The WOMAN - The First Date
July 2016. The story sets in somewhere around the onset of monsoons in the year 2016. Her college was getting over, and she was about to step into the corporate rat-race out there barefooted which entangles us in the shackles of those cubicles, a pointless pursuit. Responsibilities were new, friends were few, the heart cried and the emotions inside her died. Putting up a fake smile, she learned to embrace this new phase of her life in no time. After our first phone call, the hazy mist settled down and the sunnier side came up. The transition from “reel life acquaintances” to “real-life friends” was taking place in the backdrop of our lives. In my mind, exchanging our Whatsapp numbers marked a new beginning, and the one-sided love climbed up a notch higher in the world of endless hope. Things were getting tough at her workplace, and she sought solace in those endearing chats and our long phone calls at the end of the day.
Although this was uncharted territory for me, walking across those lanes was pure bliss. The mushrooming intimacy between us agitated my feelings for her, and my heart won the long lost battle against the inferiority it was hiding within itself. The things which I considered to be cheesy and gooey once, somehow found a niche of its own in my life. Waiting for a text from her after a gruesome day at work to ring the bells in my heart, giving up on my sleep just for a phone call, helping her to make prudent decisions in life standing by her side, mentoring her on the office project to ease off her struggles as much as possible, crafting handmade cards on her birthday pouring my heart out, watching “P.S. I Love you” and “The Notebook” when I missed her terribly, blushing involuntarily whenever her name flashed on the pop-up window, getting acquainted with her mannerisms totally; the experiences were fresh and fragile.
The careless and cocky 16-year old me kept smirking at this mawkish and mushy 24-year old version of myself incessantly. The silences in our conversations never uttered a word about us, but my overburdening hopes were shameless enough in dreaming a future with her. As placid as the waters of a small lake; she used to tolerate my long Facebook posts dedicated to her, my profound love for those cheesy one-liners, my hatred for animes, and most of my nuances while keeping her composure. Days and months passed in between, but things between us were moving at the pace of larvae coming out of its cocoon. Suddenly, the events took a sweet turn when the universe conspired in its own way to place us in the same geographical coordinates yet again. Mumbai, the city of dreams, did not fail to live up to its name one more time. I waited pretty long to make the first call, but the veteran heart was getting restless to grab the irresistible opportunity this time.
It was the 14th of March in the year 2017; when I asked her out for the first time. She went blank for a moment, but said “Yes” to my proposal with a disclaimer “But, this is not a date right”. The hearing receptors were well-calibrated to filter out the disclaimer part. For a first date in the city of dreams, Marine Drive had to be the inevitable choice. Though Google Maps displayed the destination was 35 kilometers away from my place, but it felt like lightyears away this time. Even in that commotion across the streets of the city which never sleeps, numerous emotions were rattling through my mind as in what to say when I come across her. Finally, the ride to my dreamland ended but my eyes could not locate her in that hustle and bustle. The moment came which I had been waiting for the last four years when she tapped me from the back and said “Hey, I’m here stupid…”
It felt as if the cool breeze blowing across the 3.6-kilometer long Promenade touched the warmth of her cheeks and whispered in my ears “This is your moment. Go, live it”. The benumbed senses were gobbling up my discernment. She looked much different from the last time I had seen her back in college. For her love of chocolates, I brought her a Dairy Milk Silk but the rising anxiety and the soaring humidity levels melted a portion of it on my way. The cars honking, the hawkers shouting at the top of their lungs, the couples cuddling each other at the lover’s point, the policemen patroling around; everything felt so diminutive and lifeless that day. While she was talking about her experiences in the last few days, I kept staring at her reminiscing about the first time when I saw her. The experience was so cathartic, and the ripples in my heart were more chaotic compared to the ones in the Arabian Sea waves battering across the tetrapod boulders placed over there. I had been to Marine Drive umpteen times in the last two years, but the Queen’s Necklace never felt so mesmerizing ever before.
I was in a fuss over the best rooftop cafe and bar in South Bombay, but Zomato came to my rescue in selecting one. We headed over to “The Dome, Intercontinental”, an exotic open-air restaurant overlooking the Arabian Sea. The pantheon style dome, the panoramic view of the Queen’s Necklace from the whiskey lounge, the mouth-watering kebab platter, the timeless favorite “Long Island Iced Tea”, while I was looking at her across the table and foolishly assuming it to be our first date; the night could not be intoxicating enough. With my glassy eyes and a slurred speech, I asked her “What does this mean to you? Do we have any future?” Amidst the clinking noise of the cutlery, she answered “Umm, I have not thought about it yet. I need some time. So, I am not sure about our future either. Let keep things simple as of now..” Those words left the heart teary-eyed, but somehow the lofty hopes kept the romance starry-eyed.
