Meet Me In the Middle

by Vani Mahesh

  ‘Pete, listen to me carefully. For that to-die-for Masale Dose, you have to be aware of a few ground rules.’ Anu met Pete at the Gandhi Bazar circle.

  ‘I am listening.’ Pete walked next to Anu carefully. ‘But not if my feet get squished under one of these.’ He pointed at the vehicles zooming by next to them.

  ‘Oh, don’t worry. Nobody steps on anybody’s toes here.’Anu hauled herself up onto the footpath. Pete followed her sporting a look that was part afraid and part amused. Anu continued. ‘Now, first of all, expect a half-hour wait to be seated. Then, expect a twenty-minute wait inside to get the food. Be forewarned, in a table for four, we will have two strangers eating with us.’

  ‘I could live with that.’ Pete sighed.

  Anu grinned at him stopping at a small nondescript eatery with a large crowd gathered ahead of them. ‘We have arrived.’

  After the highly anticipatory wait (all the while getting roasted in the sun), Anu heard the old usher call her name. ‘Oh boy, my name sounds so sweet coming from him,’ Anu murmured and grabbed a table that had two empty seats.

  ‘How are we to squeeze into these two tiny chairs?’ Pete looked bewildered.

  ‘Oh, please sit down before we lose the table.’ Anu glared at Pete, making him scoot to the wall. She took the other seat.

  Anu ordered three Doses for the two of them. Otherwise, they would have to wait another twenty minutes. When the Doses arrived, Pete finally smiled. Biting into the Dose (holding it in his hand like it was a wrap) he said dreamily, ‘How can something so crispy on the outside be so soft on the inside? This is heavenly.’

  ‘This is an art perfected here for over seven decades, Mister. Told you it was worth the wait.’

  When they sipped their coffee, their tablemates changed. A youngish guy and a middle-aged man, obviously unrelated to each other. Anu thanked all her stars that the older guy hadn’t come in when they were still eating. He coughed nonstop like a sputtering engine.

  The younger guy politely asked the cougher to move to another table.

  ‘If you have a problem, you move.’ The man coughed his words.

  ‘If I move, I have to wait again for the food. I don’t have the time. You are spreading your germs all over here, so you move.’ The younger man was now furious. Anu leaned back into her chair and covered her coffee cup subtly.

  The older man settled snugly into the chair and coughed more vigorously. The young man muttered to himself but knew it was hopeless to argue more. When the cougher got busy with his phone, Anu tilted her cup to spill the coffee closer to him. As the brown liquid neared him, threatening to drip all over his white pants, Anu shrieked. ‘Sir, watch out.’

  The man jumped out of his seat in horror. ‘You mad woman! Do you have Parkinson’s to spill the coffee?’

  As he coughed his way to the sink to wash the stains off, Anu got up to leave. But not before emptying more coffee onto his seat. She smiled at the young man and whispered, ‘Enjoy your Dose.’

  Following her out of the hotel, Pete looked heavenward. ‘You are one of a kind!’

  After a bit of strolling and shopping, Anu took pity on Pete. He looked just about ready to have a nervous breakdown amidst the vehicles, potholes, street vendors and dogs. Leading him inside a Coffee Day, she laughed. ‘Relax your frazzled brain now.’

  Pete sighed. ‘This was nice and adventurous. But I can only experience this chaos very briefly.’

  Anu ordered two lattes and plonked on a sofa. ‘Takes a different mindset to live in real Bangalore. Nothing seems to work but everything works. There is a hidden method in all the madness which only a local can decode!’

  Pete sipped his coffee and smiled at Anu. ‘I wouldn’t say this to your face but you are a remarkable woman! And, a great mom.’

  Anu smiled back. ‘I wouldn’t say this to your face either but you are one of the nicest people I have met.’

  ‘I have got some news, though.’ Pete swirled the coffee. ‘I heard from my brother that my mom isn’t keeping well. So, I am leaving tomorrow night.’

  Anu gasped. ‘So sorry about your mother, Pete. You are going to be back again, right?’

  Pete shook his head. ‘No. We are moving back for good. There was not much to pack since it was a furnished house. We lived minimally, as you saw.’

