We sat at a corner table and had our first meal together in three
years.The effect some people’s mere presence can have on you is
indescribable. Everything on offer in the rather ordinary evening
buffet tasted divine. The salty tomato soup was the best I had ever
had. The matar-paneer tasted like an award-winning chef had made it.
The lights from the traffic jam visible outside the window looked like
fireflies. I kept silent, worried I would say something stupid to upset
her or, worse, make her run away.
‘You’ve become so quiet,’ she said.
‘Nothing like that,’ I said. I looked at her. She looked, if possible,
even more stunning than she had been in college.
‘So. tell me, what have you been up to?' she said.
Over the next ten minutes, I told her about my life since college.
‘You run a school. And Bill Gates is visiting it,’ she said. ‘Wow.’
‘He’s visiting many places.’
‘Come on, don’t be modest.You are doing something so different
from the rest of our batchmates.’
‘I’m a misfit, I guess. Who leaves HSBC to come to Dumraon?’ I
said.
‘Cool people,’ Riya said. Our eyes met. I tried to read her,
considering she had said so little about herself. I couldn’t find
anything too different, apart from a touch of maturity. I wanted to ask
her about her past few years. However, I wouldn’t push it.
‘How’s Rohan?’ I said.
‘You remember his name? So what was that “Riya, Riya Somani,
right?” business in the lobby?’
I smiled. She had caught me red-handed.
‘Rohan should be fine,’ she said.
‘Should be?’
‘I don’t know. He must be.’
‘Rohan is your husband, right?’
She became quiet.
'You want anything sweet? They have kulfi and gulab jamun,' I
said, desperate to change the topic.
‘We got divorced,’ she said in a calm voice, as if she had expressed
her sweet-dish preference.
I didn’t have anything to say. Apart from shock, I felt a warm
tingle at the back of my neck.
Had I just felt happy at what she said? I clenched my teeth. I didn’t
want my smile to leak out.
Oh my God, that is the best news I have heard in years, a cheerful
voice spoke inside my head. Even my soul jumped about in
excitement.
I tried to look as serious as possible.
‘That’s terrible,’ I said at last.
She nodded.
‘Sweet dish?’ I said in a soft voice. Well, the occasion did deserve
something sweet.
She shook her head. She looked upset, on the verge of tears. I
wanted to touch her hand, but I restrained myself.
‘What happened?’ I said, my tone as genuine as possible.
‘I don’t want to talk about it.’
I nodded. Typical Riya, I thought.
‘Can we talk about something else, please?’ she said.
‘Yeah, sure. What?’
‘Anything?’
‘You want kulfi?’ I said.
‘No, Madhav, I don’t want kulfi. Or anything else to eat. Can you
talk about something else, please?’
I thought I had talked about something else. Doesn’t the topic of
kulfi count as something else? Well, who can argue with girls?
‘How long are you in Patna for?’ I said.
‘My job is here. I have to find a place to live, actually.’
‘Really? Which company do you work for?’
‘Nestle. I am in sales, for their yogurt brand.’
‘Ah,’ I said.
‘What?’ she said.
‘Nothing.’
‘In case you’re wondering what the hell I’m doing selling yogurt in
Patna, well, it’s hard for a college dropout to find a job, isn’t it?
Especially when the dropout wants to work on her own and not with
her rich dad?’
‘I wasn’t wondering about that at all,’ I said. I really didn’t care
why she was in Patna; I was only delirious with joy she was in Patna.
‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘when do you go back to Dumraon?’
‘You remember Dumraon?’ I said smilingly.
‘How can I forget the only prince I have ever known and his
kingdom?’
She picked up a spoon and took a bite of my kulfi. I thought she
didn’t want anything sweet.
Why do girls always do the opposite of what they say they want to
do? She took more bites of the kulfi and ended up eating more of it
than me.
‘Do you remember anything else, Riya?’
‘Like what?’
‘Us?’
She looked at me.
‘Madhav...’
‘Yes?’
‘I’ve changed, Madhav,’ she said. ‘In college I was an immature,
over-protected, idiotic eighteen-year-old with no clue about life.’
‘We were all young back then,’ I said, jumping to her defence.
‘I am sorry, because I know I hurt you. The last two years have
taught me a lot.’
Her unexpected apology startled me. I realized that I could be in
love with this Riya even more than the previous one.‘What actually
happened?’
‘I’d rather not talk about it. At least, not now.’
I clucked impatiently.
‘What?’ she said.
‘Nothing. This is so you. The freezing up. I do know you, Riya,
even if it was in the past.’
‘If you know me, why do you push?’
‘Who pushed? I met you after years, so asked you. However, I
have no right to anymore. So, sorry, madam.’ I became silent.
‘Don’t be like that,’ she said.
I looked away and spoke again. ‘You shoved a wedding card in my
hand and disappeared. I run into you after years and I shouldn’t ask
you what happened?'
‘You should.’
‘That is what I did.'
‘Fine, I’m sorry. And I’ve already apologized for the past. Madhav,
look at me.’
I turned my gaze back to her. I could only be mad at Riya for so
long. She smiled. I maintained a stern expression.
‘Would you like to be friends with me?’ she said.
I hate it when she says that. What the fuck is that? Is it an
invitation? Is it a consolation prize? Is it a peace treaty?
I remained silent.
‘I live in Patna.You come here often. We could be friends. Would
you like that?’ she said.
That was another thing I hated. That I always let her decide when
to be friends or when not to. I had no power to refuse her.
‘Yes, I would,’ I said.
‘Great. I would like us to be good friends, too,’ she said. ‘However,
I have one condition.’
I rolled my eyes.There is always a catch with Riya. What is it going
to be this time? Have no expectations?
‘Say it,’ I said.
‘Don’t ask me the same question twice.’
‘What?’
‘Ask me things. I will reply if and when I can. If I don’t, please
don’t ask me again.’
‘Really?’ I said.
‘Yes.That is when it seems pushy.’
‘Fine. I don’t want to be pushy.’
‘Whenever you are in Patna we can meet up. Maybe you can show
me the city.'
‘I am here this weekend.’
‘Sunday is my day off. I have some apartments to look at, though.’
‘Would you like me to come apartment-hunting with you?’ I said.
She fell silent. I had become too familiar too soon.
‘It’s okay. We can meet another time,' I said quickly.
'No, come. You are right. They will quote crazy rates to me
otherwise.'
'I wasn’t going to ask twice,’ I said and she laughed.
What time should I fix to meet with the broker?’ she said.
‘I have a morning class until eleven and then I’m free until fourthirty,’
I said.
‘Class?’ she said.
I’d rather not talk about it right now.’
She raised an eyebrow.
'Really?’
‘Don’t ask the same question twice. Applies both ways, right?’
I heard her laugh again, the most beautiful sound in the world.
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