Tall fantasy 1
I'll tell you a story of my college days. Unlike most growing college guys, I wasn't the typical extrovert type, not at all a sociable person. Rather, I was just the opposite, more of an introverted sort of a guy. I just couldn't make friends; I just couldn't open up to anybody, friends, relatives, nobody.
In school I was relatively good in studies. Quite a well mannered, sober and gentle boy. Health-wise I was quite an average guy. Not skinny though. I did a bit of exercises and was an avid swimmer. I was also active in sports. I was an average cricketer; played football for class teams as right-in and even scored a few goals. However my regret was and still is, that I was not tall. Rather, I am on the shorter side. Just 5 feet 3 inches to be precise.
But I had a strange something for tall girls. Don't know why, but whenever I saw a tall girl in the streets, I had something itching to go after her. No, I didn't have the guts to meet her and talk to her. There I had my inferiority complex of getting turned down because of my shortness. But just the feeling of standing or walking beside the tall girl would give me goosebumps. This started during my senior classes in school days. That is possibly at the age of 15 years. This passion grew as I grew older.
Also it grew proportionately to the height of the girl on whom I was interested at that point of time. See, I'll explain. I am 5 feet 3 inches. So any girl 5 feet 7 inches or above would be around 4 inches taller than me. And that was a lot of difference. But if I saw a girl on the streets of 5 feet 8 inches, I would do whatever I could to just stand or walk beside her. And if I met some girl or lady of 5 feet 9 inches or more, I would literally go crazy. Then, whenever I would get free time for myself, my mind would drift and my brain would start making stories with that woman and myself. I could spend hours daydreaming about my latest tall dreamgirl. This was and still is my 'tall fantasy'.
And for me, age was not a factor. If she was much taller than me, I wouldn't mind her age or social status. I'll tell you an anecdote here, just to highlight this aspect.
I was possibly in the final year of graduation then, in one of the major colleges of a metro city. That is, my age was around 20 years. Our College building and the High School's building were adjacent to each other, sharing the same football ground. Ours were an all-boys school and college. During our breaks I would see a middle aged lady of around 45 years come with the tiffin of a school boy. The lady used to come to our College campus side with the boy, possibly so that the boy can have his tiffin without any disturbance from his friends. The boy would have his tiffin and then the lady would go away.
This lady was tall, real tall and weight moderately proportionate with her height. As I said earlier, I was 5'3" in height. I made it a point to somehow stand close to that lady casually; and mentally compare our heights.The top of my head just crossed her shoulder level. I guessed by my inherent knack at these matters, that she would definitely be a minimum of 5 feet 11 inches. So standing beside her, looking furtively towards her head level, I used to feel quite small, which made me very ecstatic. Imagine that I was just 20 years old, whereas that lady was definitely around 45 plus. So she was about 25 years older than me. I would look forward to that lady's visit everyday during the lunch recess. Since I did not have any real friends in college, I made it a point to stand very near that lady almost the entire period she stood there talking to her nephew. She never noticed me that way though, as there were many other boys moving around. I just loved comparing our heights mentally and feeling good about her being so much taller than me.
Cut to eight years later. I was now working in a good manufacturing and marketing company, after my graduation and my MBA. I was now posted away from my home city and now located in the capital city of one of the smaller central Indian states as the Deputy Accounts Manager of our Company. But still with my small frame of 5'3" and 62 kgs and my clean shaven face, I looked like a college student even at 28 years of age.
One day I went out for lunch in a restaurant in a Mall near our office. It started raining very badly. My office was just walking distance from the Mall. I stood near the Mall's gate waiting for the rain to ease off.
And then I saw her. That lady of my college days. The lady was also stuck in the rain and was waiting at the stairs of the Mall. I was surprised to see her here, in this far away city, after so many years. But I definitely recognised her. That unmistakable impressive height; upright posture even at this age. She must be around 50-55 now, I estimated. Her hair has gone a little grey giving her head a salt and pepper look. She also seemed to put on a little weight. Not flabby but a well toned feminine figure. But her countenance remained the same, just a little fuller.
