Hing Kachori.
"Ek hing kachori dena bhaiyya."
"Hing Kachori to khatm hai madam, pyaaz wali de doon?"
Hing Kachori, khatm? Her world came tumbling down, how could hing kachori not be available? She travelled more than an hour, took a bus, a metro and walked for good 10 minutes, all just for a hing kachori and now she still wouldn't be able to have it? The horror! This was the stuff nightmares were made of, unbelievable and just plain sad.
"Bhaiyya, is there no chance of having a hing kachori today?", she asked or rather pleaded, hoping against hope that they would somehow magically prepare another round of Hing Kachoris for the day.
"Nahi madam, a customer bought it in bulk, you can come tomorrow."
She could cry at the moment, she spent half of her Sunday travelling to this corner of the city just so she could take a bite of Hing Kachori and magically get transported to heaven. It was just a month ago, when her neighbors offered her this delicacy and it was the best Hing Kachori she ever had. It was euphoria and recipe to ultimate happiness. She particularly noted the address of the place and has been craving for another bite of it for more than a month. Dejected and disappointed at the way events had turned out, she slowly started walking away from the shop, when she felt something moist on her toe. What the hell, effing manner less idiot, she grit her teeth and looked at the uncivilized man who just spat on her toe. He seemed to be least bothered about his deed and was completely oblivious to her disgust over the inconvenience he caused to her. Even before she could give him a piece of mind on civic sense, he vanished into the crowd. "What joy do people get in spitting on the road? Bad day, Geet. Bad day." She mumbled to herself in anger and reached towards the nearby pani-puri stall, requested the owner for some water, so that she could clean it off.
After walking for another 20 minutes, while coping with the disappointments life was throwing at her, She finally reached the shop, that read "Hafiz Chicken Corner"
If not the Hing Kachori, she could at least have the Kebabs that were famous at this part of the city. She settled at one of the corner tables and ordered for a plate of Chicken Kebabs. While waiting for her order, she noticed that the entrance at the crowd suddenly seemed to be a little more than usual; it was clear after a while that there was a shooting happening for a food show of a new channel on the block. The restaurant closed the entry till the shoot was over.
If one door closes, God makes sure other opens; she remembered the golden words mouthed by some elder of her house and how true was it. If universe denied her taste-buds the joy of Kachori. Her eyes were all set for a treat. The host of the food show was an immensely good looking guy, who almost brought the house down with his presence. Though the restaurant turned a bit chaotic, she didn't really mind. Did she? Probably yes, as a guy seemed to have blocked her view. He just didn't block her view, but he blocked the treat for her eyes.
"Can you please excuse me", Geet requested the man, who stood in-front of her table.
"Oh, I'm sorry"...he uttered, while he sat down on the empty chair of her table.
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, actually...I was last person to enter before they shut the gates, they aren't any vacant seats right now, I could have stood there and waited for somebody to leave but looks like everybody is busy staring at the shoot. So I hope you don't mind me sitting here.", he smiled and continued to look at the shooting.
Oh God, isn't he the manner less idiot who spat on her a few minutes ago. Why was he blabbering so much? And no way was she going to let the man, sit at her table. No freaking way.
"You have no idea, what you did 5 minutes ago, you spat on my toe and were least bothered about it" she blabbered, even though it sounded extremely unpleasant to rewind an incident as awkward as that, she didn't really care. She just wasn't comfortable with the man sitting over there.
"I'm sorry but I think you have mistaken me for somebody else. I don't spit in public", replied the man who was both shocked and embarrassed at the same time, with the stranger's accusations.
"No, I'm pretty sure it was you, Mister.", she pointed her finger towards him and assured it to herself.
"Madam, I think you are over-reacting. Please relax." came the reply, the guy was visibly embarrassed and was hunting for words to excuse himself from the awkward situation, while Geet was ready for another round of firing.
Over-reacting? Relax? This man hit a raw nerve over there.
"Look"
"Ok I'm sorry", uttered the man before Geet could even complete her sentence. "If you believe that I caused you inconvenience in anyway, I'm really sorry, though I still think it's some sort of a mis understanding, please let me treat you with a dessert."
Is he trying to shut me up with his lame treat? Geet frowned, while he ordered dessert, for both of them.
"Look, I'm gonna pay for my dessert. So please spare me your treat. I'm least interested in it"
The man sighed, "Okay, I'll shift to some other table. I don't want to irritate you anymore, madam. But please, enjoy the dessert, it's THE Best over here." He passed a formal smile and left the table. "Enjoy"
"Whatever!", she rolled her eyes.
*********
"What! Why am I being charged for two desserts?" Geet shouted while looking at the bill,
"Ma'am, one is yours and other is sir's
"You think it's a joke? I don't even know that guy, he came and sat on my table because the restaurant was full." She fumed.
Before the argument turned louder, the in-charge of the restaurant took her to a different corner, that was slightly away from the table in order to not disturb the other customers.
"Ma'am, but you ordered it together"
"So?"
"So you have to pay for both the desserts, your friend has left"
"He is not my friend and why would I pay for a random stranger"
"So did a random stranger place an order for you as well? Look Madam, please don't waste our time and pay the bill", said the irked waiter, whose patience went for a toss.
"What kind of service is this? One of the worst, I have ever seen. I'm not paying a penny extra, that too for a fraud. Okay, let us call the police and get it all sorted in front of them. Let everybody know what kind of service is provided here, where you demand bills of fraud customers from others. Call the police right now!" Geet was seething with anger.
Geet was adamant and the manager didn't want the entire situation to be blown out of proportion. He requested her to leave, so that the situation at his restaurant turned normal once again.
Geet was completely miffed by now. Only if the guy, the fraud came infront of her. She could crush him alive. How dare he play such a cheap trick on her? On Geet Handa! Pray that you don't come infront me you cheat, Pray!
To be continued...
467