Software and Tricks

Sample Pages

Everyone is looking for their soul-mate Take our Love Test and find out: “Is She the One?”

Oh God, these things look so stupid. I saw the quiz in a magazine. There’s a photo of a couple looking into each others' eyes, and it’s decorated with drawings of cupids and love-hearts. I mean, please. As if you can find out she’s ‘the One’ by answering a few silly MCQs. Like, for example:

My girl and I go together like :

a) Heer and Ranjha

b) Romeo and Juliet

c) Tom and Jerry

d) None of the above

Honestly, how ridiculous! How can a pair be like Tom and Jerry? I turned a page, and found an “Ask Doctor Uncle” page with some questions from people suffering from this and that…Errrr.. I can’t read that. So, maybe that dumb quiz isn’t so bad. After all, it has got to be more fun than reading about who is ill and what kind of illness he/she is having . Eeeks whatever!

Quickly I turn back to it. OK, here we go with another MCQ...

1. Whenever you think about her, do you get butterflies?

a) Yes, always

b) Sometimes

c) Never

Well, I wouldn’t call them butterflies exactly. In fact, it’s been so long the butterflies have probably grown up and flown away. Now it’s more of an ache. Not like the terrible toothache, but may be like an headache. I go plump for b) Sometimes.

2. How long have you liked her?

a) Less than six months

b) A year

c) More than a year

My mind flicks back. We met in the winter of 2007. I was nineteen. Which makes it .... my mind does the calculation, OK, so it’s four years.

So what? Four years are nothing. My father has known my mom for twenty eight years. Yes, but your mom’s married to him, says a little voice inside me. Ignoring it, I quickly tick option c. Fine, next question

3. Can you see yourself getting married to this girl?

a) 100%

b) 50%

c) Zero

Well, that one is easy. It is zero. In fact, I’d say the chances of marrying her are less than zero. But that’s FINE. I’m perfectly OK with it.

All right, so in the past I might have thought about it. And maybe for a moment I would have imagined myself in brown sherwani and her in a wedding saree, with some ornaments looking like a perfect Indian Bride. Dancing our first dance under the “Soni de Nakhre” on DJ. Leaving for our honeymoon to some hill station.

Coming back, I notice I’ve been absentmindedly making a heart around a) 100%. Oh…Shit. What did I do that for? Frustrated, I grab my pen and start scribbling over it furiously. It is not as if that means anything. I suddenly realize I was pressing so hard that the page got torn.

4. Do your friends think you are obsessed with this girl?

Hmm… come on… I think about her from time to time, but I would not say I am obsessed. Not at all. I mean, I am not disturbing her with Facebook messages Or Googling her relentlessly. OK, I confess, I Googled her thrice…. maybe five times…

Oh, all right, so I have lost count over the four years. But so what? Who has not gone home and Googled a girl they are in love with?

Hang on!!! Did I just say the Love word?

I didn’t mean that at all! It is this silly quiz - its making me think all kinds of things…. I tick b) No.

As the minute hand of the clock moved I continue through the questions. They helped me pass the time. Just on the last question ....

10. Which film best describes your relationship?

a) Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna

b) Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

c) Diljale

....when I suddenly hear the announcement - ‘The Next Station is Rajiv Chowk, Doors will open on the Left’ - and I realize I’m nearing my stop.

Stuffing the magazine into my bag, I started to make my way through the packed crowd which had increased from Laxmi Nagar. Of course, no one pays any attention. Since last few months, I have been noticing that all my ‘Sorry-s’ and ‘Excuse me-s’ fall on deaf ears.

It’s not that Delhites are rude. I am a Delhite by birth, but it’s just that my way of apologizing for almost everything has zero effect. They don’t understand what I am apologizing for. To be honest, half the time I too don’t know what I am apologizing for. It is something I do like a habit. Like logging on to Facebook and checking out the inbox every five minutes.

Exiting the metro station, I pause at the pedestrian crossing to study the direction of the road on the big green board, which tells me for Janpath I have to cross the road. Some people have a sort of inbuilt GPS, a bit like pet dogs. You can drop them anywhere and they will find their way home before you do. Not me, I get lost whenever I go to any area after a gap of few months.

I am stumped. Today, I neither had tea after work, nor I am aware of the shop here. Looking up and down the street in frustration, I gave up and asked myself “Who the hell told you to come here?”

