It’s Not Right…but It’s Okay

by Anuj Tiwari

  ‘Don’t know. So I was texting her and it went to someone else and imagine who that is?’

  ‘A sexy guy or what?’ Charu responds, winking at her.

  ‘Yes, Ved. He is a football player. But I have never heard his name before.’

  ‘Me neither. Maybe he’s a local player. All footballers are not Messi,’ Charu says.

  ‘Hmm…but he told me that he is playing for some charity this weekend. So I’m not sure…’

  Angira shows her his photo on WhatsApp where he is wearing a football jersey. Charu snatches the cellphone from her hand and looks at the photograph for some time.

  ‘You got lucky, babes,’ Charu says and continues, ‘not bad. He looks fucking cute.’

  Angira takes her cellphone back and says, ‘What if this is his friend’s picture? So you can’t tell if he is fucking cute or a mofo.’

  ‘Absolutely. That’s what I wanted to tell you.’

  Angira frowns at Charu and then asks, ‘By the way, you want something to eat? I am ordering.’

  ‘Oops…someone is being serious,’ Charu says. ‘By the way, what’s this mofo and fofo you always talk about? I have been hearing these words for the last few weeks.’

  Angira laughs, ‘No baba, I am not serious. I got to know about this from Anushka. It’s short for motherfucker and fatherfucker. Include it in your vocabulary. It will help here in Mumbai.’

  They both laugh and enjoy their arrival in a new city, but who is Ved? They both are curious to know.

  The Smart Loser

  Ved is doing an MBA from SP Jain and he is a part of SPJFL, which is the SP Jain Football League. He has even joined a football institute where he spends most of his time. It’s difficult for him to manage two institutes, but he is always up for a challenge and that’s what sets him apart. That’s the reason he is chasing his dream of playing for India someday. He is a football player before sunrise and after sunset, and an MBA student during the day. Nobody knows this except his teammates.

  He has scored more goals than the number of days he has attended his MBA classes. He has cried, pleaded and begged in front of the faculty to excuse his poor attendance and allow him to appear for his exams. Though he has failed his exams several times, he has won the hearts of those at the football institute through sheer hard work and an undying passion for the game. He is doing an MBA for his mom’s sake. During his engineering days, his friends used to call him Ctrl F Gulati. The reason behind this was in the four years of engineering, he faced disciplinary action thirteen times, each time because he was caught getting fucked. He was barred from playing in the university premises because he always failed in exams.

  Today he is pumped up for the match at D.Y. Patil. Even though he is not expecting Angira to come, he is secretly hoping that she does. The attendance of each person matters to him, especially today because this is for a cause.

  While Ved is getting ready for a warm-up session on the playground, Charu and Angira spend time together exploring the streets of Mumbai a couple of days before their college starts. They have dressed up like hipsters and are roaming around in Colaba Causeway. They expertly bargain with the owners of the fashion and jewellery huts spread across the place. No surprises. Indian girls are good at bargaining, especially girls from Delhi.

  ‘So did you message him again?’ Charu asks Angira while selecting a pair of red chandelier earrings.

  ‘Who? Ved?’ Angira asks.

  Charu looks at her. ‘No, Arjun. He was supposed to come with us, right?’

  ‘Oh, he always has work. I messaged him in the morning but he had some work, so he didn’t come. This looks nice on me, doesn’t it?’ Angira asks, pointing at a pair of ear cuffs embellished with red stones.

  She tries them on and looks at herself in mirror. ‘How’s this?’

  ‘Perfect, you look pretty in these. Take them.’ Charu asks the shopkeeper to pack the earrings for Angira.

  ‘And what about that guy Ved? Ved Gulati. That’s the name, right?’

  ‘Oh, that footballer? I blocked him on WhatsApp. Kitna bhaiya?’ Angira takes her wallet out to pay the shopkeeper.

  ‘₹370,’ the guy replies and hands over the box to Angira.

  ‘Why?’ Charu asks Angira in a surprised tone.

