Damn I got lost again!

It was one of those lazy days which later turn into a series of exciting events and then you reminisce on how unexciting you had anticipated your day to be, and how everything turns topsy-turvy within the spur of a moment. It is akin to taking a leap of faith to seek the unknown and at the same time, to expect the worst. It’s either a step towards an adventure or one towards a big mistake. There are only two ways to it.

And, if you are a girl, either way you’d be touched or at least tried on. But that’s ok! We do learn what to expect and how to handle it, as we grow older. Guess it’s time for an awkward pause.

I was taking my customary stroll. It was a hot April day in Delhi. Often elderly women on the road pointed out the missing umbrella on my head, telling me that I’d fall sick under the Sun. Little did they know, it was only because I had always hated carrying the umbrella! Anything that cannot fit itself into my bag is just isn’t worth carrying!

What if I got engaged in some other activity and forgot about it? I’m swayed away by people and places all the time, saving an umbrella might just be the last thing on my mind! So I had prevented the mishap altogether. I had left the umbrella at home!

The white, slightly heeled welt of my shoes were starting to look brown with dirt. My steps had synced in with the Micheal Bubble song that was playing and I had almost started to tune in to the rhythm, when I saw a cloud of sand fly across from my feet. A car had just stopped next to me.

It was a Skoda and the situation was strange, as I didn’t know many people in the city. He had probably just stopped for directions. Isn’t that a possibility? So, I looked in through the left front seat window which he had lowered in order to get a view of my face. He was a man in his twenties and looked decently dressed. He was in a grey suit and a mauve tie. His big, intense eyes scanned my face like he was trying to see through me. He looked like he was having a hard time bringing himself to trust me. His urgent eyes and restless gestures startle me a little and he says, “Did I hire you for an ad in our company before? Are you Meera?”

Now, in this situation, a million things may cross one’s mind. Is he trying to hit on me? Is he someone dangerous? Do I really have some distant doppelganger?

But then reflex takes over and I go “No! Sorry you are mistaken.”

He looks around in a frenzy and says hurriedly “You shouldn’t be walking in the Sun like this. Do you want me to drop you somewhere?” He looked quiet scared, quite desperate.

“No, I’m fine thanks. I’ve almost reached my destination.”

“Can you come inside the car? I want to talk to you.”

“No. I’m getting late. I’m sorry.”

“Please help me. If you do, I will offer you a business deal.”

At this point, most women would have taken the highway. Some would even have called the cops, but I for some fucked up reason, stood there for a while for him to speak on! God I can surprise myself!

 He looked very wary about his surroundings. Now help has always been something I could never refuse. I need help once in a while! It must work on both sides, you know. You have to help in order to be helped. You need to care in order to be cared about.

“What is with this man?” I thought to myself. Maybe I was looking for a new story, a new adventure! By then I had realized, that this was not going to be just another day.

“Come, please sit fast! I can’t be seen. Everybody here knows me!”

His urgent tone rang on my ears as he opened the door, gesturing me to sit. “Just 5 minutes. I just want to talk to you.”

I never realized when I actually sat in that car. But within 30 seconds of him persuading me into helping him, which seemed like a good 5 minutes to me; I found myself sitting beside him. He was frantically trying to read through me, like he was trying to look for something that he thought he might find in me. His gaze was very gripping and it looked like he was in need of help.

 “I’m Varun, the managing director at Padmini jewelers. We have branches all over the world.” I felt my eyes widen a bit until I decided to shake off the disbelief that was creeping inside of me. He took out his card, showed me but he just wouldn’t hand it over to me! It was annoying.

“People misuse my contact. I’ll give you my card only if you promise not to misuse it”, he says. I didn’t understand how I could misuse his Business card, but I promised him anyway.

He wasn’t really driving as much as he was talking or asking me questions. During that conversation, I had recognized a few intricacies of leading a so called “high-class” life in India. No matter how much these people boast about their sophistication or elitism, they are always a bunch of lonely people who strongly feel that they are only wanted or contacted for money. They feel they have no real connections or friends. Everything is a business deal to them, even relationships!

Two hours into driving and obsessive talking, he was beginning to see the harmless girl in me and he started to break the walls of insecurities that he had built around him. He decided to be bold and true to me. By this time he had it all figured out in his head about what he really wanted to do with me. He had started to fall for me and he wanted to take me with him. “You are rare as a diamond and I am going to possess you.” He says with a Delhi-ish accent.

“Do you see that suit case on the back?”

There was a massive blue suit case on the back seat.

“It has 40 crores in it. My house got raided this morning. Can you keep the money safe for me? I’ll give you everything you want. Just name your dreams and you will have them all. I will take care of you. But only if you save me today.”

Call me a pussy, Call me stupid, but I just couldn’t say “Yes” to flying with him to Canada the next morning! He was literally suggesting that! So it was given that I would not take the money with me. Honestly, I am a happy-with-minimal-things-in-life kind of a person. I’m the last person you should be offering a big bag of illegal cash to!

I never opened that suit case though. I guess I was too unprepared for what I might see inside. It’s not a regular view for me, a suit case full of illegal money.

That day, I made sure I return to my freedom, my music and myself; and end that day as it was meant to end in the first place. Yes, I ran out on him at the restaurant. I paid the bill and I walked out.

It was really good to find my way back home.