Epistle 91: The Little Pleasures of LifeA/N: Hey there everyone! :D :D Here is the next update! :D :D
Happy Reading! :D :D
12th October, 2008:
Well, happy birthday to me!
It's been my first birthday away from Mumbai in these eleven years. Well, there was obviously no Ishaani to give me all of those crazy, wacko surprises of hers so there was one thing less to look forward to today. Or rather nothing to look forward to because I've never been a fan of celebrating birthdays. It'd be fun because Ishaani made them so and gave me a reason to look forward to them.
The day has been relaxing since it was a Sunday and I had an off from University as well as work, spending most of the day covering up for the sleep I missed the previous night. I spoke to Maa and Papa for a good two hours inquiring about their now-settled life in Surat where Baba has bought a small grocer's shop and is running it very well, bringing in a decent income daily that is more than sufficient.
I even spoke to Mota Babuji and Falguni for an hour with ease in the afternoon as he told me all about the difficulties he's facing in the stock markets these days since things were changing so rapidly. I even tried giving him a couple of tricks here and there. Falguni Maa wished me the best and hoped to see me soon in Mumbai and it felt good that she still cared about me so much even though she might appear a little intimidating at times.
The moment evening succeeded noon, I quickly got ready and took Finch, Monica and Ritika for dinner tonight to a decent restaurant, but not before having a stopover at the Harbour Bridge for watching the sunset. I thankfully did have sufficient money to treat them tonight, so that was a relief.
Well, how couldn't I after everything they've done for me?
Especially last night, when I'd gone to sleep with the only thought that tomorrow was just another day in my life that was slightly elevated because of two reasons - my birthday and my one-year anniversary in Sydney. I thought that atleast I could be assured of some sound sleep on the eve of my birthday since it was the only leverage I gave myself as a birthday present. To go to sleep by ten in the night without working on anything academics-related. And well, sleep had become a luxury rarely possessed for me these days, so I was really looking forward to some binge sleeping.
And then, Finch happened.
I don't know what I was dreaming about exactly when I thought I heard someone thunder upon the door. At first I thought I was dreaming about it but the thundering only kept getting louder and louder until I was forced to open my eyes and sleepwalk towards the door, cursing whoever was on the opposite end when I saw the time as just a quarter past eleven in the night. I opened the door irritably and saw Finch standing in front of me in his usual dapper attire, this time a simple skin-tight black jeans, a grey T-shirt and a dark blue casual blazer.
I usually get cranky when my sleep gets broken abruptly like that so I was about to shut the door back on Finch's face when I noticed his expression through my sleep-consumed eyes. He looked extremely disturbed. Sleep began fading away from my mind as I took in Finch's appearance, and I could definitely smell alcohol off of him.
"Monica... Monica..." he whispered incoherently, and I could barely catch on to what he said. He looked at me wide-eyed, his knees suddenly buckling. I managed to break his fall at the last moment.
"What- what happened?" I asked his frightfully as he caught my shoulders, looking deranged.
"You need to come with me right now!" he shrieked and I was taken aback.
"What? Why?" I asked, but somehow he couldn't make sense of what I was talking to him at all.
His disoriented behaviour was only frightening me by the minute because the last time he'd gotten this mental, it was when Monica had broken up with him five months ago and the memory of Finch's state that night was not a very memorable one.
"You need to come with me... Monica... Please, now..." he spoke in disconnected phrases and I could only feel my heart sink more.
Monica had come here for a week to meet him again and I could not for the life of it imagine what might have gone wrong again. And then, he frightened the crap out of me as he caught hold of my hand and tried to pull me out from my room suddenly.
"Hey, hey, hey! Atleast let me change out of these pajamas!" I protested, and he let go of my hand hesitantly looking distressed.
I brought Finch into the room and quickly made him sit down just as he spoke something incoherently, more to himself than to me. Thankfully he wasn't crying this time. I quickly slipped into a pair of blue jeans and a white T-shirt, barely remembering to even comb my hair slap some water upon my face to look respectable enough to go outside. Well, it was an emergency! I wasn't going to sit and style myself now, was I? So anyway once I was done, I walked back to Finch, who was now staring at the ceiling blankly. I sat upon my knees so that we were at level with each other.
"Greg, you've got to tell me what's wrong... what happened? Did Monica tell you something? Did something happen to her?" I asked him worriedly, trying to get a proper answer out from him.
