By the way I have already fixed my date, it's Valentine's day coming and I am all set for dating; I have thought a gift for myself too.”
The girls were curious and they jumped up from their seats and united in their curiosity asked, “Tell us who is the guy?” I said, “All of you know him.”
Never did I see two people from two different places, without knowing each other were so united in satisfying their curiosity.
Together they said, “No, you did not tell us”. I said “Krishna, yaar, Krishna”.
They asked “He is from?” I said “Rajajinagar, West of Chord Road”
They said, “How old is the affair?” I said, “It’s a recent fling, I have promised a date with him on 14th”.
Madhu asked, “Is he a techie?” I said “No, the topmost Consultant”
Both of them grinned “We know he is very rich”. I said he is “His company has branches all over the globe and he has rich investors.
They asked, “which company?” I said, “India-based global company, “International School of Cognitive Knowledge on Nothingness” alias Isckon temple”. I am walking down to His place, the Isckon temple and then treat myself to the good food there.
“What you have been fooling us…you bitch” and the duo fell upon me and hit me with the pillows. Now girls you better get back to your places as I have lot of work to do.
My trial walk to Isckon, last Saturday, has left in me not even one ounce of energy. My body has undergone such exhaustion in that 14-16 km walk that I guess I will have to be content talking to Krishna in my dreams. But something inside says “You never know”.
Sunday, February 07, 2010
New Year Eve
Keerty, my friend, is a very pretty woman from Delhi, she wears green nailpolish on her fingers and loves wearing raging colours which can keep you gaping at her for sometime. Keerty and I always try to meet on weekends. It was on one Saturday that we ordered for neer dosa and chicken sukka (mangalorean food) and as we ate we chatted. Madhu had joined us from our adjacent room. Madhu made some tea for us and we rose to sit up and sip tea.
In the morning of New year eve, there was a missed call on Keerty's fan. She called back on the number and from the other side rang the magnetic voice of Raj. Raj asked her “ I am Raj, can we meet up in the evening if you don’t mind?” She was shocked but was a bit intrigued on the New Year's Eve and wanted to have some fun. She said, introduce yourself “Well I am a student of Yale doing PhD. What more information do you want?” Keerty said “Please get your Passport and university ID as well”.
Raj is a brilliant economist and was bored sitting alone in his room. He had come to Bangalore for his field research from Yale university. For the past few days he had been just randomly dialing numbers to date a woman and the fifth time the number was Keerty’s.
She asked him to meet her near Dairy Circle around 6pm and sharp at 6pm she rushed down the stairs and took a rick till the Dairy Circle. Raj called her up and directed her to his Black Ford Fiesta. Raj is a lean but muscular guy. Madhu giggled, she commented, “Shahid Kapoor”?
Raj drove her towards Banshankari, and parked the car inside a lane. While they walked down the streets they shared their previous New Year Eve stories. They laughed together and cracked jokes against each other. There was magic in the relationship, they never saw each other, never knew each other but an instantaneous bond was created, something like that brought Rishi Kapoor and Meenakshi Sheshadri together in the film Damini.
Keerty was so excited, she said “I wanna burn your money?” Raj thought for a minute and said “As you wish?” She got into Bangalore Central, scanned through all the stores she wanted to visit but she could not zero upon anything. It was 8.10 pm, she was feeling hungry and tired. She said “I am a bit confused, I donno what to buy.” Raj said “Well can I take the lead now? I would suggest dinner now."
They entered into a nearby restaurant. He was a teetotaler and a vegetarian, ordered paneer 65 and veg noodles. Keerty ordered chicken soup, and chicken Manchurian and tanduri roti.” He asked her if she wanted anything more. She said “icecream lime soda”. I chipped in, “it tastes horrible”. Madhu hated me for my intervention.
After siphoning off the last drop of icecream lime soda Keerty said “I want a cigarette”. He said, “You can have that later, now let’s finish the unfinished task of yours”. They left the restaurant around 9.00 and he led her to Joy Alukkas in Garuda Mall. Her heart was beating faster…it was all diamonds around. I remembered my colleague saying “Diamonds may be women’s best friends but they are men’s worst enemies”.
