Friday, November 12, 2010

tiruvilayadal with trisha 1 of 2

“I’ve been noticing some changes in you in the last few days. Is there anything wrong? The project is at a critical stage and you are our most important resource. We need you to be at your best again. What has happened to you?” asked a worried Sarathy, Raghav’s manager.

“Life sucks. This job sucks.” Said Raghav, one among thousand of software engineers is his company.

“What do you mean? We only have 2 more weeks to go for our first deliverable. We have promised a defect free product for our clients. We need to put in more effort to make sure that they are happy with our work.”

“I want a girlfriend”

“Look, there are certain procedures to follow before we deliver the final product. We need to test for errors and fix all defects and get them certified in 2 days. I am going to assign 2 issues to you. Please complete them soon.”

“My hormones are raging. I want to fix that defect first. Transfer some girl into this god forsaken place.”

“What are you blabbering? What do you want? A hike? A promotion? We can work on it after we complete this project. Please get back to work”

“Yes, I want a promotion in my relationship status. I want a girl. Send a girl, a good looking one if possible, to Chennai to work in our project. I am the only person in our team from here and it would be perfect if you could do that. You have the power to do so – you can always use those two wonderful words – ‘Business Requirements!’.”

“WHAT???????? What is wrong with you? I’m your manager, not your marriage broker! YOU DARE NOT SPEAK LIKE THIS TO ME! I WILL CHUCK YOU OUT OF THIS COMPANY!” barked an angry Sarathy.

“I wouldn’t mind that. Let me know the procedure to apply for resignation.”

Sarathy was too confused to react. He had never faced with such a weird request throughout his career. With clients and deadlines already eating his head, there was no way he could lose Raghav. He had no other option but to budge to this crazy request of his most important resource.

“Ok. I will do it for you, for our project rather. But this is unethical. So I want you to guarantee confidentiality. If this news goes outside, both of us are doomed!”, said Sarathy.

“I understand sir. This stays between us. By the way, who is the girl?”

“Trisha Roy from Delhi. I will send her to work with you. But you know our policies, it will take a while for the transfer formalities to get completed. So please be patient till then and promise me not to come up with weird requests like this. And oh, I shouldn’t be saying this, but.. she looks really good.. ENJOY ;) ”

As these words came out of his manager’s mouth, Raghav went into a world of his own. Trisha Roy – the name represented beauty. It was his best chance to get a girl. A North Indian girl who knew no one in Chennai – it all seemed perfect. Though he wasn’t an expert when it comes to wooing girls, he knew he could rely on his best friend Ram, who had the reputation of being a love Guru. With extreme happiness and excitement, he opened the online messenger:

“Hi Trisha ”

“Hi Raghav”, came the reply, instantaneously.



As the days went by, Raghav’s excitement and expectations increased exponentially. The conversations with her gradually moved from formal to a friendlier manner. Trisha, who was initially skeptical about coming to a place like Chennai which was so different from Delhi, felt much more comfortable about the whole idea of moving to Chennai, thanks to Raghav. Raghav, on his part, did everything he could to impress her. It seemed weird to him that he was actually hitting on a girl who had not even seen, but he trusted his manager Sarathy and something about the name ‘Trisha’ encouraged him to continue flirting.

With only a week to go for Trisha’s arrival in Chennai, his anticipation reached new heights. He was the only person she knew and he wanted to make sure that their first meeting should be a memorable one. He had already hit on many girls unsuccessfully and no longer trusted his own flirting skills; hence he went to his trusted friend and colleague – love guru Ram.

“Dude, there is something I wanted to talk to you about.” Said Raghav

“What is it? A new girl?” asked Ram.

“What? How did you know? No wonder you are called love guru!”

“Well, why else will you come to me after such a long time? Anyways, let me ask you a simple question – worth ah?” asked Ram, casually.

“I don’t know.”

“WTF? You don’t know?”
“I haven’t even seen her man. Her name is Trisha. Something about the name tells me she is worth it. And the way she talks – I’m pretty sure she is worth it!”

Raghav went on to explain everything that had happened and how Trisha was made to come to Chennai. The whole thing seemed too brave for even a guy like Ram.

“Dude! This is insane! How could you do this? And how on earth did the manager agree? But I must appreciate your guts! ” exclaimed Ram.

“Promise me you won’t let this out. And you better help me through this. I’ve put in quite a lot of effort for this and I don’t want to mess up once again. I need your help machaan”

“You’ve called me machaan. So that makes Trisha my sister? I get it! Don’t worry. We’ll correct her”

“We??”

“I meant you! But I wouldn’t mind trying if she really does look good. Anyways, we should first find out how she looks. Just search in facebook. Depending on how she looks, you can proceed further”

Facebook. What Bharathmatrimony is for marriages, facebook is for flirting. A simple search is enough to get details of any youngster in the world. Even if she had enabled privacy settings, the display picture is more than enough to find out how she looked.

“But what if she doesn’t have her picture as the profile pic?” asked Raghav.

“Look, you can easily find out a lot of things from just the display picture. Don’t trust the ones who don’t upload their pic in their profile and have pics of celebrities or cartoons or some random flower or whatever. Also, don’t trust the ones who have used photoshop and added effects like Negative or Black & White and stuff. Just trust the ones who have their own pic, however good or bad it may be.” The love guru explained.

