Silently Falling in Love: Race (THE EDITED VERSION)

Chapter 24 - Thai Food

Alex – May 1994

I arrived at the Thai restaurant ten minutes late; Anjali and I had a standing ritual every month we'd meet for lunch. I tried to convince her I was not checking up on her because of Arjun and my parents. I made her feel guilty by asking her - Don't you meet up with your friends? Aren't we friends? Hopefully, I'd convinced her. I wasn't checking up on her; I enjoyed seeing Anjali.

I saw Anjali waiting in the lobby with headphones on jamming and moving her feet and tapping her hand on her thigh. I called her name a few times, but the volume was on loud. I heard the beat from far away.

I sat down next to Anjali and tugged on her headphones, "Hello, Earth calling Anjali."

She jumped and looked at me frightened.

"I tried to get your attention several times, but you were in la-la land. I must have called your name at least a half dozen times. What are you listening to?" I asked.

"I was jamming to a mixed CD of the most popular Hindi songs from the past year. My favorites are the Madhuri Dixit and Akshay Kumar songs. She's such an amazing dancer and he, well he's just amazing to look at and I love his carefree goofy style," she sighed happily.

I took the headphones off the back of her head and put them on.

I listened for a few minutes; listening to the first thirty seconds of a song and then forwarding to the next one. After four or five songs I stopped. "I don't recognize any of the songs you're listening to."

She took the headphones back, "Then you should watch more Hindi movies. There are so many good songs and the dances are even better."

I groaned at the word dance.

She laughed, "What's the last Hindi song you remember?"

"Something with Amitabh Bachchan in it. Main Pal Do Pal Ka Shayar."

I sang the words to the song:

Main pal do pal ka shayar hun

I'm a poet only for a second or two

Pal do pal meri kahani hai

My story will be over in a few seconds

Pal do pal meri hansti hai

My laughter is only for a moment or two

Pal do pal meri jawani hai

My youth will be over in a few moments

"You're fantastic. You have an amazing voice. But you know that's an old song."

The waitress recognized us and motioned our table was ready and walked us to a nice table looking outside.

"Same order as usual?" she asked.

Anjali looked at me.

"Works for me," I said.

We had gotten into this pattern; we had three restaurants we frequented near her office, all Asian and we had dishes we enjoyed at each.

"You really need to see some current Hindi movies," she said.

"Fine, I'll go with you to watch the latest Bollywood movie. What are you doing this weekend?"

She looked surprised I'd volunteered to go to the movies with her.

"This weekend won't work; I'm going to Boston. Plus, there are no good movies playing right now. There are a couple of good ones coming out next month. Shall we meet at the movies next month?"