…’
‘Yes, yes,’ I assure him. ‘The rules changed last year. Guys are allowed at the girls’ hostel till seven p.m., but some girl has to sign for it.’
‘But, I … it will be strange.’
‘Oh, c’mon! It won’t be strange. We will watch another movie? This time it’s your choice,’ I try to convince him.
But no matter how hard I try, he doesn’t agree. He is a lot shyer than I had imagined him to be, and I quite like that. I have burnt my fingers talking to a smart-ass stranger in Barista and I don’t want that to happen again. I sling my bag on my shoulder and he does the same.
‘Can I walk you back to your hostel?’ he asks shyly.
‘I would like that,’ I say.
We both walk silently and I wonder if he is thinking what I am thinking. I thank my stars to have found someone who I can talk to, on the very first day of college.
‘Thank you,’ I say as I turn towards him at the foot of my hostel stairs, ‘for today.’
‘Thank you,’ he says and drops his bag on the ground. He takes his notebook out, flips to the page on which he had sketched my caricature, tears it and hands it to me. ‘No matter how your hair is, here or for real, it looks amazing.’
I smile at him.
Chapter Ten
Love at First Sight
It’s been half an hour since I have been back in my room and my roommate still hasn’t turned up. I am getting a little anxious now. I tried sleeping a little while back, but it didn’t really work and I am still wide awake. It’s almost seven when I hear a commotion out in the corridor. It sounds almost like a landslide and I go out of my room to check.
Just outside my room is a pile of at least ten suitcases and I see two men carrying four more behind them. The skinny men drop the suitcases where the others are lying and then stack them next to each other—exactly fifteen suitcases. One of them leaves while the other stands at attention, looking down the hallway like someone important is coming. Is this my roommate? Is she some kind of a princess or something?
From the far end of the hall, I can hear the sound of heels clicking against the mosaic floor, taking quick and determined steps towards where I am standing. The girl turns the corner and I see her brownish-black hair bounce around her face, a pair of sunglasses perched firmly on her forehead, a white T-shirt clinging to her slender body tucked into skinny navy blue trousers held up by a thin brown belt. The heels making the noise are white too, and are at least four inches tall.
‘Hi,’ she says as she comes and stands right in front me.
She is as fair as snow, her lips are amazingly pink, and her teeth blindingly white. She is not very tall and even with her heels, she is only just as tall as me. She looks like a dainty fairy and smells of freshly picked roses. My guess was not that wrong, after all. If not a princess, she is at least a fairy.
‘Niharika,’ I thrust my hand out, but she hugs me instead. And it’s not a pretentious hug, it feels like she is genuinely happy to see me. I can only wonder why.
‘I am Pia,’ she says. She looks at her maid standing next to her and says, ‘Didn’t I tell you that a girl with a name as nice as Niharika can’t be bad? Oh, Niharika, this is Didi. She used to take care of me back in Delhi. And she is really sad that I have come to Nagpur.’ Pia hugs the old woman and the old woman look like she will never let Pia go.
‘That’s sweet. But Pia … I don’t think we can fit all your stuff in,’ I say as I open the door.
‘Don’t worry. Didi will handle everything,’ Pia says and flops on the bed opposite to mine. ‘The room was given to you like this?’
‘No, it was bare. It just came with furniture and the mattresses. I put up the curtains and the posters and shifted the furniture around a little bit.’
‘Oh, nice. I like it,’ she says, smiles at me and looks at all the little things I have put here and there.
The skinny guy and the old woman open
‘Yes, yes,’ I assure him. ‘The rules changed last year. Guys are allowed at the girls’ hostel till seven p.m., but some girl has to sign for it.’
‘But, I … it will be strange.’
‘Oh, c’mon! It won’t be strange. We will watch another movie? This time it’s your choice,’ I try to convince him.
But no matter how hard I try, he doesn’t agree. He is a lot shyer than I had imagined him to be, and I quite like that. I have burnt my fingers talking to a smart-ass stranger in Barista and I don’t want that to happen again. I sling my bag on my shoulder and he does the same.
‘Can I walk you back to your hostel?’ he asks shyly.
‘I would like that,’ I say.
We both walk silently and I wonder if he is thinking what I am thinking. I thank my stars to have found someone who I can talk to, on the very first day of college.
‘Thank you,’ I say as I turn towards him at the foot of my hostel stairs, ‘for today.’
‘Thank you,’ he says and drops his bag on the ground. He takes his notebook out, flips to the page on which he had sketched my caricature, tears it and hands it to me. ‘No matter how your hair is, here or for real, it looks amazing.’
I smile at him.
Chapter Ten
Love at First Sight
It’s been half an hour since I have been back in my room and my roommate still hasn’t turned up. I am getting a little anxious now. I tried sleeping a little while back, but it didn’t really work and I am still wide awake. It’s almost seven when I hear a commotion out in the corridor. It sounds almost like a landslide and I go out of my room to check.
Just outside my room is a pile of at least ten suitcases and I see two men carrying four more behind them. The skinny men drop the suitcases where the others are lying and then stack them next to each other—exactly fifteen suitcases. One of them leaves while the other stands at attention, looking down the hallway like someone important is coming. Is this my roommate? Is she some kind of a princess or something?
From the far end of the hall, I can hear the sound of heels clicking against the mosaic floor, taking quick and determined steps towards where I am standing. The girl turns the corner and I see her brownish-black hair bounce around her face, a pair of sunglasses perched firmly on her forehead, a white T-shirt clinging to her slender body tucked into skinny navy blue trousers held up by a thin brown belt. The heels making the noise are white too, and are at least four inches tall.
‘Hi,’ she says as she comes and stands right in front me.
She is as fair as snow, her lips are amazingly pink, and her teeth blindingly white. She is not very tall and even with her heels, she is only just as tall as me. She looks like a dainty fairy and smells of freshly picked roses. My guess was not that wrong, after all. If not a princess, she is at least a fairy.
‘Niharika,’ I thrust my hand out, but she hugs me instead. And it’s not a pretentious hug, it feels like she is genuinely happy to see me. I can only wonder why.
‘I am Pia,’ she says. She looks at her maid standing next to her and says, ‘Didn’t I tell you that a girl with a name as nice as Niharika can’t be bad? Oh, Niharika, this is Didi. She used to take care of me back in Delhi. And she is really sad that I have come to Nagpur.’ Pia hugs the old woman and the old woman look like she will never let Pia go.
‘That’s sweet. But Pia … I don’t think we can fit all your stuff in,’ I say as I open the door.
‘Don’t worry. Didi will handle everything,’ Pia says and flops on the bed opposite to mine. ‘The room was given to you like this?’
‘No, it was bare. It just came with furniture and the mattresses. I put up the curtains and the posters and shifted the furniture around a little bit.’
‘Oh, nice. I like it,’ she says, smiles at me and looks at all the little things I have put here and there.
The skinny guy and the old woman open
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