0420 Hours to 0505 Hours:
“Hello! Mujhe flat 502 me shift hona tha aaj“ (I was supposed to move into flat 502, today!), I declared to the Nepalese looking watchman. After an hour of cab ride, and ten minutes of finding it, here I was. At Sanchi Apartments, Srinagar Colony. Hyderabad for my life!!
I placed my laptop bag on the top of one of the Samsonite trolley bags. The watchman opened a rather scruffy looking register and checked for log entries “Saab! Madam abhi bhi hai flat me!“ (Sir, it is still being occupied by Madam!), he said without looking up from the register, “Madam? Kaun Madam?“ (Who? Madam who?) I said suddenly feeling a bit uncertain, after almost ten hours of being on the road and five hours on air.
"502 ki Madam, Saab!" (502’s Madam, Sir!), he said with a broad smile, as if to taunt me. Clearly, he was finding my juggling of the two trolley bags particularly amusing, as they rolled away from the desk onto a downward slope.
“Voh toh kal flat khali karne vali thi, hain na?" (She was supposed to move out yesterday, right?) I asked stretching out my right leg which had started to show the first signs of a muscle cramp.
“Nahi Kiya, Saab!” (She didn't, Sir)
“Acha....! Vaise kyun nahin Kiya hoga, kuch Pata hoga aapko?” (Well, do you happen to know why she didn't?)
“Nahi Kiya, Saab!”
“Voh Pata hai mujhe, par... Ek baar baat kar sakta hoon kya unse?” (I do know that but... Anyway could I at least talk to her!)
I tried to comprehend the whole situation. My watch showed that it was well past 4.30, and nearing 5 AM, now. The watchman dialled a number on the intercom and spoke into it calmly, with zero urgency. On feeling my restlessness, he started to talk a bit more promptly into the phone, occasionally looking at me and my luggage as well. After a minute or two, he found it prudent enough to hand me over the phone.
“Hello? I am Sudheer's friend!" I said trying to be cool for some reason, though the jet-lag had started to kick in, and made me sound very desperate
“Yeah, Yeah, Hi. I'm so sorry. I had to extend my stay ", a rather husky yet somehow equally smooth sounding female voice answered. Yeah, that's the best adjective that I could come up with, all right! Ever tried coming up with poetic adjectives at 5 in the morning? No? Thought as much.
“Yeah. No issues. I mean, no problem. However, I infer that you'd be leaving today?” I asked her, as the Deccani dubbed 'Path of Dragon Blade' watchman started plucking out the Airline tags from my bags.
“Exactly. I've booked my flight tonight, so I'll be leaving from here at around 10 pm!" She said, sounding pretty confirmed about her schedule.
“Oh Ok. Cool. All right. I've got some really heavy luggage with me, so I was hoping that maybe if I could leave it at the flat for today and move in early tomorrow morning? "
“Hmm! Yeah ok. Cool. But where are you going to stay? "
“I... Well, I haven't decided yet. But I guess I'll book a hotel room for today, assuming there are some hotels nearby!” I said, trying to remember any, on my way here.
“Oh. Well, yeah sure, you could leave your luggage here. I'll ask Raju to bring you up, and I'm so sorry again for all the inconvenience!”, she sounded quite sincere.
“Yeah. No problem. I'll be there. Thank you” I said and got off the phone, cursing Sudheer, for being so irresponsible. Or sleepy, because he apparently didn't find it convenient to tell me that his cousin was going to stay back. And I now had to drag my ass around the city, for no fault of mine.
Eventually we did arrive at the fifth floor and I again found myself dragging my stuff out of the elevator, like a Hebrew slave hell bent on building a pyramid. Ironically, towards a flat/house which wasn't mine,yet. Neither the doorbell rung by the Dragon-blade.
“Hello! I'm so sorry again!", said a dusky and fairly tall girl who answered the door, leaning on to it. She wore a Superman t-shirt and a blue jeans to go with it. Her eyes looked as if they had been woken up from a really deep sleep, as they took a real good look of how shabby I was at that moment. Her hair was pretty ruffled up and though she was managing it quite well by making a bun or whatever that's called these days, it still looked quite messy. A long and sharp nose, a fair built and an overall curvaceous elegance about her, completed the whole look. There was something else in her face though, that seemed to noticeably stand out, and one which was strikingly beautiful. I couldn't really pinpoint what it was at that moment, but yeah it was definitely working wonders.