She wasn't able to go as the rain was heavy. She had an umbrella, she was just waiting for the rain to ease off. I seized the opportunity. I went and stood beside her. The same old ecstatic feeling came rushing back, when I used to stand beside her in my college days. When the rain eased down a little, the lady started to unfurl her umbrella. I mustered up courage and asked her, "Madam, which way will you be going ?" When she replied, I said, "Madam, I'm also going the same way. If you please don't mind, can I come under your umbrella ?"
The lady was very courteous, "Yes sure sure, come with me." She held the umbrella over her head and beckoned me to join her. I moved under her umbrella and we started walking. She had a bag in one arm. She held the umbrella with her other hand.
I said, "Aunty, let me hold the umbrella. Both your hands are occupied."
She smiled, "Ok dear, hold it ". She passed on the umbrella to me. But then I realised that I will have a problem. She being so much taller than me, I had to hold the umbrella high up otherwise the corners were hitting her head. My hand therefore had to be bent upwards to keep the umbrella from hitting her head.
The lady observed my discomfort and laughed out loud. "Oh no dear! I'm sorry I gave you that umbrella to hold. You are a small boy and I'm so much taller than you. You can't hold it up over my head. Your hands will pain bent up at that angle. Give it to me dear, I'll hold it. You can hold my bag instead."
Saying this she took the umbrella from me and handed me her handbag. She then held the umbrella up on her head properly. She put her long hand around my shoulder and pulled me towards her body. The top of my head was reaching just about crossing her shoulders and was well under her chin level also. She bent her head down to look at my face and smiled,"Come closer to me dear. Otherwise you'll get wet. Such a cute little boy you are."
I felt insulted. She was judging my age because of my height. I said, "Aunty, I'm not a little boy. I'm 28 and I'm a Deputy Accounts Manager of a Company."
She laughed out again, "Ohh really! I'm so sorry, I thought you studied in college, you are so small and cute. You are a young man then. Please don't mind, I'm an old woman you know." She squeezed my cheeks between her fingers and hugged me tighter to her body. That was possibly a natural reaction for a middle-aged lady or should I say, an old lady of 52-53, who was definitely 25 years or so, older than me. But the feeling of smallness being hugged inside the body of a tall, buxom lady who was a head taller than me, I cannot describe the ecstasy running in my veins. I had to crane my neck up to just look at her eyes when talking to her. She held me close to her body and was walking with her arms around my shoulders, holding me tightly to her body, so that I would be fully protected from the rain.
She was actually walking away from the direction of my office. But I didn't tell her anything. Nor did I excuse myself and went my way. I was enjoying the feeling of walking beside her dwarfed by her 5'11" height and being held so closely under her arms wrapped around my body.
I said, "Aunty, didn't you recognize me?"
She again bent her head down from her tall height and peered down at my face. "No dear, have we met earlier ? I can't remember your face."
I smiled up at her, "Aunty remember...St. Xavier's School. Eight years ago..? You used to go there with the tiffin for your nephew…?" I looked askance at her face.
The lady's face brightened for a brief moment, "Yes, I remember those days. But that was so many years back and it was not here. That was in my earlier city. Ohh ! So you used to live there then ? But how do you know me ? Were you a friend of my nephew ? I just can't place you, beta…?". She was asking me a whole lot of questions all together.
I laughed, "Yes aunty, that is actually my home city. I grew up there. I came to this city only a few months back. And no, I wasn't your nephew's friend; I didn't even know him. I was in college then. In my final year. I used to see you come to our College campus side with your nephew during the lunch break. You stood near my classroom."
The lady was surprised. "But how could you remember me after so many years? We didn't even meet. You do have a great memory!"
I chuckled, "No auntie, nothing like that. You had such a magnificent height and figure, that's how I recognised you."
She laughed, "Oh wow! That's a great compliment ! Thank you so much for that ! But my figure is no longer there, I have put on weight now."
The lady hugged me even tighter to the side of her body. I was literally tucked under her armpits, she was so much taller than me. She squeezed my cheeks once again between her fingers.
