Everything happens for a reason, I truly believe that. Others often say I have been lucky in life. They see me for what I have and don’t understand why I get things the way I do. What I don’t tell them is my secret - always be ready to grab your opportunity. And even if I did, they wouldn’t listen .. One has to believe in destiny. I always believe good things will happen to me whether I deserve them or not. And they usually do. Even when things are not going too well, I try to stay positive and the positivity attracts good fortune, as they say.
It was a rotten day after business. I say business, but nothing really happened on the day. I was waiting for the rain to die down, but it wouldn’t let up. It was already 11 PM, and I didn’t want to get chased down by the midnight dogs. Right when I kick-started my bike, my Samsung phone rang. It was a small order, but I was desperate and I tried to call Guru but the iPhone died down after a few rings. I took out my Samsung phone and dialled Guru’s number and sent a short message - “Call me”. I slipped on my helmet and rode away. Guru would guess that this was about an order and call me back instead of going straight to bed. I guess that would be good enough.
I reached my room and dropped the wet helmet in a corner. Guru hadn’t called and I was annoyed. I opened the message I had sent - no replies - and called the number but it was busy. I put my iPhone on charge and tried calling from the Samsung phone again. It rang a few times but was cut by the other side. I dialled again in irritation but Guru did not pick up. I know he didn’t expect an order so late, but that was no reason to keep cutting my call, especially when there was an order waiting.
Finally, at the next dial, someone answered in a gruff voice, “Hello ..” but it was not Guru. “Is .. Guru there ..?” I asked hesitantly.
“Who ..?” - the man answered in Hindi, obviously irritated
“Guru.. Is Guru there? I need to speak to him ..”
“No guru or shishya here .. ” shouted the voice at the other end, and ended with an expletive, “Mother f ! ..”
I wanted to call back and yell at him but it was already late and I had to get hold of Guru. My iPhone had just started up and I called Guru from contacts and quickly asked him to get the order delivered. He asked me why I sounded angry. I didn’t tell him about the wrong number but it had left a bitter aftertaste in my mouth. I took a bath and had a quick dinner, but couldn’t stop thinking about the call.
At an impulse, I dialled the number again. It rang a few times and no one picked up. I tried again, but it got cut. Decidedly, I typed out the same message that would have annoyed the asshole at the other end.
“Call me”
No reply.
“Call me, you mother f”
Still no reply.
I spent the next ten minutes venting my anger at this unknown stranger with many colourful messages questioning his parentage, comparing him to genital parts and such. I was a little disappointed that I could not retort in time and now, he was not picking up my calls. So, I did my best through messages.
After a while, though, I got a surprising reply.
“I am sorry about earlier. We were surprised by the messages and calls from an unknown number. Please stop contacting me and sorry again for the misunderstanding”
All of this was in good English and I couldn’t connect this to the man with the guttural voice I spoke to earlier. I felt a little ashamed when I looked back at the kind of messages I had sent. I didn’t quite know how to respond, so I simply sent, “Ok”
I was curious, so I took out my iPhone and looked up this number on TrueCaller. The name simply read “Sakshi”. The profile had a picture of a red rose. I was curious and I went to her WhatsApp profile from there. It had a pic of a young girl, in some kind of a park setting. She was wearing red lipstick and had a captivating smile. She was sitting down with her elbow on her knee and palm supporting her chin looking up at the camera angle. It was not very obvious from this picture but it did seem like she was a very pretty girl.
I thought for a moment and then decided against it. I tried to focus on the TV for the next ten minutes, but her image was haunting.
“It’s worth a try, isn’t it” I told myself and opened up WhatsApp
“I am sorry too .. I used some vulgar language. Please forgive me!” Girls fall for bad boys, but they don’t want to believe that about themselves. So, the first message has to be polite.
I didn’t expect a reply from her immediately, but there it was - “It’s ok”
“Don’t just say ok, Sakshi. I am really sorry .. What can I do to make up for it?” Silence. I kicked myself. She must have found it weird that I knew her name. No more messages.
I was desperate at this point. I tried simply googling her number and I lucked out. She had some public reels on her Instagram id sakshis_makeup_touch. The videos showed brides in their makeup but I could make out her voice in the background. She spoke English well, though with an accent. The only other videos were of Ajay Devgan. It seemed like she was a big fan. I smiled to myself at her unusual taste.
I had a great idea. I opened up UrbanClap and looked through make-up professionals in the area. It took some scrolling, but I found her. She had the same profile pic as her Insta account. I booked a slot for the next day.
That put me in a good mood and I spent the rest of the night watching a Hindi comedy movie on my phone. But I was still thinking about Sakshi and if it would work out after all. Guru would surely discourage me if he knew. What was there to know anyway? I just made a try and it was too early to tell. That reminded me that I had forgotten to ask Guru how the delivery went. I decided not to call him as it was too late and besides, if there had been any trouble, he would have surely called me.
I was so excited that I woke up early the next day. I showered quickly and put on my best shirt - black checks in red. This will surely be a surprise for her. But I was not sure if she would like it. Girls love surprises but they sometimes get spooked too. It’s very difficult to tell.
By the time it was 10AM, I was really nervous. I had booked on the app on my Samsung phone and I stared at it for a while. Suddenly, I saw her call through the app. That means she must have reached. Shit! I thought she would message instead. I quickly cut the call and messaged her.
“Have you reached?”
“Yes” came the reply, and after a while, “Is this the correct location, ma'am?"
Ok, good. She has reached. I took a deep breath and opened WhatsApp instead.
“Good morning, Sakshi” I included her name deliberately in the message and then went on, “I behaved badly yesterday and I want to apologise. I don’t know how. So, I booked one of your work slots so that you can enjoy your favourite star’s movie. This is my way of saying sorry”
No reply. Just some typing and then, that stopped too.