“Excuse me??”

I turned to see a fellow girl standing next to me, waiting to cross. She looked at me quizzically. Oh my God, did I just say that out loud?

‘Errrrr. .’ I was embarrassed. “Never cross a road while light is red,” I said whatever came to my mind. She stared at me “Sure,” she replied.

Feeling totally uncool, I look away and pray for the lights to change quickly. “Oh, look, now we can cross,” I announced with a relief, and shooting her with an awkward smile, I crossed the road with the crowd.

Walking past some food outlets, I glance at the couple’s cozying up together over a romantic meal. I move on quickly. Once upon a time there was a princess of mine, but we didn’t end up living happily ever after. Like I said I am fine with it. It was a long time ago. I have moved on. In fact, since then I have dated loads of different girls.

Well, perhaps not loads, but surely few. And some of them were really nice. Like, my last girlfriend, Shreya. We met at a party and dated for a couple of months, but it was never that serious. I mean, she was good fun, and the enjoyment was not bad. It’s just….

OK, I know this theory. Everyone dreams of finding their soul-mate All over the world millions of people are looking for their true love, that one special person with whom they will spend the rest of their life. And I am no different.

Except it does not happen for everyone. Some people spend their whole life looking and never find that person.

If, by some luck, you are fortunate enough to meet ’The One’, do whatever you can but, don’t let them go. Because you don’t get another chance at it. They are not like the buses and cars, one goes and the other comes in minutes, that is why they are called 'The One.'

I mean, if there were loads of them, they’d be called ‘the Four’, or ‘the Ten’, or ‘the Forever’. So I think like that, maybe that’s it for me. Because you see, I was lucky. I did find the One, but then I lost her. I blew it, or she blew it. At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter.

Besides, it is not like I am unhappy. There is a saying “Better to be loved and lost than never to be loved at all.” To tell the truth, I rarely think about it any more…

But yes, sometimes, when I least expect it, something will remind me, of her, of us, randomly, anything. And sometimes I keep wondering what my life would have been like if things had worked out. What if we were still together? What if we had lived happily ever after? What if that, what if then, what

if ...?

Sometimes I even try to imagine what it would be like to see her again. Which is crazy as it"s been so long I doubt I would even recognize her. I could probably walk past her in the street and not even know it was her.

Oh, who am I kidding? I would recognize her in an instant. Even in a crowd. And let me tell you something else!! Deep down inside my heart, I know if I saw her again, I would still feel exactly the same. Anyway, that"s hard, isn"t it? It"s been four years since I last saw her. Who knows where she is or what she"s doing ...?

Up ahead, a sign interrupts my thoughts. McDonald"s. That"s it! Feeling a beat of relief, I start hurrying towards it.

Dismissing the thoughts from my mind, I push open the door.

Inside, it"s almost full with the after-work crowd. I pause at the doorway. Sitting at the left corner is a man in a black suit. He"s busy working at his BlackBerry.

That"s my elder brother, Raj. He"s older, by four years, but it might as well be ten the way he bosses me, like I"m a child. He"s used to doing that to the people very often. He has two assistants working for him. He"s a Senior Associate at a firm that specializes in Tax and Audits. Personally, I haven"t got a clue what work Tax and Audits involves, but know it involves calculations of a large amount of money.

But then my brother has always been the brainy one in the family. He spent 3 years training to be an hotelier, then as soon as he qualified, changed his mind and retrained as a Charted Accountant…n gave those CA Prelims, Inter n Final n whatever… Like it was no biggie.

Raj, the brainy one dabbles with large number and I am the computer whiz..(at least, that"s what my parents like to tell me). Maybe that was to make me feel confident, after I got passing marks with difficulty in Math at one time. While 2D and 3D still puzzle me but computers were always my only hobby and I ended up at a BCA course.

I took three years of computer courses filled with some Math and English too. I passed somehow, and completed graduation . I had all these big dreams. I was going to have this amazing career as a Computer Geek. I was going to have associates across the country. I was going to have my own office in Gurgaon..…..

For starters, have you any clue how expensive offices in Gurgaon are? No, neither did I… Well, let me tell you…..that wouldn"t have been so bad if I"d been able to solve all computer issues of some MNCs… I mean, at least then I could have saved for an office in about… ten years, but still, it"s possible.