  ‘I can’t trust anyone and talk to strangers just like that. We don’t know anyone here and you know what guys are like these days na. Anyway, let’s go, I am very hungry. I need to eat something,’ Angira says, pointing at the stalls across the road.

  ‘Yes, even I am hungry.’

  ‘Let’s have golgappas.’

  ‘Well, you know we get the best golgappas in Connaught place,’ Charu says, holding a paper bag in her hand.

  ‘Sweetie, we can’t go back to Delhi. So we need to have what we get here.’

  They reach the counter and Angira asks the owner, ‘Bhaiya, two plates of golgappe.’

  ‘What?’ the guy asks in confusion.

  ‘Bhaiya, panipuri,’ Charu repeats.

  ‘Hmm,’ the guy hands them two plates.

  ‘They call it panipuri here.’ She takes a piece from her plate and puts it in her mouth.

  ‘You know what, we have finished our work, so we could go and watch his match. You shouldn’t block him without knowing what he is like,’ Charu advises Angira as they walk towards the roadside to take an autorickshaw.

  ‘I’ll give you his number and you can talk to him. Thirty-six guys are ready to follow us around in Delhi. If I was so interested in boys, I would have agreed to go out on a date with one of those guys in Delhi.’

  ‘Are they all footballers?’ Charu laughs and gives her a side hug. ‘I was just joking. We both like watching football, so let’s just go for fun and we’ll get to take a look at Ved Gulati,’ she says while crossing the road with Angira.

  ‘Are you sure?’ Angira asks in confusion. Still unsure, she leaves the decision to Charu. As it is they both are free to roam around today because from Monday their semester begins.

  ‘C’mon we are going to watch the match, not him. Not the entire time anyway. Just chill. And anyway it’s for some charity, right? So we are doing this for charity, not for him.’

  Charu doesn’t want to go back home so soon. She’s excited to explore the street food of Mumbai.

  ‘But the match is today at 4 p.m.,’ Angira says, checking her cellphone.

  ‘Should I unblock him to confirm the time?’ she asks Charu.

  ‘No, don’t do that. At which stadium is the match being held?’ Angira checks her WhatsApp.

  ‘D.Y. Patil. But it’s far away from here and it’s already 3 o’clock.’ Angira looks at Charu waiting for her decision.

  ‘What about tickets?’ Charu enquires.

  ‘That we’ll get anyway. If not we can always get them in black,’ Angira says remembering her experience in Delhi during the Commonwealth Games.

  ‘Are you sure?’ Charu asks again.

  ‘Yes, I have done this in Delhi several times during big events. We live in a country where we need to bribe the peon to get to a government officer. We break the signal and then give hundred rupees to the traffic police and drive off. So money wins over rules, babes. Getting a ticket in black is not that difficult. Let’s go,’ Angira says.

  ‘Those police have taken 50-50 rupees from me in Delhi and I spent three years without a licence,’ Charu says and they both laugh.

  ‘Seriously.’

  ‘Listen, if we want to get there on time we’ve got to take the Mumbai local to Nerul,’ Charu says while checking train routes on google maps.

  They get tickets easily upon reaching the stadium after standing in a queue for a few minutes.

  ‘Looks like very few people have come to watch the match,’ Charu says as they walk to the entry gate.

  The moment they enter the stadium, they are immediately taken aback by the vibrancy of the place. Spectators are dressed in colourful clothes and everyone is cheering for the teams. There’s an aroma of savoury sna
cks in the air. As soon as the ball reaches close to the goal post, the spectators shriek with joy.

  ‘There’s only thirty minutes left for the game to end and I don’t even know the teams that are playing.’ Angira tries to navigate through the jostling crowd to get some seats at the lower deck.

  They manage to push through the crowds somehow.

  ‘So it’s Mumbai Warriors in blue and Kolkata United in white. Look at the scoreboard,’ Charu shouts over the crowd and points towards the scoreboard so that Angira can understand her.

  ‘Yes, seems so,’ Angira says, reaching the desired seat in the fifth row from the ground. Charu follows her.

  ‘Where is he?’ Charu asks loudly.

