The Moonwalk

Episode 1:

Tears rolled down her eyes. She wanted to move out of that closed room. She wasn't being able to take this any more. Perhaps I had crossed the line. She stood there and sobbed for a couple of minutes, before she chose to leave.

She was contestant No.23. I didn't even know her name. I was supposed to take a stress interview of the freshers, as a part of a personality contest. I was doing a good job until this girl cried. I could hardly interview the next two contestants. As No.26 walked in, I moved out.

I wanted to meet that girl. My friend Aditi helped me find her. She was seated with another girl at the staircase. I found this a bit tough to handle. Aditi helped me.

"Sorry Mam", the other girl said. "She is a bit...."

I moved a couple of steps closer to the ladies. "I am Sorry...I really didn't want to hurt you the way I did..."

"Its okay sir...."

"Don't call me 'sir'....I am Niel..."

"Ya...Niel...I shouldn't have taken part in this...these kind of contests are not for me...."

"Hey....you are making me feel guilty now...."

"No...everyone had warned me. They said it's impossible to impress you....that it's impossible to see the lighter side of you during the contest...."

"Okay...", I said as Aditi passed a naughty smile, just the way she always does when a girl says something nice about me.

"...and I took the challenge...perhaps I shouldn't have..."

"No...girl...I mean...what's your name...?"

"Ayesha..."

"Ok...Ayesha....never be afraid to take a challenge....who knows...you might just end up winning..."

"You are right dude......I did the right thing....the challenge was to trap you with tears....and I won....howwzzat...Mr.Niladri Bhowmik...???"

I was taken for a bad bad ride....and now I didn't know where to hide. Aditi's mouth was wide open....

"So....Mr. Supersmart Niel...? Any form of counter-attack playing in your head...or would you like to surrender...?"

I was speechless...I was outsmarted....and I knew I had to live with this for the last six months of MBA.

"You probably don't deserve gentlemen anyway....bloody freak !!!", I said it in a most pissed-off tone and walked out of there...

...and that's how I met this girl, with no idea whatsoever that she would become my first love...


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Episode 2:

For the next couple of days, I did some brainstorming !....tried to figure out what would have been the best lines to say to Ayesha at that moment. Nothing really came to mind...

In the mean time, my roomie had made sure that everyone knows how my case was screwed. He posted on Facebook..."Breaking News: SOMEBODY has shown Niel what he is and has been able to keep him in stress for hours after the stress interview....SOMEBODY..!!??!!". 17 likes and 63 comments followed in the next 24 hours...

I felt like killing Nakul !

With the Friday Night fever still reading 104F, I entered a new day....a new week...a Monday. We had to announce the list of shortlisted candidates for the contest. 5 girls and 5 guys. Ayesha obviously didn't make it, cause we don't take girls who cry!!!...

I could see a naughty smile on her face...and suddenly I got a line...but didn't know whether to go and say that. What if she has a kickass reply up her sleeve...??...I was beginning to doubt my balls...What a shame !!

Finally...this is what came out..."You could have made it to the finals girl...if only...if only you were smarter..."

"I made it into your mind dude....and lets not talk 'bout who's smarter...I don't want you to loose the rest of it..."

"You are good at lines....but shed this attitude girl....and do it on your own....I don't wanna waste time doing that for you..."

"Ow...revenge?"

"What...??"...

"Ya...play the game. Your serve...", she offered.

"Oooo....you came to field pretty early...good. I'll give you a taste of the game soon..."

Just then, I got a call....

"C ya girl...."

"Will C ya for sure..."

Now, I hardly had anything else in mind except Ayesha. I could hardly realise that in the process of thinking how to outsmart her, I was thinking of her. Somehow, there was a wannabe inside me that was coming out.

I wanted to talk to her...Getting her number wasn't a big deal for me...and after an hour of thinking with the same thoughts repeating themselves, I probably made a lame move.

I called her...

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Episode 3:


"Hi...we had left the talk half way..."

"Who's this....?", the voice said, in a way as if she wouldn't bother even it were Brad Pitt...

"You have a short term memory it seems...."

"She's bathing mister...you can flirt a bit later..."

"Ow...I am sorry...I mean..I thought it's her..."

"I am sure you have no messages either....so can I...?"

"Ya sure..."

Holy Crap...!!! I didn't know how to get back...
Everything seemed to be changing...for the worse..

I sat back and did some thinking for a while...tried recalling my past relations. I thought of how I always wanted to love someone truly; but never found someone worth more than a month; except Rhea, who lasted for over six months...

I figured out a relation...a statistical relation...a curve...that the number of days a girl stayed as mine was proportional to her smartness....Eureka!!!

...and this gave me some hope :)

I 'wanted to' fall in love again...but...

That was when the message beeped...

"Dude...I am in class :(
Couldn't call you back coz I was in a bit of a hurry...
Lets meet up at 5...what say...Niel..?"

She was being too nice...I was sure she had some plans to screw me further...but I knew that I was going to meet her....

"Sure...will call you at 5...", I typed, following the textbook rule that the reply to a girl's sms should be shorter than her message...

We met.

She didn't make me wait either. We went to a cafe nearby. Talked.

"Alright Ayesha....lets face it...you are smarter than me...what next...?"

"Thanks Niel...I know I am...you need to be a smart girl to keep wannabes at bay..."

"Was that for me...?"

