Chapter 3
Lassi&Chai
I couldn't help but meditate on the thought that the scrutiny of numerical values has caused a major impact on the human race.
Distinguished personalities such as me however often take pride in the ability to solve additional operation of single-digit numbers with the
use of pen and paper.
In simple words, I flunked today's math test.
So I ambled down the street in a depressed state and bought a bar of chocolate solely for medical purposes of course, and was on my way when a rough voice struck my eardrums.
I am one to mind only my business so I was going to continue my current one of ambling home when a familiar voice replied the latter.
I turned around and zeroed into the source of the sound. Under the canopy of a banyan tree, there were two distinct shadows. It was Siya having a hot argument with a well built man.
On close scrutiny, I could make out his large frame from those window talks to the boys' hostel.
He was tall and intimidating with the the low cut tank shirt reveling doubly scary muscles and pectorals.
My sister looked absolutely harmless even with the anger displayed on her face but him?
Well!
How could she view him with a romantic interest?
I, on the other hand, would view him as an asset to abduct a few unpleasant teachers from my school to Hawaii.
I stood in the same stance with the eatery in my hand unsure of my reaction until his hand flew up, dangerously close to my sister.
"Stop!"I cried, holding up the hand with the bar of chocolate and he turned to me with the same pissed-off expression. He'd just supported his arm on the branch of a tree.
No physical harm. No physical harm. Calm down.
I gulped my fear smoothly down with the remnants of chocolate and went up to them.
Siya gasped spotting me.
"Just what is happening? " I chose to ask her since I had no business with the roadside Romeo.
"I'm your elder sister. I have no need to answer you!"She hissed in a stage whisper at my side.
"Who's this wuss?"He sneered behind me.
"Don't talk about my sister like that!" She snapped, therefore uncovering my secret identity.
I tried not to flinch at his beady gaze.
However, I chose to ignore the comment and tugged at my sister's hand to leave.
She ignored me and the argument continued as if I wasn't even present.
I gazed at the duo in silent contemplation before deciding that I should probably leave them to sort out issues by themselves.
Siya was elder to me and therefore probably a little more sensible too.
I think.
My feet, however, were glued parallel to my sister.
Siya's shrill answers were no way going to surmount over his brash voice and flow into his eardrums.
The increasing pitch of his voice was attracting undue attention.
Siya seemed to notice others' eyes glued at their supposed private conversation because she held my hand and pulled me back towards her. I stumbled and still managed to stay upright.
My concentration was still on the ferocious expression of the man towering over us.
"Let's go," Siya muttered.
"Don't walk away when I'm talking!" He snarled and I tried to subtly fall in step with Siya.
We were going to direct our feet towards our home when his words hit us.
"I'll throw acid on your face!"
We stilled automatically and Siya whipped her head back at unbelievable speed.
"You miserable worm! That's all the respect you had for me. Good I got to know at least now!"
I tugged at Siya's arm firmly, forcing her to follow me.
"You're absolutely--"
"Siya. Please," I wanted to clutch at her feet and beg or just drag her into the safe haven of our colony apartments.
Given our galli was usually a tad deserted most of the time, the possible repercussions of that statement brought chills down my spine.
The few onlookers fell into silence but did not dare protest the abhorrent disrespect in that statement. And I knew they wouldn't.
I simply held her hand firmly and pulled her back with me, while the man casually walked into his hostel with one last glance as if he hadn't bluntly threatened her a moment ago.
I attempted to console Siya, but she'd locked herself in her room and refused to come out.
I sighed and tapped my knuckles on the frame one last time, "Are you okay?"
"I am! Just leave me alone!" Her words came out muffled.
I let her have her space and went to freshen myself in my parents' conjoining bedroom.
Siya had washed up and appeared deceivingly normal over dinner. I tried to make light conversation through the clutter of stainless steel vessels until my mother told me to shut up and concentrate on the food on my plate.
Only when our parents retired to the bedroom, could I approach her.
The lights to the bedroom were switched off and she was sitting by the window sill.
"Don't switch on the light," Siya said when I was going to. She motioned for me to come closer and pulled me down with her. I imitated her hunched posture.
"What?"
"Do you see that? Him? He called me thrice and now he's staring at our window."
"Yes, a major inconvenience. He knows where we live."
"Do you think he will..."
She trailed off and I'd never seen this emotion on my sister's face. She was always brazen and straightforward. And now worry lines were creasing her forehead.
Those words continued to haunt me even when I left for school and Siya for college. All through the day, my mind was conjuring the worst possible scenarios. And when I reached home, I was literally racing towards the gate.
