The clock struck 11 and Virat stepped
out of his room ready to meet a 'friend', of whom he had caught only
cursory glances on his occasional trips back home. The 'friend' Virat
was going to meet was Vipul. The record in Virat's mind relating to
Vipul showed him as a confident boy, possessing the skill set
required to become a top-shot lawyer, which was his chosen career
path.
The next hour was spent by Virat in
listening to his parents on what to do and what not to do over the
course of the day. After returning from his weekly temple visit, he
set out towards Andheri Station, to board the train to Churchgate.
The train journey was quite
uneventful. None of the usual attractions; Stampede like
situation,uncles sleeping while standing,people hanging on to the
train with a single hand, were visible on that day. Virat alighted
from the train and dialled Vipul's number.
They planned to meet just outside the
train station. As Virat waited for Vipul to join him, he looked
around to catch his first glimpse of South Bombay. There was the
government Law College at a stone's throw. Smartly dressed people,
mostly in their 20s could be seen thronging the place. Finally, Vipul
arrived. The style might not have been filmy like Ajay Devgan
balancing himself on two bikes or Shahrukh running after alighting
from a helicopter, but the personality was no less. Dressed in a
perfectly fitting shirt and jeans, he walked towards Virat. The
background music of Tashann would have fitted perfectly with the
situation.
Vipul was pressed for time and he
decided to squeeze in a short sight-seeing trip around the area
before proceeding to eat.
They boarded a taxi and Vipul began
his discourse on the place. His description style would have given
any guide a run for his money. In a short span of time he showed
Virat the Kala Ghoda area, the Colaba causeway, The Taj, The Oberoi,
The Trident, Antilla – Mukesh Ambani's residence, and Marine Drive.
Vipul had a crisp description regarding each place with personal
experiences relating to some places also being thrown in to make
certain places more interesting.
Following the 'sight seeing on
wheels', Vipul asked Virat to choose from three types of food:
Italian, Indian and Chinese. Virat, a great stickler for home made
food, would have any day preferred Indian food but Vipul's
mesmerizing company and the desire to continue being surprised that
day, made him choose Italian.
The place chosen was Relish. After a
five minute wait (which according to Vipul had stretched to 30 minutes on
previous occasions during rush hours in the evenings) they were
allotted a table in the restaurant.
Ordering food was going to be another
uphill task for Virat because for him Italian food had till now only
comprised pizzas and pastas. He gladly aksed Vipul to do the honours
for him that day. After a few minutes of discussion, they reached a
decision to order pizza and lazazos.
While both of them waited for the
order to be served, Virat mentioned if it was easy for Vipul to find
Punjabi's around him. This triggered one of the most entertaining and
intellectually stimulating impromptu speeches Virat had heard in a
long time.
Vipul began by letting out a few
bruaahs!! in a quick succession which is the trademark of Punjabis.
He started, "I am not here to do this. If I have to carry Punjab
along with me, then I rather stay back there rather than coming here.
I have to leave the white Kurta Pajamas behind and only then can I
move forward. Mumbai is full of people from all accross India;
Gujaratis,Marwaris, Sindhis, Muslims etc. It is imperative that I
learn from them what exactly were the factors that contributed to
them making it big here. Only when we understand the reasons behind
their success can we hope to replicate them."
He then proceeded to explain different
qualities possessed by Mumbaikars and Punjabis. In matters of heart,
it was Punjabis who won hands down but in a lot of other aspects it
was Mumbaikars who took home the glory.
Even as the discussion was going on,
food was served. Vipul advised Virat to eat lasazos first putting the
tagline "Tastes best when served hot" to drive home his
point.
Virat obliged and he was really happy
for having ordered lazazos. As both the guys filled their tummies,
discussion moved on to mundane matters; Virat's company, what it did,
work culture, his accomodation and the usual 'meeting after a long
time' interrogation style questions. Virat gladly answered all of
them.
Soon, the food finished and it was
time to go. Their was a brief tussle over who would be paying the
bill, which Vipul eventually won.
As both of them walked towards Marine
Drive, the time for both of them to part drew closer. Vipul had
greatly impressed Virat with the huge change in his personality.
As they took different roads, Virat
secretly promised himself that he would be meeting this guy more
often, because meeting people like Vipul gave him the motivation of
aiming for even bigger successes in life.
