Characters in this chapter.......................
Chapter
1 - Life is full of surprises
Dear Diary,
I reached Mumbai
safely this morning. The flight was quite tiring thanks to my noisy, chatter
box of a neighbor who was seated next to me in the plane.
Why do strangers
keep talking to you when you don't react to their preaches? I don't understand
it at all. This man went on blabbering the moment I was seated.
Partially I was to
be blamed because it was I, who initiated the big dumb conversation by saying
'hi' to him. Not only that, I even smiled with him. Me and my stupid smile.
Well to my defense, he was cute and not that bad to look at. But the moment he
started unwrapping his whole life in front of me, I realized I made a big
mistake by smiling with a stranger. It felt as if I was sitting next to an FM
radio channel which has no off button or any commercial breaks.
But I didn't have
the guts to stop him. I don't have the courage to speak up anymore. So I kept
silent and scolded him in my mind.
I shouldn't have
listened to Vishu; she says that we should always smile with people and be nice
to them. But Roshi says we should never give a damn to strangers. Oh I miss
them!!!! I want to fly back to Colombo to my friends.
'Don't give up;
life is full of surprises', dad used to say that.
The worst surprise
of my life was this stranger. He said he's from London. He's an Indian and his family had moved
to London when he was 10. He has dropped down in Sri Lanka to meet some friends on his way to Mumbai
to visit his relatives. That's why he was flying to Mumbai from Colombo. Though I wasn't interested in his story,
I had to bear with him since there were no ear plugs.
Then he went on
and on how annoyed he was when Germany lost to Spain in Fifa world cup. The guy wanted to sue
the German Football Federation and his anger was quite visible and he roared as
he spoke. When asked who I supported, my answer got him even more worked up. As
a result of my big mouth, he went on blasting people like me for not watching
Fifa and supporting the game. I wished I was deaf and dumb.
He said his name
was 'James Bond'. Yes!! James Bond. Then he asked mine and since there was no
response from my end, very generously he offered to call me 'Colombo girl' since we met in Colombo. It seemed that my silence and ignorance
didn't bother him at all as he continued to yap. The moment an airhostess came
near to offer a drink, he tried flirting with them.
I somehow managed
to survive the torture till we reached Mumbai. I didn't even wait till the
airhostess announced to take off our seat belts as the plane landed. James Bond
sensed I was in a hurry so he said we should meet up in Mumbai to which I gave
him a cold stare. Passengers started moving towards the exit and the moment I
got up, so did Mr. Bond. I was eager to get away from him so I said 'bye' and
strolled following the others. But a firm wrist grabbed my right hand and as I
looked back, James Bond winked at me and said;
'Never say bye Colombo girl, say phir milenge, chalte chalte'.
That was so
clich. He has turned into Shah Rukh Khan. Even though I was pissed with him, I
couldn't help but smile faintly at hearing these words. I also wanted to use few
Hindi words I knew and say 'alvida forever ulluka patta' but didn't want to
encourage him to score few more goals. I wanted to give him a red card and send
him off the field; my life forever.
After all he did
manage to bring a smile to my face, a smile which was missing from my face for
the past few days. Honestly, I have forgotten to laugh lately. But his stupid
words still echo in my head.
I met Shekhar
uncle at the arrival lounge and on our way to his house, we barely exchanged a
few words. It was more like a rapid fire round which allowed only short
answers; yes/no as I didn't use any other word apart from those. He must've sensed
I was tired so he didn't push me too much. But I knew he had a lot to say and I
was not in a mood to talk either. It seemed like I didn't have enough energy to
talk to anybody at that time.
Shekhar uncle's
apartment looked different. A lot different from the last time I was there. He
has color washed the place with light shades this time; mustard yellow and
green. Much better choice compared to the bright red and dark blue he used last
time. The furniture looked quite new yet cozy and he has even removed the ugly
red Persian carpet from the living room.
I remember how
much mom nagged Shekhar uncle to remove the carpet from the living room and to
use light colors for the walls. He was his own ruler, extremely stubborn and
didn't listen to anybody, not even to dad or mom. But something has changed his
behaviour and frame of mind. I'm still shocked and surprised to see how much he
has changed over the past few days.
The walls were
accessorized with beautiful photographs taken by none other than the genius
himself. Icing of the cake was the gorgeous portrait of the ageless beauty;
Rekha which was on the center wall next to the TV lounge.
I got another pleasant
surprise when he marched me towards the guest room. He has completely
rearranged it with my favourite colors; black and white. He had even shipped in
my old toys and books from Colombo, to which I didn't know how to respond. I was really touched
by his love and was glad to have him in my life.
I unpacked my
baggage and folded clothes neatly in the cupboards and had a hot shower. It
blew away the tiredness and soothed me down. Later on Shekhar uncle cooked
lunch for both of us plus he's an amazing cook. Throughout the lunch he tried
to stuff me up saying that I was too thin. Although I wasn't eager to eat and
refused to take another serving, he still managed to make me settle for 2
servings.
I don't know what
I'd do without him. Especially now, since I don't have anybody else. In short,
he's my only family.
I guess dad was
right. Life sure is full of surprises.
That's all for
today.
Alvida!!
Taani
Edited by NaDsGirl - 13 years ago
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