I was in the VIIth standard and she was a year younger, from a different school. She was cute. We used to meet in our maths tuitions. One day, she was sitting opposite me at the small 3 feet broad table. Our teacher, as usual, had given us some problems and had taken a paan-break. I was busy solving the problems with my head bent low when she softly rapped on the desk near my book. I looked up to find her and her friend gently smiling at me. I smiled back. Then she slowly extended her hand and passed me a small piece of irregularly torn paper, whose shape resembled some African country, two sides straight and two sides not so straight... I took the piece of paper and furtively opened it under my desk, head bent low like I was going to be privy to some secret brotherhood or something.
It read, “Will you be my best friend?”
As if I had just eaten a bhoot jolokia, my face turned red... and hot! I coughed lest I thought they’d hear my strong and fast beating heart... Thing is, I hadn’t attained puberty back then and was quite more of the studious kind, unaware of the love world. I kept staring at the paper trying to gather some courage to look up, but it seemed my neck was paralysed and it refused to help lift my head. I took longer than the “Lux super-hit film... is bhaag ke prayojak hai” kinda movie breaks in DD1 and when I finally looked up, they were expectantly still smiling at me. I gestured an ‘okay’ with my head by swaying it to one side and returned them with the biggest smile I could muster, and carried on with solving the sums as if world peace depended on it...
About a month later I 'grew-up'!!!
It read, “Will you be my best friend?”
As if I had just eaten a bhoot jolokia, my face turned red... and hot! I coughed lest I thought they’d hear my strong and fast beating heart... Thing is, I hadn’t attained puberty back then and was quite more of the studious kind, unaware of the love world. I kept staring at the paper trying to gather some courage to look up, but it seemed my neck was paralysed and it refused to help lift my head. I took longer than the “Lux super-hit film... is bhaag ke prayojak hai” kinda movie breaks in DD1 and when I finally looked up, they were expectantly still smiling at me. I gestured an ‘okay’ with my head by swaying it to one side and returned them with the biggest smile I could muster, and carried on with solving the sums as if world peace depended on it...
About a month later I 'grew-up'!!!
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