Raj suggested,“What about buying a nose ring, you had a nose ring in the FB pic. Why don’t we buy one now?” She corrected him “nose pin and not nose ring”. He said, “Oh ok. Can we look for one now?” She screamed, “Are u crazy? Do u know what it wud cost in a shop like this? Why wud u buy for a stranger”…Raj said “Look, look Keerty let me ask you, why did you say that you wanna burn my money when u donno me?” Keerty said “I just felt like, no reasons”. He said "If that’s the case is it impossible for me to feel like that too?” She scratched her head and said “we can buy other things…” He said “ya we will buy all what u want but now let’s buy what I want."
I remembered my loss. I had lost my nose stud two months back while cleaning my face but no one offers me to buy one and here is a dame for whom a guy wanna burn his money…I was envious but did not express so.
Raj wanted to give her the best gift and was searching for the best design. He chose one, and all that Keerty looked at was the price tag, Rs. 9,000, she shrieked as if she got an electric shock. Her nose pins never cost her more than 500 rupees. The next one he pointed at read Rs 12,000 now she almost choked. The lady in the showroom offered her soft drinks while drops of sweat shone like beads on her forehead.
I was all ears and sighed, “Wish I met such a guy”. Madhu too closed her eyes and exclaimed “Kash mujhhey bhi aisa ladka mil jaey!”. But Keerty had an uneasy feeling in her tummy. She could not hear anything after the purchase was made and she just sailed away with him from the shop.
I thought, "who would not feel like a queen, if given such a great treat. In my neighbourhood I have seen a woman, who has the structure of a skeleton, boobs almost invisible, a nose like a “borri” and a head full of envy and scanty curly hair and with a temperament of damsel in distress she had a top school passout so crazily craving for her that he bought her jewelry worth several laks and begged her hand for marriage and also funded part of the marriage expenses that her family was required to bear".
I cleared my throat of phlegm and started my lecture, "The world is a strange place, real life marriages and romances can actually demolish all that literature in the market claiming "Tips to hook that great guy" etc."
Madhu was not in a mood to listen to my dry piece of lecture and silenced me with her lung power, “Shut up” and with all amazement in her eyes, she coaxed Keerty to complete the story." Keerthy was so surprised with the gift that she could not walk. She sat down on the pavement. Bangalore has no such pavements, people ride their bikes on the pavements. There are long stretches of the footpaths that have been crushed by the bike riders the pavement has been levelled with the road. Madhu could not believe that Keerty could actually squat on the dust instead of jumping in joy into the air for receiving a diamond nose ring from the blue.
Madhu’s eyes stretched wide, her eye brows raised as if it would at any moment touch her hairline. She said “Keerty you are lucky" that the guy did not make any brazen proposal. But when we have proposed men, the response had been like, “I am interested in your body only.” Looking at me Madhu now asked for my support “Am I not correct?” To this statement of hers, I confirmed her and added “When a guy has no interest in a girl they say such things, perhaps an honest expression of driving the infatuated girl away (LOL).
Raj said "Do u think u are the only person who can do crazy things for no reason? I do share some of your elements too, now give me that smile of urs n bully me the way u did in the evening…" Keerty's bafflement lessened she asked him to take her on a drive. They drove in the road drenched in moonlight while listening to some of Bryan Adams, Hariprasad Chaurasia etc.
Both of them remained silent and sometime silence is eloquent. It was 12 pm and she realized he was driving her to her hostel. The silence was broken when he screeched his Ford Fiesta to a halt. He led open the door, held her hands while she stepped out of the car and took the diamond nose ring out of his pocket and placed it in her hands. When she ran upstairs into her room, he pulled open the door, switched on the music, took a sharp turn, and drove away.
In the morning of New year eve, there was a missed call on Keerty's fan. She called back on the number and from the other side rang the magnetic voice of Raj. Raj asked her “ I am Raj, can we meet up in the evening if you don’t mind?” She was shocked but was a bit intrigued on the New Year's Eve and wanted to have some fun. She said, introduce yourself “Well I am a student of Yale doing PhD. What more information do you want?” Keerty said “Please get your Passport and university ID as well”.
Raj is a brilliant economist and was bored sitting alone in his room. He had come to Bangalore for his field research from Yale university. For the past few days he had been just randomly dialing numbers to date a woman and the fifth time the number was Keerty’s.
She asked him to meet her near Dairy Circle around 6pm and sharp at 6pm she rushed down the stairs and took a rick till the Dairy Circle. Raj called her up and directed her to his Black Ford Fiesta. Raj is a lean but muscular guy. Madhu giggled, she commented, “Shahid Kapoor”?
