Special... ( Part - 3 )

Dedicated to all the GIRLS I’ve come across in my life. Specially for – RITIKA and NEETU ( the best girls I’ve ever met.. they still don’t cease to surprise me ! )

(CONTINUED AFTER THE PREVIOUS PART )

-“ So what next?”

- “Hmmm................ kachoris! yumm” she said and looked at me the mischief still dancing in her eyes.

-" Ohk.. so you want kachoris.. let me guess u want kachoris of Jalaram Durg right?"

- "Almost! but why go to durg when u have a jalaram in sector-6 also??" she said and started walking.

-" Because you wanted to come to ICH supela , when there is one at sector-10 also?"

-" Helllooo! today you are not supposed to question me."

-" Yes mam .. aapka hukum sarakhon par !" i said and mocked a salute.

So we again started chasing tempos.. changing tempos and finally reaching sector-6 ,A market. among the much evening hustle bustle we strolled around around the streets of bazaar aimlessly gazing at the colorful toy shops and bright Saree and jewelery shops.. sometimes a medicine shop would come in between! While walking with her i told her about the new beginning of my life from that day onwards, where i had decided to live my life on my own terms.. i told her that i was a bit scared.. and she again held my HAND firmly with a sense of reassurement. I told you .. she's damn sweet ! We went to jalaram and ordered two plates of "kachoris". as the boy was adding chutney, and dahi etc. to the kachori i realised that we guys are just like the plain kachoris and without the girls who are like the tangy chutneys our lives are incomplete and bland.Girls add flavour and zing into our lives. there's always a "she-factor" needed to make our lives beautiful and exciting , be it in the form of friendship or love or any other way. Anyways back to the track, we enjoyed the Gujarati delicacy- kachoris whole heartedly. After finishing up, we walked upto the main road from the market. All the way she had held my hand. Many passerbys stared at us. I felt a bit shy. " Look how he's gorging us! what would he think " i said.

- " Who is he? wo tera chacha lagta hai? mama lagta hai? kuch bhi lagta hai? Do you even know his name? how the hell does it matter to you what he thinks? or do you just want me to leave your hand ? " she said almost in anger.. almost.

-" Oops! ohk ohk ! chill. and who would want a beautiful girl like you leave his hand" i said trying to lighten her mood. And that did happen. Remember whenever you want to calm a girl just tell her how beautiful she is and see how easily she melts ;-) ! So we reached the main road and after some time i managed to stop a tempo. "Bhaiya civic center tak jaana hai ..( she wanted to hav gupchups )"

-"theek hai baitho" the tempodriver ( ever in haste ) said.

-" nai nai bhaiya .. aap jao ! hamen abhi nai jaana hai.." she intervened. " arre par ???" i was speechless. "bhaiyya aap jao.." she kept saying. The tempo driver made an irritated face and went away showering abuses on me.

" Now what ?" i asked with bafflement. She gave an innocent and childish smile and pointed toward 'Jublee Park'. Yes you guessed it right ! She wanted to go to Jublee Park ! "Oh god yaar.. you should hav told earlier, its entrance is from inside.. ab poora ghoom ke jaana padega.."

-" Are chodh na! yahin se fence kood ke ghus jaate hain.."...............

Needless to say we did just that !! So this was our third destination - Jublee Park ! she held my hand and we ran up one of the hillocks of the park ( jublee park has got big grassy hillocks). we were on its peak. we shouted our hearts out - " woooooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooo . yuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhoooooooo" i was shouting at my miserable fate. i was challenging it, i was threatening it. my eyes went moist. She noticed that and came near me and slowly wiped off my tears. Without thinking or hesitating even for a moment, she hugged me. I felt a little bit embarrassed but then it was an emotional moment and i hugged her too and cried my heart out. She kept saying -" its ok . its ok.." in her soothing voice. after a few minutes, i composed myself and we talked about our personal lives. She told me about her crushes and how she was searching for true love in her life, which she hasn't yet got. I told her about my unrequitted love. I was surprised to see that she wasn't pity of my condition as others were, she just said one thing - "if she's made for you, no one and nothing can stop her from being yours.. and if she isn;t you'll come to know sooner or later and you'll have to move on and search for your true soulmate". After a few minutes of silence, she spoke up.. " hey lets roll down the hill" !

