Waterloo!!! :D :D :D Hey there, you, waiting for my words, let me tell you what happened yesterday? You’ll never believe it. Guess what? Vizo’s nephew was teaching me Spanish guitar on his black Granada. He’s only eight years old. “So who’s teaching whom?” asked Sieno as she came in with her baby in her warm arms. “I really need to buy a guitar,” I said to Vizo, “so how to hold the F major?” “So, what’s next, Das?” asked Sieno. “Guess what’s next,” I said to her, “you won’t believe it if I say.” “Okay so what is it?”asked Sieno. “O oh... surprise!” I exclaimed loudly. She could not hold her patience. “Come on, now, Das, say it already,” she ordered me, like my big sister, if I ever had one. “I’m going to dance classes,” I said to her. “No, way!” Sieno looked quite surprised about the idea. I don’t blame her. I mean auditors don’t dance. I know it, you know it; we all know it. And, even if they do, they hide it under the toupée, just like Stanley Tucci in ‘Shall We Dance’. But everybody has to crawl out of that cocoon someday and say, “surprise! Guess what, I fly...” “So you like surprises, huh?” said Sieno as she started playing the piano. “Well then,” she continued, “wait for a good one, coming soon.” And there it is. “Oh my God,” I thought to myself, “No surprise please. I hate surprises.” Well, I hate surprises when it comes to me. And I really hope I don’t get a heart attack, this time. It was four on the clock. And, I had already finished giving piano lessons. So, I hopped up the magic stairway, and landed in Mohonkhola. It was off-route. I was lucky to get a taxi. “Fifty Rupees, okay?” “Seventy.” “Sixty,” I said to the driver, “no more.” “Done,” he said to me with a smile as he switched over to Abba. Waterloo!!! It was a nice ride, with nice music, down the hilly road. “Stop near the pharmacy,” I said to the taxi driver. I gave him the fare and got out of the taxi. “It’s raining!” I realised and I quickly entered into the pharmacy. “Hello,” I said to the lady sitting inside, “I am looking for Anita. Could you tell me where she stays?” She became a shade serious and said, “There are many Anitas here, one is my niece too. You have to be specific. So?” “Well,” I continued, “She told me to ask in the pharmacy. She’s a dance teacher. And, um, well, I’ve come to attend her dance classes.” She couldn’t help but laugh a shade. “Good for you, Sir,” she said trying to suppress her sudden mirth. I didn’t mind at all. I mean, I was wearing officials, I didn’t have that chic haircut, and I wasn’t in shape. I looked like, well, just like an auditor. Huh! She said, “Take the stairs just outside, on the right.” I thanked her and got out of the pharmacy. Then I found a lonely stairway just on the right side. I went up to the first floor. There was darkness in the corridor. The electricity was gone. I couldn’t ring the bell. I banged on the door. But no one answered. “They can’t hear me,” I understood and quickly stepped down and revisited that pharmacy-lady. “Could you give me her phone number?” I asked her. “Don’t you have it, Sir?” She asked me back. “Well,” I explained, “I forgot to save it by her name.” She smiled briskly as moved out of the counter and opened the glass door. “Come with me,” she called me from outside. I followed her. Soon, we were standing in front of the same door. She twisted the door-lock handle and eyed me with a smile. “Silly,” she might have thought in her mind. She returned back to the pharmacy, taking only a ‘thank you’ from me. I went inside. Still there was nobody to be seen. “Hello!!” I shouted at the darkness. Suddenly, just like a fantasy, everything lighted up. I understood that the electricity is back. Lucky me. A man came out of one of the rooms. “Hello,” he said to me, “how may I help you?” I said, “Well, Sir, I’m looking for Anita. We’ve talked over the phone.” “Ah! So you called her up, that day.” He said. “Yes, yes,” I said to him, “it was me, Sir.” “Call me Nikol,” he said to me with a quick smile, “Come on in please.” He showed me to the dance room. This is the first time I witnessed myself standing in front of a wall of mirror with those golden bulbs turning it into a classy affair. “Anita is my wife,” he said to me even as he switched on the woofer, “have a seat here, brother; she’s coming just in a moment.” And so he went out of the room. In a moment I found myself sitting on the post modern deep red chair, tapping my toes upon the polished chest-nut wood floor, listening to ‘Don’t stop the party.’ The room had sound acoustics. I felt like getting on the floor and shaking it right away. But, sad news guys, I didn’t know how to dance. Sad indeed... But in moment she came in. Anita introduced herself to me. She wasn’t very tall. She wore a nice floral pistachio dolman sleeve drape with a navy blue capri. “So,” she continued, “have you ever danced before?” “No,” I retorted. She gave me a form to fill up. I was going through the pages. I said, “No, I don’t have any broken bones...” She turned at me and said, “So, leave that line and go on to the next one.” I read the next line. “I even forgot my blood group,” I sighed. “Okay,” she said with a happy smile, “let my husband give you your blood group. He is a doctor.” “Oh! No no. Okay... well, it’s coming back to me now... I think it’s AB something...” She smiled at me and snatched the admission form and said, “later on, okay. Now come on...” “Take off your boots; you don’t need shoes for salsa.” “Look at the mirror,” she said, “okay, now try to move your hips, to the right, now to the front, now left, and back... It will take time. So, where did you say you’re from?” “Do I look like a dancer?” I asked Anita. She started laughing. Dr. Nikol came in with a cup of coffee. “Don’t let the negativity draw you towards it,” said Nikol, as he took a sip, and then he smiled at me, “it’s a Chinese saying.” Anita straightened my posture. “Look,” she said as she gauged me, “nobody looks like a dancer in the beginning. Don’t worry, I promise, I will transform you.” “Now, one and two, three and four, come on, one and two, shake, three and four, shake. I need you to shake your hips. You’re not quite doing it. Shake shake shake... Yeah! It will take time... So you teach piano? Where do you teach?” Within an hour I was shaking one and two shake three and four. “See,” she raised her eyebrow and said, “see? you are getting it.” “Hey,” I said to her, “you know, there’s a dance competition coming up next month in our office. So will I be able to take part in it?” She started laughing. “We’ll see about that; but first, one and two... come on, three and four. Nikol, would you please put on that Ricky Martin for me?” That evening ended with pilate yoga, thanks to Dr. Nikol. “Come on Monday,” said Anita, “and buy a track-suit. Now, let’s dance freely.” ‘Shes into superstitions black cats and voodoo dolls. I feel a premonition that girls gonna make me fall.’ As I was returning to my quarter, I was feeling good, rather very good, just like a whip of Au Sauvage. It was dark. I switched on the assistive light and wired my ear. Echa Pa’lla. ‘Put your hands up in the air!!!’ “Who’s looking?” I asked myself as I looked around, “Nobody...” ‘Sube la mano pa arriba Pon la mano pa arriba’ It’s already evening now and I’m still reading Colette Redgrave. Anita gave it to me. “Please return it back when you’ve finished reading,” she said, “because I don’t have another copy of it.” “Sure,” I said to her, “plus, I’m bookophobic.” Or is it bibliophobic? Whatever... I just hate books; never completed my Chartered Accountancy due to that. But I’m happy now. And, after a long time, I can see myself smiling at the mirror. So are you jealous? Or, are you bad, just like me? Do you wanna find out? Then come on, let’s dance to Abba... Ah! thank you for playing that Daisy. People downstairs, you really do have a good taste for music. Let me add a bite to that chocolate; where did I hide it? Yes, and another toss of cola will do for now. Hallelujah. I think I’m gonna shake shake shake... “Waterloo - Couldnt escape if I wanted to Waterloo - Knowing my fate is to be with you Waterloo - Finally facing my Waterloo.” :) :) :) Rajeshwar Das.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 13:11:18 +0000
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