Incoherent Mutterings With A Stranger - Incident 1

It was around 7:30 8:00 in the evening. Well in a place like this, you might as well call it 'a night'. Nothing to do. The empty crammed room that I live in wasn't providing me with any inspiration to return home any time soon. "What do I do, to kill time (no companions mind you) and not look pathetic at the same time?" Hey c'mon, I am 26, young (at least I feel that ways), not too bad looking and I was alone this evening (like most other evenings) with no desire to go back home. I walked around a bit. I like to think that walking is an introspective act for me. It is. Sometimes. Today it was just that I did not have my vehicle. So, yeah, here I am, walking. I came across this coffee bar. "Hmmm...not bad" I thought. Decent crowd, young. "Ok, this looks like a lively place (as lively as any place could be here)". So I walk in, it was a nice comfortable sort of a 'young people hang-out joint', a small hut like structure in the center (this is from where they served the order (limited menu, cold coffee and cheese hot dog and if you are lucky, may be a 'vada pav). It was located next to a park, where I guess the more mature generation would have spent their evenings, walking, more like strolling, old couple who were more interested in the number of steps they took per minute than talk to their partners, walking with equal seriousness besides them. Honestly, after so many years, would there be anything left that wasn't talked about already?. A plain old stroll was good enough. That was then. Now the 'young people' had taken over this park. There were groups of guys and gals, comfortably sprinkled across the park, talking, sipping on cold coffee, smoking. And then there were couples, trying to camouflage behind the shadows as much as they could. They needed neither the coffee, nor cigarettes nor cheese hot dogs. Love was their diet. I understand. I wouldn't need any of it either if I was with someone. But I wasn't and so I needed all of the above edible replacements. So, I placed my order, picked up a plastic stool, found a nice, discreet corner, trying to go unnoticed, so that my 'alone and hence a loser status' would not flash like a neon sign board in this dimly lit park. So I am sitting there, smoking, waiting for my coffee. There were a couple of other plastic stools lying around, vacant, still warm from the conversations that the group sitting there a few minutes before would have had. Then he arrives. All 3 and a half feet, thin, puny, with a dog on a leash...a massive labrador, pulling the young chap with him, panting, all excited. Wow, at least someone had a reason to be excited that evening and in general. So what if that someone was a pampered, and I am sure spoiled with love fat labrador. So back to this guy. He couldn't have been more than 10-12 years of age. Cold eyes. What cold eyes. And mannerisms fitting a guy who would have to be much much more mature. He looked around. Then he noticed me. Or rather the empty plastic stools around me. Oh damn, I thought, there goes my corner. Why did he have to spot this place. Maybe the neon sign are flashing bright. So, we sat across each other. Both strangers to each other. He sat on the stool next to me. There were other stools empty, he could have sat there, he could have sat anywhere else. But as things stood, he sat next to me.The labrador comes to me with all the enthusiasm in the world, wagging its fat tail, its shiny body shaking from side to side, eyes bright and lit up, tongue hanging, saliva dripping. But hey! I love animals (except may be the socially qualified one). I patted the dog for some time, scratched his belly and under his ears. He was loving it. The boy, I wasn't too sure. He tugged at the leash and ordered the labby to come and sit next to him. " What a prick" I thought. Silence. We just sat there. Staring in opposite directions. I thought, "at least I looked busy playing with the dog". The dog must have had the exact same thought, because, he got up again and came towards me for some love. But then the fat labby got tired or I guess bored of me and sat back next to his 'master' panting and drooling. Gradually I thawed off and asked, looking in no particular direction "Naam kya hai?". The kid eyed me up and down. Ice cold eyes and asked me curtly "Mera ya kutte ka?" Ok. So he was feeding me attitude. Bring it on. I am not one to back off. Not against this tiny chap at least. I am 6 feet and athetically build (this I like to think and believe) I tried giving him an equally cold look, this I think, is my gangster look. Don't think it worked. And then I asked him "Terko pucha k kutte ko?". I think my retort did have some impact. He looked at the ground, at the blades of grass crsuhed under his rubber slippers, eroded on the sides and then he said "Sonu. Mai pucha kiska kyuki zyadatar logo ko iss kutte ka naam janne mai interest hota hai, mera nai." I just looked at him. Nothing to say, I just turned to my saviour, my cell phone. After half a minute or so, he took out his cell, a higher end one than mine. I gulped my pride, pretended my work with the cell phone was done and put it back in my pocket.Couple of minutes passed. Silence. I asked him again "Itna bada kutta, tu isko ghumata hai ya yeh terko?". He looked at me. Right in my eyes. I could see a counter-attack building up . I was already bracing myself for the impact. And then there it came. He said "kapde to acche pehne hai...kaam se aye?" I nodded. He continued, "Aap naukri karte ho ya naukri aap ki kar leti hai?". Damn. He was good. Formidable. What a comeback!!! I smiled. I had to. This was too good a reply. Touche' I said to myself. And then a strange thing happened. He returned my smile with one of his own. I asked him "coffee piyega?". He did not hesitate. He spontaneously replied " Haan, lekin thank you, vank you nai bolunga. Aapki garaj hai pilane mai. Kabse dekha mai, ek ghante se aise alag, akele baithe ho!". I smiled. This kid was smart. He was something else. I shouted out "Nawaz, do cold coffee lana". The kid smiled back at me. nawaz got us coffee. Sonu took a sip, looked at me and said "Thank you." I said "Nai re...thank you". Sonu looked long and hard at me and asked "To bolo...akele kyu baithe ho." I was taken aback but did not show it. I lit another cigarette. We looked at each other briefly and both smiled...silence....momentarily.