Mayapuri - The City of Dreams...

Chapter 6

Renuka smiled at Ajay and moved forward. She said to the vendor,"What is the price of these potatoes?" The vendor said to her,"30 rupees per kilogram, Madam. These are good potatoes. Take them."

She looked at the potatoes. They looked good. So she said to the vendor,"Give me 2 kilograms." The vendor packed the potatoes in a polythene bag and gave it to her. She paid the money. When she turned to her right, she saw Ajay again. Ajay was looking at her with a smile on his face.

They walked away together.

"Renuka..?"

"Huh?"

"Are you in a hurry?"

"No, why?"

"I wanted to ask you out for a date."

"Date?????"

"Yeah, date."

"If not an expensive date, then a simple date. You know what I mean. We are going to get married next week but, we have met just twice."

"Ummm..."

"Look at yourself! You are so shy! You can't even talk to me in full sentences."

"No.... actually..... I am sick ..... That's why....."

"Sick?"

"Oh yes....that...aaa...."

"You don't need to make excuses. I can understand. It's natural to feel shy. You don't need to feel guilty for that. Besides, I am not complaining. You look cute."

Renuka blushed on hearing the word 'cute'. Ajay said,"Should I take this smile as a 'yes'?"
Renuka nodded her head. Ajay cleared his throat to get her attention. He said,"Shall we go to eat momos?"

Renuka said to him,"No, I will not eat momos. I ate momos last week and had an upset stomach. I could not eat anything for three days after that. Let's eat something else. What about samosa?"

Ajay said,"Samosa will work for me. I like samosas. Moreover, I haven't eaten samosas for a long time. There is a shop at some distance. We can go there."

With polythene bags filled with vegetables, they started walking to the shop. The people were staring at them. But they did not mind.

People keep staring at others all the time. We can not stop everyone, can we?

On reaching the shop, Ajay called a boy working there, and asked him to bring two samosas. The boy brought two plates and handed them to Ajay and Renuka.

Ajay took a bite of the samosa and looked at the person in front of him. Ajay was not concentrating on his food. His eyes were fixed on the hazel eyed beauty in front of him, who was dipping her samosa in the sause and taking big bites from it. He had not even eaten half of his samosa when she had finished hers. She started eating the leftover sauce from her plate. When she was done with that, she washed her hand on the plate with little water. While rubbing her hand on her handkerchief, she looked up and saw Ajay who was still eating.

Ajay smiled at her and looked towards his plate. He said to himself,"Why did I look away? Why was I not able to look into her eyes? Am I feeling shy too? Oh God! What is happening? This has.....never happened before." He looked at Renuka again.

"You finished so fast!"

"I did not eat fast. You are eating slowly. Eat fast or else, you will lose interest in the samosa."

"Is it so? Do people lose interest in food too?"

"I don't know about you, but it happens to me. If I eat slowly, then the food turns cold and I lose interest in it."

Ajay finished eating and proceeded to pay the bill. Renuka stopped him and said,"You pay for your samosa. I will pay for the one I ate."

Ajay was surprised. He said to her,"We are not strangers. I am your fiance. Let me pay."

Renuka held his hand to stop him. She said,"I am not stopping you. Pay for your samosa. I just don't want you to pay for my samosa. I don't consider you as an enemy or something like that. I just don't like it."

Renuka paid her bill and Ajay paid his. Her act surprised him. No one had ever asked him not to pay for their food. Ajay called an autorickshaw and they got into it. Renuka asked the driver to take her to the 'Rajni chawl'. Ajay whispered to her,"After marriage, don't tell me that you don't want a stranger to pay for your samosa."

Renuka smiled at him and said,"Then you will be my husband. That's different."

Suddenly, it started raining. Ajay said to her,"Thank God! We got into the autorickshaw at the right time. Otherwise, we would have gotten wet...."

"And our vegetables too....", Renuka completed his sentence. They had a good laugh after that.

Renuka looked outside. She saw people running to the shops to take shelter. In a corner, a dog was trying to hide behind some vehicles. People shooed him away. The dog was running around helplessly. It was trying to cross the road but he was not able to do so because of the running vehicles.

Ajay saw her looking at a little girl, trying to collect the raindrops on her palm.

"Renuka, do you like to play in the rain?"

"No. What about you? Do you like to play in the rain?"

"Yes, a lot. I play in the rain quite often."

"Even now? I mean, even after growing up?"

"Ofcourse! Look around yourself. There is so much beauty in the nature. Isn't the smell of the rainwater intoxicating? I like the feeling of rainwater washing my body. The water is so cold. It soothes all pain and takes away all the worries. Rain cleans up all the places."

"When it rains heavily, we face the problem of waterlogging. The road leading to our chawl does not have proper drains. We have to wait for the water to dry up. It gives out a pungent smell and I do not feel like staying at home. Along with that, I can't go to the bank in a normal way. I get scolded for being late. I have to follow the dress code. But it is not possible to go to the bank in a good dress through a road full of water. Now who will explain that to our superiors?"

"That's bad."

"Do you know what happened last year?"

"What happened?"

"Last year, it rained too heavily. The entire road was water logged for two months. It is not possible to reach the bank early in this condition. We have to walk slowly and very carefully. Who knows what is in the water? I had been reaching the back late for a month. One day, I was walking fast when I felt something cut my leg. I took my leg out of the water and saw that a broken glass piece has pierced my leg. I returned home and did not go to the bank that day. Next day, when I reached the bank, I was scolded. The old and fat manager insulted me infront of everyone. He said to me,'I know you people. You just know to make excuses. You have been reaching late for a month! On top of that, you took a leave yesterday without informing me. Who do you think you are?' He even deducted half of my salary for that month."

"Did you tell him that you got hurt?"

"Yes! I told him everything. He insulted me even more. He threatened to fire me. So, I kept silent. He thinks that he is the best person in this world. Just because he earns a little more money than me, he refuses to see my problems. I felt so good when he was transferred to another branch two months after that incident. The new manager is good. He is stricter than the previous one, but his behaviour is good. He does not insult anyone unnecessarily."

The autorickshaw driver stopped the vehicle. He said,"Madam, we have reached the chawl." Renuka got down from the rickshaw and paid money to the man. She waved at Ajay and walked away.