THE ATM AND COFFEE HOUSE QUEST

She had been showing inclination to return home for her birthday so I asked her if she would meet in case she managed to come. She agreed and we decided to meet on the 22nd of January 2010, one day after her 24th birthday.
We decided to meet again at the Great India Place in Noida in the afternoon and she came there just before 1 pm. She was wearing a purple jacket and was looking very pretty (as always). She wanted to withdraw some cash from an ATM and we needed to locate a PNB ATM for that. She led the way as she knew where it was. After some sightseeing at the Atta market we(rather she) located the ATM. When she exited the ATM she came out looking disappointed. She didn’t remember the correct PIN [:D]. Having no other option, I suggested that we take the metro to Connaught Place(CP) in Delhi, have lunch there and stroll around the area and then finally return back to Noida. Loitering around(she calls it walking) is her “hobby” [:D]. But as she had just washed her hair she needed to visit the restroom to tie her hair and once she was done we took the metro to CP. Once on board the metro she suddenly remembered, that the she had been entering the PIN for the wrong ATM card and then smiled innocently. She looked cute. We decided to try our luck with the ATM card at CP.
We(rather I :)) had decided to get down at the Barakhamba Road Metro Station, the reason being it was very close to the Antriksha Bhawan whose top floor housed Parikrama, Delhi’s only revolving roof top restaurant. After a 40 minute ride we alighted from the metro and located the restaurant soon enough. We were barely 50 m from the entrance when ma’am declared she wasn’t hungry [:)]. I guess she still hasn’t gotten over the trauma at Pizza Hut. She suggested that we see CP first and as she hadn’t been around CP much I agreed.
After a 5 minute walk we reached the Connaught Circus. Much of the place had the look of a construction/renovation zone. There were diversions, scaffoldings and men with helmets at every corner. However most of the shops were open and the street market was also set up. She used to slow down at every street market stall and have a good look. Every time she slowed down, I had an urge to ask her if she would like to buy anything but then I suppressed it as I didn’t know how she would react. But street side stalls make her really happy. Her eyes glowed every time her sight fell upon the jewellery and other fashionable stuff.
After every 100 metres she reminded me look out for a PNB ATM. We came across ATMs of all banks but PNB eluded us. We then proceeded to the Central Park and the Palika Market but we were out of there soon enough. With her I realized a market is girls’ heaven. It is what beer bars are to some men. Females get a kick out of visiting markets. Shopping centers are a girl’s opium[:D]. We returned to loitering around in the CP. Somehow we managed to locate a PNB ATM and ma’am carried out her transactions. I was also thoroughly enjoying our Brownian Motion through the alleys and corridors of Connaught Circus and Outer Circle. Every now and then I would ask if she was hungry now [:D] but it turns out females can get nutrition out of window shopping [:P].
She finally expressed the desire to have some coffee but at some famous coffee in CP about which she had read in the newspapers a few years back. The problem was she didn’t remember its name. We asked a lot of people and every directed us to the United Coffee House and Bar but she was sure that wasn’t the place she had read about. So I finally decided to google for it and page rank came to my rescue. It listed United Coffee House and Indian Coffee Home as the first 2 results. We decided to head for the latter. Google told us it was on the Baba Khadak Singh Marg (don’t know who names roads or even people like that :D). We decided to have coffee quickly and then move to Parikrama for a meal. We nearly reached Parikrama again when she decided to prick by bubble and said she wasn’t feeling like going to Parikrama but then quickly promised to do it next time we meet. I trust her so I agreed. Also since I had asked her to come, I wanted it to go better than last time ( for her :D).
We asked a few more people about the India Coffee Home and Baba Khadak Singh Marg. Everyone pointed us to a Hanuman Mandir and said it was close to it. However it did not help much. Then suddenly like a bolt from the blue an elderly gentleman stopped us and asked us if we wanted to go to the India Coffee Home. He then told us the correct way to it. And soon we were on the way through rows of street side stalls and her eyes were wide open and glowing again.
It was already past 4 and she had promised her uncle she would be at his work place by 5. We reached the Coffee House at 4:20 pm and we ordered filter coffee and a masala dosa each. The coffee house had an informal yet intellectual feel about and was nearly full. Both of us liked the ambience and I was  really happy that she was happy to be there. We rushed through our meals and made a run for the Rajiv Chowk Metro Station. Uncle called again and she said she would be with him in 20 mins! The travel time is 40 mins and with a change of trains at Yamuna Bank there was no way were going to meet that deadline.
Somehow we boarded the train and uncle called again and again and she kept getting more and more nervous. She smiles innocently when she is nervous. In fact, she even giggles. And she insisted that I see uncle. Now it was my turn to be nervous. I didn’t want to spoil the day for her. So I told her to spin a yarn and I would stay shut (the logic was the less I spoke the lesser I would mess up. At worst, uncle would assume she has a really dumb friend ).
We got down at the metro station 30 minutes later than what uncle had expected and he was waiting a little distance from the station. Both of us sat in the car. I wished uncle and switched to dumb mode. Uncle asked a few nice questions and I was quiet again. On the way uncle stopped for some work and we said our thank yous to each other. Uncle very kindly dropped me at a place where I easily found transport for my home.
The day turned out to be totally different from what I had imagined it to be. But its a day that I’ll never forget. This day is etched in my memory forever and I guess in the future when I sit back and think about, it would make me smile. Thanks to her for making it so special. Its just that with special people one doesn’t need special places to create special moments. Moments are born out of people and the connection they share. The place where it happens is merely a spectator and becomes special even if it is a bank ATM or a coffee house.

