Oru Serruppin Kadhai - Part I

One of my friends had come to Bangalore this weekend. Having only half a day at our disposal, we decided to go to commercial street to try and get some real cheap and good stuff.We roamed around aimlessly in the crowded street. Nothing seemed to catch our eye. Then suddenly I saw a huge banner. "Upto 60% OFF" on a Puma outlet. Desperation to buy a new pair of sports shoes and temptation of buying things at a sale made it a deal very hard for me to resist. No sooner than we entered the shop I found a superb shoe on display. And guess what! It had the "60% off" tag on it!! I checked the price-tag and it read 1400. That sounded too good to be true! A branded pair of shoes for 1400! I could immediately imagine myself going around bragging about it to my friends, especially a certain friend of mine who always bought things for double the cost!Even as this wonderful train of thoughts was gliding smoothly on my brain's tracks, the power went off plunging the entire shop into darkness.


We waited in darkness for the generator to come alive. Minutes passed by. No sign of switching the generator on. We started getting a little impatient as we had to leave to my friend's relative's house in sometime. Then came the disappointment. The saleswoman told us that we may have to come later since there was no diesel to start the generator. We cursed the lorry strike, petrol strike and walked away.


I kept thinking wistfully about those shoes. Man! I had fallen head over heels in love! I just couldn't concentrate on shopping. My friend was talking about lunch. But I didn't feel hungry. Maybe this was love. Sigh! It was time that we returned home. I deliberately took a longer path through the showroom. Praying that the power had come back.


Imagine my happiness when I realized that the shop was glittering with lights!! I convinced my friend to come in with me so that I could just try one more time. I guess a jubilant silly smile was plastered on my face, since the security guys were mocking at us immediately after we passed the doors. I didn't bother! I rushed to the saleswoman and asked her for my size. She went down to get the correct size. Dreams continued. The saleswoman returned with one shoe. To check the size. It fit me perfectly! Just like Cinderella's glass slipper. But the saleswoman didn't seem to share my enthusiasm. I looked quizzically at her."Sorry Ma'am! We have only one shoe of that size. The other shoe is missing!". I felt as if the entire universe was conspiring against me. How can they have just a single shoe!!!! Shoes are supposed to come in pairs! The saleswoman saw the pain in my eyes and suggested that I try their outlet in either Brigade Road or Garuda Mall. That option was not feasible since my friend had to leave immediately.


We got an auto and left the place.We had to pass through Brigade road and the damned showroom was right in the beginning of the road. All I could do was just stare at it wistfully. It was then that I decided that I would come back for the shoes and prove the Universe that I could foil it's conspiracy. But then... That is another story...