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Invitation & Meditation
Suvi was deposting some random checks in her account, some bank work she did in Nasik
The checks were slowly trickling in
She was filling out the pay in slip when Amma called
"Hello" Amma began hesitantly
"Hello" said Suvi preoccupied not at all prepared to have the lady call her
"Suvechha Dhabolkar?" Amma asked
Something about the way Amma said Suvechha, the chha sound, pure and accurate, reminded her of someone she knew
Her heart skipped a beat
"This is Suvi" she said a lil shaky
"Main Sarita Pandit (author wonders if she already picked a name for Neel's Mom) Neel ki Amma" Amma said cheerfully
Suvi stopped filling out the pay in slip and froze
The branch was teeming with people trying to get their work done before it closed for the day
There were a couple people behind her hoping to use the tall glass table with drawers for various forms and slips, along the wall
"Mrs Pandit" Suvi said exhaling
"Haan Neel ki Amma" she said
"Sorry main bank mein hai, yaha pe both noise hai" she said sheepishly
She picked up her stuff and started stepping away, a man in his 50s chased after her to hand her the brand new check book she had left behind after tearing the pay in/deposit slip out
She nodded gratefully
Confused... and a extremely nervous
She stepped out of the freezing international bank to the corridor the guard looked at her curiously
She sat in a bench across along the hallway, it was muggy and 50C
"Baad mein call karen hum?" Amma asked gently
"Nai mai bahar aa gayi"
"aapko pareshaan kiya humne?" Amma asked
"Its OK... no... I mean... bank mein deposit dalne ka tha" she said
"Bachi kaisi hain?" Amma asked
Suvi smiled delighted
"Masttt" she said
Amma laughed
"Means... day care mein hai" Suvi corrected
"Mast hum pehchante hain" Amma teased quite like her son
Suvi giggled
"Yaha Dilli mein sab cheez ke liye "badiya" kehne ka" she said
Amma began correcting her "Aapka matlab ba DHIya?" she asked
Suvi laughed amused
"I am so sorry... I shudnt be correcting you" Amma stopped herself
"Meri hindi barobar nai hai" Suvi admitted
"Aur hamari Marathi to ekdum kharab hai" Amma said politely
the women went silent as Suvi rubbed her churning belly
"Aapne banaye woh saare Naren Noodle comic strips?" Amma asked gently
"Yes" Suvi said, as if Amma was her Principal
"U are gifted, and have a sharp sense of humor" Amma said in complete awe
"Thanks Mrs Pandit"
"Only on paper" Suvi said and began to laugh hysterically
"Pun?" Amma smiled
"Nevertheless, I am curious, Aap hamare saath 2016 Paper Art Fair mein chalengi hamare saath?" Amma asked abruptly
Suvi froze
"Kab hai?" she asked
"Friday ko, its apparently the last day, Preet ne hamey kayi activities mein involve kiya hai, pottery she gave me tickets to this fair at my alma mater JNU campus" Amma said with pride
"Aap JNU ka hai?" Suvi asked in her signature grammaticaly incorrect way
"There was no better place to study political science in the 1970s" Amma said happily
"Aap teach karte hey?"
"I did until they promoted me, and then I wanted to teach at a high school" Amma explained
"Abhi nai karte hey?" she asked
"Hum kisi baat ka jawab nahi denge, aap humse milen" Amma said poiltely
"Aunty mere ko Aadhya ko day care se pick karne ka hai" Suvi said
"Umm... unko bhi le chaliye?" Amma offered
Woh shows, fair mere ko dekhne nai deti hai" Suvi said with pride
"Oh" said Amma
"Mera matlab she is still young" Suvi was very defensive when she realized Amma had seen Aadhya in her worst behavior
Again an uncomfortable silence followed
"Aunt... means... Mrs Pandit u can come to my house" Suvi offered
"U can say Aunty" Amma said gently
"Aap mere ghar aa sakte hai?" she asked
"Ek kaam karte hain hum aap call kar dein day care hum pick karte hue aayenge? Ya phir 4 baje unko NOIDA le aayenge then we can meet at JNU?" Amma asked
Suvi wasnt sure why she shud let Mrs Pandit do such a HUGE favor to her
"Mere ko JNU kidhar hai pata nai" she said
"Munirka mein hai, lets do this, I will take care of Aadhya's pick up and then pick u up from your office?" Amma said in her clear decisive "Principal-y" way
"Thanks... mai web mein dekhi hai, its exciting thing Aunty" Suvi said enthusiastically momentarily forgetting who invited her
"Hum jaante the, tabhi jab Preet ne hamey tickets diye hamey aapki yaad aayi" Amma said
Suvi wondered if Preet had said anything...
After Amma hung up
Suvi sat on teh bench way past bank's closing time
Neel spotted her when the elevator door opened to pick people up, bank employees
Before he could wave the door shut
She picked Aadhya up almost at 8 PM and found Neel parked outside the society
She almost had a heart attack, wondering if Amma was here uninvited
He looked handsome... OK VERY HANDSOME
in a blue shirt with bold checks and a navy trouser
They drank each other's appearance greedily
He watched her cross the road carrying Aadhya fighting traffic
He took a step towards her, waving cars to pause
She approached him and smiled, shyly
"I did not expect u" she whispered
"Jhooth hi keh detin?" he said achingly
His words could arouse her like nothing else ever did
She turned red at the simple Hindi plea
"I expected u?" she said breathlessly
"thanks" he said satisfied like she had kissed him for a half hour
He smelled like he had a "busy day"
The smell of his sweat made her tingly as they went up her stairs
"Park bench mein baithe logon ko dhyan mein doobe dekha hai humne, BANK bench mein baithe sochne waale kam hain" he teased
"When did u see me?" she asked
"When u were thinking" he said smiling
Picking a faltering Aadhya up
"Did u have a good day?"
"Mai Nihad ke house mein jaayegi?" she asked
"Chaliye" he smiled kissing her cheek as Suvi opened her door
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