FindMyMatch.com

I think I was in the hall (read living room) of my house. I rubbed my eyes to get a better view and also to be sure of my co-ordinates. “Hell, it is the hall.” I thought to myself looking at the familiar wall clock up on the wall to my right. But that was the only thing familiar in the hall of the house where I had stayed all my life. What happened here?

“Please have a seat!!!” commanded a voice. As I followed in the direction of the source of the voice, I saw that a table was arranged right in the middle of the hall. “What is going on here? That is my study table. Get up from my chair, will you?” I shouted. “I said sit down!!” the voice became sterner. I looked around but there was nobody else, other than the man who was sitting on my chair. There was smoke lazing around in the hall. That was weird. I took some in, in the hope that it may be stale cigarette smoke which might get me out of this daydream. The smoke had no taste to it. It was jus there, hanging in suspended animation. “Damn, what is this place? This is not a dream”, said I.

“Who said it is, mister?” said the man in front of me and laughed a laugh which echoed through the passage way.

“Hmm, let me see this. You are Mr. Advait Borate correct?” he continued looking at the papers he took out from the manila envelope; age 24, weight 80kgs, though you look heavier to me; colour of skin brown, yeah as if I believe you, a software professional earning close to 5 lac a year, not bad, no foreign trips eh, that might be an issue, but we can see what can be done about that. By the way I am Rakesh Gaithonde ”

“Rakesh what? Hell it doesn’t matter. How do u know all this? What are the papers you have? Where the hell am I?” I was lost and was frantic. “Relax, buddy. You are in your own hall. Can’t you see? Though we had to make a few modifications. But we kept the wall clock. I knew you would recognize at least that and you did not disappoint me. And the papers. Don’t you remember these?” said he throwing the papers at me. “You filled these with your own hand. Look its your signature there at the bottom”

It was my signature and my writing all right. But I didn’t remember ever doing all this. I searched for a name, a name of an agency of a corporation something, but there was nothing. I looked up at him. Sweat was trickling down my face and my heart beat had reached such a pace that I feared that my chest might implode. “I really don’t know what is all this about?”

“Ohh come on now, Advait. Go wash your face, freshen up and have some water.” his voice suddenly became soothing. I did as I was told. When I came back he handed me some printed sheets of paper. Here we go. Guys, can we have some lights please.”

The moment he said this, a strong flashlight shone on me. I was blinded for a moment and then when my eyes got accustomed to the light I looked down at the sheets of paper in my hand. “Read them aloud looking in front.” He commanded pointing at the red light which was blinking in front of me at a distance.

“Hello there, Good morning. I am Advait Borate. I am 24 years old and am moderately built. I am currently based in Pune. My complexion is brown. I work as a software professional in a reputed IT firm in India and will be flying abroad very soon. My hobbies include reading, blogging, surfing the net, watching movies. I earn 5 lac rupees a year. If interested do get back to me at AdvaitBorate@FindMyMatch.com. Waiting to hear from you. Bye”

“Excellent”, he said clapping. “That will be all, thank you Mr Borate. Take him away”. I was still coming to terms with what I had just said when 2 heavily built men literally picked me up and threw me out of my own living room. I had no time to even shout. I landed heavily on my back and my head hit the floor, I blanked out.

The phone ring woke me up. I checked the time it was 3:30 in the afternoon. Damn it was a dream after all. “Hello, who is this?” I said. “Hey, Didi bolte ahe.”, it was my sis on the line. I hadnt even checked the number before answering the call. “Hmm...bol” I said still with a quiver in my voice. “Arre kay zhale, asa ka awaz kadtos” my sis. “Kahi nahi…bol” I said. “Guess what, I finally put up your profile on FindMyMatch.com. Ill message your id and password in sometime, wicked na” she was so enthusiastic. I felt liking banging the phone, but I was sweating and didn’t have the energy to even do that. “Wow. So mom wins eh?” I said. “Hehe, you know she always does!!” came back the reply and the line went dead. My sis is always in a hurry.

I knew why I dreamt about this. My mom and I had been discussing this for the last few days on the phone and she was very persistent. I couldn’t ignore her and had to absorb all she had to say and now it was done. I had my own FindMyMatch.com id.Wow!!!!

The phone beeped. My sis had messaged the login credentials. I freshened up and logged on the website and into my account. I almost fainted when the page refreshed:

You have 2 unopened messages.

I clicked on the first. “Hi, I am Priyanka. I am also based in Pune. I am interested. Check Priyanka’s profile for more details.

My sis wasn’t kidding me after all.