Ram Bhaiya ki Chai Airport per

It has been quite some time since we last saw each other. I went to Mumbai in between for a month and also I moved out from BTM. So morning tea at Ram Bhaiya’s place has almost stopped. Down goes my hope of getting her name. I mean I don’t even get to see her how the hell am I going to get the name.

Perhaps Ram bhaiya can be of help… No, that won’t be a good idea I thought. After reading the last post some of my Mumbai friends offered to help me in finding her. Their college was in Bangalore so they know people who know people who might be studying in the same college. I didn’t want this to be like some Indian movie where the college students are trying to find a girl for their friend who is sad since he hasn't seen her in a while… blah blah blah… Theek hai yaar nahi mili toh nahi mili… Kismat mein likha hai toh milenge nahi toh no matter what I do things won’t work out.

Now when all of this was happening my boss asks me if I want to go to Abu Dhabi for a month. “Why not?” without second thoughts I said. I basically wanted a break from all of this and I thought this could be a good way to keep my mind off few things. Now everything was in place and I was all set to go to Abu Dhabi. My flight was on 31^st Aug. I reached Bangalore airport and I was doing check-in and was getting my boarding pass. I took the boarding pass and was walking towards the security check when all of sudden I saw this person in the queue.

“No way!!! This can’t be her…” Odds of me meeting her at airport are like one in million, perhaps billion. But then it was her, can’t forget the face. I mean who would have thought that we will meet here. At least I didn’t. Not knowing what to do I was standing there thinking whether I should go up to her and say hi or not. She was checking her ticket and then looked right up only to find me looking at her with a blank face.

She stared at me for like 5 seconds and then smiled… waved at me, “Hi”. I waved back. At the back of my mind I was talking to myself, “Bada aaya tha break lene wala… ab kya karega? Saamne khadi hai woh tere. Ho sakta hai ye aakhri bar ho tu usse mile. Aaj baat karle bhai, isse acha mauka nahi milega.” I was waiting there for her. She took the boarding pass and came to me.

“Hi, what a surprise? I totally didn’t except to see you here. How are you?” she said.

“Hi, ya… a pleasant surprise to see you here. I am doing good, how have you been doing?” I asked.

“Going well so far… M.Com final year so little hectic but still good… ”

We started walking towards the security check-in… I said, “I am sorry but I don’t know your name…”

“Akansha and yours?” she asked.

“Prashant”

I said to myself “Finally I got the name… Nice name… Akansha…”

We did the security check-in and were now in the waiting area. We got ourselves 2 seats.

Me: Where are you headed?

Akansha: Mumbai.

Me: Mumbai? 11:20 one?

Akansha: No. Mine is at 11.

Me: Oh… Okay.

Things would have been more awesome if she was on my flight. Well at least I got to see her that itself is more than enough for me. We were next to each other; I mean I should have been jumping around with joy, singing songs but something didn’t feel right. I mean seeing her at airport itself was a big coincidence. Not everything will go well in a day. Sab kuch ek hi din mein sahi ho toh kuch toh gadbad hai…

There was a silence between us for a while which was broken by her question.

Akansha: You are also going to Mumbai?

Me: Not exactly. I am going to Abu Dhabi. It’s a connecting flight via Mumbai. My Mumbai flight is at 11:20.

Akansha: Nice. Like for holidays or official trip?

Me: Office work.

Akansha: Okay.

She got a call in between and I was also peeking in to my mobile for messages and all. I started playing 2048. I was happy to have finally spoken to her but something didn’t feel right. Nahi toh abhi tak toh 2-3 romantic gaane toh mere dil mein baj chuke hote per nahi hua.

Her call got over and she came back to our seat.

Me: So you live in Mumbai?

Akansha: I live in Mumbai.

Me: Where in Mumabi?

Akansha: Goregaon.

Me: Sahi hai… Main bhi jata rehta hoon Mumbai beech beech mein office ke kaam se.

Akansha: Good…  Mumbai mein kahan?

Me: Navi Mumbai. Kopar Khairane.

Akansha: That’s far.

Me: Haan. It’s far.

Me: Going for holidays or some other reason?

She didn’t answer it. The boarding gate of her flight was open. People queued up to get in. She started checking the bag to make sure everything is in place.

She was doing all of this in a very hap hazard way. It was not like she was getting late or anything. People were still standing there.

