Monday, August 21, 2006

Crushes...

Its a day of small crushes. First a guy from my class, and then a tiny thing who lives in my building.


Scene I: Small Classroom. Me alone with another guy who I consider pretty intelligent. AC whirring away softly in the background. I'm immersed in my flashcards while he is clicking away on his PC.

Suddenly,

Him: So you are a Jain right??

Me: Ummm, yeah..

Him: Are you fasting??

(Its the Jain religious festival going on, where poeple try and have fasts in which you can have nothing but boiled water.)

Me: Yeah.

Him: I'v done two fasts in a row in past. But I cant do any now.

Me: Ok

Him: How many have you done??

Me: I'v done an Athai. (Eight continuous fasts only on water all through.)

Him: Oh wow! Wow. Maybe I should touch your feet and all.

(I look horrified and turn away)

Him: So, are you shwetambari?? (That's the sect which wears white clothes only)

Me: Yeah

Him: Yeah?? wow, so are you Deravasi?? (Temple Visiting section)

Me: No, I'm Sthanakvasi. (Uhh... Non-temple visiting)

Him: Really?? Murtipoojans?? (Idol - worshippers)

Me: No.

Him: Terapanthi??

Me: Yeah.

Him: Wow. WOW. WOWWW. Me too(The gleam in his eyes say: my mom is gonna be soo pleased). I have never seen a girl like you in our caste yaar. You should participate in the caste functions and such. You'd stand out among all of them. M god!!

Me: Errr... No thanks. I'm sure there are a lot of city girls who are interested in such things.

Him: No way, I know all the girls who take part in these things. They wont be able to stand near you. You are sooo talented, soo intelligent, soo graceful, soo beautiful.

Me: Ummm, I'm sure there are a million girls better you know. (Get off my case!!)

Him: No there are not really. You must meet.. (before he can say my mom, I interrupt)

Me: Uhh actually, my mom dad are jains and sthanakvasi and terapanthi and everything. I dont believe in all this. I'm an atheist. I just do all this for my parent's sake and to test my will-power.

(His face has deflated like a pricked balloon's)

Scene II: The doorbell to me home rings. I open and see vacuum. I look down and see the tiny grandson of a neighbor looking up at me.

Him: Uhh.. do you have a geometry box??

Me: (Grinning) I doubt.

Him: Can we.. I mean can you check??

Me: Uh sure. One sec.

(I go inside my room, and hunt for one, but ofcourse I dont find it)

Me: No sorry, I have a Rounder but not the entire box.

Him: Uhh.. That will do.

Me: (raising one eyebrow) Ok, I'll just go get it.

(He smiles sillyly)

Me: Here you go.

Him: Thank you

(I'm waiting for him to leave so I can shut the door, and he is taking all his time to tie his shoes up while looking into my eyes all the time, which he removes for what reason I dont understand since he was standing outside the door all the time.)

Finally he turns and goes down the stairs, but he turns around just as I shut the door. He smiles yet again, a yearning sort of a smile.

After a few minutes, the doorbell rings again.

Him: (Handing me the rounder) Thank you.

Me: Its all right.

Him: Ummm.. uhh..

Me: Yeah??

Him: Uhh.. Can I..

Me: (eager to shut the door again) You want the rounder keep it.

Him: Umm.. yeah. K. Umm.. Can I... haveyourcellnumberplease.. umm please??

Me: Does your mom want it??

Him: Umm.. no. I will buy a cell soon. (He is 10 years old, and I'm sure he's not getting a cell for a long long time)

Me: Why dont you get a cellphone and then I'll give you my number. Fine??

Him: I can call you from my landline till I'm living at Nani's house.

Me: Umm. Kiddo, (his face falls) why would you want to call me?? Call someone your age no??

Him: I'm not a kid.

(he shows no signs of wearing his shoes, or leaving)

Me: That's not an issue. Is ther something bothering you that you want to talk about??

Him: Umm.. yeah.. There is. (doubtful)

Me: yeah?? (Challengingly) What is it??

Him: umm.. ahhh..

Me: If you want my cell number your mother will give it to you. Is that alright??

Him: Ahhh..

Me: Ok bye!

(I shut the door without him wearing his shoes!! He looks into my eyes one last time, from deep inside his thick glasses. And smiles ruefully)

I chuckle behind the closed door, and my mom who was sitting too far into the hall to hear the conversation looks at me questioningly. Shrug. Chuckle.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well nows that something pretty interesting happening. :-).
Guy1 hmmm seems trying to impress and flatter. ;-)
Guy2 well wonder whether is it the 10 yr kid who needs ur cell or is it someone else through the kid. Cant say these days.
R 10 yr old kids these days so fwd. :-).

Anonymous said...

Seems u getting popular amongst kids as well. ;-).the kid might be waiting for his next chance. :-).

Aniruddha said...

haha ... very funny indeed!

Anonymous said...

the pragni sanghvi fan club remains overflowing as usual..y am i nt surprised??oh maybe coz i hv witnessed a lot of aspirants in the past god-knows-how-many years...way to go..

~The Dream Catcher~ said...

J- 10 year olds are very very 'forward' these days, i deal with stuff worse than this in my camp every year. their capacity to store and understand crap seems to increase each year.

Ani- I could nt stop laughing for the longest time too. I will have to conceal this blog or something, coz if anyone from my class reads this, then...

Anu- The fan club has died its natural death. No such things anymore!! And dont remind me of the good ol' days yaar...

Anonymous said...

obviously all of us needs a good friend in their life. and once they get one the life remains simply wonderful...irrespective of a friend is a kid and adult or an alien. i hope u all have one. have a great weekend.

Anonymous said...

loved readin' this one.... seriously funny n' bitterly sweet!

~The Dream Catcher~ said...

d'yer mak'er : thnks!!