MY DARK SIDE
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I went to a table which had 8 chairs of which 3 were empty and sat on one of them. There was this south Indian man sitting exactly opposite to me and concentrating hard on the food that he was about to have for lunch. (May be he was trying to meditate or something for better digestion)
The man was probably in his late thirties, two shades darker than a normal north Indian, and just about 0.0025 shade
fairer than an average south Indian (without taking the fairness of an average south Indian female into consideration,
and I am not a racist),standing in at about 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing in at about 200 pounds, with a
tummy curvier than all curves of Kim Kardashian taken together, and a
super reflective mirror like space devoid of hair in the centre of his head which was shining
like a newly polished sword of a warrior.
Going by his mannerisms and dressing style , he probably looked like a man, having a
gazillion years of experience in this field. Incidently he had the same food items in his
plate that I had i.e. we both were having the same thali for lunch, "The Health Thali".The Health Thali is a thali
which has 4 compartments, 3 small and 1 big.The small ones generally have
a variety of fruits in one compartment, pulses or chole in the second and dry/sprout chana in the third,
and the large comparment is reserved for rotis and club sandwhich. I generally have The Health Thali for lunch, not
because I am a health freak, but because firstly, the queue is smaller in that shop and secondly and more
importantly, its cheaper (ya... I know what you are thinking!!!I am not cheap)
But looking at this guy ,I think I wasn't wrong in guessing that he was having this thali for reasons completely
opposite to mine, and the reasons apparently being his semi-circular, fluffy tummy which was making me reminiscent of
the Kung fu Panda.
The Old Food Court, where I usually have lunch is an oval shaped place, (which resembles what? I dont know!) is generally
very crowded during the lunch time. Finding a seat during this time here is like finding a penguin in the North Pole. So, as I sat on the chair the man suddenly lost his concentration on the food and noticed me. He waited for five seconds and then in his heavy baritone which was heavily accented, pointed to the chair next to me and said, "Someone is
coming."
I was daydreaming and without paying much attention to what he said I replied, "Yes, I am with a friend and he will be
joining me in a couple of minutes." He nodded his head vehemently like a pendulum and said "No, I mean friends
of mine are going join me here", by which he meant that both the chairs were reserved. Still daydreaming and without
realising what he just said, I said O.K...
Then before his friends, mine arrived at the table and I asked him to sit down. This made the man (sitting opposite to me) very upset. He said, "What is this!" I saw left, I saw right and then looked at him quizzically. He then widened his eyes, looked at me and said, "My friends are coming here." This made
me realise what he was trying to say earlier. Normally I don't like getting in duels, am a calm person who has hardly
ever fought or argued for that matter with anyone.
So like it happens, like a gentleman I should have left the chair and started to search for a new one. But they say
everybody has a dark side, and out of nowhere, mine woke up. I replied to his question by throwing back another which led us to a verbal duel:
Me: Did you reserve these chairs?
curvy Tummy Man (CTM): What!
Me : DID YOU RESERVE THESE CHAIRS?!
CTM: What do you mean?
Me: Can a person reserve a chair here?
CTM: No one can reserve a chair.
Me: See! Exactly my point.
CTM: You are not supposed to sit on this chair.
Me: Why! did you reserve it?
CTM (upset and angry): I had already told you my friends are coming.
Me: Hmmm, my friend has come first, did you reserve the chair?
CTM (his face turned red): wHAT?
Me: No, see... then first come first serve.
Then he mumbled something in his native tongue to himself and looked at me furiously.
CTM: What is your name?
Me (blank face): ... (silence)
CTM: What is your email id?
Me (blank face): ... (silence)
CTM: What is..
Me (interrupting): Please...i am not in a mood to fight. Let me have my lunch.
He bowed down and made an unsuccessful attempt to see my name on my Id card,
which by the way was very well veiled between my chest and the table as if it were stratigically placed(on purpose).
Silence for 2 minutes. Then he saw his friends, a lady and a gentelman, coming to this table. This made him super furious.
This time he straightened his backbone and sat as tall as possible, like a snake preparing itslef to attack its prey with
vengeance.
CTM (in a shrill voice again): What is your mail Id?
me (blank face): ...(silence)
CTM (shriller voice): What is your mail id?
me (blank face): ...(silence)
CTM (shrillest this time like an opera singer): What is your...
People in the vicinity realised something happening and diverted their attention to our table.
Me(blank face): Not interested!!!
People started laughing as if I had cracked some kind of a joke. His face turned as red as a tomato.
By this time I saw his friends standing with a plate in their hand 10 feet near the table
unaware of situation here.
This made me feel guilty. I should have left the chair in the first place. I am not the kind of a person who picks up fights,
and that too with a person 15-20 years older than me who could possibly be my boss' friend or even my future boss! I was feeling
guilty, not because I was afraid of him but because I was wrong in the first place. I should have left the chair in the beginning.
My previous answer had made him really furious. Now he stood up and looked at me like a fired up, wounded boxer and clenched
his fists so tight as if he wanted to trap air in it like an air tight container.
I thought its my mistake and its time to apologise. But before I could say anything..
CTM: How dare you talk to me like that? Huhhhhh... How dare you?!
(he was inhaling and exhaling like a raging bull)
I thought this is the right time, it was my mistake, admit it like a man, apologise. There is nothing to be ashamed of.
Apologise, apologise...
CTM (his words banging my ears suddenly) : HOW DARE...
Me (I interrupted!!!): First things First , I don't appreciate the way you are talking to me.
Secondly, I am not anwerable to you so you cannot demand me for anything, let alone my mail id.
(In my head)What?!! what did you just say?! I was suppose to apologize...
CTM: You..(I interrupt again!!!)
Me (pointing a finger towards him): Don't you say anymore..
(In my head)I am as shocked as he is. What am I doing.. apologize, apologize..
CTM: Yo....(I interrupt again!!!)
Me (I stand up): CHOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPPPP... (which means "SHUT UP!" in hindi, and also has a story of its own which I'll tell later)
This was too much for him to handle. He stands up, moaning like a lamb. And with his "HEALTH THALI" in one hand and a bag in other leaves the table.
At that moment I thought , what the f***! Who am I? What have I done?! What was that...and took a couple of deep breaths.
I let myself calm down and searched for answers. And finally I realised, this was my "DARK SIDE", my ego which despite
knowing the fact that I was wrong didn't let me do the right thing.
This is an experience which has helped me learn something about controlling myself. Now, I know I may not be able to
control things around, but I can control myself, and if I can control myself I can always control the outcome.
Yes, I have a darkside and I don't like it, but I want to keep it because
I know I can channelise it and use it for the greater good.
;) ;)