The two of us were now close enough to call each other by the other's first name, but we always preferred calling each other as 'Vaghela' and 'Finch' only because... well, it felt much more friendlier and caring that way.
Finch, however, only gave me a bewildered look before he began with the same rant.
"Yes... No... Monica... Monica... you need to come... please..." he begged, looking at me beseechingly.
"Alright, fine," I replied in resignation as I pulled his arm upon my shoulder and took him out from the room, not forgetting to carry along my wallet, phone and the key of my room.
I didn't know what happened between him and Monica again that'd pushed him off to getting this drunk, but after the whole fiasco that happened a couple of months ago, I wasn't too eager for any more complications, especially when Finch was putting his life and soul into making it all work out.
I still remember the time I'd returned back to my dorm five months ago from after meeting Ritika at the pier to find Finch sitting at the doorstep, looking like his world had come to an end. 'Monica's called it off', was the only thing he whispered before I pulled him up upon his feet and took him inside my room, making him sit upon the bed. It was the first time when I got to see the other side of Finch, a side that I prayed I'd never see again. A side that only exuded the pain of a bruised heart. And goodness knows that Finch doesn't deserve this kind of fate out of all the people I know.
I will never forget that night when he confessed everything to me - about how Monica had called him over because her parents had found out upon him and had rejected him because they didn't find him independent enough in spite of the backing of the background he came from. But it was not just that, but also the fact that they found Finch 'too laxed' to be serious about any kind of relationship. Finch had tried his best to convince his parents but it was a big miss and by the end of it Monica was distraught to the point where she asked him to drop out of the faculty here and begin his LLM.
And since Finch wasn't clearly ready for it, especially for a marriage so soon, Monica called it off. She said that she needed the security of their future for her parents' sake and if he wasn't willing to give her that, he needed to do some serious thinking and reconsider all options and priorities in life again. But till that time, she'd officially called their relationship off, disregarding all his efforts of convincing her otherwise.
It wasn't pretty seeing him all broken and hopeless about his future with Monica and the onset of the heartbreak and I knew that I had to be there for him. And some time towards the dawn, Finch had fallen asleep, although it wasn't too peaceful judging from his expressions. He woke up just two hours later, breaking into a cold sweat and only I know how I've managed to actually talk sense into him that day and send him home.
'All was not lost,' was all that I could reassure him with as I sent him back home, promising to get him out of this somehow or the other.
I'd taken Monica's number from him and had given her a call, introducing who I was and why I was actually calling her about. She cut my call twice before she grudgingly held on to it the third time - it was a long conversation, what Monica and I had for the first time that we were talking to each other for. It went up for six hours straight, and needless to say that I nearly spent away my whole week's salary in a day by the time I was done with it. But it was worth it for Finch, and even more so because I managed to convince Monica to give Finch a year's time till he sorted out his issues.
She told me to give her some time on this since she had a lot going on with her as well, and I was ready to give her that. I needed to tinker with Finch as well before anything further could happen. I'm not really proud of what I did next, but it was needed for the greater good. I didn't tell Finch exactly what I spoke with Monica except for manipulate and exaggerate facts here and there about how irresponsible and immature she saw him to be and how she'd said that she'd only marry him if he got serious in life and chose to become something upon his own terms and conditions, and not rely upon his family's wealth.
I did not like doing this to Finch, but it did have its desired effect. And the first thing he did was go and talk to his parents about Monica and his relationship with her. It wasn't easy convincing them about bringing a girl from the working-class group into a family with the royal lineage of the Finch's, but he knew how to convince his parents once his foot was down. He was dead serious about Monica, and I could see that extra effort he put into his teaching as well in that next one month. By the end of it, he'd come to a firm decision - he'd take up an internship at Freehills to complete his one year of LPC and then pursue his LLM after that.
And with this decision, he'd called Monica over to Sydney as well and had gotten her introduced to his parents to talk about their future. In spite of all their initial inhibitions, his parents finally gave in to Monica seeing how independent and focused she was in life, and they could see that she loved him a lot and would take care of Finch just as well once he got married. Finch even took me out to dinner during Monica's ten-day stay here to get us two introduced. It was rather embarrassing since Monica and I were both sheepish in the light of our only prior conversation to the dinner in question. But by the end of the meeting, both of them thanked me profusely for taking care of him as well as giving him the right push at the right time.
