The Hopelessly Romantic Idealist Me

Chapter 1

"Utarte hee call kar dena? Thik hai? Aur college ke registration ka bhi bta dena? Aur paise chahiye?"
My father triggered all these questions at me on the departure gate of Mumbai Airport. I was going back to Delhi. I was here for a good vacation with papa. Because I just had completed my board exams and somehow scored 89%. My parents were happy, relatives weren't.

My father is an AGM in a company called Ricota which basically provides wires. And here I am.. Rishi. Rishi Agarwal. A Delhi guy who loves to cook and eat.

"Nahi papa aur paise nahi chahiye. Aur call kr dunga. " I touched his feet and went in the Airport. I was really hungry so I decided to take a bite in the food court. I was having a flight at 9.30pm and I had 40 minutes free. So I decided to have a pizza and a soft drink. After completing my dinner, I looked at the watch.

"Oh shit! Bas 10 minutes bache hain!" I realised that I have to make it quick. So I put on my bagpack and got my trolley bag and quickened my pace to the scheduled gate. When I was going downstairs, I saw a woman who was struggling in carrying her bag down the stairs. She seemed tired. I stopped.

" May I help you with that ma'am? "

" Yeah beta. It's a bit heavy. "

" Koi ni, let me carry it. " I kept my traveller bag aside and carried hers down the stairs.

" Thank you so much beta." She smiled.

"It's okay ma'am." I smiled back.
I went back on the stairs to get my bag.
I came down and saw a huge queue on the entry gate. That woman broke the ice.

"Beta aap bhi Delhi jaa rahe ho? "

" Ji aunty. Aap bhi? "

" Haan. Aap akele jaa rahe ho kya?"

"Ji aunty. Yhan vacations ke liye aaya tha."
"Akele?" She seemed a bit shocked this time.
"Nahi, mere Papa yhaan kaam karte hain, Unhee ke paas aaya tha"

"Oh accha accha. Rehte Delhi me hee ho?"

"Haanji" I smiled.

"Kahan reh gyi thi tu? Itni der kon lgata hai? " That woman pointed to some girl.
That was the first time I saw her. A girl, who just seemed to be of my age and wearing a black shirt with denim ripped jeans and hair so dark and dense and flowy. Her face. It just looked so bright. I was mesmerized.

" Kya hai ab bathroom bi nahi jane dogi kya araam se? " Her voice was so soothing.
" Chup kar. Itni der nahi lgate. " Woman attacked back.
I giggled a bit.
We were still in the line.
" Here meet my daughter, Kaashvi." She introduced me to her.
"Hi Kaashvi", I greeted with a smile. She looked so good.

"Hey.. " She seemed a bit confused.

" Arey tumne apna naam nahi btaya beta? "Woman asked.

" Rishi.. Ma'am.." I said.
"Okay..My name is Anita Malhotra. ." She said.
"Okay. " I turned back and kept waiting for my turn. When I heard something from my back. Someone was whispering, loud enough to reach my ears.
" Beta? Ye kahan se mil gya "beta" aapko? " Kaashvi asked her mum.

" Chup kar. Accha ladka hai. Help kr rha tha meri" she replied.
I smiled.
"Arey to help kr rha rha to kya rishta hee bna loge aap? " Kaashvi seemed a bit skeptical about me. I had my earphones on but music off, so they thought I wasn't hearing them.
Finally the line ended and I had my turn.

I was lucky enough to get a window seat ( I know it's a pretty Indian thing to write) and the most annoying part was, I was sitting beside two "in-their-forties" women who did nothing but bragging about the properties their relatives had and how did her neighbor's sister in law evaded with her boyfriend. Phew!! Of course I had my earphones on but their chatterboxes like mouth didn't seem to stop.
I peaked out of the window and everything looked so tiny.. like a mosaic of miniature paintings. It just looked beautiful. Lights were forming a huge architecture and it looked astounding. It seemed like someone drew a symetrical figure on a blackboard by white, yellow and orange markers.