I met Ri on a bus the other day. It was a mini-bus, and I was on my way home.
I sat next to the guy for a whole year in school. He doesn’t live in Calcutta now, and we hadn’t spoken for months.
In general, I find it rather difficult to describe people without exaggerating something about them, but for Ri, there is really no need. He is pretty much the most handsome guy I know. He is about one-and-a-half inches shorter than I am, which would put him at a bit over five-six, but he has a profile that would not look out of place on a Grecian urn. And he is great company. He knows all the gossip, and will have you in splits within about a minute. Needless to say, girls love him.
In spite of us being so very different, we were pretty good friends. I remember he once said to me that I don’t have his looks, and he doesn’t have my brains. Funny guy, and oddly forthright.
So we were talking, and as the bus stopped outside Lady Brabourne’s, two girls got on. The bus was fairly crowded, and they were standing behind us.
One of the girls was absolutely beautiful: Slender, flawless skin, the works. The other one was a little plump, and had frizzy hair.
Just then, the gentleman in the seat near the window in front of Ri got up and left. So Ri turned to the pretty girl, and asked her to take his seat. She said ‘thank you,’ and sat down.
Pretty soon, the other guy in the seat got up. The other girl was standing right behind Ri. But Ri didn’t ask her to sit. He took the seat himself, and sat next to the pretty girl. Ri being who he is, they were soon talking, of course. He really is very smooth, you’ve got to give him credit for that.

The reason I started writing this whole piece is because this girl had an expression on her face that is all too familiar.
It was like she was saying to herself, “Well, what were you expecting?”
So when the guy in the seat in front of me left, I asked her if she would like to sit. She sat down, and I got another seat after a while.
If this was the movies, then I could probably have told you that we got to talking and I found that she was a lovely person, and that she volunteered for the SPCA, and liked talking about crazy conspiracy theories, and thought that Artemis Fowl was much better than Harry Potter. But this wasn’t, and we didn’t speak to one another, and then Ri and I got off the bus.

I gave that girl my seat because I recognized that look. I know what that feels like.

Now, I’m not going to say that I am blindingly ugly, or that I have no female friends. I am not, I am average looking, I suppose, and I do. It is just that if they do like me, and value my friendship, it is because I’m smart, and usually nice to talk to, and many other such nondescript reasons. No one ever thinks I’m hot and that’s alright with me. My self esteem doesn't hinge on my looks.
But, once, just once, I would like to have some absolutely superficial, yet very attractive girl look at me and think, “I wish I knew that guy.”

You probably have no idea what I’m talking about. But that’s alright, too.