Chapter 2: Dulaara
"Huh." Lavanya said looking at lavender-green envelope-letter in hands.
"What?" Payal asked tearing into her letter which like most in their class was plain white envelope.
"This NK character has generously spared a self portrait of him," Lavanya said and waved the sheet in front of the two girls.
Khushi and Payal stopped their letter opening process and Payal snatched the sheet waving in front of their faces. "He looks 90% dimples and 10% cotton candy." Khushi observed.
"I am not sure if I want to pinch his cheek for a nice wide smile or take a shower for it being so large and showing so many teeth," Payal handed back the snatched self portrait of a young man.
"I am torn too." Lavanya said. A heartbeat later she added, "At least I got the cute one." She preened a little. Just a little.
"And this guy seems so average that even average wouldn't blip with him in the mix," Payal said. "Either that or his entire letter is ironic and that would make him a genius. I must read this again tonight." Payal looked pleased at that.
"What about you?" Payal turned to Khushi.
"Read it," she grumbled and thrust the letter into Payal's hands.
Hello lucky girl,
Did you just pick bunch of stuff that every other teenager likes and wrote the opposite of it in your letter? You are a walking contradiction, aren't you? (Next you will tell me you prefer gameboys or board games over computer games.) Since we are doing the list thing and not bothering with complete sentences, here are some of mine: Nirvana, any movie with Shah Rukh and Manisha Koirala (Even if its two hours of them talking about groceries or sprouting random words. The two rock my world. Also, Kajol is super overrated. If you think otherwise don't bother replying to this letter), Bisleri water tastes weird, I hope world stops at Y2K but since I don't trust humans to do anything right I am sure they will also f**k up end of the world, I love pandas, I want to travel to a bunch of places in the world where there are no people, I want to die under Aurora Borealis, I hate fire crackers, I like the smell of tar, alcohol isn't what it's cracked up to be, X-files is indeed better than Friends. There.
Don't get intimidated by this letter, doll, it generally happens and I won't hold it against you if it stops you from replying. (That's why I made mine longer than yours.) This whole thing is a pointless exercise that serves no purpose but children passing few boring months with flirty letters soaked in teenage hormones. You were right about being it a clich.
But really KKG, isn't everything eventually a clich? You, me, us and this stupid pen-pal thing? We continue to do it anyway coz (that, darling girl, is how we write "because" in Yahoo chat) familiarity is comfortable; it is easy and gives no pain or makes you scamper around like an overly caffeinated squirrel. Like all good things, this letter to must come to an end. I hope you treasure this unique experience.
Oh, and with music you have barely scratched the surface of obscurity, by the looks of it. I accept your dare and I raise you to this: Gutur Gutur [Dalaal]
Try to watch the movie. I will, however, not take any responsibility for repulsiveness you may feel.
- ASR
(The Guy Whose Stubble Grows By 10AM In The Morning)
PS: You are welcome.
Lavanya and Payal looked up from the letter Payal was reading aloud to see Khushi seething. Lavanya and Payal grinned at each other and said at the same time - "This is so cool".
Khushi's glare intensified.
Payal cleared her throat when she saw Khushi's scrunched up nose which was a telltale sign of an incoming rant that generally included honor, morals and righteousness. Payal didn't want to hear it for the bajillionth time. She wanted to go back to her dorm, mull on the letter she received and formulate a clever reply. "Obviously the guy is joking," Payal placated.
"Obviously the guy is a condescending jackass," Khushi replied calmly.
"Obviously the guy sounds hot." Lavanya added.
"How do you know that?" Payal asked, curious.
"Stubble. Detached anti-social-ness. Engineered loneliness though it is clear he has friends. Broodiness." Lavanya waved her hand in "ta-da" motion.
"You got all this from four hundred word note?" Payal asked, surprised.
Lavanya flipped her hair Rachel-like and shrugged without hiding her modesty. "I know. I am awesome." Payal shook her head at that.
"Are you going to respond to ASR?" Payal asked Khushi who now sported a murder look.
Khushi smiled all teeth and no mirth. "I am going to letter-strangle him." She took the letter back from Payal and stuffed it into her bag. "La, when your dad comes this weekend, could you ask him to get the movie the jackass mentioned in the letter?"
"Sure can do." Lavanya said. "I know you like crappy and horrible movies that kill your brain cells but why further the torture?" She grumbled as Khushi packed her bag.
Payal elbowed Lavanya hard. "ASR lucked out mentioning a movie that Khushi hasn't watched. Do you want to get subjected to the horrors of bad movie this Sunday? Shut up and let her do her thing so that we can get out of this stupid school and catch a ride to the city." Payal whispered.
"Good point." Lavanya said. The three girls shuffled out of the classroom long after bell had rung.
Poor boys had no idea what was coming after them.
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