"Look here, this is bulls.h.i.t! There is no such thing as switching off the Caps Lock-I can"t do that." the customer said in an agitated voice. Watching the proceedings behind my desk, Mohit was trying his best to control his laughter.
"Why don"t you give it a try, sir? Just press your caps lock key and you will get a prompt on the right hand corner of your screen saying "caps lock key off". Then punch in your pa.s.sword. If it still doesn"t work, we can try something else," I said in a mock serious tone.
"Oh my G.o.d, you are right! I had been typing the pa.s.sword in capital letters all along! Dude, you are a f.u.c.king genius," he muttered in excitement. And dude, even a child would have been able to figure it out, I thought to myself.
Once I hung up the phone after giving him a lowdown on all the basics, I burst out laughing, joined soon by Mohit who still seemed pretty amused by it.
A happy customer meant an increase in my Net Sat score. I logged off the system and left the floor with Mohit who wanted to know my weekend plans and suggested we hang out together if I wasn"t pre-engaged in another thing. Since I didn"t have any concrete plans as such, I agreed to meet him on Sat.u.r.day. Then I rushed to meet Riya after my shift.
Once seated at our regular meeting point-a dhaba outside her office-she asked me, "What are you doing tomorrow? Let"s go out somewhere."
I couldn"t tell her outright that I had already made plans with Mohit, but I also did not want to say no to her. So I made up a miserable excuse of having some pending office work. She didn"t say anything but her face told me she was clearly upset. I knew she wasn"t buying it. I thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I will try and finish all pending work on Sunday. But can Mohit also join us tomorrow? He is new to the city and wanted help exploring it. Plus, it"s more fun in a group. We could all just aimlessly roam around the city. And I am sure you must now be bored by my company. What do you think?"
She didn"t say anything for a while. Then she smiled and I knew she had fallen for it.
"What if Sonam also joins us?" Riya suggested.
"That"s perfect. That"ll allow us to have some time for our own without feeling guilty about Mohit getting bored since he will have Sonam for company," I added.
Sonam was Riya"s good friend and colleague. A Delhi girl, she lived with her relatives in Mumbai. I told Mohit about our double date and asked if he was comfortable with the plan. At first he hesitated, but finally gave in after I pestered and reminded him what a head turner Sonam was. We decided to meet at Inorbit Mall in Malad at 1 pm.
I messaged Riya that night: Babe, I was just thinking about our college days and how much fun we had together. Remember how you used to force me to write long messages even though I could barely write a sentence? I used to send you the same forwarded messages over and over again. But it"s different today. Now words aren"t enough to tell you how wonderful you are. Although this is just a small attempt to do so, the fact that will remain constant is that I will love you forever. Here"s a love message that was in my inbox which I had saved to send you at the apt moment. "I wish I was your blanket, I wish I was your bed; I wish I was your pillow underneath your head. I want to be around you, I want to hold you tight and be the lucky person who kisses you good night."
Riya replied: Aadi, I don"t need fancy love messages to a.s.sure me of your love. You are a blessing in disguise to me. I cherish every second I spend with you. I find myself loving you more with each pa.s.sing day. You are the reason for my being. You are my Mr Perfect and I love you.
I slept with a smile on my face that night.
I reached Malad at 1 pm sharp and spotted Sonam sitting near the water fountain. She was wearing a white halter-neck top with dark blue slim-fit jeans. Mohit and Riya were yet to arrive. I greeted her with a casual "h.e.l.lo". After a few minutes, Riya arrived. I was amazed at how she could take my breath away every time I glanced at her. She was suitably dressed for the hot weather in a blue tube top and shorts which showed off her perfectly toned legs. She was wearing the blue bracelet that I had gifted her on her last birthday on her right wrist. She came close to me and gave me a slight peck on my cheek. I whispered to her how beautiful she looked. Before she could get a chance to reply, we saw Mohit enter from the mall"s main gate. Riya introduced Mohit to Sonam. We chilled out in the mall for a while, after which we decided to start our Mumbai tour from Bandra.
We hopped into my car, with Riya sitting in the front with me while Mohit and Sonam sat in the backseat.
"Sonam, even you have never explored the city or so I hear from Riya? I was under the impression that it has been quite a while since you came to Mumbai," I asked her.
"Not really. In my line of work, we hardly get weekends off and when we do, I prefer to stay at home and get some rest," said Sonam.
"Your job must suck then! So listen up guys-what I propose is that we go to Bandstand first and then head off to the Gateway of India. Does that sound good?" I asked. Everyone seemed to like the idea.
We reached Bandstand within an hour. I parked my car near Taj Lands End hotel. Mohit"s excitement on seeing the sea was visible on his face. We walked towards the seash.o.r.e. The girls were walking ahead of us, deep in conversation like teenage school girls who had lots to gossip about. I observed Mohit glancing at Sonam. It made me smile.
