The Love Affair

The night was young but quiet. The street lights had won the battle against the twilight a while ago. It was the beginning of another weekend, a party night, binge drinking and rowdy rascala behaviour - Friday Fury is due to start anytime now.

I was in no hurry as I ambled along from work to my home, my residence, my room!. It was a lonely night for me as my colleagues had planned and had gone for a ‘sightseeing’ cum movie cum dhaba-charpai-banks-of-ganges-dinner. So, I got the night and room for myself.

Hmmmm! That was an unusual situation for me, for us, for the bachelor gang. We stayed, laughed, drank, dined, wept, danced together and since the time my roomie installed an AC, a dozen half naked men massed together in our room at sleep time.

But, today was different. I had dropped out because of an unexpected aircraft arrival and departure . How can ATC be far behind under the circumstances? And since it was my turn to be on duty, I had no other option but to stay back.

I entered my room and was greeted by the familiar sights and smells. The table was littered with my half finished sketches, my random thoughts captured on paper, cigarette butts and a few letters - that thick envelope was from my yaar Ravi Narayan of NIIT, Chennai fame. That reminded me, I haven't started my reply to his letter yet. May be I should start now? Should I? Sorry buddy, later. For now, let me pair up with my forced solitude.

May be I should clean up the room, take a leisurely bath, dress up and head for the bar! That new whiskey is supposed to be better than the 'kerosene’ we were used to drinking. Yeah! That would be nice. Of course, the gang would find the clean stench of the room unbearable after their planned sojourn!

We were staying in a double storied building and our gang occupied the top floor of one of the flanks. One very senior bachelor guy stayed in a room on the ground floor, across our flank. As I walked out of my room, my mind and body homed towards his room. Because of the seniority difference, he was not always part of our crazy schemes. May be he is in his room, maybe not, would a peep make a difference?

I pushed his door open and there he was, ready for action - mini bar, dry/ wet snacks coupled with veg and non-veg varieties.

“Hey” he said. “Where's the rest of the gang?”

“You know the plan about movie, dhaba-dinner …..”

“........ and the sight seeing for girl friends?” he finished the sentence for me.

I laughed out aloud and teased him “C’mon Dips, you are a Pitamah for us. So don't envy the youngsters. What do you do in this town other than 'dupkis’ in the nearby lake?”

He ignored my jibe. Despite the seniority difference between the two of us, we were good friends. In a group I always addressed him as 'sir’. In private and during serious discussions it was 'Dips’. The invisible line was never breached, never crossed and never violated. Many years later, it dawned on me that Dips was actually teaching me how to handle relationships. But, that's an altogether different story for another time.

He insisted on having drinks in his room despite my protests to proceed for dinner. “Who is going to eat all these snacks?” he asked but didn't respond when I countered with “Were you aware that I was coming to your room?”.

The drinks flowed like the river current and the snacks teased our palate and the ensuing hunger.

I said suddenly, “Let's go and have dinner”.

“Who is going to serve you dinner at 2330? Let's have some more drinks and then go to the dhaba near railway station for food” he said. Nodding my head in agreement, I walked into his bedroom and stood wide-mouthed in amazement.

There are beautiful women in this world and there are beautiful Indian women in this world. She was leagues ahead of all of them put together. The photographer had captured every essence of her beauty, sensuality and serenity. The Bengal cotton saree added to her charm. Elegantly Simplistic and Brilliantly Se…. I caught myself as a zillion questions raced around my head about her identity.

I felt that a train rammed into me when Dips chipped in helpfully “She is my girlfriend!”. I went into an utter state of shock. “You have a girlfriend!” I kept repeating the statement foolishly in an endless loop.

As I recovered from the initial shock I asked him “Has she agreed?”

“Yes”.

“Oh! Is that the reason for this lonely mini-party?”

“No”.

As I kept probing Dips with questions, the puzzle started to slowly unravel or so I thought. Their families stayed in the same neighbourhood. Dips and Sheetal were friends since childhood. They belonged to different communities. The girl's parents were dead against their marriage and Sheetal’s one and only condition is that her parents should agree.

I heaved a sigh of relief. “Don't worry Dips the gang will take leave, go to Delhi and return with Bhabhi!”

“Not possible”.

“We will convince Bhabhi”.

“Not possible”. Ultimately, Dips delivered his nuclear arsenal on me. “She is getting married in another 15 minutes in Delhi”.

“And by the way, she is not your Bhabhi!” he said. I retorted angrily “And she is not your girl friend either. May be she was but not anymore.”

“Oh! Dips! Why couldn't you tell us earlier? We would have picked her up and brought her here”.

“She wouldn't come. I tried to convince her many times. My family and common friends too failed to reason with her and convince her. She was firm in her decision. She would marry me only if her parents agreed.”

