Summer, 2016
Mumbai
It was 12:35am in the night when Bhavika mulled over the decision of registering on Mail-mates, scolded herself a little for going all out by clicking on the option that allowed her to find a mail-mate from another country. She couldn't deny that ever since she had received the invite and the email address, she felt excited.
So far, life without college had been a bit daunting with Bhavika having to consciously work on maintaining a routine. Maintaining a routine required more effort than Bhavika had imagined. But letting herself feel tempted to watch episodes at end, read without any time limits, dancing till her feet hurt, all of this was making her feel guilty. Trust the capitalist world to make your life a methodical race, Bhavika thought.
Apart from the moments she spent making conference calls to her friends, the only activity that classified as a routine, a routine that brought tremendous joy in her life was the Indian Premier League (IPL) Matches.
Bhavika had accidentally stumbled upon the game of cricket when she was in the third grade and had a massive crush on her neighbour, Vishal, who was in the fifth standard and happened to get really excited in the evenings. One day, Bhavika decided to ask what cartoon made him cheer and laugh so much and discovered that it wasn't any cartoon but a cricket league.
To this date, Bhavika feels sheepishly embarassed that this was how she had discovered the game. A game that would go on to become such a huge part of her life. Little did she know that she would begin watching the sport to gain Vishal's admiration but end up falling for MS Dhoni that year. And then Rohit Sharma. Ravindra Jadeja. Ajinkya Rahane. KL Rahul. Jos Buttler. David Warner. Trent Boult. AB De Villiers, Faf Du Plessis. And many more, in the future.
But ultimately, growing fond of the game itself and the bonds that shined within and outside the 30 yard circle.
What began as a mere medium to impress her crush would end up becoming a comfort sport that Bhavika was passionate about.
Since childhood, Bhavika had the habit of being extremely expressive. Some found it awesome others, not so much. But when Bhavika started watching cricket, she thought she had found an outlet that helped her express. She would talk to the players through the TV screen, always feeling a strange yearning.
A yearning to know all these amazing sportspersons in real life.
She used to have a diary where she would write down all the questions she wanted to ask Rohit Sharma one day. And it had a hundred and twelve questions before she stopped writing in it.
Nonetheless, it made Bhavika feel content that regardless of what happened in her life, she would always have this time of the year when she'd switch the TV on and watch her favourite players play, engage in banter, make strategies, win and lose.
Mail-mates.com had brought another reason to be excited but Bhavika remained apprehensive. There was always the possibility of Jack being a creep and so she decided to take her time to accept the invite and draft her first email.
This was what she had sent.
From : beingbhavika21@gmail.com
To : jackofalltrades03@gmail.com
Subject : hi?
Dear Jack,
I spent some time thinking how to start this email and then decided to choose the traditional pen pal way. Just writing it made me feel slightly thrilled (not about the correspondence especially but about the possibility that the correspondence holds). Writing it in this way sealed some sort of imaginary envelope and made these circumstances a little less awkward, for sure, at least for me.
It's strange how one simple way of beginning an email held the power of legitimising the website for me.
But yes. I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Warm regards,
Bhavika.
As soon as she had sent it Bhavika locked her phone and closed her eyes.
Perhaps it was fear mixed with fatigue that made her fall asleep, slowly and painstakingly, after Bhavika had imagined all the types of possible replies she could receive - weird. Dismissive. Rude. Neutral. Unreadable. Silly. Goofy. Nonchalant.
But none of them came close to what the reply actually would be - Sweet.
******
Bhavika's eyes opened suddenly. She was certain that a lot of time had passed since she had fallen asleep because she felt rested. And she was right. It was around 7am in the morning.
These days, Bhavika was still trying to unlearn the panic that would engulf her when she would look at the clock, followed by the thought that she was terribly late to catch her 7:23am train. This panic would last a minute before she realised that the older routine had ended. College had ended. This was a vacation. She was permitted to sleep a bit more. And this realisation would be followed by her sighing in pleasure as she fell back on her bed.
And that's what she did, today. She fell back in the bed and looked at the ceiling fan, grateful for its whirring and closed her eyes. Before remembering the events of the night. The tapping on the keyboard. Sending an email. To a stranger. And she got up with a jolt.
Technically, Bhavika hadn't forgotten about Jack. Certainly not. So the masked man in her dreams was not Ritesh Deshmukh from the film Ek Villain but Jack who had held her hostage after learning about her from the emails exchanged between the two!! Bhavika gulped at the memory and then shrugged the fear away.
She assumed that Jack wouldn't have read the email yet. It hadn't even been twelve hours since she had sent that email. And in her experience, when you were a stranger to a male, they preferred to take their time to get back to you. And still give you barely decent replies.
Who requires days to write, "Hey"??
Sure, being busy was always a possibility for anyone but Bhavika had seen people be selectively busy. And boys were no different. And that's why instead of checking her inbox, Bhavika decided to get some more sleep.
*****
It was in the evening, precisely, 15 minutes before the toss between Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad that Bhavika decided to open her emails.
Her logic was simple. In case Jack hadn't seen the email yet and hadn't had the opportunity to write back, Bhavika could busy herself by watching IPL instead of overthinking about his silence.
And if he would have replied, she'd read it and respond in a crisp manner. Rohit Sharma and David Warner waiting for the toss was a sight that would prevent her tendency to ramble in the email and that too to a stranger.
Outwardly pleased with her strategy, Bhavika clicked on the Gmail only to see a bold, black email with Jack's name waiting for her. She looked at the time stamp and frowned.
The guy had answered her email within twenty minutes of sending it?
She didn't know whether to feel thrilled about this or weird. But she busied herself by reading what it said.
From : jackofalltrades03@gmail.com
To : beingbhavika21@gmail.com
Re : hi?
Dear Bhavika,
The subject of this email made me smile. It's a little surreal writing to a stranger, isn't it? I can certainly see why people used to enjoy having pen pals because - as you said - there's a certain thrill in the unknown, especially when words are involved.
And the one you're writing to is from another country :)
I can see why using Dear legitimized the website for you. It would have done the same for me had I not heard about the website from my own friends.
I'm a bit skeptical to ask where you're writing from and I don't want to assume. If you're comfortable in telling me, let me know but I'm fine not knowing as well.
To self disclose a little, I am a British bloke.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Take care,
Jack.
Bhavika blinked, several times to make sure that she had read the email correctly and if it still seemed polite and sweet when she re-read it. Biting on her lips to prevent a smile, Bhavika began writing.
Dear Jack...