Dream Girl
The clock strikes 4:10.
Krishna watches the clock, unaware of coffee being served at his table. In the congestion of vehicles at Durbarmarg road, his eyes search for the face which is going to manifest in front of him for the first time. Moving eyes from the door of Vrindavan Cafe to clock, to and fro, the nerves of Krishna rush with slight excitement.
Krishna had only known Rukmini for a fortnight, their first contact on Facelook after she took the initial step. The friend request had resulted in countless sleepless nights as he poured his heart out to her. Krishna was amazed by her charm in his first virtual acquaintance with her. The first conversation with her in which she congratulated him for the publication of a new book.
“I can relate to your writing. I’m astounded by your ability to effectively integrate psychological thrillers with real emotions.”
The words were so deeply satisfying for a novice writer like him. And these words were the stepping stone for their conversation.
Krishna never felt so compatible, so related before with someone else. Their conversation was deepening.
In a conversation, she said, “Books are soul for me. They shape me like a flawless sculptor .”
“Gosh! You are like me.”
“Western Classical music in the background while reading a book couldn’t be snugger for me.”
“Waah, Do you like Western classical music?”
“More than anything else.”
“Omg. I couldn’t relate more.”
Each day would start with a cheery good morning. An emoji of a smile and a sun. In between conversations that never satiated him, Krishna would fall into a daydream in which she was his.
I want to talk to her forever.
She filled his mind even when she was offline. His hands would hover over her photos as he scrolled through her profile.
She was so pretty. Each photo made him sure of this. From favorite destinations to dreams of life, the variety of topics adorned their chatbox.
“Let’s meet somewhere”, asked Krishna timidly one day.
“Oh, I didn’t see that coming. What a pleasant proposal.”
“Yes, Do you have a place in mind?”
“There is a Vrindaban Cafe in Durbarmarg. I like that place very much. Let’s meet there at 4 pm on Friday”, she proposed.
The clock strikes 4:20.
Krishna’s emotions are all over the place. His torment increases with every clock tick. His feeling of apprehension outweighs the sweetness of the coffee. He wants to send out a quick message, but what if she is driving? What if right this very second she is minutes away from the cafe?
Nervous, he anxiously watches his phone. What is he waiting for?
4:25.
That decides for him. 25 minutes was too long. He should call her. Hands slightly shaking, he calls her number.
“The number you have dialed is switched off. Please try again, later.”
With slight shock and hesitation, he tries again. But, the same as before.
Why would Rukmini do this? What might have happened to her? Why is the phone switched off?
He tries to contact her via messenger.
Rukmini?
The message doesn’t get delivered.
Disgust blended with confusion and unwillingness surrounds his face like clouds surround the sun. He leaves the cafe with an empty mind and heavy heart at 4:45.
During his return, his mind is overloaded with possible reasons.
Is she in trouble? Or is she not willing to meet me? If that is the case, she need not have accepted my proposal. What might be the case?
In between, he checks his phone constantly in case there is a message from her.
He reaches home at 6.
What a bad day. He sighs. He heads for the shower.
His shower is quick. His need to check his phone eats away at him. He doesn’t bother with the lotion as his hands unlock Facelook. A message is waiting for him.
“I am so sorry Krishna. I was stuck in traffic. It was a huge jam due to the election campaign. There was a large crowd. In the meantime, the phone’s battery was dead. And, I didn’t remember your number. I couldn’t contact you. I arrived at the cafe at 5. But, I didn’t find anybody like you. I asked a staff member who mentioned that a person waited for someone for about 50 minutes. I am extremely sorry. Let’s meet on Monday. I am free. And, this time I will be present before time.”
“I am extremely disappointed, Rukmini. You may not know what I might have felt. Everybody in the cafe witnessed my change in mood within an hour. ”
“I know, I am so sorry. Please believe me. Please Please Please.”
“Fine. I hope the situation favors me next time.”
“Yes. Of course. Thank you.”
The conversation sweetens and continues with grace afterward until it is dinner time for her.
After such a bad day, Krishna isn’t in any mood to cook so he decides to order online.
A phone rings on Skupe of his old friend, Arjun, who is a software engineer in the US.
“Oh, Arjun. How on earth can this miracle happen? I thought you had forgotten me.”
“Haha, How can I forget you, Krishna? I was just a little bit busy these days.”
“Yes, I figured out that you have deactivated your Facelook account. You must have been very busy.”
“Yes, I have deactivated my account. But, the reason is something else.”
“What? Why then?”
“About 2 months ago, I fell in love with a girl I met on Facelook. She was sweet.”
Krishna smiles with an eagerness to listen further as it resembles his case.
“I felt extremely compatible with her. She made me feel that we were friends for a long time. I was in love with her.”
“Yes”, Krishna in slight excitement.
“Everything was going right, but she always used to have problems when we used to plan for a meeting. Someday traffic, someday health issues. I was slightly fed up.”
Krishna feels like he is listening to his own story. But, he doesn’t interrupt.
“Meanwhile, there was a discussion in my office that Facelook has built an AI model which studies all activities of us, learns from every data on our account, and creates a profile that attracts us. It allures us so that we spend more time on the app. It recommends different products, different coffee shops, etc.”
Krishna’s heartbeat suddenly increases.
“What?!”
“Yes, and there is a way to find out”, Arjun continues.
“An error occurs if we try to unfriend them. Maybe that was a bug.”
Krishna becomes pensive.
“I decided to try this with the same girl, as I was slightly disappointed with her. When I tried to unfriend her, there was an error. I tried many times. But, never could I unfriend her. I felt betrayed. I immediately deactivated my account and decided to never return to the platform. I feel this is a crime.”
Krishna runs out of his mind. He hurriedly drops the call and immediately opens her profile. A flood of dilemmas flows through him.
May I check her? Is she an AI model? What if she is real? What if she genuinely had a problem today?
However, he could not stop going over the similarity in the case of his and Arjun.
His hand hovers over the unfriend button.
Inhale. Exhale. Click.
You unfriended Rukmini successfully, prompt displays.
