And We Met - II

The next 3 weeks on bed were no less than 3 months, time was passing so slowly and I wanted to get back, get back on the roads to find her again. All these days, I was not able to forget the face I had seen across the road, it was special, someone really special. Not that she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, but there was something about the simple salwar kurta girl whose lengthy hair and shy looks took me into an another world. For now this world was resting with me on bed, and all I was hoping was not to get back and join office soon, but to find her sooner. Though it was surely an unlikely happening but when lady luck is riding your way, probably anything can happen.
It was another monday, a week after I was declared fit and good to go. And yes, it was the same stop again where i got down after work. For the past one week I had been looking around for her but the result was no good, so the hope had kind of dried out in me. I got down and started walking towards my house which was half a mile away. The slightly hot sun, had me looking down on the road and i was walking at full stretch in order to reach home soon but just then something happened. In my lost world, I had walked past someone brushing against the person's shoulder a little too hard and that someone, was someone.

"Hey, Can't you walk properly !!", she exclaimed.
I turned around casually thinking I will apologize and start again but when i saw her, i literally hit the freeze.
"Aaaam sorry !!", this was probably the longest sorry I had ever told someone.
"Hey, how are you ? Aren't you the one who got hit by the car few days back", she said, drooling her eyes like a kid.
Now this was embarrassing and pleasing both at the same time, it was embarrassing that I had come across to her as someone who got hit on the road, while pleasing coz I got noticed.
"Yes, I am the same guy. And I am fine", I said in a little hard tone.
"Aww, someone got the pinch", she said.
"Anyways, chalo take care, walk carefully and cross even more.....", she announced and left.
We guys have a problem, when we are among our guy friends, we do not care we are laughed upon for whatever reason, but once a girl comes in and makes us a laughing stock, it gets a bit on the ego. I was being foolish, this was the same girl right behind me, playfully teasing me a little and here was my ego. Somehow, I got the right jingle and rushed to her.
"Hey, am sorry, got a little carried away. But I have a confession to make", I abruptly stopped saying this.
"Dude, its ok, no drama on the road please. Carry on", she seemed pissed off and walked away.
I had messed it up,this time in my senses, I saw her walk out on me. Anyways, this had a small good ending, she entered the gates of Prestige society which was quite near to my bus stop and hence, my house. With disappointment of being rude to a girl and little hope of meeting her again, I allowed hope to take its toll and hoped we would meet again.

Next few days were very uneasy, I had lost my focus, whole day I was stuck in that road moment. I had cut down on hanging out with my friends, half of the time I was sleeping and the other half in thinking whether I will be handed over an opportunity again which seemed unlikely, but yet again, like bollywood movies where there is no ending till the hero gets the girl, here was one more at the same bus stop of Bangalore.
It was an overcast morning with grey clouds hanging on top, I got up and left early for work but work did not come early this time. Felt as if it was a dream, I walked past her, she passed me and clouds from the blue heaven dropped heavy rain. It was out of nowhere, I looked back to find her standing under her blue umbrella. Looking at the sky she was, drooling her eyes from left to right like a kid watching a merry go round in circus. Of the many days that passed by, it was today that heaven had to rain. In this rain too, I was standing like an alien, while everyone was standing with their umbrellas above them, I was patched in my yellow raincoat which looked so flashy. I remembered how my father had narrated me happily the reason of buying it which was that it will stand out in the crowd. And here I was, in the crowd. I looked at her, she took a glance and then looked away. I kept looking still and then she did, once more. I waved my hand, she raised her eyebrows as if asking what. This was it, end of chapter. There was no hope here. I nodded my head saying nothing and turned the other side.
It took hardly a second after I turned the other side, that I got splashed by a car. It was probably going to be another embarrassing day I thought and found someone giggling all loud behind me.
Not surprised, it was her again, giggling like a small kid as if I was a clown, which unfortunately I was now, in a yellow raincoat, splashed by brown stripes randomly.

"What is so funny here?", I taunted.
"Don't you look beautiful today...ha ha ha !!", she said and started laughing loudly.
People around us observed her laugh and they too joined her.
"See you are making me feel embarrassed now", I quoted.
"Aww..yet again, right?", she commented.
The "Yet again" got me quiet about its mention from no where.
A Volvo arrived, almost everyone from our stop stalled themselves inside, two people remained on the stop, it was understandably me but her, I kept thinking why.
"Acha chalo, tell me what was it that you wanted to confess the other day ?", she jumped in again.
"Don't you have office today?", I asked her.
"I do, but I feel like knowing the answer first", she was buzzing.
In this period of chit chat, I had managed to get wet fully and plans of going to work seemed a long shot.
"It was nothing, you should leave", I replied.
"Okay, bye bye", and she walked towards the edge of the stop.
A Volvo came, chose not to stop and crossed in a rush spraying the lady some mud.

