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A Tour with Dent

DISCLAIMER: The people in this story are imaginary and if any resemblance is found it is just because of a mere coincidence. The story is just a segment of the line that the writer of this extract has decided for the protagonist. Please do comment. 

I was on my terrace when the andhi had just arisen; I thanked Alexander Graham Bell for inventing the telephone. I had hung up the telephone after talking to a long-lost friend, for a really long time. We spoke about our updates, our new friends, and our new schools and I like a dumbass proposed to her the idea of a world tour. In my proposal, our trip started from Matheran (My favourite hill station) to Milan to Egypt to NY to Japan Shanghai to the Himalayas and back to Mumbai after Delhi. 

How did this happen? 

Who is this girl? 

When did we meet?

----------FLASHBACK----------

We were in the same batch for more than two years and she sat in the same arrangement for those years, she was ahead of me and me behind her (although I was never really BEHIND her, at that time). 

One day during a class. 

Teacher: You, (indicating by the means of a chalk stick) Yes you two, (now aiming at me), YOU! (after striking bull's eye on my head), Both of you please get out of the class! 

Me:  I am sorry Ma’am! won’t happen again! (Trembling)

She: Ma’am he started. 

My mind: (I hate girls!) Me: No Ma’am she started!

She: (literally in a crying tone) Ma’am no! Please, Ma’am! Sorry, Mmaaaaaaaamm…

Teacher: Go Outside N-O-W! You stand in one corner (pointing at me and my new spot of embarrassment respectively) and you in the other!  

So, there I was standing opposite Pratiksha in the corner next to a fire extinguisher, which I ‘swear to God’ would have knocked on her head. Also (just FYI) I am not the kinds who’d really hurt someone (well, at least physically).

She was diversely staring at me; her eyes said that she was sorry. Now, here is what guys are weak at:

A girl,

Her eyes,

Her tears plus her stare.

Suddenly my brain's fire extinguisher extinguished the fire within me.

We never talked much after that. Her mom was a part of the school’s faculty and her place was changed.

A YEAR PASSED BY  

Mira Bhattacharya came to our class to make an announcement and she was being stared at by Pratiksha. Now here is what happens when a girl-to-girl stare occurs:

Girl ‘P’ to Girl ‘G’, P stares,

M is confused,

P continues to stare,

M is curious,

P continues to stare with eyes sharp enough to cut her throat,

M stares back.

Suddenly Mira left. 

Mira came to me in the evening after our tuition and told me what had happened in class; I was naïve because I was happy to see my girlfriend in class and was busy relishing the shoulder punches guys around were giving me. I replied ‘chuck it yaar, she is like that only.’ 

SOME YEARS LATER …  NO ACTUALLY LOT OF YEARS LATER …

In May 2008 Orkut (now an almost extinct social networking site) was open in my Firefox browser (Google Chrome had bugs formerly) and I was randomly searching for friends until I came across a name that made my heart skip a beat! ‘Add as friend’ – a dialogue box asked below a grown-up picture of hers…

Sceptic at first, but being a believer of friendship I did click the ‘Ok’ button! 

And within days, we chatted for a long time, exchanging numbers and smiles (lots of them!)

I named her Dent because she has a small dimple below her lips (it’s hard to concentrate on the dimple and her eyes at the same time), a mini crescent-shaped one that kills you, which fills you and breaks your heart down for maintenance. 

Now, this is what happens on the phone when you are with a girl that had skipped your heartbeat at the very first glance at the name: 

You flirt,

She flirts back,

You joke, 

She laughs,

You remind her about some incident and your eyes turn moist

You propose a weird idea

She accepts it

You offer your heart and she replies… Dekhungi, Shochunghi, phir kab bolungi !!!  

----------END OF FLASHBACK----------

At my desk, I opened my diary and wrote:

Sleepless nights passed by after that close encounter with that Dent

Countless hours went by thinking what was ahead, thinking which way I went

Breathless mind travelled a journey not knowing its extent

//////////////////////NOT THE END///////////////

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