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    The 29th November 2009, it was an attemptfor a PSU job that I was in the JadavpurUniversity Campus, Kolkata. The 2:30 hr

    written examination for a position ofMechanicalEngineer in BHEL went past in a jiffywhile filling the mendacious yet alluringbubbles. Several college buddies were therewhom I avoided, some could not be avoidedand one or two there were not to be avoided.Shashi, my ex/ room mate was in the third

    category, was there interested more inreceiving his big brother, Mani bhaiya who hadflown from Bnglr to Kolkata that day. He wason his home bound trip and the scheduleincludeda nightat Shashis place back Haldiafor a boozenight.

    The bubbling job was over by 12:30pm and

    when I was pushingthrough the crowd to be

    comfortably out of the place, it struck me

    how much, young engineers long for a

    government job, secure, glossy, paying,

    facilitating and more than that less

    demanding. There is always a sense of

    competitionremainingafterthese exams end.

    Most of the people rub shoulders to cling to

    some public conveyance means to get away

    from the placeand get ridof the post exam

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    horrible feelings. The resources deplete fast

    and auto walas and taxiwalas make merry

    thoseSundays.But I was not in much hurry. I

    had my 17:30SteelExpress ticketin my wallet.And I knew that some how I will find

    butcheringtimetough for at leasta coupleof

    hours or even more laterthe day. Anyway, I

    and Shashiemerged out of theuniversitygate

    which just faces the Jadavpurbus stand across

    the road. Just there we were hit by acollege junior (she happens to be the girl friend of our

    common friend Lala), she was desperately

    waiting for TCS to end her corpulent fathers

    money days for the past 6 months. We

    chatted for a while there which did not

    concern anythingwhich I considerchat- able.

    It was chiefly decorated by how she was not

    missing any of the recent movies andhow well

    her still to join anywhere Kolkata college

    friends keep meeting, et al. All the while I

    kept looking at her withamazement trying to

    decipher what makes them talk like that. I

    kept my inadvertent inquisition in my belly andgestured that I was in great hurry. That

    reminded Shashi of his brother who was

    waitingfor himat the Howrah Stationand we

    crossed the road.

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    But that blubber talk gave us vital information

    about a CTC bus scheduled to leave the bus

    stand 1oclock. Its not only that I and Shashi

    were seated decently but the promptness with

    which the bus left the stand, I knew that after

    Shashi departs, time will kill me. I was

    sincerely hoping that the bus moves slowly and

    keeps on gettingheldat traffic lightsand jams.

    To my despair Sunday Kolkata did not offer any

    such resistance to the bus and comingboredom. In 35 minutes we were at the

    station. Shashi inserted himself in one of the

    queues for local traintickettoHaldia and asked

    me to locate his brother around the Food Plaza

    in the station complex. Though the food plaza is

    not very far from the ticket counter, I took alonger route to arrive there and locating Mani

    bhaiya wasnt tough. He was waiting by the

    front wall beside the entrance of the railway

    restaurant as if he was Enrique Iglesias. We

    talked obvious formalities and waited for

    Shashi to join us. Mean while I knew that one

    of his friends is expected and we will have

    lunch.

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    Shashi took 15 min to come and when I came

    back after taking four thali coupons Mani

    bhaiyas friend was there too. After munching

    on the lunch brothers were off toHaldia. I badegoodbye to Mani bhaiyas friend there itself

    and Walked.

    My watch was just beyond 15 minutes after 2

    oclock. I had this question loud in my mind,

    What now? I had more than 3 hours to

    spend and my onlyresource was my ipod. The

    chief limitation was my blanket laden

    backpack. I usually do not sit on a railway

    platform; I keep roaming here and there to

    tick the time away. I decided against sitting

    this time too and moved out of the station tohave asmoke.It lastedonly 5min against 30

    minutes as it seemed.

    No problem! Rafi Saab was going on and I was

    inching every platform. I was enjoying the

    melodies, trying to observe each and everydetail my ambiance had to offer. There are a

    lot of thought catching activities going on a

    platform every possible minute of our stay,

    rats to dogs, ties to rags, trains to trolleys,

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    pullers to pushers, skirts to burkas, feet niked

    to bares, smiles to frowns, laughs to cries,

    anaemia to obesity, footpath to GAP and all

    patterns of facial hair to name a few. I washappy some where that I was cruising through

    my waiting time before the ipod went silent. It

    had run all night and was drained off

    electrochemical power. It was not 3 yet.

