Came across a contest organised by Cadbury 5 Star about people jinki #ConditionSeriousHai. So, here is my take on two friends discussing a love affair - either real or imagined.
At what
point does one realize that you are in love with someone? Gaurav wondered as he
walked up the stairs to their flat. Every time he left Rohini, the urge to ask
her to stay back grew stronger. How long will it take my ego to actually say it
to her, he wondered?
As he
fumbled with the keys, he thought about the number of love stories that do not
happen because the guy is trying too hard not to appear desperate to the girl.
He
threw the keys in the bowl on the cabinet and kicked off his shoes. The TV was
on. Dandy was watching a news channel at half past two?
“Has Nigar Khan joined…” he stopped to take the scene in. A distinguished
looking lady was sitting on the futon. She was twirling the remote and had
The Authoritative Calvin & Hobbes open on her lap.
“Hi,
you must be Gaurav.” She switched to Bengali and said, “My name is Rituparna. I
am also a Bong, though not from Calcutta.”
“Hello.”
Gaurav squeaked as he tried desperately to think of a polite way of asking
what-the-fuck-are-you-doing-in-my-drawing-room.
“I was
wondering why you were late.” Atul walked in. “You guys have met. She is the
Head of HR at the bank.”
“Oh.”
Gaurav’s confusion increased now.
“I
think I will freshen up. The cab should be reaching.” Rituparna said and turned
to leave the room. She stopped at the door. “I was noticing that you have all
the eight albums that make up the complete Calvin & Hobbes series.”
“You
are the second person to notice that.”
“Thankfully,
you did not say that I was too old to figure that out.” She smiled brightly,
turned on her heels and entered Dandy’s room.
“Who
is she?” Gaurav whispered to Atul.
“I
told you na… she is the HR Head of…”
“You
jerk. I heard that. What is she doing in our flat at 2 AM? Don’t tell me you
are screwing her…”
“Well,
screw is not the word…”
“You
were making lurve, maybe? And I thought you were finding some Ritu babe in your
office hot.”
“She
is Ritu.”
“Huh?”
“Her
name is Rituparna. Everybody calls her Ritu,”
“That
Ritu is this Ritu? Mind-blowing. You are seeing the VP – HR of your company all
this while and pretending as if you are…”
The curtain
parted and Rituparna walked back in. She was pulling a strolley and had a bag
on her shoulder.
“I am
catching the first flight to Bangalore. So, instead of going back all the way
to my pad, I thought I’ll just sack here.”
“Where
do you stay?”
“Samudra
Mahal. It’s an apartment block near the Worli…”
“Yes,
I kind of know it.”
Her
mobile rang. “Yes, I will just come down. My cab’s here. So, see you around –
Gaurav. We must catch dinner together sometime.”
“Yeah,
sure.”
“We
had dinner at Mahesh. Atul was missing you very badly. Though that did not
reduce his appetite one bit.”
“Yes,
he is a bit of a hypocrite that way!”
“He
is, isn’t he?” She ruffled Atul’s hair as she adjusted her bag, which had
slipped down.
Atul
walked her to the lift.
Gaurav
attacked him the moment he walked back in. “You bastard, how come you don’t
tell me anything nowadays?”
“Bugger
off, you are sounding like Rajendra Kumar.”
“Screw
you. Why did you keep her under wraps?”
“Bugger,
I am not even sure if we are an item or not. Look, it’s not like a simple fling
you have after meeting at an office party. She is like very like me, you know.
And you, for that matter. She kind of relates.” Atul made quote gestures as he
said ‘relates’.
“Which
world are you living in? You are sleeping with a grown-up woman and you don’t
know if you are seeing her?”
“We
are not!”
“What?
Seeing each other?”
“Yes,
that. And sleeping too. We did not have sex today. Or ever.”
“But
she looked very post-coital right now.”
“Tu bada
jaanta hai coitus ke barey mein?”
“The
girl ruffles your hair on her way out. She is relaxing on your futon while you
come out adjusting trousers. If this is not coitus…”
“Bloody
hell. If you are in Shikha’s drawing room at 2 AM, does it mean you are
screwing her?”
“No,
it means I am massaging my balls after she chewed them off in a pool session.
Abbe, don’t be bloody pendantic. Shikha is like one of the guys. She is not
some statuesque head of HR…”
“What
is the meaning of statuesque?”
Gaurav
started laughing.
“Why
are you laughing, fucker?”
“Here,
a lady lot older than you is sitting in your flat in the middle of the night and
you are thinking of word meanings?”
“She
is a friend, yaar!”
“But
you have the hots for her…”
Atul
was uncharacteristically shy. “Well, I do have a bit of a soft corner…”
“Soft
corner? Bloody hell… you have a hard-on.”
Gaurav
softened when he saw Dandy’s expression. And had to smile.
“So,
how is she?”
“She’s
very cool, yaar. She attended the Rolling Stones concert. She met them
backstage and had a Licks t-shirt autographed and all.”
“Does
she know the songs also or…”
“Boss,
she is totally into it. She knows the Stones. She knows Calvin & Hobbes.
She knows teen-patti. She is on first name terms with Abbas…”
“Who
is Abbas?”
“The
manager of Zenzi. He like escorted us in when we were there.”
“So,
she is super cool. But if she is so cool, why is she working on a Sunday?”
“Working?”
“She
just went on a tour, right?”
“Arre,
she is going to Bangalore. To meet her daughter. She is at the NLS.”
“You
are dating a woman with a grown up daughter?”
“Chuck
this grown up woman bit. I am not dating… actually, I am dating her.”
“Dandy,
you are priceless. You are dating a woman who is like a lot older, a lot lot
richer and a lot lot lot sophisticated. Do you think you can handle it?”
“What
is there to handle, yaar? Right now, I like being with her. I think she also
likes being with me. So, we are trying dating. Let’s see how we both feel after
a year or so?”
“Your
mom will leave you in peace for a year? Without asking to get married?”
“Haan
yaar, that’s not happening! But then, if I take Ritu and tell Ma that I want to
marry her, then can you imagine the scene?”
They
both doubled over in laughter at the thought. When they stopped, Gaurav had to
say what had been their catchphrase since b-school days.
“Dandy
yaar, tera condition serious hai...”
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