     Me: Is everything alright?

     

     Akansha: Ya ya. It is…

     

     Me: You can relax, they are not going anywhere.

She didn’t say anything. There was a sudden change in her mood. I was wondering kya hua isko achanak se? Aisa toh kuch kaha hi nahi maine. The queue was almost nearing its end.

Akansha: Zindagi mein hum jo chahte woh zaroori nahi humein hamesha mile. Hai na?

Me: Ya… but why all of a sudden all this?

She was walking towards the gate without saying a word. She stopped and turned back. “I am getting engaged tomorrow… Bye tc” and she walked away.

I stood there, I was like Sh*t man!!! Kya hua abhi achanak se mere ko kuch samjh nahi aaya. Khada raha wahan sochne laga… A lot of questions were running in my head but the one for which I wanted an answer was Why did she say all of this to me? I m like a total stranger to her… We just acknowledge each others’ smile at a tea shop.

Soon she was gone, she had boarded her flight. I started walking towards my gate with all the questions I had in my mind for which I might not get any answers ever in my life.

Ek sad feeling agayi thi mere andar. Pichle 10-15 min mein mere saath kya hua mujhe nahi pata… shayad kabhi pata bhi na chale.

Ram Bhaiya ki Chai aur Ek bar

If you like someone you want to see them every day, don’t you? Well I was also in that same situation. It had been more than 2 months now since I saw her due to my office timings which had changed and honestly I was going mad; thinking about her all the time, her smile, her innocent face, that white dress. Everything about her was there in my head which just can't take out. As if I am seeing her every day.

One of my friends, Mayur was going to Abu Dhabi, and my management changed my timings again. Wow! That was relief. So now the hero gets to meet his heroine again…

Ram bhaiya here I come...

Nothing has changed in these 2 months. Ram bhaiya is as warm as he was 2 months back when we went there last time. All the college students are still the same, same girl who was running late for college; she is still running late for college. I don’t know when she will get her acts together. The same guy still wears a tie to the college and his tie today also looks ugly like it used to do.

And I wait for her holding my lemon tea talking to Varun. We are talking and Varun looks at his watch and says “We are getting late…” I look at him dejectedly and we start walking back to settle the bill. I am walking towards my bike, I grab the helmet and I give one last look towards the lane from where she always comes. To my disappointment she never turned up.

Next day also was same, no sign of her. Did she leave college? Was she final year student? All sorts of crazy things were running through my mind. And a week went like that without any trace of her. I was growing impatient I mean it has been a week where the hell was she? God has given me a second chance and I am trying to make most of it and she doesn’t even care. What kind of a girl does like that? I know – “A NOT INTERESTED ONE” but still…

Kehte hai ki jo honi mein hai usko kaun tal sakta hai… aur agar bhagwan ne than li hai toh phir milne wale toh milke hi rahenge…

Thinking of not to give up I still go to Ram bhaiya’s shop… I get our 2 glasses of lemon tea and making my way from the crowd in front of the shop I step out only to crash into someone. The hot lemon tea fell on my hand and with anger I look up to see who it was…

“Hooo Akhiyan kare ji hazorori, maange hai teri manzoori

Kajra seyahi… din rang jaaye… Teri kastoori rain jagaye,

Mann mast magan, mann mast magan

Bas tera naam doharaye…”

My angel stood in front of me… Her eyes were never so beautiful, that look on her face was mesmerizing. The hot tea on my hand was not paining anymore. All I could say was “Sorry”. Yes “Sorry”… that was my first word.

She looked at me and smiled. Guys! Had I died at that point of time, my face would have had a million dollar smile.

P.S.: I know this sounds little too romantic or kind of bollywood style but then what is a love story without spices and songs. I have to keep audience also interested na?

So coming back to the story… where was I? Yes…

Argh!!!! Sorry?? Seriously Prashant? I mean anything.. I could have said anything to her… Hi… Hello… Anything… Even I love you… Ok that’s like going a little far…

I looked at her and there she was looking right back at me. I smiled and she smiled back.

All this while, I forgot about one person who was looking at all of this. Varun. I look at him and he has this happiness in his eyes and I said “Bhai… Roz chai girane ko tayyar hoon main agar har bar aisa ho daily…”

After this incident we always exchange smile and a Hi whenever we see each other.

