Page 3 of Musafir Cafe | AllFreeNovel

‘I think so. You have a problem with that?’

‘None at all. Good. Keep in touch, nice meeting you.’

‘No point in saying that, we hardly know each other.’

‘All you need to know about me is that I don’t like my work at all. I have worked in the States for about three years but never felt like I belonged there. Now, whenever I get a chance to go there on work, I refuse. I don’t know why. I am not very fond of TV. I only watch it when cricket matches are on. I go to the movies alone every weekend and love theatre. I am in the habit of buying more books than I can read. I can’t read the morning newspaper without tea, and I am completely clueless about what to do with life. Since I have blabbered so much about myself, it is my turn to ask you to tell me something about yourself.’

‘I stay in a PG. Don’t gel with most of the girls there. I love my work and want to become India’s biggest lawyer. I like watching films only in the movie hall and not on TV. On weekends, I do theatre, just as a hobby. I have loved acting since I was a little girl. And oh yes, the most important thing about me, I am not a virgin. You?’

‘What about me?’

‘Are you a virgin?’ she asked.

‘Don’t worry about it. It’s almost one o’clock. Do you need to be somewhere or would you like to go out for lunch?’

‘I like South Indian food,’ she said.

‘I don’t like it that much but that’s okay. It’s not like I am going to spend the rest of my life eating.’

‘If you don’t like it, we could try something else.’

‘No, it’s fine. Really! It’s just one meal, after all.’

This was Sudha and Chandar’s first meeting. There’s a different air about everything that happens for the first time. Because everything that follows depends on it. If there’s no first, there’s no possibility of a second or a third. That’s exactly why the first step decides the rest of life’s destinations. When we repeat ourselves after the first time, we are actually trying to find that first time again.

T for Ta-Ta, Bye-Bye

That day, there were only two good things about the lunch: the filter coffee after the meal and Sudha’s company. It was almost two o’clock when they finished.

Before leaving, Chandar said, ‘What’s the plan now?’

‘Nothing really. I will go home and rest for a while. I wanted to watch a movie but will go only if a friend agrees to come along, or else …’

‘Or else what?’

‘Or I’ll miss the movie. Since it won’t keep running till the next weekend.’

‘I wanted to watch it too. Let me know if you don’t find someone to go with. I’ll join you. In fact, if I hadn’t come here to meet you, I’d have gone for that movie.’