First Love 1

The first thing you’d notice are her eyes. Is it the trick of the eyeliner or is it that she opens her eyes wide in attention and awe of the world? There is a sparkle underneath those long, wavy lashes. The corners are creased in a smile that pleasantly reaches her lips. The dimples on her cheeks try hard to distract you, but the radiance of her smile draws you back to her eyes. No. It isn’t the eyeliner. Her hair is untidy but you really don’t notice that. It is only an after-thought. No one is perfect. She isn’t too. We were waiting for the lift when she walked over to enquire the whereabouts of the cafeteria. Her name was Chitra and she was from Venkatapuram. She had graduated from Sri Vasavi Engineering College, Tadepalligudem. This is her first time in a city and so on…The more we talked, the more Shantanu seemed to sink into the phone, getting more and more tetchy evidenced by the click-clacking of his key-pad. To his chagrin, Chitra joined us for lunch. “Chal na yaar jaldi”, he grumbled. “Seedhi chadke chale kya? Teri HR wali rahegi, sutta piirahi, 6th landing pe”, I chuckled. “Kaun HR wali!”, his tone indignant, and a trifle quickly, “Meri koi HR wali nahin hai”. He had fallen in love in quick succession with numerous girls in the two years we had been associated and just as quickly lost interest in them. What his motivation was, I couldn’t say. How he decided he wasn’t in love anymore, I couldn’t say either. Up on the terrace, the Gujarati-tiffin-wali-aunty impatiently handed him the thali and rushed downstairs with a backward wave that meant, “Pay me tomorrow”. Chitra and I went to get south Indian thalis. He strolled to our usual bench, contemplatively. Setting his thali down, he flicked his phone out. Must have spotted a new love interest. That is it! I am not sleuthing for the blighter anymore. It doesn’t take him half the time to lose interest as it takes me to find her last name and employee id. Lost in those thoughts, I failed to notice the spotted eagle. Apparently, he hadn’t noticed it either. It swooped down and clutched his precious Gobi Parantha in its talons and flew away, gloriously spreading its wings. It even toppled his plate. His face was a mask. He calmly walked up to the mini-meal/microwave station and bought himself a bowl of Maggi. “Maggi? This is momentous”. Today: Ashwin is wave-boarding around the house and Sanju is industriously getting in his way on his tricycle. High tension scenario. Both of them miss going out to play. Sometimes, they get along and sometimes, they fight like cats and dogs. I am on a video call with my old friend Shantanu who lives in the US. He is in the park walking around while his family picnicked by the pond. Out of nowhere, a baseball appeared causing him to duck and spill his coffee. I had to mute him to shield my children from the profanity that ensued. Took me back 15 years to when he first met his wife, who by the way is wayyyyyy out of his league. She’d box his ears if she heard!