Page 1 of Musafir Cafe | AllFreeNovel

S for Story

‘Have we met before?’

‘I guess!’ Sudha replied, a childish smile on her face.

‘Where?’ I asked.

‘Probably somewhere in a book,’ she replied.

I was intrigued. ‘People meet in colleges, trains, flights, buses, lifts, hotels, cafés and God knows how many other places, but how are they supposed to meet in books?’

‘What if I tell you that we’re characters of a book that hasn’t been written yet?’ Sudha cut me off.

‘You’re funny!’ I took a long sip from my teacup, wondering what that was supposed to mean.

B for Beta, Get Married!

Chandar received a text on his phone from his dad’s number. He was about to read it when his dad called as well. He received the call only to find that it was his mom calling from his dad’s phone. After exchanging random updates about each other’s lives, he learnt that he was supposed to meet a girl the next Sunday. Twelve noon at the coffee house. He was also told that the girl would be by herself.

However, Chandar didn’t buy that. He had stopped believing that a girl would ever come to meet a guy alone for her prospective rishta. More often than not, she would arrive with a close friend who was on the planet solely to conduct viva voce for the rishta.

On Sunday, Chandar reached the coffee house fifteen minutes early. He saw a couple at a nearby table. After a glance at the clock, he decided he would wait for fifteen minutes and then make the call.

Not knowing what to do as he waited, he began fiddling with his phone, locking and unlocking it over and over again. While he was at it, the voice of the girl at the other table began to reach a high pitch. From what Chandar could make out, she was not happy.

Her harangue went on. ‘Oh! So after marriage if you have to go to the States for two years, I should come with you, leaving my career behind? What do you software engineers think of yourselves? Is going to the States equivalent to making a career? Seriously, what is up with you guys? When all you want from a girl is to raise your children after marriage, why are you so hell-bent upon getting a working woman? No, you tell me.’ Blah blah blah …

The conversation was getting interesting. The girl must have droned on non-stop for another twenty minutes. The guy soon left the table, murmuring an indistinct ‘Hmmm.’

Chandar glanced at his watch, 12.15 p.m. already. He thought he would tell the girl he was supposed to meet that he had arrived. He dialled the number and, without listening to the voice at the other end, muttered, ‘Hey, just wanted to let you know that I’m at the café. You can take your time.’

‘I am here already,’ she said.

‘Really? I’ve been here for the past twenty minutes.’

‘Same here.’

A for A Little Something That Happened One Day!