DEVANSH PATEL dares to date the celebrity he would like to wed - Dia Mirza - and surprises her with his marriage proposal and lots more
WHAT if you're meeting the woman of your dreams and you inform her: "If there's one celebrity I'd like to get married to, it'd be you."
Yes, it was me who was courageous enough to be truthful to Dia Mirza. Now it's up to her to take it seriously if she wants.
On the other hand, I was feeling like the world's most eligible bachelor sitting right next to her in her wonderfully decorated second-floor apartment with bright-coloured cushions adorning the seating area.
It was 4.15pm on Friday, March 8.
I was 15 minutes late. That's a bad start, I admit. I keep a shiny gift hidden as Mirza's maid opens the door. It was time to surprise her with a special present wrapped in golden paper.
"Will you have some tea?" the maid asks me and my photographer. "Not right now. Ket Dia arrive, thank you," I answer.
And in precisely three-and-a-half minutes my 'date' for the day arrives. Wrapped in blue denims, a loose white top which showcases her flawless figure and a red necklace touching her bare neck, Dia Mirza comes across as a cappuccino of warmth and froth.
Our masala chai arrives. The aroma is intense. Dia refuses to have the hot tea and urges me to go ahead with it.
I hesitate and then answer: "Not now, love. I don't have tea alone."
How impressive was that? Don't know. Really don't know. Now she is curious and alert.
"I don't prefer it in this hot weather. Not for now at least," she answers.
I question again: "Recall your last date, Dia."
In a moment, she replies, "I think it was four years ago. I was asked out for a date because that doesn't happen today. Either men feel too intimidated or scared or God knows what!
"I was really excited to go out on a date after a long time. It was dinner at Olives restaurant and bar in Bandra. I was given a flower." She adds in the same breath. "I thought it was cute and a sweet gesture.
"He wasn't trying too hard. I felt like I was in school again because there was this innocence about the whole thing."
Outspoken and fearless, she wears that smile again after her answer. She admits that she was very protective of her friends during her upbringing in Hyderabad.
"When we went in groups while in school and college, our friends would make sure that the couple who are interested in each other would be left alone for some time or we made sure that they sat together in a movie theatre. It was an awkward innocence but it was cute," Dia recalls.
It's strange but the truth that we've rarely read Dia Mirza's gossip stories in newspapers.
At least not that I can recall - but she does: "There have been some hot stories where I've been linked with married men. I can't stand that. It's a big issue with me. I'd rather be linked with a single attractive man where there could be a possibility of me having something to do with him."
We are in a creamy sunlit room sitting at an arm's distance. But right away you know there's something unusual about Dia.
She looks at you, tries to work out where you're coming from. I start coughing. She sees to it that the tea I'd ordered is consumed quickly. She doesn't talk in platitudes. You can see her brain working hard to try never to do that.
My brain, too, is working fast and quickly as I formulate my next question - "What if I was to take you out on a lovely dinner tonight at Indigo restaurant?"
My dream-come-true moment arrived with her surprising answer: "I'd probably fall in love with you," Dia says.
But the answer wasn't complete. She adds, "I am inclined to believe that the best way to a woman's heart is through her stomach. Hey, that's another exciting memory you've brought back.
"It was somebody I dated a couple of years ago. He was a really good chef. Our first date was when he had churned out a seven-course meal and I felt like a princess."
With a wry smile she continues: "Most of our date was spent inside the kitchen as he had to prepare the next dish and bring it out."
There was this sweetness to her embarrassment of bringing out her past two dates when her present one (that was me) was sitting right next to her, so I try to change the topic of conversation.
That's what happens when you're in love. It is so true. You speak when you don't have to and I was treading the same path till things started to get a bit better.
I mentioned that I'd given a previous interviewee a small candle stand because she was a newcomer. Then I say: "You deserve a big one as you're pretty successful." As quick as a flash she replies: "So the next time you meet me it better be a five-foot one."
Bingo! That wasn't the last laugh as the room was soon going to be filled with a Moroccan ambience.
I answer: "I'd love to cook some Moroccan food for you, sweetheart. The menu consists of some couscous, hot pitta bread with cold humous and some falafel. Moroccan music to go with it and ooh la la!"
She looks right at me when I'm talking and I start to feel uncomfortable.
"I think you're so uncomfortable. Do you want a fan on?" asks Dia.
And can someone tell me what was I supposed to do when I was sitting next to a woman who I consider the second most beautiful celebrity in Indian cinema after Aishwarya Rai Bachchan? Luckily for me Aishwarya is married now.
On an afternoon that was getting hotter than ever in every way, it was time to get a bit more comfy, because it was all about understanding a person with whom I was truly, madly and deeply in love with.
* The story of Dia and Dev's 'date' continues next week.