But the truth is, I never actually solved computer issues for anyone. Well, OK, I did once, but that was for my father for five hundred INR, and that was because he didn't know how to format his system. As it turned out, it was also my last service. I had to give up this service work and look for a proper job after six months of sliding further into debt. Consequently, my dreams of being an Independent Entrepreneur ended up just that. Still, it was probably for the best. I was young and unrealistic. I probably would never have made it anyway.

After that I temped for a while, but I was pretty terrible. I finally got lucky and landed a job in a small computer firm in Nehru Place. At first I worked just as a technician, but over the years I clawed my way up from repairing the system to working with new clients and providing the long term solutions to their companies for Computer security. Then a few months ago I was offered the chance to work as an Assistant to Mr. Roy, an experienced personality in the field of Computer Security.

Of course I jumped at it. Who Expected it? If I"m entirely truthful, that"s not the only reason I decided to pack up my stuff, move out of my brother's flat and shift some kilometers. It was partly to get over my latest break-up, partly to escape the prospect of another terrible summer, but mostly to get my life out of a bit of a rush.

Don"t get me wrong - I love my job, my friends, my life here... It"s just ...Well, recently I"ve had this feeling as if there"s something missing…..waiting for something to happen….The only problem is, I"m not exactly sure what.

My brother"s still focused on his BlackBerry and hasn"t seen me walking over to him yet. Since I arrived from Mumbai, I"ve been staying with him and Rita, his wife. They have a two-bedroom DDA Flat in West Delhi area and it"s been great, but challenging too.

As soon as I told him I was moving here, he sent me a list of house rules. My bro is very organized like that. He draws up lists and ticks things off, one by one, with special highlighter pens….

We"re total opposites in everything really. He is healthy; I"m a bit thin. He likes to save; I like to spend. He is punctual; I'd like to be punctual, but can not. I don"t know why. I really try to be punctual…. by setting off fifteen minutes early, setting my clocks a few minutes forward, wearing two watches, setting up the reminders - but I still seem to end up running late.

Like today….,.

Right on line I hear my phone beep to signal I"ve got a text. I take it out of my pocket. I"m a bit scared of my big brother. I click the little message icon on the screen.

“Five more minutes then you"re dead.”

That scared me a lot.

“You"re late.”

As I drop myself down next to him on the chair, he doesn"t even look up from his BlackBerry. Instead he continues replying to an email.

“I know, I"m sorry, you know - I"m useless with directions.”

“And timekeeping,” he reminds.

“So, what"s my punishment,” I asked, pulling a remorseful expression.

He smiles, “Well, this isn"t that much of a big crime, but let"s see ... You"d probably get away with a warning and a fine.”

“A fine?” I inquired. “How much?”

“Hmm ...” He, thought for a moment and said “Three Chicken McGrills will do.”

“Hang on - three Chicken McGrills?”

“You, me and Rohan.” he explains.

“Oh, he"s here?” I say in surprise, looking around for him.

“He has gone to attend to a call.” Raj gestures to the back of the door, where at that moment I see Rohan talking over the phone.

“Hi…..!” he shouts from there itself. Anyone watching Rohan greet me would think we were lifelong friends, but we met only a week ago, when I answered his ad for a roommate to share his apartment in Gurgaon. I will be moving in this weekend. After a few weeks of my brother house rules - " Usage of Television not permitted after 10 p.m." Apparently it don"t allow him to sleep, as he likes to be in bed early and wake up early too. I knew it was time to move out and get my own space.

“I didn"t think you could make it” I gasp.

“My last client canceled the meeting” he explains.

“OK, so what are we having?” I ask.

“I told you already dear,” says my brother without a moment"s hesitation.

“Rohan?” I turned to him expectantly.

“I have no idea,” he said “Now let me think. … I will have French Fries ...”

“And I"ll have Pepsi,” I smile.

Rohan and I go to place the order. "Oh, just one more thing ..." Rohan suddenly leans towards the counter girl "What"s your name?"

I am taken aback. I didn"t expect that.

"Sir, Swati… Why, do you want my number too?" She inquired showing the discomfort she was in by such a question.

Rohan"s face falls in disappointment. “No, thanks.” Leaning back from the counter, “Not unless your name"s Shweta.” And we came back to our seats.

“Who"s Shweta?” I ask in confusion.

“I dunno.” He was quick… “That"s the problem.”

“If you"re looking for a missing person, we have some great contacts at the Delhi Police,” suggests Raj helpfully.

