7 pm:
Looking good, feeling good, happy, grateful.. I step out. Yeah its PARTY time!!!!
Monika texts me she has reached Noida and is at the guy friend's sisters house, really close to the club. And that her phone is dangerously low on battery. But she will see me outside the club at 9pm. Done!
7:15pm-
I struggle through a jam just to get to the Metro Station.
Upon reaching the Metro station. Was EVERYONE is looking at ME..? Yes? Yes.
Because of what I was wearing? Obviously.
And was it unusually crowded or was it just in my head? I wondered away..
I walk into the station only to be turned away by a coarse looking cop..
'Metro kharaab ho gai hai.. kal subeh tak theek hogi..'
(The metro headed to Central Delhi had some electrical fault and was out of service for the night.)
HUHH!!!! Panic! OH NO! How can this be?!! No WAY! It has never broken down before..at least not in the last three months. Yes, there are delays, but never has it given up...COMPLETELY. FOR THE ENTIRE NIGHT!!
WHAT to do! ??
SIMPLE. I'll take a cab till Central Delhi and then I will get onto the Metro... I know it is not safe to do that all by myself, so I walk out to a group of girls. I get scanned from top to bottom again. Typical Delhi girl behaviour. Huh! I try to find out if even one of them was headed in the same direction.. none of them was. Most were waiting for their cabs.
Fine! I'll just get my own cab!! Nevermind the risk.. I have to get there! Three people are waiting for me. Monika has traveled TEN hours for this.. AND I HAVE ALL THE PASSES!
Quick cab, Easy cab, Meru Cab, etc etc etc..kept me on hold for fifteen mins each only to send me a text later that 'they were unable to process my request' because everyone was using the cabs to get to Delhi.
8.30pm:
Am still stuck outside the Metro station. I had a cab drivers number in my cell, but I could not recall when and where had he given me a ride or his phone number.. was he the one who had helped me look for an accommodation in Gurgaon? Maybe.
I called him up. He was dead tired, said he had a long day, and was not in a position to drive. None of his other drivers were available. To my amusement, he was suspicious of me!! He could not recall how he knew me. Such is the curse of big cities, for all the crime that happens, such are the times that a cab driver interrogates someone who wants to use his cab!!! Even if it is a girl. I got furios and started shouting at him.. 'Why are YOU scared?? I should be the one who should be scared, travelling at this hour, alone!!' He says, 'Are you alone? Then I can't send any of my drivers, I will have to drop you MYSELF!! You wait Madam, I will be there in fifteen minutes."...'Umm..ok, I am waiting(gulp)!'. A corporate fellow was standing next to me, looking at me apologetically.
There was a sweet expecting lady standing on the other side,waiting for her husband, listening to the whole conversation..I started talking to her, for her expressive eyes were saying so much. I was sharing my predicament with her but the gut feeling, that most girls are blessed with, was getting stronger..'This is not right, don't do it Richa, don't go with this cab guy'...I was asking the lady the best place from where I could take the connecting Metro. In the meanwhile, the corporate guy - about 35 years of age joined in. He was conversant wth the routes and guided me well. Courtesy the gut feeling plus brainwave number two, I blurted out,.. 'Do you know of a trustworthy cab driver working with your Company or somewhere who could drop me.. I would pay him the right fare or more. I just feel that it would be safer than the shady driver I am waiting for!'. He looked at me from head to toe and said, 'I will let you know in a bit." In the meanwhile, I wait for the cab, sulk and text Monika that I will be late.
How could getting to Noida be tougher than getting to Europe?!!!
To be continued...
Looking good, feeling good, happy, grateful.. I step out. Yeah its PARTY time!!!!
Monika texts me she has reached Noida and is at the guy friend's sisters house, really close to the club. And that her phone is dangerously low on battery. But she will see me outside the club at 9pm. Done!
7:15pm-
I struggle through a jam just to get to the Metro Station.
Upon reaching the Metro station. Was EVERYONE is looking at ME..? Yes? Yes.
Because of what I was wearing? Obviously.
And was it unusually crowded or was it just in my head? I wondered away..
I walk into the station only to be turned away by a coarse looking cop..
'Metro kharaab ho gai hai.. kal subeh tak theek hogi..'
(The metro headed to Central Delhi had some electrical fault and was out of service for the night.)
HUHH!!!! Panic! OH NO! How can this be?!! No WAY! It has never broken down before..at least not in the last three months. Yes, there are delays, but never has it given up...COMPLETELY. FOR THE ENTIRE NIGHT!!
WHAT to do! ??
SIMPLE. I'll take a cab till Central Delhi and then I will get onto the Metro... I know it is not safe to do that all by myself, so I walk out to a group of girls. I get scanned from top to bottom again. Typical Delhi girl behaviour. Huh! I try to find out if even one of them was headed in the same direction.. none of them was. Most were waiting for their cabs.
Fine! I'll just get my own cab!! Nevermind the risk.. I have to get there! Three people are waiting for me. Monika has traveled TEN hours for this.. AND I HAVE ALL THE PASSES!
Quick cab, Easy cab, Meru Cab, etc etc etc..kept me on hold for fifteen mins each only to send me a text later that 'they were unable to process my request' because everyone was using the cabs to get to Delhi.
8.30pm:
Am still stuck outside the Metro station. I had a cab drivers number in my cell, but I could not recall when and where had he given me a ride or his phone number.. was he the one who had helped me look for an accommodation in Gurgaon? Maybe.
I called him up. He was dead tired, said he had a long day, and was not in a position to drive. None of his other drivers were available. To my amusement, he was suspicious of me!! He could not recall how he knew me. Such is the curse of big cities, for all the crime that happens, such are the times that a cab driver interrogates someone who wants to use his cab!!! Even if it is a girl. I got furios and started shouting at him.. 'Why are YOU scared?? I should be the one who should be scared, travelling at this hour, alone!!' He says, 'Are you alone? Then I can't send any of my drivers, I will have to drop you MYSELF!! You wait Madam, I will be there in fifteen minutes."...'Umm..ok, I am waiting(gulp)!'. A corporate fellow was standing next to me, looking at me apologetically.
There was a sweet expecting lady standing on the other side,waiting for her husband, listening to the whole conversation..I started talking to her, for her expressive eyes were saying so much. I was sharing my predicament with her but the gut feeling, that most girls are blessed with, was getting stronger..'This is not right, don't do it Richa, don't go with this cab guy'...I was asking the lady the best place from where I could take the connecting Metro. In the meanwhile, the corporate guy - about 35 years of age joined in. He was conversant wth the routes and guided me well. Courtesy the gut feeling plus brainwave number two, I blurted out,.. 'Do you know of a trustworthy cab driver working with your Company or somewhere who could drop me.. I would pay him the right fare or more. I just feel that it would be safer than the shady driver I am waiting for!'. He looked at me from head to toe and said, 'I will let you know in a bit." In the meanwhile, I wait for the cab, sulk and text Monika that I will be late.
How could getting to Noida be tougher than getting to Europe?!!!
To be continued...
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