She was like the “the new girl in the city” but she had
started falling in love with it. Though a metropolitan but Kolkata had its own
culture. On one side, the bustling traffic with trams on the road and
hand-rickshaw pullers from the Victorian times gave a rustic feel to the city,
on the other side the developing New Town areas with its malls and high rise
buildings gave competition to cities like Gurgaon and Noida.
She was amazed to
see that the old ambassador car, which can rarely be spotted anywhere in India,
form an eminent part of Kolkata in the form of ‘yellow-cabs’. She found herself
beaming with excitement when she first came out on Howrah station and spotted
the famous Howrah bridge right in front of her. If Mumbai and Delhi boast of
their sea, Kolkata stand humble there with its sacred “Ganga”. Even the
peculiar road-side lamps reminded her of British times. On her way to hotel she
couldn’t believe her eyes when she spotted the ‘the white Victoria Memorial’ in
all its beauty and grace giving competition to Taj Mahal.
It was Monday morning. She was supposed to stay in the city
for five weeks and already her mind had started making plans for the weekend.
She checked in smoothly at her hotel and the next few days were uneventful. On
Saturday the housekeeping staff came with an apology letter saying they had
lost one of her favorite kurta , which her mind calculated she had bought from
Ritu Kumar’s , the famous designer. She got visibly upset but never felt like
scolding the poor man standing in front, who was plainly acting as a messenger.
Events took unexpected turn when she got a call in the
evening saying “Hello is it Tanu mam? Hi mam!! I am Abhilash, the laundry
owner. I am so sorry for the loss of your Kurta and I want to make it up to you.
Can we meet tomorrow?” This was perplexing yet exciting. She wondered whether
the hotel-people were really that genuine or was there something behind it? The
person seemed very descent in conversation and she agreed to explore the
meeting.
Next evening, she got a call from Abhilash that he had
reached the hotel. When she came down she was actually swept off her feet with
a red Porsche car, with a descent friendly-looking young man behind the
steering. This was no where in her imagination not even close. He opened the
gate for her and for the first time in her life she sat in an ultra-luxurious
car.
She asked “Do you do this for all your customers?” , and he
laughed heartily. She liked the sound of his laughter which reflected
innocence. He actually went to few brands with her and patiently waited for her
selection. Finally they went to ‘Fab India’ and she selected a beautiful kurta
for herself. He insisted on complementing it with a beautiful dupatta which she
couldn’t deny. Later they went to a restaurant for a fine dinner. Here she came
to know that he actually owns a management degree from Europe and has two
factories with almost two hundred employees. He was first generation
entrepreneur in his family. He also disclosed that he has a beautiful
girlfriend and they would be getting married in six months. She was moved by
his genuineness. They talked for quite some time on almost all the topics in
the world, ranging from career to family to relationships. She was actually
happy that she decided to take the call to meet this wonderful person.
It has been almost four years. Abhilash had married his
girl-friend and still lives in Kolkata. And she wonders till today “how come a
single meeting can give birth to such a wonderful friendship as this?”
this is the best story of all
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