''I Dont Want To Meet You Again '' Part 1

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011

''I Dont Want To Meet You Again '' Part 1

It was like any normal call on my cell phone .It was the number that was being displayed and not the name .I tend to ignore such calls most of the time .So I let it pass .But it rang again .And again .I usually don’t pick up even after 3 attempts by the caller in the hope it tires him/her out .But when I got the call for the 4^th time I received it .Anyone who was so insistent deserved to be heard .I waited for the caller to start .

‘Hello,is that 9909812663.?’It was the voice of a lady .

‘Yes,it is .Can I help you’?

‘Am I talking to Kulu Kain ,the Principal of DPS’?

‘Yes you are.Could I know who you are ?’,I asked .It was obviously someone who knew me very well to call me by my pet name .

‘I am Vinita (name changed ).Remember ,we were in the University together ?’.

My memory is good ,and Vineeta was too important a person in my University days for me to forget even if I had a failing memory .I did not want to go overboard with the excitement of a reconnect .I was talking to her for the first time in 35 years .I had to make sure I was talking to her .Strange things happen in the world these days .I hold a responsible public space –I have to aware of that .

‘Oh yes .What a pleasure talking to you .How did you come to know about the fact that I am here .?’

She laughed .From the laugh I could make out it was Vineeta .Almost childlike and  loud enough for me to have told her once at the Tibetan Monastry where we used to go out for Tibetan food ,that she was attracting stares of the people sitting there .’I like attracting people’,she had said ,and had let out a even louder laugh .!!It was the same laugh .And then she spoke .

‘You are a celebrity in the city yaar .The papers have you all over on page 3’.OK ,so she had come to know about me from the reports of the newspapers about a interview and photograph that accompanied it about me taking over as the  new principal of DPS Ahmedabad .I stuttered and said ‘No ,No ,nothing like that .And in any case who can be a celebrity in your presence’.I was now rolling back the years .And Vinita had not lost the knack of picking up the gauntlet .

‘When do we meet.?’.And then left me with no choice ‘Tommorow.At the Fortune Hotel’?

‘No Vinita ,the GM of the hotel is a parent of of a boy who studies in the school.I will be under pressure of scrutiny’,I told her. ‘Lets meet at the Marriot.Its a good hotel’..i said

‘Then you pay ,because its expensive ‘

I told her not to worry and we fixed our dinner for Saturday .

I was exited in meeting a old friend .She was a brilliant student and I had heard that she was in the banking sector .She was supposedly a financial wizard .And she was from one of the best schools in the country .But that was in the 1970s and 1980s .A lot of water must have flowed under the bridge by now .I had asked her how she would recognize her .She had told me not to worry .She would recognize me .She told me that the last time I had met her ,I was wearing a pair of grey trousers with a white shirt and suspenders (braces/garters).Yes ,she must be correct because there was a phase when I was very fond of wearing suspenders .I had many of them –though those days we had them in plain colours which were either black or brown .I wish we had them in psychedelic colours in those days –I would never have given up wearing them .!!

But Vinita clearly had her memory intact and was as sharp as ever .Always a very potent combination to attract someone like me . I needed to be at my best –no one should go away with a impression that life had not refined me or that I had not grown into a more attractive human being .That has always been a constant endeavour of mine .Each year must add value to my being .The day it stops (value addition),then  I am on my way out of the world.!!Thats the way I look at my life –and maybe at others as well .!!

I did not know how Vinita would look .35 years is a long time ,even though we were very good friends while at the Univ and met everyday .She had the advantage of having seen my photograph and as I came to know later knew everything about me through my blogs .She had also seen my profile pictures on my blog .But as far as I was concerned ,I had no idea of how she looked .I had to draw from the deep recceses of my memories ,and that too of many years back .But I am good at that ,and I had a picture in my mind of her –with grey hair and weight that one accumulates with age .I thought that it would not be much of a problem in picking her up in a crowd .

I entered the Marriot Hotel .It was the second time I was going to it here at Ahmedabad .When I had gone the first time I had felt cold –the airconditioning was a degree lower than what it should have been .I carried a coat with me this time .Just in case .

The man at the gate greeted me with a big smile .He opened the door for me .The airconditioning was as usual colder than what it should have been .I put on my grey striped coat .There was some party that was scheduled at the hotel .There were a lot of people smartly dressed in the lobby .There was a waft of perfume in the air .I looked around for Vinita .

(To be concluded )