Sunday, February 5, 2012

A swap

He boarded the plane and opened the loft to place his cabin luggage to find an identical box there. Amused he kept his by its side and noticed his seat 16A occupied by a young lady.”That is mine” he said.

“I know. Won’t you allow me to sit here?”she asked with a smile

“Surely if there is a request and not a fait accompli”he said smilingly.

“May I sit in your seat please?” she drawled and said “thanks” when I sat down in 16B.

She was an extremely good looking lady and spoke with a convent educated accent.

“I have an aversion for aisle seats and like to recline on the window to catch a wink” she said.

“Enjoy though I have an aversion for drowsy ladies, hahaha”

“Okay, I get the clue. We will chat the entire flight time.”

”So do you stay at Bangalore, Miss…..”

“Lekha, I live in several places. A sort of a nomad, you can say. How about you, Mister…”she asked

“Sanjeev, I live in Bangalore and in government service. What do you do for a living?”

“A nice name you have. All sorts of things, a freelancer you can say” she let out a giggle.

“Then you must be versatile. Do you travel much? What is your hubby doing?

“Yes, I travel a lot. I am single. I think you must be married to a good looking lady” she laughed

“Me too unattached and looking for a lady as beautiful as you are” he said with a guffaw.

“Thanks. Give me your card. We will be in touch”

“Here is mine. Give me yours”

“Oh,I don’t have one readily. When I talk to you will give you all details. Can I snooze a bit. I am tired” she said

As she lay reclined on her seat with her head tilted towards him, a pleasant fragrance wafted across.From the corner of his eyes he found her bewitching with her chiseled nose, perfect mouth and sharp and long eyebrows. Her velvety skin glowed.

As the plane came to a halt she got up and said”Sanjeev, I am in a hurry. Let me go. Will talk to you soon and we can meet”
She hurriedly opened the loft, took the suitcase and moved towards the exit.

He followed her but soon lost track of her. As he came out of green channel, he found that the box was switched. A yellow cello tape he had wound on a handle was not there. He opened to see ladies cosmetics, undergarments and some magazines.

He was waiting near the exit gate for her to arrive. It took more than half an hour for her to reach. She looked flustered. When she saw him, her face brightened and she greeted him by name.

“Lekha, I have been waiting for you. There has been a mistake and you have taken my box in your hurry. It is only when I came out I found the swap and opened to see it is yours” he said.

“Thanks Sanjeev.I got worried. I don’t know why, the customs people stopped me and checked your box. That is why I am a bit late. Come on, here is your box and let me have mine” she said

“As soon as she took the box in her hands two men in plain clothes surrounded her and said “Madam, please follow us. We are from Customs” and turned to Sanjeev to tell him “We had a tip about this lady carrying some contraband goods and had her details. But she had cleverly switched the box. We doubted an accomplice. Please come with us and show your identity to our Superintendent. It will take just a few minutes”

He opened his purse and pulled out an identity card showing “Sanjeev Kumar, Superintendent, Customs intelligence”

When they saw, they stood to attention and saluted him

He heard her muttering under her breath “B%$#&*d” as she was led inside.







21 comments:

  1. Very good twist in the tale...never expected the end to be like this, Partha Sir!

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  2. Reminds me of the romance that is dramatised in movies of yore. The customs officer by then has fallen for the nymph. But your guy seems to be a different genre!

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  3. hehe... i was thinking it as a usual story...

    the end was a real twist!!

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  4. Looks like you can read my mind..I wished it to turn out like this,.and lo.same happens:)..wow:)

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  5. Well well well!! there u go again.. a brilliant twist in tale..! :)

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  6. Lovely story with an excellent twist in the end! Loved the ending. It was not something I expected. Nicely written.

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  7. oh .. nice one sir..

    your stories each one comes with a twist ..

    Bikram's

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  8. Interesting twist, truly unexpected, you have knack for them.

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  9. What a twist..Thought it was a another love story which has started in plane :) Loved the twist

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  10. Good twist in the end. And, their exchange on the flight was really cheesy :). Have you noticed one thing that we Indians put our first name with Mr. or Ms. whereas it is the rule that Mr. or Ms. be followed by the surname?

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  11. very nice ..this was unexpected ...ending too good
    loved it ,the way you handled the story!

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  12. Nice twist..I knew that she was carrying some stuff but didnt guess he was an officer:-)

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  13. Double trouble . . . . double crossed !!
    Sir, I sometimes tell my kids your stories. And they like them very much. They say so.

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  14. very good- serves her right is what i felt when i came to the end

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  15. It began like your story about the girl who took the ipod on a bus journey getting off at Hosur.. but I knew this was different and you definitely do not disappoint!

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  16. Ha, ha, that was a good one. I thought it would be a romantic tale and you gave it a fine toss.

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  17. Sir, you have cleverly led us to believe that there was no twist to the tale but that it was just another romantic tale. All the more reason, that the unexpected ending brought a great deal of enjoyment to us, despite the shock that we experienced at the sudden turn of events.
    Fantastic!
    Vasanta.R.

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  18. Was expecting the unexpected since the lady did not adhere to normal behavioral patterns.

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  19. I thought the male protagonist would be trapped. Twisty tale Sir.

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