  ‘I don’t know I can’t see him. I mean, I can’t recognize him.’ Angira is observing each player from one goalpost to the other and suddenly spots a familiar face. ‘Look, I think that is the guy,’ she exclaims, giving away the fact that she was really excited to meet him.

  ‘Is it the guy in the white jersey?’ Charu enquires and tries to find out the name on his jersey.

  The player reaches near the goalpost which is nearer to their seats and they finally see the name Ved printed on the back of his shirt.

  ‘Yes, he is Ved Gulati. But he is losing every goal.’

  Ved’s disappointment at being unable to score a single goal is more than apparent. He angrily kicks his opponent and the referee gives him a warning, followed by a yellow card.

  ‘He is not even trying,’ Angira says, equally disappointed.

  ‘Look who’s so tense,’ Charu teases her.

  He makes another go at the goalpost and loses again. He is soon substituted by another player. The crowd keeps getting louder in anticipation of another goal. There is a rumour that the winning team could be mentored by Sourav Ganguly to play in a national league. In the last ten minutes Mumbai Warriors level the score at 2-2. Though Ved is a stranger to them, the girls root for Kolkata United. The match soon goes into overtime. The crowd is getting impatient hoping for Mumbai to score another goal. Soon Mumbai Warriors scores another goal. The local team finally wins the match 3-2. People discuss the strategy failures of the Kolkata team as the crowd slowly disperses.

  ‘We came here to watch his match and he lost just like this,’ Angira says as if it was she who sponsored the team.

  ‘Baby, it’s okay. At least we found the real Ved,’ Charu grins and winks at her.

  Angira nods in agreement.

  ‘But I didn’t like his game, the way he played. He could at least pass the ball to others closer to the goalpost. He wasn’t even passing it to others. It’s not a one-man game. Moreover, he kicked his opponent. I can still recall the expression on his face,’ Angira says, and they both burst out laughing. They take the exit but choose a longer route to go home, because they aren’t ready to call it a night yet.

  Getting to Know Mr and Ms

  The following morning is a lazy one. Angira is rolling around on her bed while Charu fiddles with pots and pans in the kitchen.

  ‘Wake up, Angy! It is 10 a.m.,’ Charu calls out to Angira as she walks towards her room.

  Angira doesn’t respond. Instead she takes her phone out from under the pillow and checks the messages on WhatsApp. She remembers that she had blocked Ved, so she unblocks him and decides to send him a text.

  I came to watch your match yesterday with my friend.

  For how many years have you been playing football?

  Angira understands football quite well and had high expectations from him as a player. She had seen the intensity in his eyes. However, her opinion changed once she saw him playing yesterday. Ved replies immediately.

  Thanks for coming.

  I know I didn’t play well.

  Hopefully next time we’ll win the match.

  You were not even passing the ball to your mates.

  It’s not a one-man game, buddy.

  Anyway, it’s your game,

  I was just a spectator and…

  As she is about to send her reply, her phone rings. It’s her mom. She cuts the call.

  Busy???

  She quickly types a reply.

  Have to speak with mom, talk to you later.

  Bye.

  Angira finishes the call with her mom when Charu enters the room.

  While keeping her stuff in Angira’s cupboard, Charu says, ‘By the way, I was checking your Ved’s profile on the internet. Did you talk to him again? When are you meeting him? Where does he live?’

  ‘You ask so many questions. God! Stop Charu! You are such an askhole,’ Angira says with a smile.

  Amused, Charu asks, ‘Now what’s that?’

  ‘A person who keeps questioning or asks for advice incessantly.’

  ‘Then we both are askholes. I like it,’ she says, still giggling. ‘I am not joking. Why don’t you talk to him? At least talk to Arjun. You know good people here in Mumbai. Anyway, let’s roam around the city, we won’t get the time later.’

  ‘Shut up. I don’t want to trouble him,’ Angira answers with a frown.

  ‘Trouble can turn into something more as well,’ Charu teases her.

  ‘Go away, idiot!’ Angira laughs this time and mocks her back. ‘And that won’t ever happen.’

