Stepping out of the confined walls of the house after a period of 48 whole hours, I realized how much I’d missed life. Not only had I missed the smiling faces of kids, playing, spitting at each other, but I had also missed the cows being milked smack in the middle of a busy junction.
I do so love my India.
As I hopped onto a cycle rickshaw and made my way to my destination, I couldn't help but keep an eye out for hooligans. What can I say – force of habit.
And that's when I saw him.
Looking ridiculously gorgeous, there he went on his mean machine...my knight in shining armour. I knew now that he had come to rescue me from this third-rate, old school rickshaw and take me away with him on his shiny devil of a bike. Oh, if only I could see myself right now, I’d see my pupils replaced with tiny hearts!
He was merely a few feet in front from my rickshaw, waiting for the light to turn green. Ah, noble citizen, I thought. He stops at a traffic signal! I could hear my heart thump so loud I thought he’d hear it. And just when I thought I was calm enough to learn to breathe, he turned ever so slightly in my direction. He was going to be the death of me! My Tom-Cruise-from-Top-Gun looking dream-boy grabbed the chin of his helmet and proceeded to slowly take it off in that utterly seductive, bad boy way, while he balanced the bike with his other hand.
I could hear the background music then: a medley of Eye of the Tiger, Hells Bells and Jo haal dil ka (from Ghulaam). I all but saw him shake his head to ruffle out his helmet-hair. As my heart fluttered in fast-forward, I saw him bend his head slightly. I knew he was going to slowly angle his head and raise his eyes to meet mine. I just knew it Knew It KNEW IT!
With a silly grin plastered on my face, and eyes the size of golf balls, I waited to bat my eyes at him.
And just then he angled his head, pulled it back just a tiny little notch, grunted…and BAM – he spat out a giant blob of three-day old phlegm on the side of the road, missing me and my rickshaw wale bhaiya by mere inches.
Tom Cruise had just taken on his desi avatar: Taam babu.
“Chalo yaar, bhaiya. Kahin phirse thook diya toh bus, is baar ya aap gaye ya phir main”, I complained to rickshaw wale bhaiya. The background score had now changed to the sound of my heart breaking into a million pieces.
Taam babu, you bad boy, you!
4 comments:
You write well Swati...my types! hehe. But what struck me most about this blog is the sentence..."I so do love India". It's strange and striking. Following ur blog now.
Urmi, thanks ever so much!
That comment you mentioned - it's a fact. Criticize her, bitch about her, do what I may, I love India a little more than I love Nutella. And boy do I love Nutella. :)
Starting to blog again after pockets of absence. Glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks for the follow. Will read yours shortly. :)
Swati thumbs up, as I was reading through this, I could picture everything back of my head, which makes you a good writer.
I loved "Taam Babu", almost fell off the chair, I guess that should have been the title..
Haha! Thanks Azmat! :)
Post a Comment