Madhuri

While I was still in college, I had the unfortunate opportunity of accompanying my friend whenever he went to meet this rich and not-so-great girl who claimed to be his girlfriend. Lets call him Surya. Surya was not in the least interested in her, but she really liked him a lot, and hence, he out of sympathy may be, hung out with her. One day she invited him to her house and he was too scared to go alone. So, he took me along. I was pretty impressed with their large duplex house and the interiors. Samosa, Kachori and soft drink was bonus.

Surya looked like a stud then. He still does. I was convinced of my friend's discomfort given how this rich girl looked. In no way they were a good match. Also, I had heard him say that she often threatened him emotionally. He had to succumb and many such occasions led to this samosa party. After a while, the bell rang and her friend, lets call her Madhuri, walked in.  Everything was perfect about her. Just as perfect as geometry can define. As soon as she arrived, I was introduced to her and MTVs Most Wanted, was played on Cable TV. Surya and the girl went upstairs to a room and cited private conversation as the reason. I am sure of my friend and his character, so don't let your mind wander. And thus, it boiled down to me and Madhuri in the hall with Shenaz accompanying us from inside the TV. 

Soon, I leaned that Madhuri was Marathi too and we started conversing in Marathi. At the end of 25 minutes, this girl said 'I like you' to me. I just smiled but inside me, something kept pricking me. After another 10 minutes of pointless blabbering, she said, 'Its great to be in your company'. This may sound like self-appraisal but wait, don't jump to conclusions. I just smiled and said, "I am glad," and for the first time, realized that she could actually be speaking the truth. But at that time, I had someone else on my mind and hence, Madhuri never attracted me. An hour passed and we kept talking. At about 5.30, Surya and his fat girlfriend walked down the stairs and joined us. We had cool drink again and more dumbassery followed. At about 6.00, a guy walked in. I had seen him for the first time. The moment he came, Madhuri jumped on her feet and hugged him and screamed like she had just seen Mahesh babu. This was a shock. But in that one hour, If I had taken Madhuri seriously, it would have been a massive KLPD. I was glad I didn't let my tongue slip and say something to her. We returned after some time and on my way back, I told Surya what happened. He said, 'Be careful with her'. 

Two weeks later Surya called me again asking me to accompany him to her house. I obliged and when we reached there, I saw Madhuri already present there and she had worn something that could make any teenager uncomfortable. I would be lying if I said I didn't pay any attention. As usual, they went upstairs for their alleged conversation. And I was left alone with her. Once again, she said, "I like you. Its great to be in your company".  As I was beginning to feel her enticing presence, the door bell rang. She walked up to the door and opened it. It was some other guy, who she welcomed with a hug and a scream. The same scene and feeling repeated. This time, this guy, who looked very rich, didn't even bother to shake hands with me, took a seat beside her and put his arm around her shoulder. And that moment on, she never even looked at me. I just took the remote and changed channel. I remembered Surya's words "Be careful with her,". I was only glad that I had someone to go crazy about already. 

Six months later, after a lot of deliberation, Surya broke up with that girl and I had no idea what happened to her. But after four years, in 2005, when I had just started enjoying my newly earned financial freedom, I saw Madhuri once at a pub. She was with a different guy. She smiled at me. We exchanged hellos and shook hands. The only thing that changed about her was the guy she consorted. Given her looks and style, it wasn't difficult for her I guessed. I was only glad, my friend's ex wasn't with her and neither did we speak about her nor about Surya. She took my phone number and gave hers. She never called me and neither did I expect her to call.

Life moved on. In 2009, I was at a party and there, I saw Madhuri again. She had married one of the friends of the host that night. After the kiddish stuff was done with, general drinks table discussions began over drinks and about eight men sat around the stuff on the terrace. One of them had recently married and he told how he managed to elope with his wife and how it was all nice now. Inspired by this thought, Madhuri's husband who was evidently high , said, "My marriage was decided in 2 minutes." Everyone asked, "How?". He said,"I went to see a friend one day. There I saw Madhuri. We had just spent 20 minutes with each other, and she said, "I like you, Its great to be in your company". And that's it."

- DK