A Quirky First Date

Sixteen Years in the Making

Dear Son,

I have written enough letters to you in the past few days about life lessons and eggs and pasta so today I thought I’d skip the lectures and tell you a quirky love story instead. Since you have learnt to walk you rarely sit long enough for me to narrate this story to you so I thought I’d write it to you instead.

Once upon a time there was a little boy who lived in a not so little city in Mumbai. In the same city also lived a little girl that had two long braids and a smile that could light up the dark. While the girl and boy weren’t great friends their parents were. And so there were picnics and vacations and dinners aplenty where the two would play while their parents did whatever it is grownups do.

One day when the girl was twelve she got some terrible news — her parents had decided to get separated. Her daddy was going to go stay in another country and she and her mom would be moving to Pune. It felt like it all happened so fast. When she thought back, she never even got a chance to say goodbye properly to this boy-that-wasn’t-her-friend.

Life went on. The boy forgot about the little girl and went about his life finishing first school and the college. On the other hand, the girl and her mother moved to a far away land. She made new friends and the little boy who used to pull her pigtails and cheat at Scrabble, then tease her mercilessly faded from her memory.

A few years later the girl now not so little, started University and got admitted to an exchange program. To Canada! It was going to be the first time she ever lived away from home for almost six months and she was scared as well as excited. Her mother, happy as she was for her daughter was worried how her daughter would manage alone. She knew she’d getting a telling off but she proceeded to call her old friend in India regardless. Through the grapevine she’s heard her son too was studying in USA. While she knew that USA and Canada were two completely different countries, the mom wanted her girl to have a friend she could call if she were in need. This friend was no other than that happy chubby little boy who had now grown up and was now studying in Florida. Even though the girl rolled her eyes, she saved his number in her newly purchased Nokia 3310 if only to put her mothers mind at ease.

Contrary to her mothers fears, the girl took to Canada like a fish takes to water. She partied every night and made plenty of new friends, yes even ‘boy’ friends that had eluded her until this point. One night, fueled by the vodka running through her veins she sent a text message to The Boy. You see, she had seen a picture of him on this site called Orkut and he looked like quite the catch. Hi. Remember Me?, it said. She was surprised to get a reply back.

The flurry of messages continued through the night and in a couple of weeks the conversation had moved to phone calls. The girl started saving up her coffee money so she could buy calling cards. They would talk for hours together until the card ran out of its credit. While she continued to party, her mind was now only on one boy. Miles apart yet closer than he had been in years.

Since the time she had come to Canada, the girl had been fueled by a bold energy, a confidence that escaped her at home. One evening during their call with her heart racing and her fingers trembling she asked the question that had been plaguing her for weeks — “Is it okay if I come to Florida and meet you?”. There was a shocked silence on the other end of the phone, a laugh and then a “You’d actually do that?”

Before she’d lose her nerve she went looking for flight tickets online. Her mind was screaming how crazy the whole idea was. Who in their right mind flies 2000+ miles to meet a strange boy? What the hell would she tell her mother? But, in that moment there wasn’t a thing she wanted more.

Three weeks later, she was at the airport. Her parents and her room mates thought she was away for a week in some Canadian village holed up with a Parsi girl who had become a close friend. As she checked in for her flight, she had goosebumps. This felt like it was right out of a movie. What if he didn’t come to pick her up? What if he turned out to be a crazy person that was lying to her all these weeks. What if the plane crashed? She spent the whole flight doubting herself and before she knew it they were landing into Fort Lauderdale.

Bags collected, she scanned the airport lounge and then she spotted this tall guy. He was taller than she had imagined. He looked just as freaked out as she felt. Well, atleast both of us are nervous she thought. That’s a good sign! The first few moments their eyes locked they didn’t know what to say. The two just let out a nervous giggle and stared at each other.

They silently walked to his car. Both waiting for the other to make the first move. Suddenly all the ‘babe’s’ and ‘xoxo’s’ exchanged over messages felt silly. That’s until he nervously wrapped his hand around hers in the car. “Ready to come home”, he asked. She nodded nervously, thinking here goes nothing!

If you haven’t guessed already this is the story of how your dad and me first met. It’s been ten years since then and I still feel this has to be the boldest most silliest thing your mom ever did in her life. But, the rest as they say is history — one that I shall clue you into when you’re a bit older.

This post is part of the annual #BlogChatterA2Z Challenge .When my son was born I promised myself I’d write him love letters as often as I could as this challenge is part of that promise. Q is for A Quirky First Date. Do follow P for Parenting for more articles in this series to read the next post R is for ‘You don’t need to win the Race’