  Anu felt a knife pierce through her. ‘I knew you would leave soon but this is sudden. I am going to miss you.’ She fought back her tears.

  ‘Thank you for your friendship and for showing me a Bangalore I never would have seen on my own.’ Pete patted Anu’s hand. ‘Stay happy and don’t resist change too much.’

  Anu smiled at him. ‘I will try. By the way, I read ten pages from each of the eight books you want me to like.’

  ‘And? The verdict is?’ Pete looked at her curiously.

  ‘I will read a few of those. Definitely Lee Child.’

  Pete picked up his bag to leave. ‘I promise to read Leanne Moriarty for you. Let us see who finishes first. Stay in touch, kid.’

  32

  Anu did not want to go home yet. She strolled the busy streets, drank more coffee, then went to the Big Bull temple. The large stone bull staring down benevolently at her made it easy to submit her wishes. Once her panting from climbing the small hillock came to a halt, she prayed. At first, for money to materialize from somewhere, then for her to get out of Verdant Green, then for Vicky to be happy, then for her to drop a size and fit into her size 30 pants again. Her endless list began to exhaust her. ‘Well God, give me peace of mind. Erase the previous list and keep just this one.’ She offered a final prayer and walked to the eatery right opposite the temple that sold some great snacks. God had to work very hard to slim her down. Or, close down the eateries.

  When she got back home, her mom greeted her as usual. ‘Anu, I called you ten times. Where were you?’

  That was when Anu realized she hadn’t checked her phone at all for hours. ‘What was the emergency that you called ten times?’ Anu asked taking her shoes off and heading to the bathroom to wash her feet.

  ‘You said you would be gone for two hours. Wash your hands and feet. The streets are so dirty.’

  ‘Mummy! I am thirty and it is broad daylight! Also, if not to wash my hands and feet, why am I heading to the bathroom?’

  ‘Would it kill you to just say okay?’ Anu’s mom started serving her lunch. ‘Made your favourite Rotti and Kalu Palya. The TV remote is on the sofa.’ Anu hated sitting at the dining table to eat. She was either with a book or with the TV, but on the sofa. That, by the way, had appalled Padzilla. Sanju’s was a very let-us-sit-together-and-eat type of family.

  ‘For all the noise you make, you are a good mummy.’ Anu hugged her mother from behind knowing well that it irritated her. She was not the huggy-kissy type. That was her grandmother’s department.

  Just when Anu finished her lunch, her father walked in with Vicky. Both of them had turned red like tomatoes after whatever activity they had done. ‘Mumma, we went to see some puppies in grandpa’s friend’s house. He said we can take one. Can we take one?’ Vicky was breathless. ‘Grandpa said we can take one if you agree. Can we go now and take one?’ He tugged at her shirt.

  ‘Daddy! Who is this friend bent on ruining my nap?’ Anu rolled her eyes at her father and began to construct a lie on the fly for Vicky. ‘Vicky, they are too little to be away from their mummas. They will cry all night if we take them away now.’

  ‘You become its mumma.’

  ‘I can. But I have to turn into a dog then. Then you won’t have a mumma. Is that okay?’

  Vicky giggled. ‘You can’t turn into a dog!’

  ‘Oh, I can. If I have to become the puppy’s mumma, I must.’ Now there was doubt in Vicky’s eyes. He left it at that and ran inside.

  As Anu began to go up the stairs, her father’s voice stopped her. ‘Anu, take this and file it.’

  Anu took the envelope her father handed her. What could that be? The moment she read the address on it,
her heart sank. It was from the post office. She opened it slowly as her father got immersed in his paper. It was a receipt for payment of one-and-a-half lakhs. What did that mean? Had daddy paid up?

  ‘Daddy,’ Anu began to speak before her father cut her off.

  ‘Keep the receipts because they have the account number.’ He spoke without looking up from the paper. ‘I have transferred another fifty thousand to your account.’

  Anu’s eyes started welling up again. She did not deserve such good parents. ‘Daddy, sorry I used up—’

  She was stopped mid-sentence again. ‘Turn on the AC when you sleep. You need to run it at least a few hours every week.’ He knew she loved to keep the AC on and cuddle with a blanket. Her parents cared to know everything about her and went out of the way to make her happy.

