I could have begun with the most powerful dialogue in the Indian Film Industry, " Naam...Vijay Deenanath Chauhan...", and hyped up the dramatics (I have an advantage of sharing the same surname too...), but then it might have been too much to digest. Never the less, if its something that I have missed all this time, its a pleasant surprise, and when the moment came, well I had to stop my self from doing the "Shushmita Sen Miss Universe awe".
I was lovingly tricked into agreeing for a date on the Friday eve. Not prioritizing the work too much now, I still had to escape the prying eyes of my manager to leave on normal office timings and catch the office bus. (It is sort of assumed that you have to stay late because you are a critical resource, and then IF you are using the company transport, you are leaving way to early.) Even my co-workers who usually left at normal hours were staying late, and I sort of missed the peaceful and comfortable ride to my destination.
Anyways, being punctual has had its disadvantages lately, because I ended up buying the latest Jeffrey Archer title while I was waiting at the Landmark book store. As I said, I was tricked, because for one, my original date did not arrive and I couldn't help smiling on seeing the alternative, and two, the events to come would make my grin even bigger. Shelf-ing around in a bookstore with a person who hates novels can be tiresome, but there are somethings that can't be helped. We spent another 20 minutes inside, and finally when my original date arrived, it was sort of refurbished experience again.
I was sort of avoiding the glares as I had not shaved again, but thankfully, the comment never came. Enjoying the candy puff, and discussing about not-so-essential topics made the clock tick another 30 minutes further. Finally, when the dinner was decided, I was guided to the same restaurant where we had met first, not because of the nostalgia, but because it was the only decent one nearby.
A table for three made us wait another 5 minutes, and finally we sat down to order. The original made an excuse to visit the powder-room, but eventually canceled
the trip half-way through. I was only going through the starters section on the menu when the maître d’ arrived with it. My surprise pre-birthday celebration couldn't have gone through better. Cake and six candles ( good that my real age was not revealed), with my name written in a shaky hand, the celebration was too much for me to grasp for just a fleeting moment. As mentioned earlier, I caught my self in time to reproduce the Sushmita Sen Awe, but the experience was not an iota lesser.
Both my dates never stopped smiling, and I was just overwhelmed to say anything. People around us couldn't help staring at our table when we were busy painting each other's face with chocolate, but who cared, after all, it was my birthday party (even if I still had one-and a half week left to go).
The cake sharing session continued with me making some pretty bold moves (which luckily did not earn me sandals), and the food was OK types if not good. This was then followed by an ice-cream at the road-side counter, and a quick gossip session. We just caught the last auto in time to return back to our separate homes, with just a little smile on each of our faces and our hearts.
I couldn't help sharing this here, for it is very rare when you get to experience moments like this. I do remember few of my earlier birthday bashes wherein I was chased at the town's main cross-roads at 10 in the night and given birthday bumps, but this one beat the odds. And I couldn't help loving you both, for such a nice experience shared. Thank YOU for coming at such short notice as always, and thank YOU for making last minute plans...as always.
Thank you so much...it was the best ever!!
