Chapter 5 – The first Date
It was a chilled winter evening, I reached the Mahakali Temple were we planned to meet, the bells and the chanting prayers coming from the temple gave a relaxing feel to the booming-blasting head of mine. I settled myself on the staircase of the temple; the kids were playing, smirking and giggling on the playground, the florist selling a bunch of beautiful white lilies to a devotee. An amazing fragrance of holy divinity coming from the core praying area transformed all my anger into peace, I wanted to thank the stranger; it was because of him that I came to the lovely place after a long time.
My phone vibrated…. I heard a heavy & sophisticated voice from the other side….
Hey, are you the girl sitting on the temple staircase wearing a green jacket, black top, blue jeans, red-framed glasses, fair and 5’4 inch tall almost 48kg weight, gazing around in amazement?
Once again he made me wonder- who is he? A James bond or what? How could he guess my exact weight and height?
A cute looking guy wearing a black jacket and a black trouser begin to move towards me from the crowd, his jacket had printed golden words “UNICORN”
As soon as he stood next to me, we exchanged greetings; he was saying something but I didn’t listen. I was simply staring him, my mind was questioning me- Is he really fairer than you Priya mishra?
For the first time I have seen a guy having a complexion better than mine. His countenance made me feel inferior because it was flawless, no moles, no blemishes as if he is not a soldier but a top class model from the fancy fascinating fashion world.
I am sorry… May I have your attention….!!!! Oh….! He just broke the consistent flow of my jealous thoughts. Yes of course he is an officer; my heart accepted but I was amazed to see the naughty innocence of his brown eyes.
So, a friendly conversation began and I realized he is a very talkative guy. He is 8 months younger than me yet far more responsible, sensible and has a great sense of humor. Our conversation was hailed to rest for a while when an old cynical, guard like man scolded us and asked us to move out of the temple premises, they don’t entertain couples in their holy place.
Embarrassed equally but with no sign of shame we moved out of the Mahakali temple premises, we then decided to have a walk in the nearby fruit market street.
He was talking, sharing a lot of interesting things from his past memories and childhood. All about his schooling from Army school, his college life, his favorite sport, his cousin sister whom he loves a lot and share his love via fighting, his first crush, and the girl who fell in love with him.
Amidst all these conversation, I was listening sincerely and I literally didn’t feel like stopping him or avoiding him. He and his stories were too cute to be disturbed by any kind of distraction. Every experience associated with him had flair of proud, honor and esteem. He was just so happy to be himself. Rishab Singh Rathore…..no….. I made a mistake….lieutenant Rishab Singh Rathore….!!!
He amused me by his dissertation on India, philosophy, human behavior, food, and music. He was the kind of guy who could negotiate on any topic about everything. Now we were friends, I asked him- you are not the first army guy I ever met, I met many army personnel. Undoubtedly you are a very amiable guy but one thing which is common about all you guys is your attitude, proud, you people behave in a bit bitter egoistic ways at times. Why is it so? Why can’t you people just be a little humane?
Excuse me lady….!!! What do you mean by being humane Madam? He said in resentment as if he is hurt.
Humane…I mean a little less authoritative, a bit sweet, soft with less display of proud and bossy attitude ,all I mean is being gentle not so raw, fiery and harsh. I explained.
He smiled gently and replied, ‘Madame, I am neither a Poet nor a kindergarten’s teacher, I am a class I ranked officer of a might, imperious organization full of valiance and excellence- THE INDIAN ARMY.
A commanding officer is an officer, no matter what’s his age, race, gender, complexion, religion or region. A troop of 3000 soldiers will be ready to sacrifice their life without any question just because their officer ordered them to do so.
So my dear, don’t you agree that a man who has so much of responsibilities needs to carry a personality that depicts courage, valor and confidence. One has to behave like a role model that smells dignity and boost firmness.
He looked at me, I was silent. He smiled at me, I was startled to hear all that heavy stuff coming from a guy younger than me, he wasn’t a PhD Scholar or a Scientist; he was a graduate like me. The only difference was he belonged to an Army college, graduated as an officer.
What? Say something…..he poked me.
I said my favorite lines from an amazing piece of work, ‘Julius- Caesar’
“Cowards die many times before their death; The Valiant never taste of death but once.”
Rishab cracked a smile and said –Impressive….!!!! You know what my favorite line is?
Nope, I said sheepishly.
“Death is lighter than a feather; Duty is heavier than a mountain.”