"No...I don't date wannabes..."

"Date...? you call it a date...?"

"Ya...big deal !!! We've come out to know each other better..."

...and we talked on. We talked for more than a couple of hours...out of all the talk, only two sentences mattered...

One..."I've never been in a relationship before..."

Two..."Chill dude...its no crime for a guy to try and test girls..."

...and ya...she laughed her ass off when I said,"...but I wanted to love some of them...truly..."

The bottomline was pretty clear. We liked each other and the dates would happen everyday now...

With three days left for the weekend, I began to plan.

'Inception' was our first movie together...and thankfully 'the girl's best friend' wasn't around to spoil the fun...!!!

The next weekend was much more special...

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Episode 4:

We planned up for a trip to Wonder-la, a water park in the city. But, this time we weren't alone...and I didn't mind that either ! We booked a cab for 6 - three couples...'if you know what I mean... :)'. Piyush and Aditi had watched Inception just a day ago; and that called for a discussion, more so because Kumud and Nakul wanted to hear the story...

Thankfully, I had understood this movie, which was overhyped as one that is 'difficult to understand'. May be it was. But there are rules that don't apply to engineers ! Ayesha looked impressed with my narration.It was fun going there...especially cause it was a journey with a purpose.

Ten long days after acquaintance, I was about to propose this girl. "Better late than never", I thought, counting my previous average. The stage was set...and this time I had planned to make it a bit more romantic than before. 'Water' was the theme.

We were all drenched, with half our bodies in water.It was 3:43pm by my water-resistant watch. The 'Close your eyes' ritual followed; and the fact that girls can't say no to 'diamonds' got proved just one more time. The ring looked amazing in her fair, wet finger. It was at that moment when I realised that she was the prettiest girl I ever dated. She looked amazing and I wanted to kiss her. Love was where I had fallen in....correction....*we...had fallen in...

We kissed on Monday. Venue: Terrace, Learning Centre, Alliance. She'd never been there before. I sang my favourite 'Tum Ho To...' and gifted her a rose.It was a wonderful time. She loved every bit of it.

That night at 3, after having talked to her o'er the phone, I realised that girls; no matter how smart they are; no matter how they carry themselves...they have an 'angel' side as well, which comes out when someone loves them honestly. I realised that there's one place where you can touch a woman to make her go crazy; and that place is her heart :)

Facebook said: "Niladri Bhowmik is in a relationship with Ayesha Nanda". 126 comments. 203 likes.

Freshers' followed in 5 days...and in no time 'Farewell' was coming up.

We spent as much time with each other as we possibly could. LG hired me on the 24th of November, 2010. I flew out of Bangalore on the Feb 15, 2011. Throughout the flight, I kept looking at my new watch...my first Valentines' Day gift. It seemed I had fallen in love with love itself.

I had changed in the past 6 months....but... in the next 2 months, somebody else did.

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Episode 5:

'Niladri Bhowmik changed his present city to Noida'

The corporate world looked like a dream-come-true. I had never been discouraged by seniors complaining about it, cause I trusted my inner-voice. I knew I would rock the corporate world as well, and I wasn't wrong. I started making impressions from week one itself. I was happy.

The 'you no longer have time for me' phase had begun, and I had no clue how to fix this. I tried being better to her, but somehow, she had started noting a 'half-heartedness' in my attitude. She asked me to visit Bangalore for a week, seemingly to prove that I love her. I don't know whether I didn't or simply 'couldn't' In two months, she had lost interest in me. 'Time' was playing the villain in my love story. Two reasons. One: I wasn't being able to find time for her. Two: Six months isn't enough 'time' to understand each other so well.

I kept trying to keep the relation for the next ten months or so. I visited her twice and sent several gifts. Now, I had started finding an indifference in her behavior.

In February 2012, she was an MBA. The next month, her parents found her a 'good guy'. I never thought 25 was a good age to marry.

A few days later, I received a mail. Parts of it were like...
"...I am getting engaged Niel. His name is Vikaas...son of my dad's business partner...works for Infy in the US. I know him personally...I don't want to hurt my parents. They brought me up so well, took all the decisions for me, gave me everything I ever wanted. I want to see smiles on their faces..."

I visited her once again, this time in her home town,Darjeeling. I failed.

She got engaged in April and got married in July 2012. I even received an invitation for the ocassion, which appeared more like a 'slap on my face' than anything else. I didn't want to create a scene out there. Bollywood stuff doesn't work in real life any way. I chose not to attend her wedding.

I thought I wouldn't cry cause I am a strong guy. I was wrong.

I got a salary-hike next month, and booked a Volkswagen Polo.

On the 23rd of November 2012, I updated 'Niladri Bhowmik is Married'. 14 likes. 3 comments. :)

................................End of the story...................................

P.S. : The moonwalk is a dance technique that presents the illusion of the dancer being pulled backwards while attempting to walk forward; much like what happened to me !.
I thought I was making the right moves, going ahead in life with Ayesha. As it turned out, I was just living another unsuccessful attempt to find true love. In most stories, we find the girl making a 'i late luv storys' kind of a guy believe in love. In my case though, it happened the other way round.Now, I am of the opinion that 'Blind Love' is no more than a bloody oxymoron; and I wonder if my wife,Ambika can change my perception. Fingers crossed !!!

DEAR READERS.........COMMENTS PLZ.......... :)