Recap: Episode-1, Episode-2, Episode-3, Episode – 4, Episode – 5, Episode – 6, Episode - 7, Episode - 8
1700 To 1800 Hours:
The Ex's call came as we passed Taj Banjara, on our way to Charminar. Geetika and I had walked out of the mall some ten minutes ago, and called Yusuf Bhai to pick us up. After we got into the cab, Geetika just fell silent, staring out of the window, seeming clearly detached from everything around her. The sun was in its last lap, and the skies were beginning to vaguely the show the orangish hues. My first day in the city, wasn't complete and yet somehow I felt like I could live here for rest of my life. And with her somehow it all felt like a dream. We were hitting it off, and yet we both were happily being pretentious. My point was that she was someone who wasn’t just laughing at my jokes. She was someone I knew I could be silent with. And at any point, could pick up, where I left. She was slowly filling up with hope, that I could confront my demons and didn’t have to funny faces to get away. I could stand there. She wasn’t doing anything extraordinary! But it definitely seemed like a whole lot more than that.
And then I had the call. Was I supposed to receive that call? Did I know any different? Could anything that was already done be magically undone? I took out my mobile, activated the data connection, and typed the message and pressed send. “Traffic will be at it's peak in the next few minutes on this road ", Geetika said from the back seat, speaking for the first time in the last twenty minutes. I'd thought that she might have fallen asleep or something, but again I knew that she wouldn't have. She, after all, did want to take us to some place, which was in her own words 'special' near Charminar.
“I guess Charminar will be the last thing we do, before coming back. It would be really great if you could come to Vikky's place” I said.
“Vikky is cool and all, but I don't know! I mean I have still got a plane to catch, and you know stuff and all...” Geetika said politely trying to figure out a way to decline the invite.
“Well Cool. No issues...” I said putting her out of her misery. Sort of.
“What?”
“What what?” I said.
“Nothing. Nothing” she said and got back to staring out of the window. I returned to observing people and the traffic in front of me. And then I got a text message from the number that was hell bent on bugging me for eternity. And every single time it directly or indirectly meant the same thing.
Why are you not talking to me? And with that stupid text she had caught me in the most vindictive mood. That was what I was waiting for, and now in this very moment, she would be served.
"Because I don't think I have to” I replied to the last received message. And waited for the next two minutes, contemplating the whole scenario that was bound to happen hence forth, and thankfully I was already synthesizing the most brilliant comebacks ever.
You don't mean that! I know All right! So stop acting like a child and pickup my call! So the next text appeared.
Do you also happen to know that Sodium Bicarbonate was found in crater residues of the coast off Costa Rica? Acting? Who is?
What the hell are you saying? Are you drunk huh?
How could you say that? That's ridiculous!!
Please don't make this hard! You know why I needed to be with him!
Hmm... Lemme guess... To have Kids and probably propagate your progeny to all parts of the world!
Let's be serious about this, ok? Please I don't want this to spiral into a verbal duel for no reason!
That awesome moment when you realize that I do happen to have one! And I need to take a piss too!!
So you will not be mature about this? Look I was hoping to tell you about it, and I definitely didn't want you to know about the whole thing in the way that you did. I'm sorry, all right!
This is news. Did I not receive the memo? My bad that I walked upon you two. Hope I didn't disturb the "Job" at hand. The guy definitely looked like he was about to, you know, "Arrive"!!
Shut up! Don't be such a dick! You knew what we were going through!
How would I know? And We? I was going through something which looked like shit and you were probably going through the childbirth magazine!
You know what! You are just making it easy for me. I thought I owed you an explanation, but I guess you don't deserve any.
You owe me nothing! Don't you worry about anything! Explanation is for those who don't have the visual confirmation.
Fuck You!!
Anytime, love! Your place or mine? Or the cab? You shouldn't be having a problem with that now, right!!
That did seem to hit her hard, as for the next few seconds, though I could see that something was being typed on the other side, she wasn't sending it. I hopefully prayed that this would provide a much needed end to the shitty conversation I was having with her. But then that was not to be, as I did receive her message a minute later...
I'll call you up tomorrow! Let's talk about this! Can't leave it hanging! Bye, have fun!!
And I turned off my data connection and placed my mobile on the dashboard. Geetika, as I looked back, was again lost in her own world, only occasionally speaking to me. I could see that we had entered a much denser part of the city. The road dividers and the traffic lights appeared few and far between. And the general public occupancy per square meter was slowly increasing. Hawkers and small shops became more apparent and also the number of animals strolling merrily on the road, spiked up.
“Ten minutes more and we should be at Charminar” Geetika finally after returning to planet earth, spoke.
“Oh that's cool. I did feel that we were getting close. Are you cool?” I said trying to be courteous.
“Yeah! I'm good. Just something with my Ex, you know ", she said rubbing her forehead.
“Well, if it makes you feel better, I'm in the middle of this break up thingy myself right now, so yeah, WTF to that right?” I said trying to smile about the whole thing. Which somehow feels easier to do when the audience you have are going through the same thing.
