American Visa

After a month of tension, confusion and apprehension I finally got my visa. Yes, it’s all done and my days in Bangalore are coming to an end. I had heard that getting a visa was enough to make you crazy but I didn’t know you had to bear the brunt of heat, hunger and humidity before we would be allowed into the sanctum sanctorum of the Consulate. After standing for 3 hours in the sweltering Chennai heat I along with a few hundred people stepped into the inner chamber of the consulate where the actual visa interview would take place. After another hour of waiting I managed to reach the counter where my future would be decided. And like all other plans I have ever made this too came with a backup. If it didn’t work I would have gone to Kolkata and looked for a job there. However it didn’t come to that. After a smile, a nod and just 2 questions I got my visa. It was as simple as that. I didn’t even need to take out papers from my file pertaining to the finances which I had got from my Dad. I guess I was too strung up without a reason. But then would I have said the same if I didn’t get the visa. I guess not.

Date with an Eye Candy….!!!!

Ok…to begin with it was NOT really a date…but I choose to call it that. It might at least increase the readership of this post ;) . And just to ensure a little bit of privacy for my “eye-candy” I will refrain from using his real name. I will just call him Jay. Why Jay? I don’t know, that’s the first name which struck me when I wanted a pseudo name for him. Well Jay was in Bangalore for the Aerosmith’s concert and we decided to catch up for lunch. I was pretty excited to meet him, after all I believe he looks like Adonis (inspite of the fact that my friend thinks he looks like the “guy-next-door”) and seeing Adonis in person sounds like an interesting prospect.
Well that excitement was pretty short lived. For one Jay decided to bring along his friend for the lunch. I am not very comfortable with new people and am no expert in making polite conversation over lunch. However putting this across to him was not possible as I could imagine what his reaction would be if I told him I wanted to meet him “alone”. It would give out all the wrong signals. So very reluctantly I went ahead to meet him, all the time convincing myself that it wouldn’t be as bad as I had imagined it to be. I was right, it wasn’t as bad as my imagination, it was far worse. To begin with I behaved like a dork, looked like a slob and made the worst possible first impression. It was a wonder that he put with me. The cat got my tongue and I barely opened my mouth during the entire lunch. The only time I did, I told him I visited “India Gate” in Mumbai….. (yeah……India Gate in Mumbai and not Gateway of India…so much for my high IQ). I guess that was the last straw, a dumb (literally and figuratively) nerd is not anyone’s idea of good company. Next, I ate Chinese (or Indian Chinese as I call it) for lunch. I know most people love Chinese .. but I don’t. That too the Indian version of Chinese with too many spices is just not on my list of favourites. And lastly to top it all Jay’s friend’s client (or so I gathered from their conversation… since I was not introduced to him I have no idea who he was) paid for the food. It was the second most embarrassing moment in my life (the first being in school when a neighbour who owned a taxi offered to drop me to school…I and my friends hopped in thinking we were getting a free ride to school and all this while he was just doing business….when we reached school and he asked for money..we wished we were dead…between the 3 of us we didn’t have enough cash to pay him off…so he just drove off..probably cursing us..). I was thanking a complete stranger for my lunch, somebody who I had not even said a single word to during the course of the meal. How I wished I could just vaporize at that moment. But alas !! nothing like that happened and I barely managed to give this kind soul a feeble smile and walk out of that restaurant. The next thing I did was thank Jay for the lunch and walk back to office in a daze. We didn't speak after that and I have my doubts if he will ever want to talk to me again.
Three days later, sitting in front of my PC, listening to music and writing this blog I realize this is where I fit best. Nerds don’t fit in a social gatherings with too many people. Living life as a recluse suits me best and yes, I love this life. As for my next lunch it sure won’t be Chinese nor will I be sharing my lunch table with anybody else. Not for a long ..long time.