    Suddenly my bag became heavier like I cannot

    take itany longer.

    Howrah station has two portions, old and newconnected by a walk over bridge. South andSouth East bound trains leave from the newside. My train was also expected on the newside. So I moved towards the new side. I hadbetter chances of getting a seat there as crowdpicks up there usually late in the evening andnights. I walked to the wheeler and gave acasual glance around. Asked for book I have

    long been enquiring about at stalls, failing torecognize my demand the shop owner shifted

    attention to more potential customers. I kepton looking for something that could interestme sufficiently long in continuation. I pointedout at this compilation of quotations, Dictionaryof Quotations by some Alfred John. Flipping

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    through some pages and after going throughthe back cover I decided to buy it. Thequotations were from luminaries from various

    walks of life encapsulating the most profoundwisdom, ideas, ideals, dreams, sentimentsandtruths of man kindarranged alphabeticallyandsubject wise., as it said. I was so tired that Idid not argue the way I habitually do while

    bargaining.

    I was lucky as I located an elderly couplevacating a pair of seats around the corner

    and I almost fiercely captured it. Positioned

    my bag and with a fulfilling glance all around

    openedmypastime.

    Some notableones are following;

    Letus, be up and doing, with a

    heart for any fate; still

    achieving still pursuing, learn to

    laborand to wait.

    ----- H.W.Longfellow

    It isnot the ape, nor the tigerin a man that Ifear,itisthe donkey.

    ---------Thomson

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    The world is governed more by appearances

    than by realitiesso that it is fully as necessary

    to seem to know somethingas to know it.

    --------DanielWebster

    What in me isdark?

    Illumine,whats low raise and support; thatto

    theheight of this argument

    I may asserteternalprovidence

    Andjustifythe ways of God toMen

    ----------JohnMilton

    A good man can be stupid and still be good.

    But a bad man must have brains.

    --------MaximGorky (My Fav. Author)

    If you get simplebeauty and naught else, You

    get aboutthe bestthing God invents.

    ----------RobertBrowning

    The goodness that is cheap in beauty makes

    beauty briefin goodness.

    ------------Shakespeare

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    Why is that we rejoice at a birth and

    grieve at a funeral. It is because we are

    nottheperson concerned.

    --------Marktwain

    A blind man isa poor man, and a blind a

    poor man is; for the former seeth no

    man, and the laterno man sees.

    ---------------H.W. Longfellow

    The best of what little I managed to go

    through while in full consciousness.

    When you are old and gray and full ofsleep,

    And nodding bythefire,take down thisbook,And slowly read and dream of thesoft look

    Youreyeshad once, and theirshadows deep

    How many lovedyour moments of gladgrace,

    And lovedyour beauty withfalse or true,But one man lovedthe pilgrim soulin you,And lovedthe sorrow of your changingface.

    -----------W.B.Yeats

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    The content seemed very virtuous and

    entertaining to me and I went through thick

    and fast. All know that heavy articles demandslow movement through natural means and if

    denied co-operation cause fatigue and early

    failure of the resources. I was in dire need of

    refreshment amidst increasing chaos, both

    native and produced by the nature of my

    ambiance. I already had my allergic rhinitis

    bout right through the day. Right then the

    broom disturbed the settled dust on the floor

    raising clouds I dont fancy breathing in. I

    alreadywas short ofnose wipes and had again

    to stroll with bag on my back and hand

    masking my nose.

    While entering Comesum for a coffee, more

    for therapeutic relief than refreshment I

    sneezedon every 8-10 steps. Afterputting my

    bag down in a corner I tookmy black sugarless

    coffee mug in one hand and pulled out my

    hanky with another with a view to avoid any

    potentialembarrassmentwith my sneezes on.

    The coffee seemed to work soon and the

    frequency went down with only my running

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    nose left to manage. I looked here and there

    while slowly enjoying the coffee. The place

    was buzzing with people and I was forming

    images about them. Some were noticeablesome were not but I noticed them all,not out

    of shear meaning of noticing them but to pass

    through the two eternal hours. I noticed

    people talking over phones and there are

    inestimable ways they do that. From age to

    holding style, from volume to gender thereare various constituents to this analogy of

    zebra pattern. I minced through my void

    thoughts and titled my mug perpendicular to

    have the last viscous drop of coffee when a

    group of young seemingly professional women

    entered the caf.

