Venture Funding of a different kind

It was a late summer night. It could be as humid as it could be.

I was traveling from Bombay to Delhi via Rajdhani on a personal trip to India for a week. It was an uneasy feeling when you wake up on the moving train, in the middle of the night, all thirsty, with an AC running on full blast.

The station was Ratlam and the train took a 10-minute pit stop. I stepped out and looked for the vendor for the water bottle. I found one and walked towards it. As I was walking, it suddenly occurred to me that this is the same station where the scene for "Jab We Met" happened.

I got excited and suddenly all the scenes of the movie started playing in my mind, in the fast forward motion.

I reached the vendor and asked for a bottle - Rail Neer, that's what was offered to me and as I paid for it and waiting for my change, a the girl half scared and half excited, panting came running and before I could finish my transaction, asked- bhaiya jaldi se ek coca-cola dena!

I realized she was wearing the same clothes as was Geet aka Kareena in the movie. But the way her hair was falling on her eyes and the way she was sweeping them up, looked like she didn't care about them and was more worried about the train.

I suddenly asked the vendor how many more minutes for the train before it starts again? The vendor, trying to multitask, said 5 minutes looking at the digital clock in front of the coaches. She decided to slow down and sat at the bench close by and then glanced at me as if asking me to sit near her. As I sat near her I was thinking in my mind, am I really getting into this, I don't want to leave my train, I don't want to go to Bhatinda or where ever she is going, but the time seems to have frozen.

She started telling her story. She was returning from Bombay where her husband killed himself for another boy. She was living with her husband's family in Delhi. Husband had a boyfriend in Bombay before marriage which he did not tell to anybody. She wanted to complete her MTech from IIT and hence was forced to stay in Delhi while her husband was having all the fun, Her dead husband. He was not able to muster enough courage and has now ruined two lives. I quietly asked her, although none of my business, what's her plan in life and she said, move on. She wants to complete her Master's and start her own business of redefining the print industry.

Suddenly I jolted from my sleep. I asked the co-passenger where are we and he replied New Delhi. Once again all the scenes from last night came running in my mind. I quickly gathered my stuff and ran out of the train in the hope to get the last glimpse of the acquaintance I made last night.

Happy Anniversary

It was a late winter night, an announcement from the PA system woke me up from my daydream – “time is now 8:55 pm, the library will be closing in 5 minutes”. I lazily grabbed my laptop, cleared out the desk by stuffing everything in my bag and walked towards the gate, but wait, why there is nobody at the reception, I just heard the announcement. I was half sleepy, I kept walking towards the car and drove towards home.

Though the distance to home was only a few miles but it felt forever. It was dull and boring. The thought that she has gone, for a vacation to see her mom had almost brought me to tears.

This is not the first time that she has gone but this time it's different. We fought like anything, for small things that don't even matter to me, but I was upset that she is going when the Anniversary is coming closer. I was mad at myself and when she asked me to book a ticket, I booked it too.

To avoid getting these thoughts calling a friend is a good idea. So, I did the same, I called AA and he was out for a movie with his wife, they managed a babysitter for a few hours. After there baby, this was the first outing and with the young baby and busy and hectic work schedule with the availability of the babysitter, it was difficult to stay on the plan. Anyway, I tried one more time and called AG and he didn't pick up the phone either. What do you expect from the newlyweds? They are generally busy in setting up their house and whenever they get time, they get busy in extracurricular activities for obvious reasons.

The drive to home felt longer and forever. 

I reached home with lights and heater out, the cold house was giving me cold shoulder too. I opened the freezer and took out one of the many marked boxes, which she does every time she goes to India leaving me behind – “shahi paneer” – why not, after all, it’s the Anniversary Eve and it's already a day in India.

I warmed up the food, gobbled it down the throat with the few sips of sparkling water and went off to sleep.

It looked like only a few minutes when a football hit me in the head, I woke up hard and found out that its bright light everywhere and I hear a voice in the background, “Manu beta, Saurabhji aur tere liye shaam ki party ke kapde decide karne hain”.

airport lounge

It was a late winter night in January. I was heading to Boston for work from home after a 10 day break in India. It was a much needed break after a grueling year.

I reached Delhi from Jaipur at around 8p. With lots of time in hand, I decided to finish my audio book, which I downloaded when I was in Boston. John Grisham has become my latest favorite author. I was reading or listening to The Firm, a very gripping Attorney Client relationship Fiction.