- " what !!! are u crazzy "!

-" yes i am. offfoo what's this 'what' 'what' every time, bachpan me kabhi kia nahin kya??"

-" arre kia tah par wo -"

-"shut up and roll "

and we tumbled down the hillocks shouting with excitement. For those few moments i was back in childhood- innocent and carefree. We reached the bottom of the hill and laughed at our silly yet rejuvanating act. Oh god! She was showing me a whole new world through her eyes.

That wasn't the end. There were more things in store for me that day ! Well for all those crazy events...

WAIT FOR THE NEXT PART ..

TO BE CONTIUED !

Special..( Part - 2 )

Dedicated to all the GIRLS I’ve come across in my life.Specially for – RITIKA and NEETU ( the best girls I’ve ever met..they still don’t cease to surprise me! )

( CONTINUED AFTER THE FIRST PART.. )

I had a heated debate with that bastard HOD over why I don’t want IIT any more..

After half an hour..

HOD - What do you think of yourself ? director banega.. mazak samajh rakha hai life ko ?

Me – sir I tried to be serious about life. ‘think prctically’, ‘ be an enginner.. it has great scope..’ , I really tried to follow these rules.. only to find unhappiness.. chaha , mama, bua, mausi, padosi, family friends everybody had thier opinion as to how I could be succesful.. but none had even a single thought about my happiness. It took me 7 months of frustration and confusion to understand that its better ( for me.. if not for my “well wishers” ) to treat life as a joke, follow my heart and be happy, than to be serious and be a little less “succesful”. Besides happiness is my measure of success not the width of my house or the length of my car. Any ways these kind of talks are not for engineers like you. Maybe I should take your leave now?

HOD- life is not as easy as your bullshit philosophy. How do you think you are going to get there.

Me- don’t know yet. But ya, I know what’s going to be my first step – leave this bloody institute- FIITJEE.

He was bewildered.

HOD- huh .. do you think your parents will allow this? (confident that parents are always there to stop children from following their dreams when everyone else has failed.)

ME- Sir they are my parents not yours. So please don’t bother to think too much about them, your brain is only good for physics. I know how to convince them. Thankyou.

And I stood up and went to the door and exited the room. Super canary shit ! how could i say all that! Yes ! finally ! finally I could answer that bastard back and shut his mouth up. I got the courage to defend myself. Finally I have the courage to say to all my ‘well wishers’-“ you suck !”. its my life and I’ll will live it in my own way ( as long as I’m not breaking law- the one laid out by constitution I mean, not by the society ). And all this has happened because of her. She was like an angle who with her mere touch and pleasant eyes wiped all the scars of gloom and despair away. I went to her , she was sitting on the same bench with her back towards me. I went close to her and patted her shoulder. She turned back and seeing me her eyes beamed with excitement. “hey kya hua ?? kaisa raha so called counseling ” she asked her eyes reflecting the eagerness inside her. I smiled and said “lets just say, he won’t call me to his brain-hammering sessions anymore.”. “ wow dude!” she exclaimed and we hi-fived. “All because of you.. really. I can’t thank you in words. Chalo lets do one thing.. just make a wish.. ask for anything, I’ll fulfill your wish.. will do anything for you!”

-“OK! Here’s my wish! You’ll have to spend the rest of the day with me.. on my own terms !”

-“cool” I agreed ( unaware of how drastic her terms would be..)

Just then my mobile beeped. And as I was about to pick it up she stopped me and ordered – “ my first condition- while with me, cell phone- switched off. I hate mobiles!” she had told me this earlier also. She felt that mobiles have taken away the mystery and passion out of relationships and that.. well well I’ll tell you about it some other time. Coming back to the track.. I switched off my mobile ( it was her day !). “condition 2 – I don’t have my scooty today as I came with Tisha, so you’ll have to take me wherever I want and drop me back home.” Thus came the second condition. “ what?? You mean you’ll ride my bike and we’ll roam all over the city” I inquired. “ no here’s my condition no. 3 - you can use any other means of transport other than your bike.. or your friend’s bike in that case” she clarified. I was stunned! “ what ? I mean how?” I asked bewildered.