Suddenly the rain intensified. There was a small shop which we were crossing then, a very small roadside shop. The lady hastily went into that shop pulling me with her. The rain was pouring down heavily now. There was not much space to stand. The shop counter was such that we couldn't back up much. The shopkeeper, seeing that an old lady was getting wet, opened the flap-door of the counter and asked us to move inside. There were two stools placed there. The shopkeeper was sitting on one. He asked the lady to sit on the other stool. She sat. I stood between the two stools. The shop was small, there were shelves made behind us, which were actually making it difficult for me to stand in the cramped up space.
I said,"Let me go out of the counter and stand. It's too cramped here."
The lady said, "No dear, it's still raining heavily, you'll get wet. Why don't you sit here, then your head will not hit the shelves." She was patting her lap asking me to sit there.
What !! I was astonished. Maybe she was much taller and bigger than me in size and much older too. But still I was a young adult man of 28. How could I sit on an old lady's lap? And she was just a stranger lady. I didn't even know her well.
Seeing the hesitant look on my face, the lady smiled, "Ohh don't feel shy. I'm your aunt and much older than you. Come, sit on my lap."
The shopkeeper was an old man too. He thought that she was my real aunt. He said, "Don't feel shy. What's your problem in sitting on your old aunt's lap? She is so much taller and bigger than you in size. "
Now he was also judging my age by my height. For once I did not feel like correcting the shopkeeper. Aunty pulled on my hand. Although she was so much older than me, she was well built and her pull was quite strong. She pulled me and made me sit on her lap across her two thighs. Meaning that I was sitting sideways on her lap on one of her thick fat thighs, and my legs went over her other thigh down to her side. And since she had such long legs, my feet were not reaching the ground. They were just hanging six inches or more, off the floor level. One hand of hers was going around my back and wrapped around my waist holding me firmly on her lap. Her other hand was loosely kept on my thighs pulling my body inside towards her stomach. My hands had to be kept awkwardly on her arm which was over my thighs. Her forearms were so thick and her wrists were so broadboned to my touch.
I was having an unusual feeling. I was feeling so embarrassed sitting on the lap of an unknown old lady inside a shop on a street in front of outsiders. Two other ladies had now come into the shop to take shelter from the rain. However it seemed that no one was bothered to see me sitting on the tall, big lady's lap. She was so much older than me and so much taller and bigger, that they were possibly thinking like the shopkeeper, that I'm a small boy sitting on my aunt's lap.
The lady understood that I was feeling embarrassed sitting on her lap. She bent her face down to look into my eyes, with me sitting on her lap. She brought her lips near my ear and whispered, "Why didn't you tell the shopkeeper that you are not a small boy but a Deputy Manager and a 28 year old young man and I'm not your aunt ? Shall I tell him ?"
I looked at her imploringly and whispered back, "No please no."
She smiled sweetly at me, "Ok I'll not say. But in that case you will have to make a promise. You'll come with me to my home and have coffee with me. I live very close by. We must celebrate our meeting after so many years."
I didn't have any option. I just nodded yes. The lady's face was still bent over mine looking down at me holding me firmly on her lap like a little boy sitting on his mother's lap. She smiled brightly and hugged me tightly inside her body. I felt as if casually her soft cheek rubbed against mine and her lips brushed my hair.
An electric current flew through my nerves. I didn't know what was happening to me. Here I was, a fully grown up young adult man of 28, sitting on the lap of an unknown tall old woman, being hugged and cuddled by her like a small boy. And the funniest part was that I wasn't feeling embarrassed anymore to be sitting on this tall woman's lap in public, with outsiders all around looking at us. Instead I felt an inner sensation which I had not experienced before. I had a feeling of ecstacy and joy and an odd stirring developing in my loin. She sat there with me on her lap, hugging me inside her body. My feet were hanging from her thighs. She wasn't talking to me, nor was she asking questions about me. In fact she hadn't even asked my name. How could she ? To the shopkeeper and the two ladies who had taken shelter in the shop, I was supposed to be her college going nephew, whom she was possibly fetching back from college. She was playing her part perfectly.