"This is Bandstand, the most famous lover"s point in Mumbai. Mannat adds to its charm," said Riya.
"Mannat is Shahrukh Khan"s house, right?" Sonam asked curiously.
"Yes. It"s on that side of the road. Let"s walk and see if we can click some snaps," I said as we walked towards Mannat. "Maybe we can spot Shahrukh too," said Riya Sonam and Mohit turned out to be huge Shahrukh Khan fans and were equally excited to click snaps in front of the now world-famous bungalow. Mohit peeped inside the huge gate but could see nothing except for a couple of seemingly expensive cars. Mohit cheekily went up to the security guard and asked if Shahrukh was at home. However, the security guard shooed us away. I clicked many pictures of Mohit and Sonam near the bungalow. Then Mohit took the camera from me and forced Riya and me to pose together. After our photo session was over, we headed back towards the seash.o.r.e.
I rummaged for a cigarette in my pocket. Seeing me light one, Riya screamed like a possessive housewife, saying, "How many times have I told you not to smoke when I am with you?" Sonam too gave me a disapproving look.
"I will, someday. But that someday is not today, love. Now please let me smoke," I pleaded with her.
I looked at Mohit and to my surprise, he slyly put back his cigarette in his pocket. Mohit was a heavy smoker and I had seen him openly smoke in office. So I found his action a bit odd. But then it struck me-he was trying to impress Sonam! Maybe he was warming up to her and did not want to put her off with his smoking habit on the very first day of their meeting.
We sat on a bench, feeling the cold breeze from the sea lightly kiss our faces. Riya snuggled up to me, resting her head on my shoulder. I kissed her hand and told her how beautiful she was for the umpteenth time.
I could envision another love story in the making with Sonam and Mohit deeply engrossed in conversation on another bench. Riya and I left them alone and went near the seash.o.r.e.
"You look amazing today. Or wait, I have told that to you already, right? I get so jealous and insecure when people turn around and look at you," I said. The look that pa.s.sersby gave her clearly hadn"t gone unnoticed by me-call me possessive.
"Oh c"mon, Aadi! You know I am all yours. No one can take me away from you. You know that very well," said Riya trying to dispel my jealousy.
We walked hand in hand for a few miles, and Riya kept picking up pebbles that had been washed away by the sea waves. We walked on the beach, watching the sifting sand beneath our feet and the swirling salty water washing away a footprints.
Content with spending time with each other, we went back to where we had left Mohit and Sonam before starting our little sojourn down the beach. Both were seated in exactly the same position we had left them in, deeply rooted in conversation. Looking at them, no one would have guessed that it was their first meeting. Their body language expressed how comfortable they were in each other"s company.
We chose to silently watch them from a distance. Mohit seemed to be telling Sonam a funny story since all she did was throw her head back in laughter. Then we saw a man approaching Mohit and ask for a cigarette.
"Hi, may I know your name?" the man asked Mohit.
"Mohit," he replied. I could tell he was feeling a little uncomfortable seeing the uninvited man barge into their private s.p.a.ce.
I sized up the man from head to toe. He looked unsuitably dressed for an evening on the beach-like he was going to a party. He was wearing tight blue jeans with an odd-looking shirt that could easily pa.s.s off as a woman"s top. His hand gestures seemed unusual too.
"Are you from Mumbai?" he asked Mohit.
Was he a cop? I asked myself. His dressing and peculiar mannerisms certainly didn"t make it seem so.
"I am from Ahmedabad but I work in Mumbai," Mohit answered.
"If you don"t mind me saying it, you are quite a good-looking guy. And I think you have a great physique too. That"s a lethal combination," he said.
Oh dear Lord, where is this conversation headed? I sensed he was gay. However, I chose to keep my observations to myself for the time being.
"If you have a bit of time to spare, could I talk to you for a few minutes?" he continued. I don"t know why Mohit agreed to go with him but he did. Maybe he wanted to have a few laughs by himself or could not read into the man"s overtures.
We joined Sonam and all three of us tried our best to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"Sonam, is Mohit gay?" I whispered.
"Shut up! He is not. Or not that I know of till now," Sonam said.
"How do you know?" I joked.
"Let"s just say I have a sense about these things."
"Oh do you? Tell me, did he kiss you or give some sort of signal to prove that he is not gay?" I said pulling her leg.
"I will kill you someday, Aadi! You will never change," she said, trying her best to ignore my teasing.
I laughed and looked at Riya. She glowered. I apologized and told her I was joking. Mohit came back with a blank expression on on his face. We were eager to know what had transpired between the two of them. Was he gay or was he a cop? In my mind, the probability of the former seemed more. I couldn"t wait to know and almost pounced on Mohit with my questions.
