Collected Short Stories by MeMyself_n_I : Part V

Read this only if you have a lot of time on your hands, coz it's quite a longish post(actually longish is an understatement, it's mindnumbingly lengthy).

Story 6 : The one where the ironies of life are revealed.

Chapter I

It’s the 3rd day of “Crossroads’, my college fest. The ‘War of the DJs’ has ended prematurely, thanks to a bunch of DUSU hooligans, and also some guys from the Hindu union (take a look here if you don’t know what I’m talking about). It’s only nine-thirty, and the fest is over for the night. Arpita has quite enjoyed herself, as have I. But the excitement has proved to be a bit too much for some of the girls, who are at their screechy best.

The boys tell us that it’s best to leave, as there might be more trouble. So a few of us head to Nirula’s, as the action has left us quite hungry. The roads are surprisingly empty, so a couple of girls amongst us aren’t feeling too happy, especially since we had decided to walk. Arpita, Anisha and I are feeling quite chirpy, and the jeep full of drunk guys only adds to our joie de vivre.

We reach Nirula’s and Arpita and I decide to share a hot chocolate fudge. After we’ve placed our orders, we realize that it’s almost ten. And that is when it strikes me that the last metro leaves at 10:12 pm. We say our goodbyes hurriedly, snatch the hot chocolate fudge from the counter-guy and start running. Somehow, there are no rickshaws around that night. Arpita is mumbling curses under her breath, and I am yelling out profanities to the world at large. We reach the metro station, out of breath and majorly pissed. The fact that I am forced to throw away the hot chocolate fudge (this incident has been mentioned here also) does nothing to elevate my mood.

I have a metro smartcard, but Arpita doesn’t. The length of the line at the ticket counter is highly worrying. While Arpita is standing in line, I look around for some person who’s already in the line, and looks nice enough to buy a ticket for her. Spot this quiet looking guy, and go ask him if he would mind buying a ticket to Central Secretariat for us. He agrees.

Here begins the confusion. None of us have any change. All three of us, this guy, Arpita and me, have only hundred rupee notes. It would be real silly to offer 2 hundred rupee notes for two tickets worth Rs 20 in grand total. So this guy buys Arpita’s ticket also.

Arpita does not feel too happy about this, and starts rummaging around in her bag for change. She manages to find 2 five rupee coins and proceeds to hand them over to the guy. This guy vociferously refuses to accept the money. Seeing how there’s nothing to be done, we start walking (well running actually, since we had about 30 seconds left to catch the metro).


This guy suddenly decides to strike up a conversation with us (read Arpita; he was quite charmed by her), which does not please us too much. But since he did buy Arpita’s ticket, we have to be civil to him. He happens to mention that his office is in Kamla Nagar and we should drop in sometime……..

We reach home at eleven thirty after a lovely day, tired, at peace with the world.

Chapter II

It’s the end of the 4th and last day of ‘Crossroads’. Arpita, Anuja and I are walking towards the metro station, well in time since Arpita’s mum has given her specific instructions to be at Central Secretariat by ten. We are telling Anuja about the previous night’s incident, and how it’ll be so extremely funny if we run into the same guy today.

You know what they say about tempting fate right? Yup, we run into the same guy. Arpita and I smile weakly at him, and then Arpita and Anuja go to buy their tickets. While I’m waiting for them, this guy, for some, reason, decides to give me company.

Suddenly, he tells me that his office has shifted. I nod, while silently wondering what in heaven’s name is Arpita doing for so bloody long. Then he says, “Why don’t you take my phone number, in case you need to contact me sometime?”

I’m a little slow on the uptake, so I can’t really figure out why I would need to ‘contact him’, so to speak. But since he’s looking at me expectantly, I take out my phone and save his number. He still hangs around for a while, which is when it strikes me that he probably expects me to give him my number too, seeing how things like these are mutual.

Now obviously, I DON’T want to give him my number, and a heave a sigh of relief when Arpita comes back. The guy probably wants to try his luck with her now, but decides to back off when he sees the look on Anuja’s face.

Arpita and Anuja practically roll around on the floor of the metro with laughter when I tell them what just transpired.

If you’re still awake, you’re probably wondering what the point of such an amazingly lengthy story was. I mean, c’mon there’s got to be a point!

Well the point is, the last metro does not leave at 10:12 pm. It actually leaves at 10:50 pm.

‘Ironical’, do I hear you say?