"Hi! Whats Up?"

That's how it all began. I was utterly surprised! Did she really SMS me? Well, I was full of enthusiasm and jumped with excitement.

Namrata was inducted to the Thespian Society of the college in the last semester. This fresher from the architecture department impressed us, the senior members, with her ability to modulate her voice. And trust me, when I say architecture, she is a dedicated member of the clan. At this point let me confess, she was my personal favorite at the induction. But little did I know that I would have to pay for my frank opinions.

It was just another Sunday, except for the fact that the following day had a cycle test on its way. Well, its a fait a accompli that an engineering student's creativity flows like the Ganges on the eve of exams. This Sunday was no exception for my ever supportive pals to get to their best acts. They have been waiting for the opportune moment to get me in their clutches. This Sunday seemed to be the lucky day when the cosmos favored them.

The fact that I SMSed Namrata occasionally for reasons that were strictly pertaining to the Thespian Society's matters gave my chums food for thought. As I was struggling to control myself to get settled with Control Systems II, I received her first SMS of the day.

Namrata : Hi.. What's up?
Me: Hi Namrata.. I am fine.. You temme.

"Look dudes!! Our man seems to be yearning for some privacy!!", Jovin was quick to inform the other hungry hounds.

"No man!! Its not the person you guys are thinking about..." I defended, knowing that spilling my beans out would have been suicidal. "Anyway, I am going for my bath. Catch you guys later!". I picked up my bucket and the essentials and scooted off to the washroom to hide from the scandalous elements, Vinod and Bharat. Got into an empty vestibule and locked myself up from the rest of the mondial. I took out my mobile and rushed to the Messages menu to reply to Namrata. To fool the world around me, I had turned the tap and let the water flow into my bucket. What followed was a string of messages that flooded the Bharti Telecommunication and Hutchison Telecom networks. Following are the excerpts from this interesting rendez-vous.

Namrata: Am I disturbing you?
Me: No Namrata.. U r not!! I was taking a break anyway! (yeah rite!! I was breaking my head
trying to understand Mr Katsuhiko Ogata)
N: k.. if dats the case, I wanna ask you something! Something personal. Hope you donn
tell this to anybody.
Me: (did she say personal!!) Well, go ahead.. And you have my word..
N: You think I am worthy to be in the Thespian Society? You think I would be able to
pull it off with a decent role? Honestly, I have doubts!
Me:Oh come on! Of course you are! You were too good with your voice modulation. Personally,
you were my favorite. (ok!! I confessed that earlier!!)
N: Thanks a lot for that!! That's a lot of encouragement from a mentor!
Me: (she called me a mentor?? o man!! but hey!! I gotto keep my cool) Well, I guess you
should say "mentors".. In the Thespian Society, our opinions are unanimous. By the way,
I hope you are not feeling bored with our working structure... Considering that you do not
have a role in this upcoming play, yet being in practice for 4 hours every weekday and 7 on
weekends could be atrociously boring.. I have gone through all these myself too.. (yeah
rite!!)
N:Well, not really.. Must confess twas a little monotonous in the beginning.. not anymore,
thanks to a new found pal.. I hope I am not taking too much freedom with you..

That was it!! A new found pal!! I was in the seventh heaven, on cloud no. 9. For once I began to feel different in this stereotype wannabe-techy style life. My immense faith in hope had finally paid off. I was flying in the air of my neo enthusiasm, only to end up melting my wings made of wax.

Me: Oh thanks a bunch Namrata! But you needn't be so formal with moi. I hate formalities.. n
now that you have revealed that you take me to be your pal, lets shed this veil of
unnecessary p's and q's.. They aren't meant for buddies, are they? (I was on my coaxing
best!!)

The reply to this message was the most unwarranted climax.

Namrata: Enough Man!! Finish your bath and get out of there! You'll catch a cold otherwise!

And for the coup de grace, thanks to Mr Vinod's closing remarks from outside my vestibule, "Kudos to you man! How do you manage to SMS while taking a bath?"