Jab We Met...Ek 'very' Chhoti si horror story

One fine rainy day. I woke up late...As usual...Not wanting to go to office...The roads were all wet and muddy...and the thought of the cosy bed...made me very reluctant to go to office...Anyway who would want to, on a cold rainy day....Well...Heck...No power at home...So as well shall go to office...Got ready and glanced at my watch. Hell...Another goddamn 30 minutes for the company bus to arrive. Reluctantly started my long and boring walk to the bus stop.

After a squishy squashy walk...I reached the bus stop...Another 20 minutes to wait...Wat shall i do?...Might as well go to Suresh annan's tea shop near the bus stop and have a nice hot cuppa tea to beat the chill. Dinesh wont be coming today.He was down with fever.So had no company. Had to wait there all alone. And the thought of the long boring day at office....Lavanya had called me earlier to inform that there was some issue with the application we tested...Wat a bore...And anyway as if i cared...

Me: "Suresh Anna oru strong tea..."(Suresh anna...One strong tea)

Then suddenly...I saw her...Man..A real angel...I had seen her many times waiting at the bus stop. If there was somethin like love at first sight, this had to be it...Man... she was charming...perfect...White Salwar...

At this precise moment...A romantic number popped up in my head(Minnale...RHTDM in Hindi)...out of nowhere...A kind of la-Main hoon na(Remember the scene where SRK is surrounded by many imaginary violionists and singers...wenever he sees Sush...Sumthin of tat sort). Readers at this point of time wud be thinking tat since i am comparing my situation with that of SRKs...there shud be some similarities between us...Well...not at all...Just the opposite...The typical 'No-girl-wud-ever-care-to-give-a-2nd-glance' kinda guy...

She was working in some other company and her bus used to come 5 minutes before my rickety old company bus. Wished she was working in my company...Atleast that would gimme a chance to chat wid her...Well no luck...

While drinking the hot tea, i was busy thinking of a way to strike a conversation with her...Wat shall i ask her? I shud speak to her today...Shud i start off informally, a casual talk? Or shud i be formal...Wich i never can....Saala...nothin was comin to my mind...

Then it happened.

An old woman, went up to the girl...Asked her sumthin...Next i saw was she( the girl) helped the old lady cross the road. Wow...Such a kind gesture...definitely yes...This is my kinda girl...(Romantic song tempo builds up)

And i got my much awaited chance...With a glimmer of glee in my eyes...I went up to her.

Me: Hey hi...Saw you helping that old lady...That was really thoughtful of you...

Girl: Thanks...

(Wow..Wat a smile...Behka, main Behka...Another song comin up...Gosh...This is my lucky day)

Me: So...Which company you working for?

Girl: CTS

Me: Aah...Thats a very nice company...I always wanted to work there.

Girl: Why so? What's so special with CTS?

God...Now I have to come up with a lie

Me: I heard the work culture there is very nice...

Girl: Very well...

Silence...More Silence...

Me: Hi..I am Nithin. And you are?

Girl: Priya(Name changed...for obvious reasons)

Me: Ahh...Nice...And you are from?

Girl: Palakkad, Kerala.

Me: (My joy knew no bounds) Hey...even i am from Kerala..I am from Cochin.

Girl: (A bit bored) Ohh ok...

Me: (Baah...Shud keep the conversation lively.Guess she is gettin a hint...uh oh...) I was thinkin that you were a northie, you look like a Punjabi...(Desperate attempts)

Girl: Ya... i Know...Many people tell me that...

Somehow...was feeling that the girl didnt wanna chat with me...Maybe wrong timing...Better luck next time Beta...

Me: Where do you stay?

Girl: Its near to your place...

Me: (Quite Surprised) : Hey..how do u know where i stay?

Girl: I have seen you a few times outside your apartment, roamin around, busy on the phone...

Me: Ooohh....Is it? Then it should be aftr 10 in the night. Thats a pretty odd time to see me...Wat do u happen to do there at that time?

Girl: I usually go on a late night walk with my boyfriend...

Eh?Whats that she said? Did i hear right? Boyfriend?

Me: B-Boyfriend?

Girl: Ya...My boyfriend...Now my fiance...I am engaged...

There goes beta...All hopes lost...Coming down like a house made of a pack of cards...A 1000 curses going on in my mind...Boyfriend eh? Saala, where did he come from, in this perfect love story?

Ok...watever be it...shud continue the conversation...

Me: Ohh..Ok...(Shattered)...I have never seen you before in that area...Which building?

Then She started...All hell broke loose...(Read as: To add fuel to fire)

Girl: (Voice a bit raised) Do you think its necessary for you to know? Hey...Are you trying to flirt wid me?

Quite a mind reader, huh?

Me: (Feeling quite uneasy...Things are not turning out to be as i wanted...First sign of an alarm) Uh...huh...me...err...ummm....Well no....

