My Angrezi Mem !

Swati had shifted to Patna recently . She had been relocated to manage work in Patna office . She had been born and brought up in South Delhi . So going to Bihar was an entirely different experience for her . She felt she will experience a cultural shock and was a little scared to go to the office .

Since it was her first day , she wore a formal suit and introduced herself to everyone by meeting each individual in their cubicle . She could feel that everyone was staring her . Also , nobody really spoke in English ! Something she did not expect in an MNC ! She was trying to absorb it all . The ogling eyes made her feel a little awkward . Fortunately , her seat was at the other end of the office . She finally went there , opened a laptop , put her palm on her face to absorb whatever happened . She heard a voice .

 

Ram : Hi ! Toh tum woh nai ladki ho !

Swati ( looking towards him ) : Ya ..( coughing ) Has it been broadcast-ed somewhere ?

Ram ( laughing ) : Arey Na Na . Mujhe un logon ne bataya ( pointing towards the team ) . Main bhi same team mein hoon . I am Ram . Aur tum ?

Swati : I am Swati .( after coughing ) You can call me Swats .

Ram ( smiling ) : Tumhara naam toh already kitna chota aur pyaara hai . Isse main aur chota kyun karun .

Swati felt a little irritated now .

Swati : Okay . Suit yourself then !

Ram : Dekho , main tumhara padosi hoon . Main yahi baithta hoon . Tumhe kuch bhi help chahiye ho toh bejhijak batana .

Swati : Ya sure .( after a cough ) . Thanks a lot for offering help .( giving a fake smile ) I really don’t know what to do here . ( coughing again ) .

Ram : Tumhe khaasi ho gayi hai ..

Swati : Ya ! It is probably because of the change in weather .

Ram : Main tumhe ek tasty dawaai deta hoon .

He got her a tomato soup with pepper sprinkled on it .

Ram : Ye piyo aur dekho tum kitni jaldi theek ho jaati ho !

Swati : Thanks !

Ram : Waise ek baat puchun , tumhe Hindi nai aati ?

Swati : I know Hindi but I prefer talking in English .

Ram : Oh ! So you are an English Mem . ( winks )

Swati : Ya whatever . ( she looked away ) .

Swati ( thinking to herself ) : Oh man ! Bejhijhak ! English Mem ! I wonder how will I survive here !

Over the time , Swati tried to fit in . But it was harder than she had thought . Language certainly seemed to be a big barrier . People would often ask her to repeat her sentences and a lot of them even misjudged her as a rude girl and didn’t support her . Ram tried to help her but she always felt that since he was not very good in English , he wouldn’t be knowing a lot .

One day she was really upset as she was struggling with some data . Ram came to her .

Ram : Main help karun ?

Swati : No thanks . I’ll manage .

Ram : Woh toh maine dekh liya . Ek kaam karo , tum ghar jaao . Bahot late ho raha hai . I promise ye ho jaayega .

Swati :Are you sure ?

Ram : Arey hum bilkul sooore ( sure ) hai . Tum aaram karo .

His mispronunciation made her smile amidst all the stress .

Swati : Thanks !

Ram : Mention not Madame !

Swati ( in her head ) : Why can’t you just say “ you’re welcome “ .

Swati was feeling very tired . So she left . Next morning when she came , Ram was there . Ram had indeed made an immaculate presentation for her . She was flabbergasted .

Swati : Wow ! This is pretty good .

Ram : Humein Angrezi bhale na aati ho par kaam toh accha aata hi hai . ( winks )

Swati smiled .

Swati : Thanks a lot .

Ram : Anything for you , Ma’am !

Swati ( suppressing her smile ) : This is the name of a novel .

Ram : But it fits here !

 

They both smiled .

Over the next few days , Swati learnt a lot of technical things from Ram . She realized that he was a simple , sweet and an easy going person .After a few days , they both attended a seminar together . Swati was surprised by the way Ram answered every question . He was a fast learner .

They had unintentionally started spending a lot of time together . He would never let her feel alone . Ram had been in love with Swati since the first time he saw her . One day , as they were returning from a meeting at another location , they stopped at a Dhaba . Ram decided to confess his feelings .

