Not At First Sight..!! (Episode 2)

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Episode 2

“And all of you have been put into one big team. All you freshers” said Mr. Kurian, in his Malayalam accent. It was the last day of the training and Mr. Kurian was the manager of the line to which we were being assigned. It was highly unusual for all trainees to be put into a single team. We had been expecting to be put into different teams, with hardly two of us being in the same team.

But his words came as a pleasant surprise and the whole batch of trainees erupted in joy, except for one gentleman. I was shocked. I have seen lightning, thunder, volcanic eruption being shown in Bollywood movies when a character gets to hear unpleasant, distressful and terribly shocking news. And for the first time I realized that such things happen in real life too. The distress I found in having to bear with Disha, superseded the joy of working with familiar faces.

For all these days, all that I had hoped for was freedom from this annoying lady. Being put into different teams would have helped that hope. But my hopes were dashed and I started doubting the deeds that I had done in my previous birth. Bhagavadgita says that those who suffer are the ones who have committed sin in their previous birth.

“We were destined to meet”, Disha exclaimed happily looking at me; when Kurian spoke about us being put into the same team. Her words made sense to me when both of us where asked to work on the same project.

After a couple of weeks she moved into my area. After a week she bought a Scooty Pep,a pink one. That meant she would ride me to office daily. I found many excuses to avoid the free ride on her PINK scooty, but it was in vain.

“You can ride the scooty, if you are not comfortable sitting behind” she would tell me, whenever I found excuses to turn down her offer to give me a ride to office. I told her that I didn’t want to ride and that I was comfortable sitting behind. I had two strong reasons for not wanting to ride her scooty. Second reason was that the scooty was pink in color. And the first reason was that I didn’t know how to ride..!! It’s highly embarrassing for any guy to admit that he doesn’t know how to ride a two-wheeler.

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She was supposed to go to her best friend’s birthday treat that day. Since it was for dinner, it was more likely that it would be late when she gets back home. So she insisted that I accompany her to dinner. At least half a dozen girls would be there for dinner, I guessed. The very thought of having a free dinner with pretty faces around, made me willingly agree to accompany her.

It was almost eight in the evening when we reached the restaurant. And when I left the restaurant, the only thing that I remembered was sitting in the lounge outside and waiting for her to finish her party and come out. It was not that she didn’t invite me in. She had asked me. But I had tried to sound formal and had told her that I would be more comfortable waiting outside. I had expected her to ask me again but she hadn’t. And I had ended up waiting outside.

When she came out, it was eleven o’clock in the night. “I hope you are fine with my being late”, she said. I can place a million dollar bet that she must have been a physicist in her previous birth. Like physicists, even Disha had an unexplained love for assumptions. She had this favorite hobby of assuming that I would be fine with whatever she does.  “Yes, its fine”, I replied, keeping in mind the free ride that she gives me every day. And before she could say ‘I hope you had your dinner’ I lied, “And don’t worry about my dinner. I had it long back”.

On our way back, all that she did was narrate stories about her college life. I was sitting behind trying hard to shrug off the sleep that was threatening to embrace me, thanks to her boring stories. The only thing that kept me awake was the fear of falling off her scooty, if I fell asleep.

“But she shouldn’t have done that right?” I heard her asking me. She was riding at 60 miles per hour now. I had no clue what she was talking about. I wasn’t even listening to her.

“Yes, I completely agree. She shouldn’t have done that” I replied innocently. I was a born actor.

 “Lol..!! I caught you. You weren’t even listening”, she said.

“Nope I was listening. And no, she shouldn’t have done that”, I protested.

 “In that case, I should tell you; my question had nothing to do with what I was talking about. An old trick in the book to test if a person is really listening”. I guess she winked.

 I was embarrassed. I didn’t react for a while.

“It’s okay. I know people tend to get bored when I speak continuously”, she said in an attempt to comfort me.

“Nope..!! You know what..!! I never get bored when I am with you”, I replied. Yes! Of course! I won’t be bored because, I won’t even bother to listen when you are speaking, I wanted to add. She didn’t react. Maybe she was overwhelmed with joy.

After a couple of meters she stopped her scooty. It was a park and the place was quite dark. It was two minutes to twelve and there was no one there. It looked deserted. 

