‘My parents came to Chennai with great enthusiasm. But now dad lost his
promotion. Pesky relatives visit us all the time. Amidst all this, their daughter
wants to impose a non-Brahmin, non-Tamil, Punjabi boy on them. Of course, they
will freak out. We have to be patient. I love them, too, Krish,’ she said and paused
for breath.
A gentle breeze blew on our faces. She laid her head on my left shoulder. I
stroked her hair. The sun emerged out of the Bay of Bengal, a soft red at first,
turning into a warmer orange. I put my arm around Ananya. In my tie and formal
pants, I looked like a salesman with no place to take his girlfriend to make out.
‘there is only one way you can get regular access to my home,’ Ananya said
after staring at the horizon for a minute.
‘What?’
‘IIT tuitions for my brother. They’d accept anything for that,’ she said.
I let go of her and sat up straight. ‘Are you crazy? I prepared for the IIT exam
eight years ago. I can’t teach him.’
‘I’m sure you can revise some notes and help him. My parents have to get
comfortable with you. Only then can I ask them to seriously consider you.’
I dipped my idli into coconut chutney and ate it. I missed my mother’s hot
paranthas at breakfast.
‘Do you love me?’ She wiped a bit of chutney from my lips.
I kissed her. I was kissing her after two months. I didn’t release her for a
minute. I’d revise IIT chemistry for this chemistry any day.
‘Ai!’ a hoarse voice screamed behind us.
I turned around. A pot-bellied Tamilian cop, looking more villain than police,
walked fast towards us. ‘What is this?’ he said and slammed his stick on the
bench. Both of us sprang up. Ananya hid behind me.
‘Oh fuck,’ she said. ‘Get rid of him.’
The cop screamed at me in Tamil. Helpless, I asked Ananya to translate.
‘He wants to take us to the police station. He is saying we have some nerve
doing all this outside police headquarters.’
‘Why do they have police headquarters opposite a beach?’ I asked.
nora
(Nora)
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