Broken But Beautiful

16.The Sun is Setting Down"- kinda Friendship

Manik

"Have you ever been here? In Colaba market?" Nandini handed me the ice cream cone, another hand filled with hers. She took two scoops of butter scotch and one scoop of chocolate chips together. Meanwhile, I had chosen one blueberry scoop and a pistachio one.

We entered the crowdy narrow lane- namely the Colaba Market. Each side of the narrow roadline was small shops covered with goods, mostly antique. I followed Nandini through the small crowd in the too narrow passage, in the 12 pm- heat of the Mumbai. Stark sunlight, sweaty and full of people.

"No," I said, waving away clothes falling on my face, "I never needed to, actually,"

"I always come here," she stopped at a shop, pulling her sun glass up her nose and and shuffling through things, "You know. You can do a great bargain here,"

We moved through the crowd, stopping shortly for Nandini going through the shop, while I cautiously tried not to step onto people.

I really forgot what crowd actually meant.

I mean, sure, there's always Coldplay or Eminem's concert or clubs, but this sort of crowd where people are yelling and smiling and shouting and bargaining- it was a different kind of mess. I couldn't think when the last time I had seen this- let alone face it.

Nandini stopped at a small jewelry store, going through the small antique silver earrings. She held one in her ears, "How does it look?"

I shook my head, my eyes automatically travelling to the hanging earrings on a rock, "What's up with these earrings?"

"Nothing, why?" She said, looking through them herself.

"No, I mean," I said, finally picking up a pair I liked, "You always keep wearing- you know- this particular sort of earrings,"

"They're jhumkas," she snatched the pair from my hand, putting them in front of her ears again, "This one looks good, no?"

I nodded, having a strong feeling that these earrings only looked good because Nandini was wearing them, but never mind Manik.

She bought two or three small pairs like her usual ones.

"I don't actually only wear them, but yeah, I like them the most," Nandini said, as we started moving again, "It's like- they've become a habit. I don't feel like myself without wearing them now,"

She stopped in front of a scarf store again, murmuring about Alya needing a blue scarf. She turned at me, "What are you doing, cameraman? Why don't you click some photos?"

I looked at the DSLR hanging from my neck and looked back at her, "Can't find the right subject, ma'am. What should I click?"

She took a green scarf and wrapped it around her face, only keeping her eyes open.

"There you go," she said, "Your art. Your masterpiece: the spy in Colaba!"

I shook my head, laughing, as I clicked while she posed like crazy. People around us seemed to be having fun, too- so then I found myself clicking photos of everyone and everything. Aesthetic.

By the time we got out of the market, my eyes swelled more from the sunglass than the sunlight, which was right up our head now.

Nandini fanned her face with her small hand, shuffling through her phone with the other, "Okay. Where now?"

I pulled the phone out myself as it buzzed with WhatsApp notification. There were 15 messages on the wedding planning group Mukti had opened some days ago. Cabir sent some photos of some beautiful place.