At the table that day
We left Aman at the counter and stepped on those high narrow stairs to reach the sitting area. I decided the table; we sat and waited for Aman to join us. “This is where you can celebrate your birthday, not at that filthy restaurant – Green Chilly,” said I with a heavy taunt in my voice. “My friends agreed to be there for the celebration, and moreover I had no idea about this place, so ‘Green Chilly’ seemed perfect for us yesterday,” she replied.
“So, how was yesterday spent? You enjoyed?” I tried to make a bridge for my real question, so that I could hope for a true answer. “It was good, we friends gathered, had Chinese food for lunch and lot of clicks,” she answered. There was a weird pressure upon the word ‘clicks’.
“Great! Met your boyfriend?” I asked my awaited query, this time I was quick, but I feared that if I get a boring reply.
“No, he refused to meet me”
Refused to meet? Yes, I heard it right! But I wasn’t expecting this one. I expected for, YES WE MET or YES WE WENT FOR A LONG HANGOUT, but this was an unusual. Must be a cold war, I guessed, I enquired further, “Why?”
“He wasn’t in a good mood, he just refused to meet. He said that he was busy.”
What? Refused to meet? He was busy? My puzzled inner self wasn’t ready for this. Yes I admit I was shocked. That guy was busy on the day of his girl friend’s birthday! My thoughts got interrupted when I saw her eyes getting lost somewhere. Maybe she was thinking about that conversation which she had with that Mr. Busy. I broke the silence and tried to ease her with my stupid joke.
“Busy,” said I smoothly, “what kind of stupidity bestows him? I mean, we use to get busy only when it’s our birthday, just to avoid people draining our money, and he got busy on his own girlfriend’s birthday.” This was one of the worst jokes I’d ever made to ease someone. I was bad at easing people with words. I remember once a senior of mine from college was weeping in the parking area of campus, I tried to calm her down by saying- Mam, please calm down, I don’t know how to make people stop crying. I was pathetic. Realizing a self generated embarrassment I tried to carried conversation, “By the way, friends play a btter part on these days, boyfriend just adds up to formalities and tensions, for example, as you can see that we left Aman at the counter all alone to place the order, he will be back without frowning that why we left alone.”
“Yeah, true,” she spoke and smiled.
She knows how to smile. She is not an alien! I doubted so because, it was yesterday when we met her for the first time and till now she didn’t smile for once.
“Look, Aman is going to live for hundred years,” said I pointing Aman who was waving at a little distance from where we were sitting. I went to him and lifted my eyebrows and slightly nodded my head to ask- what’s the matter?
“I can give the order, can’t pay the whole bill,” he smirked. I turned and went back to her and said, “I’m not your boyfriend to pay…” I was paused as she handed me fifty rupee note.
“Quite intelligent,” I grinned and actually she was. Isn’t she?
I submitted money to Aman and returned to her again and this time she started the conversation, “Listen, my boyfriend is very angry from yesterday.”
She is on revealing mode. Maybe I was able to comfort her through my PJs.
“Why? He was the one who refused to be with you on your birthday, and now instead of you he is getting angry. Oh I got it, he must have planned something for you, and you must have refused for that, and so he showed his anger by not coming to meet…”
“No, it’s nothing like this at all.”
She paused me again with a great sigh of regret.
She continued, “Yesterday, we friends clicked a lot of pictures together after the treat, and then, in the evening, they uploaded it to social network, and when my boy friend saw them, he got frustrated.”
“Why?”
I had a clear idea for ‘why’, but then also I pretended as unknown.
“Because, there were boys who were close to me, in those pictures…”
“And your boy friend got insecure and this insecurity came out of with a great deal of rudeness. Am I right?”
“Yes. So, could you please help me in framing an excuse that can sort out this problem?”
Another victim on the island of over possession, I murmured inside. I had several such excuses for which she had demanded but, I didn’t want to misguide her, as running wasn’t the solution of this problem.
“Dear, there is no solution and no excuse for over possessiveness.”
She gave me a weird look which clearly signified that she disliked my reply.
“So, what is going on?” asked Aman as he joined us at the table.
