Jab We Met

You have to help me, pleaded Rocky.

What can I do? I don’t even know her.

Arrey she is a Bong and I need you to speak to her casually and introduce me. That’s all.

I am posted at HO under a boss who keeps a hawk’s eye on my movements. I can’t leave my workstation or go to your office for this….it is impossible. And I am sure she can speak in English and definitely Hindi as well, so why don’t you do it yourself?

Woh hi toh problem hai….how do I start the conversation. Ek baar aaja dost. You come over during lunch break and start talking to her and then I will join you. After that you can leave. I’ll manage the rest. Bas itna sa kaam dost ke liye nahin kar sakta?

Rocky was a name given to Sanjay by us friends because of his tall, fair and slim frame and a faint resemblance to Sanjay Dutt in the late eighties in his launch movie of the same name. Sanjay had just joined an insurance company as a direct recruit officer with a good salary, designation and perks. Sometimes you saw him with a French beard and other times without it. Everyday he would go to the office with a brief case in his hand, travelling by state transport buses. Everything was going good for him and all he needed was a girlfriend to complete his life’s little dreams. He had been trying to befriend many a girl in the bus while travelling to office. Once, he even gave his business card to one of them to impress. He was staying with a couple of his friends at Salt Lake, Kolkata. Every evening they would get together over dinner discussing their day at work, people they met, especially girls they encountered….anything spicy would liven up the talks as Durga Bhai, their Man Friday cooked some nice simple dishes and garma garam chapatis with a coating of desi ghee.

Kaisi hai woh?

Acchi hai…bahut acchi…and she is damn good at work. My Divisional Manager was praising her a lot.

Tujhe pasand hai?

Yes, very much, why else will I ask for your help.

Ok then I will come sharp at 1.15pm and leave by 1.45pm. if I am not back on my seat by 2, tere chakkar mein shahid main ho jaaunga (will become a martyr for your cause).

Next afternoon, our Bir Bangali reached Poddar Court at 12.45 pm…much before time. Surely the excitement got the better of him….the idea of match making and being a hero for his friend was just too much for him to stay back late in office. With a heart that was beating aloud and a fake smile on his face, he walked into the office.

Hi Rocky. Kahan hai woh?

Rocky was flummoxed…he turned completely red as he looked up to see his friend there early and making his intentions known to all around…and you know well about the famous Bengali office ka adda and the gossip that goes on there. How can he behave like this…galti kar di shayad isko bula ke. Shhhh….as he put his pen over his lips and motioned to his left with his index finger.

Oh no…there was, in the desk next to Rocky, a girl sitting in a cotton saree, with her head down, trying to concentrate on the pile of files in front.

Rocky mustered up all the courage that he could and told the girl in the nearby desk…he’s my friend from Head Office, Marine Technical Department. He said it as if I was working in some great place like the Prime Minister’s Office but possibly for people in the Divisional Offices, HO must have had the aura quite alike.

And then the two bongs introduced themselves which is quite normal….what is your name, where are you from…so you are not from Calcutta…yes I am from the outskirts of Calcutta…ok I am from Delhi… and the conversation kept on going till Rocky nudged his friend.

You know Sonjoy, na? He is brilliant. He was the topper of our batch…he knows all the tariffs by heart. If you need any help in technical whether in underwriting or in claims, he is the person you need to ask. He will be more than happy to help you. He is too good. We refer all technical matters to him.

I could see Rocky blushing as he heard all the praises in his honour. Ab toh chakkar chal gaya mera…he thought and looking at his watch he told his friend it was already 1.30pm. It should have been a signal enough for the Bong friend to ‘cut lay’ or bugger off from the scene and let Rocky now take over.

Hey, good news! Today my boss has gone to Bombay for a meeting so I am in no hurry to go back. What about your lunch, he asked the lady.

I usually go down to the canteen on the ground floor for lunch, said the damsel, who hardly looked in distress, as she saw two young suitors at play.

Good, then let us all go down there and eat something…I am starved.

Rocky glared at his friend and reluctantly agreed to join.

All three went down and had some quick bite and finished off with a cup of gorom gorom cha. All this while at the cafeteria it was the two bongs talking non-stop in Bengali of course. Rocky understood Bangla but kept nodding his head once in a while or smiling at the discussions. He kept looking at the watch and finally the time came to say good bye to the Devil from Head Office. Instead of just saying bye, I asked the girl...

Hey, what are you doing this Saturday?

Nothing in particular.

I have some passes for Super Soccer where a Brazilian Team is playing an Indian Team at Salt Lake Stadium. My cousin is at Tata Steel and he got me the VIP passes. Why don’t you join us? It will be fun.

Ok, I’ll come. She said immediately.

Great, then see you on Saturday. Sonjoy will give you our address and the place we will meet before going to the stadium.

That evening in the Salt Lake house, 7 friends got together to know what had happened. Rocky looked pale, the bong looked elated.

Saale, I asked you to just be around for some time and then go off. You just went on and on and on.

What could I do? I just started enjoying talking to her and then couldn’t stop myself.

One of the others remarked, “Isne toh out swinger maar diya (he has bowled an out swinger) and Rocky you are completely bowled out.

Finally the Big Day came. Our man had a good proper bath that morning, wore his best clothes and waited eagerly for the lady to come…an hour before time.

And she came….

We went to the Yuva Bharti Kridangan to witness the match.

We sat next to each other.

The others sat next to us.

I kept talking in excitement trying to show off my knowledge of football also telling her about my own exploits on the football pitch. The people playing in Indian colours were so off colour that it became a pathetic show…Boys from Brasil won handsomely…what else did you expect.

For those who have not seen the football frenzy in Calcutta, you have not seen anything. There are people and people and more people. So after the match, we could not find public transport and walked back to AB Block Salt Lake. The two of us together in front, the others behind us….giggling merrily. One of them Debasis had the audacity to come ahead and say she is taller than you. I quickly straightened my back and showed him there were a couple of inches between us.

So as the serial How I Met Your Mother goes on air again shortly, I thought it was time to tell my daughter how I met her mother. It was around 27 years ago…now in the next 2 weeks we will be celebrating our 26^th anniversary and the match continues since we took the vows…

“I take you to be my wife.

I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health.

I will _ _, honour you all the days of my life.”

And for the two words missing in between, I’ve never been able to say nor write.

In this match of life, we often fight hard, hurt each other at times but always play together as a team. Rocky settled down some time later with a wife chosen by his parents and now has kids and is doing extremely well. And so are my other Salt Lake buddies.

Finally here is the proof of When and  Where We Met.