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Online?

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She smiled as she read the chat.

‘Online?’

Just one word, yet, it made her smile. While typing out a yes, she wondered whether or not to add a smiley to go along with it… whether just the yes would sound rude to this overtly polite guy, or would the smiley give him an impression that she was anxiously waiting for his message. She chided herself for not having been active in the dating game in her younger days so she would know the nuances on how to, what to and what not to by now.

To her dismay, he found Milan to be a very nice guy, who spoke and behaved well, she felt quite comfortable around him. After lunch, they went to the nearby park and from there chose to walk back till her apartment. On their way back, Milan asked her if she enjoyed the afternoon with him, though she answered a simple ‘it was fine’, her smile revealed a lot more and he caught the twinkle in her eyes and smiled back. That cute boyish grin, again. Something happened to her when he smiled at her like that, her tummy was feeling all queasy.

“May I have your gtalk id? I assume you do come online once in a while.”

What!! Asha was expecting him to ask for her phone number, but here, this guy was asking for her gtalk id. 

Maybe seeing the puzzled expression on her face, he offered an explanation, “If I take your number and call you, you wouldn’t be able to avoid me without feeling bad about it yourself; but if I ping you when I come online, you can always go invisible or blame it on the bad network .“ Asha couldn’t help but smile and gladly wrote it down for him.

She replied, ‘yes :)’

She didn’t care what he thought of her, she was glad he pinged her and she would show her true feeling no matter what he thought about her.

She could tell by his reply that he was glad too that she replied and they talked for a long time after that, discussing books, music, politics, her dreams on being a journalist, his dreams on making it big in advertising. She felt good about it all, till now, she found no blemish on his character, or as much as he showed to her. 

*********************************************************************************


Girls in India are caught in the drift when they reach a particular age. They suddenly face a dilemma as to what to focus on in their life, whether to make a career and ensure a living or to get married and secure their life. Girls who remain single after the so called marriageable age are frowned upon by the society and are considered a burden for their families.
Throughout the month of April, thanks to the AtoZ Challenge, I am trying to portray the life of Asha, a common Indian girl with dreams and aspirations. Everyday we focus on one alphabet starting from A on April 1st till Z on April 30th. Stick with me till the end of the journey and do tell me what you think of my writing and my Asha.



A - An Arranged Marriage
B - Bridal Dreams
C - Cherubs From Heaven
D - Rusty Dusty Delhi
E - Ernakulam 
F - Fretting Over F.R.I.E.N.D.S & Fiancé
G - Gratifying Rendezvous
H - Hospitality Crash Course
I - I Love You??!!
J - Journalism's Joy
K - Krishna
L - Love, Longing & Life
M - Milan - A Meeting
N- Noodles, Nimbu Paani & A Nice Guy
O - Online?
P - Phone Number
Q - Questions!
R - Risks
S - Some Soul Searching
T - Timeless Tableau, A Twist in The Tale
U - Union

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Comments

  1. Sridevi 1974April 17, 2013 at 8:56 AM

    So the love story takes off ??? Pleeez let there be no glitch :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bhavya NApril 17, 2013 at 5:40 PM

      I definitely hope this ship will sail through smooth :)

      Delete
  2. Afshan ShaikApril 17, 2013 at 10:04 AM

    oh God !! am a curious cAT now . want to know the ending :D
    anyway I am liking this guy day by day
    Please make it a happy ending !! and I wish I too knew more about dating during my teens :P
    Liked it bhavya

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bhavya NApril 17, 2013 at 5:44 PM

      He he :)
      Thank you for sharing the excitement you felt :)
      Its really an out of the world experience when people are interested in your writing. I am the happiest person on Earth now :) :)

      Delete
  3. Corinne RodriguesApril 17, 2013 at 10:37 AM

    Keeping my fingers crossed for a happy ending...but take your time, I'm enjoying this!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bhavya NApril 17, 2013 at 5:52 PM

      Thank you Corinne. I need to push myself till Z to come up with an ending that justifies the beginning. :)

