by Anuj Tiwari
Snapping her fingers, Iona passes her a plate of chips and asks, ‘What are you upto?’
‘Nothing.’ Angira ignores her.
When things have to happen, they happen without our knowledge. Iona brings out the bruises in Angira’s heart.
‘So what does your boyfriend do?’ Iona asks her.
Mansi and Charu look at Iona who is unaware of the consequences of this question, but they know that Angira could break into tears any moment. Angira chooses to smile instead and calmly sips her vodka.
‘So where are you headed next?’ Mansi asks Iona with the intention to change the discussion which was about to start.
‘Next destination is Kerala,’ she responds and asks Angira the same question while she texts someone.
‘Who are you talking to, babes? Let him live his life. That’s the problem with girls. That’s why boys find happiness outside because you trouble them a lot.’
‘Who?’ Angira asks, puzzled.
‘Your man,’ Iona says.
Coffee Is Old, Vodka Is New
Angira finishes her glass of vodka, takes a moment and then begins talking to Iona.
‘There is no guy in my life because love sucks,’ she says, smiling to herself.
‘O-o, I am so sorry if I have asked anything wrong. I was just annoyed with you for texting constantly,’ Iona apologises, aware of the fact that she crossed the line.
Sometimes friendship doesn’t take much time to grow; sometimes it takes root within that shared moment when two people act in a selfless manner. The same happened with Iona and Angira.
‘No, that’s fine but believe me, love sucks,’ Angira says, emphasizing the last two words.
‘But why do you think so?’ Charu asks her. Though she knows what Angira has gone through, she wants her to speak about whatever is on her mind and let it out.
No relationship can be defined by a few bad experiences someone has gone through. Being her close friend, Charu has told her to move on and forget everything that has happened because memories are something that can’t be erased. You can only create the good ones by moving on.
Angira pours some more vodka in her glass and leans on the wall, ‘Leave it, no point discussing things which gave me nightmares.’
She takes another sip of her drink.
‘Hey Angira, chill, tell me what happened. I’ll surely help you. I have seen many people suffering from relationships and love,’ Iona pops into the discussion proactively.
Angira looks lost, pressing the tip of her fingers on the glass and holding it tightly. She suddenly changes her mind and decides to tell them her story.
‘I don’t know if I should talk about it, but since Mansi and Charu know everything about me and I am drunk, maybe I can muster the courage to talk about my dejected life.’
‘That’s fine,’ Mansi pats on her shoulder.
Being a traveller, Iona has met thousands of people. She believes that a heartbreak is the best time as your creativity comes out and you do something extraordinary. Iona wants Angira to find her passion and nurture it.
She sounds like she wants to help Angira.
‘So what happened to your relationship?’ Iona questions.
‘Do you really want to know?’ Angira asks one more time.
‘Yes, I can help you,’ Iona says confidently. Being her well-wisher she gives her a gentle smile.
Angira keeps the glass aside and stretches her legs. She starts, ‘It’s not fun to talk about but yes, I was in college when I met him for the first time. He was from Delhi too and slowly we became good friends. Soon we became the best of friends, without any obligations or boundaries. We were like soulmates. We never thought about love and sex, but we were close emotionally. We shared everything, from class notes to our happiness and pain. Eventually our friends started saying that we were in love. We gave a new definition to our friendship and that went on for three years during college, yes three years, and we didn’t even kiss each other. He was the type of friend one would never want to lose because he had the ability to make you feel good.
‘In the last year of college, I realized that he had feelings for me but I never took things forward and always treated him like my 4 a.m. friend. One night he sent me a video on WhatsApp, of him playing his guitar on the terrace of the hostel. He dedicated that beautiful song to me.
‘After that he told me to come out of the hostel because he wanted to show me something. The hostel was partially CO-ED, only separated by a wall and a few irresponsible guards. Somehow we always managed to jump over the wall and go for late night walks.
‘Surprisingly, he proposed to me. I knew he liked me but never expected that he would propose to me. This was an emotional moment for me. It’s a dream of every girl that someone should love her more than anything in life. I was on top of the world but somewhere I was afraid too. I had seen my friends heartbroken over failed relationships before. So I took time to make my decision. On the last day of our semester exams, we had our first kiss in the boys’ hostel washroom.’
‘You guys kissed in a boys’ toilet? Seriously?’ Iona asks.
Angira continues with an expressionless face.
‘It was a risk, but we both enjoyed the moment. We were scared when one of our friends noticed us and then I had to tell her everything and advise her not to let it become college gossip. I was in a different world. Many times it happens that you can’t discuss everything with a girl and in fact it’s a guy who ends up coming to your rescue. He was there whenever I needed him. We started meeting in the corners of our college campus. We went on a few overnight trips.
‘We came closer and closer and I started to like everything about him. When college was over, I started calling him over when my family wasn’t around.
‘After a few months I came to know that he was cheating on me, but I didn’t believe it. I tried my best to fix things but nothing worked out. We started fighting about random things. He was involved with someone else and left me when he felt like I had become dependent on him.