And since then, fun time's been over for Finch as I've seen him look at life with a more serious approach. He's still the same nature wise but I can sense the seriousness seep into his view about his future now. More than once he's told me about how much that one narration of my conversation with Monica changed his life forever (I haven't had the guts to tell him about how I'd manipulated it till date though), but I'm glad that I could be of some help in steering his life in the right direction. All this time, he's been there for me and I'm more than happy that I could be there for him for once.
And then he goes ahead tonight and breaks this bomb upon my head!
I made him sit in the car and sat beside him just as the driver revved the car up, directing it outside the gates. Finch shut his eyes and let his head fall upon the glass window just as a dry heave left his lips. I looked at Finch, the fear only growing more and more pronounced in my heart. I hated seeing Finch like this and his drunken stupor wasn't helping either. So I redirected my attention towards the driver.
"Do you even know where we're supposed to be going?"
"Sir told me where we are to go after I were to pick you up," replied the driver immediately and silence fell upon the car once again.
I don't even know for how long we were driving as the only thing I was aware about was Finch either sniffing or hiccoughing every once in five minutes, making the foreboding in my heart increase. I just wanted to reach this place and see what the whole hullabaloo was about. I'd even had a lecture in mind for Monica by the time the car came to a stop.
The car halted at the dock of the Darling Harbour, and I was definitely surprised because I wasn't expecting so. But even before the car could come to a complete halt, Finch suddenly opened the door and jumped out of the car, running in the direction of his yacht like a demented maniac as though somebody had snapped him back into reality. I called out to him so many times but he just wouldn't listen! Honestly, it was giving me the creeps like never before and it was a deeply unsettling feeling. I ran behind Finch and managed to catch a glimpse of him entering his yacht that was completely doused in darkness, until I pushed open the door to it, slightly breathless with all the fear and running.
"SURPRISE!" shrieked out Finch, Monica and Ritika as the lights in the yacht went on, revealing the gorgeously dim-light chamber decorated with balloons and streamers, along with a five-tier chocolate cake sitting in the center.
The white Heesen yacht was a luxurious Cristiano Gatto designed one with a navy-blue glass enclosing the seating area in a semi-cylindrical wall from the ceiling just above where the center of the chamber stood, the floor graced by the plush white semi-circular couch upon which both Ritika and Monica now remained seated. A bar sat right ahead against the wall facing the couch while the rest of the room was graced with the parquet flooring that only made the room look regal.
And all I could do was stare at the three of them stupidly. I'd been upon Finch's yacht once before, but somehow it only looked more beautiful tonight as the deck outside the yacht glowed dim-orange with a table for four kept ready. I'd been given a lot of surprises in my life, but nothing beat the scare that came along with this one. And my first reaction after recovering from the shock was to glare at Finch murderously, trying to infuse as much anger as I could for scaring the living daylights out from me.
Before I could even say anything, Finch hurriedly made his way towards me and put his arm around my shoulder, pushing me towards where my birthday cake stood. I had a strong impulse to punch him but somehow, I managed to keep myself in check.
"Sorry there, mate. The girls made me do it," he whispered hurriedly, sounding as though he was at a minute's notice of running away. His tone was no longer inebriated and he looked perfectly alright.
Drama queen with all the overacting. Bloody idiot, moron, imbecile!
"You just meet me tomorrow, Finch. I'll beat the crap out of you then," I threatened underneath my breath through gritted teeth and I was happy to see that he looked positively alarmed. Ritika and Monica both stood up, laughing at Finch's plight.
"Now, now, you must not be mad at me. It was a good performance, no?" asked Finch, hoping to divert away my mind from the drama he'd just done. Unfortunately, it backfired terribly for him.
"Remind me why you're a lawyer again," I taunted in return, still glaring daggers at him while he now hid behind Monica as a shield. She rolled her eyes at him.
"Yeah, acting is such a strong suit of mine, innit?" he whispered boldly and I smashed my fist into my palm threateningly. That ass!
"Do you even want to walk out of this yacht alive tonight?" I warned, and Ritika came and stood beside me, giving me a chirpy look that I was even remote to feeling in that moment.
And yet just like that, I shook my head at Finch, knowing that there was no point in doing any of this since everything would rebound from this thick skull. How Ritika managed to make me throw away me anger so quickly, I don't know. But she just did.
"I assume you aren't drunk then," I asked Finch, but it was more of a statement.
Knowing that he was now safe as the clouds of my rage had passed away, he stopped using Monica as a shield and came out in the front, looking his usual jovial self once again.
