Namaste New York: A Novel

by Vijay Kumar & Victoria Kapoor

  Chapter 6

  On the Tuesday after Labor Day, classes began at the university. Vijay started his day by going to work and handing out flyers. It was unseasonably cold that morning, and people were staying off the streets and out of the bitter wind. It took him much longer than usual to finish the distribution, and he was almost half an hour late to class.

  Vijay took the subway steps two at a time and ran flat out until he reached the university, and when he got to the classroom he was completely out of breath. He stood outside for a minute until his breathing slowed, and then he opened the door as slowly and quietly as he could, not wanting to disturb his professor or his classmates. Vijay pressed himself against the wall and walked to the back of the room, eyeing an open seat in the last row. He sat down and placed his backpack on the floor, slowly unzipping it so as not to make a sound, and pulled out his notebook and a pen. When he was finally settled and looked up, he saw a girl in the front row of the classroom wearing a hijab.

  The scarf looked familiar, and Vijay's heart skipped a beat. Could it possibly be the same scarf, the one that belonged to the beautiful girl he'd seen at the party? The girl sitting next to her also seemed vaguely familiar, and Vijay thought it might be her friend who had pulled her away before he'd had a chance to introduce himself that night. This was a Fluid Dynamics class for mechanical engineering students, and Professor Walker was teaching the basics of laminar flow, but as hard as Vijay tried to concentrate on the lecture, he just couldn't stop staring at the girl wearing the hijab.

  He had to find out if it was the same girl, so he tried to move his seat a little to afford him a better view, but there were about eight other student heads in front of him, blocking his line of vision. He needed a better plan. Professor Walker had stopped lecturing and started to ask some questions, and Vijay's hand shot up before he had a chance to think through his plan. He hadn't even heard the professor's question, but fortunately or unfortunately, no one else had raised a hand.

  Professor Walker called on Vijay, and Vijay stood up beside his desk. "Haaan?what was the question?" Vijay asked, and a few of the students snickered. It was an embarrassing situation, particularly for a student like Vijay, but at this moment he didn't care. He just needed the girl in the hijab to turn around and look at him. Of course, everyone but the girl was staring at him by now.

  "Silence!" Professor Walker said in a British accent. He looked at Vijay, and repeated his question. "What is the physical significance of a Reynold's number?"

  With everyone but the girl continuing to stare at Vijay in anticipation, he gave his answer with ease, having studied these basic concepts for his PhD entrance interview, which he had aced. Professor Walker hadn't expected much when he saw how Vijay stumbled at first, but now he was pleasantly surprised. "Absolutely right, young man! However, you do not have to stand while answering." Although it was typical in Indian culture for students to stand while answering a question or otherwise addressing a professor, the truth was that Vijay had stood up in the hope of getting a better look at the girl.

  Vijay was pleased that he had made a good first impression on his professor, but he was disappointed that the girl had not turned around even once to look at him. He began to sit down when the girl cast a shy glance at him over her shoulder, and Vijay immediately stood back up so that he could see her clearly. The professor looked up from his notes. "Young man, you may sit." The girl turned back to face the white board, and Vijay lowered himself to his seat, a look of satisfaction on his face.

  It was her. It was the same, beautiful girl he'd seen at the party, and now, for the first time, she had seen him. Now he had to come up with a reason to talk to her, and it had to be legitimate, and not some lame excuse that other guys used on girls. Vijay spent the rest of the class deep in thoughts that had nothing to do with laminar flow. He fantasized about the various conversations he could have with her, trying to imagine how she might respond and how impressed she would be with his answers.

  Forty minutes later, Vijay was still lost in his daydreams and hadn't noticed that the class had ended and that everyone had begun clearing out of the room. He jumped up from his seat and frantically scanned the room, but he didn't see her. Vijay ran up to the front of the room towards the desk where she had been seated, and saw that her notebook was still there. He spun around again, and his eyes finally found her by the board, talking to the professor behind the lectern. He had no idea how he was going to initiate a conversation with her, but he went and stood behind her anyway.

