9am. He was already on his way. He was driving fast, but the drive had not been pleasant. He was finding it hard to concentrate. This was unusual. His concentration was usually at its peak when he was driving fast. Something was bugging him. He tried to figure out hat it was. Various incidents from the recent past came to his mind – the business-plan presentation that hadn’t gone too well a few days back; the conversation he had had with his parents about the marriage proposal; the dirty politics at his workplace; the call he had received from his best friend K, who had come to India on a flying visit; and a few more incidents. But he wasn’t convinced. He could not figure out what was distracting him. That frustrated him even more. He tried driving faster, hoping it would clear his mind. It didn’t help.
It was a two-lane road. The traffic was light. A few hundred feet ahead, he saw a cowherd on the right side of the road. They looked like they were about to cross the road. He judged that he could pass safely and decided not to slow down. But then he noticed a black santro coming from the opposite direction. It was coming pretty fast towards the cows. He anticipated that the santro would either have to brake really hard to avoid smashing into the cowherd, or it would have to swerve sharply onto his lane. It did not brake. It swerved. He slammed hard on the brakes. Simultaneously, the santro violently swerved back onto its lane. It safely made the pass, but just so. He was just catching his breath, when he noticed that something red was rapidly filling up his rear view mirror. It was a bus and it showed no signs of slowing down. He rapidly tried to engage gears and move forward but it was too late. He didn't even have time to brace himself. He felt a rude jolt. He felt thankful for his seat-belt. He blacked out.
He was still in his car when he came about. Surprisingly, he did not feel any pain. He slowly turned around to assess the damage to the car. No visible damage to the car either. But he found three women sitting on the backseat. At first, their faces seemed bit blurred to him, but gradually his vision cleared. He recognized K and M. The third female - he had not seen before. Then he noticed S sitting beside him, in the front. He kept staring at them, too surprised to speak.
S broke the silence.
S - So, did you finally figure out what was bugging you?
K – Well, we wouldn’t be here if he had.
Him – Nope. I didn’t figure it out.
S (smirking) – Probably it was the 33 grand you spent on a TAG.
Him – Dei, it was a TAG! Grow up. Your reaction did baffle me though. And what was that speech about “people suffering without food” all of a sudden? You sounded real corny.
M – Was it our chat? Was that bothering you?
K – What chat?
Him (smiling) – (To K) sorry that’s confidential. (To M) that was weeks ago. Well, it did bother me the next day. I shouldn’t have chatted with you in the first place. I was half drunk and sleepy. I didn’t know what I was doing. But no, that wasn’t bugging me today.
K – I think I know. It was my call wasn’t it? I ended the conversation abruptly.
Him – You did? No, that wasn’t it. But I did feel that you didn’t like it when I mentioned the pact. (Smiles)
M – Ahem…now what pact are we talking about?
K - Confidential info.
S – Hey ladies, easy. Looks as if the poor guy is being interrogated here.
K (to S) – Hey, you started it.
Him – TIME OUT!! Why is this so important now? Why are you guys here? Why are you so interested in what’s bugging me?
K – That’s what this is all about, isn’t it?
M – Yeah, you need to find out. It might give you a chance.
Him – What chance?
S (irritated) – Never mind. Tell me something - did your parents discuss anything important with you when you were in chennai last week?
Him – How did you know I was in Chennai last week?
S – No time for explanations. Tell me.
Him (hesitantly) – Nothing important. There was this discussion about a marriage proposal though. But that discussion happens quite often nowadays. Nothing important about it.
S - Probably not to you. So what was this proposal all about?
Him - Seems my aunt had told my mom about an "interesting" allaince. Good family, nice girl, about to complete engineering. And it seems that the girl’s family was impressed with my “profile”.
K – So what did your mom say?
Him (smiling)– Well, she requested my aunt to inform them that they had to wait for sometime - till I decided on whether to continue working or try for an MBA.
M (puzzled) – Why did she say that?
Him (muttering)– Don’t know. She probably didn’t want to reject the proposal outright. (Chuckling) or she’s probably afraid that by the time I decide to get married, there won’t be any suitable girl around.
K – Well, are you?
Him - Am i what?
K - Are you also afraid that there might be nobody around for you?
It was only then, that the girl spoke for the first time.
Girl – Yes, he is. Aren’t you?
He didn’t reply. He remained silent.
(To be continued)
3 years ago
