Truly Madly Deeply (13 page)

“Where?” I asked suddenly aware of the setting anxiety.

“Near the entrance,” she said, not turning back.

I looked at the entrance. There was not a single soul there, except for the hotel manager.

“There's no one there,” I said with a frown.

“He was there. He saw me,” she said in a shaky voice, eyes wide with fear.

“It's just your imagination. Happens all the while, if you keep thinking of what you dread then your mind...”

“Rahul please, don't you even trust me?”

Her voice was high, almost pleading.

“I've to go,” she said, getting up.

“Wait for a few minutes.” I didn't want her to leave.

“No, I've to get home before my uncle does. If he reaches past me then I'm sure, he'll blabber something in front of my mother,” she said in a worried tone.

“Relax, you're thinking too much,” I said.

“Rahul, I live in a joint family where nothing stays a secret for too long. Please learn about my life if you want to stay with me,” she pushed me back but not as hard as the tears in her eyes.

I was too stunned to react.

“And please keep this with you. I won't be able to take it. I wouldn't be able to explain...” she said, dropping the teddy on the table.

“It's ok, I understand,” I said. But... did I?

***

The next day, I didn't see her at school. It was unlike her to miss school. Once she had made it to school when her forehead was burning with fever. Of course, I had been cross with her then but she managed to win me over again. She always did.

I waited for her after school for about twenty minutes, hoping that she would show up at least for our ten minute meet. I need not have bothered.

And this continued for the next two days. There was no sign of Seema and I was not the only one missing her. There seemed to be something lacking in the ambience. I don't know but I expected to see her everytime I turned back to peek in her class. Something was seriously wrong and I needed to get to the bottom of it. My only option was to call up at her place, hoping that she would pick up. Jess and Sapna were the backup plan but I knew that she would blame me for confronting her friends with our relation. The phone was also a risky proposition but between the phone and the friends, I chose the former.

Hardly had I dialled her landline than someone picked up. It wasn't her. It might have been her aunty or her sister but I didn't speak. After relaxing my pulsating nerves, I tried again, praying to God to let her receive the phone.

This time it was worst. It was not God but her mom who answered my prayers, I mean, the phone. I banged the receiver before I could hear her screaming profanities.

It was a big mistake. I came to know about it the next day which was a weekly holiday for the school. Raj had dragged me to the playground in the evening alongwith other guys and after a decent game of cricket, we were returning home when I saw Jess on the opposite side of the road. She was with her little sister, as always in a hurry. I literally had to come in her way to keep her from
walking ahead.

“Hey, where are you headed to?” I asked.

“Going to the stationery store to get some notebooks for little Joylin,” Jess said.

“Any news about Seema? Haven't seen her in school lately?” I broached the topic as casually as I could.

She was silent for half a minute. I guess she was contemplating whether to tell me or not.

“Tell me,” I almost pleaded.

“I had called her this evening to check on her. First she told me she's unwell but I know her better than that. She said her uncle thinks he saw her with a guy at some restaurant and he went and spoke his doubts to her mother. Now, her mother has confined her
until she comes out with the truth, and to top it all, she's been receiving blank calls, making her mother strengthen her doubts,” Jess said worriedly.

I didn't know what to say. I can't even describe what I was feeling then. Guilty? Angry? No, they were not appropriate words. Fucked up? Perhaps, it describes our age best. I guess I was shocked at the way she was being treated, and in that shock, I lost my voice. I nodded at Jess meekly and turned around.

“Hey, what happened? When is the inter-house debate? When is the quiz?” she was shouting but I did not have the audacity to turn and show her my eyes.

***

Our school was not just an education temple; it was the centre of student development. We had four houses; Red, Green, Yellow and Blue. I was the head captain of the Blue and she was the assistant head girl of the school. Being junior to me, she was above me in hierarchy but I was above her in the sense that I was also the Science committee head and even the coordinator of the Student Council. Somehow, I could never fathom her hierarchical position above me and hence, I was more than disappointed when the head boy post had slipped past me into a traitor's hands. That traitor was in my house and his name was Jay. Jay Deshpande.

That's another story and though relevant, I won't bore you with its details. Anyways, our houses competed amongst each other for the House-Cup every year. Last year, it had been the Green House that had laid its hands on the trophy and so technically, they were the defending champs that year. We competed on numerous competitions and one such was the quiz competition which heralded the fight for the house-cup.

Kaun Banega Crorepati was entering its second season on Indian television and people around me could not contain their excitement. However, not many in the audience were aware that we had no options and lifelines. It made our job tougher.

