The word dear lingered in my memory long enough to convey I am lost.
"hello???"
" Uh..Oh....I am very much here...sorry"
"hmm..tell me.."
Uh oh! What do you really talk about with a girl you have just met and hardly known for a day.
"So..Hows you?" God! I was so stupid to make such a lame beginning. What do you mean by How's you? you met her a few hours back man, I told myself.
"What do you mean by how am I ya? Mad or what?"
" No i just meant.."
"Forget it..Achcha..wat time you are coming tomorrow?"
"09:00 am.."
"Umm..how about coming at 08:15? There is a nice vadapav wala I know at the end of the road"
"ok Fio..then see you at 08:15"
We never had the vadapav the next day. But we did walk the road that was romantic in the morning- hardly any vehicular traffic and pretty silent (read lonely). our conversations went from the family to probable career options to idea of romance. God, I admit, even that day, I missed some parts of the conversations and I don't regret it- it was more than made up by her beautiful hair and lovely smile. I made a every effort to make her laugh; simply because each time she would laugh, she would just stop in her way,laugh with her left hand on her chest and the right one on my shoulders or catching hold of my arm. This project for sure gave me as much awareness about myself and my feelings for women as much about AIDS.
The time at school was usual-Day two was again a day of visitors coming to see our projects and no project evaluators appeared on the scene- which meant we went more often to the water cooler to drink water. Evening came by, we guys walked towards our bikes to go home, but there was Fio standing not very far from the gate. She saw me and walked towards me. I became a little conscious; there were some guys who stopped while walking to see whom Fio is walking towards; Picture this- if you can imagine what would have happened if Pooja Bedi of Jo Jeeta wohi sikander walked towards Aamir Khan in the Model College camppus, the situation was pretty similar; only I was no Aamir and she was way better than Mrs.Bedi.
"I just wanted to try your bike ya" She said as she came real close to me with her hand on the handle bar of the bike and the other on the seat,very close to my fingers.
"Sure..All yours dear" I said.
Now, mine was a Avon BMX Sports bike that Dad gifted for my last birthday. I was so glad that the bike's seat was a tad higher; it made her skirt slide back a long way. I was sure I wasn't the only one who enjoyed it, but she didn't seem to mind.
"Where do you stay Fio?" I asked as she slowly managed to maneuver the bike out of the gate and just stopped.
"not far ya, you know this Gandhi Road na, I live in Antariksha Building."
'Oh great, i was thinking if, you know...maybe..umm...kind of..like walk down together...I mean only if it's like not.."
"oh Chill maar ya...Why should i have a problem..chalo.."
I never enjoyed pushing along and walking my bike more in my life. I really forgot if there was a project I was working on. Things before and after Fio seemed non existent. But perhaps she liked my company as well,else we wouldn't have been standing for half hour a block away from her building's gate. The building was actually on a turn and the road was again a narrow one, less infested by vehicles.
I was about to just walk towards my bike as she was to make a move towards her gate. Just then, she walked back towards me and said,
"You know, i liked that you walked me home. Seems like the movies" She quickly kissed my cheek and turned around to walk into her gate.
I couldn't think clearly now. I wouldn't have been surprised if I would have been hit by a motor vehicle on my way home. I may have had my eyes open, but they couldn't see anything beyond Fio. 'Seems like the movies she said?' Hell, i felt I was in a movie right then.
"come on hurry da...stop watching TV and eat your meal." That was my lovely mom. If only she knew, I wasn't watching any of the stuff they were airing on TV.
"These days kids don;t reply to anything. You have to pay them to get them to even hear what you wanna say! Spoilt Generation..We never were like this.."
I figured mom asked me something, but i was in too deep a trance to hear anything. I just let her continue....and myself too...
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