Hello all!
Nothing much to say, except that this one made me smile as I wrote it.
Since the Hindi dialogues are very less, do let me know if you need a translation.
Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it...And do leave your comments, please!
7. Frequent flyer
Arnav Singh Raizada was a frequent flyer.
What with the AR Group spread over six continents and hundreds of cities, he was continually hopping on and off planes. Not that he cared, but with the miles that he had accumulated, he could buy the gift shops many times over. And this frequent flying first class traveller was a familiar face to most of the airline stewards.
Obviously wealthy and incredibly good-looking, he was sighed over and mooned at with such alarming frequency that if Anjali had known, she would've added many more raksha-dhaagas to his wrist. His complete oblivion to the effect he had on the admiring women only added to the allure. Afterall, it was all about the thrill of the chase, wasn't it? The sight of him striding up to the counter to collect his boarding-pass was enough to send the women into a tizzy and the men mentally cowering in recognition of the alpha-male.
Always courteous, he received special attention in all his flights, completely unaware of the fact though he was. His preferences on all things ranging from magazines to drinks were adhered to religiously, not because of the ASR name, but because the ever-optimistic women would've done much more to be at the receiving end of one of those half-smiles.
And then, one day, the hopes of many many innocent admirers got crushed ruthlessly. A wedding ring appeared on his hand. Arnav would never know that the slight shake of the tray and the sudden intake of breath by the pretty airhostess serving him wasn't because of turbulence, but was caused by that simple band of gold on his ring-finger.
The grape-vine being what it is, within hours, the band of beauties knew about it. Many a comment being snarled about the woman who'd trapped him, many a curse was dropped on fate which had mercilessly squashed their hopes.
A few flights later, it came to their notice that the polite but distant ASR had been replaced by the angry and distant version. Though the angry business tycoon look was attractive, he became a source of terror to the hapless attendants. One could never predict what would trigger an outburst. The logical conclusion reached at being that his marriage was a failure, multiple discussions were held and notes compared on 'that horrible wife of his'. The sympathetic ladies decided to be extra nice to him, just to make up for his 'obvious suffering at the hands of his wife'. The polite, distant, unapproachable ASR attained a dream-like quality in their memory when viewed in comparison to this one.
Then one day, he sort of disappeared! Neither hide nor hair was seen of him for months and the conspiracy theories doing the rounds started becoming wilder by the day. Attempts were made to see if his brother, the not-so-frequently-flying-Raizada, was flying in his place. When it was discovered that he was also not seen during the same period, the conspiracy theories took a turn towards the darker side. And finally one day, ending weeks of agony, ASR boarded a flight to Mumbai, and the news spread even to flights cruising over the Atlantic. The lucky ladies who got to attend to him, who for the first time, thanked their stars for limiting them to the national airline, noticed and conveyed the worn-down and bruised appearance he sported. It was however, noted with astonishment that he looked happy, and had smiled at his attendant, a first in anyone's memory!
ASR was reportedly seen gazing dreamily out of the window and smiling fondly at a caller-image on his phone. He was even heard murmuring 'see-you-soon' in loving tones over the phone to someone just after the 'switch-off cellphones' announcement went on. Curiosity piqued at this radical change, a pact was made within the sisterhood to keep an eye on him as he de-planed from every trip, just to see if he was meeting up with someone on his return.
After multiple attempts, where he was met only by his ever-faithful assistant or driver, who by now had become familiar faces to his admirers, they struck gold. As he walked out of a flight from Frankfurt, he was heard hissing at his driver for 'bringing her here at this hour!' The message was passed on and the customer relations girl at the baggage claim hung around long enough to try and catch a glimpse of just who this 'her' was. What she saw and reported back broke many a heart, but at the same time, strangely, made him the recepient of such affectionate behaviour for many many flights to come, even the polite-but-distant Arnav Singh Raizada noticed that he was getting excellent service!
As soon as his baggage was collected and delivered to an impatiently waiting Arnav, he strode off towards the VIP exit. Pausing at the doorway, his eyes searching frantically through the crowd, he reached for his phone. Looking down as he started hitting a speed-dial button, a soft "Arnavji..." caused him to jerk up again. The attendant tailing him would, to her dying day, remember how his eyes had lit up and his face had become wreathed in a glowing smile as he looked at a petite girl standing before him, dressed simply in a red saree, the only embellishment her mangalsutra.
Taking in the glorious smile on ASR's wife's face, the silent observer thought, "So this is the lucky lady who won him over."
Stepping forward and crushing his wife to him, Arnav murmured, "God, I missed you!"
Suddenly registering that it was half-past three in the morning, and that she had been standing here for over three hours waiting for the delayed flight, he leaned back and scowled, "What the hell, Khushi! Itni raat ko tum yahaan? Don't you have the sense to stay safe at home? Main to ghar hi aa rahaa tha nah...What was the need to come here?"
Hugging him back, she muttered something that caused him to burst out laughing and drop a quick kiss on her shoulder. To his admirers hearing the story later, that kiss on the shoulder would go on to become a legendary romantic gesture, ranked right up there with one against the forehead. Dragging her behind him, Arnav Singh Raizada strode towards the waiting car, leaving a slightly-sad, slightly-entranced admirer behind him who would for a very long time to come, wonder just what had it been that his wife had said to him to make him laugh. She for one, in her many hours spent dreaming over him, had neither seen, nor heard of him spotted with a grin, let alone a full-throated laugh.
The girl would tell her friends later, in tones of genuine admiration, how the pretty Mrs. ASR had taken his anger without flinching and turned it around to make him laugh. To those who had been on the receiving end of his curt requests and displeased scowls for years, this alone was enough to rate Mrs. ASR very high indeed.
As for Arnav, he was still grinning at his wife's comment, "Laad Governor kaheenke, kabhi naihn badlenge! Vilaayat se aate hi pyaar se ek 'hi' bhi nahin kaha aur humein daantna shuroo kiya! Aur kehte hain ki hum romantic moments bigaadte hain!"
The whole weekend was stretching before him to show her just how much he had missed her, "Pyaar se kehne ke liye toh bohot kuch tha, itne dinon ke baad jo wapas aaya tha, apni biwi ke paas. He really needed to cut down on his travel!"
Author's note:
1. The earlier OSs can be found here :
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/3351669
2. I've decided to post the Vignettes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday so that I can get some actual work done without planning out dialogues the whole day, everyday. My family would, for one, appreciate it if I stop scribbling on every available piece of paper, often leaving conversations midway!
And...it gives you guys more time to comment! 😉
3. This OS is an anticipatory bail, in defense of the heavy-weight that's going to come on Wednesday. Brace yourselves!
4. As always, looking forward to your feedback.
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