Deewane Mastane

It was my first marriage anniversary and there was a small get together of close friends at our new property we bought at Alibaug. And I was sure that the question would come up as to who proposed and how did all happen and everything connected with our love story. Shubhika and few of her friends were busy in the kitchen. I was already high on a few drinks so I just simply gave in to their demands.

 

Well, at the outset let me clarify that this is not my story. I come really late in picture. The main protagonist of this is my ex-girlfriend Sneha. Now, since we are not dating I am legally allowed to break the pact. I had promised her that I would not discuss it with anyone, but that was as long as we were dating.

 

So basically, the story goes back to around 3-4 years, when we were just fresh out of college. There were these three friends who had a big time crush on Sneha. They used to find ways and means to impress her and meet her, take her around and gift her stuff. Sneha just loved playing around with them. The strange part was all three were really close friends and none of them was ready to give up their crush for the other. So, all promises of 'main toh tere liye apni jaan tak de dunga' are total fake. Just don't believe in them.

 

It all started off with the college prom night. Unfortunately, even after a three years struggle all three of them were single. Not that they weren't good looking or smart, but sometimes even luck plays a pivotal role. I and Sneha were good friends then and so I asked her out for the prom night and she readily agreed. And tell you, when I went to pick her up, my mouth just opened up when she was walking down the stairs. She was looking super hot in the red outfit with just perfect makeup. So, it was obvious to fall head over heels on her that day.

 

That's when the real drama started. At the party, all three of them tried to woo her with their antics right from buying her a drink to dancing with her. Sneha hated such wannabe followers. Though, for a fact her fan following increased manifold that day. Just when Sneha was not around, the three of them surrounded me and asked me to leave the party at the earliest for my good. On the flip side, I induced them for a bet.

 

A simple bet which I knew was impossible for them to win.

"I give all three of you a chance to go on a date with her. If anyone of you successfully proposed her then I will walk away from you all. If not, you three will never show your face to us again. Deal?"

 

Casanova is what they thought of themselves. And I just played the old trump card, 'Divide and Rule'. Because the other two would never let the date go as per plan. Some twists and turns would spoil the date and that’s exactly what my plan was.

They knew it that today wasn’t their day and I was sure, with Sneha it can never be their day. So, just wanted to play along and watch the movie from behind the scenes.

Convincing Sneha was a task in itself. She was ready to shoot me dead, but eventually to my relief she gave in but for a big condition. To be revealed later on.

First to go was Abhishek. A 20 something, had his room filled with photos of cars and super bikes and dreamt to own some of them someday. His plan was to take Sneha on a long drive to Lonavla, spend the day together and come back; away from the hustle of the city. He persuaded his dad to let him drive the Merc for a day. I am sure he must have given up on a lot of stuff to convince his dad for this on treat. He did not tell the other two of his plans. And he was quite sure that they wouldn’t come miles away to spoil his date. He wanted to benefit from the fist mover advantage. Plus, he had a bungalow at Lonavla, all ready to welcome them. But they were his best friends, they somehow found out. And that was about it.

I came to know later on that it was a beautiful Bungalow facing the waterfalls, Sneha would surely have been impressed, typical girl likings you see. But, the Merc was never destined to reach the Bungalow. Why? That’s got to be an easy guess. Nope it wasn’t break failure, that was a huge risk his friends would not want to take. Abhishek had apparently made full proof plans. But he forgot that he had his best friends in competition. The petrol tank was full in the night and empty when they were half-way on the Mumbai-Pune expressway. The Merc just wouldn’t move. Abhishek had decided to drive himself to Lonavla and gave the driver an off. He must have been regretting the decision now. With no petrol pump in sight, he tried hitch-hiking to a petrol pump, which was again miles away. He couldn’t leave the Merc behind. So he asked Sneha to sit back till he arranged for some fuel. By the time he arranged for some petrol, Sneha was totally infuriated. She ordered him to drop her back home at the earliest and was in no mood to listen to him. He sort of literally begged her to let him drive her to the Bungalow but she wouldn’t budge.

Basically, Abhishek’s date plan was a big flop. His friends came home in the night to enquire about the date. Obviously, they knew what it was going to be but they wanted to have the pleasure to hear it from his mouth and they had a crazy laughter time that night. What they forgot was that a similar fate awaited them.

Next to plan was Sanchit. He decided to do what Sneha loves the most. Sneha was a total party animal and celebrity buff. He decided to take her for a club party at one of the most happening night spot of the city where most of the bollywood celebs used to descend for drinks. Sneha all dressed and decked up was eagerly waiting for the party. More than the date she was looking ahead for meeting the celebs. She just did not care about Sanchit and his plans. Sanchit rented a Hayabusa for that evening. That’s when Sneha began taking interest in him and his efforts. He had again made all arrangements. Entry through guest list, booked the best table and everything. It was all perfect; atleast it started off that way. The two of them were enjoying the date as he ensured his friends would not reach them as entry was only through guest list. But ‘honi ko kaun taal sakta hai’. His friends knew where he was.