Girl: I see you often at the bus stop...Just outside the tea shop...Always commenting on this and that, other girls...with your Joker friend (Didnt i mention about Dinesh? Yup, he is the one). I have heard you guys many times...And God, you guys chatter and comment in such a loud voice....You create such a ruckus.

Point noted.Grrr...Dinesh Dinesh Dinesh....I have told that bugger Dinesh many times, 'Machaa, Dont shout.Dont u think u (we) r a bit too loud'...and he wud say..."Machi...Nee bhayapedaatha...Ithu ennuda area...Ethum prachnam Kedayathu"...(Hey dude...No problem... this is my area...We will do as we please).

Girl:(Continuing)What exactly is your problem? No other work to do? No girls in life?Pretending to be local heros? What is it?

I was kinda taken aback. I mean, the very first meeting with this gal...Who wud think tat she wud explode like an atom bomb? There goes everything...All my lovely dreams...All in vain...And most of all, wat shall i tell her?...She had thrown me all these options...Maybe go for 'All the above'??? Like in an entrance exam, wen u r not sure of the answer?

Me: Uh...huh...me...err...ummm....Well..no...I...we...

I was wishing that i was someplace else...I was melting in front of her...The angel had turned into a demon...Not quite wat i wished for....Big mistake...My mind was telling me..."Get outta here u loser, before u r crushed like a handful of peanuts"...And wats the point any way?She has a boyfriend too...But my legs didnt budge...As usual, in times of danger, the ungrateful fellas, were firmly rooted to the ground...

And the situation was not helping either...Very embarassing...Thank God, Dinesh was not here today...Definitely he wud have got a piece of her mind. And it's only me and her...No one was around...Or is it? Oops...Thanked almighty a bit too soon...Here comes tat lazy bugger(I believe he told me that he wud not be coming today.Now wat made this moron to change his mind)...Not very far now...Will be here anytime soon...Aaah..God...Help....Wat shall i do?

Girl: (Continuing) See Nithin, Nithin right?

Me: (Tensed, and wanting no more of this): Uh..huh...Ya...Right...

The girl kept on shouting some more, which atleast felt like gibberish to me...Cant take her anymore...Devil woman...And above all...My pride was hurt...Big time...And thinking what would happen once this She-Devil sees Dinesh...

Now to tell something about Dinesh. Eventhough he seems very innocent and dumb at first sight...Well you got it wrong. He is shrewd...ohh ya, very, and a loud mouth, who doesnt know wat to tell and wat not to under certain circumstances...Anyway...He is my project mate and a guy who knows his job...very brilliant...So kinda got to stick with him to clear doubts at work...

And being buddies (Well...not exactly, atleast that's wat he thinks), we sometimes talk about girls, booze, work,complaining about the whole system, making fun of fellow colleagues...the lot.

And as things would be, even he had noticed the girl before on many occasions and we have talked about her too(Rather commented)...And now it is turning out to be that she had heard us...Or else...She would not be shouting now...Would she?

Dinesh had seen me...That too with this girl...I swear i cud see his eyes shining...and tat too with a wide stupid grin on his face...He was fast approaching from behind the girl...I tried my level best to give him a sign, by blinking my eyes, shaking my head vigorously...

Aah the dumb oaf...If only he cud understand...

Enter Dinesh...

Dinesh: (In his typical loud madrasi voice) Machaa...Intha nerathukkulla intha figurea correct pannitiya da...???Super... (Within this small time frame u were able to 'correct' this 'figure'?)

Damn you, Dinesh...My Eternal tormentor...

Now this is what one calls Madras Bashai, mixing of certain English words with Tamil, the original English words wud not have the real english equivalent meaning.

Correct - Make fall in love.

Figure: A beautiful girl.(Though this particular word meaning can change in different contexts)

To Hell with Dinesh...I tried everything, to make that idiot understand...

Anyway under the circumstance...Self protection is of prime concern...

I ran...and I ran...Leaving the astonished Dinesh and the girl behind...Straight into Suresh Annan's Tea Shop...

Suresh Annan: "Enna Thambi?, Innum Tea vennuma?" (Do you want more tea?)

Me: Uhhh...No thank u...

I could see now from a small distance...The girl was shouting animatedly at poor Dinesh...God knows what, her hands shaking violently...

Now that i knew i am safe...I was actually enjoying the fun...hehe...Dinesh...He deserves this...The bloody bugger...Let him bear the devil incarnate for sometime...Yeah....Devil indeed she seemed to be...

Drat what is this, that i am seeing? The CTS bus has arrived a bit early today.

The last i saw of the girl on that eventful day...She was boarding the CTS bus huffing and puffing, still in a fit of rage and poor Dinesh was standing there in the rain, with his umbrella...A dumb look on his face and having no clue of what had actually happened. A real classic scene...