Half Girlfriend (20 page)

I switched to English. The English I knew at that time, that is.

‘I am...very...thankful...for your making the list...for learning the

English,’ I said.

‘Thank you for making this list of steps to learn English,’ Riya said.

She spoke in a calm voice, without sarcasm or judgement.

‘Yes, same thing only.’

‘So instead of “same thing only”, say “I meant the same”,’ Riya

said. ‘I will correct you sometimes. It is not that I don’t understand

you. I just want to make sure you say it right.’

‘Thanks,’ I said.

‘Now that one word was correct.’

I laughed.

She made me talk to the waiter in English. I did fine, since the

waiter’s English was worse than mine. She didn’t correct me when the

waiter was around anyway.

‘And sweet.. .later,’ I said as he left us.

‘We will order the sweet dish later,’ Riya said, ‘or, dessert instead

of sweet dish.’

‘Desert? Like Rajasthan desert?’ I said.

‘D.E.S.S.E.R.T. Different word, same sound.’

‘I hate that about English. Hindi doesn’t have that problem.’

‘Hindi is incredible. We speak it like we write it. There’s no need to

learn pronunciation separately,’ Riya said.

‘So why doesn’t everyone speak Hindi?’ I said.

‘Because we are not...’ Riya said and paused.‘Oh my God, you

asked that question correctly.’

‘What?’

‘You said, “So why doesn’t everyone speak Hindi?” in perfect

English. When you say something without being self-conscious, you

say it correctly.’

I tried to look modest.

‘We will get there, Madhav,’ she said. She patted the back of my

hand on the table.

I wondered if we would ever get there as a couple.

Don’t fall in love with her again
, a voice within me warned
You
never fell out of love with her
, another voice countered with an evil laugh.

*

‘Dolphins? In Patna?’ Riya said.

‘Yes, there are river dolphins in the Ganga. If you’re lucky, you

might spot them,’ I said.

I had brought Riya to the Ganga ghat near Patna College oft Ashok

Rajpath on a Sunday evening. For twenty rupees a head, boatmen took

you to the sandy beach on the opposite bank. She held my hand to

keep her balance as we tiptoed on the wooden plank towards the boat.

She slipped a little and clasped my hand tighter. I wished the shaky

wooden plank would never end.

We sat in the boat. The diesel engine purred into action, making

conversation impossible. The sun had started to set. It turned the sky,

the river and Riya’s face the colour of fire.

On the other side, we stepped on to the sand and walked to the tea

stalls. We sat inside one of the many gazebo-styled bamboo huts meant

for tea-stall customers.

‘It’s beautiful,’ Riya breathed.

‘All we have for peace in this city,’ I said.

We sat in silence and watched the ripples of water, my hand inches

from hers. I wondered if she would be okay if I held it. She had held

mine on the plank, after all. But I guess it was okay on the plank,

because she needed to hold it. Now, it would mean something else. At

least, that is how girls think. Still, I decided to try my luck. I inched my hand playfully towards hers. She sensed it, and moved her hand

away.

How do girls do this? Do they have antennae, like insects do? Or

are they thinking of the same thing themselves? How else are they able

to react so well so fast?

‘You’ve started working on the speech?’ Riya said, shaking me

trom my thoughts.

‘Sort of,’ I said.

I took out sheets of paper from my pocket. I had scribbled notes in

Hindi on the key points I needed to address. I handed them to her.

‘The school needs toilets, chairs,blackboards...’ she read out. She

turned to me. ‘Madhav, you need to do more.This is just a list of things

you want.’

'I'm still working on it.’

‘He is Bill Gates. People ask him for things wherever he goes. The

idea is to not ask for anything and yet earn a grant.’

‘Not ask?’

‘Yes. Never ask. It comes across as needy.’

I looked at her.
Did she leave me because of the same reason?
‘I do that sometimes. I come across as needy,’ I said in a small voice.

She understood my context. She didn’t admit it, of course. She

simply paused before she spoke again. ‘These goras are different. You

have to come across as happy and confident. Not desperate.’

