1960 London Love

Chapter 17

"I had always heard people say that time passes painfully slow when you are waiting. I had never experienced it myself, maybe because I had never truly waited for anything, or because I had always liked that anticipation, but the story that day was different. I couldn't wait for the clock to strike two-thirty. I felt like a school girl again, staring at the wall clock, smile widening as the hands got closer to the numbers, ears perked for the ringing, ready for the silence to shatter.

As soon as the first holler of children reached me, I immediately stood up and locking the house, briskly ran down the hill with one hand clutching my purse and umbrella, and with the other, my saree. 

I was a stranger in the land so I trusted my senses, letting the noises and sights of teenagers guide me in my way.

If you ask me now where Rahul worked, I wouldn't be able to tell you; even if you drag me to the building, the only way I would be able to recall the name would be by reading it off the board. But back then, I knew of its name, its uniform, perhaps even the principal that ran it. Needless to say, I was thorough enough to recognize it upon reaching it, and when I did, I opened my umbrella and settled under it, my eyes peeled, searching for Rahul.

He was talking to a couple of his students when I saw him. That candid moment of him chatting and laughing in his environment, comforted me, made me fall for him all over again.

"Rahul," I called, shaking my umbrella.

His eyes widened when he spotted me, a loud laugh taking over his surprise. "You came all the way here?" he shouted as he approached me," how?"

"Just followed the high-schoolers, had to ask directions from a few of them and then here I was," I answered.

"Higher-secondary," he corrected me," don't let these kids hear you. Their fragile egos would be hurt," he winked. "Seriously though you should have waited at home. You could have easily gotten lost."

"And what would I have done at home while waiting?" I started to walk beside him, away from the crowd, his hands now having had taken hold of the umbrella. " Your house is clean, the lunch and dinner are to be outside, and dishes don't exactly take six hours."

"True enough," he nodded," I suppose you got very bored. My fault, I forgot to tell you about the books I have under the bed."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean it would be a bit embarrassing if an English teacher would have no books at his home." 

I laughed at his argument. 

"Say, how about we watch a movie after lunch?"

"Sounds good to me," I nodded, "Which one?"

"Would depend on when we are done eating, " he answered, pointing at a restaurant in front of us. Some Pure-Veg Restaurant that has since closed.

The place had no walls or doors, just a roof and columns to hold it. Restaurants back then always followed such floor plans, guess maybe because the openness made them look so welcoming and homily. We took a seat on one of the many aluminium chairs that lay around in pairs.

Almost immediately a man in a band-collared shirt brought us two steel tumblers and generously filled them with water.

" The usual sir?" he asked.

Rahul nodded and turned towards me," do you like Dosa?"

" I think so."

"You think so?" he chuckled.

"Yeah," I tucked a hair strand behind my ear," I had it once at a neighbourhood function. The taste escapes me but I think I liked it."

" Very well then," he turned towards the brown clothed man and stuck out his middle and index finger, "two masala dosa".