Chapter 12
R achanna stepped out of the lift and hesitated. She glanced down the corridor leading to Anirudh’s house. She stood still as the lift door closed behind her. She felt indecisive enough to bite her nails as she ruminated over what she wanted to do.
She took a few tentative steps towards his house. Halfway, she shook her head and returned. She proceeded back to the lift and called for it. As she waited for the lift to come, she glanced yet again at Anirudh’s house. The lift door opened. Rachanna stood at the threshold, throwing confused glances in both directions.
When she finally made a decision, purpose filled her footsteps as she took large strides towards Anirudh’s house. At the door, however, her hand hovered over the calling bell.
No! Turn away! It is not too late. Don’t do this!
She hesitated. She withdrew her hand, returned in the direction of the lift. Halfway there, she continued to deliberate.
I am not doing anything. I just want to talk to him. I am going to have a conversation with him, like an adult. There is nothing wrong in being friends with him. Swarna Aunty wanted me to talk to him. Bhanu also thought it was a good idea. Of course, there is nothing wrong in just having a conversation, is there?
She turned and walked towards his house. And again, hesitated at the door. She gritted her teeth, extremely angry with herself.
Take a goddamn decision!
She stamped her foot in anger. Then, she turned and started to walk away.
There! Decision taken! Happy?
“Rachanna!”
Rachanna’s heart stood still. She slowly turned around and saw Anirudh, standing at his doorstep, beckoning her with his finger. Irritated by his gesture, she glared at him as she walked towards him.
“Yes?” She asked.
“Why are you dancing in the hallway?”
Rachanna gasped. “I am not dancing!”
“I saw you. I have a camera,” he explained as he showed her the camera placed over his door. “I was waiting for a delivery and I saw you dancing here.”
“I was not dancing!” Rachanna shot back.
“Come in. I am about to make tea.”
She glared at him and yet followed him.
“Do you have any coffee?” She asked as she stepped inside.
“No. I am making tea and you will drink it!” He replied as he closed the door behind her.
She scoffed. “My God! Are you always like this? You have to do this! You have to eat this! You have to drink this! Is that how you behave with everyone?”
“No. Just with you,” he said, grinning at her.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Idiot!”
“What? You think you can go to anyone’s house and start ordering around, is it?”
“Not ordering around. Requesting. Just coffee instead of tea.”
“Coffee is tough to make. And it takes time…”
“It is very easy to make. You move. I’ll make it,” said Rachanna as she stepped towards his kitchen.
He gave her a welcome gesture. “Be my guest. I will be in the living room watching out for the delivery guy. And also, make some extra coffee.”
Rachanna grew wary. “Oh, why? Are you expecting someone?”
“Just to be on the safer side. I will be watching the camera. If I see anyone else dancing in my corridor, I will invite them in.”
She glared at him. “Very funny!”
Rachanna soon brought in two steaming cups of coffee and handed him one. She took a seat on the sofa opposite him. Anirudh was tempted to ask the reason for Rachanna’s visit. But it was a futile activity. He knew it already. And if asked, she would lie anyway.
“How is Asmee?”
“Same, same,” replied Rachanna. “How is your grandma?”
“I took her to the hospital yesterday for her routine check-up. All okay.”
“Good to hear that.”
“Nice coffee, by the way.”
“Thanks!”
A few moments of silence later, Rachanna said apologetically, “Sorry I came unannounced. You don’t mind, do you?”
Anirudh took a sip of his coffee and looked at her from over the rim of his coffee cup. “Actually, I moved in here trying to be a recluse. You are kind of interfering with my plan.”
“Aah! Sorry about that. I had a horrible day at work and I wanted to talk about it.”
“Hmm…” replied Anirudh.
“Sorry to force myself on you. It’s easy to talk to you. You don’t judge. And you know me…”
Anirudh smiled broadly.
“What?” Rachanna asked, stopping her explanation midway.