“Ha-ha! Well yeah. But it's not the same I guess ", she said, as she checked out her wallet for something.
“With all due respect! I sincerely hope not ", I said indirectly trying to get her to divulge the details.
“Oh yeah! That's cool. You should probably write about it then” She said, obviously too smart to fall for the challenge, “ Anyway, I wanted to ask you this, Which site does the incognito window arrive at!” she continued placing her hand on the headrest of my seat.
“Oho! Well. Now then… let's see... KattyBlondes mostly and if I'm in the mood for some Asian stuff, I guess I'd go with StraightAs.com! "
“Never heard of that. Must be new. I prefer GrazingDeer, which has the best.... "
“Amateur teen, yeah. Stumbled upon it once. Especially the role playing of, what's her name...? "
“Barbara? Barbara Jackson? "
“Naa re. The one with the long plait and tattoo on the shoulder. The Arabic one...”
“Yasmin Rose... Oh yes. Love her. She's a natural no?” Geetika said excitedly.
“Totally! You should see her when she shows off her sheer athleticism and flexibility in taking off her pan.... "
“Yeah and also when she beats the bouncers and punishes them with...”
“Magical Stuff, yeah!” I said, as I saw her putting up her hand again. And I clapped it.
“Seriously though, man. You should write something Romantic or Comedy or Both. Will make you a star overnight”
“Yeah that's what I want to be. Actually, I don't know, boss. Maybe I can't do it. I don't have it in me”
“Well then take it up, as some kind of a challenge. To know your limits, sort of. You can do that, trust me! "
“Cool. I'll try that. You'll buy my book then? "
“Depends on many things, Dude. I rarely find any time to sit down with a novel, but yeah I'll try to. Sure thing”
“Which brings me to my next question. What's your story Geetika?"
“Do I have to? I mean there's nothing interesting going on in there!” she said coyly
“It’s confession night, my friend. We aren't going to meet again Geetika. This is your free hit. The day, I mean the next, like 4 hours and 10 minutes are entirely ours. After that we may never get to hang out again and... "
“Ohk, well, let's see. Dad's a lecturer in Madurai. Mom's a home maker. Got an elder brother who is in Kansas City right now. He's an engineer there in Siemens. So yeah that's about it, You already know I'm a chef. I've worked at BlueFox,.... which was my first job after getting my degree. Thereafter I worked in the Park Hotel, and finally the Taj, which I left a couple of days back” she said winding it up.
“Oh that's cool. You are leaving for the US sometime this week right? Sudheer mentioned something like that. So what's the deal? "
“Yeah this week. California. To become an expert in Continental and Chinese cuisine. I want to settle down in the US, you know. Open my own joint or something” she said proudly presenting to me her whole five year plan.
“So you are going to Chennai tonight?”
“No re. I'm flying to Delhi tonight. I'm gonna stay there for maybe a day. Then I'll come back to Chennai, and a couple of days later, I'll leave for California”
“Lufthansa?” I said out of curiosity
“Virgin up to Amsterdam. Then Lufthansa I guess” she replied taking out a hanky from her back pocket and wiping her forehead.
“So that's the formal introduction to your life. Let's get something for the biography and the eventual biopic, now shall we " I said being persistent to the extent of being pesky
“I’m hardly any Biography material. Stay in the city for a year and you'll meet many worthy of your story telling talents. Not me”
“Oh you definitely are. Let's assume that it's some sort of research for my next novel, preferably a romantic comedy ", I said again trying to make her confess her actual story, which I somehow felt was going to be incredibly interesting.
“Boy! I can see why Vikky said that you were twins. You are a motor mouth too”
“I’m just curious boss. What does that beautiful face have to hide?”
“Don’t flirt with me. Not gonna work. And there's nothing behind. Sorry to disappoint” she said turning to the window, to look where we were.
“Oh, you've got nowhere to run. We have time and I'm gonna pester you till you answer me”
“We’ll see about that. Mind turning your head once! "
And I did and immediately saw what she meant. Right in front of us just a few hundred meters away majestically stood, the structure that has always and will continue to define the very fabric of destiny upon which this city was built. We had in front of us the crown jewel of the Nizam’s, eccentric yet mysterious 400 year old legacy, called Charminar!!
1800 to 1830 Hours:
"Sir, aage parking nahin milega, yahi kar detu main!" Yusuf said as he adeptly drove the cab through the whole evening rush, trying their best to make a quick sale to anyone who, accidentally or otherwise, slid into their proximity.
“Haan kardo. Hum phir yahi mile aapko?” I asked Yusuf Bhai, as I picked up my mobile from the dashboard and pocketed it. He nodded, as Geetika and I got down the cab.
“Quick! Let's go up before they close it for the tourists ", she said pointing at Charminar and pacing towards it.
“When do they close it?” I said walking swiftly behind her, and trying my best not to crash into the oncoming horde of women. I crouched, slid, shuffled, and practically did a snake dance to maintain my swag at that extreme pace, without smashing into a group of burqa clad women shopping for bangles and lockets at a pushcart.