Ram : Waise tumhe pata hai , main bahot dhassu singer hoon .

Swati : What !

Ram : Arey matlab .. ekdum solid singer .. too good singer ..

Swati smiled again .

Swati : Okay show me your skills .

Ram ( looking in Swati’s eyes ) : Hume Tumse Pyaar Kitna , Ye hum nai jaante ..Magar Jee nai Sakte Tumhare Bina ..

Swati could somehow feel that something was going on .

Swati : Okay okay Stop . This is such a boring song .

Ram : You know I mean it .

Swati looked into his eyes and then looked away .

Ram : I love you too .

Swati ( smiling ) : I never said I love you .

Ram : Mujhe pata hai tum mujhe pyaar karti ho .

Swati ( laughing ) : No I don’t .

Ram : Theek hai Madame ! Ek din aap khud mujhe ye bolengi .

Swati : We’ll see .

They had lunch and went back .

Holi was close . However , it was raining heavily . Swati came to office and requested for leave to go back home . Her boss blatantly denied and insulted her in front of everyone . She fumed with anger . She went outside . Ram ran after her .

Ram : Kahan bhaag rahi ho ? Bimaar ho jaaogi !

Swati : I don’t care . I just want to go away from here .

Ram paced towards her and caught hold of her .

Swati : Let me go .

Ram : No . Ye aise bhaagne ki jagah nai hai !

He held her tight and turned her around quickly as a car splashed Muddy water on them . It all spread on Ram’s shirt . There was a pint of mud that was there on Swati’s face .

Swati : I am sorry .

Ram ( gently wiping the mud on her forehead and speaking softly ) : Main keh raha tha na – it’s not safe . Main tumhe ghar chod deta hoon . It’ll all be okay .

As an impulsive reaction , Swati hugged Ram . They could feel the warmth of each others’ body even in the cold rain . After a moment , she realized what she had done and drew herself away . She looked at him . He was smiling . She slowly walked away .

He dropped her home safely . They didn’t talk much as she couldn’t get over what she had done . The next day was Holi . Someone rang the bell at 11 am . It was none other than Ram .

Swati was wearing a body hugging white chikan kurta with white leggings and a multi colored bandhni dupatta . She was wearing traditional earrings and looked very different and beautiful . Ram was wearing a white kurta and chudidaar .

Swati : Happy Holi ! Come In . How come are you here ?

Ram : Main socha tumhe thoda entertain kar doon ( winks ) . Waise tum bahot acchi lag rahi ho .

Swati blushed .

Swati : You’re looking good too .

Ram : Arey , main toh bachpan se hi smart hoon ( winks ) . Tum aise office kyun nai aati ?

Swati : Tumhe impress nai karna chahti , isliye .

Ram : As if I am not impressed .

They looked at each other again . She blushed . They both sat and enjoyed some gujjiyas . Sunlight entered from the window and fell on Swati’s face . Her face shone in the dim light . Ram gently pushed her hair behind her air . She closed her eyes . They looked at each other and looked away . She diverted her attention towards the kids who were throwing water balloons at passer byes on the street .

Swati : Oh these children are so nasty ! I have been their target so many times !

Ram : Sachhi mein ! Ab hum inpe itne phugge phodenge ki ye yaad rakhenge .

Swati : What’s phugga ?

Ram : Wahi jo inko ab tak nai pada !

Ram made many water balloons and they teamed against the kids and had a wonderful time battling them and throwing balloons at them . They laughed and enjoyed . He was leaving in the evening .

Swati : Thanks for dropping by and making my day so memorable .

Ram : Arey hum toh appke har ek din mein rang bharne ke liye baithe hai . Aap bas haan toh karo .

He winked , smiled and left .

Ram’s constant hints made Swati ponder about her feelings . One side of her said that she loved him but the other side made her feel that she couldn’t love a guy like him . He never even spoke in English !

Swati joined a gym to spend less time with Ram . She would try to avoid him . He could feel the ignorance . So a few days later , he too joined the same gym . He wanted Swati to believe that she loved him too but she always ignored all the hints . One day , after exercise , as she was all sweaty , she went to the changing room . Ram barged in and closed the shutter .