"Naah, just sprinkled some upon my coat. Wait, I'll be right back," he added as he took off his coat with a distasteful look upon his face.
The smell of alcohol on clothes bothered him like that, I knew. I shook my head and turned to look at Monica, when both Ritika and I trespassed upon Monica's little lover moment. Ritika and I happened to look at Monica ogling at Finch at that moment with utmost love and passion and then we looked at each other, sharing an eyelock filled with silent laughter.
Love was a very funny business.
"Don't you girls get started without me," he warned just as he made his way towards the adjoint bedroom (that was another intricately designed one).
I'd been on the yacht before once and I remember how it did surprise me terribly, even though materialistic things never mattered to me much anyway. Ritika and Monica began discussing a couple of trivial things about the latter's last year doing her masters in Psychology while Ritika spoke about her well-established portfolio as an interior architect.
The yacht is an in-built 1BHK in itself, if I am to use Mumbai's terminology. But it's just extraordinarily and brilliantly done up, the interiors. Even Ritika was talking about it with such reverence.
"It's a luxurious house in the sea itself," she remarked, both Monica and I chuckling at her description.
But it was just then that I realized - the yacht was actually sailing in the waters as I looked out of the window at that precise moment! The dock getting farther and farther away. I looked towards the girls in alarm but Monica gave me a reassuring look.
"Don't worry, you're on an all-night cruise now for the whole of Sydney," explained Ritika, and all I could do was give both the girls a deadpan look.
They did not even as much as flinch at me in return. I'd strictly told Finch and Ritika that I didn't want anything fancy for my birthday, but I think they clearly don't know the definition of 'fancy' after seeing all the efforts they've taken for me.
"Seriously? Did you two find no better way to bring me here?" I asked Monica suddenly, remembering Finch's helpless look but all they did was laugh at me. Actually laugh at me!
Girls! Mental, all of them are!
"Well, we thought of all the possibilities but we knew you wouldn't agree for the party, especially at the yacht. This was our last resort," replied Monica finally after sobering down, giving me an apologetic look now. Ritika nodded her head along in agreement.
"Do you know how afraid I got? Especially thinking about what might have gone wrong between you and-" I began angrily, but she completed the statement for me anyway.
"I made that mistake once, Ranveer. I'm not going to do it again. I'm in it for the long haul," she added and I felt the anger drain away from my head.
This was what Ishaani always told me. And just the thought of her brought a small smile upon my face that didn't go amiss by either of them. While Monica looked bewildered at my sudden change of mood, Ritika shot me an understanding look. She is a smart one, that girl.
"And Ritika! I expected better from you!" I whined, not wanting to linger upon Ishaani's topic again.
I only seem to vent out frustrations and fears related to her whenever I'm with Ritika and I didn't want to do it again after my senseless rambling last week. How she tolerate me, only she knows. But anyway, Ritika only slapped my shoulder in exasperation at my comment.
"Oh come now, Ranveer! Don't be such a bad sport. It's your birthday, duh!" she exclaimed excitedly and well, her excitement was infectious.
Both Monica and I gave each other a 'Let's-leave-it-behind-and-enjoy-the-festive' look before I realized how simply I was dressed for the occasion, specially in front on Monica's maraschino halter-neck dress that fell below her knees gracefully. Even Ritika's A-line honeydew dress that fell fully upon her feet in a frill, done up scalloped and short sleeved, as she described it to me with the technicalities.
"Atleast I'd have worn something a little more appropriate for the situation," I remarked awkwardly.
But before either of the girls could say anything, Finch returned back into the room, looking fresh with a black vest upon his previous attire in lieu of the blazer.
"There, now I feel alright!" he exclaimed out aloud, sounding relieved. Monica looked at him, amused.
"You even brought a spare vest, honey?" she asked, and Finch flushed dully.
"Best to keep all contingencies in hand, right?" he replied smartly and Monica slapped her hand upon her forehead, shaking her head at me. Ritika looked at her watch and summoned us around the cake.
"Come on, come on, it's almost midnight! Gather around!" she exclaimed as we all rounded around the table with me at the center.
Monica placed a candle on top of the cake and handed me over the knife. Finch pressed a button upon a remote in his hand and the happy birthday played out of nowhere suddenly.
"Happy birthday!" exclaimed Finch, Monica and Ritika as I cut the cake, and I couldn't help but feel my heart burst in joy.
