bangalore's bloggers meet...

Barista on St. Mark's Road



Bangalore Bloggers... Pic 1



Bangalore Bloggers... Pic 2

connection...

During the early hours on a Friday evening, a week back, I was in the office when I got a call from my friend X. He asked me if I'd wanna meet up for coffee with him and a friend of ours, Y. I was planning to stay late in the office coz I didn't have no better reason to leave early. His call was a welcome surprise. I told him that I'd need to go home and freshen up and will come and pick them from his place. An hour later, and slightly delayed with our plans, the three of us were on Church Street.

A Friday evening in the life of bachelors! :) (Though Y is married, but his wife had gone to visit her parents, so I'm counting him as one...) For those who don't know, Bangalore is famous for 3 B's. Books, Bakery and Babes (No offence meant). The whole of the Church Street was filled with waxed legs in mini-skirts... Y even insisted that we stood outside Taika's for a while, with a laugh.

It was around 10:30pm and Barista was not very crowded. We had just settled down with coffee when X said he wanted to discuss something. Y and I were all ears and he began.

"I like this girl I met recently. I had been to Reliance Web World to enquire about new connection where I met this girl who works there. She's very simple and always wears a smile. She's like no one I've ever met. I'd like to be friends with her."

"Hmmm.., do you wanna be ONLY friends with her or do you wanna be MORE THAN friends with her?" I asked X.

"More than friends of course", he grinned. "I had been to another shop where the same new connection was Rs.200 less, still I went to Reliance Web World again because of her. How do I talk to her? Should I tell her?" He asked changing glances from me to Y.

All this time, Y was a silent spectator to the conversation between me and X, and all of a sudden he jumped in. "Abe dikhne mein kaisi hai woh?"

Both of us looked at him and shot back in almost chorus, "Abe teri shaadi ho chuki hai. Tu chupp kar!" Y cracked a laugh and sank further in his chair.

I asked X, "What is your problem?"

"Mein kya boolun usko? Usne mana kar diya to? Uska koi boyfriend hua to? Joote padenge..", he replied.

I told X to go to her and when not too many people are around then tell her, "I don’t know why am I doing this, but I like you and I'd like to get to know you.. Wanna go out for a coffee...?"

Hearing this, X literally jumped off his chair. "Abe ye America nahi hai ki jo chahe bol diya kisi ko."

"What is wrong with that?" I thought, before letting my mind return back to that conversation. It took a bit of convincing from me and Y, and finally X agreed to go up to her and tell her what I suggested him.

Since then, I have thought more about this, what is wrong in approaching someone and telling him/her the same? We just have to accept the possibility of rejection. And why do we find it scary to accept? And how scary could it be even if it is...I really wonder. But then again, there could be people who'd create a huge scene out of this; and the thought rings sirens in our mind.

There are so many questions that are unanswered, and instead of searching for the answers, I've chosen to experience them myself. So did X.

And if you're wondering what happened after that, did X go and tell her? Well.., yes he did. He told her the exact same phrase the next day. But to his disappointment, she smiled, as usual, and in a very sweet tone replied, "I have a boyfriend!" :) My friend finished the document work and left exchanging small "good bye" with her. That wasn't too tough for either of them...was it?

a late night walk... (Part 3)

There was a thoughtful, weighted silence. The road in front of him was mostly empty. Occassionally a speeding vehicle would pass by, splashing accross the water on the street, and he would jump away to avoid the splashes, and would return to walking on the edges of the pavement of the footpath. It reminded him of the stupid games he used to play with his friends in childhood: jumping in the small puddles of water on the road and splashing his feet to try and drench others, though he ended up drenching himself up more. It wasn't so stupid then, he wondered.

Did he just choose to ignore this part of himself or was it that he didn't enjoy it anymore? There was a measure of uncertanity surrounding that. All that he could see was the emptiness of the road running into darkness in front of him.

All that he could see was an illusion, he thought. An illusion. An illusion was probably what he had created in his mind. An illusion was probably what he's been living in, in the last 8 years. An illusion was probably what he brodcasted to others around him. An illusion was probably what had him confounded on the road that lay in front of him...