay, there is one reason why I am giving it to you. I never told this to anyone. My father threw me out of home when I was a teenager because I stole a cigar from his box and unfortunately that was the last cigar in his box so he became very angry. One harsh word led to another and eventually I found myself out of home.” after a little pause tiwari sir continued, “I wanted to give that cigar back to him. I wanted to reach at some position so that I can talk with him as equals. I worked hard, faced many hardships alone and finally after getting selected in army when I went back to my home, he was already dead. Can you imagine, nobody even informed me about his death”.

Viany was listening attentively and wondering how this tragic story of Major saab will end. Tiwari sir was pleasant again and gestured him to keep that cigar. He took Vinay’s hand in his hand and murmured, “I consider you as my son. I could not give a cigar back to my father but I can redeem myself by giving it too you. It is my last cigar and I want you to have it.” After a short pause, he continued with a naughty smile on his face, “It is almost impossible to find a father figure when you are in your seventies. Isn’t that so?”. Then he laughed loudly, and that laugh eased Vinay a lot.

After making that cheerful remark, tiwari sir left very early, leaving a greatful Vinay behind, who found a true father figure today. He stared at that cigar for few minutes, then walked back towards his home. Tiwari sir on the other hand went back to his home, washed his face. He never really liked weepy eyes.

Then he put an old Mohammed rafi song on his music system and sat on his rest chair. After staring in the blank for few minutes, He reached out to the side-table, he opened the box of cigars, it still had a last cigar in there, he lit that cigar and started puffing it. After a few puffs, his hands dropped, his eyes were wide open, there was a sense of triumph and guilt on his face, perhaps finally he had shown his father what he was. It is hard for us to say whether he saw a son in Vinay or he saw an image of his father in him, what we can say for sure is that the box had a warning written in red bold letters, “weapon grade material, not for sale”.

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Arnav, in a jeans and puma sweat-shirt, was looking a bit odd at that place full of salwar-kurta and namazi cap wearing lower middle class crowd. After every bad news, be it about career or about girls, he seek refuse in that hot and happening area of purani dilli adjoining jama masjid. The massage club of Shabana Begum was his favorit. He even gets a discount like regular flier’s discount in those flashy airlines. Business is business and incentive is incentive, isn’t it.

Few steps in desperation and his thoughts were broken by a sandal, his own sandal. A good looking prostitute threw it on him which he left there in hurry. Well, good looking from the standard of jama masjid. Nobody should get any ideas here, a good looking prostitute in purani dilli means a cross between Rakhi Sawant and your kaam wali bai, a bit flashy with a lots of un-necessary makeup, but can speak pretty nice english. As one of his friend used to say, they look like a dead cat, but a cat that you hold on to when your girl friend leaves you and you find that cat most loveable creature in the world, it loves you back, or atleast shows that it loves you until you keep filling its tummy on regular basis. He ignored that insult and continued his walk, naked feet. Does he knew where he was going, absolutely not, but he was certain about one thing, he wanted to die, no, no, not die, he wanted that somehow lightening should strike there and he should perish.

It was one of those self-realization moments in his life when the whole philosophy of life changes in one moment. One event, one taunt, one accident, one pattern or just one fraction of a scene in front of our eyes and bamm the life changes. He was forced to stop due to unmanageable traffic on that road, most of them rikshawpullers screaming at one another in rude language. He stood there for few seconds. A shopkeeper on the roadside asked, “bhaijaan dhoodh piyoge”. He noded and searched his wallet for a 10 rs note. Milk, or it could have been daaru, he didn’t seem to care. A few sips of that hot milk calmed him a bit. He started to think, either life is meaningless or the way he was looking for meaning was meaningless.

Arnav worked for a consultancy firm, in its front office, as a relationship manager. His main job was to satisfy the clients with their offering and keep them in good humour until the company is finished with the project. His MBA degree from a prestigious B-school ensured that he was considered very succesful among his friends and he himself took pride in the way he conducted himself in front of his clients. He followed a basic thumb-rule taught to him by one of his professors. “BE THE MIRROR” which means, your personality should reflect what client demands. This thumb rule has served him well for last 5 years, he has it on his whiteboard all the time. The current crisis started few months back.

