Jaane tu.. Ya jaane naaaa..

Saturday afternoon 3 to 5.. Dubai office.. Can we meet to close the filing for PQR company?

I hate such SMSs!

But there aren’t many options available to escape from this situation if your manager sends this SMS to you. And thus, I somehow woke up at 11 o’clock on one of the Saturdays and managed to reach the office by 2:53pm. In spite of being a holiday there were 20-25 people in office, mostly from audit department, trying to complete their pending work. I found an empty desk and settled there. I was listening to Jaane tu.. Ya jaane na’s (JTYJN) title track on my mobile phone using the earphones. JTYJN was still very fresh in my mind as I had liked the simplicity and freshness of the movie.

“Adib, where’s file number 3? I need to see the financial statements and audit opinions of 2007 for ABC company. I had told you to keep that file ready. Can you get that file please?”

I looked up.

This query was loud enough that almost everybody in the office started looking at her. I was wondering who that could be. I knew almost everybody in audit department but hadn’t seen this particular lady before. She was probably a senior consultant like me.

She had a commanding voice. I couldn’t see her face from the desk I was sitting on. But I thought she’d be good looking. Don’t know why!

I got a message from my manager stating that he had got stuck in traffic and he’d have taken at least 15 minutes more to reach the office. And the file which we were supposed to work on was with him only. So I had 15-20 minutes to do some timepass.

I lifted my ass from the chair and went to pantry to get a cuppa hot coffee. After 2 minutes she also came in there. Hurriedly she took a cup of black coffee and went out of the pantry.

But in those 30-40 odd seconds I had noticed one special thing about her.

I could see Riya in her. Almost the same height, same style of talking, same haircut and above all, the face! Ditto Riya!!!

I cannot recollect what exactly went through my mind at that time but I clearly remember her saying “Hi!” to me followed by a warm smile. That smile was good enough to bewilder my mind.

3 years of relationship! With the engagement date fixed, I was so damn sure about settling in life with her. But it was not destined for me. “I’m in love with him. Please forgive me.” The SMS again. That’s why sometime I hate reading SMSs.

Anyway, that chapter was over for me. At least I had thought so. My parents were worried about my marriage as I was getting older. I was earning a good salary and they thought I was ready to settle down by marrying a nice girl.

“Hey Jaydeep, sorry yaar. I got stuck in traffic near Trade center.” My manager had come looking out for me in the pantry. Those old memories got instantly sidelined and I went back to my desk to do the necessary work. When my manager was reviewing the file, I realized that most of the papers in the file were as per the changed requirements and need only the approval from the manager. So it happened. We finished our meeting in 45 minutes and were ready to leave the office.

My eyes were searching for her.

Maybe I wanted to talk to her. Something…

Or maybe I just wanted her to be with me.

But I couldn’t see her. I was disappointed.

3 days later, I was asked to brief a different team about ABC company’s engagement. And the meeting was setup in the evening at Dubai office. I reached there at about 6:45pm; almost half an hour late. She was a part of that team. After the introductions, I got to know that she was from our USA office and had come to Dubai office for 3 months for that particular engagement only. As I had guessed, she was a senior consultant in Audit department. The briefing went on till 9pm as I had to explain different perspectives.

It was nice meeting her. She liked Dubai and was thrilled getting plugged into ABC’s engagement.

Love? Maybe.

Attracted towards her? I thought so.

Would want to keep in touch? 100 per cent.

We met 3-4 times again in office to discuss the ABC engagement. I wanted to tell her about Riya. I wanted to tell her about my feelings. I was looking for the right opportunity.

“Friday, Starbucks, 8pm, DIFC.” Meeting was fixed!

We took our coffees at Starbucks. “Hey, I want to tell you something. You look very similar to my fiancé. I wanted to tell you this when we met for the first time in the pantry but that time I didn’t even know your name. So didn’t tell. And you gotta come for my wedding. It’s on December 27th in Mumbai. I’ll be sending the formal invitation also but just wanted to tell you beforehand so that you can plan accordingly. I guess you’re on vacation in December, right?”

I was dumbstruck. Her fiancé looked like me! She was getting married on December 27th, the same date on which Riya was also getting married. And on top of that, both these weddings were going to happen in Mumbai! Don’t know exactly which of these reasons made me smile, but I gave her a warm smile and also a hug. I congratulated her wholeheartedly and promised to be present there for her wedding.

I was thinking about this whole thing when I was driving back home. I switched on the radio and I wasn’t surprised when Radio city started playing “Jaane tu… Jaane tu ya jaane naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…”