...not just another day.....

Train journeys can be the most boring things that can ever happen to you in ur life and especially if u dont have any of Chetan Bhagat's books wid u and no F(16-23)s in ur proximity there is every possibility of them bein a disaster. That night i was pretty relieved to get finally out of the Konark Express and swore that i would travel by air from the next time, a promise like all the ones i made and that wasn't likely to happen.

I got out of my compartment at 1:00 AM in the morning and for the first time i was in Pune. I donno if it was a usual night in Pune but i found it pleasant and different. i thought i would do well with a coffee but the funny thing wid coffee in indian railway stations is dat never do you get a coffee which tastes as a coffee unless it is some of those branded coffee shops where the coffee is called as Cappuccino and it costs somewhere around half the salary of a daily wage labourer. Sommetimes the sugar goes missing, sometimes its the milk and some other times it is the combination of two like sugar and milk or milk and coffee powder. Its amazing how the vendors come up with different combinations to prepare cofee and how conveniently they forget the correct mix.

After cribbing for five more minutes i settled for a coffee with all those qualities mentioned above. It tasted bitter and i wanted to get outta dat place and head towards my room. It was 1:15 AM and i knew that the auto drivers would deprive me of every single rupee i had in my wallet knowing well that i dont have nay other option. Man!! these auto drivers donot know the value of a Rupee. I stood there helplessly for some time coz i really dont have the amount which he asked me for. I thought to spend the night in the railway station and catch the bus next day morning.

I waited for some 30 minutes or so and there came a train from Banglore. A bunch of people got down from this one as well but only one girl caught my attention. She was alone and beautiful though i wasnt sure of the former or the later. She bargained wid the same auto driver and i stood there making ample use of this time to confirm my thought abt her bein beautiful. With her reaction it was quite obvious that even she wasnt pleased abt the fare. She stood at the same place and was waiting for another auto driver. Suddenly an idea struck in my mind as i wasnt short of ideas of this sort at any instant of my life. I saw myself in a mirror and immediately wished for a better look. I adjusted my hairstyle for the umpteenth time and with a lively grin(oh i considered it lively) went to her.

"Hmm..Tough time with drivers eh?" I said.
"They know that we dont hav much choice and i guess we know dat too...pretty tough" she said
"I have an idea. How much do you have?"
She did some math and said " One hundred and twenty five"
"I have a hundred and fifty five with me and that gives us two hundred and eighty rupees. I think we can get thru..wat say??" I waited anxiously for her reply.
She weighed the possibilities and thought for 30 seconds and flashed a smile.

Hmm..some night ..I thought. We bargained with another auto driver and finally struck a deal wid him for two hundred and sixty rupees and started walking towards the auto. She switched her bag twice on her shoulders and for a second i was tempted to offer her help but heck my luggage was too heavy for me. But the auto driver dutifully offered her the help and i doubt he would have made it if it were me. We made ourselves comfortable in the auto . it wasnt pretty cold outside and i thot may be the night was just about perfect. why not when u r wid a beautiful girl in an auto at 1:00 AM the night ought to be perfect right??

The first few minutes went away in silence. I glanced at her thrice before our eyes finally met. Once again a smile flashed on her face.
"U frm Banglore eh?" I said.
"yep" a monosyllable answer. Too bad for a start. Hmm...
"A software engineer right???"
"Yeah. How did you figure it out???". May be she was beginnin to get interested or it was too quick for me to get to a conclusion.
"Hmm..that is easy. If you are twenty something and from banglore there is a great chance that ppl think u r a software engineer" i said with a smile.
She smiled back and asked " What if Im twenty something and from Ahmedabad??"
"An aspiring business woman i guess though not pretty sure"
"Mumbai?"
"Model"
"And Hyderabad?"
"Love Failure."I said and she burst out into laughter and brushed aside a lock of her hair which was exactly the way great authors describe about their heroines. I neither possess the finesse nor the language to describe it better but i cannot refrain myself from sayin that it was a pleasing sight to watch and i thought of asking her to do that again but somehow thot better of it.
"So how long have you been in Pune?" I broke the silence coz it was too difficlut for me to stop talking.
"Uh..not so long.. well lets say 2 months dats it" she said obviously pleased for havin a conversation instead of dull and eery silence.
"U see movies??" I guess that was a dumb question but sometimes they are the ones that get animated responses.
"I used to see a lot of movies infact every one of them but now-a-days i dont get much time and the multiplexes dont show movies for the middle class".She said.
"So what abt ya?" she enquired.
"Im comin from Hyderabad" I said
"What do you do?"
"Im a Software Engineer too."
"Is it? You dont luk like one" She said and smiled. I was taken aback. I wouldn't have continued our chat if her smile wasn't so cute.
"As if you luk like one" I retorted.
"Oh really..Then how do i luk like?" she asked.
"Beautiful." I donno why i said that but that i mean she was indeed beautiful but my mentioning it kinda took her by suprise. There was an embarassing silence for the next few minutes. I donno what she thought while i was thinking of ways to convince my parents abt their possible daughter-in-law not knowin Telugu. Hmm..blame it on my thoughts or my age for i really dont care.
"Well that is the under statement of the year" she said. I donno if she took my compliment in a positive approach but she was certainly friendly.

We chatted for about another err..i donno the exact duration or the context but it was fun bein wid her. I thot of meeting her again cozz i know that this journey would end pretty soon. I dint want to be pushy or vulnerable and so weighed the possibilities for two full minutes. It was obvious that there was nothin to loose and so i gained some courage took a deep breath and said in a nonchalant tone
"Well there is this famous coffee shop around the corner of your office building and i heard ppl say dat it is one of those rare places where you can actually sit and have coffee ...." i donno whether my voice trailed off or if i was interrupted.
"Are you kinda asking me out?" She asked
"well to be frank yes.. i mean i enjoyed this journey and i feel dat we can know each other better..." i could have come up with one thousand dumber excuses if she dint stop me and luckily she did.
"I have busy schedules this week and the coming week. So how about the final saturday of this month?? Do ya have a credit card??" One more smile and i could have easily taken my credit card and given it to her. But sanity prevailed .
"So you were saying yes???" my logical mind refusing it every moment.
"Why is there some prob wid it?" She asked.
"Hmm..not really. Actually i hail from a place where they still consider it to be of western culture to see a guy and a gurl and dat too who donot have more than an overnight of friendship". Thankyou. No need to remind me Iam dumb.
"Planet Mars right?".She said raising an eyebrow.
"Similar to that" I added. We smiled in unison.

I got down and paid my share of the auto fare and started to relive the entire evening. i donno if iam waitning for the final saturday but at that momment that night seemed pleasant enuf to make the remaining week run well.