Azeez Chinese Restaurant (Love over Chinese Cuisine) Part 2
“Tell me,Sidhu. Don’t you have any other friends?”, asked Azeez.
Siddharth had started coming to Azeez’s every Friday night at first and then this had become a daily routine. He used to enjoy the food as well as Azeez’s company. After a while, the food started taking a back seat. They used to talk on a plethora of subjects. Siddharth never used to talk much about his problems but during the rare occasion that he did, Azeez was able to give real insights and solutions. He learned a great deal about chinese food and the intricacies of its preparation. He in turn told Azeez about the books he read and movies and his daily experiences in the corporate world. As the clientele of the restaurant was generally poor, Azeez would always have time to spend with Siddharth. It was a Friday and Siddharth had eaten his food and they both had settled down in the front porch of the restaurant for their usual chat. The frequent visits Siddharth made had made Azeez think whether Siddharth had any friends. The question had been nagging him for a while and he had decided to spring it today.
“Yes I do. What makes you think so?”, replied Siddharth.
“You always come here alone. And of late you’ve started coming here everyday. I thought maybe you don’t have any friends. These days it’s not natural to be without friends, you know.”
“Of course I have friends. It’s just that they don’t share my taste in Chinese food. And besides…”, Siddharths voice trailed away.
“Besides…?? Come on…you can tell me”
“Hmmm…frankly, I don’t feel a constant urge to always be with them. They are just friends, right? People who are meant to liven up one’s life for a short time and then just move on. That doesn’t mean I don’t like them, mind you. It’s really fun being with them and all. But being friends doesn’t mean you have to be in some form of contact with each other at all times, does it? That’ll be like smothering them…everybody wants there own personal space,right?”
“I agree. I had to ask, you know.”
“And there is also another thing. I hate saying goodbyes. If I get used to someone, I hate letting them go because if I do, it takes a hell of a lot of time for me to get over that loss. That’s just the way I am. Friendship is serious to me. When I make a friend, I vow to myself to help them in any way I can when they really need me and I expect that in return also. I’m not into this superficial, showy stuff, you know. I like the mindless prattle and leg-pulling but that should not be the only feature of the friendship…it should be characterised by a deep understanding rather than pure levity. If it’s levity that you want, all you need is a television. Most people these days don’t think the way I do…I suppose you get my drift, Azeezji?”
“I think I do. You sometimes feel that you don’t want to burden a person with your friendship because you know you’re putting huge demands of them…demands that may not be easy to satisfy. Am I right?”
“Oh my god!!! I do feel that!!! Spot on, Azeezji!!! How did you know that??”
“I used to be like that. Let me give you a piece of advice, Sidhu. Just don’t refrain from indulging in a bit of mindless prattle and a bit of show now and again. In today’s world that is very much needed. Take it from my experience. Keep this in mind.”
“I know, Azeezji. I can say I have a decent number of friends with me now, but only a very few of them are really important to me. The fact that I survive with the others would tell you that I’m following your advice,right?”
“Yes it does. So…”, continued Azeez with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, “…any girl in your life?”
“Hmmm…yes I do. I have a friend. Her name is Veni. We’re just friends…purely platonic!!!”
“Is it??”, said Azeez straightening up in his chair.
“Well, she was in my same training batch. We come from the same place also. She’s part of our group and we have a fun time…that’s about it. She’s started getting wedding proposals and will surely be getting married off soon.”
“You sound a bit sad about it??”
“No I don’t!!!”, replied Siddharth in indignation.” Why should I?? She’s just a friend!!! Friends leave us…that’s what they do!!!”
“Looks like I touched a raw nerve here. It’s obvious from your reaction that she’s more than a friend to you…isn’t she?? Do you love her?”
“What?? That’s ridiculous!!! Me being in love with her!!!”, Siddharth got up and walked towards the railing and looked at the stars above. “I think I’ll miss her, though. She can be a complete chatter-box if she wants to be. I guess she does that with people she’s close to. You probably don’t know how most girls are like these days, Azeezji. They usually are attention seeking and often silly. Many of them ey have some selfish needs and they try to manipulate guys so that they can get these needs satisfied. Be it becoming a listening post for their problems or help them with their love life involving someone else or just to satisfy their temporary need of having a male presence in their life…until Mr.Right comes along!!!! Veni is not like that at all. She belongs to the old school…not running after someone to fix her problems...instead she tries to find a solution herself. One has to earn her friendship and affection and once you do, you get to see a whole different side to her. And her laugh…it’s absolute music, you know? She does have a wonderful smile. As I said…she’s bright as well!!! She can see a joke coming a mile away. We used to laugh a lot. And occasionally we have these serious chats about life. That’s how I realised she was sensible, mature and has an inner strength. Someday…sooner rather than later…she’s going to make some man really happy…and she’ll leave my life…”, Siddharth’s voice trailed off.