“Really?” Rohan"s eyes go wide. “How exciting!”

“By the way which shweta are you looking for?” Raj inquired curiously.

“Don"t know… but I know she is out there somewhere… my Guruji told me”

“Really?” “So you believe in all those?” I asked.

Interrupting the talk in between Raj said, “Hey Ashu, what"s that in your bag?” Pointing towards the magazine I had just read sometime back. Before, I could answer, Rohan took that out of my bag and started reading it out loud. ""Everyone is looking for their soulmate. Take our Love Test and find out: Is She the One?"" He looks up at me, his eyes wide with excitement. "Oh wow, I love these things!"

"Why does that not surprise me," says Raj.

I throw him a grateful look "It"s just a bit of nonsense".

"But you have filled it out!" reveals Rohan.

Oh God. Now I feel like a complete idiot.

"I was bored on the Metro, you know what it"s like." I"m trying to be casual while not looking at my brother. Once, when I was a teenager, he caught me secretly reading my horoscope and that of a classmate, whom I"d had a crush on. He teased me about it for months afterwords.

Years later nothing"s changed.

"Give it to me. I"ll throw it away." I laugh lightly, but Rohan is bent over it, eyes narrowed in concentration.

"So what was your score? Was she the One?" He looks up, with an expectation.

"Look, I hate to talk about this, but there"s no such thing as the One," dismisses my brother.

Rohan"s face drops like a five-year-old who"s just been told the Candy Bar doesn"t exist. "But you"re married," he protests urgently. "What about your wife?"

"What about her?" replies Raj evenly. "I love Rita, don"t get me wrong, but I wouldn"t call her my soulmate."

"You wouldn"t?" asks Rohan.

"No." My brother takes a bite of his Chicken Mcgrill. "I call her plenty of other things, though," he adds, and laughs.

Rohan turns to me desperately. "What about you, Ashu?" He turns to me desperately. "What do you think? You believe in the One, don"t you?"

I hesitate. "Well, hmmm ..."

"Oh, I"m so sorry!" Rohan suddenly cuts it. "I"m being so insensitive." He looks at me, his face full of “I didn't mean that” expression. "Your brother mentioned you"d broken up with someone recently."

"You mean Shreya? Oh, she wasn"t anything serious," I reassure him quickly.

"She wasn"t the One?" he says knowingly.

My mind flashes up a picture of Shreya in her pink top and blue jeans. Even if things had been perfect, "No, she wasn"t the One," I laugh.

"Well, don"t worry," he encourages, patting my back. "I"m sure you"ll find her."

I smile "That"s the thing, I already did."

There"s a loud saying from Raj "Oh God, not the Mall Girl."

"Her name was Tina.” I replied.

He rolls his eyes impatiently. "Ashu, when are you going to forget about her and move on?"

"I have moved on," I snap back defensively. "I"ve had loads of girlfriends."

"You"re still hung up on that girl."

"No, I"m not!"

"So why are you doing this kind of stupid quiz?"

"So what? You know, it doesn"t mean anything!"

Rohan"s head is flicking back and forth between me and Raj as if he"s watching tennis match between Federer and Nadal.

"Hello, you guys!" he cries. "Would someone mind filling me in?"

We exchange glances. Raj turns his attention back to his Burger, which leaves me.

"Well?" Rohan looks at me with an expectation.

"Oh, it"s nothing," I mutter.

"C"mon you think I am fool" remarks Rohan, raising his eyebrows. "I want all the details."

I think about resisting, but knowing that Rohan won't give up easily I decided to give up myself. I swallow hard, my mind flicking back. "It was the winter of 2007. I was nineteen and studying BCA." I start talking quickly, with keenness to get it over soon. "Her name was Tina and she was eighteen and a typical Punjabi girl. Afterwords I came back to my place and she went back to her--"

"You"ve missed out a bit about the Mall" interrupts my brother.

My momentum broken, I throw him a furious glance, but he"s unmoved...

I turn back to Rohan. "Sorry, I"m getting ahead of myself. First I should tell you how it all started." As the memory comes flooding back "Let me tell you about the Mall incident ..."

"Wow, how romantic." Rohan has that in his expressions too, still I cant guess, what romantic he found, as I have just started.

