The Day I met Hoopoe for the First time!

It was a Saturday, 20th May, 2006. The Western Railway lines in Mumbai were having their scheduled mega block for repairs and maintenance. However, this awareness too did not deter us from meeting up on that day!

I woke up at 4:30am (barely slept for two hours), had my bath, tried beautifying myself minimally (I am still a novice on this front, I haven’t ever applied lipstick for myself, nor have I painted my nails!). At 6:00am, I try to devour some bananas, but, to no avail. I give up on the idea and at 7:30, I leave from home to meet Hoopoe at Bandra station, under the indicator.

Did I not mention about the Mega block? Well, that very block delayed me by two hours (very unlike me, because, I am very particular as far as punctuality goes). So, there was Hoopoe, anxiously waiting for me at the station, while I was stranded in the train; we then decide to put our precious time to better use by conversing with each other over the phone!

Finally, the train crawls into Bandra station, I alight from the train and, on the lookout for Hoopoe. There I see him, standing with a bright full blown smile across his face, and, a sight nothing short of a waterfall; perspiring profusely; completely wet from head to toe! I walk towards him, shake his hand, coupled with a light cheek to cheek kiss, with the words, “I have done my work, now, it’s your turn” (I promised him such a greeting when we meet for the first time).

Hoopoe looks at me and asks me if I have anything on mind for the day, and, I remind him that the first ten meets have to be arranged by him (that apart, since the first time we met, to this date, the poor guy only has been arranging all our outings!). So, after the crowd disperses, we take the bridge, Hoopoe offers me his hand to hold while climbing the stairs. I was touched by his gesture, but, I refused it for two reasons, one, I wasn’t yet ready to hold his hand in public, and secondly, the reason which I made known to him, “I will become dependent and get attached to you.”

He doesn’t tell me the itinerary for the day, all of it is kept as a surprise. We take the cab at Bandra station to IMAX, Wadala. While in the cab, I hand over the card that I made, as well as a perfume that I got as a gift for him. He sees the card, reads it, begins blushing (trust me, he blushes more than even I do), thanks me, and then, hands over his gift to me. He gifted me a pen drive; a very thoughtful gift indeed! Only months later, he told me, that, he had planned on gifting me a ring, but, it was his friend who made him see sense and asked him, “Are you planning to propose to her and scare her off right away, or do you wish to continue meeting her?”… hahahaha, my darling Hoopoe, it is so like him.

We reached our destination, booked tickets for Poseidon, to be watched in the dome theater; I was pretty uncomfortable with the cost of the tickets, more so, I’m not much of a movie buff!
Well, the entire time in the cab, right till the time we were allowed to enter the theater and even through the movie, I was feeling pretty conscious about myself, because through the corner of my eye, I could see Hoopoe constantly looking at me. Now, what I imagined was, once Hoopoe sees me, he will be quite dejected. However, Hoopoe not only told me, that, I am not as bad a sight as I had told him over our chats, but also, he kept looking at me with the greatest of care and anxiousness (hoping that I approve of him)! The kind of funny faces that Hoopoe was constantly making, probably, out of excitement, is something I will never forget. I kept looking around me to see if anybody found his expressions as weird as I did!

He made me speak to his best friend who was in Bangalore at that time and, also, reminded me to keep calling my home to inform them about my whereabouts; since I was traveling after a long break.

After the movie, we head towards a place for food. Hoopoe refused to make the place known to me. Suddenly, I see the cab taking the airport road, and I wonder, why on earth are we heading towards the airport?!?!? Just when I was to confirm the route with Hoopoe, I see the cab entering a gate; we are heading towards Hyatt!!!!!!! I was speechless; I mean, I am a dhabba kinds of girl, what will I do in a 5 star hotel!!!!!!!! I reluctantly get out of the cab, now, all the more conscious than ever before; complaining about the casual clothes that we were in for a place like this! Hoopoe had opted for a buffet meal at the Indian Restaurant, which, I believe, he regretted later, for I didn’t eat much, nor, did I let him eat! Infact, I was waiting for the time when we could just get out of the place!! I still get jittery when I think about our time at Hyatt! Today, too, I prefer the simple places over the elaborate ones.

We head to Bandra again, to do some shopping, a one of a kind shopping; window shopping within the shops!!!! He doesn’t wish to buy anything for himself, and, the same with me. After getting down to buying nothing, we head towards St. Peters Church for Mass. However, since we were not aware of the timings, we waited for two and a half hours for a one hour Mass! During the Eucharistic Celebration, I distinctly remember, praying to Jesus to seal our love and bond forever. The fact was that we were already in love with each other, even before we could meet in person!

The first day we met, will always be a memorable day for me; since then, so much has changed between us, but, all for the better; the sparkle and excitement in his eyes back then, is now replaced with such intense love, that, each time he looks at me, it strikes a chord within my heart, and makes me love him even more than the moment gone by!

It is like a dream, Hoopoe is my first and only love, and, I too am Hoopoe’s first and only love! We haven’t been in a relationship before, ours is the only experience that we have, which, certainly reduces a lot of the emotional baggage that past relationships could bring! We are Blessed! We have been through real tough times, however, we have just held on, for we couldn’t think about life without the other! We knew that we not only want, but also, need the other!

So, my Sweetheart Hoopoe, when will we be creating such memories again, any time soon?

- Sweetness