There's Something About You

by Yashodhara Lal

  ‘Come back for another round soon, Sabharwal!’ he called after Sahil.

  ‘I will, sir,’ Sahil called back.

  Trish stopped and hissed at her father through the door, ‘Aggarwal! Aggarwal!’

  ‘Aggarwal,’ Ba repeated agreeably. ‘Whatever. Both are welcome.’

  Trish shook her head, wondering if Ba was losing it or trying to be funny. It was hard to tell these days. She shut the door behind her gently and followed Sahil into the drawing room.

  ‘Sorry about that.’ She kept looking at the floor as they sat next to each other on the sofa.

  ‘Sorry for what?’ Sahil laughed. ‘It was great. I love chess.’

  ‘Did you let him win?’ Trish demanded, unable to contain her curiosity. ‘You didn’t have to do that.’

  ‘I did not,’ Sahil said with dignity. His face broke into a grin. ‘Actually, he’s way better than me. I think, in the first game, he was just a little thrown by having someone actually challenge him. I had the advantage of surprise.’ His face took on a resolute expression. ‘I’ll beat him next time, though. You’ll see.’

  ‘Okay, then.’ Trish rolled her eyes. He appeared to have enjoyed that session and was already planning a comeback. It was as if he hadn’t missed the opportunity to talk to her at all, while she found that she had been hiding her impatience about getting him to herself again. What was wrong with her? She never felt that way about anyone. This guy confused her, but she couldn’t help feeling that he also brought her alive in a way she hadn’t known before. Okay. She was beginning to act foolish now, she had to control such thoughts. She still didn’t fully know why this guy insisted on hanging around. But it had certainly helped Ba today, and she couldn’t help smiling at the memory of his triumphant expression.

  ‘What?’ Sahil was watching her face closely, all his attention on her now. ‘What’s funny?’

  ‘Funny?’ Trish sighed. ‘Nothing. More like … strange.’

  Sahil nodded and didn’t press further, changing the subject instead. ‘So my letter worked, huh?’

  ‘Look, can we just forget about all that, you think?’ Trish’s cheeks were feeling hot again and she hoped fervently that he wouldn’t notice the change in colour.

  ‘Yes.’ Sahil leaned over to her, making her feel even more self-conscious. ‘But only after you accept my thanks for saving my …’

  ‘Please,’ Trish begged. ‘Don’t, Sahil. It was just a random thing. Anyone would have done it.’

  ‘You must be kidding.’ Sahil ran his hand through his brown hair in that distracted manner of his that she secretly found endearing. ‘No one else would have done it. No one else did do it. I even went back there a week later and checked. I heard the whole story from a bhutta-waala. He saw it all. So, anyway. Thank you for that.’

  ‘Okay. You’re welcome. Now can we get over it?’

  ‘Okay, okay.’ He laughed. He then added earnestly, ‘Just one more thing, Trish. It’s not something I’ve done before and it’s certainly not something I’m proud of. I know my life is strange and I have these weird … issues, but I’m still really, really lucky to be alive and I shouldn’t have let myself get so disturbed that I almost threw it all away. It was really stupid of me. Please don’t judge me for it.’

  ‘I wasn’t judging you for it.’ Trish was surprised at the thought. ‘I wouldn’t judge anyone for being in that state of mind. I would only try to help.’ She was speaking sincerely but broke off midway, thinking that it sounded foolish and trite.

  Sahil didn’t seem to think so. ‘You know, you’re a really goodhearted person, Trish.’

  She felt her heart beat faster. He was sitting really close to her, and she was suddenly afraid that he would touch her. Or not touch her. Or something. But what could he possibly do right now? Ma and Ba were both in the house. Of course Ba was sleeping, and the low monotonous hum from the kitchen told her that Ma was in the middle of her evening prayers. It felt like anything could happen. A spark of electricity seemed to be passing through the space between them. For heaven’s sake, she was hearing bells.

  ‘You … want me to get that?’ Sahil asked politely.

  Trish realized with a start that the doorbell was ringing. Ma’s prayers from the kitchen had become louder now, as an indicator that she for one was certainly not going to get up and answer the door. Trish sprang up and away from Sahil and hurried over to the door.

  Who could it possibly be but Akanksha, dressed in a short red summer dress with high-heeled sandals, crying, ‘Hi, sweetie!’

