Truly Madly Deeply (15 page)

“Papa, I need a two-wheeler. It doesn't necessarily have to be a Karizma or a Pulsar,” I said, luckily finding my father alone in his bedroom just before dinner.

He did not look up from his worksheets but just grunted.

“When can I have it?” I asked impatiently.

He looked up slowly and surveyed me.

“Why do you need a bike for? School is at a two-minute distance from home, you don't go for tuitions ...”

“Papa, most of my friends have one.”

“Beta, never see people above you. Always look at people below you and thank god for the life he has given you.”

“Papa, please.”

I guess my mother heard our discussion from the kitchen because she was quickly by our side, her hands laden with flour that stuck to her fingers.

“Now all that was remaining was this, a bike! In no case, are you getting a two-wheeler, mind you, not even a cycle. My sister's husband's brother's nephew too demanded a motorcycle and came under the wheels of a truck. He was their only son and they still can't come to terms with it. What will we do if ...?”

“Shobha, shut up,” my father scolded.

He turned to me with understanding eyes.

“You still have a year left to enter junior college. I promise you if you top the school in your board exams, you'll have your bike.”

My father was like Seema in this case, once said, he won't reconsider. I knew then that I would be having a bike on my first day in junior college. Who would seriously consider beating me? But things were changing and changing very fast.

The next day I informed Raj what my father had told me.

“...but you need a bike now, Rahul,” Raj pointed out.

“I know but papa says...”

“Let papa say whatever he wants to. Listen, can you ride a
bike properly?”

“I guess so...”

“Good,” he nodded, before going inside his home once again. He came back and handed me the keys to his father's Kawasaki.

The next day as soon as school left, I shirked my supervisory duties to man the first floor as the students left and ran home. I put on a shiny maroon shirt on black trousers and sprayed ample cologne after putting on my aviators. Before long, I was back near the school gate, making the Kawasaki and people's hearts dance to my commands. I braked and halted right before the school gate, pushing the sunglasses on the top of my head.

“Wow, Rahul. New bike? Is it yours?” a girl from my class, immediately came running.

“Yeah, it's mine,” I nodded.

“When did you get this beauty?” another girl from a different division asked.

“Are you free this evening? Can we go somewhere?” a feminine voice to my left sounded.

Before long, I was almost mobbed by girls and had a few nail marks to show. I revved up the engine, keeping my feet on the ground. The loud sound seemed to silence their girly giggles. And then from the gap between their heads, I saw her standing alone, taking in the scene silently as usual. But she did not come ahead, even as girls behind her were running towards me. I had difficulty seeing her but two minutes later after I got a chance to breathe again, she was no longer there.

I zoomed off almost immediately on the way she took. I saw her walking alone, all traces of her usual quick bobbing gait disappearing. I circled around her in the middle of the road and applied the brakes inches from her feet.

“Hey can I drop you somewhere?” I asked, chewing gum sheepishly.

“No thanks, I'll manage,” she said and disappeared down the bend that reached her colony.

***

Alongwith the teacher's day that year, our school also kept cultural festivities for its students, which included the much touted rose-day where a rose king and rose queen would be declared. I had furtively booked one hundred and fifty red roses (her age multiplied by ten) in her name for the occasion. Throwing away a couple of thousand rupees for the joyous feeling of publicising my love, this was the ultimate opportunity of showing off, how could I miss it?

It had been no easy task for me. Lying to my parents about the fees for some workshop in school and then erasing my name from the recipient's list so that Seema would not feel jealous. Seema was surprised to see her name etched on the huge board near
the staircase.

“Surprise!” I screamed in her ears, after dragging her as soon as she stepped in the school compound where the board had been put up.

Her startled gaze clashed with mine.

I thought she would be happy. It is an honour amongst the school ladies to be the rose queen for that year. She freed herself from my hold and ran upstairs but the wishes started pouring in, not letting her have the silence she wanted.

“How many roses did Rahul book for you?” one girl from her
class asked.

“How many did you book for Rahul?” asked another.

I am sure she felt embarrassed as if people were raising a finger on her character. She wasn't there on the stage when the bouquet for the rose-queen was being handed out and I had to request Jessilda to go up on the stage and collect it for Seema.

I drew back my lips in a silent snarl and hit the backstage door with the back of my hand.

“Why, why doesn't she understand?” I said in a low voice, trembling with infuriation. I did not realise that she was asking the same question to herself.

***

I was popular as you would have made out by now and popular guys make as many enemies as they make friends. Most of the animosity was one-sided with stupid guys from my class and hers and the area, who seemed to think that they were Seema's prospective grooms and I, the evil villain. These idiots would plant something or the other in such a way that it would reach Seema's ears.

Occasionally, Seema heard some people talking about me. Something along the lines of my saying that it was due to me that she was such a noticeable figure today. I guess she wanted to clarify it with me but someone else would come to her with another such tale and I am sure she would feel a twinge of distress torment her heart. Some said that I was a Casanova who played with girls and ultimately discarded them from his life. I guess she kept silent because she did not want to pick up another tiff with me as lately we had been having arguments almost everyday.

The turning point came when Raheem, one of the most ill-famed guys of the school – thrown out of school after he failed for three consecutive years in the seventh grade – called up Seema's place using my dignified name and poured his feelings to her mother whom he thought to be Seema. It was no secret that Raheem was on the long list of Seema's admirers, even before I had stepped in the frame. The result of this jealousy was that Seema's mom caught hold of me head on, near the school gate, the next day as soon as the school left.

“You swine, how dare you call up and disturb the peace of our home?” Seema's mother was an inch taller than her and was quiet a strong woman. Having her hands wrapped around my collar, didn't exactly make me feel glorious.

“What...What have I done?” I gasped for air as a crowd started to gather around us.

“What have you done? Why, you bastard, didn't you call up Seema yesterday and tell her all the nasty things you would do to her if she didn't agree to your advances? Let me take the trouble of informing you that it was me, whom you spoke to and not Seema...”

“B... but aunty, why would I do such a thing? I'm not that kind...”

“Oh shut up, you fool. I know your kinds – born on the pavements, dreaming of the castles.”

“Aunty!”

“I'll slap you behind your ear. Wait till I visit the Principal tomorrow. I'm sure he'll suspend you once and for all ...”

“Enough is enough, madam! I've heard all that you wanted
to say...”

“You cheap...”

“SHUT UP! Keep your precious princess to yourself,” I screamed and walked on, a hard day's beatings behind my back.

I could just about make out the tears in her eyes and hear her gasp of her shock. My stature could not handle the embarrassment caused in front of the gathered crowd. What I did not know was that Seema herself was not aware of her mother's prospective action. She only came to know about it when she stepped out of the school herself on that fateful day and saw her mother waiting for my arrival. Seema, till then, wasn't even aware of the bloody phone call. All her efforts to reason it out with her mom had been ignored. I came to know about it too late, long after the next day when I had explained the matter to Dorothy ma'am. I guess Seema somehow handled the matter at home because her mother never showed up in school and Dorothy ma'am told me that I worry too much.

I know it was like a dual blow for her, mothers are all right when they act this protective and refuse to reason with their daughters over their guy friends, but me?

She tried talking to me in spite of all the minor tiffs we had had in the recent past and in spite of the rude manner in which I had spoken to her mother. She came to apologise, even sent over Jess as a mediator. It was the most I could expect from her – involving someone. I ignored all her attempts and just walked off whenever I saw her approaching. My anger had little to do with her. It was more because of my bruised ego. I could not swallow the public humiliation and the beating my image took that day. I was tired of rebuffing questions that had Seema's mother slapping me hard across the cheeks.

Later on I had bragged in front of Seema's friends as to what I would have done to Seema's mother if she would have even taken a step towards defaming him. My father's political connections were well-known in the area and no doubt the news reached Seema later. But it made no difference to me!

“Ignore girls. The more you ignore them, the more desperate they get to be with you,” Raj suggested one evening and I nodded as he threw away evidence after evidence from popular movies we had seen together for hours in our summer vacations.

“I want to hurt her as much as she has hurt me,” I said.

I did not even spare a glance at Seema, even when she came to ask what the matter was. I avoided her even when we went at exhibitions or to participate in inter-school competitions and Seema had no clue about the reason for my childish behaviour. But she kept trying in her own subtle ways which were not enough to get me talking to her again. Raj had told me to ignore girls but he hadn't told me where to draw the line. I didn't know that there was a thin line between ignorance and arrogance. I guess if she had asked me for a full day's date, I would have happily forgotten everything, but I was irritated by the prospect of seeing her for ten minutes after school and her adamant nature. Little did I realise how much I would
miss those ten minutes, those ten minutes in which I lived my entire life!

***

During one of those days, I deliberately accompanied Seema, Jess and Sapna to an inter-school essay contest that was to be held at a popular school in town. The contest was not for the tenth grade
but I went and told the Principal that I wanted to accompany the ninth grade students for this contest as their mentor from the student council.

“Seema's also going, is it?” I had failed to notice Dorothy ma'am behind the racks of book in the Princi's cabin.

“Huh... I... I...” I stammered. The Princi just laughed at my predicament. A little shocked after seeing that, I came to school the next day as the sole guy in a group of four students. I insisted on travelling with them so that I could not miss a single opportunity to ridicule her and embarrass her further. Unfortunately, I could not accompany them in the ladies compartment of the train.

The place was quite far from the station and we had to walk for almost forty minutes before we saw their signboard.

The competition was delayed and we had to wait for a long time. Seema had lost all heart in trying to make me see her side of the story. Seema got up twice to make a call to her family regarding her whereabouts from the PCO outside. I found it irritating. She was not a child anymore to keep updating her over possessive mother about all the events in her life. I was getting angry for trivial
reasons, even when Seema kept eyeing her watch and whispering in Jess' ear.

As everyone started complaining, I, being their mentor, took the decision of abandoning the competition. Jess was reluctant to move out and Sapna was not confident about what we would say at school. I told her to leave that matter to me and relax. After two hours of waiting, everyone was tired and we had no energy to
walk for another two miles for the solitary bus that would take them near school.

We had a quick snack at a nearby McDonalds. I could sense Seema eyeing me when I suggested that place. She might have wondered if I still remembered the importance of our first date. I went to place the order after taking the per head contribution from everyone present there. I realised I had forgotten my wallet at home, a result of the late breakfast my mom served me and the hurry I had to indulge in afterwards. Anyways, luckily I found some loose notes in my pant pocket and cleared my part of the bill.

“Rahul, please take a cab,” Jess requested.