She had a flight to board the next morning, so we called it a night. I am pathetic at goodbyes, but taking a stroll with her to the hotel where she was staying felt like a good one. Just before I was leaving, she said “See you soon hopefully” and my dying dreams could see the love blooming far away. Her abhorrence of selfies did not change over time, so I could not capture us in a frame. Boarding the cab back home was quite an inexplicable phenomenon. The defining moments in the last few hours were naive and unadulterated, but the excruciating pain of leaving her seasoned them enough to become eternal, immortal, and perpetual. On reaching home, I had a realization that memories can’t be cherished for a lifetime until they leave you in a state of trance with a saddening footnote. I was not sure about when I would see her again, but little did I know that my stars won’t get lucky too soon.
Although this was uncharted territory for me, walking across those lanes was pure bliss. The mushrooming intimacy between us agitated my feelings for her, and my heart won the long lost battle against the inferiority it was hiding within itself. The things which I considered to be cheesy and gooey once, somehow found a niche of its own in my life. Waiting for a text from her after a gruesome day at work to ring the bells in my heart, giving up on my sleep just for a phone call, helping her to make prudent decisions in life standing by her side, mentoring her on the office project to ease off her struggles as much as possible, crafting handmade cards on her birthday pouring my heart out, watching “P.S. I Love you” and “The Notebook” when I missed her terribly, blushing involuntarily whenever her name flashed on the pop-up window, getting acquainted with her mannerisms totally; the experiences were fresh and fragile.
The careless and cocky 16-year old me kept smirking at this mawkish and mushy 24-year old version of myself incessantly. The silences in our conversations never uttered a word about us, but my overburdening hopes were shameless enough in dreaming a future with her. As placid as the waters of a small lake; she used to tolerate my long Facebook posts dedicated to her, my profound love for those cheesy one-liners, my hatred for animes, and most of my nuances while keeping her composure. Days and months passed in between, but things between us were moving at the pace of larvae coming out of its cocoon. Suddenly, the events took a sweet turn when the universe conspired in its own way to place us in the same geographical coordinates yet again. Mumbai, the city of dreams, did not fail to live up to its name one more time. I waited pretty long to make the first call, but the veteran heart was getting restless to grab the irresistible opportunity this time.
It was the 14th of March in the year 2017; when I asked her out for the first time. She went blank for a moment, but said “Yes” to my proposal with a disclaimer “But, this is not a date right”. The hearing receptors were well-calibrated to filter out the disclaimer part. For a first date in the city of dreams, Marine Drive had to be the inevitable choice. Though Google Maps displayed the destination was 35 kilometers away from my place, but it felt like lightyears away this time. Even in that commotion across the streets of the city which never sleeps, numerous emotions were rattling through my mind as in what to say when I come across her. Finally, the ride to my dreamland ended but my eyes could not locate her in that hustle and bustle. The moment came which I had been waiting for the last four years when she tapped me from the back and said “Hey, I’m here stupid…”
It felt as if the cool breeze blowing across the 3.6-kilometer long Promenade touched the warmth of her cheeks and whispered in my ears “This is your moment. Go, live it”. The benumbed senses were gobbling up my discernment. She looked much different from the last time I had seen her back in college. For her love of chocolates, I brought her a Dairy Milk Silk but the rising anxiety and the soaring humidity levels melted a portion of it on my way. The cars honking, the hawkers shouting at the top of their lungs, the couples cuddling each other at the lover’s point, the policemen patroling around; everything felt so diminutive and lifeless that day. While she was talking about her experiences in the last few days, I kept staring at her reminiscing about the first time when I saw her. The experience was so cathartic, and the ripples in my heart were more chaotic compared to the ones in the Arabian Sea waves battering across the tetrapod boulders placed over there. I had been to Marine Drive umpteen times in the last two years, but the Queen’s Necklace never felt so mesmerizing ever before.
I was in a fuss over the best rooftop cafe and bar in South Bombay, but Zomato came to my rescue in selecting one. We headed over to “The Dome, Intercontinental”, an exotic open-air restaurant overlooking the Arabian Sea. The pantheon style dome, the panoramic view of the Queen’s Necklace from the whiskey lounge, the mouth-watering kebab platter, the timeless favorite “Long Island Iced Tea”, while I was looking at her across the table and foolishly assuming it to be our first date; the night could not be intoxicating enough. With my glassy eyes and a slurred speech, I asked her “What does this mean to you? Do we have any future?” Amidst the clinking noise of the cutlery, she answered “Umm, I have not thought about it yet. I need some time. So, I am not sure about our future either. Let keep things simple as of now..” Those words left the heart teary-eyed, but somehow the lofty hopes kept the romance starry-eyed.
She had a flight to board the next morning, so we called it a night. I am pathetic at goodbyes, but taking a stroll with her to the hotel where she was staying felt like a good one. Just before I was leaving, she said “See you soon hopefully” and my dying dreams could see the love blooming far away. Her abhorrence of selfies did not change over time, so I could not capture us in a frame. Boarding the cab back home was quite an inexplicable phenomenon. The defining moments in the last few hours were naive and unadulterated, but the excruciating pain of leaving her seasoned them enough to become eternal, immortal, and perpetual. On reaching home, I had a realization that memories can’t be cherished for a lifetime until they leave you in a state of trance with a saddening footnote. I was not sure about when I would see her again, but little did I know that my stars won’t get lucky too soon.
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