Never had anyone taken so many efforts for me ever apart from Ishaani and Mota Babuji and it felt good that there were people who cared so much about me. I cut the first piece and fed it to Finch, forgetting about the fact that I was supposed to be mad at him. How could anyone be mad at him when he threw his heart out to his loved ones like that?
Finch gave me a bear hug and smudged some cake upon my face as well before I finally managed to feed some to Monica and Ritika as well, who ended up assaulting my face with even more cake than before. By the end of it, my face looked like the mutilated first tier that was solely used for the same purpose.
To smudge my face with cake.
"Go wash over and use the armoire. We'll be out on the deck," advised Finch a little too eagerly as I cocked an eyebrow at him in suspicion. He simply pointed towards the room before leading Monica and Ritika to the deck.
I followed his instructions blindly, too dazed to even argue. Thankfully my T-shirt wasn't too dirtied up even though I knew that I'd have to change out of it as well. So quickly cleaning my face over in the magnificent en-suite washroom, I opened the armoire like Finch instructed me to. And what met my eyes certainly made me gasp. How he had spares for me, I couldn't guess until I finally slipped into a comfortable aubergine shirt (pulling it into an in-tuck) and put on the soft, cotton grey blazer whose sleeves I pulled up to my elbows.
They were perfectly my size, and I assumed that they must have been my birthday gifts. Well, anyone would if they'd find them with ribbons tied over them. I made my way over to the deck where the warm spring wind caressed my face lovingly, showering its version of blessings for the festivities upon me. I sat upon the table and looked around awkwardly at all the food that awaited us. Vegetarian, just for me.
"Honestly guys, how long have you been planning this for?" I asked, unable to keep the dumbstruck tone away from my voice. Finch and Monica gave each other a high-five at the delight in my voice and Ritika looked pretty pleased as well.
"Just fifteen days, that's all. It was easy hosting the party for you after we decided upon the location," said Monica, rolling her eyes at Finch.
"Whose idea was it?" I asked, knowing well enough that Finch must have definitely not had anything to do with it seeing Monica's reaction. He smiled at me, replying spontaneously.
"Monica's. She was in charge of the venue, I was in charge of the gifts, and Ritika was in charge of the culinary section since she'd know your tastes the best," he added and I looked at Ritika eagerly just as she took off the lid from upon four of the dishes. Bhindi, tamataar ka shaak, samosas with rotis. All my favourites! This girl is a magician.
"You've made traditional Gujrati food?!" I asked her, looking at the fourth dish, dumbfounded. Theplas.
"Don't be silly, I've made a half-and-half. Half of the dishes are Gujrati and half of them are a mix between Chinese and Italian since our couple-in-love would have gotten into an argument otherwise," she whispered to me playfully but Monica and Finch heard her anyway.
"I'm so sorry that you had to cook so much, Ritika. Greg is such an idiot, I swear!" she reprimadded but shot him a loving look nonetheless as they held hands.
"Talks the bigger idiot!" he shot back. Monica blushed even though she was supposed to be angry.
She just wasn't capable enough of being angry with Finch for more than ten minutes. And the one month of their break-up was proof to me, especially the pain in her voice when I'd spoken to her for the first time and she'd told her side of the story. It didn't take rocket science to know how crazily she loved Finch. You could see it brimming in her eyes.
"Guys, guys! It's my birthday! Atleast stop bickering for one day!" I intervened and Finch and Monica both laughed at my outburst.
Well, I had to behave like a responsible parent between the two of them at times, even though I was the youngest from the triad.
"Yeah, let's dig in. I'm ravenous!" added Ritika and all the three of us nodded in agreement.
All of us pounced upon our meals happily as the only sound that could be heard for the next forty minutes were the sighs of approval upon the sheer deliciousness of the food and the cutting of forks and spoons against the plates as all the three cuisines were passed around the table. Once the late-night dinner was done, Monica and Ritika quickly cleared away the dishes and returned back with four plates of cake for all of us from the five-tier chocolate ganache beauty.We helped ourselves to some whiskey once dessert was done.
Finch and Monica silently made their way into the kitchen for some privacy after a while, leaving Ritika and I standing by the railing, staring at the luminous Sydney Opera House that'd now crossed our line of vision, stunning us both with the regal elegance of its night lights.
"I hope you liked it," asked Ritika as she leaned against the railing, looking at me anxiously.
"Whose idea was it?" I asked, and she gave me a small smile that was answer enough.
