Thursday, June 07, 2007

OOPS !!!

The entire conversation was essentially in Hindi but for my audience here’s the English translation (please put up with a few Hindi words which are used only if essential). This incident happened with me and my friends when we went to Satyam multiplex in Chennai for Spidy 3.
Rahul, Harsha and I were waiting for a friend to arrive for the show and those who are aware with the satyam theatre would know quite well that with no space to sit, the wait in the sun is not an easy affair (I hope the friend we were waiting for reads this … lol). And it was then that this ‘gentleman’ approached us!

“Bhaisaab, can you please do me a small favor?”

“Well, how can I help you sir?”

“You are a ‘hindi’ guy na that’s why I came to ask you!”

“Sure sir, but what can I do for you?”

“Bhai, I needed 24 tickets for Shootout at Lokhandwala, tomorrow 12:45pm show. These people are not willing to give me more than 12; can you get me 12 tickets please?”

“Well …”

“Please sir, it would be very kind of you. It’s a family party and we can’t have half the people left out, here is the money”

“Ah, ok … which movie did you say? And how many? Which show sir?”

He explained me everything once again and I again asked him to repeat it and he did. We steered towards the ticket counter and I tried to coax Harsha to do the talking over the counter. He declined (&%^$#@*&!&*). I rehearsed the whole transaction once again in my mind while I was standing in the queue, when I reached the counter I still was not confident but managed to get the 12 tickets. The man was waiting at a distance and I handed over the tickets with such haste as if I was carrying a dead lizard in my hand. I don’t remember seeing a gleam on his face on receiving those tickets which were so important for his party! I don’t think he even smiled at me while he got them, but even if he did I was just looking into his eyes, as if signaling the end of a secret transaction (which it was evidently), so I may easily have overlooked the smile.
After he was gone and we were back in the sun, waiting, we debated over the possibility that he would black those tickets. Your guesses are as good as mine, but I did help him out!

PS:
Those who used the tickets were doomed because Shootout at Lokhandwala was one of the worst movies ever.
Spidy3 was good. But Harry shouldn’t have died (what a way to die though, in the arms of his love and his best friend!)
Learn to say ‘NO’ not just when it comes to your (unsafe)‘close encounter’ with an obliging stranger but even while buying tickets for people you don’t know that well.

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