"That b.a.s.t.a.r.d, he was a gay! He asked me to give him company for the night and also said he would pay me two thousand rupees for doing so. I was dumbstruck by the revelation and by his offer. How could he think I would entertain such a baseless idea? Do I look gay from any angle? I wanted to run away at once, but instead excused myself by making up some petty excuse and came here."
"What did you say?" Riya asked.
"Does that really matter when the guy almost had half his mind of taking me to bed and raping me?" said Mohit dumbfounded.
"How did you tear away from his arms?" I laughed.
"I"ll kick your a.s.s, Aditya. I swear. I wish you were in my place to realize how humiliated I feel," he continued, "I told him I was impotent."
We looked at each other and burst out laughing. Mohit glared at us for sometime, but finally gave in and joined in the laughter.
The four of us laughed all through our way to the Gateway of India. We had drinks and lunch at Cafe Mondegar, a restro bar famous for its waffles, pancakes, and a jukebox that belts out jazz music. We were having a ball and in all the revelry, it was easier to forget that Mohit was my team leader. Riya seemed to be in a perky mood as she kept tickling my feet under the table all through lunch. We teased Mohit and Sonam for most part of the meal. Doing that reminded me of how my friends would tease Riya and me the same way during our first few dates.
On an impulse, I broke into a song, "Tujhe dekh dekh sona, tujhe dekh kar hai jagnaa, maine ye zindagani sang tere bitaani, tujhme basi hai meri jaan haaye, Jiya dhadak dhadak, dhadak dhadak jaaye." Everyone seemed to be having a good time.
After a splendid lunch, we decided to go for a short walk near the Taj Hotel.
"Just looking at the hotel reminds me of the horrifying incident of the 26/11 terror attacks here. It was indeed a black day!" said Mohit looking at the Taj.
"You know, I had a close brush with death that day. I was in Cafe Mondegar with Sameer at around 7 pm the day the terrorists struck the city. I had received my first paycheck and we had decided to go to the cafe to celebrate. A couple of beers down, I suggested we eat dinner at the Taj since I wanted to blow my first paycheck in style. But we eventually dropped the plan and went to Koylas instead, which is a nice eatery near Mondegar. Suddenly, we saw a group of police officers enter the restaurant. They told us the hotel was under siege due to a terrorist threat and warned us not to leave the restaurant without permission. We could hear the deafening sound of gun blasts all around us but the cops did not allow us to move out. That day we saw death with our very eyes. It was just terrible."
"My G.o.d, Aditya! That must have been quite an ordeal. I can understand how you must have felt at that moment. I got gooseb.u.mps simply by hearing you talk about it," said Mohit.
"It angers me to see our government taking things so lightly. Even though a terrorist has been captured, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d is yet to be legally punished."
"The government just makes a fool of us. Who knows how far they are telling the truth? We simply follow what media covers. The inside story is always shrouded in mystery," said Sonam.
"All we can do on our part is pray for the ones who lost their lives," I continued.
"I feel sad for for the foreigners who were specifically targeted. It"s just such a cheap act and our cops were totally helpless about it," Riya added.
"But we must not forget that they tried their best to counter the terrorists. Heck, our three officers even lost their lives in the process. We can just pray for the victims and their bereaved families and keep our fingers crossed that the terrorists won"t attack us now," I said trying to lighten up the situation.
We took pictures of the Taj and then walked towards the Gateway of India where we chanced upon an astrologer sitting at one corner. Even though I didn"t believe in superst.i.tions, I gave in, thinking it would be fun to have our future predicted as all of us were together. Riya went ahead and showed him her palm.
"You will get married to someone wealthy and someone who is a distant member of your family," he said looking at my hand.
Riya looked at me and smiled. He then continued with his predictions and said, "It will be an arranged marriage."
Riya didn"t say anything to him and got up. Mohit was up next.
"Your wife will be from the northern part of India. You will be extremely happy with her and will most likely get engaged this year," he said.
I looked at Mohit who in turn looked at Sonam. She blushed in embarra.s.sment. They didn"t say anything to each other.
Riya got angry at me for having brought us to this fake astrologer. She believed it was a complete waste of time on our part. We paid the astrologer and moved away. Mohit and Sonam went to devour a plate of pani puri while Riya and I chose to sit by the edge of the rocks, holding hands and watching the fading sunset together.
"Meeting you was pure destiny. You and I were always meant to be together. Sitting here and watching the sun go down with you for company, what more could I ask for? All I desire is to be able to watch every sunset with you till death does us apart," I told Riya earnestly, giving her one last kiss before the sun faded away for the day.
We got back to Mohit and Sonam who seemed to be enjoying each other"s company thoroughly. Then we took off from the Gateway of India and drove towards Marine Drive, which is believed to be the most romantic place in Mumbai, especially after sunset.