  What timing. Trish opened her mouth to say she had company right now, but Akanksha was even more caught up in herself than usual today. She just breezed in past Trish, saying, ‘Listen, darling, I just don’t know what to do with Lisa. She’s becoming absolutely impossible to deal with. This is the problem when you have kids. You’re so lucky, Trish. You don’t have kids. Take my advice and don’t ever have kids. They’re just …’

  She had already reached the drawing room, with Trish in vain trying to quell her. Akanksha found herself face to face with Sahil, who was now standing near the entrance to the room.

  ‘Oh,’ she breathed. ‘Sorry. I mean, hello. I’m Akanksha.’

  She held out her hand towards Sahil, and Trish was surprised by the flash of jealousy she felt when Sahil took it. She suddenly felt out of place in her own home, dressed in her relatively simple skirt and blouse. Akanksha had her head of shiny hair tipped to the side flirtatiously, her demeanour having changed entirely from the distraught mother of a moment ago to a coquettish young woman. Sahil held her hand politely for a second and said, ‘Sahil. Nice to meet you.’ He then gently dropped her hand.

  ‘Well.’ Akanksha looked around at Trish. ‘You didn’t tell me I was interrupting.’

  ‘You didn’t let me tell you anything,’ Trish reminded her dryly.

  ‘I suppose I’ll be on my way then.’ Akanksha didn’t move towards the door, though. She just continued to gaze up

  at Sahil.

  Sahil cleared his throat. ‘Actually, it’s getting a little late for me. I’ve got to make a move.’ He looked at Trish over Akanksha’s shoulder and said, ‘So I’ll be seeing you again soon?’

  ‘Umm. Okay,’ she said, trying to hide her disappointment. The evening had passed so quickly with tea with her parents and chess with Ba and now it had been ruined by her nosy, intrusive friend. She added, ‘And I’m sorry we didn’t really get to talk.’

  They looked at each other over Akanksha’s head for a long moment. Trish contemplated offering to walk him out to his car, when Akanksha said to him in a high-pitched voice, ‘Bye-bye!’, wiggling her fingers at him.

  Trish glared at the back of her head disbelievingly, as Ma came out of the kitchen, saying, ‘Is Sahil leaving already? Arrey, beta, stay for dinner, no?’

  Sahil busied himself with fending off Ma’s entreaties to stay. ‘Next time, aunty,’ he promised as he headed down the hall towards the front door, with Ma in close pursuit. With one last quick wave at Trish, he disappeared from view.

  ‘And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but she’s become so rude. I think perhaps a good whack is what she deserves. I’ve just been too lenient with her, you know?’ Trish’s attention came back into the living room, to her friend’s complaining.

  Akanksha had flopped herself down on the sofa in the exact spot where Sahil had been sitting. Trish looked at her, frowning.

  Akanksha went on. ‘I think the basic problem is that I’ve let her have her way for too long. She’s even started being cheeky with Dad, and that’s one thing I just won’t stand from her.’

  ‘You know what I think?’ Trish interrupted. ‘I think the basic problem is something very different.’

  ‘Huh?’ Akanksha looked up blankly. She clearly hadn’t expected Trish to express a point of view on the subject. ‘What?’

  ‘I think the problem is that you’ve ignored your kid for too long,’ Trish said firmly, in no mood to mince words right now.
‘Pay more attention to her and try and find out what’s bothering her. Maybe something’s going on with her.’

  ‘Yeah, something,’ Akanksha said sarcastically. ‘She’s mutating into a monster.’

  ‘She’s just a little kid!’ Trish protested. ‘Maybe she just needs more time from you. Did you ask her why she doesn’t actually want her guitar classes any more?’

  ‘I did ask her that, and she doesn’t give me a straight answer. And then she says I don’t understand anything! I’m telling you, she’s just doing it to drive me crazy. I even told her. I said, “Look, do you know how much that guitar and these lessons are costing us? You had better enjoy them like you said you would, or …”’

  ‘That’s not what I meant by talking to her about it.’ Trish was getting even more annoyed now. ‘You’ve just been talking at her! You can’t force her to enjoy something. She told me it’s too difficult for her and she’s getting the feeling …’ She stopped short of telling Akanksha what Lisa had said about feeling she wasn’t wanted. She felt Akanksha should hear that from Lisa. She went on quickly, ‘Anyway, as a mom, it’s your job to first figure out what exactly is bothering her. But I’m telling you, Akanksha, something’s up with that little girl, she deserves your attention.’