Raj drove her towards Banshankari, and parked the car inside a lane. While they walked down the streets they shared their previous New Year Eve stories. They laughed together and cracked jokes against each other. There was magic in the relationship, they never saw each other, never knew each other but an instantaneous bond was created, something like that brought Rishi Kapoor and Meenakshi Sheshadri together in the film Damini.
Keerty was so excited, she said “I wanna burn your money?” Raj thought for a minute and said “As you wish?” She got into Bangalore Central, scanned through all the stores she wanted to visit but she could not zero upon anything. It was 8.10 pm, she was feeling hungry and tired. She said “I am a bit confused, I donno what to buy.” Raj said “Well can I take the lead now? I would suggest dinner now."
They entered into a nearby restaurant. He was a teetotaler and a vegetarian, ordered paneer 65 and veg noodles. Keerty ordered chicken soup, and chicken Manchurian and tanduri roti.” He asked her if she wanted anything more. She said “icecream lime soda”. I chipped in, “it tastes horrible”. Madhu hated me for my intervention.
After siphoning off the last drop of icecream lime soda Keerty said “I want a cigarette”. He said, “You can have that later, now let’s finish the unfinished task of yours”. They left the restaurant around 9.00 and he led her to Joy Alukkas in Garuda Mall. Her heart was beating faster…it was all diamonds around. I remembered my colleague saying “Diamonds may be women’s best friends but they are men’s worst enemies”.
Raj suggested,“What about buying a nose ring, you had a nose ring in the FB pic. Why don’t we buy one now?” She corrected him “nose pin and not nose ring”. He said, “Oh ok. Can we look for one now?” She screamed, “Are u crazy? Do u know what it wud cost in a shop like this? Why wud u buy for a stranger”…Raj said “Look, look Keerty let me ask you, why did you say that you wanna burn my money when u donno me?” Keerty said “I just felt like, no reasons”. He said "If that’s the case is it impossible for me to feel like that too?” She scratched her head and said “we can buy other things…” He said “ya we will buy all what u want but now let’s buy what I want."
I remembered my loss. I had lost my nose stud two months back while cleaning my face but no one offers me to buy one and here is a dame for whom a guy wanna burn his money…I was envious but did not express so.
Raj wanted to give her the best gift and was searching for the best design. He chose one, and all that Keerty looked at was the price tag, Rs. 9,000, she shrieked as if she got an electric shock. Her nose pins never cost her more than 500 rupees. The next one he pointed at read Rs 12,000 now she almost choked. The lady in the showroom offered her soft drinks while drops of sweat shone like beads on her forehead.
I was all ears and sighed, “Wish I met such a guy”. Madhu too closed her eyes and exclaimed “Kash mujhhey bhi aisa ladka mil jaey!”. But Keerty had an uneasy feeling in her tummy. She could not hear anything after the purchase was made and she just sailed away with him from the shop.
I thought, "who would not feel like a queen, if given such a great treat. In my neighbourhood I have seen a woman, who has the structure of a skeleton, boobs almost invisible, a nose like a “borri” and a head full of envy and scanty curly hair and with a temperament of damsel in distress she had a top school passout so crazily craving for her that he bought her jewelry worth several laks and begged her hand for marriage and also funded part of the marriage expenses that her family was required to bear".
I cleared my throat of phlegm and started my lecture, "The world is a strange place, real life marriages and romances can actually demolish all that literature in the market claiming "Tips to hook that great guy" etc."
Madhu was not in a mood to listen to my dry piece of lecture and silenced me with her lung power, “Shut up” and with all amazement in her eyes, she coaxed Keerty to complete the story." Keerthy was so surprised with the gift that she could not walk. She sat down on the pavement. Bangalore has no such pavements, people ride their bikes on the pavements. There are long stretches of the footpaths that have been crushed by the bike riders the pavement has been levelled with the road. Madhu could not believe that Keerty could actually squat on the dust instead of jumping in joy into the air for receiving a diamond nose ring from the blue.
Madhu’s eyes stretched wide, her eye brows raised as if it would at any moment touch her hairline. She said “Keerty you are lucky" that the guy did not make any brazen proposal. But when we have proposed men, the response had been like, “I am interested in your body only.” Looking at me Madhu now asked for my support “Am I not correct?” To this statement of hers, I confirmed her and added “When a guy has no interest in a girl they say such things, perhaps an honest expression of driving the infatuated girl away (LOL).