When I was going to take a turn towards the block, I spied a few boys on the cement benches. My eyes immediately scanned through them.
Kabir's lips paused in mid-movement and was watching me silently. As did his zillion other friends.
I waved at him. I usually curtailed attracting attention around his friends except for that instance.
His expression morphed into blank surprise and he slid down from his spot.
I waited, feet cemented at my place while he started towards me in his noisy platform shoes.
The more closer he came, the more unsure I was about involving him.
"Hi," He spoke, "Just back from school?"
"Ya, ya. So, uh, do you want to maybe come home now?"
He stilled and narrowed his eyes, "Am I hearing-- I thought you said..."
"Can you come upstairs with me now?"
"Is everything okay?" He asked, his gaze roving over my face.
"Long story. Come with me," I prodded.
He digested this sentence, observing me for a moment.
"Okay, you keep going. I'll be right behind you," He mused quietly.
I sucked in a breath and nodded, "Great, okay, okay..." I trailed off and looked around us for some spying flat members just in case.
I was relieved to find Siya in one piece back to her passive self. She was cuddling with blankets on the couch. Her hair was dishevelled and some loud Bhojpuri songs were blaring on the television.
I grabbed the remote from her hand and muted the television. "So?"
"So, what about him? "
"Oh that miserable worm is going to die in a sewer, that's about him."
"Did he talk to you?"
"Yep. He wants me to elope with him," she said as casual as she could.
"Uh, and you?"
"Are you mad? I'm not even a college graduate. And besides who elopes with a possible acid attack criminal. I told him to buzz off."
I drew in a shrivelled breath, "So, was he cooperative with this...request?"
"He's crazy. He thinks I'm having an affair with someone else. I made him madder I think."
"Great! Thanks! You made your life a whole lot better now. You could have just stayed home today but, no! You didn't want to miss your precious classes!"
Siya glared at me, "You want me to cower at home like a thief? I didn't do anything wrong."
I stood by her couch, unconvinced when the doorbell chirped again.
Kabir pushed his sleeves back and slumped into the bamboo swing, looking between the two of us.
"What happened? Is there something I need to know?" Kabir asked, quirking a brow.
"Yah. Siya, tell him," I said, folding my hands over my chest.
"You tell him." Siya murmured.
"You know that hostel dude right? He--"
"Aslam.His name is Aslam."
"Very important, thank you. Anyway, I believe these two have a tiff and he just threatened to spill acid over her and now they had another argument.I don't know how far he meant what he said but to be on the safer side, what should we do?"
"What the hell," Kabir muttered after a moment, "When did all this happen?"
"Yesterday.I was also there, he doesn't seem nice."
"You showed your face to him? He knows you?" Kabir asked, a curious crease in his brows.
"Is that a bad thing?" I asked, partly imagining why it was.
"God, it could be," he muttered, massaging his nape.
"Should we like, file a complaint or something?" I asked, earning dual protests.
"But it's a matter of her life, what if he-"
"You'll get your parents and everyone else involved? Hell no," Kabir said.
"Then what? He even knows her college, her home..."
"We can pretend we gave a complaint," Kabir suggested.
"And?He's not a fool."
"And Kabir can probably call him and warn him," Siya said.
"But that's-" Nobody cared about my intrusion.
"Me? He might see through my voice or something."
"Just try na. He's not that hard a nut. All brawn, not much in the top shelf," Siya stated drily.
I stood between the two silently.
"You have your phone?"
"Yeah," Kabir pulled out his BlackBerry from his trousers.
I dictated his number while Kabir was trying to weave a more mature tone in his voice.
Kabir pressed the loud button and we listened to the phone ring with bated breath.
After a few rings, he picked it up. "Hallo? What?" He spat.
"Is this Aslam Rizvi, Balnagar colony?" Kabir's firm voice cut through unabashedly.
"I want no insurance," his voice sounded like an echo in the backdrop, while Kabir was holding the phone at arm's length, while two of our heads were bent over.
"I'm Lalit Selvan, ACP. My niece Siya just spoke about you. What is the matter?" The last statement was reminiscent of a subtle sting of warning.
I thought Aslam might be somewhat of a wisecrack and would see right through, mocking our stupid idea but there was a moment of silence and then a baffling cluster of sounds.
And by the scissoring of the raucous din through the microphone, it was obvious that the designation caught the attention of a few other wayward souls in the hostel.
"Nothing at all.Our personal stuff," His reply was a little curt but controlled.
Ergo, he bought it.
Kabir brushed his hair back and ploughed into the conversation in his falsetto gruff voice:
"However personal your stuff is, you can't threaten a girl and then stalk her the next day," his tone was sharpened for the better impact this time.