‘My life turned upside down. I did not know what to do for the longest time. Nothing was working out for me anymore. Surrendering to my destiny was not something I wanted to do. Everything that has a beginning, has an end too. We refuse to believe in this because we feel our love is immortal. We never met again. My perception of love changed after this. How life changes in the blink of an eye. That day I realized that my guy needed me for my body and not for love. I lost my faith in love and love lost me forever.
‘That’s the story of my fucking love life that you were so curious to know about,’ Angira says with a sense of numbness.
Everyone is just stunned. This was unexpected for everyone. Iona feels sorry for her loss but being an eternal optimist, she says, ‘It happens, Angira. Things will get better though.’
‘And that’s how this became my friend,’ Angira says, pointing to the glass of vodka, and the weed. ‘I know, I am not supposed to talk about my personal matters. After all, it’s my life and I am responsible for it. I hope you won’t judge me for all this. I just found the courage to speak up.’
‘Hey, that’s perfectly fine,’ Mansi says and adds, ‘we share things with friends because they give us the strength to face it.’
Iona interrupts in between, ‘So that’s okay, this is just a phase of life. Love is game of bluff. You can’t know a person unless you’ve spent a lot of time with them. That’s the only way of finding out.’
Angira realizes that she has said too much. At this moment she is missing Anushka, who has always helped her in any situation.
‘I was done with life. I started overdosing on sleeping pills. Eventually, my mom came to know about my situation. Since that day she never leaves me alone. That’s the reason she wasn’t ready to send me to Mumbai, but she finally agreed today,’ Angira says.
Mansi pats on her shoulder and says, ‘Everything is an experience in life. So you had one, that’s it. Just learn and leave.’
�
�It doesn’t affect me as much as it used to. I feel I am stronger now,’ Angira says, with a triumphant smile.
‘Smart ass,’ Iona teases her, poking her on her waist.
She takes a few long drags of the cigarette and slowly blows the smoke out of her mouth and nose. Angira laughs with them.
‘Yes, let’s go to Mumbai. It’s going to be awesome. I am so excited!’ Charu looks enthusiastically at Angira.
Angira announces loudly in front of the rest, ‘By the way, she is a fucking great designer.’
‘That’s great, all the best. I am sure you’ll rock it,’ Iona wishes her and everyone looks happy for her.
Angira thanks everyone for having this get-together. ‘Thanks. And this is my last party with you guys in Delhi. I am going to Mumbai, so keep in touch. I’ll miss you all badly and especially our discussions on the chutiyapa of life.’
‘Seriously, this was fun. Don’t worry, we’ll catch up once you are in Mumbai,’ Mansi says.
‘Sure.’
Everyone is completely drunk. Angira and Charu are completely zoned out as it was their first time trying weed properly.
‘I think I am going to pass out,’ Angira says. ‘How will I go home?’
‘Don’t worry, you will be fine by tomorrow,’ Mansi says, passing her a bottle of water.
‘Okay, then let’s not stop the party,’ Angira shouts and asks for another glass of vodka.
Everyone exchanges numbers and promises to keep in touch.
‘I’ll see you if I come to Mumbai, maybe on my next trip,’ Iona smiles and gives Angira a high five.
‘Sure.’
Now Charu is busy with her phone and Mansi is sleepy after having had one too many drinks. With smoke, empty glasses, cigarette ash all over the floor, they pass out, too tired to clean the mess.
The next morning, Angira leaves after opening the gate silently while the guard is sleeping. Angira’s cellphone beeps. It’s a message from Arjun:
Good morning! The best karma in life is to heal someone’s pain. And you are not just my best friend’s sister, but also my friend. I have done what I had to. Welcome to Mumbai!
Angira replies while crossing the road and hailing an autorickshaw:
Thanks a lot for that. And you can call me Angira.
Best friend’s sister sounds like the title of a porn video.
Haha!
Angira smiles on her way home in the autorickshaw. She has to go for shopping with Anushka and start packing for Mumbai.
Ved, the New Guy
‘I have just reached the hotel room. It’s a nice place. Yes, Mom, they have provided the accommodation for three weeks. Charu and I are sharing the room and then we will shift to a PG.’ She unlocks the door and drags her giant trolley bag inside. She manages to come in and keep the bag in the corner of the hall.
Charu follows her and lies down on the sofa in the hall. ‘Angy, do you have a water bottle?’
Angira nods.
‘No, not hungry, I had enough in the train. Just that my hands are itching.’
Angira checks out the place while talking to her mom.
She enters the kitchen and checks the refrigerator to see if there’s any water bottle in it.
‘What the fu…’ she says in frustration but stops without completing her sentence when she realizes her mom is listening on the other end.
‘What happened?’ her mom asks.
‘Nothing, it’s too humid here, Mom.’
‘I told you, you won’t be able to adjust.’
Angira realizes her folly. She completes her sentence saying, ‘but yesterday it rained, so the weather is nice, just a little humid for some time.’