Azeez was smiling. He got up from his seat and went next to Siddharth and put his arm around him. Siddharth looked at him. He was in complete surprise…as if struck by an amazing revelation.
“Oh my god!!! I love her, Azeezji!!! I love Veni!!! All this time I’ve denied myself that knowledge…but I’ve finally found the reason why I’ve been feeling so lonely and miserable. It’s because I love her with all my heart and I don’t want to loose her. I can no longer deny it”, cried Siddharth with tears in his eyes.
“Oh yes, you poor fool!!!”, said Azeez with the ferocious loving intensity of a father. “You’ve wasted time already. No one can blame you…one tends to miss a lot of thinks in the fast life these days. The Quran says “And of His Signs is that He created mates for you from yourselves that you might find peace of mind in them, and He put between you love and compassion”. You’ve finally found the person Allah has put in this world for you. And I’m really happy for you, Munna!!!”
Siddharth looked up, wiping his tears, “Munna??”
Azeez looked away. “Did I say Munna?? I meant Sidhu!!!”, he replied with a strained laugh. Siddharth thought he heard pain in that laughter. “Is anything wrong,Azeezji?”, he asked.
“Nothing Sidhu. Now…aren’t you going to tell her?”
“Oh my god!!! I must…I mean…do I have to? What if she rejects me? What if she despises me for breaking our friendship? I don’t think I can stand a rejection, Azeezji.”
“What does your heart tell you?”
“To tell her everything…”,whispered Siddharth, his head down.
“And that is what you should do. Trust me Sidhu. You’d rather not spend the rest of your life thinking -What would have happened if I had told her?- trust me it would be torture beyond anything you can ever imagine. Bring her here for dinner tomorrow and tell her. Ok?”
After what seemed like an eternity but what was actually a minute, Siddharth looked up at Azeezji…and smiled.
**********************************************************************
(TO BE CONCLUDED)
Siddharth had started coming to Azeez’s every Friday night at first and then this had become a daily routine. He used to enjoy the food as well as Azeez’s company. After a while, the food started taking a back seat. They used to talk on a plethora of subjects. Siddharth never used to talk much about his problems but during the rare occasion that he did, Azeez was able to give real insights and solutions. He learned a great deal about chinese food and the intricacies of its preparation. He in turn told Azeez about the books he read and movies and his daily experiences in the corporate world. As the clientele of the restaurant was generally poor, Azeez would always have time to spend with Siddharth. It was a Friday and Siddharth had eaten his food and they both had settled down in the front porch of the restaurant for their usual chat. The frequent visits Siddharth made had made Azeez think whether Siddharth had any friends. The question had been nagging him for a while and he had decided to spring it today.
“Yes I do. What makes you think so?”, replied Siddharth.
“You always come here alone. And of late you’ve started coming here everyday. I thought maybe you don’t have any friends. These days it’s not natural to be without friends, you know.”
“Of course I have friends. It’s just that they don’t share my taste in Chinese food. And besides…”, Siddharths voice trailed away.
“Besides…?? Come on…you can tell me”
“Hmmm…frankly, I don’t feel a constant urge to always be with them. They are just friends, right? People who are meant to liven up one’s life for a short time and then just move on. That doesn’t mean I don’t like them, mind you. It’s really fun being with them and all. But being friends doesn’t mean you have to be in some form of contact with each other at all times, does it? That’ll be like smothering them…everybody wants there own personal space,right?”
“I agree. I had to ask, you know.”
“And there is also another thing. I hate saying goodbyes. If I get used to someone, I hate letting them go because if I do, it takes a hell of a lot of time for me to get over that loss. That’s just the way I am. Friendship is serious to me. When I make a friend, I vow to myself to help them in any way I can when they really need me and I expect that in return also. I’m not into this superficial, showy stuff, you know. I like the mindless prattle and leg-pulling but that should not be the only feature of the friendship…it should be characterised by a deep understanding rather than pure levity. If it’s levity that you want, all you need is a television. Most people these days don’t think the way I do…I suppose you get my drift, Azeezji?”
