Cheers!!

There is a dream, an aspiration that albeit doesn’t belong to me but is very precious to me, probably because it belongs to someone I adore. He is striving really hard to make it alive but some insignificant pebbles mar his way. I want to hold his hands and tell him not to be deterred but he doesn’t allow me. Instead, he figures an alternate to let his feelings out. I am concerned about his dream but I can’t talk to him about this for the fear of stepping on his turf.

It hurts to know that he kept his dream to himself for the fear of mockery. I overheard him once "every good idea goes through four stages viz. ridicule, denial, counter and then finally acceptance." Expression is not a sign of weakness, it takes courage. I hope he remembers that he is the man who changed my life, who made me fearless and who continues to be my strength. 

Finally, the hours of solitude come to an end, the hard work pays off and the dream becomes reality. I wish I could see the wide smile on his face and the twinkle in his eyes. I couldn’t be happier. I don’t know whether my wishes will be accepted but at least the universe knows that my feelings for him have always been pure.

I wish he would know that I am not just a reader and he is not just a wordsmith to me, what he writes is not mere words, I have seen ‘the’ man behind those words - he is a living being, a man with emotions and feelings, someone who has dreams and ambitions, who has his vices and virtues, who loves to laugh and talk, who has a heart - he is the love of my life. He doesnt need to explain anything to me - my wishes are always with him.

You become successful when your signature becomes an autograph.

“You have a fan.” She says.

“Oh! I have many… tell me something new.”

“O!! Really!!!”

“In fact, I am thinking, I should change the “Add as Friend” button to “Like” on facebook. What say?”

“Shut up! Can you be serious ever? He has come to see you.”

“You kidding me!!”

I get up from my seat and offer a handshake in courtesy.

“He is our Sr. Manager.” She says introducing him to me.

“I was just joking around you know. How do you do?” I ask trying to cover up.

“I saw you in the commercial yesterday. You looked fabulous.”

“Really… You think so!! Thank you!!” Still recovering.

“So, are you in the media as well?”

“Kind of... actually not. That was one-off commercial which I did for fun. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even know they will select me.”

“Uh huh!! So what’s the story behind it?”

“Their team was scouring through the campus for a flamboyant vibrant face and then they stumbled upon our group. They explained the concept to us and asked if we would like to give it a shot. It felt like fun and a moment later, me and my friend found ourselves interested. The editor gave me her contacts and I never called her.

A month later, when my friend, the one who shot with me, went to watch a movie with her husband, saw me in the commercial at the beginning of the movie and she screamed with excitement. That was the first time when I heard about it.

Then I called the editor to get a copy just for the sake of record but she denied saying that she was the third party for the project and she herself doesn’t hold the rights.

Thereafter, many people saw the commercial and I loved to hear that they loved it too.”

“You did a good job! May I have your autograph?” He said teasingly.

Happy Birthday!

We worked together for six months but never really talked. 

After two years...

I am about to leave for the day when the screen of my desk phone starts flashing an int'l number. It cant be from any of the clients, they don’t call without a prior intimation. Who can this be? I take the call anyway.

"Happy Birthday!"

The voice on the other side freezes me. I don’t know how to react.

Too many thoughts cloud my mind. Is it really him or Am I hallucinating? Does he remember me? He sounds manly. How does he know its my birthday today?
"You're supposed to say thanks when someone wishes you birthday..."
"Please excuse my social ineptness. Wasn’t expecting your call. How do you know it’s my birthday today?"
"It’s all over the portal."
"Oh! Where you calling from?"
"US"
"I could figure that out; at work?"
"Not yet; I am at home."
"Uh huh!"
"Alright then. You carry on. Have a nice day!"
"You too."

After the call, it struck me that I never thanked him for remembering my birthday. So I dropped him an email. He replied saying that he will call me the next day when I wake up. I was wondering if he had my personal number.

Apparently, I never received the expected call the next morning. Turned out that he kept calling me on the number mentioned in the company records. He dropped an email with his contacts to cause no further confusion.

We finally connected.

"I am sorry for my reaction or lack of it yesterday. You caught me off-guard."
"I am sorry about that. I just wanted to surprise you. I hope you liked that."
"Nice try but I hate to break this to you.... it was not my birthday."
"Ouch!!"
"It's only on papers. My real birthday is on facebook."
"Wow! Now that was a surprise.”
"Whuups!!"