One from the memories... (5th)

The Ringtone


It was a hell of a day for me and I treated myself with a lonely treat at A1 Plaza. I liked it there. It was really quiet, no one went there and it should’ve been long closed, had it not been for the company policy to keep it running. Sitting there, I was striving to take my mind off what I heard half an hour ago. The cool breeze wasn’t helping. A passenger train passed by the railway track running aside the restaurant and took me back to my first meeting with Nysha.

I offered her my seat on the way to Bhubaneswar, though I was traveling without ticket myself. We connected instantly. Both of us loved music and me being a composer and she being a singer helped. We exchanged numbers.

That was the time I set that ring tone for her and it has stayed that way ever since. It was my favorite ring tone. I had never used it for anyone before. I was waiting for someone special. I had met that someone right then. A brown eyed girl, who winked at me from behind her glasses, each time she caught me checking her out. I was living a dream for the last four months till this day. I loved her, I never confessed it even to myself but deep within I knew I was getting addicted, as I gave up my other addiction, smoking. Love gave me a bigger high then tobacco.

We’ve met numerous times since then, mostly on dinner dates and movies, though the word date was never used. We spoke for hours on phone and had to cut our pocket money short for the outrageous prepaid costs.

He called yesterday saying he was coming to town. I loved and respected him, not just because he was my cousin but more than that he was my idol, a successful software engineer and someone who stood by me in all ups and downs in my life.

We met for lunch today. He led the chat as always.

“Bro, there’s a good news.”
“Yeah, tell me.”
“I’m getting married.”
“What? You’re kidding… ”
“No man, I’m damn serious. Well, I never believed in this arrange marriage thing but… I’m in love, with the girl mom chose. ”
“Who’s the lucky lady?”
“She’s someone you might know.”
“Who’s she?”
“Well, she’s a BCA student from town, daughter of Pankaj Joshi, the lawyer… Man, the day I first heard her voice on phone, I knew from that day, she’s the one. We’ve been talking on phone for the last three months and last week she said she was going to say yes to her dad about the proposal. She sings too, that’s why I thought you might know her… ”

I was speechless. He was talking about Nysha. I couldn’t hear any more of his words. I left saying I had a class to attend. How could she do this to me? All this time she was seeing another man. But then, she never said she loved me nor did I. We’ve never spoken about our feelings for each other. Rather, I had never taken the initiative. I should have… I blew it. I decided the best thing to do now is to forget her and never call her again.

Torn between these feelings I drank four coffees and eight cigarettes at a stretch. Then I heard that ring tone. My heart pounded, it was heavy. I checked my cell phone but no one was calling. I looked everywhere around but there was no sign of any other cell phone nearby.

But that ring tone was buzzing, buzzing hard inside my head. In a failed attempt I tried to throw the phone away but my eyes felt moist instead. I was going to cry. I couldn’t be a loser, crying like this. As I drank a cup of coffee at one go, I realized I had to speak with her. I called her and she answered.

“Hey sweetoo”
“Hi Nysha. How’s it going?”
“Great, I’ve a special news to share too. I met someone today.”
“Yeah, I think I know him.”
“Really?”
“You met Vicky right?”
“How do you know that?”
“Well, he’s my cousin.”
“Really? So you know about the marriage…”
“You never told me about him.”
“I didn’t know myself, I thought it was just a passing thing as usual but now, it’s so different, you know.”
“Yeah…”
“It’ll be great. You could compose a song for the wedding and I can sing with you, it’ll be lots of fun.”
“I don’t think I’ll be around the wedding, got some recording stuffs and my semester’s next month, so… ”
“How can you miss such an important ceremony? I was thinking of introducing you to my parents that day. ”
“Sorry yaar, I can’t come. Anyways, congratulations.”
“Thanks. Hey, why not meet for dinner tonight at 9 at the same place. I’ll introduce you to the would be bride”
“I’ve already met her.”
“When did you meet Trisha?”
“Who?”
“Trisha, my elder sis, the would be bride dumbo. When did you meet her? Did she auditioned for the spring fest? I know she’s a better singer than me but then I also have a unique style.”
“..eh”
“Are you there? Hello. I can’t hear you. ”
“…eh, yeah, I think the signal is week. I’ll call you later. bye”

Oops…! I need some time to soak this in. It was her elder sister! God, what a fool I’m.

As I started jumping in the air, I realized all the waiters were watching me. But I didn’t care. I had learnt my lesson. I went through the most painful one hour of my life, just by the thought of losing her and no, I’m not going to wait anymore. I’ll confess my love to her.

Then I heard the sweetest melody in the universe again, the ring tone. As I checked my cell phone this time, it was for real…


the ringtone...