The evening started of beautifully with Sanchit and Sneha dancing. Then Sanchit, went to get drinks. That’s when the trouble started. Sneha would get high really quick on Malibu. The bartender on the instructions of Sanchit’s friends had spiked the drink with an extra dose of Malibu. Sanchit was obviously unaware of this. One peg down and Sneha began acting crazy, like literally; shouting out load, running across the disc, spilling people’s drinks and talking to total random strangers.

Sanchit was caught off-guard. He did not know how to handle this. He somehow managed to pull her out of the disc; and dropped her back home. All his efforts in vain; he silently went back home to his room. There the other two were just waiting for him to come anytime. On seeing his depressed face they burst out laughing. That’s when he realized that the two of them were surely involved somewhere; but did not understand how. All the while he thought there was something wrong with Sneha, but finally he came face to face with the true culprits. That’s when he was informed about Sneha’s reaction towards Malibu and them tipping of the bartender to do so.

Two down, third in line was Vicky; and I admit, smarter of the lot. Abhsihek and Sanchit had tried to keep their plans hidden but Vicky openly disclosed the same. Vicky had a waterfront row house at Madh. He had planned a candle-light dinner, by the water under the moonlight with the canopy over their head.

Vicky was ready for the plan and so were his friends. But a major setback awaited them. And it wasn’t the pair on date this time but it was Abhishek and Sanchit. Vicky had misled them. He had actually booked his uncle’s farm house at Dahanu. He blindfolded Sneha and took her to the place so that she wouldn’t realize where they were heading to and tip off his friends. Fortunately,  Dahanu was miles away from Madh. But since Abhishek and Sanchit started off earlier than Vicky they had some time to catch up. But the question was how.

At the other end Vicky was having an amazing time. His plans were exactly the same as disclosed, only the venue changed. Even Sneha was not aware of the shift. The weather was nothing less of romantic, with light music playing in the background, the sun set view and a butler at your service. Vicky was confident of passing the test. With the full moon shining above them, through the translucent canopy, Vicky got down to his knees and took Sneha’s hand forward. Just as he removed the ring from his pocket, the canopy came crashing in.

Vicky was aghast as to how did this happen. He managed to get himself and Sneha out of the fallen canopy but did not find anyone around. The butler also did not know how all this happen. He started blaming some ghosts who he says visits the farmhouse every few months. Vicky took Sneha inside the house where he had made alternative arrangements. He decided to push the proposal section a bit back, giving Sneha sometime to come back to normalcy. But that wasn’t a wise decision I must say. Horror music began playing on the stereo’s in place of the romantic music with occasional shirks. Sneha began to freak out when suddenly something flew past her. She ran out of the farmhouse into the car and just drove herself away from the farmhouse. Vicky came running behind her, shouting and pleading her to stop. But she just wouldn’t listen. When the car zoomed out off the road, he saw Abhishek and Sanchit coming in on their bikes. He began to wonder, if it was not them, then who messed up his plans. Now, he went into a state of shock, for if ghosts really do exist. He hasn’t visited the farmhouse ever again.

The story doesn’t end here. They three felt betrayed and I wanted to give them another chance at wooing her. But it would have to be a face off. I told them I would be getting Sneha to Adam and Steve this weekend. Adam and Steve have got a contest running. The winner gets another round of date with her. They were game, unaware of what test I was putting them to.

That’s when Shubhika walked in. “Aarav I will kill you if you told them about the trio.”

And my over so smart friends, “Yes, he did. But you know about his ex-girlfriends antics?”

“I am Sneha, that was my name before marriage.” And after a pause, “And I am sure he did not tell you guys the main climax of each incident.  Aarav was the ghost. He gave the idea to remove the petrol from the car. And it was he who knew that I get high on Malibu.”

Everyone was stunned and staring at me. I was feeling really embarrassed, but that did not stop Shubhika.

“He had a big time crush on me, but did not have the guts to propose me. It was I who had to propose him eventually. Reverse proposal you see.”

Everyone began to laugh and I had never felt so embarrassed ever before in my life.

That’s when a friend asked, “What was the last chance then?”

“We never went to Adam and Steve. That’s a gay club and they had a stripping competition that weekend.”

(P.S: This fiction was originally written for Mentor Mantra which can be accessed on http://www.joomag.com/magazine/mentor-mantra-taking-you-forward-second-editi/0098553001353246888)