The old lady was coolly chatting with the shopkeeper about the weather and the rain and possible water-logging, not even bothering that she was holding a 28 year old young adult man sitting on her lap like a small schoolboy. Only that, since my face was right in front of hers, with me sitting on her lap, with every movement of her head looking outside at the rain and back at the shopkeeper while talking, her cheeks and lips were brushing against my cheek. She was very casual about it and behaved as if those were accidental touches. I somehow felt that she was touching my cheek with her lips on purpose just to tease me and make me feel more embarrassed in public. I don't know whether she understood or not, because her one hand was around my waist and resting on my stomach and her other hand was over my lap, but my discomfort in my loin was increasing into a slight pain.
Fortunately the rain was easing off by then. We decided to make a move before it started pouring again. The lady thanked the shopkeeper and we started on our way. Although we did not need the umbrella now, the lady still put her arm around my shoulder again as we walked, as if I actually was her nephew. This time she was asking a whole lot of questions viz. My name; where I lived; about my parents and siblings; where I worked. By the time I finished answering all her questions, her house had come.
It was a small apartment building, those cooperative flats sort of. One building that had ten flats, two on each floor. While walking up to her first floor flat, the lady told me that this land belonged to her father. They had received three flats once the apartment was ready. Her parents lived in one, in which she lives now. Her brother lived in just the adjacent flat which is now locked up. The 3rd flat on the upper floor has been rented out.
Her flat was moderately decorated, nothing over the top. I sat in the drawing room. The lady showed me the bathroom and asked me to freshen up, as she went to make coffee.
While having coffee and cakes she told me that she lived here alone. Her husband died in an accident just six months after their marriage, 28 years ago. She didn't feel like marrying once again. At that time she was working as a teacher in St. Xavier's Primary School in my home city where I first saw her. She continued with the job and lived there alone. The boy who she used to take tiffin to at the school, was her cousin's son. He lived with his parents a little far from the school. Since Aunty lived close to the school and was a teacher in the Primary section of the same school, she helped out by taking home cooked food as tiffin for the boy also.
Aunty's mother used to live in this city. Her father had expired earlier
Her younger brother and his wife also lived here and took care of their mother. Her brother got an opportunity in Australia and moved out with his family. So aunty left her school job and came down to this city around six years back to live and take care of her mother. She took up a job in a school here. After her mother's demise two years back, she continued living here, all by herself.
The rains had started again quite heavily, so it was not possible for me to leave. I just relaxed in her drawing room while she was organising the kitchen. There were some pictures hung up on the walls. Some family photographs and her school photos. I went closer to see the pictures, as they were hung a little high up on the wall. There was a picture of the lady with her family, father, mother and late husband. I was craning my neck up and standing on my tiptoes to get a better view.
Aunty had walked into the room and she came and stood behind my back where I was looking up at the photographs. She saw me craning my neck to see the pictures high up in the wall. She said, "Wait, I'll help you."
I suddenly realised that I was airborne. Aunty just picked me up in her arms. Before I could realise what was happening, she had picked me up in a front straddle carry. Her left hand was under my bottom holding me up. Held on her stomach, my head came up to her height. My face was just in front of her face. I was so stunned by this suddenness of her lifting me, I wrapped my arms around her neck and my legs went around her waist, for fear of falling down.
Aunty laughed out loud, "Don't worry dear, I'll not let you fall from my hands. You are so small and cute."
I was startled, "Aunty what is this ? What have you done ? I'm a full grown adult young man of 28. You being an old lady, you are lifting me up in your arms like a small child. Put me down Aunty, you will hurt your back."
Aunty continued to laugh. "Oh come on, your weight won't hurt my back. You are too small and light for me. By the way, what's your height and weight ?"
I meekly replied, "5'3" and 62 kgs."