“No problem. Again!” I said as the watchman took to dropping my bag with a loud thud, as if to bring me back to my senses, not that I was lost, mind you. Not lost, but tired. Too tired to be pissed at him. New city and new environment, and a practical dose of insomnia makes one’s mind numb. Good that he left seconds later.
“Ha ha, yeah. I'm Geetika Raghuram by the way!” she said with a pretty wide smile and extended her hand.
“Hi, so nice to meet you. I'm really sorry to wake you up like this. Honestly, I had no idea that you were going to stay back today, otherwise I would have taken a room somewhere else” I said shaking her hand. Her palm was a bit on the rougher side and she had a good grip, which either made her an athlete or a gymnast or both.
“Yeah, no, please come on in!” she said stepping back a foot, and opening the door completely. I took all my luggage and wobbled into the flat, as the watchman saluted us, gave me a grim look and walked away.
The first thing I could pick up once inside the flat, was a faint scent of a jasmine room freshener. Jasmine wasn't exactly my preferred choice of perfumes, and therefore I decided to mind my business and stop acting like a sniffer dog. After placing all my bags tidily at the nearest corner from the door, I turned to have a proper look at the flat. Geetika walked to the other end of the room, to bring along two white coloured plastic chairs. The drawing room was filled with wooden boxes, of pretty much every size, some sealed and some left open.
“I had to reopen some of the boxes, those which had the essentials and daily needs and stuff, otherwise my packing was almost over.. Please sit!” she said almost reading my mind and offering me a chair.
“Oh, stuff happens. The flight delays are a big issue this time of the year. Even my flight got delayed by three hours... "
“Not delay, actually! My booking got all messed up. I asked my friend to book me a ticket for yesterday, and that stupid fellow ended up booking it for tonight. And what's even worse is that he informed me about the mix-up only last night!"
“Yeah. Well, again, stuff happens. Anyway, I need to be going. I'll take a hotel room somewhere nearby and come back at, sometime tomorrow” I said standing up, though another five minutes in that chair and I would have easily dozed off.
“Well, there is a hotel nearby. Maybe you could try there. I'd really like to make it up to you by paying for the room and..." she said standing and folding her hands.
“Oh no no. Don't worry about that. But I do need one last favour from you. Could I use your wash-room, please? "
“Sure sure! Here let me show you the wash-room!" saying which she took me to a door on right, right after the hall ended.
The time on my fastrack watch, read 5:05 AM, and my day for all practical purposes, had only just begun.
"This total stranger is using my bathroom." - A fact which on any other day would have freaked me out but not that day. Because for the first time I was sure I had not left any lingerie hanging on the rod, having carefully packed them all up last night. With an unnecessary proud smirk for this efficiency, I picked up my phone to call up Sudheer. I had to confirm this guy's identity of course.
And my dear cousin picked my call up only after I had tried him for more than half a dozen times, maintaining thirty seconds of time between each one of them
"Hello! Sudheer!" I said, a little loudly to shake him up from his slumber.
"Aah....Geetika. What’s the matter? Tell me!”, he replied, stifling a yawn.
"Your friend is here" I said.
"Friend? Here? Where? Where are you?" Sudheer asked, sounding utterly confused. This dumbass! - I thought, but then immediately bit my tongue, as I realised that I hadn't told him about the flight mix-up.
"Sudheer. Actually, I am still here at the flat. My flight got delayed and it's rescheduled for tonight...”
"Oh! OK! Umm..." he sounded uncomfortable now. Brotherly shield syndrome kicking in, eh?
"Don't worry. I'll be leaving by 10 in the morning. I'll only come back later to take my luggage", I reassured him. Just then I heard the click of a door knob and the "friend" emerged all the while adjusting his watch.
"OK. I could come if you want me to. But it'll take time!” Sudheer offered. I observed his friend staring at my legs from the corner of my eye. He obviously couldn't make out our conversation which was in pure ancient Tamil, but I had a feeling he preferred it that way.
"It's OK. You don't have to come over. I'll manage" I replied. My legs, yeah....I know they are good and you aren't the first, my friend.
"Ok. But I'll come in the evening, definitely” Sudheer said.
"Yeah. Alright. I'll hang up then. You take care machi. Bye" I said observing that he still hadn't moved his gaze.
"You too. Bye." Sudheer said and hung up.
I locked the phone and turned to face the guy who couldn't stop staring at my legs…
Chai Bisket's Story Series - Double Ka Meetha (Part - 1)
