Wednesday, October 7, 2009

The Meeting

I was there in time. The crowd went crazy by the time I reached the Palace Corner. It was almost evening and weekend just started for all the bureaucrats that Friday evening. I stood there near the BSNL gate, with the cigarette half done. She did not come in time. Well, she told me she might be late, but this wait was killing me from inside. I did not want to wait for her that day. I have waited long hours for her to come online and then to login to YM and say that sweet ‘Hi’ and have never complained; but today, when we were meeting for the first time, I could not wait to meet her in flesh and blood! I never liked pink, but I was browsing through the fleeting crowd and searching only for that color that day. She told she will be wearing pink top and white trousers. I saw at least a thousand girls in pink in the last ten minutes of wait, but none of them mattered. When will she come?

A tap on my right shoulder; I turned 180 degrees around and I was shocked!

I always thought her to be my dream girl. We shared our pictures and I really felt she was the one. Actually, I modified her a great deal to match the idol I dreamt of. And very easily, she got into that virtual mold. With her chatting, emails, text messages and rare phone calls and those jokes and giggles over the phone, she easily crept in the cast I made in my thoughts and dreams. I went through the last five months of knowing her on the internet in a flash – the way we met in Orkut and then we chatted in GTalk and those nudges and those irregular emails took us to a few conversations on the phone and finally we would meet that Friday evening. All felt like a moment – a mere moment!

Another prod – this time, it was more of a shake.

“Hey, do you recognize me?”

“Ee… No! I mean, who are you?”

“Err… Rakib?”

“Ra… Rakib?”

“I’m sorry. I meant, are you Rakib Al Sharif?”

“Rakib Al Sharif?”

“I’m Sahana… Sahana?”

“Sahana? Yes, but…”

“I’m sorry again. Are you Rakib? I came here to meet you.”

“Nn… No! I’m not Rakib. My name is Asif. Asif Mm… Mohammad.”

“Oh! I’m extremely sorry.”

“Ee… it’s alright.”

She turned back. I could see the want in her eyes to meet me, through my tainted glasses. She was also searching all around her – for me – the way I was searching for her all this time! She cross passed me and I tried to smell her for one last time by the passing gust of her, but I smelled nothing! How strange! I could smell her and feel her presence even while we were chatting on the internet, the other night. And that day, when she was as close as ever, I could not feel her at all!

She went ahead and dissolved in the crowd. I turned once more to look for her, but I did not search. I did not see her there again. It was almost dark but I could not think of removing the glasses. I lit one more cigarette with almost trembling hands and walked towards the bus stop.

[That Night, in YM]

Sahana: Hi...
Rakib: Hello
(Last message received: 3 minutes ago)
Sahana: hw r u?
(Last message received: 2 minutes ago)
Sahana: Hello... :) u thr?
Rakib: Hi
Sahana: wt happnd?
Rakib: Feeling tired
Sahana: y? :(
(Last message received: 7 minutes ago)
Sahana: ... ...
(Last message received: 4 minutes ago)
Sahana: r u bz?
Rakib: Nope
Sahana: thn? :'(
(Last message received: 3 minutes ago)
Sahana: tk 2 me...
Sahana: r u thr???
Sahana: H E L L O ................. :X
(Last message received: 12 minutes ago)
Rakib: Yes
Sahana: y dint u cm 2day?
(Last message received: 5 minutes ago)
Sahana: wt happnd? tk 2 me... plz....
Sahana: Rakib.......
(Last message received: a minute ago)
Rakib: I am here
(Last message received: 4 minutes ago)
Sahana: ws tht u?
Rakib: No
(Rakib is Offline.)
Sahana: I wsh v cud spk. ........... Gud bye!... ... ... ... ... :'( :'(
(Rakib is Offline. Message not sent.)

15 comments:

  1. Sahana:Ws tht u?
    Rakib:No
    :D
    anyway nice one :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. You got the exact thought that was focused on, Shahid... Rakib knew what she was referring to, as he was present there, at that time... The very fact that he tells 'No' here, proved his presence and his withdrawal!

    Thanks for the comment :) Do read me more ...

