‘C
20
areful,’ I said. The Activa wobbled on the bumpy road as we came out of the Marriott
driveway.
‘I haven’t ridden one of these in five years,’ Brijesh said. I wondered if I should hold him from
behind. I could, considering I would be his wife in three days. However, I didn’t want him to think I
was too easy either. I kept my hands on his shoulders instead.
We passed down a narrow road between rice fields. He went fast. The breeze made my hair
fly all over my face.
‘This is fun,’ I said.
‘Great idea, Radhika,’ Brijesh said. ‘Dump the relatives. Do our own thing.’
‘Where are we going?’ I said.
‘Anjuna. That’s where we hung out when we came on a college trip.’
Thirty minutes later, we reached the rocky Anjuna beach and parked the bike. We walked for
five minutes and reached a shack called Curlies. We sat on adjacent easy chairs, both of us facing the
Arabian Sea. I removed my sneakers to rest my feet on the sandy floor of Curlies.
‘Beer?’ Brijesh said.
‘Sure,’ I said. He asked a waiter to bring us two Kingfishers. Two tables away, I saw another
Indian couple. The girl wore red and white bangles on both hands, a wedding chudaa; they had just
gotten married. Must be their honeymoon. They held hands, but it seemed a little awkward. Arranged
marriage, maybe. I looked at Brijesh. We would be a married couple too by this weekend. Brijesh
smiled as he handed me a half-pint Kingfisher bottle.
‘What did you tell your folks?’ Brijesh said.
‘I told Aditi didi that I am going for a walk with you.’
‘They don’t know you are at Anjuna?’
‘No,’ I said, ‘mom will freak out.’
I sipped my beer.
We watched the sun go down. A young singer at Curlies sang and played the guitar. The Goan
sunset became even more poignant with the music. The singer sang Justin Bieber’s song, Sorry.
Is it too late now to say sorry?
Yeah, I know that I let you down
Is it too late to say I’m sorry now?The song made me think of Debu. He had come all the way from New York. Sure, he had been