ANDHERI (west) to COLABA

Calling it a rejection would be as brutal as tagging any reason as weird is.

It happened when I was young and she was awesome. She was standing in front of the ticket counter at Andheri (West) station in Mumbai. She was in a western outfit and was looking stunning. I was there with my four other peers and we non-Mumbaikars just couldn't take our eyes from her. It was at this moment that she caught me checking her and somehow I managed to give her a confident smile instead of taking my eyes off her. She gave a wry smile which was misconstrued as a positive response by me and my silly friends.

The moment repeated itself again and again quite a few times till she gave a broad smile and moved back her silky hair with her soft little hand. The watch was shining and the time was running. The train we were to catch to go to Church Gate station also came and left us bothering whether to be or not to be.

My colleagues were totally convinced that she liked this so called tall-dark-handsome guy and dared me to go and talk to her and offer her a cup of Barista coffee. My cheeky response provoked them to tease me by calling me a coward but when they saw that the trick hasn’t worked they adopted the strategy of luring me with a grand beer party at Colaba’s most famous Leopald Cafe and Bar which the animal in just couldn’t ignore.

Just as I started making a move towards her she saw me with a stern look and turned her back towards me. Being a Martian, I kept on moving towards the goddess of Venus without any second thought in my mind. The only way to overcome fear is to face it and a little bit of ingenuity can go a long way. Something told me that the door is about to open and it did as she abruptly turned around to find me standing close to her. My hand was about to tap her shoulder to get her divine attention but then how can you touch a beauty without her permission.

“What?”, she said in quirky tone which was just a sign of anxiety for the na?ve me.

“Nothing special, I just wanted to say that I am the 9786th guy to tell you what you already know.”

“And what specific thing is that?”, she asked in a merciful way.

“You’re stunningly beautiful and I am unable to take my eyes from you.”

She giggled adoringly with a funny shine in her eyes which prompted me to ask her for a hot cup of coffee at Barista Café.

She rejected my offer by informing me that she didn't like coffee. I was about to offer her a beer with a bear hug at Leopold when the better sense of valor stopped me from attacking a tigress.