The Rear Window

Mom: Why u bathing now?
I was silent, was getting late and didn’t want to start an argument with mom.

Me: Mom!! Get my jeans n that white round neck t-shirt out.
Mom: White t-shirt, no no.. it took me ½ hour to clean it, u ruin it every time u wear it.

Me: PLZ!!!
Mom: Ok! But u have to clean it, I’m not cleaning it.
Me: ok, no probs.

Came out , went straight to the mirror , to see how fair I was looking J. NA na .. not kool, applied “Fair n Lovely” , rotated my skull in all direction so that every part visible above my torso was covered. My friends were shouting in front of the house, “Hurry Up ”,We are getting late. Since half n hour I was telling them 5 minutes. But that won’t deter me to examine myself one more time. Hmmm… not bad, a little powder (Talcum) would make me perfect. All that time, mom was standing behind me and noticing everything. Finally she couldn’t resist.

Mom: What are you doing? u r not getting married today nor going to attend one. Then why so much of decoration n fuss!!
Me: Decoration!!!

No no.. clam down… no arguments .. already late. Will handle this “Decoration “adjective once back.

Mom: God!! What has happened to this Boy “Cricket khelne ke liye itna tyari kar raha hai and that too in colony, just in front of the house.”

Now here’s the background. A new neighbor has just moved in last week, just diagonal to my house, she was slim n fair (now u know why so much of prep for looking fair) with beautiful eyes n wicked smile, wicked- b’coz the first time our eyes met yesterday she gave me a wicked smile. Don’t know what was her relationship with the Uncle and Aunty ..who cares? May be Daughter may be not .

Yeah !! I was not in the best of shape that time… so what would one expect of a boy coming from 7 hours of torture at school and that too the day when he has GAME’S period in the last, shirt half in half out, one lace tied - other exploring the universe, tie pulled down to the belly, hair in a mess, bottle in one hand - rotating it at full speed.

This full preparation was to erase the impression she must have developed yesterday of me and to ensnare her. Got out of the house, with full swing of the hair, just like a hero making an entry in to the Movies for the 1^st time. Y this b’coz I had already seen her watching from the window. Thanks to my friends for giving me such publicity … they where shouting my name from half n hour. J

Frnd1: B****… kya kar raha tha be?

Taken a back…

Me: No slang today yaar.

They were shocked , b’coz first I didn’t greet them by my typical slang and above all king of slang is telling no to it..

Frnd2: What???? Are u okay.?
Me: Ya ya.. let’s start.

Was under-performing today ..no sixes no fours ..no wickets... We have rules while playing at colony. Although there were many but this one is important.

Rule: If a batsman hit the ball into someone’s garden, he is out and he has to get the ball also.

Now u can imagine why I was hitting no sixes n fours. This was the 4^th time I hit the ball in her garden, Previous 3 times I didn’t gather the courage to talk to her, this time no excuse b’coz it may be last as the Sun was setting down and I may not get another chance to bat. She was there in the window thru out our evening’s play, few time off, but most of the time glued to the seat, watching us play.

Me: Hi! U love cricket it seems?
She: Nope!! Not that much.
Me: Then also you watching us play!!
She: Hmmm..
Me: Pretending to find the ball, although I have already seen where it was laying.
She: It dropped there.
Me: Oh ok..here!!
She: no there.
Me: I was thinking that I should ask her to come out n help me. But…. That’s me ..
She: There it is just near your left leg.
Me: Oh here it is- Idiot. Picked up and started juggling it, So ..what’s u r name?
She: ****
Me: Ok which class ??
She: 9^th .
Me: B******.. wat ?? there it goes, every thing comes crumbling down.

She is older than me.. I was in 7^th std .. that too 2 years… That’s not fair. Now I need to call her “DIDI” henceforth; this is the way we were brought up in our society.

No No.. I won’t do that.
Me: oh great .. I’m also in 9^th.
Lie is the best and first step to approach a gal. I learned that by watching SRK movies J

Me: It’s getting dark, bye!!
She:bye!!

Well I started retracing my steps -disappointed. After few days she came to know that I was not in 9^th, when i reasoned it out y i lied it made her laugh.

We were friends now, mind you just friends. Then she went out of station for higher studies after her board Exams, few months in the starting we were in contact, then lost track.

Few days back MOM informed me that she got married few months back.

I know this is not the perfect ending but this is not a movie also .