27. How a Watermelon can get you a Girlfriend

Next day at about four in the evening we decided to get a watermelon for the night after dinner get-together. Just a mere coincidence that Bhupi and I went together. We parked the bike on the roadside and greeted the melon walla. We went for a four kg watermelon this time, considering Depesh’s appetite. I got on the bike and settled down to start it; Bhupi stood there holding the watermelon waiting to get on the bike. He was standing towards the road. I didn’t see exactly how events took place behind me but just as it was about to happen I saw it just seconds before, BANG…!!! came this girl on a Kenny and knocked out Bhupi. He fell over me and I fell off the bike. I fell over on the sidewalk towards the melon walla, and the bike hit the foot high retaining parapet. When I sat up and looked around I saw Bhupi lying on the road clueless and this dame was parking her Kenny. She rushed towards him while the melon walla helped me up. I staggered to assess where all it pained me, not much just a bruised shin which burnt hot with pain and bled profusely.

I walked towards Bhupi where this girl was saying,
“I m sorry, I m really sorry” she repeated while trying to be of some help. Bhupi was too shaken up to respond sitting on his butts with the smashed watermelon beside him. His specks had fallen off at a distance and hair all messed up. I picked up his specks and gave it to him; one of the glasses was damaged, cracked up in many directions. We picked him up but he couldn’t take weight on his right foot.
“Aaaa” that was the sound he made. We opened his shoe to find the foot swollen up. Hurriedly we took him to the hospital where the doctor plastered his foot. I was in the corridor with this girl who had knocked us down. Only now I realized she looked familiar. I just scanned through my mind and bingo she was this girl from electrical in our batch; a pretty face.

For the next two months Bhupi was on crutches and out of action ha ha. Tazzy and Depesh drove him to department every morning as per availability and Bhupi hopped around the department with great ease. Within a week he got used to the new constraint and the crutches, when he didn’t use them Tazzy practiced crutch walking or just swinging it around and hitting our butts. This girl who hit our dear friend Bhupi was Ashmin, on numerous occasions she caught up with him to apologize. This turned into tea sessions, coffee sessions, dropping him to the hostel after college and then the matter was out of control, they were in love, simply inseparable. Bhupi went on to spend more time with Ashmin even after his plaster was removed. Not to mention now he had little time for us and this troubled Depesh a lot. So when he got drunk those days and everybody was around he sang out his heart loudly…’dost dost na raha…yaar yaar na raha…zindgi hume tera aetbar na raha… dost dost na raha…

Anyway, remember all you guys out there, a melon can get you a girlfriend. All you have to do is buy one and stand in the middle of the road…