The Tiffin by Mahtab Narsimhan Page B

thoughtfully.
    â€œThank you,Vinayakji.”
    â€œIt’s the least I could do,” said Vinayak. “Plus, it’s a job you know well, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Right?”
    â€œBut how will I search for my mother if I can’t be a dabbawalla? Just when I’ve figured out exactly how to find her, I can’t!”
    Vinayak’s face tightened. He said nothing.
    â€œYou will help me look for her,” said Kunal, quietly. “Won’t you?”
    â€œNo.”
    The bun slid out of Kunal’s hands. “How can you say that? You know what this means to me. Of all people, I thought you were my friend, and would be willing to help.”
    â€œGoing down this path will only cause pain. I refuse to be a part of it.”
    Kunal stared at Vinayak, unable to believe his ears.
My mother is alive. I have family. I’m not an orphan!
How could he find the right words to describe just how important this was to him? And why should he have to?
    Vinayak was looking at him steadily almost as if he’d read his mind. “You know her name and you know why she left you with Mrs. Seth.That doesn’t change anything.”
    â€œMaybe something happened that made it impossible for her to come back,” said Kunal. “Her note said she loved me. That she’d be back in a week.”
    â€œWhat note?” said Vinayak.
    Kunal took a deep breath. He extracted his mother’s note from his pocket and wordlessly handed it over. Vinayak read the note, folded it, and handed it back to him.
    â€œHow old are you?” said Vinayak quietly.
    â€œTwelve.”
    â€œThink about it for a moment. For twelve years your mother knew where you were because she left you there. Right?”
    Kunal nodded.The mouthful he had just swallowed stuck in his throat.
    â€œAll this while she did not come to get you. And now you think that once you find her, she’ll welcome with you with open arms?
No, she won’t.
”
    Kunal stared at Vinayak wishing he could break something and see it shatter into a million pieces. Why did Vinayak have to say stupid things like this? He was wrong, so very wrong. Kunal struggled to think clearly, but his mind had shut down. All he heard were Vinayak’s words: No, she won’t.
    â€œIt’s late. If you’re not going to finish your bun then we’d better go,” said Vinayak. He put some money on the table.
    They rose and walked out of the restaurant.Vinayak waved goodbye to Rustom. Kunal could barely meet his eye. Outside, the air crackled with electricity.Thunderclouds plodded overhead, prodded on by flashes of lighting.
    â€œMore rain tomorrow,” said Vinayak with a deep sigh.“When all that water up there is down on the streets, you’ll be dry and warm in Sunshine while my boys will be out in the floods delivering tiffins.You’ll be happy you didn’t get the job.”
    Kunal glanced up into the ominous face of the sky. He would have cheerfully delivered tiffins in a typhoon in order to meet the woman who had brought him into the world. And ask her why she had abandoned him.
    IT RAINED ALL NIGHT.The roads had disappeared under filthy brown water pockmarked with floating debris and dead rats. Buses and cars traversed the flooded roads, splashing the already soaked pedestrians. Everything in sight dripped.
    And still it rained.
    Kunal sloshed through knee-deep water stinking of raw sewage and entered Andheri Station, drenched from head to toe. Vinayak, who had used the only umbrella he possessed, was scarcely dryer. They stood just inside the entrance and squeezed the water from their clothes.The staccato drumbeat of rain on the station’s tin roof was unusually loud.
    â€œToday will be quite an interesting day,” said Vinayak. He closed the umbrella and propped it against a wall. “It will be a challenge to deliver the tiffins on time.”
    â€œWill they manage?” asked Kunal,