SNAFU

Nothing was going well that day in my askew and out-of-kilter world. The day started with a big fight with mom over a thing as petty as ginger. I like my tea plain, no added flavors or fragrance. And she had put aadrak (which was supposedly good for my bad throat).

I glanced at my watch. It was 8:45 am. Gosh! I was late. I gulped the remnants of my cup unwillingly. I was moving as fast as I could. Took the escalator to the metro platform today instead of the stairs which formed the part of my morning exercise. Alas!! The Metro was running late too due to some accident near CP. I cursed my luck. Stuck in a Snafu (SNAFU, acronym meaning Situation Normal: All F***ed Up)….

I hailed an auto. As usual, a typical Delhi autowala. He asked for double the rate. I didn’t have the time and the energy to argue, so I agreed. He was literally driving at 20 km /hr. Even cyclewalas were overtaking us. I made an heroic effort to rein in the curses that wanted to leap out of mouth. Somehow, I managed to reach my destination, just in time.

I entered my college gate…..barely able to walk straight with 3 bags weighing about 5kgs each in my hand. (Men always wonder what do women carry in their big bags….this question I will definitely answer in my next post)

Suddenly I saw something that piqued my interest. It was a bag. A blue colour Nike bag. Iridescent blue. I could recognize it even from half a mile (given the fact that blue colour has the shortest wavelength, I could still spot it) . Yes it was him. My heart sank. And rose again with delight. Sigh!!

He was moving towards the lift. Wow!!!! My bad day was soon going to turn lucky. My robotic eyes calculated the distance between ‘us’. I did some mental physics . If I run at 5 m/s with acceleration of 2.5 m/s^2 I will be able to reach the elevator at the same time as him (Being attentive in physics class helps). So I ran. Without caring for the colossal weight I was carrying. What a sight it must be. A short petite girl in salwar kameez scurrying at 5 m/s with 3 huge bags!!! Finally I made it. Without falling or tumbling. In one piece. With all 208 bones and 639 muscles in place. Except for my heart . For it was beating frenetically.

There he was. My object of desire. Smiling, making my heart go all gaga. My breathing smacked like a hammer in my chest. For a moment I lost all my auditory and visual senses. A state of oblivion. A déjà vu.

Don’t waste your time.Start a conversation. Say something intelligent to impress him.
As reality seemed to enter in my conscious again, I asked him, “Are you going to the 4th floor”

Bloody hell! What an intelligent question!!!. Of course. Couldn’t you see he pressed the button for the 4th floor.Oh that reminds me I hadn’t pressed the button?
Bam!! Suddenly with a small jerk the lift came to a halt. I was ecstatic. It will buy me some more solitary time with him.

“Oho!! Kya hua….yeh india ke lifts be naa” His expression was detached.
I tried again, “My Financial Engineering lecture will start in another five mins”. He didn’t pursue it either.

Now it was getting awkward. I didn’t look at him. But could feel his presence, metabolizing the oxygen.

I was getting panicky now. Fishing out my phone from my bag, I asked “Should I call the somebody for help?”In his characteristic composed and restrained manner, He said”You pressed the stop button , instead of the 6th floor”. And then he burst out in a hysterical laughter.

Yes!!! Situation normal. All f**ked up.