Anirudh shook his head. “Nothing.”
“What? You cannot smile like that and say ‘nothing’.”
Anirudh stopped smiling and put on a serious expression. “Nothing. I just wanted to say you can force yourself on me anytime. You don’t have to be sorry for it.”
Rachanna glared at him and then slowly shook her head.
Anirudh burst out laughing. “Sorry, I could not resist that.”
“You totally could. You just don’t even try,” she snapped.
“Have you ever considered that that is a good thing? I am so comfortable with you that I can say anything,” Anirudh said with a chuckle.
She glared at him for a few moments. “This is only friendship.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure.”
“I am not looking for anything else.”
“I am not looking for anything else either. I don’t know why you won’t believe me!”
She scrunched her eyes. “Really? You can’t even guess why I won’t believe you?”
Anirudh looked at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Then, he assumed a serious expression, ran his fingers over his stubble and said, “No, really. Just friends. Okay?”
Rachanna looked at him from the corner of her eye. He did not look like he was joking. Mollified, she nodded.
“Okay, how is Asmee?”
Rachanna rolled her eyes at him. “You already asked me that!”
“Oh, I did, didn’t I? Apologies. I will ask you a different question, then. How is parenting? She is a bright kid and looks to be a handful. Are you shaping her life properly?”
Rachanna sighed dejectedly. “Don’t ask about that,” she said, shaking her head. “I am skirting by. That’s all.”
He laughed. “I think all parents do just that.”
After a minute, Rachanna asked, “Do you know how they say parents shape the life of kids?”
“Yeah?”
“That’s utter bull. It’s the children who shape our lives.”
Anirudh chuckled. “Seriously? How so?”
“If it was not for Asmee, I would not be preparing 3 healthy meals a day. I would not be going to bed at a reasonable time. I would not be getting some exercise.”
“Really?”
“Really. I know. Because sometimes Samay’s parents take her to their place for the weekend. And I know how I am those two days.”
“How are you?”
“In a coma.”
Anirudh laughed. “In a coma?”
Rachanna nodded. “Yeah, believe it or not! Those two days, I run a marathon of movies. I order all my meals. I eat crap. If at all I find the energy to move, I cook noodles and top them with cheese. I eat ice cream from the bucket. I end up eating whole bars of chocolate. I stay up all night watching TV. I go to bed late and get up late. I find myself extremely reluctant to even take a bath. I don’t comb my hair or even wash my face. I don’t do the laundry, neither washing nor folding. I don’t clean the house. I even give Usha a couple of days off so that she does not disturb my coma.”
He laughed. “Oh my God! Really?”
“Really. I am so dead when Asmee is not here. You won’t believe it. My life has no structure, no meaning. I guess my whole life will have no meaning without her.”
“Hmm…now I know…” replied Anirudh, looking meaningfully at her.
“What do you know?” Rachanna asked warily, bracing herself for what was coming.
“What I have missed all these days.”
Rachanna looked guilty. “Yeah. You certainly do need an Asmee to shape your life.”
“I do, don’t I?”
“Yeah, you are pretty desperate,” replied Rachanna, nodding.
Anirudh laughed.
The rest of their conversation centred on the other residents of their society, the latest movies they had seen and the books that they had read. The horrible day she’d had at office did not even come up. For Rachanna had already forgotten all about it.
***
The month that followed saw Anirudh and Rachanna getting on like a house of fire. They were constantly in each other’s company and loved every bit of it. They met at each other’s houses for meals, messaged each other through the day and sat in their balconies for long hours, chatting.
Rachanna loved spending time with him. He made her laugh. He made her think. He was like her sounding board. It felt like heaven for her to have someone like him in her life.
Anirudh, who was essentially an extrovert trying to become a recluse, finally found a release. He found himself returning back to being the person that he originally was. Rachanna had helped him do that, though quite unknowingly. Anirudh finally found a person whom he could trust. A person with whom he was so comfortable that it actually felt good to drop the recluse act and behave like his usual self. Though he still needed a lot more time to be able to trust society at large, he had already begun.