She turned up for it as four members from each house took to the stage. I knew the sense of duty towards her house would always pull her back to school. The volunteers were busy setting up the buzzers when our eyes met. There was a sweet sound in my ears and it wasn't coming from the buzzers. I smiled at her and showed her my thumb, signalling luck. She smiled – the shine missing from her most potent weapon – and wished me back.

I had been too tensed for the past one week or so, due to her absence from school. My preparations for this quiz were limited to blankly staring at the pages of the yearbooks and asking Raj to randomly quiz me in the evening with the ten rupee packs of KBC cards.

Desmond sir, our Science teacher was the quiz master. He was a helpful man with dark skin and big spectacles that magnified his button-like eyes.

“So, dear teachers and students, we are now starting the inter-house quiz for this year and may I now have the introduction of the members ...” Desmond sir's jolly voice boomed in the auditorium.

Each one of us introduced ourselves. Jess, Nazia, Jay and I formed our team and Asif, Azra, Vinay and Seema occupied the green cubicle next to ours. Asif led themand I was the captain of our team. I don't even remember who was in Yellow and Red.

“We'll now start with the first round. Each house will be asked three questions in serial order. The question will be passed to the next team if your team fails to answer it within ten seconds. Five points for each correct answer. There are no negative points,” Desmond sir explained.

“First question for the Blue House... In which year did the Reserve Bank of India get nationalised?”

There was no need for the buzzer. Nazia made a face as if calling back something from her memory.

“1952,” I said, even before she could straighten her eyebrows.

“Correct.”

Applause broke through the silence of the hall.

“Next one for the yellow...”

“Incorrect.”

“Red...”

“Correct.”

“Green...Who was the only batsman to have an average of over ninety-nine in test cricket?”

“Sir Donald Bradman,” Asif answered correctly.

“Blue again... Mathematical and statistical analysis of economic issues is known as?”

“Econometrics,” Jay said, just as I was recollecting. He grinned at me showing his teeth.

After Red and Yellow, it was Green's turn again.

“What is the primary constituent of Gobar gas?”

“Propane,” Seema said.

It was our turn again.

“Which country celebrated Mozart's 250th birthday?”

I had read that somewhere and it just fired out as the clock was nearing ten seconds.

“Switzerland,” my voice boomed.

“Correct and with that your three questions are over.”

There was a huge applause. We had scored on all the three.

“Red... Which of the following rivers crosses the equator twice?”

I could tell by the look of their faces that none of them were aware of the answer. It passed to Yellow, whose members were also
stuck. I was praying that it would reach us, when Seema answered, “The Congo.”

“Correct,” I heard myself say and everyone turned to look at me.

“Oops,” I said.

“We move to the Yellow house ...this Indian author declined the Sahitya Akademi award for his work. Name him.”

Yellow's people looked at each other like strangers. The question passed to the Green and strangely, Seema too was not aware of it. Luckily, it came to us.

“Rohinton Mistry for his work, ‘Algebra of Infinite Justice.'”

Just when the applause was about to ring out again, I said, “He opposed the policies of the Government which the institute represents, hence he declined the award.”

The claps echoed throughout the hall and Jess patted me on the back. We were tied on the first place with Green in the first round and there were two more to go.

“We'll now start with the second round. Each team will have to select a ‘field' from the given options based on their expertise and they will be asked three questions from the same field. The questions don't get passed and there are no negative marks. Five points for each correct answer.”

I gathered myself. My battle instincts stirred, my senses lifting to the next level of acuity, I was doing what I was best at.

“First question for the Blue house after they have selected
their field....”

“We'll go with Literature,” I said, without consulting my team. Jay looked at me as if he would murder me and Nazia widened her eyes in shock. I was the captain of my house. My show of authority scared them. All the eyes on the stage were on me except hers. She knew I was capable of handling just about anything and any sane person avoided the literature section every year without fail.

“Fine then, Literature it is and here's your primer. This distinguished author wrote The Jungle Book and also won the Nobel Prize in Literature for his contributions. Name the author and the year in which he won the prize.”

“Is it Rudyard Kipling?” I almost asked back.

“Year?” Desmond sir needed more.

“1907,” I said. I did not need to hear the result for that.

After Yellow and Red had messed up their answers, Desmond sir came to Green and I sat upright in my seat. They went with ‘Geography'.

“What is the capital of Orissa?”

I saw Seema whispering something in Asif's ears and he in turn, thinking about it.

“It's Puri,” Jay said in a low murmur.

I sniggered, making everyone look at me again. Seema shook her head disdainfully.

‘Oh no, she thought I sniggered at their attempt,' I told myself.

“Bhubaneswar,” Seema answered.

They were going well and it was back to us.

“This esteemed author was banned after a particular work of his sparked rage in a minority community ...”

“Salman Rushdie,” I beamed.