We went for a buggi ride and feasted on chaat and chuskis. Riya had a particular favourite food joint in Marine Drive called Bachelor"s Snacks Corner which was famous for its chilli ice-cream. It was the perfect way to mark the end of a grand day. We drove our car near Marine Drive, playing music on full blast. Sonam and Riya grooved to the sound of the music.
When I sneaked a glance at Riya, she gave me a wink and kept her hand on my palm which was changing gears. I was caught completely unawares and the tingle of her touch made it difficult for me to drive. Not that I wanted her to remove her hand.
Since it was a beautiful night, we made a spontaneous decision of walking on foot for a few kilometres. I parked the car in one corner before we got down. We walked on the edge of the road watching the waves disappear. Sonam and Mohit walked ahead of us. Riya and I could tell that they were getting increasingly close to each other, but were refraining from expressing their feelings.
When Mohit and Riya were at quite a distance from us, Riya whispered to me, "I want to get naughty with you."
"I will kill you! Stop it! We are in a public place," I retorted. She came close to me. I played with a few loose strands of her hair and inhaled her scent. We broke into a close hug as the powerful waves crashed against the rocks. Out of the blue, a sudden downpour broke our hug. Just as I was getting up to run for cover, Riya pulled me back and brought me close to her-stopping me from taking shelter. We were completely drenched within a few minutes.
"Riya, it"s raining heavily. You will fall ill. Let"s move from here," I pleaded.
"It is getting romantic and you want to leave? How unromantic! Stop behaving like a kid and enjoy the rain with me," she said, wrapping her hands around me.
I took the cue and came and sat right next to her. I wanted to feel this magical moment together. The grey sea and the long black land, the yellow half-moon and the startled waves added to the romance. As the moon shone upon us, bathing us in its glowing light, I glanced at Riya"s eyes and kissed them. Then we engaged in a long, pa.s.sionate kiss.
"If you get a chance to go back and change one thing in our relationship, what will that be?" Riya asked.
"There is nothing I"d want to change, except realize my dream to dance with you in the rain. We never got a chance to do that, but today we can. Will you dance with me?"
"Here, by the road? I can"t," she said shyly.
"There is no one around, not even Mohit and Sonam. Let"s make our dream come true."
I pulled Riya in my arms and we started dancing. I held her waist and she put her head on my shoulder. We hummed softly and slowly moved our feet to the song playing on my mobile phone. Neither of us had any sort of formal training in dance, but who gave a d.a.m.n about training when the person you loved was dancing in your arms? The wind blew our hair and the sound of the waves added rhythm to our dance. Riya closed her eyes and told me how much she was enjoying herself.
"Ahem, ahem...guys, time to break the party. My G.o.d, you both seem fully drenched in the rain," said Mohit interrupting us.
"Where were you both? I thought you had completely forgotten that we existed," I exaggerated a little to save my a.s.s. Sonam could have killed me there itself. But to my surprise, she smiled.
"We wanted to give you guys some privacy. So we chose to go for a long walk," said Sonam.
"I knew you would come up with a silly excuse for being alone with Sonam. Try something new. It"s perfectly okay if you wanted some "alone time" with him, you don"t need to hide your emotions for that," I said cheekily. I loved irritating Sonam.
Mohit started speaking in Sonam"s defence and I could sense they liked each other. We got in the car to leave as it was getting increasingly late. I dropped Riya off first, in an effort to get her home before her curfew, followed by Sonam and Mohit.
As soon as I reached home, I got a message from both Riya and Mohit: Thanks, Aditya. Not just for making my day memorable by hanging out with me, but also for fixing me up with Sonam, even though I was not too sure of it at first. I think I really like her. Please don"t mention any of this to her yet, since I want to be positively sure about it myself. And I also don"t know if she likes me or not. I don"t want to force her into liking me or getting into a relationship with me. I don"t even know if she is committed to someone else. Don"t know if I am making any sense to you. Let"s talk about this on Monday. Bye.
I instantly sent him a reply: Sure. I think Sonam likes you too. See you on Monday.
The second was a message from Riya: After a long time, I thoroughly enjoyed the day. I loved the way you danced with me. You have a real romantic side to you and I love you for that. You are the best boyfriend and if I may add so, an awesome kisser as well. I loved each moment with you today. Can we go out again tomorrow? The place doesn"t matter as long as I am with you. I want to spend this Sunday with you before my boring work beckons. I want to bring back the memories of our past when we would spend the entire day together. Let me know if you are game for it?
I replied:.
Hey, now that"s a coincidence. I was just about to ask you to go out on a date with me tomorrow when I saw your message. Let"s make tomorrow"s date even more special than today"s. By the way, Mohit messaged me saying he likes Sonam. But he has told me to not tell Sonam about it, so you don"t either.
As I lay my head on the pillow, I could still feel her body close to mine when we danced together in the rain. I slept thinking of her-my angel.