RR-006: An engagement to remember - prelude

Some time back two of my friends AD and SM got engaged to each other. Hence a trip to the IT capital of India took place. Along with me to cheer on the couple were also PP, GS, LR & VS.

Co-incidentally, LR also had his birthday on the day of the engagement. The ensuing balancing act between the party and engagement was extremely eventful to say the least.

It all started off with the birthday party. When there are 3 goans and madeira then ruckus has to ensure. Its like Newton's Laws of Motion. Or Boyle's Law. Or a Tendulkar century. There is a certain inevitability to it. And when you add a Delhite, a dentist and a slapgate (a few hours prior to the party) then it further adds to the mix.

So there was music and dancing and fun and frolic. AR played the DJ, GK marshalled the alcohol, VS the ladies. Along with college mates, LR's other friends also made periodic entries. After hasty intoductions which were also forgotten with some speed, everybody made a beeline for the refreshments.

So as expected, with so many Goans in the frame, techno, trance and hip hop was the flavour of the evening. But surprisingly, there were spurts of Punjabi pop on special requests by the budday boy. I distinctly remember how all this started. LR used to love all things Goan and hate the rest in the first year of college. Then he was made to trawl through the depths of Punjab during his summers and God knows what they did to him there, but he emerged a changed man and a lover of all things Punjabi including songs, food, damsels and especially the unmentionables.

But I digress here. The party continued late into the nite and towards the end im sure even if the watchmen had come and knocked down a couple of large ones, no one would have noticed. By the time everybody retired, it was past 4 am. And we had an engagement to reach at 9 am sharp!!!

RR-005: The Second Date

After my experiences during my first date, I thought nothing could now faze me. And hence I was relatively calmer this time around. A couple of other chaps in my group, who had also got dates suggested that we take our bikes for the party and have dinner someplace before we headed off.

I was not too keen on the idea as the "committed boyfriend" of my so far faceless date might have had objections to this. However, bowing to peer pressure I said I would ask her and we could do that if she agreed.

She called me in the afternoon on the day of the date and confirmed the time that we would meet at. And so, once again I headed to the quad to meet my date at the pre-appointed hour and once again joined the vast multitude who had also reached at their pre-appointed hours.

Fortunately, the wait this time around, proved not to be so long and my date located me standing in the quad and introduced herself. I remembered having seen her around the campus and introduced her to my dateless friends who shall be named AD and JD. Since both AD and JD had not had anybody ask them out, they were going as a couple to the party.

Now before I could open my mouth to ask her about dinner and transportation, she asked me about where was I going to take her out for dinner and how were we going. So much for the committed boyfriend. So a large group set out for the place which had become our regular watering hole, "Angels Resort". All through the short 20 min ride to our destination, she chattered non stop about how much she was loving Goa and also looking forward to the date. With sporadice interjections on the boyfriend also. She also mentioned dancing as one of her hobbies and so I was already planning a fast exit after reaching the party venue.

After reaching Angels, as AD and JD had to have fun, they began reminiscing about our first year and ofcourse my first year date. So out came the old story and everybody had a good laugh about it. Post dinner, we all set off for the party and once more she started gushing about how much she was enjoying the date and looking forward to dancing at the party. Ouch.

So as soon as we reached the party, I excused myself saying that I wanted to check out the bar counter. So, after giving me a scandalised look, she said that she would be waiting for me to dance with her in what sounded like an ominous tone. So taking this as a reprieve, I went to the opposite end of the party.

Now, in every party as most people I am sure would have observed there always forms a group of guys who speccialise in what is known as the "Junglee Dance". This is nothing but a group of guys who all have two left feet and take solace in the group to do all sorts of weird gyrations which they think constitutes dancing. Needless to say I was a regular member of this tribe and I joined them hoping my date would forget all about me. After half an hour of enjoying dancing with the Sunny Deols, Amitabh Bacchans and Sanju Babas of the "Junglee Group" I made the cardinal mistake of taking a break.

I bumped into my date, who was aggrieved at my ditching her and insisted that we head to the dance floor. Fortunately, my friend GK was also facing the same predicament with his date on the dance floor and we managed to to do some odd sort of group dance for some time. The rest of the party passed in a kind of a blur as it turned into running in the opp direction whenever I bumped into my date. Fortunately, I was fortifying myself at regular intervals and this helped in the passage of time.

Finally the party ended and I transported us back to campus, where she very graciously said that she had a lovely time and had really enjoyed herself. The next day she also gave me a thank you note for the freshers date.

Very curiously, that was the last time we ever spoke on campus. I guess she really did not enjoy the date that much!!!

RR-004: Episode 2 - Run up to the Second Date

After the exertions of the first year, I thought that I was past that stage of being chased for a date now. I was in the Second Year after all and would be dictating things rather than the other way round. And being extremely averse of doing assignments for the fairer sex, I thought that I would be under the radar as far as dates go. Well.........apparently, I was wrong.

Typically, the Freshers Party is a month into the first term of the year. A major part of the month was thru without any alarming signs. That was till I got a phone call one day. It was a lady from my junior batch. She had apparently done a background check on me through some common friend she had discovered and decided that I would be the perfect choice for the date. All that was required was an official communique and this was it.

Lest I get any ideas about her having any designs on me, she informed me that she had a boyfriend whom she was extremely committed too. I have read my fair share of P.G. Wodehouse novels and probably have been subconciously influenced by the "Code of the Woosters". Hence I could obviously not turn down the date. So hoping for the best I said "that would be great" in my most charming voice and started preparations for what had turned out to be a blind date.

Over the next week or so, I made efforts to put a a face to the voice, but was unsuccesful. Maybe she wanted to keep it as a surprise till the end!!!

And so, I was on the verge of starting my second date......