  ‘Okay, thanks,’ Anu murmured and started up the stairs.

  ‘Anu,’ her father again. ‘Ask me if you have expenses. You are between jobs so it is okay to ask.’

  Anu flopped on her bed and did not try to stop the tears. She did not know why she was crying but she had to get the silly tears out of the system. They threatened to come out too often lately.

  Sunday morning Anu visited Sanju’s parents. While her parents’ house spelt food, entertainment and mirth (not to mention healthy bickering), Sanju’s did calm, orderly and neat. Nobody raised voices, laughed too loudly or played TV on high volume. A combination of those two households would be utopia, mused Anu.

  ‘Good morning, Anu.’ That was her father-in-law wishing her politely. He took Vicky by hand to show the squirrels in the garden.

  Anu’s mother-in-law greeted her with a friendly smile, as she always did. ‘Sit down, Anu. Watch some TV while I make tea.’

  Anu followed her into the kitchen. Until she saw that kitchen, she had not believed that working kitchens could be so neat and organized. She thought only the model kitchens looked good.

  ‘Are you leaving today evening?’ asked her mother-in-law. Suma was her name. Very befitting because it meant a flower and she always had a flowery fragrance about her. Well, she was also soft natured.

  ‘Yes, aunty. After lunch. Sanju said he can’t come today. Some emergency call.’ Anu wanted to roll her eyes even as she spoke because she did not believe in techies having emergencies. Not like they were life-saving surgeons.

  ‘He told me so. I hope his crisis resolves soon. He must be so stressed.’ Anu wondered how she could be so empathetic. Her mother would have yelled and asked her to haul herself to visit them. Anu smiled at the thought. Sanju was so shocked the first time they had stayed over at her mother’s house. The noise, the non-stop food and coffee, the blaring TV, a parade of visitors—he was not exposed to any such hazards in his house.

  ‘Shall we sit on the terrace? The garden is thriving now.’ Her mother-in-law offered.

  Anu nodded and followed her with the tea tray. How does she remain so slim, Anu wondered watching her mother-in-law’s slender frame.

  It was a slice of heaven up in the terrace. Blooming flowers, vegetables and herbs, hanging pots—that place was verdant green! Anu breathed deeply. No wonder her tardiness got to Sanju.

  ‘You look a little pale, Anu. Is the house too big to manage?’

  ‘I guess so, aunty. Also, too many changes too quickly,’ Anu took a sip of her tea.

  They generally chatted for a while and then stayed silent for some. Anu had never really gotten close to her mother-in-law. They were friendly and civil like good neighbours. But that evening Anu decided to ask her a few hard questions.

  ‘Aunty, why does Padz …’—she corrected herself quickly—‘Padma aunty dislike me so much?’

  Anu’s mother-in-law almost spilt a few drops of tea on her immaculate white and pink cotton saree. ‘She does not dislike you. It is just that she likes Sanju a lot.’ Anu smiled, nodded and waited for more explanation.

  ‘Padma is overprotective of Sanju and his father. So she does not trust anyone, including you and me, to do right by them! But she is not a bad person.’

  Anu nodded more while her mother-in-law continued softly. ‘For a long time, she was not happy with the way I took care of your father-in-law. She even cooked a special breakfast for him! But that is her love for her brother.’ The mother-in-law trailed off a little but regained her composure quickly. ‘But now we are friendly…’

  Anu narrowed her eyes. ‘How recent is now? Because you and uncle have been married for over thirty-five years.’

  Sanju’s mother laughed heartily. ‘She lost her husband very early. She has been living with us for almost thirty years and helped me raise Sanju. When she was working, she was not this controlling but once she retired ten years back was when she began to fuss a lot.’

  ‘Weren’t you uncomfortable that she was so possessive of Sanju and uncle?’

  The older woman shrugged. ‘Not really. Love is abundant. You should give and receive it freely.’ Okay, Anu’s mother-in-law read a lot of spiritual books and she spoke like that sometimes. But it sounded quite nice and not tacky coming from her. ‘But Anu, don’t worry about all this. Padma aunty, as you said, is over possessive of Sanju and he adores her. She has nothing against you.’

  Except that she makes sure to tell me how I am just not enough for Sanju—thought Anu but did not voice it.