    They did not seem to be very connected with

    each other but moved in as a group if there

    was some unscripted and established

    agreement. Some of them moved to thecounter and the show case to enquire about

    the offerings, the rest were either stationary

    or moving discreetly, one or two whispering

    over phones. I found them decently and

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    fashionably clad with an air of urbane and

    feminine perfumery. Although I had a sick

    nose, still the cocktail of the fragrances was

    detectable. An idea struck me when I saw avery stylish and sophisticated phone in one of

    those hands.

    The next moment my left hand plunged into

    the left pocket of my jeans and pulled out

    my Sony Ericsson S312, yeh sirf dikhta

    mahnga hai type of phone. I rampaged the

    keypad, Main Menu >> Connectivity >>

    Bluetooth >> Turn ON >> Search for

    Devices.

    Eventuallythe green bar progressed to fetch mesome 7-8 names.

    Vishal

    Gopi

    Nokia**

    NazeefKhanum

    Virus

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    The rest of thenames I have forgottenjust like

    we forget the mango pieces after picking a

    ginger piece from a mixed pickle bottle. I eye

    picked up the one loquacious name from thelist and scanned the space around me as if I

    had some miraculous capability to recognize

    any stranger from the name of his/her

    Bluetooth device itself. The name deemed off

    any masculine traits and in my belly I had

    already inferred that she was one from of thefragrant bunch. I had not needed this amount

    of courage whole my life as in to ping her on

    Bluetooth. After finger combing my dull dark

    brown hair and wiping facial oil with one hand

    and phone in another up my face and

    mustering sufficient courage I selected thename Nazeef Khanum and entered the pass

    code as 123. And with waiting for Nazeef

    Khanum to accept on my phone screen I

    started to check faces for the expected facial

    slide show in people with phones in their

    hands.

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    She was the third or fourth face as I

    remember and had a phone in her hand which

    hadjust beeped. She reacted lateto her Nokiabeep and seemed astonished by theinvoluntary

    beep and shake. She may not be in a habit of

    many incoming text messages, I guessed. She

    must have seen NimbusNomadicwaiting to be

    accepted or rejected asking her to enter a

    pass code which she had no idea about.

    Had itbeen some other creature I would have

    let the Bluetooth saga pass unnoticed by

    canceling the proposal from my side I think

    now. The couple of seconds after which hernerve cellstransferredthe vibrationand sound

    to her brain and deactivated the then

    thoughts going on, I took to visually confirm

    the identity and declined to retreat from the

    stage of my killboredomendeavor.

    What Next? I made my presence prominent

    enough by moving slightly in her direction

    with my eyes shuttling between my phone

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    screen and her face. This rally was broken

    when I was noticed within 3 mtr of approach

    and I gestured with phone in my hand as if

    shewas waiting for me.

    Itsme, and the passcode is123 pointing

    to myself waved my pal m feeblyto her.

    At firstshe could not understand if it was she

    I was addressing to, then she took half a stepbackwards in possible self defense or

    controlling her stature when approached by a

    stranger. The facial expression she adorned

    that moment would remind anybody of the

    baby faces encountering bearded and ugly

    friends of their fathers. Then out of amazement

    and with a sense of harsh interrogation she

    asked, kya?

    We were so apart from each other that if we

    both would have extended hands to eachothers the middle fingers had chances of

    touching. Such was the gap between many

    possibilities and combination of incidences. I

    knew the persuasion part was the toughest

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    and needed the best attention and care,

    appropriately sculpted words with certain

    fluiditybut prompt and calculatedpauses. The

    after-effects of mishandling the situation couldhave fetched severe results, as roasted as

    blue and black public beating. My mind and

    body went fluttering like our tricolor does on

    our politicians cars; though I went on

    neglecting it just in the same fashion they

    neglect the flag. Such was her appearancethat experiencing the apparent chastity

    tempted me to the extent of gettingdragged to

    her. My throat felt paralyzed and my tongue

    uttered the words coming from some

    unknown depth over ridingthe throat.

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    Please! Pareshan na hon. I am Ahmad. mera

    aisa koi iradanahihaijisse aapko mushkilhogi

    . Main kafi der se is jagah pe apni train ke

    intezaar mein hun, joki five thirty ko

    scheduled hai. Abhi bamushkil sarhe teen

    baje hainaur mainalready itnabor ho chukka

    hun ke station ki yeh ghadisharma jaegi.Kya

    main aapse thodi der baat kar sakta hun. I

    gushed thoughit.

