Just- friends, crushes and special interests at HMI

*** Special Thanks to Deepa for giving me very important tips on this post. And so, this one is dedicated to her!

Deepa- my love,

In some other life - I would be your's and you would be mine! 

Promise!

Hmmm...... what do I say about the matters of the heart? 

When I was on my way back from HMI, I called up my cousin, Ganesh to tell him about the journey. The first question he asked was, "So, did you manage to fall in love with someone?" And I laughed and said, "God! You know me so well!"

On day 4 when we had this outing, I saw this guy on the street with a bright smile, boyish charm and loads of energy. It wasn't too difficult to understand that he was from HMI. By this time we knew how to spot our Institute people on the streets of Darjeeling, they behave in a peculiar way. Either they are buying adventure gear or eating as if they haven't been fed for years or roaming the streets like they own them! 

( This is Vignesh.....he isn't that guy!!!)

I was buying some stuff with Puri and the advance course senior Mr. Bali! ( Yeah! I made sure I was fully protected on the unsafe streets of Darjeeling by roaming around with Commando's and Navy Officers ), well! I saw this guy with his friends. 

When I  watch, I watch and I let the other person know he's got an admirer here! I don't know if he noticed, but Puri did notice me and asked, "Koi achha laga kya?" 

"Haan. Woh!" I pointed out to him. " Puri, ek kaam karoge?" 

"Bol?"

" Bali sir se puchke iske bare mein info nikaal na?"

"Pagal hai tu!"

It was just a joke then, but yes I had my eyes on him during the course.

A lot of people had their eyes on different targets! Just imagine, the cold beautiful weather of Darjeeling and all of us in the outdoors and Indoors.....24x7!  Sparks are bound to fly, and they did! We women loved the attention initially, but towards the end it had started getting on to our nerves. It was hard to get privacy.

During one of the lectures, one young guy sitting next to me started flirting. 

"Excuse me, are you flirting with me?" I asked him.

He got a bit embarrassed and stopped talking.

"Do you know how old I am?" I asked him."I am 29!" 

He looked shocked. "Shaadi nahi hui aapki?" 

"Nahi! Tum karoge?"

After this incident, I told people my age before I told them my name. It helped till some extent- in the sense that I got "that sort of attention" from men my age rather than younger folks. 

There was just one guy whom all the girls openly admired- The Mexican! Ooooh lala! During rock climbing we got plenty of opportunities to check out his well toned body. Abhishek from my Rope once caught me staring, "Bass kar yaar Janaki, aur kitna ghuregi?" 

"Tu bhi kisiko ghur na!" , I dismissed him without taking my eyes off the Mexican. 

"Meri gf hai"

"lekin mera bf nai hai na?"

"Phir ullu ki tarah ghurti reh!"

Me and Abhishek had these mini arguments several times during the course. He was like this sweet younger brother I could act crazy with. 

Whether there were any love stories around for real or not, Joy kept a tab on everyone. He even clicked pictures of people sitting in corners, embarrassing them with questions like, "Kya chal raha hai yahaan?" 

He prepared his daily "Top couples of the day" List ( amongst other lists he maintained religiously) and shared it with some of us who had the chance to talk to him.....my name appeared on his list several times! 

I would ask him with a sad face, "Kya Joy, teri list mein mera naam kyu?"

"Tu mujhe matt sikha, teri har chaal pe nazar hai meri!", he answered with a professor like confidence. 

I once overheard a conversation amongst guys wherein they were rating the girls and were choosing their favorites and least favorites. I retaliated by starting a similar discussion amongst girls where we picked our favourites and the least favourites.

Probably One of the  reasons the lady instructor behaved badly with us was because she was jealous of the attention we got! Many of the instructors were confused ki, " ABC ka chakkar exactly kiske saath chal raha hai? XYZ ke saath ke PQR ke saath?" for which Joy offered interesting deductions.

I played the role of Love Guru, giving important updates and tips and notices from time to time. In fact it was my observation that a particular boy was interested in my friend and always looked out for her. Once I was sitting on a rock watching the people climb. This gentleman came looking around the place and asked for my friend. I knew where she was, but I purposely pointed him to the other direction and had fun watching him search the whole place. From then on I was absolutely sure about his special interest. When I told her she dismissed me saying they were "Just friends". I can never go wrong about these things. Towards the end of the course, this gentleman did open up about his feelings!

I was lucky enough to be a part of some beautiful moments myself! I won't forget that snowy day! I was enjoying snowfall alone on the huge ground at Base camp. One of my friend, a boy, came around asking me what I was doing all alone. This guy and I loved singing songs together, and I got along with him very well. One particular day I was feeling low, someone played a familiar song, instinctively I asked him to dance with me, and he obliged! That was a beautiful moment. 

Then again here,  with the lightning and  thundering in the background , he asked me if he could sing me a song. I said yes. And he sang this beautiful song to me,

As I stand on this mountain
Face to the wind
Amazed by the number of times
I have sinned

And the countless  enemies
That should have been friends
Here he comes again
My friend

He keeps sending me angels
Here they come a-flyin'
He keeps sending me angels
To keep me from cryin'

He keeps sending me angels
Sweet and true
He keeps sending me angels
Just like you

I still remember that smile it brought on my face. I felt so special! Nobody has sung for me in my whole life! There was this beautiful pause where we just looked at each other. Then he left me to enjoy my own company and walked his way. That is what I liked about him. He knew when I needed him, and he knew when I needed to be left alone.

Joy, due to his special interests in collecting gossip became a lady's man in his own right. He told us that before coming for this course he was shy and never talked to girls. End of the course, Joy was the only guy surrounded by most number of girls. Joy has this clean heart, he even picked up fights with the army guys for commenting on us. Why wouldn't we stand by him? Of course we stood by him!

The original photo: Dolma & Sharvani (Photographer: Mr. Joy)

Joyfied version! You give your camera to Joy asking him to click your picture, he clicks it, hands it over to someone else and butts in! This happened every single time , without exceptions!

There are many other stories!

Of the stolen kisses and the holding of hands under the table.

Of those exchanged glances, and coded words.

Of meeting behind that far away hut in the mist and the fog.

Of being caught by an Instructor or a fellow participant,

Of sneaking behind the rocks to smoke a cigarette,

Or of sharing the sweet roshogulla in the dark corners,

Of painting the city red ,unabashed and unapologetic, throwing caution to the wind.....
All those who experienced love in those mountains, even if it was just for a moment, in that skipped heartbeat or shy glance, have earned a memory to remember for a lifetime!

Sadly as in most cases, matters that begin in a far off beautiful locale like Darjeeling, end at Darjeeling! 

You meet all these wonderful people and you don't know when you will see them next. Initially everyone calls, texts but soon everyone gets on with their regular life. We have to, that is the way things are meant to be.

That is why I don't believe in "another day", whatever you have to say and do, must happen right now. 

On the last day, after Graduation, just before I left Darjeeling, I made sure I had my time with that charming guy from advance batch I had seen on the street. I told him I admire his personality, and yes , I got to have coffee and his number in return! 

All said and done, the Instructors were a class apart! This is Robin Sir, and yes I had a little crush on him....just a lil bit! ;-)