“I think I do. You sometimes feel that you don’t want to burden a person with your friendship because you know you’re putting huge demands of them…demands that may not be easy to satisfy. Am I right?”
“Oh my god!!! I do feel that!!! Spot on, Azeezji!!! How did you know that??”
“I used to be like that. Let me give you a piece of advice, Sidhu. Just don’t refrain from indulging in a bit of mindless prattle and a bit of show now and again. In today’s world that is very much needed. Take it from my experience. Keep this in mind.”
“I know, Azeezji. I can say I have a decent number of friends with me now, but only a very few of them are really important to me. The fact that I survive with the others would tell you that I’m following your advice,right?”
“Yes it does. So…”, continued Azeez with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, “…any girl in your life?”
“Hmmm…yes I do. I have a friend. Her name is Veni. We’re just friends…purely platonic!!!”
“Is it??”, said Azeez straightening up in his chair.
“Well, she was in my same training batch. We come from the same place also. She’s part of our group and we have a fun time…that’s about it. She’s started getting wedding proposals and will surely be getting married off soon.”
“You sound a bit sad about it??”
“No I don’t!!!”, replied Siddharth in indignation.” Why should I?? She’s just a friend!!! Friends leave us…that’s what they do!!!”
“Looks like I touched a raw nerve here. It’s obvious from your reaction that she’s more than a friend to you…isn’t she?? Do you love her?”
“What?? That’s ridiculous!!! Me being in love with her!!!”, Siddharth got up and walked towards the railing and looked at the stars above. “I think I’ll miss her, though. She can be a complete chatter-box if she wants to be. I guess she does that with people she’s close to. You probably don’t know how most girls are like these days, Azeezji. They usually are attention seeking and often silly. Many of them ey have some selfish needs and they try to manipulate guys so that they can get these needs satisfied. Be it becoming a listening post for their problems or help them with their love life involving someone else or just to satisfy their temporary need of having a male presence in their life…until Mr.Right comes along!!!! Veni is not like that at all. She belongs to the old school…not running after someone to fix her problems...instead she tries to find a solution herself. One has to earn her friendship and affection and once you do, you get to see a whole different side to her. And her laugh…it’s absolute music, you know? She does have a wonderful smile. As I said…she’s bright as well!!! She can see a joke coming a mile away. We used to laugh a lot. And occasionally we have these serious chats about life. That’s how I realised she was sensible, mature and has an inner strength. Someday…sooner rather than later…she’s going to make some man really happy…and she’ll leave my life…”, Siddharth’s voice trailed off.
Azeez was smiling. He got up from his seat and went next to Siddharth and put his arm around him. Siddharth looked at him. He was in complete surprise…as if struck by an amazing revelation.
“Oh my god!!! I love her, Azeezji!!! I love Veni!!! All this time I’ve denied myself that knowledge…but I’ve finally found the reason why I’ve been feeling so lonely and miserable. It’s because I love her with all my heart and I don’t want to loose her. I can no longer deny it”, cried Siddharth with tears in his eyes.
“Oh yes, you poor fool!!!”, said Azeez with the ferocious loving intensity of a father. “You’ve wasted time already. No one can blame you…one tends to miss a lot of thinks in the fast life these days. The Quran says “And of His Signs is that He created mates for you from yourselves that you might find peace of mind in them, and He put between you love and compassion”. You’ve finally found the person Allah has put in this world for you. And I’m really happy for you, Munna!!!”
Siddharth looked up, wiping his tears, “Munna??”
Azeez looked away. “Did I say Munna?? I meant Sidhu!!!”, he replied with a strained laugh. Siddharth thought he heard pain in that laughter. “Is anything wrong,Azeezji?”, he asked.
“Nothing Sidhu. Now…aren’t you going to tell her?”
“Oh my god!!! I must…I mean…do I have to? What if she rejects me? What if she despises me for breaking our friendship? I don’t think I can stand a rejection, Azeezji.”
“What does your heart tell you?”
“To tell her everything…”,whispered Siddharth, his head down.
“And that is what you should do. Trust me Sidhu. You’d rather not spend the rest of your life thinking -What would have happened if I had told her?- trust me it would be torture beyond anything you can ever imagine. Bring her here for dinner tomorrow and tell her. Ok?”
After what seemed like an eternity but what was actually a minute, Siddharth looked up at Azeezji…and smiled.
**********************************************************************
(TO BE CONCLUDED)
Comments