Prem Kahani toh shuru pichle bog main hi hoagayi thi… ab toh baat aage badi hai. Agla move would be to slightly step on the accelerator and get things going; a little ahead of more than just smiles and Hi.

Ek baat jo abhi bhi anjaan hai woh hai uska naam. Yes I still don’t know her name.  Let’s see if I can get that in my next post.

Ram Bhaiya ki Chai

"Kehte hain kisi cheez ko poore shiddat se chaaho to poori kaynaat use tumse milane ki koshish mein jutjaati hain"

It has been almost 3 years since I wrote my last blog… Here I am sitting in front of my laptop writing this post. I don't know why I stopped writing it at first place. Shayad koi tha nahi baat karne ko… abhi bhi hai nahi… But all said and done Ladies and Gentleman… I AM BACK!!!  

Ram Bhaiya's shop is small tea shop in BTM layout in Bangalore. It’s just area wise small, there are hardly few things which you don’t get over there. I was introduced to this shop by few colleagues who live nearby. After having a lemon tea over there I was like WOWWW!!! This is f***ing amazing… and soon I became a regular over there.

Varun calls me daily around 8 without fail for a breakfast at Ram Bhaiya’s. I am the kind of a guy who finds it difficult to get out of the bed, so when his call comes I am like “kyunnn Varun??? Sone de mujhe…” So with a heavy heart and grumpy face I used to go over there… (I have been told I have bad face when I am sleepy…) but after the first sip of lemon tea I am at my normal.

So like every other day, Varun calls me this one fine morning. I get up and reach… we are having our routine tea and discussing things when I saw few people carrying bags and books. I asked him “Kya college hai kya yahan per???” He points out the building behind us saying “Yehi toh hai…”. “Ok…”, I said.

So now the actual story starts here… Meri Ajab prem ki Gajab kahani… J So we started observing people going to the college, and interestingly we found patterns… Like there is one Chuttki… She always seems to be running late for college, though her college is like 50 mts away from her PG. She starts running when she reaches Ram Bhaiya’s shop. There is one North-East girl who always wears new dress and even if it’s not sunny she will be covering her face with a notebook. God knows why. There is one girl who has hairstyle similar to Kangana… There is a guy who wears a tie but has his collar button open and the tie is nowhere near his collar… Again God knows why. Style statement may be…

After seeing these people every day the same way one day I see this girl in the between 2 girls, silent and not looking at anyone. Boys there stare at everyone but that’s not a concern for her. She is looking down. Her friends are talking and she just replies in between with a word or so.

Me: Bhai!!! Achi hai ye toh… sundar sushil…

Varun: Kaun bey??

Me: Arre woh dekh na safed wali jo chup chap se ja rahi hai…

And I saw her for the first time. Now all of a sudden I am excited to go to Ram Bhaiya’s shop for breakfast. Every day I have breakfast and I wait there for her to come just to have a look of that serenity on her face which makes my day. Now weeks have gone and I look at her almost every day. If I fail to see, Varun makes sure that he tells me when she is coming.

She still hasn’t looked at me once. For her I don’t even exist is what I believed.

Me: Bhai who notice nahi kar rahi…

Varun: Toh kya hua?

Me: [Sad Face] hmm…

Toh now it has been few days I haven’t seen her. I am like “Chutti chal rahi hai kya college ki?” Varun says “Pata nahi… baaki bhi nahi dikh rahe”

I was about to leave when we saw chuttki, kangana and others going to college one by one.

“Bhai lagta hai timing change hogayi hai college ki”, I said. Varun replies “Shayad haan…”

And I decided to wait… Then came my angel in her white dress. I said “Bhai aagayi teri bhabhi…”. I was joyous after seeing her.

Now the interesting part comes here… next day as we were running late for office and she was nowhere to be seen, we decided to leave. I was settling the bill when all of a sudden I had a gut feeling. I felt her presence behind me. I made a sudden turn and there she was… searching for me in that small crowd in front of the shop and she saw me looking at her. Varun had this huge smile on his face and told me “Yeh kya ho raha hai?? Bhai notice kar rahi hai… Good” I was on seventh heaven and the feeling was awesome… Something more… can’t describe it.

Toh ab kya?? Hogayi meri prem kahani ki shuruat… ab toh bas himmat jutani hai… and baat karni hai… Ladki bhi interested bhi hai itna toh pata chal gaya… toh Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost… J

[Hopefully To be continued…]