"Finch's obviously. Wanted to give you a show of thanks for whatever you did for him and Monica," she explained and I nodded my head. Typical Finch.
"I'm really, really touched," I told her and she patted my hand lightly.
"Papa's given you a holiday tomorrow for your birthday, so you can rest," she let me know suddenly, and I was taken aback.
Mr. Zaveri's wasn't too famous when it came to giving holidays and the fact that he did for me for something like my birthday did certainly a lot.
"No, I-" I began, but she cut my speech.
"Shut up, Ranveer. And this reminds me, he has a little birthday gift for you as well," she added and I think jaw did kinda drop. First the holiday, now the gift! Since when did the stars favour me so much, and that too so benevolently?
"Was it required?" I ask her nervously, wondering whether she was actually telling me all this seriously or was it meant to be some kind of prank.
But it definitely wasn't a prank, I could make that out from her eyes. But she did give me this mysterious look all of a sudden. I'm very curious to see what this whole surprise is about when I go to work tomorrow now.
"I think so, yes. Especially if you want to begin achieving all of those dreams of yours," she replied confidently and I'll admit that it was getting harder to resist the urge of asking her what it was. But I knew that she wouldn't tell me about it so I let the topic drop for now.
Instead, I took a different approach.
"What do you mean?" I asked her but she only shrugged her shoulders at me in response, a mischievous smile on her face.
"Spoiler alert! I'll let Papa himself break it out to you," she replied enigmatically. I rolled my eyes at her.
"More surprises..." I commented sarcastically and she laughed.
"Trust me, the more you've waited for them, the more it's worth it in the end," she suddenly remarked and both of us fell silent.
This oddly reminded me of Ishaani, and I guess she somehow read my mind because the next question, she asked the question of the hour.
"Did Ishaani call?"
"No, not yet so far," I replied blankly, and she flashed me a soft look. How she read my mind with such ease really beat me.
Sometimes, her behaviour reminded me exactly of Love's, because both of them did the same job the same way - remain calm and be my voice of reason. The only relief here was that neither did Ritika bind me with chains nor did she ask me to jump into cliffs. Err, never mind.
"She might call you by around four thirty, I think. Time difference," she added.
I knew that she was trying to make me feel better since she knew how much I was looking forward to Ishaani's phone call today. And yet somehow, I was numb to the disappointment I was supposed to feel. Maybe it was because I'd made myself that way, or maybe because... well, maybe in my heart I wasn't expecting anything from her at all. Especially when what happened on her birthday was a learning experience for both of us.
"Its okay, Ritika. You don't need to worry about it," I replied and she looked behind at the fading view of the Opera House now.
She sighed softly into the night air as both of us stared up at the stars above. They were absolutely magnificent, the way they glittered so powerfully as the moon now glowed at the two of us warmly.
"I'm not," she replied and I looked at the confidence on her face when she said so.
She was always confident about Ishaani and myself whenever I'd tell her about it, and the genuine conviction in her voice would always take me off-guard like that. And it was the same case last night.
"Why are you like this?" I asked her suddenly, unable to keep my thoughts to myself any longer when it came to her optimistic nature.
"Like how?" she asked, confusion laced in her voice. I organised my thoughts to be a little clearer.
"Always so... positive," I finally managed to summarize and she finally turned her attention fully at me. She looked pretty in that shade of green, especially since she'd pulled her hair into a soft bun.
"Because everyone needs a ray of light to cling on to," she answered. I gave her a curious look.
"Don't you get tired being that for people? I mean, everyone does at some point," I asked and she took my hand in her own and patted it.
Her hands were ice cold in spite of the warm night, I realized.
"When you've been light for so long, it eventually makes you blind. So then, you can't make out the difference between light and dark anymore. You simply make a choice to walk towards which," she replied mystically.
I couldn't help but get mesmerized by the way she always voiced her thoughts with such clarity. She was an open book whose mystery I had to read through in between the lines.
"And Ishaani says that I talk like a psychic," I joked and she retracted her hand gracefully out of my own as she hugged herself.
"Don't worry about it, your love will never let her walk away from you. And even if she does mange to, she'll have to come back to you," she breathed out into the air and I realized that she was talking about our conversation from last week.
I was having one of those pessimistic phases where I wasn't sure about anything anymore and since she's kind of like my frustration taker, I vented it all out on her. Had it been anyone in her place, I'd have been embarrassed with how unreasonable I was that day, but somehow, it was cool with Ritika.