The airport was bustling with high energy vendors outside the main gate, inside, it was jam packed due to all international flights flying in the wee hours to reach at a decent time to their respective destination. 

As soon as I reached the airport, after clearing the custom formalities I went straight to the American Express Lounge, in partnership with Delta Airlines, you get a hot cooked meal and free WiFi. I took off my blue casual jacket, rolled up the sleeves of my checked shirt and started eating mom's packed dinner, two roles of Chapati with potato vegetable stuffed in and wrapped with a napkin. No extra napkins to waste. No water, as she knew have to throw away at customs. 

As I sat on the plush modern black leather sofa, I noticed this girl who noticed me in the corner of her eyes. She wore a white long cotton Kurta with a stone washed jeans and a pink stole to go with it. Her hair falling on the shoulders and pretending to read the latest American Girl magazine. Her sharp jawline and a fair complexion, was making her more wanting.

We exchanged glances, I tried to give her a tight lipped American smile, she ignored. I got the message, she is not interested.

I frowned to myself and kicked off my green puma shoes, seated cross leg I took out my cherished Sennheiser Urbanite from my backpack. Started the Audible app from Amazon to listen to the audio book.

The story was so engrossing, how the next 2 hours went by unnoticed, nobody knows. I looked across in search of the girl, she was still sitting, her hair tied up in a pony tail and she was now wearing a Black colored Juicy Couture Activewear with the golden colored zip of the jacket, which is perfectly covering every curve of her petite body. She was holding the boarding pass. My passing eyes on her boarding pass read Boston. Yessss.

I don't remember when did I pray so hard, I was praying to get a seat next to her.

I was lost in my prayers, a sudden midair announcement broke my concentration. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Boston Logan International Airport. The local time is 7:30am and the temperature is 4 degrees Fahrenheit.

On behalf of Emirates Airlines Flight #239, nonstop service from Dubai to Boston and the entire crew, I’d like to thank you for joining us on this trip and we are looking forward to seeing you on board again in the near future. Have a nice day!”

she wanted to say

It was 4 am. I nudged Ankur. Hey, wake up, I don’t feel like sleeping.

Ankur, a sound sleeper, was sleeping from last 6 hours and if time permits, he could sleep for 6 more. He was tired after full day of work at his new office.
I spent the whole night tossing and twirling, but I just couldn't stop smiling and thinking about what happened today in the break room at work with me. She was taking a break after exhaustive three hour meeting with the senior managers to come up with a new architecture of the new store they were planning to open up in the downtown.
I know Naira from grad school. Always the topper and a go-getter. Never settles for less. For almost 3 years, we are best buddies. But I just couldn't take it to the next level, I was afraid, that I might put a ding to our relationship. So, it was usual to spend some time in the break room or after office.

Today was nothing unusual. She stepped out of the conference room, walked towards my office, knocked the door thrice of my office, without even looking at the door, I stood up and started walking towards the break room. The three knocks were like a code language.

We picked up the company logo marked cup from the shelf and poured the coffee from the big mug from the brewing machine. The aroma of the coffee suggested that it was not brewed long ago. We adjusted the chair of the farthest table from entrance and sat.

Her face was all serious, as if she was about to tell me something really important. She held my hand, looked directly into my eyes, my eyes met hers and I stopped speaking about the new presentation I was working on. She opened her mouth to say something and I sensed what she wanted to say, suddenly Raghu shouted from the door and called her saying they all liked her idea and wants to go ahead with that.

when I saw you

I was walking towards the bank, when I saw you. You looked same and I was thinking in my mind that you haven't changed a bit. You look the same, as you used to 10 years ago. I was thinking what you would think about me. 
Hey, you are the same guy, who was in my class, and used to sit in the last bench, always looking at me. 
I thought, wow, you remember all that and I was scraping the sand underneath my shoes hearing that and smiling mildly thinking, you still remember all those things. 
I immediately replied, you also didn't change that much. The love of pink color, hasn't lost yet. You looked at the cover of your mobile phone and smiled.
We found a corner coffee house and sat there for hours, chatting and talking about each others lives. Catching up on the lost time.
Right then my phone started ringing, trin trin. It was alarm on my phone. Alarm was set at 6am. I thought how come the 6am alarm set off at 6pm. I looked hard at the railway station style wall clock in the cafe and realized, its time to hit the gym.