Coffee........?

March 2018:

It was a time when I was living a simple life in a budget equivalent to that of defence sector of our country. Where the fuck was all the money going, I still don’t know. I was not able to get even my regular ~ daily coffee. Mediocrity was at its peak.

To give myself relief, I decided to visit a nearby beach with whatever little money I had. After walking 4 kilometers to get the bus, I reached the beach by 5 in the dusk.

By the way, when you travel alone having few bucks, there is one thing common in everyone……You look merely confident, also you aren’t scared of trying something new…Reason is, No one will be there to remind you for that shit after that.

Beach was as crowded as it used to be. Observing the crowd and being among them reminded me of my own mediocrity, which I hate being a native of. In short, LEKHAK ye kehna chaahte hain ki mai aam aadmi waali zindagi nahi jeena chaahta. You can confirm the irony - why I came here?

I decided to go & just sit silently on rocks instead of roaming with the same bunch of those running kids, hand holding couples and those old people on the verge of life & death whom you meet every day. Blowing away sand from the rock and keeping my handbag aside, I sat down calmly. To cope with the sound of people, i closed my eyes & ears and started to meditate but as usual, some random images started coming into my mind.

Meditation still remains entangled puzzle for me. This time, instead of concentrating again, I decided to watch those distracting visuals. What i saw was, the condition of those local vendors who were selling their products in the street connecting the highway to the beach. Any person who used to cross by their shops, the vendors would have to request him like a beggar, every fucking time. Suppose, if one of those hundreds of people came to their shop, a big smile would appear on the faces of those sellers. And if any person used to come and if he would leave the shop without buying anything, those vendors would request another such person from those hundreds again. That’s the way they live- which may be fine for them but I was not okay to watch them like that. In short, i feel, they are wasting their potential in a badly chosen job.

Suddenly and somehow, my eyes got opened. 

WHAT A SCENERY IT WAS.

A girl ……An insanely beautiful girl was sitting at a distance of almost TEN feet from me. She was doing some paperwork. OH MY GOD! Looking at her and then to the eternal sky, I sent a handy kiss to the blue sky. Clouds smiled a bit and kept moving. Beach started changing its colour i felt. I started feeling the vibes of beach, which the first time visiters praise about.

Before checking her out properly… (sounds cheap na), I was trying to find out whether she came with her friends or not? Or with her boyfriend? Yes, she did not. THANK GOD!                              Is she also a lost ship like me or just a boat in between a moment of high tide? Is she already broken? What if she is single? But why is she not looking around? The questions were hitting the brain in the same way visuals of those vendors were hitting earlier. I just wanted to …. I mean just…just turn the face towards me, please…but you know, every person has different level of guts inside him….and yes I lacked that. What would she think? Putting those millions of questions aside and pouring a whole bucket of my confidence, I decided to reach out to her….

"May I sit here?" I asked with a chirpy sound.

"Why?" she asked and kept writing something on a diary.  

"Is there anyone with you?" I teased her.

"No, but why are you trying?" She replied emphasizing on ‘YOU’.

“Trying…Trying, for what?”, I chuckled being innocent.

"Leave it," she said and kept writing.

Girls don’t feel shy in talking to boys but boys do(JUST A FACT).

"I’m alone here so wanted to talk to someone," breathing for a moment and bringing back that bucket of confidence, I said sounding as if i was pleading.

"Someone?" she teased this time.

"Sorry, Not someone or anyone. I wanted… you………to talk to me."

“Oh, but I don’t want that na, Sorry.” One could have seen disapproval in her eyes.

"Listen I’m not flirting with you. I just wanted to talk to you, it is as simple as that…. Leave it, " I insisted.

“Okay” being furiously sarcastic as if she was saying “You suck at this."

"May I?" I begged in the way I wanted to sit.

"Yeah," she agreed this time, keeping diary and her bag aside.

Bye the way, her yeah consisted of 40% of yes and 60 % of “saying oh.. you lusty sucker.”

She almost humiliated me with ‘SO, What do you want?’ (as if was asking for a nude or what.)

" Not a single thing. I don’t even want to know your name. Are you getting embarrassed?"  being polite I pleaded in one go.

No... No. I was just inquiring but she looked at me as if she still wanted her answer.

Okay, cool. I came here only to spend some time with you, talking the weather, the sea, the beach, the vibe, the you. I stopped there and trying to look somewhere else.

Cool, she whispered.

Whatttt? I had to ask.

The beach, the vibe and what you said next “the me”? she replied as if teacher wants to humiliate her student.

We both were quiet then and trying not to sea each other’s face.

After millions of microseconds,

What if….? I stuck there.

What if, what? she asked curiously.

Me: What if we play a game, if you agree.

She: Okay, Tell me; I have enough time for that.

Let’s exchange our characters and discuss what we were feeling about each other till now, me, the broke suggested.

Shit! No…, she denied.

Why, I asked tenderly.

No means – No, she replied just with the opposite of tenderly.

The dusk was at our head. Sky was getting darker so was my lusty thoughts. I thought this is the signal to ask for a kiss but my earlier statement of not flirting with her was somehow protecting her, preventing me.

My eyes were closed and I just turned my face towards her (I think now).

What? you want kiss? Are you out of mind? She giggled slowly.

No, No I was just… I mean… I was taking a nap of half a minute. It’s like half an hour of sleep, you know( I was damn scared and didn’t know how I said this).

No, I don’t know. I thought you turned for a kiss.

I melted like a foil with her innocence and how pure she was.

Hahaha…No..No, if I had to kiss you, I would ask gently for that. if you say No, I know it’s No, I replied.

She: Oho. good boy. Ask me now?

Me: What?

She: for a kiss.

Are you okay, I checked asking her.

Yes, I’m quiet okay, she replied confidently.

Heyyyyyy, what’s your name? by the way, I should know na?, I questioned.

RITHU, pronounced as R…I…T…U, she spelled.

I know, I almost spilled.

Hey Ritu, May I, should we? listen, sun is down…I’m too. We merely know each other even now, Let’s say hello again with a kiss this time, should we?

Hey ……., she stucked.

RISHU, R…I…S…H…U. My ‘H’ is useful, I cracked spelling my name.

Hahah…Hey Rishu, was this part of your plan to say hello, Sherlock asked.

No way yaar, why would I?

Suddenly I felt a heavy strike of her lips on mine…. OH MY GOD, what an insane feeling it was. I turned slowly towards her. It was so satisfying, My god. The haunting sound of waves hitting the rocks made me kiss harder. She fully surrendered herself to me as I felt her lips moving slowly.

What? I whispered to check her.

She said nothing. I had to hug her so hard, if I had left her, she would have surely fallen down.

That moment, I knew how girls owe everything to her partner after being emotionally naked.

Hug continued till I saw her wiping tears with her palm the way kids do. That’s how girls are, mostly. We could hear only waves. Only a few people were there.

It’s dark enough, should we leave? I asked.

1 second, she replied.

That one second became another fifteen minutes, just sitting & saying nothing.

Me: Should we….?

What…kiss, she asked a bit excited.

No, should we leave? I asked.

Ooo… Okay, she replied.

We walked back over those big rocks with dimmed phone torch holding our hands.

We reached the same clumsy market which was looking beautiful now, I don’t know how and why. Vendors were in the midst of closing there shops. I was still feeling softness on my lips. I saw a tea vendor sitting with ease, looking towards me, not like what i saw in visuals
. She was few steps behind me trying hats. I turned back and asked “Hey RITU….Coffee?”..
                                           
                                     Tea vendor was looking at someone else now.