9 comments to THE ATM AND COFFEE HOUSE QUEST

  • Abhigya  says:

    @chatur-hmmm kuch na kuch to hota hi rehta hai[:P]…and i dont dream of noodles…and i m no kung fu crazy panda…i dream of thngs much more important and animated than noodles [:D]

  • Chatur  says:

    oh come on Po…have u had the noodles dream yet?

  • Chatur  says:

    i dont know…..but seems like kuch to hua hai, kuch ho gaya hai…do chaar din se lagta hai jaise sab kuch alag hai sab kuch naya hai…..

    holy mother of god!…u got me rhyming now!!!…..

  • Abhigya  says:

    @chatur-what's changed in me dude? kindly elaborate…i m the same yaar…and yeah the india coffee house us a nice place

  • Chatur  says:

    oh the “india coffee house”?….its not “home”….although i m sure u would feel at home, given the company and your affinity for dosas….
    nice place….i hope u have more time for delhi the next time…

    wao!, reading how u maintained ur golden silence, uncle would definitely be impressed…..he would have certainly thought that u were special….probably thats why he dropped u to a place near ur “home”!….hahaha

    but good job with the post….man!….look at ur self….hahaha…..some people change…..keep it up

  • Abhigya  says:

    @ritesh-thanks bro
    @abhay-am glad i wrote the entire post :D…and this directive by RBI has since been withdrawn…and its been withdrawn some 4 months back…so now u know the reason why the 2 of us were after a PNB ATM [:D]

  • Abhay  says:

    btw why were u both after PNB ATM??
    have a look at this,might be of some help [:p] ->

    http://www.binterest.com/free-withdraw-money-from-any-banks-atm-in-india/

    “As per the Directive Notice issued by the Reserve Bank of India, Any banks in India cannot charge you for use of other bank’s ATM for Money Withdrawal and balance Inquire. The Notice by the Reserve Bank of India about the free usage of any ATM in the India have came to effect on 1st April 2009.”

  • Abhay  says:

    m glad u wrote this last para…

  • Ritesh  says:

    awesome yaar, specially the last para, very truly said indeed…….
    a true mirror to her sweet-girly traits… i m sure these would be great moments for her also…
    aur overall to har blog ki tarah ye blog bhi godly hai … keep rocking bhaiya …

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