31st Night

To say that Riah was feeling low would be an understatement. She was morbid. It is difficult for an attractive 22 year old not to have plans for New Year’s Eve but to have plans with her parents was a social disaster.

Still going out had seemed better than sitting at home and watching lame TV shows, with none of her friends in town the options were slim.

The 31st was on Sunday this year, it was a usual breakfast together ritual at Jaiswal residence. Ritesh and Bhavna were keeping up the banter to cheer up their daughter who they sensed was sulking

Ritesh: “Riah aren’t you excited about tonight’s party? I know I am.”

Riah: ” It’s ok Dad I know you’ll are going only because of me.”

Seeing his supposedly brilliant plan so quickly unravel he glanced helplessly at his wife

Bhavna: “Er yes dear it is lovely that we are spending the New Year together or are you sorry that you are stuck with your old folks.”

Riah could see the hurt in her mother’s eyes and felt ashamed

” No Mom you know how much I love spending time with you and Dad. It’s just everyone will make fun of me.”

Bhavna smiled: “Since when has Riah Jaiswal been worried about what others think of her”

Ritesh marveled at the warmth between mother and daughter though a tad jealous as they seemed to have forgotten all about him. Even after all these years he could see why he had fallen head over heels in love with Bhavna, she was everything a man could possibly want in his life partner and more. He was grateful to have such a loving wife and wonderful daughter.

Uncomfortable with this sudden rush of emotions he excused himself on the pretext of running some errands and left.

Riah saw her Mom wistfully looking at her the door as her Dad left. She knew her parents cared deeply about each other but they seldom spoke about their feelings.

Now it was her turn to do the cheering up bit

“Mom please help me decide what to wear tonight” As always that did the trick.

Having spent a considerable length of time on choosing the right outfit, pair of shoes and matching accessories Riah decided she had to do shopping but not until her next allowance. Unlike her friends, Riah had chosen to pursue further studies after completing B.Tech so she was still on a budget.

December is not an easy month for being in vogue what with the teeth-chattering cold dampening one’s style. Still Riah was pleased with her reflection, the midnight blue dress which was an impulse buy on her trip to Mumbai was quite elegant and chic. That paired with her ivory blazer was a total winner. She wished again that she was going out with her friends perhaps to a party with cute guys but this year was destined to have a sombre start.

They reached Madison Hotel at 8:00 p.m. the bellboy ushered them to the 7th floor terrace where the New Year bash was happening.

Riah had to admit the venue was spectacular. The entire setting was a vision of fuchsia and white with lily vines adorning the pillars of a canopy where there was Dj and dance floor. To add to the ambiance it was star-lit sky and the chill in the air was exciting.

Ritesh and Bhavna met some people they knew and Riah chose to wander away from the family seating area. It was almost 9:30 p.m. and the crowd had begun to pour in. In keeping with Madison standards no ruffians were allowed to the premises which meant everyone could enjoy themselves with ease.

It was near the dance floor that a group of boys caught Riah’s attention. There were 7 or 8 of them perhaps in their early 20 something like herself. They were keeping to themselves and joshing with one another to head to the dance floor. At the centre of this group was a tall, lean, slightly ruffled dark-haired boy with the most amazing smile Riah had seen.

She didn’t realize that she was staring at him until the handsome stranger looked at her slightly bemused. This is exactly when having a group of friends seems Godsend but all by herself Riah felt very vulnerable and nervous two erstwhile aliens feelings for her. So she did the next best thing turn around and went straight to her parents.

This was definitely not one of her shinning moments but at least this was safe. Little did she knew that her relief was short-lived.

Bhavna: “Why are you sitting with us you should dance and enjoy yourself.”

Riah(flabbergasted): ” Oh no I am absolutely fine.”

Ritesh: ” My dear daughter won’t you join me for a dance?”

The question was ofcourse a rhetoric one as Riah was already being dragged to the dance floor. She did her best to duck her head while moving past the group of boys.

On the dance floor she was a separate person, out there only music mattered and the fact that her father was with her made it all the more special. She knew her Dad couldn’t dance to save his life but he was her hero and he cared enough to make a fool of himself to make her smile.

Soon Riah was ruling the dance floor as the Dj belted all the popular Bollywood songs, her parents were happy to applaud from a distance. It was during one of these deafening peppy numbers her eyes met his again. He was dancing with his friends. Somehow she had hoped he would be a lousy dancer and she would have some edge over him. God wasn’t planning on being merciful because this guy moved like magic.

Thank Heavens for cell phones for it rang and Riah stepped out to the stairs to take the call. It was Samira her best friend.

Riah: “Hi Sammie, you won’t believe what happened.”

Samira: ” You are out with your parents…what can happen?”

Riah(rolling eyes): “Will you just listen to me?”

Samira: “Sorry sorry tell me.”

Riah:” The most handsome, dreamy…”

Samira: ” Yes…?”

The subject of Riah’s description was standing in front of her with that devastating smile of his.

Samira: “Hey you there…Hello Hello?”

Riah: “Hi”

The Guy: “Hi ”

Riah pointed at her phone indicating she was speaking to someone. In answer he laughed and pointed at his phone that he was on a call as well. For the next half an hour this happy co-incidence kept happening with both of them getting calls at more or less the same time.

It was almost midnight and the organizers had some prizes to give away. The Best Dancer female went to Riah, the Best Couple Dancers went to(surprise surprise) Bhavna and Ritesh and Best Dancer male went to Ketan the mysterious stranger.

The clock struck twelve and there was a chorus of “Happy New Year!”. Riah wished her parents, she was hugging her Mom when she saw Ketan lip the words Happy New Year to her.

Bhavna turned and saw a boy waving goodbye to her daughter.

She asked: “A friend of yours?”

Riah smiled: ” Mom thanks for bringing me to this party I had the best time ever.”

__END__