is bothering you. And, if something is bothering you, it bothers me. I
want to know things about you, okay? But getting you to talk is like a
dentist pulling teeth.’
She laughed and interrupted my rant.
‘I have a fucked-up family. What do you want to know?’ she said.
I looked at her, puzzled and astonished at her choice of words.
More than anything, I could not associate any family with a BMW
to be fucked up.
Her eyes met mine, perhaps for a final check to see if I deserved
her trust. ‘Let’s go for a walk,’ she said.
- Her plush car dropped us off at India Gate. The soft evening sun
cast long shadows of the monument and of us on the red sandstone
pavement. We walked the mile-long distance ail the way up to
Rashtrapati Bhavan. On these roads, far away from Bihar, India did
not come across as a poor country. Pigeons flocked the sky and
government babus from nearby offices scurried about, both trying to
reach home before it got dark.
We walked together. At least our shadows appeared to hold hands.
‘I don’t open up to people. At most I keep a journal, and even that
is rare. You know I’m a quiet person,’ Riya said.
‘I understand.’
‘Thanks. The problem is my family. They’re obsessed with money.
I’m not.’
‘That’s a good thing, right?’
‘I don’t know. Also, I don’t matter. My brothers do, because they
will take over the business one day. I’m supposed to shut up, get
married and leave. The high point of my life is to have kids and shop.’
‘And that’s not what you want to do?’
‘No!’ she almost shouted. ‘You know me better than that. Don’t
you?’
‘Sorry.’
‘Sucks being a girl in this country, I tell you. Sucks.’