‘Take care of yourself, and if you feel like, you can call Arjun. I spoke with him this morning.’ Her mom is a little worried as this is the first time Angira has been out of Delhi.
‘Mom, don’t worry. If I need any help, I’ll call him. I am on roaming, so I have to go to the service centre to get the portability for my number. But I am perfectly fine. You take care of yourself and I love you.’ She finds a sealed water bottle on the table but, on drinking it she feels like it was boiled a minute ago. She drinks it anyway and passes the bottle to Charu, who is lying down like a dead person. Angira sits on the chair with her elbow on the dining table.
‘Yes, I’m going to take a bath. Will call you in the evening,’ she says and disconnects the call.
She goes to one of the rooms and lies down on the bed, recalling the moments she spent last week with Iona, Anushka, Arjun and her friends in Delhi. She grins as she looks at the ceiling. She turns a little and looks at her reflection on the mirror of the dressing table which is in front of the bed. She takes her phone out from her pocket and scrolls up and down on WhatsApp, checking out the photographs which Anushka sent to her. Randomly, she moves to Arjun’s WhatsApp profile picture. She types ‘hi’ in the chat-window and then stops upon realizing that he might be in office at this moment. She decides against texting him and scrolls down. She texts Iona casually to know when she is coming to Mumbai.
Hey! How are you? I have a surprise for you.
Iona is online on WhatsApp and Angira gets a reply within seconds. Iona is typing…
I am fine. Oh really, what’s that?
Charu walks into the room to check the cupboards while Angira is texting Iona.
I have reached Mumbai. When are you coming?
And who is this charming guy in your profile picture.
Is this your boyfriend? ;)
Ahem…ahem.
The screen flashes with a new message.
I am also here in Mumbai.
How’s the DP? Did you like him?
Angira’s mind fills with plans of roaming around with Iona before their college starts.
But you were supposed to come next fortnight?
Yeah, he looks sexy :P
What’s his name?
Angira taps on the photograph once again to see the picture. She looks at the guy and waits for her text to get to Iona. She doesn’t get a reply and leaves a few question marks with her message.
???
Then suddenly a message appears.
He is Ved Gulati.
Angira continues.
Now listen,
Tell me how to reach Bandra from Sakinaka.
I am staying here at Hotel Leela. Since you have been in Mumbai, you must be knowing things ;)
She gets a reply.
You can take an autorickshaw to Andheri Station.
And then take the local train till Bandra.
Or take a direct autorickshaw.
I have given you both the options :)
She writes.
Thanks a lot darling.
Let’s catch up for coffee this weekend.
And the reply.
You’re welcome.
This weekend I have my football match.
Please come to watch it at D.Y. Patil stadium, on Saturday, 4 p.m.
And don’t just tell anyone where you stay without finding out more about them.
Angira is shocked to know she has texted a stranger. She enlarges the DP once more and texts back.
Who are you?
She gets the replies faster now.
I am Ved and I think you are mistaken.
It seems you have just come to Mumbai.
Welcome to Mumbai!
Angira gets angry. Thanks to her stupidity, she texted a complete stranger. And he replied without even knowing who she is.
Then why are we doing this time pass?
You could’ve told me earlier.
Then who would tell you how to reach Bandra from Sakinaka?
Angira reads the entire conversation again. She texts him trying to end the conversation. She is not at all interested in catching up with anyone.
Thanks.
All the best for your match.
No problem.
We are playing for an NGO this weekend. If you want you could come and contribut
e something.
It will be great.
Do you like watching football?
It’s our human nature to be curious about hidden or unknown things. Angira replies.
Yes, I do watch football, Even my cousin brother is a football player.
He plays for a club in Kolkata and they won a local championship last year.
The transmission of messages increases between them.
So you are from Kolkata?
I am also from Kolkata.
There’s a loud voice coming from outside and the sound of the door opening. She walks out to find Charu standing at the door talking to someone. She returns to texting.
No, I am from Delhi.
What’s your name?
Angira is still suspicious if this guy on WhatsApp is even real. She recalls what her mom had said before Angira had left for Mumbai. Her instinct to stay safe makes her block him later on WhatsApp. Though Angira is a kind person, she is quick at taking harsh steps when she senses something wrong. However, being kind-hearted as she is, she replies.
Angira.
So, you coming to watch my match?
Will ask my friend.
If she comes to watch your match, then so will I.
Thanks for the help. Need to go, bye.
Sure. You’re welcome :) I’ll wait. Or if you don’t want to come, at least buy few tickets.
It’s for a good cause.
Charu closes the door.
‘Who was at the door?’ asks Angira, scrolling up the chat box and going through the whole conversation again.
‘The room service guy.’ Stretching her body, she asks. ‘By the way, what’s the matter? So busy texting.’
‘Nothing, I was messaging Iona…’ before Angira can complete the sentence, Charu interrupts, ‘Oh, is she in Mumbai?’