Are you waiting for Mr Right?

CHENNAI: Typical mornings for any single woman include the self assuring mantra, “Maybe today is the day I am going to bump into him!” I was no different. Calling myself ‘a hardcore believer in destiny’ only widened my horizon of ways in which I could meet my Mr Perfect. Single women, please remember to dream big, not because they will remain just dreams but because they cost nothing and remain secret! Being a journalist did not make it easier on my imagination either. Weird fantasies varying from war scenes with defence personnel to melodramatic tragedies turned love stories flooded my head. On a not-so-typical morning, I was at a TOEFL centre in Chennai, waiting to enter the examination hall, when a good looking guy caught my eye. They say that first impressions are most often made based on how the person looks. The killer looks of the guy in front of me left me a little less electrified than shocked.“Was he the one? Was I going to bump into him on some random flight?” I fought all those questions and made some drastic assumptions so that I could get on with my exam. I also told myself that I would never make the first move unless I was sure. Naïve as it might sound, I (a die hard fan of the book The Alchemist), was secretly looking for omens. Crazy months followed and I moved to another city. On a night, when I was more homesick than lovesick, I paid through my nose for a luxury class bus ticket back to Chennai. After three hours of excitement, three cups of green tea and thrice the meter’s tariff donated to the auto rickshaw guy, I reached the bus 15 minutes late. Thank God for the luxury (to be able to board late)! I settled down on my seat, plugged in my iPod that was playing ‘The Beatles’ number  She loves you... and started cursing mobile service providers for the lack of signal. When I turned to ask the steward for a glass of water, I saw “Mr TOEFL” seated right there, meddling with his phone and giggling away uncontrollably. I stared at him shamelessly, justifying it as an act of disbelief. “What were the odds?” I thought. It was a mundane Thursday and we were in another city! The omens were right in front of me and I remembered that I had to make the move this time. “Dude, did you take the TOEFL exam in January?” I asked with an innocent face. The affirmative answer confirmed that he was THE GUY! Thanks to our common possession – the iPhone, the next five hours were fun, funny and formidable. I got off the bus at CMBT and let my life linger in destiny’s jurisdiction again. Under my nose I muttered, “I will definitely ask him out the next time we bump into each other!” For now, I’m addicted to being single in the city!