    ReplyDelete
  3. wow! good one tanny! yeah, the no did prove it was he who was there.. and that he dint want to see her..

    ReplyDelete
  4. aww why'd he chicken out? :(
    short and sweet...wonderfully written as always!
    but but...why'd he chicken out? :(

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sad ... but well written ... loved reading it !!

    ReplyDelete
  6. @Neha (MR)
    Not all the narrators of stories are Heroes, isnt it? This one, was a... rr... chicken :P

    ReplyDelete
  7. lovely story dude...so realistic...


    people can be soo shallow...

    Cheers
    CRD

    ReplyDelete
  8. a very good read. happens in real life all the time..virtual reality is sweet, sometimes we expect too much in real. felt for sahana..

    ReplyDelete
  9. Congratulations, you've been awarded the One Lovely Blog Award. Visit my latest post to pick up your award.

    ReplyDelete
  10. interesting tan....sounds real too. is it a true story????

    ReplyDelete
  11. Nice Question Nitu :)
    Sadly, it is not!

    * TO ALL MY READERS
    Please do not relate to my stories - I'm none in my stories in real! I'm just a story teller and all the characters in my stories are illusory - I just get inspired from some situations and happenings around me, like all of us and try to write. I often as myself, “what happens if?” and I try to answer those silly questions in my stories. That’s it!

    * To the clever lot
    The long explanation above does not say that the character in the story is me :P

    ReplyDelete
  12. thats really well written... but why did he acted like that...
    reminds me of my net chat... but nothing so this sort happened :P

    ReplyDelete
  13. Tan:

    ..so this is you...was curious who you are at WL,good i found you now...

    i like your story, but during the times they were chatting at YM, was not there any instance when any of the two encouraged each other to view their respective webcam?

    so that in meeting each other, there would be no shock or no hiding coz personal meetingg would only prove if what they are virtually would be the same in person?

    but i like your story, anyway...

    good one Tan!

    P.S. i've bookmarked you...

    and you have one very beautiful and interesting space...like Leo...:)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dear Sir/Madam

    We are a group of youngsters from cochin who are currently doing a website on kerala. which we plan to make the most informative resource available. our website is http://enchantingkerala.org .

    you could find more about us and our project here: http://enchantingkerala.org/about-us.php

    we came across your website: Dear Sir/Madam

    We are a group of youngsters from cochin who are currently doing a website on kerala. which we plan to make the most informative resource available. our website is http://enchantingkerala.org .

    you could find more about us and our project here: http://enchantingkerala.org/about-us.php

    we came across your website: http://tallguywrites.livejournal.com/

    We found your website interesting and noted that the content in your webpage and ours could complement each other. So we kindly request you to have a look at our website and provide a link to it if you think its worth linking to. Ofcourse we'll reciprocate by adding a link to your webpage from ours.

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    pls free to contact me for any further clarification needed or even if its just to say hi.


    warm regards


    For Enchanting Kerala

    Bibbi Cletus
    09447014282




    Format to be used for linking to Enchanting Kerala.org

    Kerala's Finest Portal : Kerala Information

    We found your website interesting and noted that the content in your webpage and ours could complement each other. So we kindly request you to have a look at our website and provide a link to it if you think its worth linking to. Ofcourse we'll reciprocate by adding a link to your webpage from ours.

    as you can see ours is a collaborative venture wherein many people from different walks of life participate. we also welcome you to be a part of our site, you could help the project by writing articles, providing photos and videos, subscribing to our content and also by recommending it to your friends and relatives.

    pls free to contact me for any further clarification needed or even if its just to say hi.


    warm regards


    For Enchanting Kerala

    Bibbi Cletus


    Format to be used for linking to Enchanting Kerala.org

    Kerala's Finest Portal : Kerala Information

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks Amity.. thanks for all those words... meant a lot... welcome to my blog!!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for reading me and choosing to comment. Your comment always encourages me to write more and write sense. Keep visiting, whenever you can and comment on the posts. I will be more than eager to receive your comments and suggestions.

Warm Regards,
Tan :)

PS: Please visit my other blog: Thus Spake Tan!