Impressive Indeed….!!! I uttered. I grinned
Chapter 6 – It’s all about Companionship…!!
I entered my home with a huge beam of satiation; it was a very memorable walk of my life. I never enjoyed conversation with a guy so much, for the first time this has happened to me that I wanted to remain quiet and listen to the guy and allow him to talk On and On and On.
I took a shower; the music played in my room was up-beat full of zeal, freshness and enthusiasm. Every frantic fired up emotion wanted to come out and dance boastfully with eager and thrill. I checked my phone again; my feelings were more juiced up after seeing a ping, reading-
I gave you a wrong name Miss. of course you are a sweeta but you are more like Butter…. Milky –white..! smooth and consoling. Pleased to meet you “Makkhan” (butter)
I was blushing, normally guys call me bitter gourd and he named me butter. The only thing which disturbed me was the unjust behavior of a narrow minded guard who threw us out of the temple.
His inconsiderate notion made me furious, why two beautiful people can’t meet and know each other at a divine place, just because they belong to opposite gender; they are to be taken negatively. What is so wrong about it? Why friendship between members of opposite sex is always mistreated in our orthodox society. Love is not taken as love but often insulted as a mere symbol of lust.
The rage of all boiling sentiments came to an end when a ping with a cuddlesome dog’s sticker came into my messenger. Planning to meet you today….what say?
Why not…..when and where? I answered.
Let’s meet at the old City palace, message came instantly.
Something was different about today; usually I am happy to carry myself as a Tom-boy. Yesterday when I met him I was dressed casually- simple, least like a girl more like a lazy lad. Today I wanted to look special because I was feeling special. I wanted to grab attention, I searched my cupboard, found the best and newest yellow top, wore a tight smart blue jeans, putted loads of liner in order to make my specs-ridden eyes look attractive, though I could not carry it elegantly and finally ended up having dark fuzzy eyes. My hair were equally as mismanaged as my eyes, finally I putted an earring and moved out of my home wearing my raw, rough and tough tomboy shoes. Tomboy type ladies are actually dominant and strong; they only desire to look girlish when they find someone stronger, reliable and trustworthy like their own self-image. Finally I reached the old palace.
I saw him walking towards me, he had no vehicle. We settled down beneath a tamarind tree and as soon as we exchanged greetings he said, “Today, it’s your day, yesterday you said you will share your stories; I am waiting”.
I dated one of your seniors, we chatted online for a week and then we had a break up, I had three serious break ups and a lot more sucking experiences with ridiculous rascal like rude rubbish guys. I am obliged to be your friend but look Mr. I am certainly not looking for a date and another weird experience again.
He was gazing at me silently. After a while he said, if you are over with your speech may I offer a solution lady, if you don’t mind.
Yeah…. sure….!!!. I yelled
Okay, angry bird, I would love to be your pal….. Buddies what say?
Hmmm….sounds cool.
We abused every ex of mine; he abused every bad experience from his life. Sitting at the same place for 4 hours we kept laughing and howling and meekly enjoying each other’s presence.
I learned many new abusive words and one of his most favorite which he was using frequently was…….Balls….!!! I too taught him some new freaking colloquial depraving words. One thing was clear he wasn’t a conservative type guy. He didn’t believe to bond or mould others. He was very unique in terms of being so fun-loving and childlike at one moment and a mature, sensible man at the other. After abusing all my ex along with me, he explained me smartly that every bad experience matters. It just makes us realize the relevance and beauty of good things in our life. His wisdom and mellowness was visible in his allocutions. May be this was the reason his batch mates call him unicorn.
I couldn’t stop laughing when he told me the reality, it’s not unicorn; actually it’s Unicorna dica sperma. He is accused of being lucky all the time, somehow he manages to save himself from severe harsh punishments which are given to the cadets when they commit any mistake. Hence his batch mates abuse him as a lucky dica sperma. The worst part of having a good companion is you don’t realize when you crossed the time-limit and enter the moment to say good-bye and move apart. It appears soon, hours become minutes and minutes look like seconds. The best part about having such a companion is when you go in your bed to sleep your face smile from ear to ear and you don’t know how to hide this signs of good lovable memories.
As I closed my eyes, I received a forwarded message-
Let d dimples dig deep on your cheeks.
Smiling lips look great on you.
Let the reason of your happiness renew.
And I bet; Life itself will have a crush on you.
Keep smiling…..Makkhan (butter).
Good night; sleep tight…..!!!