‘R
St Regis Hotel’s café, New York
adhika, right?’
I heard his voice as I entered. I turned to look at him. He wore beige chinos and a black
turtleneck, perhaps his homage to Steve Jobs.
‘Brijesh?’ I said. We shook hands.
‘Yeah. Good to see you in person,’ he said, guiding me to a table.
The old-world luxury café had high ceilings and colonial-era furniture. A saxophone player
and a pianist played in one corner.
We ordered tea for two.
A waiter brought us tea on a tiered silver tray of goodies—scones, jam, clotted cream, cakes,
mini cucumber sandwiches and chocolates.
‘Afternoon tea was a great idea. Everything looks lovely,’ Brijesh said. He took a few
sandwiches and placed them on his plate.
‘Glad you like it,’ I said.
I wore office attire, a grey suit, partly because I had gone to the 85 Broad Street office earlier
to meet Jonathan and Craig. Mostly, I wore it because my mother had told me not to. She had
instructed me to wear a magenta salwar-kameez and dangling gold earrings. I told her I wouldn’t go
to New York looking like I am a part of a Baisakhi celebrations’ troupe. In fact, I wanted to be as
drab and real as possible. Brijesh could see me as I was and reject me if he wanted to.
‘When is your flight back?’ Brijesh said.
‘9.30,’ I said. ‘I have to leave for the airport at 7.30.’
We had four-and-a-half hours to decide if we wanted to be together for the rest of our lives.
‘So who talks first?’ he said.
‘Usually I do,’ I said and smiled.
‘Oh. I would actually prefer that. Tell me about yourself.’
I told him the story of my life from my childhood until now. I covered everything, apart from
Debu and Neel.
‘So I have been in London for six months. Parents now would like it if I could settle down.
Gosh, doesn’t that sound so lame?’ I said, ending my story.
‘What? The term “settle down”?’ he said.
‘Yeah. Only in India do we use that phrase. Settle down, like in sedimentation everything
settles down. Don’t move anymore. No risk, no excitement.’
He laughed.
‘Our parents valued security over everything else. In their time jobs were few, so you better
grab one and settle down. Else you would be on the road,’ Brijesh said.
‘So true,’ I said.
‘Even I have settled down in a job,’ Brijesh said.
‘Really? You are with Facebook. Isn’t it one of the most fun companies to work for?’
‘See, that’s the thing. Everyone thinks I am in this amazing company. How could I even think of
leaving it?’
‘Do you like your job?’
‘Work is challenging. Money is good.’
‘So then?’