Aunty burst out laughing, "What !! You are so tiny ! And you say that I'll hurt my back by lifting you !? You know my height and weight? I'm 5'11" on bare feet and 93 kgs in weight. So, I'm 8 inches taller and 31 kgs heavier than you. And you call yourself a full grown adult man of 28 years. You do look like a small boy in my arms. And I'm 53 years old, so I'm actually 25 years older than you. So that means, you actually are a small child to me in every way, age and height and weight."
She was holding me up with her left hand under my buttocks, with my legs going around her waist and my arms around her shoulder. With her right hand fingers, she squeezed my cheeks and pulled my face towards her, and gave me a big kiss on my cheek. "What did you call me, an old woman? Now I'll show you how strong this old woman is. Let me see how long I can carry this full grown adult young man in my old woman's arms."
I pleaded, "No aunty no. Please put me down, I have to go back to the office. They'll be thinking about where I have gone after lunch."
Aunty did not put me down. She smiled at me and said, "I can put you down on one condition. After office you have to come back to me. You see, the fact that you could recognise me after so many years without actually knowing me back then, this is not just any chance meeting. This has to be destiny. So we must get to know each other better. You come back after your office is over and we will chat about each other in more detail. Do you promise to come back this evening ?"
I didn't mind, so I said yes. Then she said, "Ok let's at least exchange our phone numbers. So that you can inform me if you are delayed at work."
She didn't put me down. Instead she walked over carrying me in her arms to the table where her phone was lying. She took down my number with her phone in one hand and held me on her waist with her other hand. We exchanged our mobile numbers. Only then did she put me down.
She asked, "But how will you go?" Aunty was still standing very close to me with both her hands around my shoulders and back, literally hugging me to her body. With her magnificent height of 5'11" against my 5'3", my head level was just crossing her shoulder height. And my face was just in front of her chest above her breasts level. It was so odd standing so close. I had to crane my head to look up to her face standing right in front of her large breasts, being held tightly to her body by her heavy arms.
I said, "That's not a problem. I'll go back walking, the way we had come. My office is just opposite the Mall where we met. It's just a 10-12 minute walk as I saw while coming."
Aunty shook her head, "No, no ! I have delayed you, so I'll drop you to your office fast, in my scooter. Come, let's go."
I objected, "Aunty, no ! Not in your scooter. If somebody sees me riding a pillion behind an old lady, then I'm gone. They'll tease me in my office."
The old lady found it funny. She chuckled and said, "Why dear ? Tell them that I'm your aunt, you met me at the mall; it was raining, so I took you home."
*No, no, I can't say that. I have already told them that I don't have any relatives here. That is why I live in a small, one BHK flat all by myself." I replied.
"Ohh, then you say that I'm your mother's friend or your friend's aunty. You didn't know that I'm living in this city now. Anyways, no arguments. You say whatever you want to say. I'll drop you off in my scooter. That's final."
Down on the ground floor, she sat on her scooter and asked me to sit behind her. She gave me a big helmet, with visor and all, to wear. "Wear this helmet and nobody will recognise you." She also put a helmet on, but the cap type helmet. Her face was open. And her long hair flowed down her back.
As I got on the back seat, I found that there's nothing to hold on to, at the back of the scooter seat. I told her. She casually said, "Arrey, hold on to my waist na, what is your problem."
I couldn't hold on to her waist. That would be really funny. An old lady riding a scooter, with a fully grown adult young man riding on her back hugging her from the back holding the old lady around her waist and stomach. Instead I put my hand to her shoulder from the back and steadied my balance as she started the scooter. The day was windy after the rains. Her hair was all flowing behind her head and all over my face. There was a sweet aroma coming from her hair, which now covered all over my face. I was getting so excited by feeling so small sitting behind the tall and big old woman, that I was tempted to rest my head on aunty's broad shoulder, but I restrained myself.
I pleaded, "Aunty, please don't take me to my office gate, drop me some distance before my office."
She just laughed. But she did drop me a little distance before my office. I got down, handed her the helmet and hurriedly walked off towards my office.
"I'll be waiting in the evening", I heard her call out from behind.
I didn't reply, just raised my hand in acknowledgement.
(To be continued…)