 “Hmmm…okay. Let’s talk about something interesting, shall we Adi?” she asked. That sounded really pleasant. It was one of those few moments in my life where I had been called Adi. “You like it when people call you Adi, don’t you?” she smiled. A smile, that made her look beautiful. I should confess, sometimes she did look like a beautiful thing that makes my heart skip a beat or two.

I just nodded.

“In that case” she said, “Happy birthday Adi..!!”.

I looked at my watch, it read 12 o’clock. It was my birthday. I hadn’t even realized it. Before I could even thank her, a group of more than a dozen people appeared from nowhere. “Happy birthday Adi” they sang in chorus. They were all Disha’s friends. I didn’t know how to react. This was a surprise of a lifetime. Not that it was the best birthday celebration in the world ever, but never before had my birthday been 

celebrated in this way.

There was a cake with my name on it. They soaked me in beer. After the cake was cut, it was time for the most important ritual. It was time for bumps on bums.

I must admit I was shaking in fear. All her friends, boys and girls alike, had great physiques.

“Okay..!! Guys..!! So time for wheel of fortune..!! ” I heard Disha announcing. I wasn’t able to understand head or tail of what she told. But I could safely make a bet that it had something to do with the assault on my rear part.

Her friends formed a circle. Disha passed me a Beer bottle and asked me to stand at the center of the circle. I was terribly scared. Everyone looked drunk and I remembered the first scene in Five Point Someone novel. And with people standing around in a circle, I guessed that they would be taking turns for the brutal assault. You are supposed to use your legs and not the bottle, I wanted to protest.

“Adi..!! We follow a protocol wherein only one person gets to kick the birthday boy. And the chosen one is the one at whom the bottle points to after the spin” she made things clear. Chosen one, my foot!, I cursed silently. But her words definitely eased my tension. For once, she looked like an angel with a halo on top of her head.

With my fingers crossed I took a quick measure of everyone. If the bottle pointed to anyone other than Disha, I knew I would be dead. “Here you go” said I and spun the bottle. Those were the longest seconds of my life. I closed my eyes and silently prayed, “Let Disha be the chosen one”.

And guess what..!! The bottle spun, spun and spun and pointed at Disha! I was all excited, relieved and happy. Every dog has its day and today was my day.  Her friends put a weird expression on their faces. I read it as expressions of disappointment.

“Okay guys..!! I am ready. Please lift me” I made a gentle request. Her friends obliged. “Guys please hold me low, else she won’t be able to kick me” I said smirking. “Disha, don’t be scared. Feel free to use all your energy. And please be careful. Don’t hurt yourself” I teased her.” Her friends laughed out loud as if it was a joke of the millennium.

Even I have this habit of laughing courteously on sad jokes of my friends. And the very thought that they were offering the same courtesy on my joke, made me turn pink in embarrassment.

 “Okay all set” I said hiding my embarrassment as I saw her running towards me. My commentary was on. “Ladies and Gentlemen, here comes the lady with Iron feet”, I had hardly completed the sentence and she stuck her blow.

 The next thing I remember is lying on the ground and crying out in pain. I could not figure out why few things were referred to as kickass. Her friends were trying hard to suppress their laughter and I was fighting hard my tears.

And then I discovered one more thing about Disha. She had been into kickboxing for the past three years. Not that she was some university champion but she had enough strength in her to disorient a guy’s ass.

 On our way back home she explained to me that she had not gone to the restaurant for attending a birthday party. There had been no party. It was all part of the plan. She had her own way of giving surprises. Even though my bottom was hurting like hell, I was indeed happy about the way my birthday had been celebrated. A surprise in the middle of the night and people who you didn’t even know coming all the way down to celebrate it. It had definitely been a moving moment for me when each of them had given me an affectionate hug before leaving.

The ugliest FEELING in the world creeps in; when the person whom you HATE the most in this world does something SPECIAL for you..!! That one special thing, which makes you fight your feeling of hatred towards them..!! And you end up hating yourself for being judgmental.

“Thank you” I said, after she dropped me off at my place. She smiled and said, “Sweet Dreams Adi. And Hey..!! Sorry about your bum”.  And she disappeared into the night on her scooty.

To  be Continued......