India Coffee House[ICH] on MG Road , Bangalore was quite a
landmark back in 1989…a few shops ahead of GangaRam’s the most popular Book store then ..It
was perhaps the only place you could catch a good coffee and snack in that area
while you are in that area . This was the time when there were no Barton
centers ,Malls , Metro Rails or Fast food joints for that matter
.Bangalore was still very much garden city and much less concrete and one could
saunter across MG Road and cross it quite easily .
It was the 28th of
August 1989 and I was sitting across the table sharing a quick coffee and
a plate of cutlets served with ketchup with a friend and colleague .He had
called me up the previous day and told me he had something important and urgent
to share so could we meet up ?? It was a Monday and I was trying to complete a
project for my one year course with NCC,UK
through Apple computers who were down the road ..Initially I was hesitant as I
had loads of work to do but he was persistent so I told him I could perhaps
take a very short break that afternoon and meet at him at ICH .
We knew each other for over a year and had done some audits
together as we worked for the same firm . There were a few other girls in
the office but he was the only guy among the CA interns and the gang [about 5
of us] was pretty close .From the tone of his voice I sensed he was very
nervous about whatever he was going to share. I invited my project partner to
come with me for the coffee but she refused saying that she did not know this
person.
Around 3:30 pm I walked up to ICH and was there in a couple
of minutes . He was there waiting for me and told me the downstairs was full
…so we went upstairs and ordered our coffees. He still looked very nervous and
I had no inkling why ..so I tried talking to him ..trying to gently probe as to
what was bothering him ..But that seemed to make him more nervous so we moved
onto some other general topics …friends , family , exams , work ,life
and philosophy …these were the usual topics we talked about …
Suddenly out of the blue …it started happening ….he blurted out that
he had started really liking one person a lot …and asked me to guess who
it was…At this moment for no reason my heart started pounding and I could see
his palms were shaking too …but I still managed to reel out the names of few of
our girlfriends as I was convinced it was one of them . He looked me straight
in the eye, his hands stopped shaking and he said …”It is you “ .
I have total memory loss as to what I said/felt or did for
a couple of minutes after that .You see I have always been an utter
romantic fool and ever since I was little and read fairy tales ..I had waited
for my prince charming to come and sweep me off my feet . I could not believe
it was happening to me in reality.
Somewhere in my teens I was shut off all romantic thoughts ..I rejected all romantic overtures and marriage was
very far away on my cards .This was due a couple of horrible encounters with
older members of the opposite sex at that age . My
focus was to become an independent career woman … technology fascinated
me so I wanted to work on the IT industry and was working real hard ..perhaps for
the first time in my life!! My interactions with my colleagues were
always very professional .I did have very close friends who were males
but that was it ..I shooed away any romantic thoughts that dared enter my brain
as nonsense.
All at once I felt all those walls break loose and I was falling
into this magical wonderland and I could not do a thing about it
. I heard him ask me what I feel about him and I remember mumbling back
something about not ever thinking about him in that angle so needing some time and finally realizing that it was time to get back to my project and
walking back with him till the Computer center .
On the way he said he was planning to share his feelings for me
with his parents and he was very sure I was the one . My heart at that very moment
was saying “YES” but I controlled that urge and told him that I could not find an immediate
reason to say no to him as I liked him
as a person and a friend ...but I would think about it and talk to my parents first and get back
to him as I usually shared everything with them this was something important .
I had taken the bus to the computer center that day …usually I
would go around in my Luna [ a two wheeler that was popular and cheap those
days and helped my Dad give me the title of a “Lunatic” !! ].I thank God for
that as my mind was too preoccupied to ride the Luna . As I walked back home on
15th main Malleswaram from my bus stop on Sampige road to my
home about 15 minutes down the road ..it really sank in that I was actually
falling in love with my dear friend …there was no logic to it…he had just said
he liked me and that was enough to open my heart to him .There were many parts
of him that I did not understand and some viewpoints that I never seemed to
agree with him but all that faded into the background!!
We are now married for almost 24 years , we have struggled
together with life and even with each other .... we have had the most wonderful times together too . We have a lovely family which includes our two amazing
children . 26 years later to the date , having spent half a lifetime together..
my heart still skips a beat when I look at him or think about him …sometimes even
after a we have had an horrible argument and I determine to not give in to my
feelings !! …there is no logic to this and I guess that is why love is blind .Mamma
Mia …here I go again ….
ICH no longer exists on MG road [It has moved to Church street ]
..but it lives in my heart ....it is the most magical place for me on earth
where my beautiful journey with the love of my life began.
Photographs courtesy the internet !!