I could not stop laughing this time, louder than she had earlier, the girl was colored with mud and in that moment, had left the umbrella which flew away to the other corner of the street.
I walked up to her, we saw each other and shared the embarrassment together.
"Hi, I am Vikram. Its been a pleasure so far", I introduced myself.
"Anjali, not a great pleasure", she replied filling her cheeks with air, making her look like a child.
I glanced around, saw her umbrella lying on the other side. I took time for a change to cross the busy road, picked her and came back slowly. I had to keep in mind that I was holding the umbrella with a soft hand, probably it was of a girl I was standing next to, in a trivial but funny situation.
"Don't you plan to collide with another this time", she mocked me after I handed her thing.
"Coffee?", we jinxed.

PS : The Coffee was awesome, one of the best I ever had in my life, not because of the taste, but coz of my company - Anjali !!

And We Met !! (Fiction) - I

Felt as if it was a dream, I walked past her, she passed me and clouds from the blue heaven dropped heavy rain. It was out of nowhere, I looked back to find her standing under her blue umbrella. Looking at the sky she was, drooling her eyes from left to right like a kid watching a merry go round in circus. Out of the hundred days passed, it was today that heaven had to rain. My ever fanatical mind, never held a stop to its wicked thinking. Funny how we guys think sometimes, we come across someone, or even just cross someone ( Of course, someone implies a girl :-P), stop for some unknown reason, and you look at the girl thinking, 'She's the one.'

This was how we met, and each day since then that we have spent together, laughing, talking, crying and fighting together in almost all type of situations, life has confirmed me, 'She's the one forever'.
Now before I take you through this journey, where each moment described will be like a fantasy, I want to clear it out its pure fiction, its only my wicked mind and Babbage's machine who are scripting this through. So, few highs and lows should be expected...

Vikram is my name, though at college I have had many, but I was born as Vikram. I grew up in India in a regular middle class family at Bangalore. As my parents had shifted from North India, they had a pretty compromising time in educating me and keeping up with the city standards, but they gave me everything I asked for. I grew up in the city, seeing people getting hungry for success. Probably my whole generation went on to develop the knack for it. Who would not have, we all were in a race which started at 23-24 after college and ended at 60 when one would retire. The Period in between was a tricky one, as the main highlights of one's life would take place in that.
I was a quiet one at school, probably the only reason of going school was to meet my friends who would talk of almost everything, and I would remain entangled in a different zone, but still it was a good time. I remember there was a time when it was so hard for me to pick whether I wanted to go for Maths (i.e. Engg) or Bio (i.e. Medical) around 9th, as then I was almost good for nothing. Couple of years with my home tutor did me good, and I went along peacefully to the Engineering, a term thinking of whom I imagined the cool looking bhaiyas of our colony wearing a new shirt almost every week and roaming around with girls. All they had to do, was to sit infront of a system where they did some kind of stuff called programming. I hardly cared, all I knew, that sometime in future, I have to sit infront of that system, earns buck and enjoy. All these went around timely and I settled down as per the allotted time. I guess Engineering was good, good because it made me very much to the point person, I became a social person, did silly pranks , scored and flunked, the final year campus placements, the almost successful love stories and crushes, all that together sewed in to complete me as an Engineer, which ofcourse about a million others did in my country every year. So I was one from the crowd. That was me on a short and boring note.

Anjali is she, a smile comes everytime on my face I called her name. Bubbly like a child, stubborn like an adult, intelligence at its own peak and tears drop out as quickly as flows water in a river.
I do not know how many correct decisions I would have taken in my entire life, but the best thing happened when I had to take none, coz it seemed someone up in the heaven had granted this for me.
I grew up watching a lot of movies, of all the genres available, the ones where hero had to struggle and make his life hard to get the girl and finally get it, so basically romance. SRK came as a natural favorite, and when life had me asking for K,,K,,Kiran. I met her !!

Bangalore has always been known for the amazing climate it presents, coming to the city and settling down here is not at all a big deal, what becomes as a challenge is the adjustment in your pace. The City is pretty fast paced, and if you do not find yourself , you might end up losing yourself. Thankful I was that I could do something manageable here and so was she.
A pretty normal day it was, when in the red hue sky I stepped out of office after a tiring day. After getting down at my bus stop, I stopped at a tea shop and took a seat on the greasy plastic chair in the small yard of the shop. As it was a friday, I was pretty relaxed and not so observant about the grease on the chair. Sipping in the tea slowly, I took a look around to find someone across the street. She had a face which seemed to shine even in the smoky evening, there was something about her. On a normal day, I would have seen this moment come and go, but this was different, I took out whatever change I had in my wallet, handed it over to the tea seller and walked. I walked towards her, crossing the busy road unknowingly, my heart was beating at a rate I had never felt before, though I had crushes in college, but this was the moment. May be this was it, the queen of my dreams in front of me. All the SRK pickup lines were coming to my mind like headlines in a news channel. The moment had gelled my heart and soul completely into it and I was running with only one thought in mind, I have to talk to her.

Sadly, that day turned out to be a hard fought one for me, as an alto bumped into me. All the dreams blurred, and the next moment that I was conscious, was in the hospital with everyone looking on me. My mom was holding my forearm and her eyes were all red. The Story of the evening was that due to my negligence, I bumped into the Alto which fractured my right forearm and I had scratches all over my left side of the body. While everyone around me, was deeply sad and indulged in me, my mind had only one question, would I be able to see her next ?

PS : Of course I did, but how and when, and what happened next are the ones you would know soon.