Starving and exhausted from a long hard day’s work he entered the Ohri's restaurant. He had nothing but food on his mind. "Chinese, may be Mexican, I think I should settle for the midnight buffet. I heard its good out here.” he thought. He just wanted to get in and get out as fast as he could. "No lingering, no wasting time, nothing, just in and out. You have a 9 O' Clock. Remember??" he told himself. His life had come to that. Working for an IT Services company, big bucks, and cool parties. Oh! What dreams he'd dreamt? Now, he didn't wish for anything more than he wished to get out. Working for his company sent him into a depression, the bucks his company conveniently forgot to mention came with a catch, and the parties sucked. What with old hags drunk and brooding over lost projects and crappy appraisals. It had come to that.
He didn't think there would be anyone else but him at this god forsaken hour of the night. Most people would be sleeping, all tucked inside their cozy quilts. It was quarter past 12 after all. He was however, genuinely surprised at the number of people he saw at this place. So he asked the waiter for the best seat in the house. He dumped his laptop bag down on the chair next to his and rested his tired ass down on a chair at the centre of the far end of the restaurant. It gave him the view of the entire restaurant, "Nothing like watching people talk and clumsily eat their food, eh??"
He gulped down an entire bowl of steaming hot Tomato soup like it was water as he watched a drunken monster of a guy run his hand through the bosom of his girl friend or wife or whoever that was. As the girl twitched in her seat a little uncomfortably, he muttered to himself in a tone that was slightly louder than a whisper, "What life? I have to sit n code to make his life easier and he gets to play squeeze me with his girl friend at a family restaurant”.
Rapidly forking away all the food on his plate, he was now beginning to hate the choice of table he'd made. Apparently, only drunk people from the zillion pubs in town came here in these wee hours to grab a quick bite before they headed for all the "love making".
In a loud embarrassing fork flying moment that had the entire restaurant staring at him in quiet disgust, he heard the tap of heels about 15 feet from where he was sitting. He was stooping down to pick up his fork when he turned his head to look at the pair of black high heels at the entrance to the restaurant. He watched awe struck as the heels glided down the floor and stopped a few feet from where he was. The lady seemed to be alone. No big heavy looking boots following her. His reflex made him lift himself from that crouching position to look at her. But the table had other plans for him. Thud!! Ouch!! He crashed his head into the underside of the table. Sheepishly, realizing he couldn't have possibly made a bigger fool of himself, he sat up straight.
He wanted to look at the lady who just walked in, but he was too scared thinking how clumsy he'd just been. Half wondering what she must be thinking about him, he stole a little glance. He was for the second time this night pleasantly surprised. The lady, so it seemed, was staring right at him. Embarrassed and not for the first time that night, he buried his head back into his plate and resumed the rapid forking away of the food that lay there for him.
Ten minutes on, the forking much slower now, he thought of that one fleeting moment when their eyes connected. Oh! What beautiful eyes she had! Serene and peaceful! Calm and loveable! Sincere! "I can give up all my worldly possessions for those beautiful eyes".
Another 5 minutes on, the forking almost to a stop now, heart racing at a blinding rate, and legs shaking with bouts of adrenalin injected into his body, he mustered just enough courage to steal a second glance. Relieved to see her looking elsewhere, he stared at her for what seemed to be an eternity. "I should go talk to her. I ain’t gonna see another woman with eyes half as beautiful as hers. That is for sure." he said to himself. His mind told him, Yeah!! Right!! You go talk to her. "Hello Ma'am!! I am Amit. I work for Adverse Technologies- It's an IT firm.” She'll blow you off the first chance she gets. The recession will laugh in your face then. Go On!! Oh!! Go On!! Bada aya "Hello Ma'am, Amit!! IT Suck Up blah blah blah!!"
Not finding enough courage to go up to her, he settled for the staring and admiring from a distance. The more he looked at her eyes, the more he was mesmerized by their beauty. They seemed to have cast a spell of some sort on him. So much so that he'd forgotten he was hungry, he'd forgotten the food on his plate, and he'd forgotten his thumb rule for the night- "No Distractions".
As these thoughts raced through his mind, he was dumbstruck in one moment of complete confusion and utter chaos, he saw the young lady catch a glance at him. Bewildered and not knowing what to do he stared right at her. His anxiety was eased little when he thought he saw a smile on the lady's face before he buried his head back down.
Another 5 minutes on, and he'd had enough now. He couldn't sit there and while away time while the lady with the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen finished her dinner and walked away. This was his one chance to do something of his own. This was his one chance to get what his heart desired. Not something his manager dumped on him, nothing something his father expected from him, not something his mom desired for him, it was what he wanted more than anything else in this world. This was his one chance to tell that beautiful lady what he felt.
15 drills and another 10 minutes on, he got off his seat, pulled his tummy in, chest up, chin up he walked airily towards the lady's table, pulled the chair in front of her, muttered "May I??" and without waiting for the lady's response, sat himself down, took a deep breath and asked her, "Can I see your face??"
He thought the lady smiled again as she unveiled her burqa and said in a voice that was as beautiful as her eyes, "I thought you'd never ask!! "
PS: In a memory of one night at Ohri's Banjara. I happened to see more women in burqas well past midnight than I had seen all day long on that day.