  As he listened to her conversation with the professor, Vijay was transfixed by the soft, melodious voice that emanated from those exquisite lips, and it reminded him of the beautiful Indian classical music that his mother used to play for him when he was a child.

  "Yes, sir, how can I help you?" Professor Walker asked Vijay, his strident voice snapping him out of his trance. Vijay again stumbled with the question. "Haaan?" he said, his attention divided between the professor and the girl who was walking back to her desk to collect her books. He didn't know what he was going to ask the professor, but he did know that he couldn't let her leave again without finding a way to introduce himself. Then an idea came to him. It was a long shot, but Vijay had nothing to lose.

  "Sir, I?I'm sorry, but I missed the beginning of the class due to an unavoidable emergency," Vijay replied, talking much louder than necessary for the girl's benefit.

  "I'm sorry to hear that, Mister??" the professor prompted.

  "Kumar. But please call me Vijay."

  "Ok, Vijay. I trust that everything is okay now?" Professor Walker inquired.

  "Oh, yes sir. Everything is fine," Vijay replied, hoping the girl was listening. "But I was wondering if you have any notes that I might refer to." Vijay was pleased with his quick thinking, and he was pretty sure that the girl was listening, as she seemed to be taking her time gathering her belongings.

  "No, I don't follow any certain notes or books as such," Professor Walker replied. "But maybe you can ask Hina for her notes. She was sitting in the first row and taking nice notes."

  At the sound of her name, Hina stopped stuffing her books into her bag and looked up. Vijay turned to her, barely controlling his excitement and trying not to grin like an idiot. He couldn't believe how well Professor Walker had unknowingly played right along with his impromptu plan, providing him with a perfectly justified reason to talk to this girl named Hina.

  "Hi," Vijay said as he approached her desk.

  "Hi," she replied.

  "I don't know if you heard all of that," he said, gesturing at the lectern. "But I missed part of the class, and Professor Walker suggested that maybe I could ask you if I could make a copy of your notes?"

  Hina waited several moments before replying, but she didn't want to seem impolite. "Ok," Hina responded, pulling a notebook out of her bag and handing it to him. Vijay noticed that she had a beauty spot over her top lip, and he thought it made her even more attractive. He wanted to have long conversation with her, but didn't know how to get started. The classroom was now completely empty, and even Hina's friend had left.

  "Did I miss anything important?" Vijay tried again.

  "I'm sure if you read the notes, you will get everything," she answered. Hina appeared to be concerned about her scarf, and kept fidgeting with it while Vijay stood and stared at her.

  "By the way, I am Vijay," Vijay said, offering her a handshake. Hina instinctively backed away from his hand, and Vijay silently cursed himself as he realized his mistake. He cleared his throat, and shoved his hand into his pocket.

  "Shall we go to the library to copy your notes?" Vijay said, hoping to distract her from his transgression.

  "Okay." Hina picked up her bag and walked toward the exit. Vijay followed closely, and almost bumped into her when she stopped.

  "Did you want to keep your bag here?" She nodded her head towards the back row of desks where Vijay had left his bag.


  "Oh, yeah! Sorry, give me a minute!" Vijay ran to the back of the room and with one huge swipe of his arm, dumped all of his stuff into his bag. Hina had already left the classroom and was walking down the hallway, and Vijay had to run to catch up with her. She was walking with her head down, and her books were tightly clutched to her chest. She would barely look at Vijay, let alone smile at him or participate in a conversation. Vijay's thoughts were churning, his mind struggling to find a way to engage her.

  "What is your name?" Vijay asked.

  "Hina."

  "Are you a Mechanical Engineering student?"

  "Yes."

  "Are you new student?"

  Hina nodded.

  "Masters?" Vijay asked, and she nodded again.

  This is painful, he thought. "I am doing a PhD in MechE," Vijay volunteered, hoping to impress her.

  "Hmm?" Hina hummed, and Vijay's face brightened. After what seemed an eternity of one-word responses, Vijay took her humming to be a sign that he'd made an impression, and he allowed himself a small smile. He was concerned, though, that she might be uncomfortable walking around campus with a man, especially a Hindu man. He certainly didn't want to make her uneasy or cause her any distress, but he was surprised by the intensity of his feelings for her, and felt compelled to be around her as long as she would allow it.