‘Read the rest. I talk about other things, how the school was

created and more.’

She patted my shoulder.

‘You are doing fine. Don’t worry. We will do this together. I’ve

lived in London and met many Americans there. I know how these

goras think.’

‘How was London?’ I said, barely able to make out her features in

the dying light.

In classic Riya style, she stayed silent.

‘It’s okay. I won’t ask again. Should we go back?’

She nodded. We reached the pier. The plank to the boat felt even

more precarious in the darkness. She held my arm again. I don’t know

if I imagined it, but it felt tighter than earlier. She seemed a litde more vulnerable. She came across as a little more, if I dare say the word she

hated, needy.

We sat as far away as possible from the other passengers and the

noisy diesel engine.

‘London was nice in parts,’ she said.

I wanted to ask which parts were nice and which parts weren’t, but

I didn’t. The more you ask, the more she clams up, I thought. I looked

at her. She smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. I could read her every expression, even in the darkness.

‘Would you like to hold my hand?’ I said.

‘Why?’ she said.

‘The boat is moving,’ I said. Lame answer. But how else does one

answer such a stupid question?

‘So?’

‘Nothing,’ I said and looked ahead.The whirr of the engine filled

the awkward silence. Halfway through our journey, temple bells began

to ring in the distance. I felt something near my hand. She placed her

fingers on top of mine. I guess men have an antenna about these

things, too.

I didn’t turn towards her. I knew her. If I made eye contact now,

she would withdraw.

‘I am happier here than in London,’ she said. I hadn’t asked her to

compare the two places.

‘When are you coming home?’ I said, still looking ahead but

choosing my words with care, afraid she would withdraw.

‘Soon. Let me move into mine first,’ she said.

‘I’m staying back tomorrow, to help you move in.’

‘You don’t have to. I hardly have any luggage.’

‘Exactly. You need to buy things. The shopkeepers will rip you off.

I’ll come with you, okay?’

‘Thanks,’ she said. I guess that meant yes.

We reached the ghats. I clasped her hand and held it until we got

off the plank on to firm ground.The old me would have asked her if

holding hands meant something. But the old me had screwed up big

time in the past. So I decided to ‘play it cool’.

We took an auto back from the ghats. I talked about the furniture

market near Nala Road, places to buy mattresses and the cheapest

vegetable markets. Of course, these stupid topics meant nothing

compared to the monumental development of her sliding two fingers

on top of mine.

We reached her hotel. She stepped off the auto.

‘Eleven tomorrow?’ I said.

‘Yes, thank you so much. And I loved the river-ride today.’

‘Which part?’ I asked and kicked myself mentally. Did I come

gums as fishing? Did it set off the ‘desperate’ alarm?

‘Everything,’ she said.

Miss Diplomatic Somani is not that easy a nut to crack, after all.

26

'I am officially, completely, exhausted,’ Riya said. She wore a pink

kurti and dark blue tights. Her face had turned pink to match her kurti.

She plonked herself on the four mattresses we had dragged into

her apartment.

‘Remove the plastic covers at least,’ I said.

She ignored me. She lay down on the mattresses and did side leg

twists like we used to do on court.

‘Cut the drama,’ I said.

‘Do we have to do everything today?’ she said.

We had made four trips to the market, one each to buy groceries,

electrical appliances, utensils and mattresses.

‘Why do you need four mattresses?’ I had asked her in the shop.

Two for the bedrooms, and two will become a diwan in the living

room. I don’t have a sofa.’

‘Let’s get a sofa,’ I had said. She refused. She wanted a 'casual-

chic’ look. I guess it means not rich-looking but still classy.

‘Get up,' I said and pulled her up by her hand.

Thanks,’ she said. 'Thanks for everything today.’

‘Mention not,’ I said.

‘Please don’t mention it,’ she said.

‘What?’

‘Sorry, correcting you.’

I laughed.

‘I thought we only learnt English on weekends?’ I said.

‘No, sir. We practise it all the time,’ she said.

