Valentine's Day 2017

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This is an imaginary story of an Indian man and an Irish woman. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental.



Rahul has been going to the Royal Calcutta Turf Club religiously ever since he turned eighteen. He just loves gambling especially betting on horses. He also loves to play Teen Patti and Texas Poker a lot. Sadly there are no Casinos in Calcutta. Therefore almost every year around November or December, he religiously visits Goa. He has been to almost all the casinos in Goa like Deltin Royale, Deltin Jaqk, Deltin Caravela, Big Daddy, Casino Palms, Casino Pride etc.

Anyways on 11th February 2017 Rahul went to the Royal Calcutta Turf Club. The main attraction of that day was the Queen Elizabeth Cup. He reached there around 11 a.m. There were beautiful women all around in beautiful dresses and gowns with beautiful hats on their heads. That day there were ten races. Rahul had a lovely day at the races. Though he lost a lot of money but still it was fun betting against the odds. He won a big amount on the third race but then again lost that money in the subsequent races. 

Rahul was sitting in the Member's Box till the seventh race. On the eighth race he came downstairs and bought a can of chilled beer. Then he went and sat on the lawn. At the beginning of the ninth race he went to the betting counters on the ground floor. In front of one of the counters, a beautiful foreigner woman was standing. She was wearing a lovely dress and also had a lovely hat on her head. Rahul immediately went and stood behind her. 

The foreigner woman was waiting to get her payment on her eighth race ticket. The payments had not yet been declared. The man at the counter said that it would be declared within the next five minutes. The foreigner woman smiled at him and then looked back at Rahul and also smiled at him too.

Rahul immediately fell truly, madly, deeply, savagely, hopelessly and helplessly in love with that smile. He immediately realized that it was a God-gifted opportunity. He also smiled at her and spoke to her. He asked her name. She said her name was Ciara. Here is how the conversation went :


Rahul : Hi Ciara, do you have any tips for the ninth race?

Ciara : No, I just won by fluke. Today is my first day at the Calcutta races. I am new in Calcutta. I am working for an NGO. 

Rahul : Ok. Then you have beginner's luck on your side. On which horse are you betting on the next race?

Ciara : Ha Ha Ha! I don't know. You give me some tips since you seem to be a regular here. 

Rahul : Well, I am betting against the favourite horses. If I am lucky then I am gonna win a big amount, otherwise I am gonna lose money. 

Ciara : Ok...

Rahul : By the way, you are from which country?

Ciara : I am from Ireland. 

Rahul : Oh Cool! The land of James Joyce! 

Ciara : Exactly... Have you read his books?

Rahul : Well, in my college days I once started to read Ulysses but failed to finish it. It was too long and it was too difficult.

Ciara : Ok...  

Rahul : By the way, you live in which city in Ireland? 

Ciara : Dublin. 

Rahul : Wow! I have heard and read so much about Dublin. I would really love to visit that city someday. I have heard so many good things about the pubs in Dublin.

Ciara : Yeah, we do have amazing pubs...

Rahul : Anyways can I have your number? 

Ciara : Sure...

Rahul and Ciara exchanged numbers. He said that he would call her. Then he went back to his Member's Box and Ciara went back to her friends. That night he called her up around 8 p.m. They talked for an hour. They decided to meet on the evening of 14th February.

On 14th February they first met at The Irish House at Quest Mall. Both of them had a lovely adda. She talked about the pubs in Dublin like Palace Bar, Temple Bar, Long Hall, Confession Box, Oval Bar, Kehoes, Brazen Head, Neary's, McDaid's, Johnnie Fox's, Davy Byrne's, Dropping Well, John Kavanagh’s, Brogan’s, Ryan’s, Royal Oak, The Clock, Tom Kennedy’s, Walsh’s, Gaffney & Son etc.

 

From there Rahul took her to Park Hotel for dinner. They had dinner at The Bridge restaurant. After dinner they went to Roxy around 10 p.m. The place was jam packed with people. There was not even a single square centimeter of free space on the dance floor. The DJ music was fascinating. The whole ambience of Roxy was intoxicating. Rahul and Ciara danced together like there was no tomorrow. While dancing their bodies came close to each other and their first Indo-Irish kiss happened at midnight...

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