My First Love...........

Ok! After reading "Fate" someone politely reminded me that I'd left out my first love, purposely - obviously due to sentimental reasons .. ;o)..! And to top it all, my first love also read it and took offence. So, this goes out for my first love .... (only hope my wife doesn't take offence to this now .... too much "offence", no? Why don't people love more? And now don't say, "Wasn't 5 times enough?" ...(actually there were more.... ) :o)

Chalo, here goes! Had just finished with my Xth and had put in my best (very unlike me, who is a complete shammer!) and scored very nice marks (my dad was shocked and gave it off to the person who got my marks for having noted down someone else's marks) - very nice according to my standards, below average according to my brothers standards and outstanding according to the standards that dad expected of me! So, basically it was party time! Here I was - all of 15 years of age ... ready to take on the world .....and without a girl! What could be worse! So I chanced to go to Deogarh (one of Shivji's something something) and prayed to the Lord to grant me my jeevan saathi! And Lo Behold! The Gods were pleased - a day after I landed home came this beautiful girl alongwith her parents to "call on" us! She was new in town -I took it on from there .... !

We met a couple of times and used to talk a lot on the phone (which I later came to know was a bigger hit than the 9 o'clock serial in the telephone exchange!!). So one night I confessed my love to her. I think it was something like, "I love you" and before I could ask her if she did too, she left! She left me standing there and went home! There I was, standing in the middle of the road, outside her house, looking at the moon and wondering if I'd gone wrong somewhere. My friend hiding in the bush closeby (for moral support) came out and gave me a kick! 5 minutes later I was ringing her bell and giving her mom some story about the school! Managed to get her out and she admitted that she loved me too! The stars suddenly shone brighter and the moon dazzled or was it her smile! The winds swayed to a music straight out of my heart and flowers bloomed as if it were spring, spreading their fragrance or was it the perfume she wore! (before my wife kicks me, let me continue). So we were officially "boyfriend and girlfriend"! We continued to enthrall the audience in the telephone exchange with our sweet nothings :o) on the telephone! I'd go to her house to "help her out with her studies" when her Dad would go to office and Mom to school! Just that once when we were helping out each other, her Dad landed up. I jumped out of her balcony like the cow jumped over the moon (she used to stay on the first floor) and fled! Thankfully he didn't come to know! The adventurous Sindbad somewhere inside got the better of me and I landed up in her house again! And so did her Dad! It was slightly difficult convincing him that we were studying but I think, for her sake, he bought the story. Nice guy!

Anyways, we decided to lay off my antics for some time after that. So after a long break (I think three days!!!), I gave her a call and told her that I was coming to meet her that night at midnight (just for the effect of it and not coz i am a sardar!). So at 11:30 that night I left my house dressed in navy blue (I didn't have anything in black), armed with a table knife to ward off any other night riders like me! And my mom tried to solve the mystery of the missing khisko knife for the next two weeks, I lost it on my way back).

After walking across a church and graveyard (Britishers - 1857) which would give the bravest of the brave creeps, I reached her house at dot 11:45 and started to climb the pipe outside her window! Just as I managed to reach the ledge outside her window, the midnight show at the theatre closeby got over and there I was - standing against a typical whitewashed "white" wall of government accomodation in "navy blue" praying to all the Gods I knew to hide me somehow from the seemingly endless sea of people! Miracles do happen and after the last guy left (the movie must have been really bad or God would have actually held their chins straight!) I knocked at her window. As soon as she saw someone outside her window she shrieked! Thankfully before her dad came to the room I was able to convince her that it actually was me and not some burgular. So, she gave some story to her dad about ..... (don't quite remember, if you're reading this please leave a reply in the comments) something and he left! Our romance spoke through the grills and the mosquito mesh outside her window and she begged me to leave! So much for my 20 minute walk through the graveyard! Anyways, I left and our "dates" continued for some time till her dad got posted out! The postal department took over where the telephone exchange left till one fine day she vanished! Just like that. Damn the postal department! (Actually not so bad also coz I later met so many other nice people and my wife too - I better make up!).

.

.

Kahani abhi baaki hai mere dost! We met again zillions of years later at a golf course. I'd just won a tournament and failed to recognize her! So much for my first love!

Thats a different story that my wife was standing next to me and also that we are good friends now!