(Picture: Taken in the college during my 12th class by my best friend during those days, Vidya Nikhil. Looks incredibly silly now but the fact that this was taken exactly around the time the incident I am about to narrate happened made me want to put this up)I went to the Salar Jung Museum with the lil one the other day and as I passed the conference hall, I remembered an incident that happened when I was at that place the last time, 14 years ago in my 12th class. The last time I visited the museum was to participate in an elocution competition in the same conference hall. Don't remember the topic anymore but I remember meeting a guy who won the first prize (I won a 'consolation' prize. Gosh how I hate that word!). I also remember the opening sentence of my speech "Young minds are like photon particles..."
After everyone spoke, this nerdy guy (I still clearly remember his face but can't remember what his name was) came up to me and mentioned he really liked my intro to the speech. I used to have a thing for nerdy guys back then by the way. After the results were announced, and when everyone was heading back, he offered to walk me back to the bus stop. The stop was about 5 mins away and we started talking. We chatted about our interests, songs we listen to, books we read and our love for travel...skipped two stops and walked a good 3 kms before we realized it. When it was time for me to go, he asked if I wanted to meet him again. I understood it as "if ever we happen to meet at some venue for some competition, will you chat with me" and I cheerfully said "sure!". "Great! It's a date then! Saturday, at 4? Near your college?" he said and I was zapped. Did not realize until then that he was actually asking me out on a date.
At that time, Ranjit and I had a fight and we broke up a year ago. I got busy with my studies and he moved to a different city to take up his first job. There were no cell phones and emails back then so we were not in touch and in fact we kind of moved on. This guy I just met suddenly made me a little uneasy. True I broke up with Ranjit, but I never thought of dating another guy. I thought to myself, "Well he seems to be a nice guy and its just a conversation. Whats the difference between him and many interesting people we keep meeting in our lives now and then? Nothing. So it's fine. I can meet him again".
We met at a bakery near my college and I remember having another awesome conversation. This time it was more serious. We spoke about photons and other sub-automic particles. Physics has always been one of my favorite subjects and I had a particular interest in Atomic Theory. When it was time for me to go, he paid the bill, walked me to the bus stop and never contacted me again after that. I think I intimidated him with my obsessive interest in Science.
Ranjit and I got back together when he returned a few months later and I never told him about meeting this guy. It was a forgotten memory until I visited the museum the other day.
Other related anecdotes are under the label My Love Story