-“ think .. but first lets start walking..” and she started walking .. just aimlessly.. I followed her.

-“ do u know how crazy you go sometimes..?”

- “yes I know..” she said without looking at me but I know she was controlling her smile..

-“ what.. you really serious about it..” I asked and stopped.

She turned towards me and said “koi shaq?” and raised an eyebrow. And again started walking. I had no option again to follow her. I finally surrendered.

-“ OK fine! Where exactly do you want to go?”

- “ to INDIAN COFFEE HOUSE... I want coffee..”

-“ what? You want to go to ICH??? Wahan toh sab uncle aunty, buddhe log jate hai yaar..!”

-“ but I want to go there only !”

-“ok” I sighed .. thought for a moment to find a way to reach there and said- “ so.. we’ll catch a tempo, go to sector-10 chowk and then walk upto ICH.. will that be ok ?!”

-“ but I want to go to supela ICH”

-“ WHAT???????????????????????????” phew !

After changing 3 tempos, walking a few meters we reached ICH. ‘ a building can’t be more gloomy than this ‘ I thought looking at the ICH building. We went inside. Everybody’s eyes were scorching us! Girl and boy together ! bhilai.. bhilai ! we sat at a table, and a turbaned waiter arrived.. “ do cofee “ I ordered but madame’ had more frills-“ doodh zyaada, cheeni zyaada, aur filter coffee hi honi chahiye..”. the waiter nodded and went away! She looked around the hall with a shine of remembrance dancing in her eyes.. and said “you know I picked up the habit of drinking coffee from here only. My father used to take me here every Saturday. He would order coffee and I would take sambar vada. One day I relented that I want coffee.. and my sweet dad couldn’t deny. As time passed our visits to this place decreased and lately almost vanished. You know we change with time but this place hasn’t changed. The coffee tastes just the way it used to in the past. the plastic chairs and wooden tables are the same. The waiters don't dress in fancy suits.. they’ve stuck to whites and turbans.” I kept looking at her and listening to every word of hers, with my hand on my cheek . its this very innocence of hers which makes me surrender to her. By then the coffee arrived and over the hot cup of coffee we talked about various things.. about her childhood, my childhood.. school life before FIITJEE- hers and mine. Really ! a lot can happen over a cup of coffee! After some time we came out of ICH. I again looked at the building. It didn’t seem so gloomy anymore, she had infused brightness into that building, just the way she had in my life!

-“ so what next?”

- “hmmm........................................................”

TO BE CONTINUED .................

DISCLAIMER :-

ALL THE EVENTS AND CHARACTERS ARE FICTITIOUS. ANY RESEMBLANCE IS JUST A COINCIDENCE.

Special..( Part - 1 )

Dedicated to all the GIRLS I’ve come across in my life. Specially for – RITIKA and NEETU ( the best girls I’ve ever met.. they still don’t cease to surprise me ! )

“Shit shit shit !!!!” I shouted rather barked loud enough to attract the attention of 50 something students who like me were crowding near the rank list, to check their scores of the latest monthly test of FIITJEE ( where I don’t know how or why I was taking coaching for IIT-JEE for the past 6-7 months ). “Easy.. easy.. what happened?” she said coming (almost rushing) towards me. Of course , she was the only one who was concerned about my over-reaction. The rest were in no time, back to checking their own scores. For them, nothing in this world is more important than their scores. “hey ! what happened? Come lets go and sit there..” she said ( I could see genuine concern in her eyes ) and pointed toward the bench in the lawn outside the office. We walked to the bench and sat besides each other. In bhilai, a girl and a boy sitting together on a secluded bench is considered a taboo of sorts. But she didn’t care about what people say and think, she cared about only one thing, that I was in distress and badly needed support.

-“ you ok ?” she said calmly. ( Oh god ! she’s sooo sweet ).

-“yes”. I said (almost hushed) and nodded my head.

-“what’s the matter?” she asked.