“May be she was sure that you wouldn't be able to convince her parents. So she commits to you but was always ready to marry someone else. Clever girl”. I knew I was pushing the limits of the invisible line to the very edge of its flexibility. I searched his eyes for the glares and stares but all I could see was the soft and shy soul. Truly Dips.

“Let me fix you a drink” he said.

“Are you really worried about my drink, my friend? Or, are you worried about losing her? Let me tell you something Dips, if I had seen her before, I would have done whatever it takes to convince her and then would have run away with her”.

“You would steal her from me?”.

I looked at the photograph again. Nerves of steel were hidden by the soft, sensuous façade. “She is worth it and all I am saying is, you should do the same. Get her at any cost”.

He slipped into his defensive silence zone again which I was unable to penetrate since i first entered his room. Battle scars and reality have taught him to accept the truth. I was young, boisterous, impetuous and spoiling for a fight.

I sat next to him and slipped an arm around his shoulder. He raised his glass and so did I. We drowned ourselves and our sorrows in silence. Two friends sitting and drinking and staring at a woman's photograph - I was definitely staring at the Kohinoor that my friend lost.

I glanced at my watch and groaned. It was 0345. Even the railway station dhaba would be closed by now. “Let's go and bounce Raka” Dips suggested.

The Bajaj Scooter was wobbly and I told Dips as much. “Yeah, it's getting old” he replied. There was no traffic on the road except the two of us and the (t)rusted Bajaj. We reached Raka’s house and rang the bell. Dips and Raka are course mates and so I played second fiddle at the door. On the third ring Raka opened the door and welcomed us with his usual laugh.

“Hi guys, so early?”.

“We are hungry” Dips replied.

“No sweat. Promise to drink with me and food is guaranteed.” His laughter continued. “Actually, we slept early and I missed a chance to drink last night”. We trooped into the house. He quickly fixed a drink for each of us and gulped his down. “How much catching up do I have to do?” he asked. “A lot” I said.

He asked me to fix a drink for him and went in to wake up his wife, Neeru. I dreaded the thought of meeting her. I was sure, I was going to meet Maa Durga. And I was not disappointed.

The rustle of the curtains was mild and did not match her anger. “When are you two wild cats getting married? Is this any kind of a time to come home?” she thundered. Dips was safely ensconced in a corner and I was left to face her wrath. What I missed in Dips’s eyes earlier, I found it here. Pointing at Dips she literally hissed at me “Why are you getting spoiled in his company?”. Maa Kaali.

Raka came to my rescue. “Hey, where’s my drink?”. I handed over the glass to him. “What would you guys like to eat?” he asked. Before we could reply, Neeru announced “I am making rice and rajma” and stormed into the kitchen. Raka whispered in my ear “Don't worry, she will cool off in a minute”. “I hope so” I said.

Raka fixed another round of drinks and the events of the evening were narrated to him. “Dips, you bum, you never mentioned about your love affair to me”. ”If I had not accidentally routed to his room, we would never have come to know of it. Our man would have happily celebrated his fiancée's wedding with a feast, got drunk and gone to sleep” I said.

Dips became active “is that the reason why you said you will run away with her?” he asked me. I grinned sheepishly and the banter continued.

I picked up my fourth drink and strolled into the kitchen. The liquor induced stupid grin which was plastered on my face was the only defence I had to face Neeru.

If looks could kill, I would have been dead a thousand times over. She just pushed a plate of vegetables towards me and I started cutting them for salad.

As a general rule a lady was addressed as ma’am but I had taken permission from the couple to address her by name. After a few minutes, I said “I am sorry Neeru” and she replied with a killer stare. Now I knew not only the meaning of the phrase “if looks could kill” but also “freezing looks”.

I handed over the plate full of sliced vegetables to Neeru and she responded with “What happened?”. Maa Annapurna.

I quickly narrated the events and brought her up to date with Dips’s affair. Her mischievous smile was back and she fired a lot of questions at me. “I think you need to address these questions to Dips” I told her. “Have you seen the photo? Is she beautiful?” she asked. “Exquisitely Beautiful” I replied.

She gave final touches to the food and we settled down in the drawing room.Finally, I had a chance to take a back seat and bring Dips into the firing line - Neeru’s firing line.

The last thing I remember was glancing at the watch. It showed 0600. When I opened my eyes, the sunlight was streaming into the drawing room. Dips and I had slept on the carpet. “Good Morning, Did you sleep well?”. I turned around and said “A cup of coffee would be helpful, Neeru!”.

Two hours later, our bellies filled with the sumptuous brunch prepared by Neeru, Dips and I were back on the road, back in our rooms, back to our lives.

I have no recollection of her face. I would not recognise her now even in the same photograph. Only the memories of the night are fresh in my mind. As if they happened yesterday.

Our warmth for each other and the diversity are a blessing to remember and cherish.