  ‘What if it does?’ Charu asks something which makes her blush. ‘Why are you blushing so much?’

  ‘Am I blushing? Am I?’ Angira pushes Charu away by kicking her butt.

  ‘Are you hiding something? Late last night you were chatting with someone,’ Charu says, sounding suspicious.

  ‘Nothing. No one. I just blush easily. By the way, I look sexier in the morning, isn’t it?’ Angira laughs and looks at herself in the mirror.

  She gets out of bed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and walks into the hall. Her hair is untidy and her t-shirt seems a size too small. Charu pours some orange juice into two glasses and lays out the table for breakfast.

  ‘I know you are hiding something,’ Charu insists, certain that Angira was sending messages to Ved earlier.

  ‘Ved and I chatted. Just the usual. And I had to tell him that he should not play like that, even if it’s for charity.’

  ‘Ahem, ahem…someone has started chatting,’ Charu teases her.

  ‘Oh really,’ Angira says, hoping to end the conversation right there.

  ‘Yes, isn’t it?’ Charu claims.

  Angira ignores her and takes a large sip of the orange juice.

  ‘Let’s talk about why you are still single?’ Angira says and throws a paper ball at her.

  ‘Now let’s not go there. I was in a relationship for three years and I left him because he was a jerk. It’s not as if I have been living in a cave you know,’ Charu catches the ball and throws it back to her at a higher velocity.

  ‘Oh, my princess!’ Angira blows a kiss her way to diffuse the tension.

  ‘By the way, players and celebrities are players in real life too.’

  What Charu says plants a doubt in Angira’s mind and the conversation inevitably leads back to Ved.

  ‘Debatable notion,’ replies Angira.

  Once a thought takes root in your mind, no matter how hard you try, you are bound to be dragged back to it by stray doubts and questions till you become over conscious of it all. Angira just got to know about Ved a little more over chat and then Charu dropped that strange question. Whatever Angira expected of Ved, just the opposite has turned out to be true so far.

  ‘But he seems like a good guy,’ Angira defends him. She herself doesn’t know why she has said this. Maybe she has just seen the one side of him, and the other will be better. Or will it be worse?

  ‘Are you taking his side?’ Charu questions her.

  ‘No, I am just stating the facts. Anyway, do you want to take a shower? We need to go out soon,’ she asks Charu.

  ‘Yes, going,’ pulling the towel off the dining table chair, Charu goes to the washroom and Angira gets back to work.

  ‘Do talk to him and hang out wi
th him, but don’t trust people so easily that they can hurt you,’ Charu warns her.

  As Angira remembers her past, she decides to text Arjun. She finds comfort in his advice.

  Hey!

  Hey!

  How are you?

  How’s life going in the new city?

  Life is going good.

  Are you free this weekend?

  Not sure.

  I’ll let you know.

  That means no :)

  So, how’s life?

  It’s nothing like that.

  I’ll message you.

  Life is fucking crazy these days. I lost my luggage in Delhi.

  And those asses didn’t even lodge my FIR.

  Hope you are enjoying :)

  While Angira types a message to Arjun asking him to meet her over the weekend, a call from Ved flashes on her phone. She disconnects and writes to Arjun.

  Oh shit. Did you tell papa?

  I had a talk with Aunty.

  Don’t worry. I’ll figure something out.

  Need to go for now. See you :)

  Sure. Take care of yourself.

  Thanks!

  She calls Ved back as she had earlier disconnected his call.

  ‘Hey, how are you?’ Angira asks.

  ‘I am good, hope you are doing well,’ Ved says, the enthusiasm in his voice all too apparent.

  ‘How’s your preparation going for the next match? When is it by the way? Actually I was on a call with Mom, so didn’t reply to your message,’ she tells him.

  She feels guilty now for having blocked him on WhatsApp and is polite to him throughout the conversation.

  ‘Which question do I answer first?’ he replies and giggles.

  ‘You can begin by answering how you are doing?’

  They both smile. Everything starts with a smile

  ‘I am perfectly fine, thank you,’ Ved says. ‘So what do you do?’ he asks, breaking the ice.