    She was about 5-3, With rich flawless skin in

    good sub continental fairness and facial

    features which we dont get to see every other

    day in our neighborhoods, her not very long

    tresses were mono-clutched strong and low,

    looked sharp and elegant in her gray white

    wavy striped kurta with little embroidery and

    small black bead workalong the simple non-

    revealing neck, borders and sides and a

    regular long necked monte carlo cardigan.

    Its an old saying in England that if you want

    to know about a person look at the shoes.They were not exuberant but smart, shiny

    and silent.Not many people do justice to their

    names, yet very few of them are in complete

    harmony. Nazeef in urdu means Nafees or

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    Nafasat- wala, in English I can interpret itas

    onewithexquisite finesse.

    I saw countless expressions, just as many as

    can be attributed to a subtle face humanly

    possible in 100 years of once life time, flash

    after flash. Her face changed all colors fair

    indian skin can exhibit ranging from red to

    yellow tone oozing from underneath. She

    ended up with a frowning frame with touches

    of anger and amazement.

    Kya? then after a saliva swallowing pause

    she asked with prominent rage, Aapko

    kaise YEH laga ki hum aapse baat karenge?

    I was taken aback and that interrogation

    sentjitters to my spine, so I went into

    complete defense with as innocent face Ithought I can make. Then withone backfoot

    cover drive I gave the possibilities one last

    chance to flourish.

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    Main janta tha, kisi ko bhi ajeeb lagega.Then I swallowedfor a similarpause.

    koi baat nahi, maine socha ke shayad

    aapkepaasbhi kuchh waqt ho. Bluetooth to

    ek bahana tha kisi ko dhoondhne ka. Ab

    mujhe kya pata tha ke yeh aap niklengi aur

    baatnahikarengi.

    I again swallowed, made my eyes as round as

    possible and remained silent looking

    downwards with an offset from her. Oh God!

    It worked. Eureka! Even in my wildest of

    dreams I havent yet fancied talking to such a

    feminine human with such craftsmanship,

    rather draftsmanship, I am an engineer.

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    I cannot imagine what might have gone

    through her mind. Had I been in her place I

    would never have talkedto somebody like me.May be she found the place Comesum

    securedenough to have a little adventure. She

    made a face with high eyebrows squeezed

    chinand one-fourth of a smile.

    wellllllllllll she said like a typical girl withdeep doldrums

    I amNazeefMM..NazeefKhanum

    And I hope ke tum aur baatein nahi karna

    chahoge jab main yeh kahungi ke mainyahan

    apne husbandka wait kar rahihun She tried

    to dissuademe once again

    ANS: phir to theekhai, who gana hai na ye

    mulaqat ek bahana hai isko change kar dete

    hain aur kahte hain ye mulaqat ek fasana

    hai. [Somewhere I didnt like thatannouncement,but let itgo]

    [She laughed.Idied.]

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    NK: kya karte ho? Student? [Still the

    monotone was there]

    ANS:Ek second! Coffee lengiaap?

    NK: No thanks!

    [She pulledout 12 liter BISLERY bottlewhich

    was half full, took an unimaginably small

    gulp. I gazed then guised where from do

    these girls get things we dont usually find,

    uniqueness and novelty are two statutory

    requirements of girls what ever be the

    age..cloths,..accessories, pens and even

    toothpicks. I mean you alwaysget to see new

    and different items there. I reordered my

    coffee.

    ANS: I am a mechanical engineer with

    TCE, TATA Consulting...

    NK: TCS?

    [People always do that, my company fights stiff

    recognition competition with group company

    TCS whichis widely known to all]

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    ANS: No. T C E, TATA Consulting Engineers

    Ltd., we offer consultancy services to

    engineeringprojects.

    NK: ok [her interest oozed out with myexplanation]

    ANS:Aur aap?

    NK: I am in HRD with ATLAS Healthcare

    ANS: HR walon ko bhi naye logon se baat

    cheet karne ko ITNA (I stressed on it) waqt

    lagtahai?Tajjub hai...[Then gave a sly smile]

    She smiledto my smi le even more slyly.

    NK: Are aise bhi koi baat karta hai kya?

    mainbore ho raha hun,gup karengi?

