Meeting Offline

Couple of days back on Twitter a friend DMed me “I am in Pune. Would you like to meet on Tuesday, around 5?” The person who had sent me the DM is someone who regularly gives me feedback on my blogs which can be summed up as ‘You write ok but drink too much.”

I felt this is an opportunity to tell her i am not an alcoholic so i DMed back, “Sure. Barista. Aurora Towers. Ok?” She replied ok and i went back to watching a movie on my laptop.

Half an hour later i realized i have no idea how she looks and the only way she will be able to find me in Barista will be by approaching the fattest guy sitting in the café and asking, “Are you Abhishek?” So i DMed her my cell number and told her to call me when she reaches Barista. She replied with her cell number and an ok.

I reached in front of Barista and called her. She told me she is on the way. I thought for a while about entering in Barista and decided it is cheaper to walk on MG Road than having a good overpriced coffee.

Few minutes later i got a call from her saying she is standing in front of Barista and i told her to wait there. I reached Barista, we both greeted each other and then she pointing towards the door of Barista said, “Shall we go in?” and i replied, “Actually the coffee in there costs too much.”

Yes. I said to a girl whom i had met for the first time that let’s not have a coffee in Barista because it costs too much. This is one of those moments which my friends will always use to point out why you are single. It is also one of the moments where my Marwadi dad would be extremely proud of himself. This moment is the proof that he has successfully passed on all the essential Marwadi traits to his only son.

I am quite sure when my twitter friend heard no Barista because it costs too much she would have gone ‘What the hell’ in her mind but instead of that she replied , ”Then where do we sit?” I wanted to say, “You know it’s Pune. There must be same place nearby where we can have a cup of tea and vadapav.” I didn’t. Instead i said, “Let’s walk. It is MG Road. It has some very famous eateries.”

We found an old restaurant where we ordered something that might have cost 0.75 times of coffee in Barista and started talking. She told me about her work and i told her i feel looking at the tables that we are sitting in a very old restaurant.

Finally, it was time to part and i said to her i have seen an autorickshaw stand nearby. As we walked towards the auto stand she told to me, “You know there is one thing that i really wanted to ask you. I have seen a lot of your tweets on marriage or rather i must say anti-marriage tweets.” I told her i am a Marwadi Maheshwari and it is customary in our caste to get married within one year after post-graduation. She started giggling, then laughing and then laughing out loud. She stopped for a second and said, “As a Marwadi Maheshwari with such a personality it will be impossible for you to find a lifemate” and started laughing again. I wanted to say, “Thanks. I am doing my best to keep things that way” but i didn’t. I never got a chance to say it. She just wouldn’t stop laughing.

Luckily she saw an auto, waved her hand and the auto stopped. We both said goodbye and she left. I started walking towards Aurora towers and stopped in front of Barista. It has been a long time since i had a good cappuccino. Before i entered into Barista i remembered i had seen one of my favorite delicacies at the old restaurant in which we were sitting. I rushed back their, reached the counter and said, “One chocolate softy please.”