The Second Chance – I

“All the characters in this story are fictitious. Any resemblance to anyone is purely coincidental”

I was standing on the Raj Bhavan road trying to find an auto to head back home.  It was 2 PM in the afternoon and I was already feeling tired. After all, it was just the second day in my month long trip to India and the effect of jet lag was showing. It was a sunny day, very different from the weather in Seattle where I haven’t seen the sun for almost a month now. I couldn’t handle the brightness, so had to put on my goggles. I waited for about ten minutes trying to find an auto with  no luck, so I started walking towards a junction where the probability of finding an auto is much higher.

As I was walking past a coffee shop on the way, I saw a girl coming out of it and my heart started pounding . I was hoping it wasn’t her, but I was wrong. She was as stunning as ever.  It’s been almost four years since I saw her and I didn’t know if I should say hi to her or not. Our last meeting didn’t particularly go well. As all these thoughts were rushing through mind, she was walking towards me, I realized I was only a few feet away from her bike. I already started rehearsing what I would say to her, “Hey Priya, How are u? Its been a long time”, “Priya, remember me?” and so on. Now she was very close to me and it was the time to act. So, I called her name “Pppriya”. Actually, the words hardly came out of my mouth. “Try harder  Sid, you have nothing to lose”, I said to myself and tried again, “PRIYA!” I called out a little louder than needed. She turned around.

“How are you?”, I asked. There was a kind of a look on her face, as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“Priya, this is Sid”, I said taking off my goggles.
“You have changed a lot!”, that was her first reaction. I was too proud of myself, for that reaction meant a lot to me. Later she would tell me how many times she told her mom that day as to how much I changed.
Then she said “I’m fine”.
“It’s been a while! I’m living in US and just here for a month on a vacation”. In my anxiety, I was telling her stuff even before she asked.
“That’s nice! And yeah it’s been a while”, she said.
I didn’t know if she wanted to continue the conversation or not. Then I just said, “Listen! Whatever happened in the past, I’m sorry about it. I was lame back then. I hope you are cool now”.
“I forgot about that a while ago. That’s fine, its good to see you”.
“I will be here for a month, and if you want to meet sometime, here’s my number”. I realized just then what a mistake I’ve done. Knowing her, even if she wanted to get my number, she has to do it in a way that doesn’t give out what she actually feels about it. I didn’t want to ask her number as the answer would definitely be no. So, I quickly improvised “Actually I don’t have a paper, but the number is easy to memorize, its 9885(vodafone standard prefix) followed by 556-557.” I repeated that twice. Then I said “bye!” and she left on her bike.

 

Flashback

“Priya, I have something to tell you”.
“Wassup Sid! You sound a little different”.
“Tell me you wouldn’t be mad at me”
“Come on, you know me and why would I be mad at my best friend”.
“Priya, I think I’m in love with you”
“What? You are joking right”
“No, I’m serious”.
“Sid, you are my best friend, but I have never thought of you that way”.
“Can’t you try now?”
“I don’t know what to say, why are you doing this? It was so good, our friendship, why do you have to ruin it now”
“We are good friends and that’s why I want you to be with me always”.
“No Sid, I’m sorry”
“Priya, I know why you are saying this, just because those two guys are after you trying to get your attention, you think you are too good for me”
“What the hell? How dare you say that to me?”
“Hurts to accept the truth isn’t it?”
“You want the truth, now listen, we both are very different, you are an introvert and I’m an extrovert, you don’t have any self-confidence, you stutter half the time while talking. Now tell me, who would like you? Except for me, no other girl would even talk to you”.
“Shut up! I don’t need you, I don’t need your friendship. To hell with you. Good bye!”.
“Sid! why are you doing this?”

I left the place immediately without even looking back.

Lesson in life: Don’t get carried away by Bollywood movies which portray that friends can be partners as well. They are wrong.

 

For the next 2 days, I was constantly checking my mobile phone hoping that she would call me. Right then, when I was about to give up hope, I got a text message “It was really nice meeting you after such a long time – Priya”.  Now she did two things by sending that text message, she gave her number to me, and then she indirectly showed her intent to meet me. But obviously, being a girl, she didn’t ask for it explicitly.  I immediately wanted to ask if she wanted to meet me, but felt that it might actually sound a little desperate.