He started to chat with one of his old aquintance, Apoorva, on facebook. It was just a matter of time when those random hi-hello got converted in long sessions of chats and sms-s and occasional phone calls. He felt that he was falling for the girl. All that violin music, uncalled for rain as suggested by Aamir khan in 3 idiots, also happened. So, one fine night, he told Apoorva indirectly that he likes her. But the girl was one of those “cool” girls who think that showing their feelings is a sign of decreasing coolness, so she kept him in dolldrums. He tried few more times but to no avail. This apparent heart-breaking process led him to that brothel after a long time and today’s events followed.

Begum offered him choices, bengali, nepali, punjabi, south indian or firangi. But she knew that it is a fruitless exercise, he was a regular and had a fix girl. Arnav got infactuated by her looks and somehow he liked her more than those 10000 rs callgirls, who dont even let you realise that they are prostitutes. Everybody searchs for girlfriend experience in prostitutes but he was always looking for prostitute experience as he had many girl frinds in past for that other thing.

Then she came in the room, asked him, “kaisi banoo aaj”. He said “aaj original hi raho”. After a little pause he asked, “I wanted to ask you for a long time, what is real you, sometime I find you very sophisticated and sometime very…”, just at this point he remembered something. His face become pale, he dreaded that second and prayed the God that let her answer be something else. What he remembered was one of his long chats, Apoorva asked him “I wanted to ask you for a long time, what is real you, sometime I find you very sophisticated and sometime very…”. He replied, “I am the mirror, I deal with lots of people, and I become what they want me to become”. Apoorva chuckeled and conversation went to other direction.

Today same question, and after few seconds finally that pretty prostitute answered “I am the mirror, I deal with lots of people, and I become what they want me to become”. Suddenly in the state of shocked realization, he fell on the bed. His life went in front of his eyes too quickly to comprehend what is going on. He remained there for a while. That girl unzipped his pants, removed his undergarments, but Arnav was too lost to notice all this. Was his whole life, his whole personality, which he was proud of, just a prostitutization of personality. What is the difference between him and that girl trying to arouse him. Character-wise, both can impersonate others for money, both can speak in a way their clients expect them to speak, both had no identity of their own. Remember man becomes what he does. Last time, something HE not his imposed personality, did, was so long ago, that he cant even remember that.

All this philosophical sparks did a round of his mind, while the pretty girl became upset over apparent inability of hers to arouse a regular customer. She got frustated and asked him to leave, though not in such soft words. You can not expect to hear good words from a seller when you are deadly disinterested in his/her product. So, There he stood at that milk shop, a modern prostitute, thinking about meanings and values in life, when he saw a simple weighing machine, a scale. He just looked at it. How the weight on one side was constant. Many and many came; took their stuff; measured it against that standard 1 kg weight and left; it remained same; it didnt change its value, even for most valued customer. Others were able to judge their value by comparing with it.

A light came to his eyes, he started to walk again, then a little faster, then start to jog, then ran like a child who has found the news of new toy at home. He ran for few hundred meters then took a rickshaw, then metro to go back to his 3BHK apartment in Gurgaon. He went to his bedroom straight, and first thing he did was to login to facebook to tell Apoorva about his new orientation. He just wanted her to understand the real Arnav one last time, and if reply is still no, he would stop trying, he thought. Once he wrote a long message to her, the second thing was to erase and re-write on his whiteboard. Now his whiteboard says “BE THE SCALE”

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which way to row.

Leave the emotional spiral,

take it slow.

life is short and spicy,

people make a dent and go.

Good days – Bad days – Worst days

let them flow.

Time will compensate,

feel, enjoy, forget, keep it low.

It is journey through zoo of life

love both dove and crow.

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to me at-least,
when you sense with your little fingers.
killing is thy gaze, prolonged that lingers.
a moment, a bit, a blip, in heart is lost.
when that black curl slides, from thy left ear
one by one, I am loosing, oh dear
a moment, a moment, and another one.

you learnt it or your God hates me,

how would I know, submerged in thy seduction.

thoughts are opposite, logical and illogical,
if you are white, I am a black knight.
then what glues us, show me the light.
O trotting elf, as you walk, with me everyday.
I loose my logic, my mind, my heart.

you flow like a far river, forbidden.

thirsty, am I ?, can resist, can I ?

I know you can’t, have heard feelings of thy.
I wouldn’t, I shouldn’t, should I ?
let those roses come to me,
let me kiss your seven eyes,
till then, it really hurts, my heart.

a drop dropped on cheek in this night,

when you must be in arms of your compromise.

look, the drops, in an iron cage
for twenty years, can’t hold for one day.
the look, the sound, the smell, the touch
control the thoughts, as heart in dust, lay.
show thine heart, that makes mine liquid.

while he teaches you about heart, mine hurts

come to me love, you know, it hurts more

after the liquidation.

