on her different shelves, her books, her computer and the rest of the room. I was still listening to Neeru whenKhushi came in, looking for us. She was now ready, with her sandals on.
The moment her eyes fell on the bed, she quickly rushed to grab her clothes.
‘Shit!’ she softly muttered, revealing her shyness at the favor she had unconsciously done for me. She then took them to the bathroom where she probably hung them behind the door. She thought I was busy talking to Neeru but, from the corner of my eyes, I noticed what she thought I didn’t notice.
4.20 p.m.
By now we were at the door, almost done with our final goodbyes to everybody. Pushkar and Ami di got in their car. I touched Mumma’s feet and she put her hands on my head. I said that I would see her after I came back from the US. She wished me a happy journey.
Khushi, Neeru and I then made a move towards my cab. The feeling of victory within us was at its peak then, when we found ourselves at the last step of our mission. Our immediate destination was the IMS center, where we would drop Neeru who would attend an unscheduled class in an unknown batch. And Khushi would not step out of the cab as she would be with me for the rest of the evening—without letting her family know. That was our plan.
But then, something happened the very moment we got into our cab and locked the doors—a contingency we hadn’t even thought about, let alone planned for.
All of a sudden Khushi’s mother remembered that she had to go to the dairy, from where she used to get milk, every evening, for their home. It would soon close down and, with no one left in the house, it would be a problem for her. And, unfortunately, I found out that, besides IMS, the dairy also fell on my route.
‘Uh … ah … y … yes … we … We will drop her
na
,’ Khushi stammered, looking at Neeru and me, her eyes full of questions to which neither of us had an answer.
The plan for her escape with me was now dangling on a broken bridge, and we didn’t have any idea what was going to happen next. All we were wondering was: Could we get away with it? How long would it take for the truth to come out? Would we have to pile on more lies to conceal the first lie? Then, Khushi whispered in my ear, making sure her mother didn’t notice, ‘The dairy will come before IMS. Don’t worry.’ We would be back on track after the dairy. Or so it seemed.
Khushi started explaining the route to the driver. At times, I felt she was explaining more than necessary, talking too much. I was not sure if it was her nervousness (her mother was with us!) or her excitement (the plan could still work out!). Whatever it was, it was making me a little conscious and I wished that moment would soon pass. No sensible guy would want his future mother-in-law to see him as a person who deceived her and ran off with her daughter on the very first day.
But Khushi … I don’t know what was wrong with her. She was talking a lot. Talking to the driver, talking to Mumma, talking to everyone. Talking, explaining. Explaining, talking.
And with so much explanation, the driver got little confused and he ended up asking Neeru, who was sitting on the front seat, ‘
Mataji to dairy tak jaayengi. Aur aap kahan tak jaaoge? Delhi tak?
’
And then the blunder happened.
My excited, talkative, nervous Khushi forgot, for a second, the alibi we’d been building up for the last hour and said, before Neeru had a chance to answer, ‘
Nahin bhaiyya, yeh to IMS pe hi utar jaayegi.
’
Before she could understand what she had done, her mother tapped her shoulder and asked, ‘
Ye to IMS pe hi utar jayegi matlab? Tuney kahaan utarna hai fir?
’ Of course her mother’sradar had become very active, trying to understand what was happening.
‘
Gayi bhains paani mein
,’ I heard Neeru say to herself without looking back. My expression said, ‘Holy Shit!’
And Khushi.
Khushi bit her tongue, realizing the mess she had created. She took
The moment her eyes fell on the bed, she quickly rushed to grab her clothes.
‘Shit!’ she softly muttered, revealing her shyness at the favor she had unconsciously done for me. She then took them to the bathroom where she probably hung them behind the door. She thought I was busy talking to Neeru but, from the corner of my eyes, I noticed what she thought I didn’t notice.
4.20 p.m.
By now we were at the door, almost done with our final goodbyes to everybody. Pushkar and Ami di got in their car. I touched Mumma’s feet and she put her hands on my head. I said that I would see her after I came back from the US. She wished me a happy journey.
Khushi, Neeru and I then made a move towards my cab. The feeling of victory within us was at its peak then, when we found ourselves at the last step of our mission. Our immediate destination was the IMS center, where we would drop Neeru who would attend an unscheduled class in an unknown batch. And Khushi would not step out of the cab as she would be with me for the rest of the evening—without letting her family know. That was our plan.
But then, something happened the very moment we got into our cab and locked the doors—a contingency we hadn’t even thought about, let alone planned for.
All of a sudden Khushi’s mother remembered that she had to go to the dairy, from where she used to get milk, every evening, for their home. It would soon close down and, with no one left in the house, it would be a problem for her. And, unfortunately, I found out that, besides IMS, the dairy also fell on my route.
‘Uh … ah … y … yes … we … We will drop her
na
,’ Khushi stammered, looking at Neeru and me, her eyes full of questions to which neither of us had an answer.
The plan for her escape with me was now dangling on a broken bridge, and we didn’t have any idea what was going to happen next. All we were wondering was: Could we get away with it? How long would it take for the truth to come out? Would we have to pile on more lies to conceal the first lie? Then, Khushi whispered in my ear, making sure her mother didn’t notice, ‘The dairy will come before IMS. Don’t worry.’ We would be back on track after the dairy. Or so it seemed.
Khushi started explaining the route to the driver. At times, I felt she was explaining more than necessary, talking too much. I was not sure if it was her nervousness (her mother was with us!) or her excitement (the plan could still work out!). Whatever it was, it was making me a little conscious and I wished that moment would soon pass. No sensible guy would want his future mother-in-law to see him as a person who deceived her and ran off with her daughter on the very first day.
But Khushi … I don’t know what was wrong with her. She was talking a lot. Talking to the driver, talking to Mumma, talking to everyone. Talking, explaining. Explaining, talking.
And with so much explanation, the driver got little confused and he ended up asking Neeru, who was sitting on the front seat, ‘
Mataji to dairy tak jaayengi. Aur aap kahan tak jaaoge? Delhi tak?
’
And then the blunder happened.
My excited, talkative, nervous Khushi forgot, for a second, the alibi we’d been building up for the last hour and said, before Neeru had a chance to answer, ‘
Nahin bhaiyya, yeh to IMS pe hi utar jaayegi.
’
Before she could understand what she had done, her mother tapped her shoulder and asked, ‘
Ye to IMS pe hi utar jayegi matlab? Tuney kahaan utarna hai fir?
’ Of course her mother’sradar had become very active, trying to understand what was happening.
‘
Gayi bhains paani mein
,’ I heard Neeru say to herself without looking back. My expression said, ‘Holy Shit!’
And Khushi.
Khushi bit her tongue, realizing the mess she had created. She took
Similar Books