  Upon reaching the library, Vijay headed towards a copy machine and opened Hina's notebook. The pages were neat, with no eraser marks or cross-outs, and her handwriting was delicate, which is just the way Vijay imagined it would be.

  "You have very beautiful handwriting," Vijay said.

  "Thank you."

  "Do you live in the city?" Vijay asked as he swiped his ID card against the scanner on the copy machine.

  "No."

  Stupid question. He should have asked where she lived.

  "What is the homework for the class?" Vijay asked, hoping she couldn't find a way to abbreviate her reply.

  "Professor Walker will post it today on Blackboard," Hina answered, referring to the school's classroom web portal.

  "What other classes are you taking?" Vijay wanted to know her entire schedule for the week.

  "Transport Phenomena and Solid Mechanics," she replied.

  "Awesome!" Vijay shouted in an undeniably inappropriate volume for a library. Hina looked around nervously. "I am in the same classes," Vijay said in a whisper.

  Hina was a little surprised by Vijay's reaction to her answer. Why was it "awesome" that they shared the same classes? Hina didn't know, but she chose not to say anything, and after Vijay finished with the copies, they left the library.

  They were walking across the campus when Vijay turned to her suddenly, hoping to postpone their inevitable parting. "Do you want to have coffee?" he asked.

  "No. It is very late. My friend must be waiting for me," Hina replied, her voice edged with concern.

  Vijay hoped that she wasn't angry at him for taking up so much of her time. "Okay. Well, thank you very much for your help."

  "You're welcome." Hina turned and walked away without another word.

  "Bye. I'll see you soon," Vijay called out as he watched her walk away. Come on, he thought. Just look at me, just once. Please.

  Hina was walking swiftly, but just as Vijay was about to give up hope, her gait slowed and she turned around. When she saw him standing in the same place as she'd left him, just looking at her with a soft expression on his face, she quickly turned back again and picked up her pace.

  "Yes!!" Vijay exclaimed as he half-twirled and half-jumped into the air. His acrobatic maneuver was a little overly enthusiastic, and he missed his landing, crashing into an older man who was unfortunate enough to have been walking behind him. The man had been clasping a briefcase and a stack of papers under his arm until he suddenly found himself splayed out under Vijay.

  "Oh! I am so sorry, sir!" Vijay cried, scrambling to get up and then extending his hand to the man. Vijay pulled him to his feet, and the man chuckled as he brushed off his pants and tweed jacket, and smoothed back his comb-over.

  "Are you okay?" Vijay shouted as he ran around in circles, trying to gather all of the man's papers that were scattering in the wind.

  "Not a big deal, young man, not a big deal," the man said amicably, picking up his briefcase and taking the papers from Vijay. "Sometimes a pretty girl just makes a man lose his balance," he said, giving Vijay a wink and a smile before walking off.

  "Dude! Who was that?" Lucky said as he and Raj ran up to Vijay. They had been waiting for him outside the library, and had seen the whole encounter. Vijay was embarrassed to discover that he'd had an audience, and he tried to play stupid.

  "I?I don't know. I've never seen him before. I felt so bad, tripping and falling into him like that. I hope he's okay," Vijay replied.

  Lucky slapped him. "Dude, not the baldy! We want to know about your laaady friend!" Lucky said in a singsong voice.

  "Oh, her? She's no one. She's just a girl in my class," Vijay said dismissively.

  "Classmates, huh? It looked like a lot more than that," Raj teased, hoping to pry more information out of Vijay.

  "No, not at all. Actually, I just met her today."

  "What were you talking to her about?" Lucky asked.

  "Fluid Dynamics," Vijay answered. Lucky and Raj looked at each other and giggled like school girls.

  "Fluids? Which fluids?" Lucky asked.

  "Not the ones that you and Anna share," Vijay replied sarcastically. "You guys are too much."

  "Yeah, well the look on your face when you talk about her says everything. Let's go home now," Raj laughed, and the three of them walked to the subway together, Lucky and Raj giving Vijay a hard time all the way to Queens and up until they finally fell asleep that night.