Raj said "Do u think u are the only person who can do crazy things for no reason? I do share some of your elements too, now give me that smile of urs n bully me the way u did in the evening…" Keerty's bafflement lessened she asked him to take her on a drive. They drove in the road drenched in moonlight while listening to some of Bryan Adams, Hariprasad Chaurasia etc.
Both of them remained silent and sometime silence is eloquent. It was 12 pm and she realized he was driving her to her hostel. The silence was broken when he screeched his Ford Fiesta to a halt. He led open the door, held her hands while she stepped out of the car and took the diamond nose ring out of his pocket and placed it in her hands. When she ran upstairs into her room, he pulled open the door, switched on the music, took a sharp turn, and drove away.
Romancing with the Cities
The luxury bus seared through the highways in the pitch-dark night of wintry October. It was cold. I fell asleep against the windowpane and woke up to gaze at the starlit sky. The only music I heard was the humming engine. Far away a well-lit hill stood sillouetted against the vast expanse of darkness. As we came closer and closer to the hill we saw the fort of Jaisalmer. My heart leaped with excitement and I muttered ‘Sonar Kella’(the golden fort).
But my tryst with Jaisalmer had only been for a day. The opportunity came again but the meet-up with the city was in the stark daylight with the sun gazing with all vengeance upon the earth. But opportunities for romance surface again and again as the desire remains and seeks every opportunity to spring forth. The third opportunity came with the corporate citizens but with age catching up I din want to be smuggled into an overpacked Innova.
Being a metropolitan product, Bangalore held more attraction for me than Hyderabad. But it's difficult to let go old love, Hyderabad, rocky city, a rugged manly city in other words. Men and women from north, south, east and west flocked at Hyderabad Central University. Here men became bravadoes, while the scorching sun scrubbed the sheen off the women in Hyderabad but in the 2300 acre of green and concrete all passion were let loose. All caste, creed, religion, colour, and language clashed and clung.
Lifestyle changed with a jolt and all bottled passion poured out with the slightest pull. Vegetarians became non-vegetarians and vice versa, and Burqa wearers left their burqa aside and Gita readers read Koran, sambar tasted better than dal, older women paired with younger men. Universities are always like this – a site for freedom.
The trees swayed, the wind blew faster than usual, my dupatta never blew becoz I never wore one, but my hair made an impact - long, dark and wavy like the mallus. Jeeves loved my hair, my untamed hair, blowing with the wind when untied, but curling up when tied into a tight plait.
Over the years romance evolved, evaded and evaporated and I moved from Hyderabad to Bangalore, further away from home as a single woman. Valentine’s day is knocking and life has moved on without a Valentine.
Bangalore is more like the metrosexual - concrete structures and greenery resided in harmony. But I can’t feel the pulse of the city and said Adieu to this sweetheart and packed northwards ho!
But my tryst with Jaisalmer had only been for a day. The opportunity came again but the meet-up with the city was in the stark daylight with the sun gazing with all vengeance upon the earth. But opportunities for romance surface again and again as the desire remains and seeks every opportunity to spring forth. The third opportunity came with the corporate citizens but with age catching up I din want to be smuggled into an overpacked Innova.
Being a metropolitan product, Bangalore held more attraction for me than Hyderabad. But it's difficult to let go old love, Hyderabad, rocky city, a rugged manly city in other words. Men and women from north, south, east and west flocked at Hyderabad Central University. Here men became bravadoes, while the scorching sun scrubbed the sheen off the women in Hyderabad but in the 2300 acre of green and concrete all passion were let loose. All caste, creed, religion, colour, and language clashed and clung.
Lifestyle changed with a jolt and all bottled passion poured out with the slightest pull. Vegetarians became non-vegetarians and vice versa, and Burqa wearers left their burqa aside and Gita readers read Koran, sambar tasted better than dal, older women paired with younger men. Universities are always like this – a site for freedom.
The trees swayed, the wind blew faster than usual, my dupatta never blew becoz I never wore one, but my hair made an impact - long, dark and wavy like the mallus. Jeeves loved my hair, my untamed hair, blowing with the wind when untied, but curling up when tied into a tight plait.
Over the years romance evolved, evaded and evaporated and I moved from Hyderabad to Bangalore, further away from home as a single woman. Valentine’s day is knocking and life has moved on without a Valentine.
Bangalore is more like the metrosexual - concrete structures and greenery resided in harmony. But I can’t feel the pulse of the city and said Adieu to this sweetheart and packed northwards ho!
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