    [She quoted me with 3 ppm drama, it felt

    melodramatic to me]

    ANS:Waiseaap ki gadi ko kitni der hai?kahan

    jana hai, kahin Jamshedpur to nahi chal rahihain?

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    [I dont know how to imitate her NOinwriting. As if Jamshedpur was some place inSudan. ]

    NK: NO! Actually my husband is arriving in

    Poorva from Delhi. Main jaldi free ho gayi to

    socha ke yanhise saath chalejayenge.

    ANS:OK

    [I nodded like back benchers do in physics

    classes]

    NK:Kya baatkaroge? Ab mainjaun?

    [She was trying to make me feel like she has

    already granted me 10 million euros, and will

    not giveme more unless I pleadfor it.They all

    do this to good men, and they cannotdo thisto

    bad men becausethey fear them.]

    ANS: Ab to main yeh bhi janta hun ke aapko

    bhi intezaar karna hai. Mohtarma agar aap

    thodi narmiyat se pesh aayen to kya bura

    hoga. yeh intehanahihogikya ke do log jinme jaan pehchan ho aur wo log yahan alag alag

    chup chap bore hon.

    [I triedauthoritativeness.]

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    NK: Phir bhi baat kya karoge. [She was

    adamant]

    ANS: Share some sweet sour experiences, I ll

    narrate one two from my archives and we will

    soon see your husband coming and my train

    whistling. If you feel like having a coffee kindly

    helpyour self so that mainusme kuchh milana

    paun. [I laughed and she joined me for the

    firsttime, I gesturedher to have her coffee]

    She returned with lemontea.

    NK: Humesha aise hi karte ho stations pe?

    kitnelogonne baat ki haiab tak..

    [I was getting furious, but felt misery more

    than fury in not returningher a befittingreply.

    but the feeling vanished very quickly because

    we dont get such beautiful strangers to have

    coffee over talks]

    ANS: Yeh to achchhi mushkil hai. ho na hotum chor ho yeh sochna ladkiyan kab

    chhodengi.Chaliye mainhi shuru karta hun.

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    [I started with my family backgroundand how

    well I managed my mediocre academic profile

    through out and then ended through how

    amazing was it to talk to a stranger whoshares the name with my new nephew. She

    nodded in between and asked obvious

    inquisitions, and I tried my best to keep her

    intrested and entertained with my face and

    words.It was 4 Oclock. My nose was feeling

    better and we had run through our drinkswhichwere ghastlydifferent. I asked her ifshe

    would like to roam about the place and

    decliningshe reordered her tea and asked me if

    I would go encore. I suggested her swap of

    tastes and she agreed. I gave the scenario a

    twist by making her promise that she would

    finishthe coffee.]

    NK: [coughed] kaise peete ho? Isse bekar

    coffee maine kabhinahi pi hai.

    ANS: Look you cannot blame a machine if

    you do not know how to operate it.Main batahun kaisepeete hain. Pahleek ghoontpani le

    lijiye.[Shefollowed] Now take a smallsipand

    move it around your mouth well before

    swallowing it to liven up your taste buds and

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    to get acquainted with the burnt taste. ab

    thodithandihone dijiye auryeh soch ke pijiye

    ke yehi coffee hai. You will find it better than

    your creamycappuccino.

    NK:bakwaas

    ANS:Youhave promisedto finish it.

    NK:Koshish Karungi.

    ANS: Ab aapkibaari hai.

    NK: Fine!

    [She sighed...I winked]

    NK: Main Bhopal se hun. Mere husband

    Jabalpur se hain. He is in Reliance

    Communications. Apni shaadi 4 mahine pahle

    huyi.[ She intended to finish everything in

    four briefsentences]

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    ANS:Affairedya arranged?

    NK:

    Yehmaintumko kyun bataun?

    ANS: OK! As you wish. Main to flattery

    bhinahikar sakta, jaan ke kya karlunga.

    NK: hmmm. baat to hai. Humare yahan

    families bahot conservative hain. Scope

    nahihailovemarriageka.

    ANS: I see! I sense a failed endeavor here.

    NK: hushh! nahi main bata rahi hun bas..

    ANS:chaliyechhodiye.Hobbies?

    NK: aaaaaaaaaa.nahikuchh khaasnahi..

    ANS:phirbhi,kuchh to hoga.