He drew Swati close to her . He gently put his arms around her waist . He brought his face closer to her . Their noses almost touched each other . They could feel each other’s warm breath .

 

Swati ( gasping ) : We’re so close .

Ram : And Yet so far .

Her heart skipped many beats as she breathed heavily .

Ram ( whispering ) : Do you love me ?

As Ram came closer , Swati closed her eyes . She could breathe him . She could feel him . As she opened her eyes , she saw Ram Smiling .

Ram : I got my answer but I will still wait to hear it from you .

He slowly drew her away , ran his hand through her hands and left . Swati breathed heavily and sat on the floor as he closed the door .

Swati ( whispering ) : I love you .

Ram couldn’t hear anything but a voice came from outside .

Ram : By the way , I am damn sure you would’ve been impressed . After all , I said so many sentences without making any grammatical mistakes .

Swati smiled . She couldn’t make up her mind . She called Kaavya , her best friend . She narrated the entire story .

Kaavya : So you can’t make up your mind whether you like him or not because he makes grammatical mistakes !

Swati : Not just that ! He pronounces sure .. sooore ..

Kaavya : So ?!! Madame , you might pronounce bete noire incorrectly because you’re not from France . You can’t judge someone on the basis of that yaar ! From what I understand , you clearly like him !

Swati : I am not sure Kaavya .

Kaavya : Do’t worry . You will be . God’s there for that .

They hung up . Swati used to keep thinking about Ram but she was still not sure . So she maintained some distance .

One day , Swati was asked to bring snacks for someone’s farewell . As she rushed on her scooty , Ram jumped and took the back seat .

Swati : Why are you coming ?

Ram : The market you are going to is really crowded . It’s not safe .

Swati : Are you my bodyguard ?

Ram : Yahi samjh lo !

Swati was driving very fast . She was trying to overtake a double Decker bus .

Ram : Arey aaram se chalaao . Jaldi kya hai !

Swati : I am very good at this ! ! Don’t teach me !

Unfortunately she lost balance and they both fell down . Ram tried to protect Swathy as much as he could . She had minor injuries but the scooty fell on Ram’s leg . He couldn’t get up .

Ram : Arey , tum theek toh ho ?

Swati : Oh My God !! you are bleeding ! Let me call the ambulance .

Ram : Arey main theek hoon . Mujhe kuch nai hua .

He tried to examine her till she called and then called a colleague from office to pick her up .

Swati : Yaar , you are badly hurt . I am so sorry !

Ram : Dekho , tum bilkul tension mat lena . Mujhe kuch nai hua . Ye bus drivers toh paagal hote hai ! Sorry mat bolo . Tumhe toh nai lagi na .

His worry brought tears in her eyes . The ambulance came and picked Ram up and even when he went in the ambulance , he managed to sit and gestured that he was fine and smiled to cheer her up .

He had suffered a fracture on a leg , a sprain in a hand and some injuries on the head . Swati came to visit her in the evening .

As she walked in he tried to sit and smiled .She was wearing a yellow kurta and yellow leggings with the same multi colored bandhni duppatta .

Ram : Arey mujhe kuch nai hua hai ! Ye toh inn logon ne kuch zyada hi kar diya hai . Tum theek ho na ?

His warm and affectionate eyes and his genuine concern brought tears in Swati’s eyes again .

Ram : Waise , tum acchi lag rahi ho !

Swati ( tears flowing from her eyes ) : Hume Tumse Pyaar Kitna , Ye hum nai jaante ..Magar Jee nai Sakte Tumhare Bina ..

There were tears in Ram’s eyes too . He tried to control them and speak .

Ram ( trying not to choke by clearing his throat and faking a smile ) : Tum Hindi seekh gayi .

Swati : I love you too .

She hugged him . Tears flowed from Ram’s eyes too . He never expected Swati to understand his love for her but he never stopped trying .

 

Ram : I love you .

Swati looked at him , planted a kiss on his forehead and gently wiped his tears .

Swati : Ab jaldi se theek ho jaao nai toh tum yahi baithe rehna aur main kisi aur ke saath soup peene chali jaaungi .

Ram : Propose karte hi Dhamki ! Aap kahein toh main abhi theek ho jaata hoon !

They laughed and enjoyed the warm company of each other .