Serendipity

Two special things about this blog…First, m sitting in my car (my father’s actually), storming thoughts, chilling A.C and Mohd. Rafi songs…Second, it’s a beautiful day (ya shayd maine specs lagae hain isliye sab kuch clear dikh raha hai!) Black clouds, Green grass n trees, Brown mountains…inexplicable!

But none of the above has inspired me to write but a heartwarming serendipity…

OK…feel the chill of the A.C. and imagine…

It’s a wedding reception...very weird out-of-situation bollywood songs at loud volume...a pandal crying ‘no more please’...giggling ladies, ogling men and a gift in your hand to make sure u don’t escape the embarrassment...Ok, inside what I see...people busy filling their stomachs that have been intentionally kept empty for several hours. Three kinds of people come to such places…Relatives and people who have to fulfill this formality for sake of others happiness and social ethics, those who need a topic to gossip for next few weeks, and those who have planned their dinner here. My brother wished Namaste to one of our neighbors (who was among the early comers and must be helping himself second time with the food) only to discover some remains of all the items present on his plate between his teeth...I couldn’t dare to see anyone coz I was looking down and searching for safe landing for my feet and avoiding their collision with paper plates, napkins and all sorts of imaginable crap. If I’m so critical about such functions, why am I here? Nobody forced me.

Well, I was here to congratulate the bride who happens to be my very close school friend...I had to come...I was happy for her...and I was meeting her after 6 long years. I gathered courage to look few degrees here and there and saw her (a vague image, no specs)...sitting on a small wooden stage with the groom...looking down nervously...I can understand what she must be feeling..:P Like coke bottles placed in a refrigerator or like items in a showcase…I could see her in lal shadi ka joda and loud bridal make-up but could not identify her with the face I had in my mental database...she must have seen me approaching the stage coz when our eyes met she gave me a big toothy smile and then covered it with her hand...maybe she realized the criticality of the situation...chalo one thing confirmed she remembered me...and was equally happy to see me...I climbed the wooden stairs frightened as always, congratulated her and handed her the gift...before I could further say anything she spoke looking into my eyes, ”Bahut achhi lag rahi ho!”...I lost my speech...I just got lost in her innocence... here she should be one to receive compliments…we began talking to each other like we used in our class, library, on field...maybe she is just sitting on a chair in the lab and m giving her the practical copy...hmmm...amrit that was 7-8 years back...

Suddenly an impatient lady pushed me aside and managed to hand over an envelope to her...I realized we have been talking for an unaccepted time period…I moved down…I looked for a friendly face but in vain.

You really can’t escape these situations…a videographer flooding whole of his flash into your eyes (esp. if u r a beautiful girl like me…ok sorry!) and what else, you with your plate are being filmed. Now what does the food I am eating has to do with the reception ceremony…unka per plate cost kitna hai…main chukka dungi…kishto mein..!!

I once again saw her…this time sitting alone…dulhe raja had descended down to talk to his friends…leaving his jeevan sangini behind, sitting alone…now what do I think of him?? Again, I grasped few minutes to talk to her and this time I sat beside her…her expressions told she was glad to have someone beside her… All was so cool for her…jaise ye sab to hona hi tha…I would say she is more stronger than me…she has the courage to accept what is going on with her…There was a percent of relieve inside me that I was not her…we were again like two kids secretly gossiping in a class…she wanted to know about me, I wanted to know whatever happened to her in past 6 years…I had nothing much to tell her…maybe I didn’t want to tell her…well what will she understand and why I expect she will try to when she must be having the wonderfullest moment of her life…

Now the question is, I was so sure to meet my friend in the ceremony then why this is a serendipity?? What’s the sudden discovery?? The answer is, I discovered myself in my old friend…in the confidence she had that the 6 yrs can’t change the people from what they were in past 18yrs…in the confidence that I can be an efficient manager and employer…in the confidence that we are best friends in spite of the fact that I hardly talked to her when I visited home in my vacations…all I had in these yrs was a letter she wrote to me in my first year…it was a home coming…

We left very soon…now that neighbor uncle must be helping himself with the desert…:P