Four "Faadu" Days

In this blog, I plan to summarise the four days highlighting only the relevant happenings, which is what I am sure most of you would be interested in. But most importantly with each of these four days, I experienced something which helped me to know “You-Know-who” better.

Day 1: “The day which came only once”

“Hey! Hello come fast I have kept a seat for you in company shuttle” this is what she said when I picked up her call. During that time I was somehow holding onto a seat in rickety two-tier auto rickshaw (typical of Chennai) carrying 10 passengers. Some how I managed to get my cell phone out of my pocket, and held it close to my ear. The voice from the other side reduced my discomfort to a large extent. It is very rare that someone has kept a seat for me and that also a girl, boy! Any normal guy would be happy and whatever discomfort is there would surely go away.

Quickly, I got to the location from where we used to catch the company shuttle and boarded the bus just to witness that enchanting "ever smiling" face. I took my seat and the shuttle started. Chivalrously I thanked her and we set chatting on some random topics. I heard her talking in “gujrati” over phone. I was amazed that a girl with a “Parsi” kind of title, “gujju” speaking,” Punjabi-cum-bihari” accent, “never-heard-off” type first name and most importantly with a “middle name” ,which I was not aware off. What was her exact background? But I did not wish to enquire. I was happily satisfied with whatever little I knew about her till then.

 Day 2: “The day when I got to know her middle name”  

Surprise… Surprise. Day 1 call for a seat was the last time I received such calls from her. Following on most of the day, it was my turn to keep a seat for her, which I mostly did. And I must tell you it was not an easy task.

As routinely as it could happen, we reached office and went to different blocks. After some time she pinged me on office communicator. She wanted to create her signature in Outlook. I helped her with that and immediately she sent me a sample signature of hers. And this signature read her first name and middle name. So now, I knew what that middle name “A” stood for. This cleared all my doubts about “never-heard-off” first name,” Gujju” conversation and “Parsi” sounding last name. It was as if all the dots were connecting slowly. "Oh! So is She is a Muslim" I said  to myself.  

I don’t know why but I always wished to have Muslim friends, but a female Muslim friend; it was much more than I had wished for. So I was even happier and that Oh! transformed into Aha! . I replied and congratulated her on a fantastic Outlook signature that she had come up with.

Day 3: “The day with a Surprise”

As soon as we got back down from office, both of us were very hungry and decided to satisfy our hunger with Pani puri we get here in Chennai. Most of these stalls are owned by some Bihari or a UP wala. We went to one of these stalls and tried 2-3 pani-puris only to find that those were not good enough. We decided to forego it and search for something better. Walking along road we came across an eatery named WOSS (World of Subs n Sandwiches). She had been there before and had liked it, so we decided to go in. She ordered for herself a sub, which she had eaten before and this would be the same order she gave every next time we came here. It was called “Veg surprise”. I really don’t know why she ordered this every time…may be because the name of sub matched her character which will also full of surprises.

The subs were good and we would soon become a regular visitor at this place. 

Day 4: “The day it rained”

The days at the office became very monotonous. It was life outside office which kept me going in Chennai.

This was a Friday. Back from office, we got down from shuttle. She wanted to buy some vegetable. I got myself along to accompany her. We reached a shop, she bought some veggies here and here and then in the end as a typical indian customer asked for some coriander leaves for Rs one or two. The shopkeeper gave a little of them. Seeing such a small amount, she got infuriated and started arguing for some more. The shopkeeper did not understand hindi offcourse so she talked in broken English hoping that shopkeeper gets a drift of it. The shopkeeper was very adamant and so was she. She kept arguing and I was standing there smiling and watching her little battle with the shopkeeper. In the end, as expected, she won. Shopkeeper gave some more and then she was back to her normal smiling face. That day I understood that this Rs 1 and Rs 2 still hold some value in our life. At least in some peoples’ life.

We came out of the shop only to encounter some rain drops falling from the sky. Slowly the speed of the water droplets increased and the drizzling converted into a full fledged downpour. People who know me would also understand that I am not a rain-loving person. But that day it was different. She was so excited seeing the rain and with the increasing speed of the droplets her excitement also grew. Such contagious is her excitement that it was difficult for me not to get affected and it was one of the rarest moments, when I too enjoyed the rain. Experiencing the first rain in Chennai, we strolled back towards CEEBROS our home outside home.

To sum it up, that dude Albert Einstein was correct when he explained relativity as “Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT’s telativity.” These four days went by like a flash in terms of time but the impact it made was got etched in my memory for a lifetime

 

Next, a travel to Bangalore was on the cards. Wow! I was excited about that for some reason……