“Mr. Kapoor, please listen to the question first,” Desmond sir softly rebuked me. Any other person would have flogged me for interruption. Jay grinned.

“...he won a prestigious award for one of his works in the year 1981. Name the work and the award.”

Desmond sir looked at me and nodded, giving me the go ahead to answer now.

“He won the ‘Man Booker' for Midnight's children,” I said in an abashed tone and Desmond sir nodded

“...and he was banned for Satanic Verses published in 1988,” I threw in as a bonus to the ignoramuses around me. Desmond sir smiled. He soon came to Green again.

“Where is the largest coral formation in the world?”

“The Great Barrier Reef in Australia,” Seema said after a moment of hesitation. I knew then, she hadn't been exactly baking cakes
at home.

“Last one for the Blue house. The person in the question was one of the shrewdest leaders of the Greek. He was also the son of Laertes and the protagonist of a great epic written by a 9th century poet. Name the person and the poet.”

I paused in trepidation. There were some doubts in my mind. Jay was trying to open his mouth but I snatched the mike away
from his hand. There were no negative marks, so I decided to take the plunge.

“Odyssey and Homer,” I said, going with my gut.

“Well, you're nearly correct. It was Odysseus, who was the protagonist and Odyssey is the work depicting his journey written by Homer but still I'll give it to you as it was a tough one.” Desmond sir had shown his generosity as always.

“Back to the Green,” he said, after two minutes. “Which are the Indian states with the least population density?”

“Arunachal Pradesh,” Asif said confidently in the mike.

“I said ‘states'...”

“...and Mizoram,” Seema finished.

I was very sure, she could even say the figures but she was not like me in that case. She would not show-off her knowledge. She never liked to be the centre of attention.

After the second round, we were still tied with the Green for the first place with thirty-five points in our kitty.

“This is going to be the final round of the inter-house quiz. So audience cross your fingers and participants place them on the red button in front of your cubicle. We are all set for the exciting buzzer round. There will be ten questions in all
and the house which rings the buzzer first, will have the first go at each question. Failure to answer will pass the question to the first team who rings the buzzer again and not to forget, there
will be a penalty of five marks for each wrong answer. Ten
marks for each correct answer!” Desmond sir explained the rules for the round.

Jay was almost trembling and Nazia had shut her eyes. The Green House folks were also in some sort of jeopardy. The only two calm people on stage were the two of us, Seema and I. Our eyes met again and I nodded. She had done well and I needed to acknowledge that. Competition was as much as respecting your opponent's work as introspecting your own.

Jay wanted to place his hand on the buzzer but I pushed his hand off. Nazia told me to allow them to speak as well.

“Look at his hands! They are trembling like an old man,” I pointed at Jay as he wiped his damp palms on his thighs. “My reflexes are good. The rest of you can quickly nudge me if you know the answer and I'll have a go.”

“Here's the first one. How many stock exchanges are there
in India?”

Jay pushed my hand on the buzzer with all his force. It rang out, shrill and high.

“Yes, the Blue house?”

“Two, the NSE and the BSE,” Jay said grinning at me.

“Incorrect.” Jay's grin vanished into pure embarrassment as I stared with fury at him.

“Do you even know...?” I was saying when someone from Red answered twenty-four.

I sighed and relaxed in my seat.

“Next question. When was the Life Insurance Corporation of India established?”

“1956,” Seema said as Green took a go.

“Next one. What is the full form of UNESCO?”

“Yes, Blue?”

“The United Nations Educational and Cultural Organisation,” I said, recalling each word from last year's Civics textbook.

The next two questions regarding the hormones of the Thyroid gland and the sacred text of Judaism were answered by the Red and Yellow house respectively.

“Who discovered ultrasound?”

My hand almost knocked out the buzzer.

“J.P. Merrill,” I laughed, slow and easy.

“The President of India can be removed by the procedure enshrined in which article of the Constitution of India?”

“Article 52,” I heard Seema say as soon as she had poked
the buzzer.

“Name the world's largest freshwater lake.”

“Yes, Green again!”

“Lake superior,” Seema said.

“Incorrect.” I could sense the disappointment on her face and eyeing her, I forgot to press the buzzer.

“Caspian Sea,” someone from Red roared.

“Here's another. The GATT was replaced by which international trade body…”

“Green, is it?”

“World Trade Organisation,” Asif said drawing in a deep breath.

“Fantastic,” Desmond sir beamed. “This brings us to our last question. All hands on the buzzer, ready? Tell me, the headquarters of the European Union.”

I had pressed the buzzer without even hearing the
question properly.

“Yes, blue?” Desmond sir turned towards us. I could sense disappointment on Asif's face. Seema strangely remained casual.