  ‘Oh come on, Trish.’ Akanksha rolled her eyes. ‘What do you know about being a mom? It’s different babysitting once in a while. You don’t have to deal with any real problems. This is hardly your area of expertise.’

  ‘Yes. Sure,’ Trish said, feeling a lump rise unexpectedly in her throat. ‘I have no experience. I have no kids, so I have no right to advise you about yours. It’s not like I could possibly care about Lisa as a mere babysitting “masi”, right?’ Akanksha looked up with a surprised frown, as if recognizing that this was a tone she hadn’t heard from Trish before. But something inside Trish snapped, and before she could stop herself, she was saying, ‘So from now on, while you’re out gallivanting and having that frickin’ affair of yours, just do me a favour and stop making me a part of the whole thing by leaving Lisa here.’

  Akanksha’s face went white. Trish instinctively knew that she had hit the nail on the head. But the words had come out harsher than she had meant. This wasn’t the right way to deal with Akanksha. Now she had just succeeded in putting her on the defensive.

  Without a word, Akanksha rose from the sofa. She breezed past Trish and called quietly over her shoulder to Ma, ‘Bye, aunty.’ She walked out of the house, her heels click-clacking and echoing in the hallway.

  Ma came out of the kitchen again and called out after her. ‘Arrey, even you’re not staying for dinner? I was making choley-bhaturey.’ There was no reply. Akanksha had already gone. Ma looked hurt. ‘Why did she leave like that? What’s the point now of making anything special if there’s no one to eat it?’

  Trish ignored Ma. She already felt sorry for talking to Akanksha like that. She had a strong feeling that she might just have lost the one person who had come closest to actually being her friend.

  18

  Flow

  ‘Well, good riddance,’ Trish thought to herself for the umpteenth time in the week. And yet, she remained unconvinced. Akanksha’s stricken face came into her mind and she pushed it away again. She squared her shoulders. At least for the next sixty minutes, she knew she would be free.

  She stood in front of the large mirrors, waiting for Raj to start the music up. She no longer felt self-conscious in the class; she loved the workout. In fact, these days, it was only during Zumba that she felt at peace. As soon as the music came on, Trish began to put even more energy into the moves, releasing all her pent up frustration and stress in vigorously dancing along with the pumping music.

  After the class was over, she leaned against the wall, panting and feeling a sense of relief. But the unwanted thoughts were coming back already, damn it. She hurried over to pick up her bag and leave, but Raj called out to her, ‘Hey, Trish!’ She turned towards him. He said, ‘Just a sec, wait up.’ He finished disconnecting the music system. He then trotted up to her in his white t-shirt and fluorescent orange shorts – he was the only man she had ever seen who could carry off that colour – and said, ‘Could you give me a ride to an auto? My car’s out.’

  ‘Sure.’ Trish nodded. ‘You ready?’

  ‘Yup.’ He took a big gulp of water from his bottle and swallowed. ‘Let’s go, let’s go! Homeward ho!’

  Trish rolled her eyes at his never-depleting enthusiasm. His energy levels amazed her. Just one class was enough to exhaust her, but she knew he took several classes a day. How on earth did he manage that? They headed out to her car and he trotted around to the passenger side as she unlocked it. He squeezed into the seat next to her, whistling a happy tune and looking for all the world like his day had only just begun.

  ‘Where you headed?’ he asked as she started up the car.

  ‘I live on Bandstand.’

  ‘Wow! Rich girrrl!’ He whistled as she smiled, shaking her head at his teasing.

  ‘Tiny apartment. But great view,’ she admitted.

  ‘So I’ll get an auto from there only.’

  ‘Sure?’ She asked, frowning. ‘It’s a little out of the way for you, no?’

  ‘Ah, it’s five minutes! And I’m in no hurry. I’d love to ride with you.’ He grinned at her so disarmingly that she laughed and shrugged and took the turn towards her home.

  They drove along in companionable silence for a few minutes, broken only by Raj’s occasional tuneless humming of some song playing in his head. She decided to go ahead and ask. ‘So Raj. How do you do it? I mean, how do you have so much energy? What is it, three classes a day?’

