A tale of Pooja and Vijay!

{No this is not a fiction. This is my story. My longest post to date! Sheesh, taken me like so many days to finish the entire matter} I have always known myself (in my early growing up years) as someone who had plenty of friends, who never went and talked to strangers on her own. This was true until the age of 18. Yep! I have no clue, how I formed friendship in the formative years of my life. That aside, my first telephonic conversation with a complete stranger was, when I was in the second year of Pharmacy. Someone, who was not my classmate, not a friend, nor a friends-friend! That was the first time, I ever talked to someone on a "blank call". Believe me, when I say, I was scared to death. Only if my mom would have found out. After all a 18 year old girl is not supposed to talk to someone "for no reason". On a lazy sunday afternoon, my phone rings and only me, my sister and two of my cousins were home. I just picked up the phone and heard a complete unknown but a great sounding voice at the other end. Voice at the other end (VAOE) says: "Who's this" Me:"You have called up, you should know, whom you want to talk to" [Always direct, to the point] VAOE:-I don't know you, you don't know me. But, I like your voice" Me: (In hushed tone to my youngest cousin G) Hey, koi to ajnabi hai!!! She grabbed the phone and said, "just talk to him"."Let's see what he says". So, I started talking to him reluctantly and curiosity got the better of me. That was the first time, some person told me I sounded good! Obviously, I was flattered! VAOE: So what is your name? Me:(Looking ar G)..who whispers in my ears "Tell him, your name is Pooja Kulkarni" So, thats what I did "I am Pooja Kulkarni" VAOE: Wow, thats a nice name..I am Vijay Verma" [Me thinking in my mind] "Naam to accha hai, awaaz bhi acchi hai..Let me talk to him" VAOE: "So Ms.Pooja, what do you do??" Me: (Unsure what to say, dont want to reveal my identity) and again looking at my cousin who whispers in my ears "Tell him MBBS" This was getting exciting! VAOE: Wow, thats interesting. How old are you?? Me: I am 18 VAOE: Thats young!! I am 25. Me: Thats old!! VAOE: [Hears the giggling voices of my sisters] "So where do you live" Me: [Fear of being stalked, started looking at my cuz again] She again gives me gyaan and tells me "Say you live in a girls hostel" I do the exact same thing. VAOE: Thats exciting. I live in Pune. Me" So what makes you make a call from Pune to Bombay (At the time, Pune-Mumbai calls were quite expensive and you probably had to make an STD call) and how did you get my number. This incident was freaking me out to a large extent, actually! VAOE: "Don't ask irrelevant questions. I randomly dialled your number. Liked your voice so thats why I am talking. And as far as STD calls are concerned, I am calling from my company, I am a CA" Dumb girl, that I was, actually believed him. Without thinking, that who the hell works on a sunday afternoon and has the patience to make calls to strangers" Me: Well, if you say so. But, I have to hangup now. VAOE:"So can I call sometime, again" ME: [It did sound tempting, but if this dude calls again when mum is around!!!].Ok, you can call me after 8:00 [At the time,we used to watch the TV and all that, so wont get wierd looks from her] We giggle over the matter and my cousin says, "We should do crazy things such as this" Me and my sister, were quite scared coz after our cousins left, we would have to handle the matter ourselves! So my sister clearly says "Tu jaane aur tera Vijay. I am not involved, if Mum asks" Sheesh! man. I am doomed. I hope the guy doesn't call me EVER. After a week, my University exams commence and I was returning from my exam,w hen the phone rings at exact 8:00 PM. The onus of picking up the phone was with me. The guy calls me again!! "Hi, this is Vijay" Mom"Who is it, ROS"? Me: A friend mom, discussing about how the exam went" Him and me talk for almost 15 mins. It became a routine for him to call up at that time almost everyday for a week. It started showing up on my face, coz mom gave me those wierd looks. Usually, she would never interfere as to what we talked on the phone and to whom we talked. One of the tell-tale signs was that "I never talked to my friends over the phone in english". It was either hindi or marathi or hinglish:) and here I was talking to someone in proper english and that too nothing academic! And somehow, Moms just guess it! So one day, when this guy calls me again and my mom picks up the phone, he asks for Pooja! Obviously, my mom said that he has got the wrong number. Later, she mentioned how homes where there were girls, such calls were frequent. Thats when I confessed the entire drama to her. The origin of Pooja Kulkarni and the whole episode and that this guy called from Pune:O My mom laughed at the whole thing, saying I was such a kid in the block, and that no guy was going to spend that money on a blank call"!! "This is just the beginning, you are going to meet many such people, who are going to pretend to be something that they are not" ..Mom said "Watch out for those people and remember that dont believe everything that someone says to you" I guess, that advise is proving to be a much needed Girl's guide for survival:) Few months back, one of my very good friends here, was getting married and when I asked for his fiance's name..he mentioned as "Pooja Kulkarni, MBBS from Bombay":O Thats it! What goes around comes around. I was destined to meet her:) Now, when I have moved much beyond that time..7 years down the line, when I talk to people-whom-I-don't-know, I know what to expect. I know, I should not believe everything that I hear". I think, my mom knew when i would need her advice the most!