Saturday, October 31, 2009

The Dinner - This Way Sir

The whole city, I believe, was mourning the death of actor Rajkumar. For me, it was a humdrum day at work. I wanted some rest. Had there been flights, I wouldn't mind taking one to get back home. Unfortunately, even our cab, which usually left at 2:30 in the afternoon was not let out of the campus for security reasons. We were asked to take the shuttle which left only at 6:00PM. To add to the frustration, the road was jam-packed with traffic and it took us unusually long to get back. It was already 9:00 and my tummy craved for some nourishment. I stayed with my brother then. I called him and realized he was at his friends' place. The bottom line, however, was that I had to get back and cook to feed my hungry self. Without any deliberate intentions, with a sad face, I told my friend, "I'm hungry and I'll have to cook and eat". He asked, "Do you want to eat outside?" I was hesitant for a while. The reason being, I felt he would have already made plans of going out for dinner with his roommates. I did not want to trouble him. But, as time passed, the hunger grew intolerable. I said, "Okay, let's go". We got off the bus and stood at the gates of one of the finest family restaurants. It was brightly lit. We entered. As we were getting ready to park our tired selves on the cozy chairs, a uniformed man said, "This way sir". We were led to the darker side of the restaurant. Whoa!! It was the tree top. That's not all. We reached on top and just stared at each other. My mouth was wide open. I took a deep inward breath and sat. He did the same. It was a candle-light dinner. The atmosphere looked romantic. It was very clear that dinners in that part of the restaurant were meant for the romantic couples and we were just good friends. We saw 3-4 pairs of lovebirds enjoying their slushy dates. We felt out of place. But why bother about anything else? We came there to fill our hungry tummies. We laughed over the whole thing and started eating. Prawns and mutton biryani came our way. The food was scrumptious. I packed a plate of biryani for my brother. Again, had I known he was going to pay the bill, I wouldn't have done it. He did not let me pay. He said, "next time". As I'm writing, I realize the next time has never come. It's three and a half years now. I'll have to compensate for the fluky, so-called date. I shall call him in a few days. Right now he's busy preparing for his baby's christening.
That dinner, however, I shall never forget. The tree-top candle-light dinner. Back in 2006, I had no idea that the dude was already in love. I wonder how red her face must have gone when he told her about it. Anyway, I will never repeat the mistake. Never!!!

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