“Hey! Please tell me your story na? How did you guys meet? Where did you meet? Who said what? I am curious!”.
Since 12th May 2019, these questions have slowly become a new constant in my life. Now, under an ideal scenario, answering them would have brought a brisk smile on my face while taking me to one of the most cherishing memories since September 1989. But then, ideal life is a myth, isn’t it?
Exactly a year back, while sitting at the IIM Bangalore campus, I did not know that my love for the McDonald's, or McD as the restaurant chain is popularly addressed as would soon get etched so profoundly in my life that my story will technically be incomplete without its mention. I vividly recall as to how during my first visit to McD, I had embarrassingly spoiled my Blue colored college shirt by failing to properly open a stupid tomato ketchup sachet and had difficulty in adjusting my mouth to properly eat their burger – the first meetings are indeed memorable! Anyways, irrespective of whether I am at Punjab in the North, or Kerala in the South, or at Gujarat in the West, or Assam in the East, over the last 11 odd years, one thing which I have religiously done in India (and even in the USA) is to figure out the nearest McD and dine-in.
Well, yes, Saumya, as you would have understood by now, I met Shikha first at one of the McD restaurants. It was a typical arranged marriage setup and I recall being tensed. And why would I not be? A completely new individual whom I did not know at all then, was in search of a share of the warmth which till then had mostly been dedicated by me to McD, Dominos, Pepsi, and of course, Cricket. To my surprise, however, the tenseness had tossed off within the initial few minutes. Things clicked and nearly a couple of months down the line we both were engaged.
From our first meeting of February 2019 to today, we continue being headless chickens - wandering randomly in a disorganized and uncontrollable manner. We remain confident of not being able to answer most of the questions that life is constantly throwing upon us. We stay adamant about annoying each other to extremes and persistently live in distant and different cities.
But as we steadily move towards closing a year since that first meeting, we both have started taking baby-steps towards being there for each other, as a friend as a confidant. After all, every new entrant in the world first learns to take baby steps and then only starts running!
P.S: Hopefully, someday, we will be successful in revisiting that McD in Lucknow from where it all started!
😊