“Nothing, we were just discussing.” she replied to him. I added, “Her boy friend is angry because she got some pictures clicked with some boys.”
“Insecurity”, giggled Aman.
Again that weird expression arises at her face, and to avoid that getting worse, I started telling her my experience in the past, “Aman let us tell her about Sakhi and Naman.”
Aman stretched his lips and exhaled a deep breath. I started, “Once upon a time, I had a very close friend, whose name was Sakhi. Her boyfriend was so insecure, that he denied her even to talk with me. On the other hand he was always busy with several others. When I asked her, that why she was with such a person who doesn’t trusts her. She gave me a silly answer that, he just cares her a lot.”
At this Aman and I burst into laughter and then I continued, “And now, that caring creature is committed with two other girls.”
“But I love him, and I cannot resist this”, said she by breaking her silence, “I love him. We are with each other since our childhood, and it’s not at all a joke.”
She is hurt! My example transformed into sarcasm! That’s what exactly happens when you strike at the mosquito sitting on your cheek. No matter, what happens to the mosquito, but you end slapping yourself.
“I’m sorry, but I tried to ease you dear. What I mean is to say that, it is not necessary to share everything with him.”
“But that would be a slash upon my loyalty towards him.”
“Your mother loves you?”
“Yes. A lot!”
“But still you hide several things from her, for example, today we missed our classes and we came to eat pizza over here. I guess you are not going to tell this to your mother.”
Very good, what a brilliant example, she looks impressed. One more such dialogue and she will be on the right path.
I added, “Listen, and try to understand. Even when you look at the mirror and see yourself in it, you must remember that you are actually looking at the mirror, not at yourself.”
Amazing! You are damn good. I didn’t want to break the chain, so I added more, “In darkness, even your own shadow leaves you. Then why you want yourself to be a loyal animal for that kind of person.”
“You are right”, she yelled somehow.
It seemed that something from the past had grabbed her tight. Her shiny, dark black eyes lost their shine with some kind of guilt. She wanted to cry. She needed a shoulder. I thought to hug her, but that would be very cozy, because it’s just the second day we met. She wanted to tell something, but seemed something stopping her to do that.
None spoke after this. Conversation got killed somewhere in that silence. We then talked but only about college, mechanics and teachers. Well, we then had our pan cake pizzas. Delicious!
“So, how was yesterday spent? You enjoyed?” I tried to make a bridge for my real question, so that I could hope for a true answer. “It was good, we friends gathered, had Chinese food for lunch and lot of clicks,” she answered. There was a weird pressure upon the word ‘clicks’.
“Great! Met your boyfriend?” I asked my awaited query, this time I was quick, but I feared that if I get a boring reply.
“No, he refused to meet me”
Refused to meet? Yes, I heard it right! But I wasn’t expecting this one. I expected for, YES WE MET or YES WE WENT FOR A LONG HANGOUT, but this was an unusual. Must be a cold war, I guessed, I enquired further, “Why?”
“He wasn’t in a good mood, he just refused to meet. He said that he was busy.”
What? Refused to meet? He was busy? My puzzled inner self wasn’t ready for this. Yes I admit I was shocked. That guy was busy on the day of his girl friend’s birthday! My thoughts got interrupted when I saw her eyes getting lost somewhere. Maybe she was thinking about that conversation which she had with that Mr. Busy. I broke the silence and tried to ease her with my stupid joke.
“Busy,” said I smoothly, “what kind of stupidity bestows him? I mean, we use to get busy only when it’s our birthday, just to avoid people draining our money, and he got busy on his own girlfriend’s birthday.” This was one of the worst jokes I’d ever made to ease someone. I was bad at easing people with words. I remember once a senior of mine from college was weeping in the parking area of campus, I tried to calm her down by saying- Mam, please calm down, I don’t know how to make people stop crying. I was pathetic. Realizing a self generated embarrassment I tried to carried conversation, “By the way, friends play a btter part on these days, boyfriend just adds up to formalities and tensions, for example, as you can see that we left Aman at the counter all alone to place the order, he will be back without frowning that why we left alone.”
“Yeah, true,” she spoke and smiled.