I replied, “You haven’t changed a bit, as beautiful as ever”. I’m yet to see a girl who wouldn’t be flattered, when praised of her beauty.
“Stop lying, you have changed a lot though”, she replied.
“Yeah, had to, too many girl friends, anyway do you have sometime tomorrow for a coffee”.
“4:00 PM at Barista”, she responded.
“Cool, see you tomorrow then!”.

I was so ecstatic that I started dancing around in my room. My mom came into the room right then, and I had to stop in embarrassment.

I couldn’t sleep that entire night. I woke up in the morning and went for a jog, then came back and worked out again. I ironed my clothes for the first time in life. I had to iron almost all my clothes as I wasn’t sure which one I would wear. My mom thought living in the US has had some positive effects on me.  But to her shock, I took a shower at 3:oo PM in the afternoon just to be fresh. Then I went into my room and came out ready to leave.  My mom would later know that all the clothes that I’ve ironed in the morning are back to their original form.

I took an auto to reach the coffee shop. I was there right on time. I looked into the glass wall of the coffee shop to check how I looked, and then in a hurry slipped over one of the steps at the entrance. I somehow balanced myself without falling but tried to make sure no one has seen my clumsiness, but the damage was already done. She saw it and was laughing already. I had to manage a dumb smile.

We exchanged pleasantries formally, but as we talked for a few minutes, the tone of our conversation became more informal and it felt like before. It’s amazing how soon you can connect even after a long gap, if you were friends at certain point. Within no time, we started laughing so much remembering all the silly things we did when we were friends.

Suddenly, she changed her tone and said “I missed you Sid, missed you a lot. I missed my best friend. You never called after that day. I know I said some nasty things, but I really always thought of you as a friend and I was completely taken aback when you proposed to me. I was going through a bad phase in life and I didn’t have any friend. Why did you do that?”. I put my hand over her’s and told her “All this may be, happened for our good.  I was really immature back then and had you not rejected me, I wouldn’t have changed for the better. I felt humiliated that day and in rage, I decided to never meet you again. Nothing motivates one more than humiliation. That day I vowed to myself that I would change everything you didn’t like about me. I never forgot you, not even a day. Over time my rage turned into thankfulness. I thought about contacting you a couple of times, but I never mustered the courage to talk to you again. But now I promise, I will always be there as a friend for you”.

Over the last couple of years, I went out with a couple of girls, but nothing ever went far, as I was always looking for Priya in them.  Though I know I still love her, I didn’t want to spoil the current moment and just decided to go along with what destiny holds for me.

We left the coffee shop after a bit and I said bye to her and was on my way looking for an auto. She insisted that she would be around until I find an auto. Soon an auto stopped nearby.

Me: “Basheerbagh jaana hain” (I need to go to Basheerbagh)
Auto Driver: Sau rupya dedo saab (It will cost Rs. 100)
Me: “Meter pe chalo bhai” (Turn on the meter)
Auto Driver: Aaj kal meter pe koi nahin chalta saab. (No one turns on the meter these days)
Me: “Chalo theek hain” (OK, lets go!)

I turned around to say bye to Priya and her face was red with rage. I was trying to think if I did anything wrong. She immediately stepped forward and said “Thees rupya, us se jyaada kuch nahin milegaa(Nothing more than Rs.30)”, she told the auto driver. There was a certain authority in her voice.

Auto Driver: Memsaab, thees rupye mein koi nahin aayega. nahin hoga. (No one would come for Rs. 30).
Priya: Sid niklo, aur koi auto lete hain. (Sid, let’s find another auto)
Auto Driver: Chalo theek hain, sat rupya dedo. (Ok fine, give me Rs. 60)
Priya: Pachaas, usse jyaada nahin milega. Sid chad jao. (Rs. 50 and nothing more than that, Sid get into the auto).