      Delete
  4. AnonymousApril 17, 2013 at 11:07 AM

    ah... love in their hearts... ! I love this :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. BeeApril 17, 2013 at 11:50 AM

    OMG...the opening is just wow...to smiley or not to smiley :) Yeh Dil maange more :) Cheers, L

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bhavya NApril 17, 2013 at 5:55 PM

      Thank you so much. Every word of appreciation you guys give means so much to me :)

      Delete
  6. Shilpa GargApril 17, 2013 at 12:36 PM

    Wow! Milan is such a thoughtful guy! Liked the concept of asking for her gtalk id! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bhavya NApril 17, 2013 at 5:56 PM

      Milan, how I wish he would fall for me instead of my character :P

      Delete
  7. AnonymousApril 17, 2013 at 12:40 PM

    First time here Bhavya. I've not read the previous posts but this post was great and I'm quite curious to know the ending.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bhavya NApril 17, 2013 at 5:57 PM

      Thank you so much for coming by. If you do have time, and if you so wish, read up on the other posts so you will know Asha's entire story :)

      Delete
  8. NBoseApril 17, 2013 at 1:15 PM

    I am now hopping to read your previous posts...you are a good storyteller :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bhavya NApril 17, 2013 at 5:59 PM

      Thank you. At times when I write, I wonder if it all makes any sense, 90% of the time, I hit the Post button without re-reading what I have written.

      Delete
  9. Cynthia Rodrigues ManchekarApril 17, 2013 at 2:43 PM

    Poor girl (and poor us) she has to wait for the the end of the month for her love story to have a happy ending.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bhavya NApril 17, 2013 at 5:59 PM

      And poor me, I need to think up a continuation to this tale everyday, that to corresponding to that day's alphabet! :)

      Delete
  10. Mandy BohganApril 17, 2013 at 5:30 PM

    ohh I hope he doesn't turn out to be horrible! :o

    ReplyDelete
  11. ShailApril 17, 2013 at 7:09 PM

    All the world loves a lover, they say. As for me I am a die-hard romantic at heart. So, enjoying this story :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bhavya NApril 18, 2013 at 11:43 AM

      Thanks Shail, I was afraid I am the only one remaining of the creed :)

      Delete
  12. JANUApril 17, 2013 at 8:05 PM

    Sigh! wish I knew who this Milan is? Want to meet this guy personally.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bhavya NApril 18, 2013 at 11:46 AM

      If you do happen to meet him, ask him to get back into my head ;)

      Delete
  13. UnknownApril 17, 2013 at 9:02 PM

    Now I am admiring Milan!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Amber T. SmithApril 17, 2013 at 10:38 PM

    Lovely piece of fiction!! And timely, too, what with the current craze for doing almost *everything* online!!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bhavya NApril 18, 2013 at 11:47 AM

      You're welcome Amber, and I appreciate you liking my writing :)
      Means a great deal to me.
      Thanks again.

      Delete
  15. moondustwriterApril 17, 2013 at 11:00 PM

    went back to play catch up
    Like the way you have her dialoguing in her head (so like a woman)
    great start with the relationship
    I makes it kinda fun to not know as the writer what is next
    do the comments from people help???

    Happy A to Z
    will be back

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bhavya NApril 18, 2013 at 11:59 AM

      Aww, thanks so much :)
      This story is spontaneous and not planned out previously; so your comments do help me plan out how the story should go forth :)

      Delete
  16. UnknownApril 18, 2013 at 1:08 AM

    Hmmm... this guy seems to be too good to be true...insert evil flaw!!! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bhavya NApril 18, 2013 at 12:12 PM

      He he :)
      What evil flaw shall we bring in? :D

      Delete
  17. UnknownApril 18, 2013 at 11:47 AM

    Such a wonderful flair with words. Impeccable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bhavya NApril 18, 2013 at 12:13 PM

      Oh! Pallavi, that was a huge thing to say. Thank you :)

      Delete
  18. BevimusApril 25, 2013 at 12:31 AM

    I get the feeling she'll be eating her words about those silly girls who go weak in the knees over a guy pretty soon! ^_^

    ReplyDelete

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