Raghav was tempted to ask why, but he dare not question love guru in his field of expertise. As per Ram’s advice, he searched for Trisha in facebook. He was extremely elated to find out that she looked beautiful, just as he wished and expected. With absolutely no hesitation, he added her to his friends list. Once his friend request was accepted, he went through her entire profile and checked out all the pics. What he saw was just a confirmation that she was indeed very good looking. Just as he finished scanning through her profile, he saw a notification in his home page which read:

Trisha Roy changed her profile pic.
4 minutes ago
27 Likes.
48 comments.

tiruvilayadal with trisha part 2 of 2

Completely taken aback by the competition he seemed to face, he called up Ram to seek his opinion on future action.

“Machaan.. just added her on facebook and she looks great. She just changed her pic 4 minutes back and there are already 27 Likes and 48 comments! Wait its 32 and 57 now, just as I speak! What should I do? Should I also Like it?” asked Raghav

“ha.. it always happens man. Just go through the comments. You’ll be shocked to find guys and girls in equal numbers commenting.”

“Yeah! You’re right. I can understand if a guy likes and comments on the pic. But why girls???”

“That’s the way it works dude. It is an unsigned agreement among girls. If you Like my picture, however horrible it is, I will like yours, however horrible you may look. In the end, both feel good. Also, just go through the comments – it will be filled with ‘cuuute’, ‘sweetie’ and stuff.”
“Yeah! It’s completely filled with such comments!”

“Yes. That’s how girls display their affection. Closeness among boys is determined by how liberally they use profanity and bad words. For example, if you call me a dog or something, you are a stranger. If you use the F word, you are a friend. If you use the B word, you are a good friend. If you use the SOB word, you are best friends and if you insult each other’s families, you are best buddies!! Whereas for girls, the closeness is determined by how liberally they use words like cute, sweetie, darling etc amongst them. Now forget all that and just click on Like and add a comment ‘aaawwwwwwwww cuuuuuuuuuuteeeeee’ ”

Raghav’s respect for Ram reached new heights. He wished Ram was near him to touch his feet. Speaking nothing, he obeyed Ram’s orders.


Trisha Roy changed her profile pic.
7 minutes ago
You and 72 others Like this
84 comments.


As the week progressed, Raghav’s relationship with Trisha went to the next level. Having got her phone number, they started conversing over phone after office hours. From official talks to facebook chats to telephone conversations – their relationship had come a long way. Even before she arrived in Chennai, Raghav made arrangements for accommodation and other necessities for her. Trisha, like any other girl would, felt extremely happy with the care and affection she was receiving from Raghav.

Trisha reached Chennai and was greeted in the airport by the only person she knew – Raghav. She looked even more gorgeous than in pictures. He took her to her home in his car and had lunch with her.

“This is the first time I’m dining with such a gorgeous girl” said Raghav, trying out one of the pick up lines that struck him.

“Then..do you mean to say you’ve dined with gorgeous guys before?” Said Trisha and started laughing at her own joke.

Raghav took a while to realize that he had to laugh and joined in.

“uh..well no, I was just trying to hit on you. I know you might be used to all these by now. I mean, it is obvious from what I saw in your facebook profile. There are hundreds of guys in the race. You must’ve been bombarded with proposals throughout your school and college life! But I can’t help but join the Queue.”

“haha.. no..trust me, no one hit on me when I was in school or college. All this is very recent.”

“How come? Did you study in some blinds school or something?”

Trisha burst out laughing. Raghav didn’t expect his joke to be received this well but was nevertheless happy.

“No.. anyways, I got to go. See you in office tomorrow. And thanks for all the help by the way. Good night” said Trisha and left.

As the days passed, Trisha and Raghav became a lot closer than before. Being in the same project and cubicle, they were literally together throughout the day. He would drop her home after office and pick her up in the mornings. Both of them knew and understood each other well. Though they were sure that they were in love, neither of them expressed it. Raghav wanted to take their relationship to the next level and approached Ram for tips on how to propose.

“Machaan, please help me out. I really don’t know how to say it to her. I am not able to wait any longer. I wish she would come up and propose to me” said Raghav

“Got a mirror at home?” asked Ram

“Yes, why?”

“Chuck it. Anyways, there is no way I can help you out in this. No amount of preparation would help. So don’t prepare. Just take her out somewhere and tell her everything. I mean EVERYTHING”

“Everything? But how would she react if she gets to know the truth behind the transfer? Won’t she think cheap of me? I don’t think it’s worth the risk!”

“Imagine what she would think of you if she got to know through someone else. Remember, no secret stays secret forever. It is bound to come out in the open, somehow, sometime. So just listen to me and tell her. It’s better if you tell her the truth yourself.” Ram seemed convincing. His authoritative tone suggested he knew what he was talking. Ram’s tips and guidance has helped Raghav reach this far; there is no reason for him to not listen to him again, one last time. He set up his house and arranged for a candle lit dinner. With fear and excitement in his heart, he invited her home for dinner. She obliged. The clock struck 7, when the door bell rang. Raghav switched off all the lights and Trisha was greeted by the brightness of 100s of candles. She was in a Saree and looked more gorgeous than ever. The house looked all the more romantic with the candles and Trisha. He welcomed her in.

“Trisha, I have a confession to make, and it’s a pretty serious one.”

“I have one too, Raghav. You go first”

“uhmm…look dear.. you were not transferred to Chennai for Business Requirements. I forced Sarathy to do it. Call me desperate or whatever, but I wad badly in need of a companion. I wanted to search for one before my parents did so, because if I let them do it, I am sure she wouldn’t be compatible with me. Hence I threatened to quit and made you come here. And that is why you are here. Until I met you and became this close, I always felt slightly guilty for having done all that. But now, I am glad I did it. I think I’m in love with you. I really don’t know how you would take it, but you really would understand me if you were a guy”

She thought for a while, and said “I understand it Raghav, I was one until 3 years back”, she confessed.