The auto driver mumbled something to himself, but started the auto nevertheless. I was probably the dumbest participant in that conversation, but I felt good for some reason.  Probably, because she was taking my side and fighting for me. I got a message in a bit  “Just because you are earning in dollars doesn’t mean you need to throw away money just like that”. I replied “OK Madame, point noted”.

Next day, we decided to meet for breakfast. I was to meet her at her college after her class at 8:30  AM.

I would normally wake up at 8:30 AM, but that day I had to be some place by 8:30 AM. I woke up in the morning at 5:30 AM, went for a jog, came back by 7:oo AM and left my place by 8:00 AM. My mom was totally confused as to what’s going on in my life. I never woke up before 8:30 ever. I was there at her college by 8:20 AM. The women’s college seemed like an eerie place to me. I was definitely not in my comfort zone, I never had to do this before in my life. There are so many people staring at you, as if they know what you are up-to.

A few minutes past 8:30 AM, I saw her coming out of the college on her bike. I thought I would take her to a fancy place to woo her. So, I suggested that place to her. She gave a disgusted look and said “Don’t worry about it, I will take you to a better place”. I was waiting her to give the bike to me for driving, as if it was obvious. She didn’t get what I was waiting for and said “Let’s go!”. I confirmed with her, “Do you want me to sit behind you?”.  She saw the hesitation in my tone and blasted me for a bit “So, you don’t want to sit behind a girl? What a chauvinist you are?” . I quickly had to do some damage control “Ok, ok, I didn’t mean it that way, what are you waiting for? Start the bike.” It was probably the toughest test in my life, to sit on a kinetic honda without making any body contact at all, even accidentally with the driver.

She took me to one of the popular breakfast places in that area. She ordered something for both of us. That day I realized what a foodie she was. Anything made with paneer was her favorite. I don’t know how she manages to maintain her figure in spite of eating all that stuff. As for me, I was just thinking about how many hours I need to spend in the gym to burn these calories.  I asked for normal water, because I didn’t want to order bottled water when I’m with her. She immediately said as if she was reading my mind “No need to get normal water, you will get sick, you are an NRI now”.

We started going for breakfasts almost every other day for a couple of weeks. We went to an occasional movie. Going to a movie with her was a different experience. Though she seems very sophisticated on the exterior, she is a lover of bollywood masala movies. And she gets annoyed whenever someone starts talking on a phone in a movie theater. One instance, she actually started a fight with a guy who was incessantly talking on his phone after the movie started. Once when we were watching a movie, she asked me what I thought of the heroine in the movie. I didn’t know that was a trick question and said “She is hot”, I could immediately sense disapproval in her facial expression, so I quickly improvised to say “Of course, not hotter than you”, but the damage was already done. Everyday, she continued to surprise me and I was having the best time of my life.

I didn’t see this coming, but one day she asked me to come along with her for shopping.  She said she just needed to buy one dress, that’s it. I said to myself, “How much time would that take, may be a couple of hours?”. But I was totally wrong, I was introduced to her whole new world of shopping. She would first take me to a mall, spend a couple of hours trying out all the outfits she liked, but she wouldn’t buy anything. Then we would get a quick snack and then head over to abids/koti, the paradise of all female shoppers. The real shopping begins here. Going to the mall was just to check out what kind of design she would like. Then she would find the exact material in those shops at the best price possible and then get it stitched at a tailor’s place after explaining him very minute details of how it needs to be done.  The toughest thing in these shopping trips is to have  an opinion on what looks better or which one matches better. There is no right answer and no matter what your answer is, it will be wrong. I would answer her questions with a counter question, that’s a trick I learnt. It only succeeds 50% of the time, but that was good enough. What I thought would be a two hour trip to the mall, ended up being a 12 hour trip to literally every shop in the abids area.

I reached my place at 10:30 PM in the night that day. I went straight into my room, lied down on my bed and thanked God for life seemed beautiful once again. I didn’t know where this relationship was going, but I was totally enjoying the moment. Time was just flying by in her company. Right then, I realized I just had a few days left in my trip.

Next day I woke up and tried to call her. She picked up the phone and said “Sid, don’t call me ever” and hung up the phone. I tried calling her again, but she switched off the phone. I was clueless.

To be continued …

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