"Strange"rs who make you strange

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned about people who are afraid to socialize…Linkhere. After reading my post (I prefer selfies always  ) people in this world have mended their ways   I got to meet few people who redefine the term “being friendly” and took it to different heights… They made me take back my words “Please interact with people around you” and made me say “Silence is golden.”

So here goes my series of encounters with “over friendly” people who made me just gape at their questions

 This happened in an MTC bus. A middle aged lady offered a seat next to her and I was moved by her gesture and sat immediately which I later realised as a blunder. She smiled. I smiled. She smiled. I smiled. Again, she smiled. I smiled. Now, she  smiled. I turned looking elsewhere. My cheeks started paining after the smiley smiley game that she intended to play. “Helllloooo”, she remarked and the clear victory from the smiley smiley game was evident in her voice and my “hi” couldn’t match it.  She continued “What are you doing?” peeping into my mobile. I now got a feel of she being some curious distant relative of mine. I immediately locked my phone screen to avoid showing details and said “Nothing… Just browsing” with a fake smile. Ha HA HA Ha (I understood the meaning of laugh-out-loud perfectly and had to cover my face to avoid glances from almost everybody in the bus including the driver from his rear mirror  ) She continued unperturbed by the looks, “You are a funny girl! Are you studying or working?” with a pat on my back. At that moment I missed being a tortoise, how good it would have been to disappear into my shell… Sigh! I gave a one word reply “Working!” She continued “Now if I ask you where are you working, don’t say in a company that gives you work” and ended with her typical ha ha ha ha for her joke! I couldn’t stand it more and literally pulled out of her clutches and jumped from the seat “Ok bye Aunty! My stop has come!” only to hear her say “You didn’t get ticket for this stop.. Sit Sit” Managed to get down somehow… But 2 stops before my actual stop and walked 

 In family functions, we always come across these strangely related strangers who try being close but end up irritating us. In a recent function, such a stranger relative sat next to me during lunch! It started off with the clichéd enquiry, “Do you know who I am? I have seen you 20 years back… you were such a small kid back then! (Devil in me: Wow! What a discovery! I didn’t know you were born as a grown-up  ) I smiled (the usual fake smile which has a lot of hidden meaning). He continued , “You used to ask me elephant stories and would eat only if I tell that” (Devil in me: Liar! Liar! Pants on Fire! I have never thrown tantrums for eating.  ) Same smile again! When it was time to eat, he started avoiding all the dishes that were brought to him. He didn’t stop it there “You put this also in her plate! I am an old man now”. That guy who served didn’t even bother about my disapproval and just went about doing his job  I obviously couldn’t eat and was struggling… He got up to wash “See… You are still the same kid who doesn’t eat… Should I start the elephant stories?” , laughed “When I come back after washing, you should have completed all this or else elephant stories!” and made his way… My cousins burst out laughing and it was a #facepalm moment, at the same time… highly irritating! I patted myself for passing the patience test with a high score! Ufff..

 This was in a temple where I preferred to sit as my mom went round and round and round… So many rounds that I actually lose count! A lady sat next to me and asked “Are you from chennai?” I made an assumption that she is new and replied “Yes!” with a tone ‘May I help you?’ She  said , “I am from trichy! Came to my brother’s house!” I found she was struggling to make her english sentences and so replied in tamil. She continued in her english , “You IT?”. My reply was in tamil again ! She continued “My brother son also IT. Chennai only. So I know IT” To show that she knows about IT she made her question elaborate now… “TCS, CTS or Infosys?” I replied CTS. She remarked “My brother’s son there only.America company” I couldn’t hold back my giggles while she told his name and asked me if I know him. When I denied, she gave me a look that as if I lied to her about my profession. “You studied B.E? After that?” I nodded for the first question and for the second I told I started working… She clapped her hand as if she cracked the final question of Amitabh Bacchan “That’s why you no know him! He is BE MBA”. I didn’t understand what’s the connection but still managed to tell “Irukalam” (May be). She started describing her “I.T” knowledge which was actually entertaining 

Its become a very long post… However hard I try, I cannot write short posts  Though these moments were irritating, after few days it helped me write a post  Try striking ‘smart conversation’ with people and always be ready with your hi-s, hellos and heys… Keep socializing… Who knows, you might even end up on a couch in ‘Koffee with Karan in season 100′