    NK: kahan yaar . School mein cartoon banati

    thi...bahot dinhuye... ab khana banatihun..

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    [We both laughed. For the first time I saw in

    her eyes that she enjoyed it. Even after tasting

    sugarlessbitter coffee. I was elated in my he ar t

    upon beingcalled yaar.]

    NK:tum kya kya karte ho? I mean hobby wise.

    ANS: main to bahot kuchh karta hun aur

    kuchh bhi fruitful nahi karta.kahne ko

    purane gaane collect karta hun... gana aatanahi hai..gale ko upar wale ne loch se

    mahroom rakha hai. thoda bahot likhta

    hun.. to koi padhta nahi hai..driving karna

    pasand hai ..kabhi kisi rally ka mein

    participate nahi kar paya... aur kya . bas

    aisahihai.chhote kaamon ke liye bada hun

    bade kaamon ke liye chhota hun.

    NK:ek baatto hai,bahot baatooni ho.

    ANS:sabko yehishikayatrahihai.

    NK: ek baat hai .. ajeeb hai ke humlog aise

    baatkar rahe hain..matlabek dum ajeeb hai.

    ANS: Ji haan kal ko aap to bhool jayengi,

    main afsos karta rahunga ke 4-5 mahine

    pahleBhopal ghoom aana chahiyetha.

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    [I knew I crossed the limit there by some

    millimetersbut she digested itand turned the

    topic]

    NK:Are sabhichali gayin lagtahai.

    ANS: Except them.

    [I eye pointed two girls over a distance outsidethe cafe]

    NK:Maan gaye..aapki paarkhinazar...

    ANS: aur Nirma super dono Ko... [I

    completed itand laughedaloud]

    NK:matlab mainnahihoti to inmese koihota kya. Chance le lo yehunmarriedhain.

    [She informed]

    ANS:Genuinely Unintrested!

    [This is one phrase i always use when people

    suggest me to go after girls] yeh aur baat hai

    ki I have got keen obsevation and am alwaysaware of activities around me. [I grinned]

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    I do notreallyknow when we both finishedour

    drinks.At some pointwhich I do not remember

    while writing I pointedout to her that she has

    finished her coffee, and she replied withappreciationfor the taste the black coffee left.

    NK:No. Seriously. aisa din koi kaise bhool

    sakta hai. pata nahi mere husband kojab

    bataungito kaise react karenge.

    ANS:batana zaroori haikya ? [I testedher]

    NK:are nahiyaar! yeh to pata chalega ki aise

    meinkaise react karte hain.

    ANS:hmmm .OK itsup to you. Panga hua to

    mujhe dosh mat dijiyega. maine kahan kahatha baatkarne ko.

    NK: waah ! tum kah kab rahe the tum to ro

    rahe the.

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    ANS: chaliye yeh bhi yaad rahega. aaj ke

    baad kya hum log kabhi baat karenge, kya

    kahtihainaap.

    NK:pata nahi. koi khaaswajeh to nahidikhti.

    ANS:wajeh ho saktihai.

    NK:yaar tum to mera ghar ujaaddoge.

    ANS: maine mazaq kiya bhai. Then let usmutually decide that we will not exchangephone numbers or email ids. DONE? Khush?

    NK:mainkaun sa dene wali thi.

    ANS: aap baat mat kijiye aap ki koi chhoti

    bahen hai to uska number to de dijiye..yaqeen hai wo kuchh kam nahihogiaapse.

    NK: ladke saare aise hi hote hain, tumne

    bhiprove kar diya.

    ANS: you should work on your humour, its

    an absolute necessity for HR people. I am

    genuinely unintrested.ladkiyan bhi na ..thodi

    sitaareefhuyinahike bas.

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    NK: chalo chhodo bhi. Train ka waqt ho

    raha. inhone announcementnahi ki ab tak.

    ANS: do minute rukiye main pata karkeaatahun? Bag chhod kejaun?

    NK:nahimain ise lekarbhagjaungi.

    [ I left my bag with her to make enquiry

    about Poorva Express and came to know thatit was half an hour late and expected

    around 17:15, I returned to Mrs. N Khanum

    within a couple of minutes and announced.

    ]

    ANS:hazrat adha ghanta latehain.

