Never one for passing judgement about others, he just shrugged and went back to studying the menu. ‘The usual?’ he asked me then. I nodded, happy in the knowledge that my Caesar Salad would be done with the dressing on the side and with an extra portion of bacon, just the way I like it. But then, this wasn’t surprising. After the 15 years that we had spent together, Puneet and I could safely say that we knew each other in and out. Even as I leaned back in my chair and sipped my drink, I couldn’t help wondering. A decade down the road, would the couple at the next table be able to say the same about themselves?
Everyone says that the dating days are special in ways nothing else is, that it is that period that will remain firmly etched in your memory in the years to come. Well, I have to agree with that because I certainly remember every little detail about the time when Puneet and I were dating. And frankly, even as I sat there in the restaurant that day and thought back to that time, I couldn’t help marvelling at how much the world had changed since then. It had been nothing short of a transformation. Back then (it sure feels kinda ancient to be saying that but it really wasn’t that long ago, 15 years tops!), a date could’ve been a slice of pizza and a Lime N’ Lemony at a neighbourhood Nirula’s or even a plate of Kakori kebabs at our favourite hole-in-the-wall kebab joint next to the gym. The point was that wherever, whenever the date might have happened, the focus was always on enjoying each other’s company and getting to know each other. We didn’t have any smart phones or social media or tablets back then. We didn’t have any distractions that interfered with our natural interactions. All we had was, well, each other. And that was more than enough. We didn’t spend 20 minutes tapping away into a device, then another 20 clicking scores of selfies and then yet another 20 applying the perfect filter before we could finally realize that the date was almost over. Needless to say, we preferred to spend that hour gazing into each other’s eyes and admittedly, glancing intermittently at our watches since back then, we did adhere to stricter deadlines at home. However, I can safely say that for us, every minute spent together was precious, every hour an opportunity to know each other a little better.
‘Wasn’t it boring back then?’ My much younger cousin had asked me once. ‘How did you guys manage without smartphones and digicams and iPads? I mean, what did you do?’
I remember looking at her rather pityingly. We talked, I’d wanted to say. Really talked. We listened to good music on our Sony CD players. We enjoyed a good meal together at our favourite restaurant where the staff remained unchanged and knew us by first names. We laughed at the corniest jokes over tall glasses of old-fashioned cold coffee. We held hands and walked barefoot in the park. We lay in the grass and read Archie comics together. Yes, yes, I know we had no smartphones back then, but believe it or not, we did manage to have fun.