As I finish telling the part, I zone back to the counter. Elbows leaning on the counter, Rohan"s got a strange, dreamy expression on his face. He"s not the only one, I realize, noticing several people along the table who have stopped their conversations and are leaning in to listen.

"So did you kiss each other?" asks one of them, with his eyes wide.

I was full of embarrassment. I have never been much of a public speaker and now suddenly here I am, sharing my story with some unknown persons at this McDonalds.

My mind wanders back to that evening, all those four years ago. "We didn"t have enough money. ….in those days . ."

There"s kind of a disappointment around the table now.

" . … . but I bribed a local guard with a tip," I finish, laughing.

"So did you take her?"

I heard a male voice and turned to see an elder man. The hope on his face is tangible.

"Stop interrupting. Let him tell the story," shushes someone else loudly.

"So it was sunset time in the evening..." I continue, an image of the sky popping into my mind. It had been such an amazing evening. I"ve seen every evening before and since, but none has ever seemed as special... .

“I put my arm around her shoulder as we move together on the sideline, hear the water popping from evening fountain. I was brushing the hair out of her face and we"re laughing like a couple of lovestruck teenagers. Because that"s what we are: a couple of lovestruck teenagers.

"So do you think this is really going to work?" she"s asking.

"I hope so." I smile back, the warm scent from her Top was really nice. We were now sitting on a bench on the backside of the Mall.

She lays back a bit, enjoying the sensation of my fingers brushing against her. Her touch is light, gentle, yet its effect upon me is like a 440 volts. Now I know what people mean when they talk about electricity between two people. It"s as if someone has just plugged me straight into the mains. I feel as if I spent the first nineteen years of my life asleep and it was only when I met Tina that I finally woke up.

And by now the light is falling into the shade and we are gliding slowly under the shade as well. Inch by inch, by inch. We have only a few seconds. Our eyes lock. The joking stops. Everything stops. Like a movie gone into slow motion. It"s just me and Tina. The two of us only exist in the whole wide world.

Out of nowhere I heard a voice pop into my head saying …. "You will have everlasting and eternal love. You will be together forever and nothing will ever break you apart…" It feels like ... like ...

I look at Tina. She is leaning towards me .....The sky is blazing ... pulling me closer, telling she loves me….”

Magic. That"s what it feels like.

It feels like magic.

"And?"

I looked back to see a girl, about twenty, standing behind the table, as she waits anxiously. I would have never imagined, sharing that day's feelings with unknown persons, and some of them listening with that much involvement.

"And we kissed," I reply simply. I knew, it might be unbelievable for some to hear, girl taking the first step, but it was.

"So what happened then?" asks Rohan excitedly. He looks joyous. As does the rest of the audience, I realize, seeing around.

I pause, collecting my thoughts.

"Well, it was the end of the session, so she went back to Chandigarh and I went back to my place in Raniket," I say like it was a fact. "There were lots of messages, the phone calls whenever we could – She didn't use the internet that much at home." I smile ruefully. "We dated long-distance for almost a year ..." I pause. I can see everyone waiting eagerly for the punchline.

"And then?" The guy with the softy asked.

I suddenly feel a huge weight of responsibility for everyone"s hopes. I don"t want to disappoint any of them. And yet ...

I feel a pause of words in my throat. Even now, after all these years, I can"t think about it without that crushing feeling…. the feeling of not being able to draw breath.

I can remember it as if it was yesterday. I had just graduated and was lying on a friend"s sofa. It was summer. I remember seeing a forget-me-not greeting card in the Archies Gallery as I walked home, wondering if they had something like that forget-me-not card in their Chandigarh shop too, thinking as I bent down to pick one that had a cupid on it and thought to send that to Tina.

Standing within the shop, I got a call. It was Tina, my Chandigarh girlfriend calling. I rushed outside the shop, trying to get a space to talk to her, breathless with excitement about speaking to her, after a long week, since she was busy in some family function, I was delighted.

But the moment I heard it, I knew. In that split second I just knew.

Looking back to the desk, I take a deep breath to steady my trembling voice and say as well as I can, "We broke up. She married someone else."

The audience gasps. Rohan throws his hand over his mouth. Another guy looks gutted.

"Wat d Hell?" curses the elder man in disbelief.

My brother, who until now has been silent, nods, partly in sympathy, partly because he"s heard this story thousand of times.

