The Day That Was Not To Be

THE EVENING PARTY

At the party, Shrikar is busy flirting with each and every girl. Anjana, who is already a bit drawn towards Shrikar (thanks to his sense of humour), observes this. With a view to eavesdropping, she tiptoes towards them. But she hears him asking them only customary questions (like ‘Where are you from?’, ‘Who your parents are?’etc.,) and some team building queries.

Just as Anjana nears Shrikar, he turns spontaneously.

Shrikar: Hey Miss Paranoid, forgive my highhandedness, but would you be interested in joining our conversation and some team building stuff?

Anjana (with a ‘but-of-course’ gesture): Yeah, that"s precisely why I am here. I am into the game.

Shrikar (grabbing the opportunity): Ok, so you are from?

Anjana (striking back): I am from Devanara. Can you guess where it is?

Panchali (intruding): You can"t cross question, dear. I am Panchali, your colleague and team mate. This is Justin, that"s Asha, Anamika, Jay, Shruti and that"s Inder.

Anjana (with a smile): Hey... hey... hey... Okay... Okay... Hi, all... Nice to meet you... I am Anjana... and, (addressing Panchali) Devanara comes in Chhattisgarh. (Then to Shrikar) And you belong to...?

Shrikar (gesturing): Well I am a Mumbaikar (one who is a local in Mumbai) but my roots are from Agra.

Anjana (gesturing): You mean to say that your parental native-place is Agra but you were born and brought up here in Mumbai.

Shrikar (a bit amused): Yeah, isn’t it one and the same thing, dear? It seems you give too much attention to everything.

Anjana: Ha...ha...ha... Seems so. I have always been like this. (Gesturing to others)And what about you all?

The others introduce themselves in sequence while Shrikar downs his glass of Scotch closely observing Anjana.

Shrikar (tongue in cheek): Anjana, you are in a party but you are not enjoying it.

Anjana: Why? What happened? I think I am enjoying it.

Shrikar (jokingly): Then where"s your drink? Should I fix one for you?

Anjana: Oh, that. No... No... It"s ok. I don"t drink.

Shrikar (raising his eyebrow): Oh... Good for you. But it"s ok to drink once in a while.

Anjana: Will try some other time. But for today, it’s a big ‘NO’. Sorry guys...

Shrikar reciprocates with a thumbs up and moves on with the party. Shortly, he merges with the higher management while Anjana gels in to the girls’ gang.