    [Hearing it she chuckled and I knew more

    about her with that chuckle.It saida lotmore

    than she wished to tella stranger. She longed

    to see him and even 30 minutes ofdelay sank

    her heart for a while, very quickly then she

    switched from our chit chat to an Indianmuslim woman waiting for her husband to

    come. In a couple of seconds she came back to

    senses and became aware that she was

    guardinga strangersbag.]

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    ANS: Shall we have one more tea and coffeeround?

    NK:Nahi yaar ab rahne do. [She was in no

    mood for that]

    ANS: Aa hi rahe hain na. Indian Stretchable

    Time se zyada umeed nahi rakhte , yeh tobhalahai ki sirfaadhe ghante ki baathai.

    [I tried to cheer her up a bitand itbrought

    her a ppm scalesmile]

    NK: haan kar bhi kya sakte hai. Tumhari

    trainbhito aanewali hogi.

    ANS:abhiwaqt hai

    NK: maza aaya yaar . naya kuchh

    experiencekiya maine.

    ANS: ab aapko kya bataun aap se poochhtewaqt meri kya halat thi. Sau saal ka Buddha

    bhikam thartharata hoga.

    NK:but you looked confident

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    ANS:who to mainhi janta hun.achchha aap

    bataiye us waqt aap kya soch rahi theen.

    Sach boliyega

    NK: Pahle to laga ke tum paise mangoge

    ye kahke ke paisekhatm ho gaye hainghar

    jana hai. Phir laga ke tumhari niyat kharab

    hai. Scene ban jata is liye maine socha

    chalokhud hi handlekar letihun,kafi bheed

    hai yeh dekh kar dari nahi. Phir dheeredheere samjhi ke , tumhari language mein,

    koi panga nahihai.

    ANS: wow. Upar wale ne shakl thodi

    behtar di hoti to shayed shuruati impression

    different hota.

    Anyway nimbusnomadic.blogspot mera

    blog hai, uspe kuchh kuchh likhta hun.

    Tabiyathogito padhiyega.

    NK: main aage tumse koi baat nahi karne

    wali. Tumne hi decidekiyahai.

    ANS: I know. Who is telling you to talk to

    me..justvisit thewebpage if you feelso. I am

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    doing marketing for my composition. Is my

    message conveyed clearly?

    NK:yes yes . I got it.

    ANS: I know you will not remember a letter

    of the web address. Had I been a salesman

    instead of an engineer I would have been a

    very assertiveone. Write itdown somewhere.

    NK:bolo

    [She opened her cellphone and waited whilelooking me. I spelled the web addressand she

    saved it.]

    It was 17:10, and I was internally setting

    myselfup to depart.

    ANS: Mrs. Khanum, I will treasure this

    conversation, every minute of it. You dont

    know how it has served me as a life saving

    drug.

    NK:hmm.. ja rahe ho.?

    ANS: Haan ji, aap kahen to shreeman ji ke

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    aane tak ruk jaun. Bas train daud ke pakadni

    hogi.

    [We both laughed for the last time there, Ipicked up my bag and mounted iton myback.

    We leftthe caf together.]

    ANS:phirkahinmileto baatkarnihaikya?

    NK: Bore hote hue mile to sochungi. [She

    smiled ...Ireturned]

    I extended my palm to be hit in reciprocation,She did it.

    NK:Thanx for your coffee. Bahot gandithi.

    ANS:taste yaad rahega

    madam!Chaltahun. ALLAH HAFIZ.

    NK: ALLAH HAFIZ

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    I turned away from her and started to walk. I

    had barely gone 50 mtr. And it felt that she

    had followed me to some distance. I turned tosee her. She was gone in the crowd, nowhere

    to be located. I even strained to the place

    where I lefther but she was not there. It was

    like a child losing a white and round pebble

    which he had picked from sea side sand. In

    desperation I wavedmy hand in her direction tobid adieu to the air there and a hand popped

    out of the crowd that waved to me.

    ----------------------------------------------

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    This text in red is solely and intentionaly

    writtenforMrs.NazeefKhanum, ifthiswebpageever faces her.

    This is an apology for featuring and

    describing you without your approval in my

    writing. I am completely aware of the

    chances of mayhem itmay create in your life

    and have chosen my words which looked

    suitable to me.I thought of changing your

    name here but the essence seemed

    vaporizing.If anythingdeemsunfit to you for

    public reading I would be glad if youbring it

    tomynotice.

    SORRY

    I thankyou tohavesuchanenchantingchatwithme.

    NimbusNomadic