( The readers are requested to read the earlier chapter 1 of this series 'Lost and Found' to understand the continuity of this story so far …)
Lost and Found - 2
The next morning, I planned my sales calls towards the western part of the city. Worked full stretch from the morning and in the late afternoon, finished my last sales call near the location which came 2nd in my list of the three names collected from the Bank.
That area was not fully developed till then. The houses were few and far between. There were local boys and young men gathered around roadside tea stalls. I was feeling odd asking them the directions to the address. I only had the name of the girl, and didn't know her father's name. How could I ask the local boys the address giving the girl's name. But after half an hour's futile search, I was not able to locate the house. So I had no option but to ask a group of boys chatting by the roadside. I gave them the address which I have. They asked the name of the person I want to meet. I said "Mr Das." I purposely did not give the girl's name.
They said, "What's the first name?"
I said, "I'm not aware, this is what I have."
They discussed amongst themselves and gave me directions to the house. This was better. I finally could locate the house number which I had in my diary. It was a single story stand-alone house. As I approached, I saw a middle aged gentleman locking the front door and in the process of going out of the house.
I went up to the gentleman and introduced myself. I asked him very politely whether the girl whose name I had collected from the Bank lived there. He said, yes she lives there, but right now she's not at home.
"Why do you want her ?" The gentleman asked me, his tone not very friendly. This was what I was afraid of.
I gave him my full rehearsed story. MBA student…college project..on Unemployment benefit scheme…etc etc. I took out my file of typed questionnaires. The gentleman was satisfied with my answer. He said, "The girl you want is my sister. She is now pursuing her MA and has gone to the University. And I'm also going out now, so you can't possibly wait. What you can do is ,you can ask me your questions. I know everything about her, I can answer all your questions."
I replied with all humility, "Thank you Sir, but I need first hand answers."
He replied, "In that case, you come tomorrow. It's better if you come in the morning. Let me know the time, so that I'll ask her to stay at home."
This was getting difficult. This place is quite far from my home and even from my office. I tried one more trick. "Sir, my house is near the university area only. While returning now, I can just check if she is still there. If I can't meet her there, I'll come tomorrow at 9 am. If you can just let me know which year of MA she is in and what subject she's doing her MA in? Also if you can please give me just a rough description of her….meaning tall or short; complexion ; long hair or short hair; specs or without specs…"
I didn't have to complete, the gentleman responded, "MA 1st year, History. And my sister wears specs; has medium length hair; very fair; she's rather short and a little heavy."
I stopped him, "Thank you Sir, that will be enough. I'll find her. Thanks once again for your help Sir."
This mission is also over. This cannot be my girl. My one doesn't wear specs, not very fair and obviously not short or heavy by any standards, she's at least 5'7" tall.
The next day becomes the most crucial day. I was so excited, I continuously rehearsed my lines which I would tell her once I finally met my dream girl again.
There was one more thought cropping up in my mind though. Those three names and addresses which the Bank officer gave me were of the three girls who came to withdraw money from their unemployment benefit scheme amounts. What if the girl I met did NOT come to withdraw money. She might have come for some other work pertaining to her unemployment benefit account. Some documentation work or some corrections or whatever. In such a case her name will not be in this list. Then this exercise will be totally futile. But I cannot possibly know that unless I completed the last and final visit diligently. I couldn't sleep properly that night.
Next day morning I had an important business meeting with a big prospective client. I took the second half off from the office. I finished my client appointment by 1 pm and headed straight to Jadavpur, the final destination of my search.
Although the house was in the interior part of the locality, the area was well populated. This time I didn't find it difficult to locate the address. It was an odd time, around 1.30 pm in the afternoon. This is generally lunchtime or post lunch time. This is not the time to ring a bell in an unknown house. But I couldn't wait till 4 o'clock. With trembling hands I rang the bell.
The door was opened by an old lady. I had to narrate the entire story of my survey project to sound convincing enough to ask to meet the girl of the house.
Yes…Ranjana lived here…
but No …she's not at home.
My energy drained out. The lady told me that Ranjana, the last named girl on the list, had gone to the hospital. Her father had a surgery the previous week and is now recuperating. She had gone to the hospital with home-cooked food for her father. On asking when she will return, the lady said hopefully within an hour. She even asked me if I wanted to wait inside. I said that I'll come back in an hour.
In my excitement to meet the girl, I had purposely skipped my lunch. So, now that I got some time to kill, I went to a nearby restaurant and had something to eat. I went back to their house exactly after one hour.
The old lady opened the door again. She said that her daughter had returned some time back. She asked me to come inside and sit. I went in. The room was medium sized; quite ordinarily furnished. A simple middle class family, it seemed.
I waited with bated breath. The curtain moved…a girl entered…tall.. good figure …Yesss…this is the one…this is my one !!
The girl looked at me, I smiled at her. A hint of recognition slowly surfaced in her face. She smiled back. Then with a surprised expression, said, "Aap idhar ?"
I replied casually, "It's a small world. I'm equally surprised to see you here."
The moment I said that, I regretted it. I should have brought home the point that I had made this herculean effort to find her in this big metro city with practically Zero information about her. Not even her name! But I lost the moment.
What could I possibly do ? Her mother had just entered the room behind her and was standing beside her. I couldn't risk my chances by mentioning that this survey project is just a made up story, a drama.
I introduced myself to the girl. Then started on my much rehearsed story of an MBA project survey on the "Efficacy of the Government initiative of Unemployment Benefit scheme". I took out my folder of questionnaires. We sat face to face on two chairs. I started my questions diligently. She was giving her answers and was dutifully jotting down her answers on my notebook. Her mother stood there beside her listening to the questions and answers. After some questions, she possibly felt that everything was in order. She moved out of the room and went inside the house.
I took that opportunity and started asking personal questions. I enquired about her father's surgery. Then casually went about asking who else is there in the family. She told me that he had an older brother who owned a small garment shop in a nearby market. Her brother was married and had a small kid. I told her about myself. I told the truth about my job as a Sales Executive of a prominent company. I did not purposely mention the MBA course I had said I was pursuing. I thought she would ask and then I could tell her the truth. But she didn't ask. Anyways, when we were talking more in a friendly manner, I offered to meet her again another day, somewhere outside. She readily agreed. We fixed up the date and time. To commemorate our first meeting, I suggested that we meet opposite the Bank, where we first met each other.
My mission was finally accomplished. There was no need to ask any more questions and waste time. But I had to continue my drama basically for two reasons. Her mother was back in the room with a small plate of sweets and water for me. Secondly, I couldn't muster up the courage to tell her that these survey questions were all a sham and my main intention was to just search for her address and meet her. Didn't know how she would react to this outrageous adventure of mine. So I left my confession for the next meeting.
I had obviously told her later, the entire details mentioned in this story, of how I found her out in this big city, without having any clue of her address or even her name. But she never believed me and thought that I was making up a story.
The Lost and Found story ends here, because I finally Found what I had Lost.
But there's obviously a next part, since our relationship did take off from there. But that's another story for another day.
