Episode THR3E

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'Oh, I'd love to. But i've already made plans with some batchmates of mine.  I've just come to Mumbai, and last weekend I was busy setting up my house. I have to meet them today'

'Arre, no issues. We're anyway here nearly all the time, and I also have to get up early tomorrow.'

'Maybe next week sometime. A celebration is definitely in order'

'Hmm. Lets see', grunted Warney. He was trying to pass it off as 'no big deal', but in truth he was quite dejected. His first attempt to ask her out had been quickly and easily dismissed. He probably shouldn't have tried at all. After all, why would pretty-gal here wanna spend any more time with him. She was probably gonna meet her boyfriend in the evening. If not, she was probably gonna be on the phone with him for a long, long time.

(15 minutes later, in an auto-rickshaw, still feeling bad)  'Wait a minute. She did say next week sometime. Maybe she really had to meet some friends. Maybe I'm being a little unreasonable here. Let's see if this comes up next week.'

'But if she had other plans for today, there was still the rest of the weekend. "Next week" is just a polite way of saying no.'

'Hang on. She's a girl. In fact, she's THE pretty-girl. Obviously, she wouldn't suggest the weekend. That'd amount to her asking me out. Next week is probably the best she could have done, if she really is open/interested'

'But she probably has a boyfriend. Girl like that can't NOT have one. Especially one from an IIM. She probably had 50 guys chasing her there. Surely, one would've succeeded. If no one did, she perhaps isn't interested in a relationship. Why am I even wasting my time thinking about all this? I have to work with her, and I'm just getting started here. Any nonsense between us wouldn't help me with my job. Cool, Warney, Cool.' 

And, finally, Warney diverted his thoughts to other things.

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The alarm went off at 8:35 am. It was 'snoozed'. 8:45 am. Snoozed again...

Warney woke up with a start, and looked at the clock. 'FACK!! 9:15? I'd set this damn thing for 8:35, and was supposed to get up by 9 at worst. There's no freakin way I'm reaching Marine Lines by 10!!'

Fortunately, Boys' Hostel hadn't been very long back, and Warney still remembered the 'rush-brush-splash-dash' routine. He was in a cab by 9:35. He reached the Cricket ground by 10:05, and was relieved to find only 10 people there. By 10:30, they had 16, and divided themselves into two teams. Warney's team was batting.

They didn't start too well, and lost wickets regularly. Warney went in to bat at 44/5 in the 6th over, with only one more batsman to follow. 100 was considered a good score for these 12-overs-a-side games, and anything below 75 would not even have been challenging. Warney was confused. Should he bat with proper technique, footwork etc., and wait for the bad balls? That'd definitely make a good impression on everyone. He didn't want to bat this low in the order again. Conversely, he could just go with his natural game, and try and get his teams some runs to bring this match back to life. His main skill was leg-spin, and he wouldn't get a chance to display it if there were no runs on the board. Still undecided, he took a deep breath and a proper, defensive stance with his grip a little firmer than it would be for only-defense-play.

The first ball he received was a half-tracker on leg-stump. Before Warney could 'think', he'd leant back and swung with authority. The ball sailed over mid-wicket, and his whole team applauded! That calmed him down, and he took guard again, less worried about the result this time. Another short ball, another mighty swing, another 6 over mid-wicket, and a lot more applause! Warney had arrived. The bowler looked exasperated - he had no idea what he was doing wrong and what he should try next. He got some advice from his captain, and bowled one outside off, beating a wild leg-side swing from Warney. 'That would've looked stupid. Concentrate! 6 over mid-wicket isn't the only way to score. Focus!'

The next ball, straigher, was hit back past the bowler for 2. And the last one was carved over point for 4. The crowd warmed to Warney, and he began feeling like God-with-a-bat. He took his team to 114 all out in the last over, scoring 52 off 16 himself. He also played his part with the ball in their 42-run victory, though it wasn't nearly as spectacular as his innings with the bat.

In the second game, his team-mates asked him to open the batting, but Warney didn't like doing that, and said he'd go in at no.3. The first wicket fell on the 3rd ball with the score on 1. Warney said it was still too early. Another guy went in and was dismissed first-ball. Now the stage was set for Warney the showman!

The Sardar bowler tried a bouncer for his hat-trick. Warney hooked it with total self-belief, but got a bit of a top edge. After a couple of nervous moments, the ball plopped about two feet behind the fielder and the rope. Warney, though shaken to the core, pumped his fist and showed off a bit. A couple of balls and 2 runs later, he edged one to the keeper. The umpire didn't detect it, but Warney walked. Once back, his team-mates explained that walking was simply NOT done here. While they appreciated his 'spirit', no one ever wanted to see him do it again! He bowled even  better in this game, but it was already a lost cause. 

Being a perfectionist, Warney wasn't completely satisfied with his performance on the day, but happy with his first innings and knew he'd made enough of an impression to be seriously considered for the Corp. squad.

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'Warney nahin, Sanath hai yeh', said Jatin. Warney was thrilled and felt damn proud. But he wasn't sure how to deal with this attention at the Monday morning team meeting in office, and didn't react visibly. Divya asked a couple of questions, just being polite, and got an unnecessarily long account of Warney's Saturday cricket act from Jatin. Preeti was smiling, as usual, and looked impressed. But Warney didn't think she cared too much about office cricket, and was also just being polite. 

Having had enough of the fun and games by now, Shubh took charge of the meeting and started rattling off "to-do's" for all of them. It was going to be a very busy week. In fact, Warney realized, life was going to be very busy as long as they worked under Shubh. He made notes on all the things Shubh told him to do, and also put down some of his own thoughts on how he would be doing it. Warney also had a few passing thoughts about Preeti and how much interaction they'd have this week, but quickly put those away to focus on the tons of work.

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Warney sat opposite Preeti at the lunch table, between Neil and Ragini, with Muthu placed between the two girls. The 5 of them were the "RCLG Batch of '08". Muthu and Neil were on the same team, and old friends from the same campus. Ragini was the only newbie on her team. Though stationed on the same floor, they all kept very busy and didn't get to spend a lot of time together. The idea was to meet for lunch on any day they could, but that didn't happen more than once or twice a week.

'Guys!', started Neil - always the enthu-cutlet, 'We're in this misery together. This bank is going to leave me deprived of friends and a life very soon. All we have is each other.'

'Yeah man! We're brothers', said Muthu, hitting his chest with his fist, and speaking with a mock accent, 'and sistahs! Wuss yer point, yo?'

'Point is - we should hang out! And NOT talk about work for a change. Lets get to know each other - as people'

Neil waited to see how the others reacted. Everyone seemed OK with the idea.

'How about - we all go to Mocha after work on Friday?'

Rags wasn't sure she could make it on Friday, as it was her house-mate's birthday, but said she'd try. Everyone else agreed, and it was a plan.

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'Muthu, where are you, man?'

'Sorry, da. Boss gave us a shit-load of work to finish by Monday morning. Will be in office late tonight. Also working all of tomorrow, and probably Sunday.'

'Dude! This was your plan. Preeti and I are already here, and Rags isn't coming.'

'Sorry, da. I know I made the plan, and I really want to come, but there's too much work' 

'Seriously, man. You both have already worked your butts off all week. You need a break! Come on, you can finish this on the weekend.'

'Hmm... lemme discuss this with Neil. I'll let you know in 10 min if we can make it'

'Ok. I'll see you in 30'

Warney hung up, and turned to Preeti. 'Oh well, looks like it's just gonna be the two of us... It's a date!'

(Continued here)