  ‘Four from today,’ he replied cheerfully. ‘We just added an early morning batch.’ He laughed at the wide-eyed glance that she threw him. He then added, ‘I don’t know. I don’t think about it that much. If I did, I might not be able to manage it!’

  ‘Yeah.’ She smiled, scanning the side of the road for autos. ‘When you’re doing the impossible, better not to think about it, I guess.’

  ‘It’s not that.’ Raj grinned back. ‘I think I’ve finally just hit the sweet spot with my work. I’m doing something I enjoy, which pays me a decent amount, is good for me and gets to spread happiness and help other people too! So it energizes me more than it takes it out of me. It’s like I’m in some sort of … flow.’

  Trish nodded along slowly. She’d never thought about work that way. ‘Wow. You’re lucky.’

  ‘Lucky-shmucky,’ Raj scoffed. ‘I’ve struggled like anything to get this far. For three years, I was barely making ends meet. Mumbai’s a tough city, and an expensive one, you know. And it’s not like this is the best paying or most respectable profession in the world, either.’ He stuck out his arm dramatically, showing off his muscles, and said, ‘But you get a good body. No?’

  ‘Ewww.’ Trish laughed and pushed his arm away. ‘You’re sweaty.’

  Raj looked at her and grinned appreciatively. ‘It’s working well for you, you’re looking so good these days.’

  Trish blushed, but managed to keep her head held high. ‘Thanks, Raj.’ She threw him a quick grateful smile.

  ‘Oh, there’s an auto, stop, stop.’ As she pulled over, he bellowed, ‘Thanks, girl. See you next class!’ He gave her an impetuous hug which took her by surprise. Then he jumped out of the car almost before she completely stopped and bounded into the waiting auto. Trish watched as he even slapped the bemused auto-waala on the back with a cheery ‘Chalo, boss! Malad West!’

  Trish smiled after him as he took off with a wave at her. That guy was a bundle of pure energy. He had done her a lot of good. Perhaps more than he knew.

  She pulled her car into her regular parking spot, still smiling as she got out, and slammed the door shut. She then noticed the car right next to hers. It was familiar, and even more familiar was the face of the person leaning against the hood, with the deep brown eyes that were amusedly watching her as he waited for her to register his pre
sence. She immediately felt a little weak around the knees, and it certainly wasn’t the aftermath of the Zumba.

  ‘Zumba, huh?’

  ‘Yep.’ Trish looked up from the menu at him. He was gazing intently at her.

  ‘He didn’t look like a … Zumba teacher,’ he commented lightly.

  ‘Instructor,’ she said matter-of-factly and then narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Wait, you said you didn’t even know what Zumba was until I just told you.’

  ‘Yeah, yeah,’ Sahil muttered. ‘But now that you’ve told me, he didn’t look like one.’

  She frowned. ‘Okayyy.’ She thought of pursuing it, but decided to let it go. She looked down at the menu again.

  ‘Too … muscular, you know?’ Sahil clearly didn’t want to let it go just yet. Trish’s head snapped up again, suddenly realizing what was going on. She didn’t quite know how to react, although a part of her felt like laughing.

  ‘He is very muscular,’ she said non-committally. ‘Quite fit.’

  ‘Yes, but fit doesn’t have to mean that muscular, right?’

  He spoke so earnestly that she had to hide her smile as she cleared her throat and said, ‘No, not at all. You can be fit and lean. Whatever makes you feel good, I guess.’

  ‘Yes,’ he said and then added, almost to himself, ‘He also seemed very friendly. A little too friendly, but hey. Maybe that’s what Zumba instructors are supposed to be like. How would I know?’

  Trish felt the colour rising in her cheeks. He had obviously seen Raj hugging her. Not that she had to clarify anything to him, but this was all getting a little embarrassing. She racked her brains about how to change the subject and came up with a casual ‘So how’s it going at home?’ as she looked around the café. They were back at Costa Coffee, where they had met the first time; or rather, the second time if you counted the time she attacked him for following her. Wait, the third, if you counted her saving him. Whatever!

  She sensed that his home situation wasn’t something he really felt like discussing much. But after a slight pause, he just gave her a small smile and said, ‘It’s going. It’s going. I think Dad will start talking to me again soon.’