“In about 15 minutes, so make it fast, Dude!” she said almost breaking into a jog. I was however not going to do that, until it was absolutely necessary. I was a few inches taller than Geetika, and therefore decided to put my height to advantage by taking longer strides and practically racing her to the destination. We arrived at the convergence of four lanes, at the centre of which Charminar was built. A queue appeared at the entrance at the base of the North minaret. We took our places at the last, and waited for our turn to come. Bought the tickets and took the 'Entry' stairs from an opening at the foot of Eastern minaret.
As the citadels were built tall, in order to keep a watchful eye over the proceedings in the market on all the four roads perpendicular to the structure, they had to have tall and pretty steep stairs leading up to the top. Normally climbing them wouldn't have been a problem, if not for the tired legs that were on the move for the past two days. However, I observed Geetika too find it difficult to climb atop. The stairs were built in a spiralling snaking fashion, with the occasional platforms in between.
After two minutes we reached the top most Corridor of the monument. We walked through the corridor, which was elegantly designed with the intricate Arabic designs, while emphasizing more on floral imprints carved on the stone walls. Geetika and I leaned on the railing, which faced the bustling market on the northern side, adjacent to the Mecca Masjid, one of the most revered Mosques built in India. Frenzied action ensued at the Masjid, as it was being decorated with long greenish drapes, in readiness for the auspicious occasion of Ramadan, which wasn't very far away, I remembered.
“You know, sometimes I feel lost for words when I have to describe something beautiful!” I confessed to Geetika, who seemed to be observing something in the market, with rapt attention
“I get that. Something’s are just meant to be felt, by just keeping silent, getting lost!” she said still stuck with her stare.
“Exactly. But even if I did want to do, I think I am very limited on my language skills, you know. You've observed that, right?” I said, turning to face the timeworn wall behind us which, as was expected with the highly expressive population that we were, was decorated with pen, sketch and marker made slogans declaring Eternal Love, of hundreds of couples.
“Sort of, yeah. But that's a given right? I mean, I've seen people who write brilliantly, falter when they have to converse verbally and vice versa!” Geetika said as the evening wind gusted through her hair.
“True that!” I said, stepping aside and giving way to a couple of couples who were lost in love and in each other.
“Expected actually!” she said, as a guy selling cones of roasted peanuts came up to us. I was about to buy them, but then I saw Geetika giving me a disapproving look, which eventually made me let go of him.
“I wonder what's the story behind.... "
“Doesn’t this feel great...? I'm sorry what?” she said realizing that she had cut into my musings
“It does feel great. I wanted to ask you something..... Aahh, I forgot. It was there and the thought just kinda vanished!” I said trying to remember what that thought was. I tried to reconstruct the whole scenario that led up to the thought, in vain. I would remember it at a later point of time and there was no use scouting for it now.
Geetika for some reason burst into laughter, holding on to the railing . I stood there, trying to comprehend where exactly was I being funny.
“Come let's take a selfie!” she said regaining her composure and walking to the next corridor, which presented a different road and a different view, but no less beautiful than the previous one.
“Selfie? Are you sure?” I said walking behind her.
"Yeah! I couldn't take it there, the setting sun would fall on the lenses, this... Is perfect!” she said, as she stopped again at a railing and took out her phone. At this point of time, I have to confess that, there are three things in my life, which I mess up big time... One - Making an Omelette, Two - Drawing up a Balance Sheet, and Three - Posing for a photograph in any form.
“So you are sure about this?” I said walking to her side, and standing beside her, getting ready to face my deepest fear.
“Don’t make a big deal out of it! Come on!” she said and opened her camera app, raised her hand and started focusing the both of us. She tried hard to fit me into the focus frame, as I was standing a couple of feet apart from her.
“Come close, no!” she said, and pulled me closer to her, by placing her free hand over my shoulder. Once we were done, she turned to me and asked me a question which I was asked a million times before.
“Why are so serious in the picture? You just had to smile! That's all!” she said placing her mobile in her pocket.
“I frankly don't know! It's just something! It's my Chocolate slash Coffee, I guess!” I said slanting to my right to see, the mischievous kids at a distance, laughing merrily about something they found on the floor.
“Fair enough! Well played! ", she smiled and got back to her pondering.
“There’s one thing though. If you are planning to upload these pictures to Facebook, please don't tag me! That would effectively render me single for the rest of my life, if you know what I mean!"
“Hahaha! No, don’t worry about it. I'm not on Facebook. Never used it and never will! ", she said with a discerning shaolin monk-ish type of detachment, which started to overwhelm me.
Our musings were interrupted by a portly looking guard, who politely asked us to leave, as the monument had to be closed for visitors in another few minutes. We stood gazing at the bazaar which was slowly coming alive with tube lights and incandescent bulbs, which made the roads leading up to it, seem speckled with shining orbs. Interestingly neither one of us found it prudent enough to take some pictures of the bazaar in our mobile phones. We decided that we had seen enough and took the stairs leading down, at the corner of the Western minaret. The day sure was ending and my time with her too….
Chai Bisket’s Story Series – Double Ka Meetha (Part – 9)