  Just as she was leaving, Padma aunty arrived. Anu smiled as brightly as she could and got a small nod in reply. But Vicky got ample bosomy hugs and wet kisses.

  ‘Look Suma, I got Sanju’s baby videos converted to DVDs. We should play now so that Vicky can see his father.’ She was so excited she squeaked her words.

  Anu knew there was no escaping the video. For the first fifteen minutes, it was very endearing. Little Sanju looking dapper in suits, Krishna costumes and girl outfits. Then it began to feel highly boring. Anu looked at her mother-in-law helplessly who came to the rescue. ‘Anu, you can watch it another time, or I will give it to you after we watch it. Now you carry on since you said you have plans.’

  Anu wanted to kiss her mother-in-law. Padzilla looked visibly upset. ‘It is fun to watch it with Vicky. I also got my Europe trip video. We will watch when Sanju comes home.’

  When Anu walked out of the house, Anu suddenly felt guilty. Sanju is so loved here and he gets nothing but angst from me lately. She remembered Sanju standing by that very gate most mornings and evenings when she went to college and came back. Later, he had confessed that he stood there only to see her. The first time he invited her home she had spilt a large cup of Bournvita on the sofa and he had only smiled and asked her not to worry and the cleaned up the mess. And the time he had invited her home when he was alone … As the memories came crowding, she wanted to run home to Sanju and make everything perfect between them.

  33

  When her Uber stopped in front of the gate, Anu felt mildly deflated. Sanju’s car was not in the driveway. Yanking the phone out, she checked her messages. There it was—a message from him a good three hours ago. He had gone out with friends. Now she felt majorly deflated. They hadn’t seen each other for two days and she had come prepared to have a good time, like the good old days—pizza, beer and a movie. She could ask him to come back early. Anu called but Sanju disconnected the call.

  That is mature, Anu muttered to herself, making her way into the house with Vicky. Her immediate instinct was to run away. Coming from the warm world of cosy houses full of people and noise, the large space around her seemed cold and scary; like in a Stephen King novel. Maybe King could write a book where a house ate its inhabitants and grew bigger. As if sensing her discomfort, Vicky had gone unusually quiet too. Turning on the TV to Oggy and the Cockroaches (Vicky had some eclectic taste), Anu settled down next to him.

  ‘Mumma, shall we play tennis with Jason?’ Vicky’s question brought her to the harsh reality that there was no Pete anymore. Now she felt not only deflated but also depressed.

  ‘Too late now. We will play tomorrow.’ There was no need to break Vicky�
�s heart just yet.

  As she went upstairs to their bedroom to get a book she was reading, there was a printed note on her bedside table. As Anu read it, she couldn’t believe her eyes. It was a note from the Verdant Green property manager.

  ‘Dear sir/madam, it is brought to our notice that the residents of this house are misusing public spaces for commercial activities. Also, we have been informed that the residents are using the tennis court without an ID card. These cards are issued to the owners of the property and the tenants will have to pay for the same. If these shortcomings are not rectified immediately, you may face eviction.’

  The room spun around Anu. This was so vicious. That was why Sanju hadn’t even called all day yesterday and now he had left before they came. He must be hopping mad. Who is this faceless property manager sending the letter? She wanted to punch him in the gut. Instead, she took a picture of the notice and contemplated whether she should send it to Sameer, Shwetha or Pete. She settled for Pete. He would have a funny comeback while the other two would also want to punch the manager for her. Pete’s flight was not until midnight so he might check his message.

  He didn’t disappoint her. ‘Ask them to take the public space and the tennis court and stick them where the sun doesn’t shine.’

  Anu began to laugh. ‘Will do. Then again, eviction isn’t too bad either.’

  There was a message from Pooja asking her if they were going to do yoga the next day. Anu sent her the picture of the notice. ‘Do you think we should?’

  ‘We definitely should. See you at nine tomorrow, aunty.’

  Sanju did not show up until after she was fast asleep. The next morning when she was making her coffee, he walked in. He looked stressed and she hoped it was because of work. He quietly made his coffee without a word. When he was about to head out of the kitchen, Anu spoke. ‘You know that they are false allegations, right?’