"How was your day? I just came in."
"Day was ok. Nothing special. Just the routine."
“Would you like to drink some juice?”
"Sure."
I took out guava pineapple cocktail in a tall tumbler for her and orange juice for me.
"It’s a beautiful night."
"Yes. Yes it is."
"Its a nice view from here isn’t it?"
"Yes. Let’s have this drink in the balcony."
That was my most brilliant idea for the day. Full moon, cool drink, independence and absolutely no hassles. At least for that moment.
"Mom called me today. She has found a match for me. A guy from somewhere around
I turned off the lights as she moved towards balcony. It was a clear cloudless sky. The only source of light was moon and twinkle of the stars. For a few moments we were enjoying the stillness. Silence was very comfortable.
"So how is the guy?" She had to bring that up!
"He thinks poetry is nothing but the film songs."
She laughed for a good 4 minutes. I glared at her.
"I am so sorry. For a person who practically worships Longfellow. This is too cruel. Even for you." She burst out into a fresh burst of giggles. Again.
"I was speechless when he said that. Well, we meet all kinds of people. I am yet to get over the shock though."
"Ok fine." She was trying very hard to control her laughter.
I got a sadistic pleasure by telling her that her face looked very comical when she tried to control her laughter. She stuck her tongue out and got up to get more juice for us.
I closed my eyes as serenity of the night enveloped me. A friend of mine had asked me about the things that I liked in a guy. I still remember that I had taken quite sometime to answer him. Understanding, caring, loving, responsible, commited blah blah blah. I had tried not to laugh out loud when most of my friends told me this. What about liking animation, sense of humor or the lack of it? As one friend of mine rightly put it, what about fidelity? Or the comfort level in physical intimacy? Aren’t these important too?
"So what are the things that you like in a guy?" She asked me as she handed me the drink.
I hadn’t heard her coming.
"Someone who likes moonlight, poetry and has a sense of adventure."
"Err..."
"I know I know. I really can’t ask a guy if he likes moonlight. Can I?"
"If you are ready to be seen as a weirdo, sure you can."
"Humph."
"Seriously, you really think there are many people here who look at the sky and appreciate the beauty of the night? I mean how many would stop their cars to enjoy the breeze? How many would roll the windows down and slow down the car so that they can make the drive longer and lovelier? No. I am not blaming them. Its just people have replaced a night spent beneath the stars to a night out at the movies and a day sitting at home watching cartoons, cooking a meal to a day out in a mall. They are still same people that they used to be. Just their preferences have changed. And here you are talking about reading poetry in the moonlight on a hilltop to where you have trekked. You are fighting a losing battle. Stick your likes to Understanding, caring, sensitive blah blah blah...and everything will be fine."
”We make our own destiny." My tone had an odd sense of finality in it.
"That’s why you do horoscope matching?" She was mocking me.
"It’s for my own satisfaction. I do it to improve myself in that art." I couldn’t help but grin at her.
"Aren’t you being a hypocrite? Doing something that you don’t believe in? Just be yourself."
I sighed. "At times I feel being myself is not enough."
"Being myself is not enough too, yet I manage to survive." Her voice was distant.
I tried reading her expression but it was too dark to see her face.