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He was so happy for next 15 minutes that he forgot to look at that beauty again, drawn in deep happiness, making his mind to take his next step in that not so Delhi-ish part of Delhi, near Anand Vihar bus station, which is more of a UP city than Delhi in rang-roop-chaal-dhaal. It was not the first time in that hot summer day, when he had such jaw dropping experience. Earlier that day when he opened his eyes due to incoming rays of 7′o clock sun, after a 4-5 hours okayish sleep in AC sheetal bus, the first thing that came in front of his eyes was not muddy streets of passing-by Aligarh city or pretty pathetic face of share market trader sitting next to him. It was a creation of God, on which He also must be feeling pride. Not to overstate the facts, as is his habit, he said to himself, “This is the most beautiful girl he has ever seen in his 21 years of life.”

She was not like those “modern models brigade” or that “punjabi make-up ki dukaans” which are very common feature of Delhi. She was like someone you put in a picture and look at it for days, and you would not remember a thing about this damn world. Standing there, she was asking that sleepy trader to shift a bit and give her place on a 3-seater side. In her orange salwar-suit over her snow-white type body, a cute smile on her face, she made the worshiper of beauty clueless and senseless for few seconds. Our protagonist was busy looking at that beauty for next 10 minutes, when that stupid trader started falling over her in his sleep, irritated … she signals protagonist to help her in placing that sleepy head at its place … protagonist, dumbed down by beauty did so, but till then it was a bit late and she moved 4-5 rows back to sit with her bhabhiji.

Now for next 2 hours he turned back to look at her …. total 23 times …. 23rd one was with that giggle …. 23, yes he counted. Everytime he looked, she looked back …. sometimes more that 4 seconds of attraction barrier of eye contact. (if you have a eye contact of more than 4 seconds with a person without any verbal interaction, this means that person likes you, unless you are wearing your shirt upside-down :p). So, at 23rd time, it was almost Delhi in that trip form Kanpur to Delhi of his. The first thing that came to his mind was last night discussion with a friend, who is otherwise an almost perfect person, but a little weird in girl matters. That friend was very much attracted towards a beautiful girl in a mall but could not muster the courage to go upto her and talk, even after constant push by him. Friend told him that it is very difficult to go and talk with such a girl.

So, our protagonist decided to give luck a try and rehearsed some opening lines in his mind. He knew that it is not even 5% probable that traditional girl from UP would talk to him. But, he thought “what the hell, keep the bloody statistics out of picture”. Bus stopped, he got down, waited a few minutes for girl, girl arrived then conversation went as follows:

He: hi
She: (putting her bag on floor and with a big smile) hi
He: Are you from Delhi?
She: No
He: Oh, then Aligarh?
She: No, Vrindavan near Mathura, Delhi just to meet my brother.
He: Really! my home is in Mathura. My father is blah-blah-blah
She: yes, I have heard about him.
He: Where in Vrindavan?
She: blah blah
He: So, what a fortunate coincidence, I met a person from Mathura in Kanpur-Delhi bus
She: (smiles) I saw very first minute you looking at me
He: Oh, sorry for that, if you felt awkward, but you know, you are so beautiful that I could not resist 
She: (giggle) oh, you think so.
He: What is your name?
She: so and so
He: I would like to meet you sometime, if it is ok with you, in Delhi, in Mathura, wherever you like.
She: ok.
He: let me give you my phone number

(opens notebook and pen, writes the number, in between her bhabhiji came down from bus)

Bhabhi: (to girl) what is going on?
She: just talking
Bhabhi: why? lets go.
He: excuse me, one minute (tries to give slip with mobile number to her, she extends her hand, but bhabhi grabs that slip)
Bhabhi: what is this?
He: phone number
Bhabhi: why would she call you?
He: I want to meet her.
Bhabhi: why?
He: arre, I liked her, that is why.
Bhabhi: You will see a girl in bus, and start liking her?
He: not fully, but to fully understand and like her, I want to meet her.
Bhabhi: This is no way of talking with girls
He: (irritated) then you tell me, what is the right way.
Bhabhi: (threw away the slip) She does not want to talk/phone you. now you go away
He: she doesn’t look like saying so.

(She giggle, bhabhi furious)

He: ok, if you want to contact, I have told you my home address, find me, bbye
She: bbye

He, she, and that stupid bhabhi walked away in different direction and the group of around 10-15 onlooker auto-drivers dispersed……

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