I simply sent her the PVR movie ticket on WhatsApp and waited. It was definitely a risk and I would not have been surprised if she simply walked away and blocked me. But something told me she was different. I waited some more.
After five minutes, I saw her walk into the theatre hallway down to her seat two rows ahead of me. I couldn’t help smiling. It actually worked!
She nervously looked around her seat. The ones next to hers were empty and the others were filled with families. She didn’t turn back, so she didn’t see me. She seemed to finally settle down. When she took out her phone, I was able to glimpse her face from the light on her phone. She was not exactly smiling, but she looked happy while typing into her phone.
My phone buzzed. “Thank you!” she had messaged, and then after some hesitation, followed it with a smiley.
I sent back a smiley and messaged no more.
The movie was so bad that I had to leave halfway. But I remembered to message her during lunch.
“How was the movie?”
This time, the reply was immediate. “It was great. Thanks so much for the ticket … and the popcorn”
We went back and forth about the movie and it was obvious that she hadn’t been to a movie in some time, and so, this was really a treat. She worked a full eight hours at a parlour in the evenings and weekends and freelanced in the mornings. She said she was not “allowed” to miss any work slots and that’s why she couldn’t catch any movies. I assumed it was the boyfriend/husband who did not “allow” her, but did not ask her about it just then.
This became a comfortable ritual - me booking a morning or matinee show along with a grooming slot in the app. We started with once a week because she didn’t want her boyfriend to find it suspicious but soon, she didn’t resist when it became many times in one week. Sometimes, I would ask her to get herself some biriyani from the nearby restaurant and just send me the QR code for payment. It was like virtual dating. If she felt uncomfortable with this arrangement, she didn’t mention it.
She did once mention how weird it was that we only messaged each other.
“Are you afraid of meeting me?” she teased.
This was the right time. “What do you mean? I have met you many times” I teased back
“Seeing me in insta videos not included .. ” she messaged.
“When you watch the movie, I watch you. I must say that’s much more interesting”
“??” and then nothing else for a while.
“Adarsh, I didn’t know you were with me in the same theatre all those times”
“Why? Does it bother you?” I asked
“No, I wish you sat next to me while we watched together,” she admitted.
Yess! I pumped the air in joy. I took a risk, but it paid out.
“Not now, maybe some time” I resisted
“But .. why ..?”
“You won’t understand it. I am very shy. Please give me some more time” I answered but I knew it was time.
From then on, at every one of our movie watches, she would turn to the back rows and try to scan for me. She couldn’t do it a lot because the men at the back would stare back at her. It became a fun game, where I would pretend to be a stranger staring back at her. I was a good actor and would be able to control my smiles and she would never guess it was me among the strange faces.
We talked a lot over chat. She opened up to me and as I had guessed, her boyfriend had been her ticket out of her village. She referred to him as her husband, but I don’t know if that was true and anyway, it didn’t seem like she cared for him a lot. She admitted that he was abusive when she refused to pay him money. But the good part was that he was away most of the time and she was practically living by herself. She had grown up in an orphanage run by a convent and that’s why her English was so good. I told her that my father died when I was seven and my mother passed away when I was in high school and so I was an orphan too. I think that touched her and I felt that she started trusting me more ever since.
But something bothered her for a long time.
“If I can’t meet you, can you at least send me a photo” she persisted
“I can’t .. I just can’t .. ”
“Why not ..?”
“You don’t understand ..Sakshi .. my looks .. I am not .. good looking. I am not even .. acceptable”
“You know I don’t care, Adarsh!” she pleaded
“Please understand .. let me be .. !” I wouldn’t give in.
She didn’t say anything then but I was able to make out that she was upset. I let it be. We didn’t talk for a couple of weeks. She messaged me “Good morning” at times. For every few messages, I sent some half-hearted replies. On a Sunday, after three weeks, she sent me a voice clip. She was sobbing and said that she missed me a lot and wanted to meet me. I gathered that her boyfriend would have taken out his anger on her. I was sure she wouldn’t have told him about me. But it would be because her monthly income would have dipped quite a bit, because I knew she hadn’t worked much once she started chatting with me.
I thought for a while and came up with a plan. I described it to her, taking care to reassure her that it was safe and that I would take care of everything. She was not convinced easily but I was persistent. She would have been afraid of what her boyfriend would do at his next visit. She agreed reluctantly and I was thrilled.
Initially, I was not planning to let Guru in on the plan. But I was a little short of cash and had to confide in him. He acted exactly the way I was dreading,
“Oh no, Romeo” he sniggered, with a toothpick between his teeth, “Have you forgotten the last time? ..”
I bristled up, but replied calmly, “It’s not like that this time. This girl won’t chicken out. Besides, there’s no family in the picture. ” I deliberately kept out the boyfriend.
“Ok, but how much do you need?” Guru asked
When I mentioned the sum, he was shocked.
“Why do you need to go to Goa?” he exclaimed.
“I am not going. Only she is” I answered calmly, “Listen Guru! I have arranged everything. She needs to take a flight, a train is too risky. Once she reaches Goa, Oleg will take care of everything. He will pick her up and take her to the resort"
“And, what about payment? Oleg is an unreliable bastard” Guru objected.
“Don’t worry, he said he will pay in full this time” I answered and when Guru was not convinced, I told him, “There are no trails back to us, stop worrying .. ”
I was able to finally book the ticket and sent it to her. It was for the next morning.
“I am afraid ..” she messaged
“Don’t worry” I reassured her. “I am there, no?”
“Whatever happens, it will be worth it because I will get to meet you” She was getting sentimental.
I had enough of this, I typed out a final message, switched off the Samsung phone and removed the SIM.
“See you soon!”