She knows how to smile. She is not an alien! I doubted so because, it was yesterday when we met her for the first time and till now she didn’t smile for once.
“Look, Aman is going to live for hundred years,” said I pointing Aman who was waving at a little distance from where we were sitting. I went to him and lifted my eyebrows and slightly nodded my head to ask- what’s the matter?
“I can give the order, can’t pay the whole bill,” he smirked. I turned and went back to her and said, “I’m not your boyfriend to pay…” I was paused as she handed me fifty rupee note.
“Quite intelligent,” I grinned and actually she was. Isn’t she?
I submitted money to Aman and returned to her again and this time she started the conversation, “Listen, my boyfriend is very angry from yesterday.”
She is on revealing mode. Maybe I was able to comfort her through my PJs.
“Why? He was the one who refused to be with you on your birthday, and now instead of you he is getting angry. Oh I got it, he must have planned something for you, and you must have refused for that, and so he showed his anger by not coming to meet…”
“No, it’s nothing like this at all.”
She paused me again with a great sigh of regret.
She continued, “Yesterday, we friends clicked a lot of pictures together after the treat, and then, in the evening, they uploaded it to social network, and when my boy friend saw them, he got frustrated.”
“Why?”
I had a clear idea for ‘why’, but then also I pretended as unknown.
“Because, there were boys who were close to me, in those pictures…”
“And your boy friend got insecure and this insecurity came out of with a great deal of rudeness. Am I right?”
“Yes. So, could you please help me in framing an excuse that can sort out this problem?”
Another victim on the island of over possession, I murmured inside. I had several such excuses for which she had demanded but, I didn’t want to misguide her, as running wasn’t the solution of this problem.
“Dear, there is no solution and no excuse for over possessiveness.”
She gave me a weird look which clearly signified that she disliked my reply.
“So, what is going on?” asked Aman as he joined us at the table.
“Nothing, we were just discussing.” she replied to him. I added, “Her boy friend is angry because she got some pictures clicked with some boys.”
“Insecurity”, giggled Aman.
Again that weird expression arises at her face, and to avoid that getting worse, I started telling her my experience in the past, “Aman let us tell her about Sakhi and Naman.”
Aman stretched his lips and exhaled a deep breath. I started, “Once upon a time, I had a very close friend, whose name was Sakhi. Her boyfriend was so insecure, that he denied her even to talk with me. On the other hand he was always busy with several others. When I asked her, that why she was with such a person who doesn’t trusts her. She gave me a silly answer that, he just cares her a lot.”
At this Aman and I burst into laughter and then I continued, “And now, that caring creature is committed with two other girls.”
“But I love him, and I cannot resist this”, said she by breaking her silence, “I love him. We are with each other since our childhood, and it’s not at all a joke.”
She is hurt! My example transformed into sarcasm! That’s what exactly happens when you strike at the mosquito sitting on your cheek. No matter, what happens to the mosquito, but you end slapping yourself.
“I’m sorry, but I tried to ease you dear. What I mean is to say that, it is not necessary to share everything with him.”
“But that would be a slash upon my loyalty towards him.”
“Your mother loves you?”
“Yes. A lot!”
“But still you hide several things from her, for example, today we missed our classes and we came to eat pizza over here. I guess you are not going to tell this to your mother.”
Very good, what a brilliant example, she looks impressed. One more such dialogue and she will be on the right path.
I added, “Listen, and try to understand. Even when you look at the mirror and see yourself in it, you must remember that you are actually looking at the mirror, not at yourself.”
Amazing! You are damn good. I didn’t want to break the chain, so I added more, “In darkness, even your own shadow leaves you. Then why you want yourself to be a loyal animal for that kind of person.”
“You are right”, she yelled somehow.
It seemed that something from the past had grabbed her tight. Her shiny, dark black eyes lost their shine with some kind of guilt. She wanted to cry. She needed a shoulder. I thought to hug her, but that would be very cozy, because it’s just the second day we met. She wanted to tell something, but seemed something stopping her to do that.
None spoke after this. Conversation got killed somewhere in that silence. We then talked but only about college, mechanics and teachers. Well, we then had our pan cake pizzas. Delicious!
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