'Excuse me? It is an important day for maths lovers. We never make it public
though. You can say you love literature, you can say you love music but you can't
say you feel the same way for maths.'
'Why not?'
'People label you a geek.'
'That you are,' she giggled.
She pulled the oil bottle cap close.
'Can you help me oil my hair? I can't reach the back.'
My tongue slipped like it was coated in that oil as I tried to speak. 'Vidya, we
should study now.'
'Yeah, yeah, almost done. Just above the back of my neck, please.'
She twisted on her chair so her back faced me. She held up the cap of the oil
bottle.
What the hell, I thought. I dipped my index finger in the oil and brought it to
her neck.
'Not here,' she giggled again. 'It tickles. Higher, yes at the roots.'
She told me to dip three fingers instead of one and press harder. I followed her
instructions in a daze. The best maths tutor in town had become a champi man.
'How's the new shop coming?' she said.
'Great, I paid the deposit and three months advance rent,' I said. 'Fifty
thousand bucks, cash. We will have the best location in the mall'
'I can't wait,' she said.
'Two more months,' I said. 'Ok, that's enough. You do it yourself now, I will
hold the cap for you.'
She turned to look at me, dipped her fingers in the oil and applied it to her
head.
'I wish I were a boy,' she said, rubbing oil vigorously.
'Why? Easier to oil hair?' I said, holding up the cap in my hand even though
my wrist ached.
'So much easier for you to achieve your passions. I won't be allowed to open
such a shop,' she said.
I kept quiet.
'There, hopefully my brain would have woken up now,' she said, tying back her
hair and placing the chemistry book at the centre of the table.
'1 don't want to study this,' she said.
"Vidya, as your teacher my role is...'
'Yeah, what is your role as my teacher? Teach me how to reach my dreams or
how to be a drone?'
I kept quiet. She placed her left foot on her lap. I noticed the tiny teddy bears
all over her pajamas.
'Well, I am not your teacher. I am your tutor, your maths tutor. And as far as I
know, there are no dream tutors.'
'Are you not my friend?'
'Well, sort of.'
'Ok, sort-of-friend, what do you think I should do? Crush my passion and
surround myself with hydrocarbon molecules forever?'
I kept quiet.
'Say something. I should lump these lessons even if I have no interest in them
whatsoever as that is what all good Indian students do?'
avery
(avery)
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