I looked at my watch. ‘It’s nine. I better leave.’

‘What about dinner?’

‘I’ll get something from outside,’ I said in slow but correct English.

‘Why? We have stocked up. We have a hot plate. Would you like

some Maggi?’ she said.

It took us a while to unpack and set up everything. She

inaugurated her hot plate and utensils. An hour later, we ate Maggi

noodles in new stainless steel bowls from which the stickers wouldn't

come off.

I slurped the noodles from my spoon. At one point, she removed a

noodle from my chin. I wanted to spill noodles all over my face.

We finished dinner and cleaned up the kitchen.

At ten, I decided to leave.

‘You will get an auto?’ she said.

‘I can walk to the bus stand,’ I said.‘There is a bus to Dumraon at

eleven.’

‘Maybe I’ll come with you next week. Let me settle in.’

‘You’ll be okay alone?’ I said.

‘Yeah,’ she said, her voice heavy, or perhaps just tired.

‘Sure' I said.

‘I look forward to being alone, Madhav,’ she said.

*

‘You sure your mother will be okay with me staying over?’

‘Of course. It’s a long way to go back the same day,’ I said.

We were riding in her company’s Innova, which made the journey

a lot faster than the bus I usually took. The roads of Bihar are, well,

for the adventurous, to say the least.

‘Ouch,’ Riya said as her head bumped against the car roof.

‘That bump is a sign we are close,’ I said.

*

I showed Riya the guestroom.

‘These rooms are massive.You really are a prince.’

‘Everything is falling apart,’ I said.

I took her to my room. She noticed the basketball posters on my

wall. I sat on my bed, she took the chair opposite me. It reminded me

of us in Rudra, years ago.

‘You still play?’ she said.

I shook my head.

‘Me neither,’ she said.

‘Want to? This evening?’

‘Work first. You have to watch
The Godfather
on my laptop.’

‘I did,’ I said.

‘You saw the first part. Now see part two with subtitles.’

I made a face, which didn’t impress her much. She wore a fitted

white T-shirt and black tights. Although fully covered, the snug outfit

highlighted her curves. I couldn’t believe Riya was in my room in

Dumraon.

I wanted to kiss her. I thought about how mind-blowing that

would be after so many years.

‘What are you thinking? Like, now?’ She snapped her fingers.

Her question made me freeze.

‘Huh? Nothing. Lunch. Should we have lunch?’

‘Did you think of that in English or Hindi?’

I tried to remember. Well, I had not thought about lunch at all. I

had thought about kissing her. And you don’t think that in any

particular language.

‘See, Madhav, the so-called fluent English speakers, they think in

English. Not all the time, but a fair amount. Like, when you make a

decision in your head, do you make it in English or Hindi?’

‘Hindi, of course,' I said.

‘That’s the issue here, If you want to speak English well, it has to

start in the head.’

She knocked the side of my head.The contact made me feel a bit

drunk. I guess guys are born with this defect. Once they like a girl,

even an accidental touch can he intoxicating.

‘I’m trying,’I said.

’Good.You have Internet here?’

I shook my head.

‘I wanted to show you some speeches,’ she said.

’There is a cyber cafe nearby,’

’Let’s go, I will get to see Dumraon,’

*

There isn’t much to see in Dumraon. Yet, she found everything

exotic.

‘Sueh cute roads,’ she said, as we walked along the narrow

chicken-neck path outside my house.

‘You should see them in the monsoon. Not so cute then,’ I said.

We came to the Shakti Cyber Cafe. A bunch of local guys sat

before dusty computers.They pretended to look at news websites, even

though they were probably downloading porn from other open tabs.

‘Steve Jobs’s “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish”,’ she said as she opened

YouTube.

Hungry for you, foolish for you
, I thought.

‘Oh,’ I said.

‘What?’ she said as the video took time to load.

‘I thought of something in English.’

‘Excellent. What?’

I quickly shook my head and watched the video.

‘You want subtitles?’ Riya said. It was magical how she could sense