AnS - Part VI

Sayanee could not sleep that night.

Khyati thought she might be pregnant. At first she had sounded devastated, but in the course of their conversation, Sayanee started sensing some bits and pieces of excitement peeking out from behind the old cumulonimbus. There was this thing about her. She made even the biggest of catastrophes seem like a badly dealt game of cards - at worst.

Ashutosh didn’t know yet. Khyati would break the news to him only if it turned out to be true.

Sayanee sighed and turned around in her bed, certain that would be of no use. Love? Does it really happen like this? Perhaps. Or maybe it is just an inability to deal smartly with sunken investments.

The next day at office, Sayanee mostly found herself whiling away time. She ended up making plans with her college friends for the evening. These were people who she had been extremely close to and they had managed to retain it over the years - it helped that they were all in Mumbai.

Bandstand - one of the most beautiful places in Mumbai. The rocks, the sea, the sunset. If you want more - the cafes and within the radius of a kilometer - the numerous eateries. The three of them had spent many an evening there - eating bhutta, walking along the promenade, looking indulgently on at couples in their little nooks - couples that probably lived with ten others in a two hundred sq feet hole, couples desperate for a little privacy, for the romance of being able to hold hands and cozy up.

There was a gentle breeze that evening. The sky looked foggy as usual.

“So Sayanee, kyaa haal chaal? Tu toh yaar milti hi nahi hai aaj-kal.” Complained Nimisha in her characteristic nasal drawl.

“Work Nimisha. You know how it gets.”

Jigna made a face and turned towards her. “You work too much darling. How is Aunty?”

“Haven’t met her since quite some time. Spoke to her day before. She seems okay.”

“How is Suyash Jigna?”

“He is the same old boring thing. He wants to get married ASAP”

“So? Kitni saal takk latkaayegi use?” Nimisha laughed.

“Abbe chhup. Shaadi and all is scary man.”

They all laughed. Typical Jigna. Never before had a gujarati household faced as much trouble as the Pareeks had with Jigna.

“What do you think Sayanee? Mera boy-friend hota toh main toh abhi ke abhi shaadi kar leti.”

“Tu toh kar hi leti. So what are your plans Jigna? Heard you were planning to write the CAT?”

“Yea man, let’s see. What about you? Abhi bhi wohi - aage nahi padhna chahti?”

“Kya karna hai. I am happy with the way life is going. I like my job and my colleagues. I like where I am living. I like my room-mate. I have my friends. More than enough.”

“Get a boy-friend first. And it’s not going to stay like this forever.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“Colleagues will leave, room-mate will move on, friends will get married with the first chimp they see, like our dear old Nimbu here, or die frighteningly early in a far-away bear-infested jungle, in search of the all-elusive romance of life , like me.”

All three laughed. The sun was looking like a giant orange on fire. The rocks were glinting - like black gold. Sayanee loved these times they spent together. The three of them had it just right. The masala, the madness, the candor - just right.

They walked into Barista by the time it got a little dark. After plonking themselves into chairs, Jigna looked around, gave a little start and waved out to someone. A man walked over from the adjacent table.

“Hey Jigna! Fancy meeting you here! We were talking about Bandstand just the other day.” He was tall, extremely tall, well over six feet. A giant really.

Jigna chuckled and introduced him as Leo, a guy she went to classes with at the CAT coaching institute.

“Are those your friends? Why don’t you people join us?” Said the ever-sociable Jigna.

Sayanee groaned inwardly. This Jigna was just too outgoing sometimes. She stole a small side-ward glance at Nimisha, who incidentally was staring at her shoes. Ah, for all her ‘boy-talk’, Nimbu had always been the shy one.

Two more guys came and joined the table. A round of introductions followed. Saurabh - chartered accountant in the making, interning at a Consulting company. And Amanpreet - working at a Media planning agency.

It took Sayanee a few seconds to place him. He was sitting there, looking a little uncomfortable. Both recalled their last rendezvous, aboard the crowded local train.

They sat silently for sometime. There was something about him. He looked pinched. How do you say it, anguished perhaps? Permanently.

“So where do you stay?” He ventured uncertainly.

“Andheri. Sher-e-punjab.”

“Haan, maine aapko Andheri mein train par chadte dekha hai.”

He had a strange accent. Not typical Delhi, but it left a taste of the North, especially after he stopped speaking. Like notes in perfume. The more obvious and volatile ones hit you first - leave you confused and then the subtler and heavier base scent registers, after the fickle ones have wafted away.

“Yes. Maine bhi.”

“Wo main us din hurry mein tha, isliye aapko thoda sa dhakka maar diya tha. I hope you are not angry.”

“Arre nahi, don’t worry. Locals mein toh normal hai.”

She smiled at him for the first time. This guy was like a child, a lost bewildered little thing in this crazy city. He eased up, visibly.

“You two know each other?” Jigna interrupted her own vivid account of the time she had followed around a co-worker for a week because she suspected him of theft, to butt-in.

“Not really. We took the same local train once. I almost didn’t let him get-off.” Smiled Sayanee.

Yes, life was good, she mused. The job, the colleagues, the home, the room-mate, the friends, even random strangers on the train. There was a calm and effortless way about it right now. Like the peaceful waters of an afternoon sea taking its siesta or the fishing boat floating gently along on it - sails down.