Feeling all eyes upon me, I focus on my drink, which was not at all cold now, swallowing the bubbles, trying to block out my emotions ... She saying she was sorry, that this long-distance thing wasn"t working and she"d met someone else, that she never wanted to hurt me but it had all happened so fast ... Me dropping the cell phone, feeling as if my heart had split clean in half…….

OK, stop right there. I pull myself up sharply. I"m getting...

"See, that"s what happens when you believe in silly stories about everlasting love," I say, quickly pulling myself together. And putting down my glass, I force a bright smile. "Right, who"s for more drinks or a burger?"

The weekend comes and goes in a rush of moving and unpacking. It took a long time to move everything from my brother"s apartment to Rohan"s. Thankfully Rohan was on hand to help me unpack it all at the other end. His approach was slightly different to that of a brother. Some of them were like "Ooh, what"s this?" (a calculator on one side and pen on the other, gifted by my uncle), "Wow, can I try this on?" (My new t-shirt which I had bought just a week back) and "Oh my God, is this really you?" (my old photo, where I had those long curly hair).

Rohan, I quickly discover, is the one who never stops talking, just like a girl. Not for one moment over the weekend does he appear to have a long breath. Beside that, the TV show with Rakhi Sawant solving some problems between couples in an hour discussion, was too much!! Although Rohan promises me tonight"s episode about a man who married an elder woman is going to be "a good one".

Work is at an agency, C&N Solutions providing computer solutions, situated in a posh area of Gurgaon, and with my new address I can now walk there, which means an extra fifteen minutes in bed. Well, that was the idea at beginning.

Only in practice my terrible timekeeping is made worse by sleeping through my alarm and those extra fifteen minutes turn into an extra thirty.

Which means I have to rush like a mad thing. I entered the office, in a rush.

"Ashish!" booms a loud voice from the back office, reflecting the appearance of Mr Roy, my boss, otherwise known as Rajesh. By the strength of his voice you"d be forgiven for expecting someone over five feet eight inch tall and hundred kilogram weight. Instead he"s a pretty fit person with the height of about 5"4”.

“It is so good to see you!!”, I replied. Dressed in a perfect black suit, he enters his cabin and I followed him. He informed me about the work and I left.

Like strong cheese, you"re either going to love Rajesh or hate him.

Luckily for me, it"s the former.

"Are you hungry? Did you have breakfast?" Without waiting for an answer, he dives into his cupboard, out of it he pulls a bakery packet having some patties into it..."

"Thanks, but I"m fine with coffee." I smile, reaching for the coffee-machine. "I"ve never actually been much of a breakfast guy."

Rajesh looks at me like I"ve just told him I"m an alien from an outer space. "You don"t eat breakfast?" His eyes are wide open.

"Well, no, not usually."

Rajesh is shaking his head violently. "But this is terrible!" he cries, "Terrible!"

I swear you"d think he"d just found out his entire family had gotten injured somewhere, not that his employee skipped breakfast.

"No, honestly, it"s fine. I"m not that hungry," I tried explaining, but Rajesh is not taking it.

"You must eat. You must eat to survive," he insists dramatically.

There"s no point trying to point the same thing to Rajesh, I realize, looking at my boss"s expression. I surrender and take half of a patty.

Immediately his expression changes "It"s good, no?" he chuckles.

"Hmm, yes, delicious." I nod in agreement.

"I have cream cheese sandwich."

"No, thanks," I mutter through a mouthful of patties.

"You want it toasted?"

"Hmmm..." I shake my head.

"I have sauce. You like it with sauce? Or Pickles?"

I had no idea there were so many different ways one could eat a cheese sandwich, Though I really doubt how would it be having a cheese sandwich with a pickle…. Ell...

He continues "It is important to keep up your strength as we have a very, very busy day today. We have some new orders by our neighbor company.

I"m sure working on this project will be amazing. Rajesh"s judgement when it comes to women might be questionable, but when it comes to judging clients, he has great instincts.

He"s been running this place for over eight years.

"And I have decided ..."

I focus back on Rajesh as he pauses for a silent drum roll.

"Yes?" I brace myself. I"m fast learning to expect the unexpected.

"It is time for us to do a celebration. We have to show off our talent." He throws out his arms.

"Wow, great sir," I said smiling. "That"s an excellent idea."

I feel a bit of relief. My boss" attitude to security might be commendable, but we"re not Infosys or Tatas. In the six weeks I"ve been working here, orders have been slow and I"ve started to worry a bit about my job.