-“again in bottom 10 ! again ! I mean I’m so bloody sick of seeing my name on this bloody shit rank list which hangs there every bloody month ... pardon my lingo.”

-“its ok ! its ok ! chill !!”

-“ no it’s not bloody ok ! everything that’s going on is not ok... I mean why am I in a place like this.. full of geeks, creepy mathematics symbols, hammering machines operating on some damn laws formulated by bastards like einstien and newton, and not to miss the suffocating chemical reactions... Pardon my lingo again .“

-“ offo ! leave it yaar. Kuch nai hota .”

-“ hota hai yaar.. bohot kuch..! I can’t tell you how frustrated I am with these classes which take the hell out of me. And I feel like a jackass, who is capable of doing nothing.. bloody nothing . and I hurl all this frustration on my mummy and brother! I mean I shouldn’t do this! But it happens! You know when I go home after checking my scores and mummy asks me about them, I wish the earth would split and devour me. It feels so shameful. My throat chokes while talking to dad on phone when he calls from office to enquire about my marks. I mean, look at me, I’m wasting his hard earned money ! I feel so disspirited and guilty. But then when I sit to study ... aaaaarrrrggghhhhh... it feels like hell ! I mean how does it matter to me whether the refrigirator or a radio works X way and not Y way !”

-“listen...” she was about to say something but I continued gushing out my agony...

-“ and to add to all this, every month there’s a summon to the HOD , and his discouraging words only add to the agony . saala b@#$%^&*~ .” ( aah! A hindi swear word is so relieving, I wonder how I could swear in front of her, how I could do whatever I want when with her .. can you find a girl before whom you can swear? )

- “this time also you are summoned?”

- “ya in bottom ten ! what else do you expect?”

-“hmm... when?”

-“in the next half an hour. I’ve to meet him in the staff room. Its scary ! I am speechless in fron of him. I feel helpless.. I feel..”

- “ shhh..” she hushed me and took my hand in hers. She then entangled her fingers with mine and gripped my hand.. tightly. Oh god ! it felt sooo good. I heaved a breath of relief. “ look at me” she said keeping the calmness intact. I looked into her eyes- serene and tranquil. She blinked her eyes softly, gesturing- ‘its alright! I AM THERE FOR YOU ‘. And then it was magic. I was rejuvanated . A smile gleamed on my face.. just a little.. but a genuine one. Yes! It was there.. it had been missing for a long time now. I was looking into her eyes and she continued-“ listen.. no matter what happens in future.. no matter what people say or believe.. remember just one thing- YOU ROCK ! I believe in you. I’ll be there for you come what may ! whatever path you choose in your life, remember that my support and faith are always with you. Whenever you feel scared or depressed just imagine that I’m always holding your hand just like this. Never let anyone or anything bog you down. Always believe in yourself just the way I believe in you.” And for the next half an hour or so I kept looking into her eyes.. my hands still in the firm grip of hers. She finally inturrupted the silence – “ you must go now. Its time. And don’t be scared. Just put forward your point. Go rock! And take the hell out of that bastard HOD.”

- “woah woah .. what’s with the lingo huh?”

-“ what ! you guys think only you can abuse !” she said and smiled naughtily.

I smiled back and started walking towards the staff room. After walking a few steps I paused.. turned back and rushed to the bench. “ hey ! thanks a ton. I can’t tell you how -...“

-“later” she inturrupted. ” I’m waiting for you right here. First finish up your meeting and then we’ll talk. Even I have to tell you something very important. “

-“ohk ohk ..”

I said and rushed to the staff rrom. I reached the door of the staff room . I held the knob. BUT SHIT ! again nervousness held me captive. My feet ran cold, my heart was thumping, my forehead and palms went sweaty. I was almost trembling. But just then, I felt a gentle touch on my hands. It was her. Yes ! her fingers slowly started tangling with mine and she finally gripped my hand tightly just the way she did sometime earlier. Nobody else could see her. But for me she was there. I was looking into her pleasent eyes. She was with me. I turned the knob ,opened the door and went in...............................

TO BE CONTINUED... ( WAIT FOR THE COMING PARTS..)