Love and growing up...

1

Clouds were in hiding and sky was shining blue today, enveloping the earth’s head like my Mother’s favourite blue saree pallu used to cover my head while she brought me home from school during scorching summer of Jaipur. Of all the things that I remember and fall in love again & again is that experience, that cool summer afternoon walk. On the way we used to meet old Fagun kaka, the matka kulfi seller who would come to make us kids happy. Mother would buy kulfis every two days, and we would eat them on the way home. It was during those walks that I learnt the habit of looking in eyes of people; roadside men and women who used to stare at my free spirited mother.

2

It was the art class; my favourite class in school. We had been given a small exercise to close our eyes and draw what we saw. After about 10 minutes of closing my eyes, I decorated my white canvas with a painting of her plucking flowers in a garden.

I remember that was the first time, I was taken to principle’s room and also the first when all my classmates laughed at me while she a coyly smiled at me.

Today years later we have kept that painting in our living room.

3

Some incentives are just too good. Like the smell of lipstick on my cheek courtesy to my Primary class Mathematics teacher. It laid the foundations of my great mathematics score later in career.

4

Celebrity crushes are normal, In your Teens they seem like love forever. I still remember when social networking sites had just launched. A new  all women’s FM channel had started in Delhi. Indeed I was hooked to it, not to all of its shows but to one in which she was the RJ or the Radio host as she used to call herself. I had not seen her picture, but had fallen in love with the idea of her as a person based on just her voice. I became so obsessed with her that I tried to imagine her voice in voice of my female classmates, celebrities and singers. I would repeatedly search her name on internet, orkut and facebook. I used to dial her number to participate in all her contests on radio but every time was left dejected due to line being busy from the other end. Most of my efforts to see her, talk to her atleast once were a failure except one.

One day I found her on facebook, sent her a friend request and after waiting for numerous days and nights found her online. I sent her a Hi! Hoping for a reply, and she to my happiness replied back with a Hi. I replied with how I really loved her show and then chatted on How and why she chose this profession, how is it like to work day in day out in the same job. She too asked a little about me and praised me on a little poem I wrote and shared with her. Then she sent me location where I could come and meet her, She said she was going to come to a newly built shopping complex in city on this Sunday. I was elated, so on the designated Sunday, I skipped my coaching classes, wore nice clothes, picked up the greeting card I had designed for her and went to meet her.

But I was dejected as at the location there were hundred other people who had come to meet her. She had organized some game show on bollywood music and was giving frivolous gifts to morons who performed stupidly on idiotic Film Songs.

I had my first bitter taste of infatuation I had mixed up with love. 

Toe Nails

After having become laughing stock of my entire family, relatives, relative’s friends and my friends for missing the flight, even on reaching airport four hours before its actual departure. I always make sure to adhere to all timelines and every guideline written or announced on Airport and double check everything.

 Is flight no. Shown on display boards and on my ticket same, is flight on time? By any remotest chance is it early? No power banks in check in luggage, no prohibited objects in hand baggage. I check on which gate boarding will take place and on which floor is this boarding gate located. Most importantly I make sure to take the boarding pass, the moment check in starts and get my security done, then take the seat in front of boarding gate to do the boarding when it finally starts.

I did all that, that day and triumphantly secured my middle seat in the Airplane. I picked up the airline magazine from pocket fixed on backside of my front seat and started praying for one of two things to happen: god either give me female co-travellers or keep seats adjacent to mine initially empty and when everybody is seated, one of the airhostess should come, sit on it and strike a conversation with me.

Soon the window seat was taken by a geeky teenage guy who slept the moment he took his seat. I had lost my hope yet again and started blaming god but soon I got a gift which broke my brooding.

Your meal sir, a packet of nachos and cheesy dip with a can of beverage, would you like anything more sir, said the hostess. A girl seated in seat in a row before mine, uttered “ I need more”

Then this girl turned around and, my god ! she had big beautiful eyes, two almonds on a heart face.

She said that her seat is not comfortable as it is somehow not arching back, so she wants to change her seat.

I prayed, I begged to god, I bribed the universe, to make law of attraction work and it indeed worked. She came and sat next to me.

She was wearing a cream - white embroidered Shirt and standard blue jeans.

I tried to break the chill and said to her “these airlines need to ...” she stopped me in half “ I am not interested”

Girls are terrible at being humble, I was just trying to start a conversation, I grumbled in my mind and went on to read my magazine. I tried to focus hard, but I couldn’t, her feet didn’t let me. They were slender, long and extremely soft to look at, the best part though were her toenails, perfectly cut. I for instance, have them so disproportionately cut that they look like toes of an evil monster.

Captivated by her toes, I didn’t realize airhostess was long asking me for giving her empty meal packets until  this women sitting next to me pinched me on ear and said “I can cut yours in the same way, if you want”  I felt shy, but somehow dared to say “ in flight or after landing”  and she replied     “ in flight of course” . This released plethora of fantasies in my head and I was sailing well in them before I heard the carcass voice of air hostess.

An airhostess  was announcing in a mic:  everybody, this woman here is our first official style hostess, she and her team will transform you while you fly, so enjoy their services to put your feet on ground as a completely different looking person.

Soon the women next to me stood up and said we have a team of pretty ladies over here who will come to your seat and give you services at a meagre cost as per your requirements. You can get a haircut in our special technically advanced barber head cap, get manicure, pedicure, face message or simply a head massage. She pulled me up and said “This man would be our first experiment” I waved to everyone, to which they gave a good laugh. I wondered in my head, “whether I was just born to please people” and, felt sad at this thought of mine but then something struck me, maybe an arrow of courage released from a cupid’s bow.

Was it the serendipity event I was waiting for ? Yes it was ! I said to myself  first and then said this loud out to our audience  “yes I will be her experiment if she agrees to go out on a date with me after we land on ground”

Some people laughed, Some clapped and some whistled before all of them roared in chorus “ yes she would, yes she would”

She was feeling shy or embarrassed, I can’t say. But she held the mic and said in energy “ Yes I would !”

People clapped and shouted. This was the best Air travel I have ever had in my life.

And, this is how I met my girlfriend for the first time and unknowingly helped her launch a new add on service in her airline company’s first flight.

Soon this service reaped her huge benefits and her airline company became champion of the domestic travel segment surmounting the large players in the aviation industry.