I only got it because my last boss knows Rajesh from his college days, back in the nineties. When he discovered Rajesh needed an extra pair of hands, he suggested me. He knew I wouldn"t turn down the chance to work with Mr. Roy.

"Back in Bangalore we had a meeting with a client from one of the top MNCs, and it was very successful," He explained.

"So, we are going to have a party soon, it is all because of the hard work of our employees" he means it.

Rajesh impulsively wants everything to happen right now and the date for the party is set for this Friday.

"This Friday?" I speak in panic.

"You want Thursday instead?" was his reply.

And the scary thing was, I don"t think he was joking.

So while he clatters around the office, firing off instructions, I start doing my work.

After some work, it was time for organizing the party. First things first, I draw up a list:

1. Compile guest list.

2. Send out invitations.

3. Write promotional material.

4. Arrange for caterer to manage food and all.

See. I might not have been born with the organizational quality, but I"m not completely useless at it.

Feeling rather pleased with the list and with myself, as I have done some hard work, I look back at the computer screen and my neatly typed list. Actually, hang on a minute, I have to do all these things? By the end of this week? Shit

But not right now. As it"s lunchtime, I realize, seeing Rajesh's head popping out of the back office to remind me it"s time to eat. Again. I swear I could set my watch by him. Bang on one o"clock he sends me out to KFC, nearby for his usual order of the Grilled Chicken dish.

The KFC nearby has been around for a few years. Placing the order, I turn to Rohan, who"s just popped out between appointments to meet me with a set of keys he"s had cut for the apartment. He works at Taj Enterprise, not far from here.

He is having trouble deciding what to order. "Look, I said a lot of things the other night," I say dismissively. "Like she married another guy, remember?"

He looks at me for a moment as my last sentence was nowhere near to her expectations. Neglecting my words, he carried on "I think, I will have a veggie one".

We move towards the counter, I hand my receipt to the teller. Rohan placed his order.

"That"ll be Rs. 60 " she says.

"Haven"t we met before?"

In the middle of picking my packet, I look up to see Rohan throwing a toothpaste-ad smile at the girl behind the counter. She can"t be older than about twenty. Good in height, with dark hair and a fair color.

"We have?" she asks uncertainly. She looks slightly afraid.

"It"s Shweta, right?"

"Um ... no sir, it"s Anita. You must have me mixed up with some one else."

"Oh. sorry, my mistake." He smiles apologetically and turns back to me. The smile immediately falls from his face. "Damn, she was kinda hot."

"So you haven"t given up yet?"

"Of course not!" He looks astonished that I could even ask such a question. "If she"s my destiny, I"m not going to stop looking until I find her. Because if I"m looking for my soulmate, my soulmate is out there somewhere looking for me." His black eyes flash with determination. "I know you probably think I"m crazy .. ."

"No, I don"t," I protest a little too quickly.

" ... but sometimes you have to take a leap of faith. Trust in the universe. Believe in the power of positive thinking and the laws of attraction. Seriously. I made a vision board and everything."

"What"s that?"

Rohan turns on me incredulously. "You don"t know what a vision board is?"

"Nope ..."

I feel like the time I was six and in the school playground and someone asked me if I knew how to repair televisions.

" . . not exactly," I try bluffing. "Should I?"

"Oh my God!! A vision board is a visualization tool that activates the universal law of attraction to begin manifesting your dreams into reality. Basically, it"s really simple. You get a piece of foam board and you cut out pictures or words from magazines or wherever and you make a collage of all the things you want in your life," he enthuses. "It"s actually kind of fun. You should try it."

"Oh, thanks." I got casual. "Sorry, but I just don"t believe in that stuff," I say, turning back to Rohan.

"That"s your problem right there." He shrugs. "You don"t believe."

He continued, "Sometimes you have to trust in the mysterious power of the universe, in a greater energy, in a spiritual force, in something bigger than you and me. And I believe that in this big wide world, in all these billions of people, if two people are meant to be together, they"ll be together ..."

Was not he sounding too positive, may be.

As he"s talking, something deep inside, a part of me that used to believe it too, that used to think that Tina and I were meant to be together, that in this big wide world I"d found my mate.

"According to the laws of attraction, you attract what you think of the most. In this case, it"s just a matter of waiting for Shweta to show up."

****END OF SAMPLE****

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