"You misunderstand--"
"Do you know how long you can get jailed for? Your education, your career will be ruined. You want that?"
There were a slight pause and a few hushed voices in the background.
"No sir. Sorry sir," He muttered at last. Ah, the bliss of hearing him beg. Even Kabir couldn't hold his smile in.
"Keep away from her. It's for your best. I'm sparing you now because she didn't register anything at the station. This is your last warning."
"Okay. My intention wasn't that sir. I was simply only saying like that. You can ask in my college about me. I have a good name around."
I rolled my eyes internally while Kabir massaged his throat from the aftereffect of all the artificial scruffiness.
"Let that be. Concentrate on your life. I'll be watching you, Rizvi."
"Bye sir, thanks sir," Aslam reciprocated with the sincerity of a middle school student.
The call cut and we let the phone beep before sagging back in relief.
Kabir coughed and put the device away.
"That was amazing," Siya sputtered.
He glanced at me and my lips curved into a simper.
"Wow, he was going to pee his pants. Well done ra!" Siya bumped her fist on his shoulder.
"I really think you both should be a little incognito for the next week, na?" Kabir murmured.
"Oh,come on.Are you concerned for our safety or something?" Siya asked as if it were a ridiculous request.
Kabir's eyes connected with mine, "Can't I be?"
I said nothing, looking between the both of them and then almost painstakingly back into his magnetic eyes.
"That's it then? Shall I leave?" Kabir asked me, curling the sleeve of his shirt back.
"Whoa,what? Let's play some cards and celebrate," Siya spoke on my behalf.
Kabir stood up, his eyes still glued to me, "Nah, next time maybe. Your sister is not asking me to stay."
He wasn't being serious, I could read from his visage and the playful demeanour. My big smile was also unchanged.
"I didn't say anything at all," I shrugged, leaning back in my couch.
"I was just kidding. I have a match practice today. Bye Siya,Shyla..."
I didn't think I needed to say anything except gaze at his mocha eyes and nod silently at his frame towering over the couch.
I watched him leave, feeling the tight weight evaporate from my chest.
My sister was back to the television as if the the past two days were nothing but a hallucination.
I rambled into the other room and regarded my guitar passively.
I had a performance in the academy the next day and thus I had to practice with impertinent concentration,right?
However, a comic book seemed very charming on my shelf...
Oh well.
The next day's performance forgotten,I had read a few witty gags in Tinkle and was doodling most reverently on a piece of paper when Sanya called me to inform that we could go to Yorkshire Library the next day being a Saturday.
But oh, bummer the performance...
That would be the worry of any sane person who was dedicated to music.
But moi?
"Omigod! That's great!--Are Nishika and Kayal coming too?--Okay. I'll be there."
Even when I hung up, I sashayed into the kitchen to feast on some edible scraps without an ounce of regret.
However, my cocky attitude didn't last long when my music master discovered my escapade.
We'd spent half a day, delving into the literary treasures of the library, floor by floor and had a few oily aloo paranthas from the cafeteria.
Nice day and we were heading back home.
But I was utterly gobsmacked to see my band members near the subway terminal, lugging their instruments along with nonplussed expressions.
"Sanya, duck your bubblehead this instant!"
"What in the--"She fell on her behind rather unpleasantly almost knocking off Kayal's drink from her hands.
"You see those Mozarts sitting there? I was supposed to accompany them to a performance in a college today. But I told master I'm suffering from flatulence."
"Flatulence? What's that?"Sanya asked.
"Gas problem, "I muttered.
"Wha--Oh you mean fart problem! That's the lamest thing you could--"
"FART PROBLEM?" Nishika interrupted.
Uh-oh. I had completely overlooked the fact that Nishika was affected my dumb jokes.
Before we could cover her mouth, she burst into explosive epithets of laughter.
The bushes above us rustled and I looked up to see the face of my music master with a dangerous expression on his face.
And I got an earful from him that day.
I struggled to suppress my laugh.
My most destructive characteristic was to laugh at the most serious of times.
Like right then.
Kabir seemed to notice and masked his smile, standing directly behind sir and combed his fingers through his wavy hair.
And when we met that evening, he asked me why I would do that.
I, in reply told him about the beautiful and fabulous Yorkshire library.
All he did in reply was chuckle.
"You're a bookworm,huh? How would I manage with a wife who'd always be absorbed in a book?"
He said, strolling in the terrace with his hands in his pockets.
But I froze. Not because of the misconception of terming a lazy bum like myself a bibliophile.
Oh no, it was just the casual demaneour with which he had addressed the horror of horrors.
Le gasp!