One Indian Girl by Chetan Bhagat

‘We will take this along,’ I said.
‘Kind of defeats.. .’ Neel said and I nudged him.
‘Come,’ I said. We walked barefoot on the same route as our jog a couple of hours ago.
However, the island took on a new form in the darkness. The trees appeared pitch black, as did the
sea. I could see white streaks where the waves broke, due to the phosphorescence and the moonlight.
We walked close to the shore this time. The water lapped at our feet, warm on our ankles. Neel’s
flashlight showed us the way. We walked in silence, with no sound apart from the splashing waves.
The lack of conversation didn’t seem awkward. In fact, it seemed perfect. I spoke after a while.
‘You must be tired,’ I said. ‘You ran five rounds.’
‘A little bit,’ Neel said but walked on.
We reached the northern tip of the island, which had a C-shaped alcove. The waves became
gentle here and made no sound. Rock formations on the beach jutted out of the sand. At a distance we
could see fishing boats as nearby islanders went out for a night’s catch.
‘Can we sit for a bit?’ I said.
‘Sure,’ he said.
We sat down on the cold sand in absolute silence. He switched off the flashlight. The
moonlight was just about enough for us to see each other’s faces. I poured myself a glass of
champagne. He looked at me, shook his head in disbelief and grinned. I poured him a glass as well.
He took a sip. I turned my head back to look up at the sky.
The night sky had so many stars, it felt like someone had sprayed it with silver paint.
‘Wow, look at the gazillion stars above,’ I said.
He turned his gaze up to the sky as well.
‘Unlike Hong Kong there is no pollution here, and no backlight from the city.’
‘Yeah, I have never seen stars in Hong Kong,’ I said.
‘Do you recognize constellations?’ Neel said.
I shook my head. He pointed at the sky with his index finger.
‘See, that’s Ursa Major, or the Great Bear,’ he said, outlining the group of seven stars.
I kept looking at his finger. He kept talking.
‘That’s Ursa Minor, Little Bear. That’s the North Star,’ Neel said.
‘How do you know all this?’ I said.
‘Used to have a telescope once. Can you imagine, these stars are all navigators had when they
sailed centuries ago. No GPS.’
‘Unbelievable,’ I said.
My neck hurt from keeping my head tilted for so long. I lay down on the sand instead. This
way my eyes could face the sky above me and I could be comfortable.
‘Easier to see this way,’ I said. Neel looked at me once and lay down as well. Our heads were
one foot apart.
‘What’s your sun sign?’ he said, staring at the sky above.
‘My birthday was just a few days back,’ I said.
‘Gemini then. There, see, those are the Gemini twins,’ he said.
‘What’s yours?’
‘Taurus. See, over there,’ he said. He pointed to a group of stars that outlined a bull.
‘Wow,’ I said.
We became quiet and enjoyed the silence and isolation. I felt calm because of the
surroundings. Maybe the champagne also had something to do with it. I could hear him breathing. I