He, She.
He pressed the button and was waiting for the lift at the fourteenth floor. He was looking at the number. It changed as it wished. Sometimes three, then ground and finally it was towards him. When the door opened, everybody emptied the lift, as it was the last floor in the building. He got in to it. Pressed G. And saw her coming. He wished that the door should close, that she will run towards the lift, that he will catch her and pull her inside and take her in to his arms and look at each other face to face as the lift moves down in slow motion. But she got in to it comfortably.
It was moving down. They both were alone and he was behind her. Standing straight, he was looking at her. Neatly combed hair, beautiful salwar with a leather bag under her arms and white sandals without heels. He was trying to look at her face. He moved side by side. But, unable to. Then he decided to hum a song and got an old one in his mind. As he was about to start, the song got struck in his throat and he was unable to pull it out. His legs were trembling. Frustrated. He hit his back of his head to the steal face of the lift and leaned towards it. She moved a step forward after hearing the sound. Finally they reached the ground floor. The door opened. She rushed out as if left out of a vacuum. He was looking at her. Seconds before they both were standing so close to each other. But now she started moving away.
Suddenly, he thought that he should do something. He raced towards her and gathered all his energy in a raised voice, ‘Excuse me’.
She guessed that it was him and turned as if to see that she might have missed something in the lift and he was running behind her to give it.
‘Hai’. He said. Still trembling.
‘Did you called me’. She asked.
‘Yes. Actually I don’t want to know anything about yourself and I will not tell anything about myself. Lets us not tell any personal thing about ourselves’.
‘what……….’ She was confused.
‘Would you like to have a cup of coffee with me’.
‘Oh’. Now she got the point. She was trying to control her laugh because of his stupidity.
‘Sorry. I don’t have time’. She turned and was about to leave.
‘sorry if you have mistaken me’. He said.
She stopped and was standing a few yards away from him. She turned back. Towards her left there was a coffee shop. She looked at it. He got it.
‘Its nice. I have tried it many times’. He was happy.
They both took a corner table. Newspaper was neatly folded and kept on the side of the table. Tissues on the other side with a single rose in a flower vase. Café was very silent. They both had a comfortable seat. He got a good view of outside through the glass and she was facing him.
‘So, how do you feel?’. He asked.
She did want to answer how she was feeling, but ‘nothing. Fine’.
‘You know, I read in a magazine survey which has found that when unknown people have coffee together, they can know each other easily’. He said.
‘Obviously. When they sit and talk about themselves, they have to know about each other’. She replied.
‘But that’s not what the survey says. Just think that if I am any one of your friend’s friend, we know each other just by our names that you are her friend and I am his friend and we both meet somewhere like this and if I invite you to a cup of coffee, you will be obliged to come. But now you have a choice. You have a choice to know an unknown person. You will have the curiosity to know what this man is doing in his life and for his living. How his life is different from mine. And much more’.
The waiter was standing there.
They both had menu cards in their hands. He first gave the order.
‘One café latte with more sugar’.
She went through the menu. ‘one American cappuccino – small’.
‘Oh. American’. He exclaimed.
‘Not like that. Just I wanted to try’.
‘Then, what are you doing here?’ he asked.
‘You said – no personal questions’.
‘ I am sorry’. He said and took the newspaper. ‘Do you read newspaper’, he asked.
‘sometimes’ she said.
‘you know when a man and women are sitting alone, it’s the most stupid thing to talk about politics’. He said.
She was a bit angry. ‘why, we are also interested in politics. We do vote. We do select our prime minister’.
‘No. I didn’t doubt your political knowledge. Its true that every individual will have their own principles which will coincide with the ethics of a political party. But there is more than politics’.
‘And what is that’, she asked.
‘Okay. Just answer my question. What will you do when you are you are alone in your home, means you have got nothing to do – no power, no tv, no internet, no music, nothing is there. How will you pass your time’.
‘I will call my friends and we will go for a movie’. She replied very easily.
‘So, what type of movies do you see’. He tried to continue.
‘Any new weekend release. That should have beautiful songs and everything. That we should not feel bored. That’s all’. She replied very beautifully, he thought.
‘So, just to pass your time, you are going for movies’.
‘Your question was how will I pass my time, when I have got nothing to do’. She was a bit intelligent. This time he accepted his defeat. But he thought that why do people just watch movies to pass the time. They should have many other things to pass three hours rather than sitting and watching something which they force themselves.
She asked about what kind of movies does he likes.
‘I am a bit reserved. My favorites are Guru dutt, Raj kapoor and many like that and pyassa is the best I have ever seen’. He replied.
‘why such an old film. Any particular reason for that’
‘old in the sense, yes its black and white. But even today, I can find things that are relevant to this day’.
‘what has attracted you so much’.
Everything. It’s a masterpiece. you should see how the relation between hero and heroine. And the duet song. My god. They both will be standing twenty feet away, but it’s the passionate song that I have ever seen’.
Now she understood what he was trying to say. That they too were standing alone in the lift and now he fell in love with her. Her tone changed. She tried to change the topic.
‘What else do you do’.
This time he tried, thinking more intelligently.
‘Another survey has found that when men and women are alone and if they share their intimate secrets, they will become much closer to each other’.
She kept her cup down with all her force. Coffee spilled. She got up, pushing the chair behind her.
‘Now I came to know who you are……. Such a cheap character ………dressing neatly doesn’t make everything…………show it in your attitude………….
How stupid I am that I came along with a person like you to have coffee’.
She didn’t gave a second for him to speak. She took her hand bag as quick as she can and turned to leave the place instantly. As she turned so fast, the whiff of air fell on him like a slap on his face. He was looking at her as she left the café and he was looking at her through the glass.
After few days, he was coming out of his office in the evening. She was coming in front of him. She walked as if she has not noticed him. He went to her.
‘excuse me’
She just stopped.
‘ I am not going to invite you for coffee again. I just wanted to say sorry. I didn’t mean in that way.
Sorry again. Bye’.
As he was about to turn, he got the smile on her face.
He was looking at her. She dropped her head down while the smile was still on her face.
posted by Vinod @ 9:05 AM
1 Comments:
story is exellent curious generating.but i want to hear the second part..otherwise ill try in my blog
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