"How can you be so sure?" I asked her inquisitively and she simply sighed at me.
"Yours is the real deal," she replied soulfully and both of us stared at each other quietly, letting the fact sink into the warm night's air.
"You're... crazy!" I remarked, unable to think about anything else to say.
Both of us laughed a little at their statement before lapsing into a comfortable silence. It'd been five months since Ritika and I knew each other and yet we were as comfortably friends with each other as though we've been friends from years. Be it our first weekend in the pier where we got to know about each other to our little outing to the Bondi Beach last week, it's been a very meditating experience.
I remember how I'd been so quick to judge that Ritika was one of those homely girls who didn't like to socialize much and was one of those typically simple girls who like sitting at home with a book and a cup of coffee. Unfortunately, that was just one side of hers. Because the side I got to see at the pier was her alter ego. I still couldn't believe it that she'd actually come to meet me driving a bike. Harley Davidson! In a shirt and jeans combo with a jacket and a pair of black stiletto boots. And not just that, but she actually even dropped me back home with me sitting behind!
That girl is nothing like I initially thought she would be.
Oh, she's simple, all right and my initial judgment about her wasn't wrong. But it wasn't complete because she's got this total other side to her that's a tomboy! I should have heeded Mr. Zaveri's word of advice at his house that day, but I'm afraid that I preferred to believe Ritika's version of events upon her father's. She's got an exceptional balance of being both homely as well as an outgoing person. She's as talkative as a parrot though and by Jove, that girl is a box of adventures!
She's twenty-four and she's already gone scuba diving, parachute gliding and bungee jumping! Next year, she's planning on going mountain hiking. Excellent swimmer, athletic and has the record in her school for the fastest 50m breaststroke in swimming. Has a black belt in karate. Doing an additional Interior Designing course after having earned her Bachelors in Interior Architecture (Honours) degree last year. She earns pretty healthy for herself and even bought her father his first Mont Blanc from her own salary on his birthday last month.
Well, I wouldn't have known about the black belt had I not asked her about how her father had allowed her to stay out so late in the night and that too with someone she didn't even know and it was then that she'd let me know.
"Try any stunts and rest assured you'll find yourself in the hospital with a limb or two broken here and there," was what she'd begun her threat with but then gave me a soft smile when I did not fail in hiding away my fright.
"Don't worry, I won't chop your limbs off," she added, and it definitely made both of us laugh for a good five minutes.
If Ishaani calls me Mr. Prefect Perfect, I don't know what she'll call her. And I think for the first time I realize where these emotions come from when Ishaani would call me so. Ritika makes me feel insignificant at times with just how much she's achieved on her own merit and moreover, the passion she has for life. But you know what the strangest thing is? I've never been able to talk to any girl apart from Ishaani so far, and yet it's so easy with Ritika! Starting from the pier to right now, we've just become such great friends so easily who can share everything with each other no matter how insignificant without even judging each other.
She's taken me around to quite a lot of places around here so far. The Tarango Zoo, the Hyde Park, the pier and so many of those hidden beaches over here. And through travelling and the zest of it we found our common point. She told me all about her life with her father and how he's been doing the job of both parents ever since her mother passed away when she was six. Her father was her life, without whom she would just crack. She confessed how she's turned her father's busy life and the loneliness that swept along at times to channel it towards doing the things she loved and how it helped her. Over time, she became the adult between herself and her father, and since then there has been so looking behind.
I, in turn, told her all about my life back in Mumbai and her reaction was quite alike Finch's.
There's a comfort about having Ritika to share thing to, but. Finch's great, but there's something entirely different about Ritika. She isn't pushy or bossy or dominating, and she's just so patient, being the great listener she is. And she just comes up with such efficient ways to cheer me up or make me feel more positive about life when pessimism seems to look like an ally to me. And when I see the passion she has for life and the way she's transformed it for the better after her mother's death, it's been nothing short of an inspiration for me.
She's taught me so much about the hope and positiveness that life's meant to be about in these five months. And maybe that's why life hasn't been so hard in these five months without Ishaani. Because I've been learning to appreciate the little pleasures about it.
"Life isn't about the big occasions; it's about the little pleasure that we come across everyday," is what Ritika told me at the pier, and somewhere along the line it has changed my perspective about life so much and that too for the better. And that's what I did today.
Enjoy the little pleasures of life without complaining.