Asmee was surprised to see Anirudh at her house so frequently, but she soon got used to it. Her mother seemed to finally have made a friend.
Rachanna had not stopped worrying that her neighbours might catch them spending so much time together. They still looked around before visiting each other. And they had instructed Asmee to never talk about Anirudh to anyone else. She kept her promise. Their friendship remained a secret from the rest of the residents.
But for all said and done, what Anirudh and Rachanna shared was far from a romantic relationship. Neither of them needed it at that moment in their lives. All they needed was a good friend and they found that in each other. They found someone who was as broken as they were. They found someone whose friendship was helping them slowly put the broken pieces of their life together. It was a friendship that was much needed. That was so comforting. And above all, it was a friendship that felt so very wonderful.
***
“Okay, I have to get going. I have put the pea pulav and kurma in the hot packs. You will have it for lunch, right?” Rachanna asked, as she closed the boxes she had brought and put them in her bag.
“Yes!” Anirudh nodded.
She scrunched her nose slightly as she slung her bag over her shoulder. “I made them for Asmee, so they won’t be too spicy…”
“It’s fine. I like my food less spicy.”
She smiled. “Okay, great. Now, can you take a look at the corridor and see if anyone is there?”
“Hmm…” replied Anirudh, looking intently at her shoulder.
“What?” She asked, trying to look at her shoulder from the corner of her eye.
“Don’t freak out…but there is a spider on your shoulder.”
“Eekks!” Rachanna screamed as she tried to brush off the spider that she was yet to spot. She started to jump around and sway, hoping that the spider would just fall off her by gravity or at least by Newton’s first law.
After a minute of jumping around, she looked at Anirudh for confirmation.
“Is it gone?” She asked, a petrified look on her face.
Anirudh was looking at her with a small smile on his face. Humour danced in his eyes.
“Well? Is it gone?” She reiterated, irritated by his lack of response.
“No.”
“Eeeks!” She screamed, and the entire sequence repeated itself again. After a lot of jumping, swaying and brushing, she looked around for a mirror. There was none in the living room.
She turned to Anirudh. “Well, help me! Please.”
Anirudh looked at her terror filled eyes and laughed softly.
“What? Is it gone?” She asked, looking around her feet to see if she could spot the spider. “What? What?” She asked, imagining the spider creeping up her neck or worse, hiding in the folds of her dress. The hair on her neck stood on its end. A shiver passed through her body as her eyes started to water at the possibility.
“Well, I don’t know why you told me you did not dance much. That was a wonderful dance!” He put his hands together and laughed.
“Anirudh, I am going to kill you! Has the spider gone or not?” She snapped, gritting her teeth.
“Well, actually…” he said, shrugging, “there wasn’t one to begin with.”
Rachanna looked at him with shock. Then she straightened herself, trying to look poised and dignified. The terror in her eyes was replaced with disdain. She looked at him with barely concealed anger.
“You are an idiot! You know that, right?”
Anirudh laughed in response. “I know. I know.”
“It was not funny.”
“Well, that is a matter of opinion. In my opinion…” he said between chuckles.
Her nostrils flared as she tried to maintain her dignity, which she had lost enough jumping around like a cat on which a bucket of cold water was poured. His laughter did not show any sign of abating.
“You are an idiot!” She stamped her feet and turned.
“Wait…” started Anirudh and yet was unable to talk as he broke into a fresh peal of laughter.
“Call me when you grow up!”
“Wait…just wanted to…to tell you something…” he said, still laughing.
“Yeah?”
“Just look at me. Does this remind you of something?” He asked, swaying his arms and jumping around. “Maybe I look sophisticated while doing it. I probably look like Michael Jackson. But you? You did not. And…and…when you did this…” he said, jumping around and swaying as intensely as she had.
She glared at him. Her chest was heaving as she tried to control her anger.
“Hey! I think this is some kind of a dance form, right? I can vaguely remember …but the name is escaping me. I know this dance from somewhere. I have seen some tribal people doing it but I just can’t remember the name. It is almost at the tip of my tongue… Look carefully, does it remind you of something?”
He jumped around, waved his hand like a bird and made movements as if a wave was passing through his body. She glared at him for a few moments and then said, “Yes. It reminds me that you are a pig!”
She turned and left, leaving him to his peals of laughter.
***
Anirudh and Rachanna were sitting in her living room, on the couch. He was scrolling on his phone while she was working on her laptop.
“There is a Sid Sriram concert coming up. Interested?”
Rachanna rolled her eyes. “With you? Not a chance!”
“No, actually. I was thinking of a friend of mine…”
Rachanna frowned and turned to look at him. “Are you setting me up?”
“Yeah. Why not? He is a nice guy and he is also into the same things you like… I just figured that the Sid Sriram concert was something that would appeal to both of you. You do like Sid Sriram songs a lot…”
Rachanna gritted her teeth. Anirudh setting her up with someone irritated her.
She snapped at him, “Just because I had gulab jamun does not mean I will do anything you say. I am not going to go on a date with some stranger…”
Anirudh sighed. “Fine. Fine. You leave me with no choice then.”
“What?” She asked.
“I will take you.”
She was taken aback. She attempted to say something but her words were caught in her throat. She gulped and said, “Fine.”
Her heart was thudding insubordinately. She was going on a date! With Anirudh!
“There! Booked the tickets. It’s the first Friday of next month. Block your calendar.”
“Hmm…”
“Tell me something…” began Anirudh.
“Yeah?”
“How come you did not want to date anyone else but agreed to go out with me?”
She glared at him. “You know what they say about a known devil being better than an unknown angel, right?”
He grinned. “Ah! I am the devil here.”
“You are.”
“Whatever. But you still agreed to go out on a date with me…” he said, smirking.
“I can still change my mind.”
Anirudh scoffed as he put his phone away. “As if! I will kidnap you, if need be.”
“Oh! You will, will you?”
“I will. Want to bet?”
Rachanna looked at him. “Actually, no. I am sure you will kidnap me if the need arises. But I will come on my own, okay? Of my own free will. Understood?”
He grinned. “Good. It’s a date then.”
She was exasperated. “It’s not a date. It is just a couple of friends going out because they like Sid Sriram…”
Anirudh chuckled.
“What?” She asked.
He only shook his head in response.
“It is not a date,” she insisted.
He supressed the smile that rose to his lips. He whispered, “If you say so.”
“So, who is the guy?”
“Eh? What guy?”
“The guy you tried to set me up with.”
“Oh! That guy! Uh! He is a friend from school. Very handsome. Very tall. Six feet or more. He has six packs. He is very wealthy…”
Rachanna’s eyes narrowed as she listened to him. “And totally made up?” She asked.
Anirudh gave up explaining and laughed sheepishly. “Yeah. That, too.”
“Idiot!”
“As if I will set you up with someone else!”
“Why not?”
“Why not? What a crazy lady you are!”
“Why not?” Rachanna insisted.
“Because...” he said, hoping she’d get the look in his eyes.
“Because what?” Rachanna asked, defiantly looking into his eyes.
“You know…” he said, attempting again.
“No. I don’t know,” said Rachanna, shaking her head.
“You are a crazy lady. I would never do that to my friends.”
Rachanna flung a pillow at him. He caught it and replaced it on the sofa, laughing.
“Idiot!” Rachanna said.
“Crazy lady!” He murmured, shaking his head.
“What?”
“Nothing, nothing. Here, have some juice and calm down,” he said, giving her a glass of orange juice. “God!” He said, shaking his head again as she took the glass.
She glared at him even as she took the glass.