Finch and Monica returned back to the deck at around two-thirty and the four of us just spent some time talking about trivial things, starting from Finch's job at the University to his upcoming internship interview at Freehills and its corresponding effect upon his and Monica's relationship when it came to convincing her father to give her hand in marriage. And then the topic suddenly turned towards me and what were my plans after my post-graduation and how I was supposed to go and ask Mota Babuji about Ishaani's hand for marriage and how was I going to talk about all of this to Ishaani as well.
The topic next turned towards Ritika and she was giving a blow-by-blow description about how her father and she were both going to go trekking in May next year and scale the Mount Clintock at 11,450 feet that also happens to be the highest point on the Australian-Antarctic Territory. Well, they'd planned out quite a lot about the trip since they've been meaning to do it since ages, and it was kinda exciting hearing all about it. It reminded me of all those conversations that Ishaani and I would have about travelling the world, and especially about out trip to Manali.
And the conversation steered back to me along with the reminder that I'd complete a year tomorrow in Sydney! Can you believe it? A whole year in Sydney! And I thought that I wouldn't even manage to survive for a month without Ishaani. I've managed to survive a year amidst all the drama and tensions, and it was a very good feeling. Just six months more till I completed my masters and had my degree in hand. Well, it was a two year course but I've already completed the eight stipulated research papers for my course and the final cumulation of these eight into the final thesis paper is due in January so I'll get my degree by March for certain. And then, before I start working over here for six months, I'll visit Mumbai for a week finally and confess to Ishaani about my love for her.
But that's all for a little later still. Coming back to tonight, there were fireworks at around three in the morning and they were just... brilliant! Ritika's idea, since I'd told her a couple of months back that I loved them so much. I don't think that I've ever seen such a spell-binding show of fireworks in my life before except in movies and on TV, so this was just... surreal. It was an all-night cruise that Finch had set the yacht upon and the night lights of Sydney were simply magic.
But the biggest magic happened at 4:30 in the morning - Ishaani's call. To be honest, I didn't expect her to call me, but she did and I couldn't have been happier. We had a pretty long conversation (that was pending since three months) and it was thrilling, especially since both of us were reminiscing about our one-year anniversary apart and about how different life has been without each other. She was telling me about how Chirag's been such a great friend, I was telling her about how brilliant Finch and Ritika have been and it was all good fun.
Somehow, I didn't even feel jealous this time because I realized that sometimes having another friend of the opposite gender apart from the one you have isn't so bad afterall. I can understand Ishaani's initial reactions about Chirag with more clarity because I now know what it feels like to find someone willing to bear with all of your nonsense. Ofcourse I can never compare Ritika and Ishaani because they were as different as they could be from each other unlike how Ishaani used to do earlier with myself and Chirag (thankfully she's stopped with them entirely), but I understand the importance of the equations nonetheless.
There was a time when even a day wouldn't go by where we wouldn't go without sharing things with each other and there was a time now when we could go without talking to each other for three months straight. I didn't know whether that was good or bad, but I knew that for the hour and a half that we spoke for, it was as though nothing had changed. Her enthusiasm and my patient silence; my passion and her accommodation. Nothing had changed, and yet neither of us could deny that everything had.
It was just moments after I disconnected the call when the sun broke out of the horizon, spilling away rays of light into the world as it kissed the horizon's crown. The rays cascaded upon the waters that just glittered white underneath the powerful spell of the orange light, the azure blue at the sides only making the scene worth drowning into as the sky paled gradually into its usual shade of blue. Finch and Monica had both fallen asleep on the porch chairs at the front of the yacht and Ritika had fallen asleep on my shoulder. So all I did was gently carry her into the room and lay her down before I came back to the deck and stared ahead at the sunrise.
It was the thrill of every sunrise that mattered, the exhilaration of knowing that we'd lived through another night only to see the dawn break out at the end of it. Ishaani and I would often argue upon which was our favourite - the sunrise or the sunset? Hers was the sunset; mine was the sunrise. But we cherished both for each other because those were the little pleasures we always liked treasuring amidst the dark times of our lives. And as I stood upon the deck all alone, I shut my eyes and lived this sunrise for both of us, unable to keep the smile from creeping upon my face at the thought of her.
The little pleasures of life were certainly worth cherishing.
Constructive criticism will be more than welcome and sorry for any typos. :D :D
Next chapter:
Epistle 92
Edited by LadyMeringue - 8 years ago
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Debate Mansion
Parineeti
Chakravarti Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan
