Hello Friends.
From giving daily updates to such long delays between the chapters, I am sure it must have messed up with your memory of the story. It would be too much to ask for you to read back the chapters given how challenging our daily lives are. 92! Hell, even I wouldn't do that as a reader not when I am not sure when or whether is story will see its end. If you have forgotten about anything, please feel free to ask me. I will help you.
I see that a lot of you don't remember THE MAN WITH THE DOUBLE i IN HIS NAME. He's important hence we need to remember him.
1. Who is Hardiik?
I will quote my own chapters.
Their first meeting -
Ch - Smoke And Mirrors :
The party where Kirti was first time invited by Nishit to his house and where Nishit had hit her brother.
The guy standing a few feet away from her was an exception. A loose grey Kurta over his bony figure paired with jeans and loafers. Hair and beard both unkempt.
She must have been staring for he looked at her, his eyes boring into her. She looked away immediately. Then looked back again, stealthily. She didn’t know why but she found him an interesting character study. To pass time, she wondered about his profession. He looked like those NGO workers. Raanjhanaa movie’s Abhay Deol types but with a less impressive face and body or he must one of those righteous journalists working in newspapers that had self important names like Jansatta or Rashtriya Sangram.
This time when he caught her, he elevated his left eyebrow and she flushed red in embarrassment.
The waiter who was going about offering drinks and snacks bypassed Kirti and she couldn’t help but feel if it was a slight. Or why would he offer to everyone in her vicinity and leave out her and...that grey Kurta guy. In that she felt a moment of camaraderie with that guy who seemed quite unbothered.
As it is, she needed all her courage to stand in this sea of unfamiliar faces and wait, when in the hearts of hearts she felt out of place here; insults like this gave an unwelcome feeling. Could even the waiter tell the difference between her and the people here?
Well even if she was, he had the duty to serve her and everyone else without any personal bias.
‘Here,’ she stopped the waiter when he returned with another set of delicacies. ‘You forgot me the last time.’ She added.
‘Sorry Ma’am.’ Perhaps he was just being absent minded. Perhaps there was nothing to do with bias and class and clothes. Perhaps her jagged feathers were too easily ruffled.
‘You missed him too,’ she pointed to the Kurta guy.
When the guy was proffered a foreign dish, he shook his head in denial. The waiter told him something and he looked in the direction of Kirti.
She smiled uncertainly.
He accepted it, then walking towards her said, ‘Hardiik, with a double i’
Kirti nodded and remained quite wondering in her foolish emotional oneness, she had invited a stranger’s attention. What if he was a creep or thought that she was passing advances at him?
He continued to wait. For an acknowledgement?
‘Nice name?’ She said, regretting her impulsive action every second.
‘What is yours?’ He asked.
‘Mine... My name?’
He nodded patiently.
‘My name is...Ur...Urmi.’
‘Urmii?’ He repeated, looking at her quizzically.
‘Hmm Urmi. With a single i.’
‘Cool’
Before she could add that she had a husband - for precautionary measures - he had moved on, dumping the starter dish in a nearby bin.
What role he played in her life?
Ch - Smoke And Mirror
Then she waited for Nishit. In equal parts of hope and anticipation, she waited for him. He did come but not to her. She saw him mingle with guests and thought he must be busy but felt restlessness akin to deep longing in her heart. He did not even look towards her and she felt odd and lonely. As she followed him with her eyes, someone came and slid their hand around her shoulders.
‘Hello Tejas,’ she tried moving away from him.
‘You did not tell me you were invited too?’ He asked. ‘Who invited you? Nishit?’
‘And Prasanna.’
‘A few days I am off the screen and you two become fast friends? What? Could not fight off his charm?’ His tone was acerbic and accusing.--------
--------------------------------------------
------------------------------The hum of noises of the crowd made blood rush to her ears as she spotted the two - Sana and Nishit laughing together - and realized what Tejas had wanted to show her.
Nishit had asked her to wait. She thought he was busy with his guests. This was the guest he was busy with?!
‘Told you!’ Tejas whispered into her eyes.
Speechless, she only stood looking at them as their chemistry leaked through smiles, nods and comments.
For a minute, she felt Nishit's eyes pause at her, his gaze hard and belonging to that of a stranger.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ‘I have something to show you. Come.’ Tejas said.
‘I don’t want to. It’s getting late. I want to go home.’
‘Just this one thing. Come, just for me.’
He took her to a circular glass balcony.
‘What is it?’ She did not know why he had brought her to this secluded part of the house.
‘See there,’ he turned her around and asked her to face the sky.
A few seconds later, a rocket burst in the sky lighting it with millions of tiny coloured stars. 3...2..1...people counted as fireworks filled and lighted the sky. The enchanting sky for a few moments erased all her hurt and pain. She felt an arm snake around her, a hot breath brush her ears, ‘It’s magnificent, isn’t it? Remember, we had watched a Japanese movie and you’d said, it would be nice to watch fireworks like these.’ His arm feeling like a heavy serpent siting on her shoulder, she removed it off herself as politely as she could. But felt herself turned around. Tejas stood before her, his back to the open balcony.
‘Kirti, why are you shying away from me?’ He asked, tenderly removing the tendrils of hair off her face.
She felt cornered and uncomfortable.
‘Tejas, I need to go find my brother.’
He cut her way. ‘I am not stopping you but...have I done something wrong? Why are so flighty around me? That day also you left. Then never called. Today also…’Her eyes not meeting his, they darted all around and landed on the window of the room of other wing. Someone had been standing there and had stepped back before her eyes could land on them. The curtains still fluttered.
He had closed the distance between them and bile began to rise in her throat. Touching her cheeks, he said, ‘Only we get each other don’t we?’ She slapped his hand away.
‘I said I want to go find my brother.’ She realised she had yelled that at him.
Tejas stepped back stunned. Raising his two hands in the air, he raked them through his hair. ‘Fine. No need to shout.’
‘Any problem?’ Someone had stepped inside the balcony. It was the guy with a double ‘i’.
‘No problem. Mind your own business,’ Tejas spat out. ‘Why are you here?’ he said irreverently. ‘Guests aren’t allowed in this part of the house.’
‘Is it? I saw you here and thought otherwise. Or is it your house? Then focusing on the woman, ‘Are you ok?’
She nodded her head. Then wondered if this man was following her. Filled with dread and insecurity even with her best friend of years standing next to her, she dialed her brother’s number. He wasn’t picking up her call. She dialed Prasanna next. None of them received her call.
She hadn’t seen them the entire time.
‘Tejas, did you see my brother? He was with Prasanna.’
‘Prasanna usually takes off to her room. She must be there.’
‘Where is her room? Take me to her.’
Hardiik who was standing at the door of the balcony gave her a wide berth. She couldn’t help but whisper a thank you as she passed him.
Ch - Begani Shaadi Abdullah Deewana
‘In a very startling turn of events, Nishit Aggarwal offered...to be very specific...is right now offering a marriage proposal to your da... Kirti.’
‘WHAT??!? Are you kidding me?’
‘You think I have an appetite to crack jokes right now?’
‘How? Why? I mean... how do they even know each other? Why is the heir of the Aggarwals offering for her? What is he even doing there?’
‘He has been here since last night. Left for a while and then came back again.’
‘Any hidden motivation? How did she even manage to hook him? Sly little thing isn’t she?’
‘He has eyes and certain other goods as well in proper working condition going by his active dating life. Apart from that...they have known each other for a long time now. She went to the same school as him. Hidden motivation...affection, ‘lou’?’
‘Impossible!’ Then a few seconds later Urmi added, ‘Phuk! We cannot let this happen, Hardiik.’
‘Of course because he has caught your fancy!’
‘Stop her from accepting him.’
‘How can I?! You don’t want her to marry the Ojha guy. This Nishit is also forbidden. And she’s determined to marry today itself. The grandmother is on her deathbed and it’s apparently her last wish!’
‘That crow eating, manipulative witch! She has still not stopped with her manipulations. That ancient vulture is not going anywhere, I can give it to you in writing. She has fed on the bones of rhinoceros and the blood and tears of common people like us. I’m telling you, the minute the marriage is solemnized, she will wake up and say, But I’m still alive!’
‘Why does she even have to marry?’ He asked.
‘Don’t let Nishit marry her!’
‘Obviously not!’ His tone was dipped in sarcasm.
‘If she’s so determined then I guess any guy will do ...YES...you... is there any way we can get you both hooked?’
‘I see how you did not think twice before relinquishing me.’ He said all the while his gaze stuck on the young woman in front of him. Hair coiled up, a few cowlicks grazing her forehead. The Diwali party’s glow was all washed out. In place of that radiant woman, now a pale and ghastly looking woman stood. While saying something to that suave slimy b*stard, she wiped her tears with the back of her hand, and Hardiik looked away.
‘We have to part ways sooner or later. She’s good enough? I am hoping. Not as experienced as me but you’ll teach her what I have taught you, wouldn’t you? I just hope she’s not a lost case. Steeped in those archaic ‘sanskars’. The old bag’s granddaughter after all she is.’
That can always be mended, he thought.
To the woman on the phone he said, ‘‘You think this is Pocket FM’s Emergency Ki Shadi going on? We are standing outside the Marriage Registrar. I will go and say, Hey Tina, Are you looking for a groom? I am Ranvijay. My bride also did not turn up. Let’s get married and she will look at me with gratitude filled eyes?!’
‘What FM?’
‘Forget it!’
‘Hardiik, should I make my carpet entry? Announce myself?’
‘No!’ He said, his eyes unconsciously seeking out Kirti..
‘But the young lady just piques my interest.’
‘There will be enough occasion to appease your curiosity. Right now isn’t the time for it. How do we prevent the marriage?’
‘Figure out yourself. Use your charm, your resources.If the old bag passes away, pass on the good news without any delay.’
Ch - A Maze Of Lies :
Where she meets him again while in the process of leaving Ojha's house and moving in with Lily. She goes out on a run with Lily and finds him there.
She exhaled out in a long whoosh. His eyes mirrored the same expression when he spotted her. But after a cursory glance, he didn't look at her again. She also continued with her breathing exercises.
It did not take her very long to comprehend that he was the seasoned runner for he continued to remark on their postures and instruct on the set of exercises.
‘Lily,’ she bent and whispered when the girl lay down near her bench. ‘Do you know him?’
‘Who?’ She asked, working on what they called Scorpion, to flex hamstrings and hips.
‘Your group leader.’
‘Hardiik?’ Lily asked, drawing the attention of the mentioned person. He looked at them, and since Lily lay face down, it was only Kirti, his eyes were focused on.
Kirti made a pretense of assisting Lily and did not look at him. When he looked away, she continued again. ‘Yes, him. Do you know him?’
‘Since the last fifteen years,’ Lily replied. ‘He used to play cricket with my older brother.’
‘You have a brother?’ Kirti emptied the bench and plopped on the ground next to Lily. Hardiik had moved away correcting the postures of the men.
‘Yes. He's a marine engineer. He works on a ship now.’
‘Wow. There’s so much I didn’t know about you.’
‘You never noticed us. Naturally, because I used to be in the younger group. Then you stopped playing altogether. I would see you and Shruti often though.’ She sat up. ‘Even your brother, he used to play with my brother’s lot. Why are you asking about Hardiik?’
‘I saw him earlier and was curious.’ Others had begun to slowly jog away.
‘In our neighborhood?’
‘No at a party. He lives in our neighborhood?’ Kirti was confused. How come she had never seen him?
‘No, but since he was always around, I thought he lived somewhere close.’ Lily straightened up, ready to jog.
‘Lily,’ The woman in shorts called out.
‘Gotta go.’
Kirti wiggled a Bye to her; then pushed herself off the ground, dusting the sand and grass off her suit.
Hardiik waited for all of the runners to start and cover some length before he turned his attention to her.
‘Are you joining us?’
‘Oh no. I am not. Some other day, maybe.’
He gave an elaborate nod. ‘Urmi, right? We met the other night.’
‘Yes, the other night. I will leave now,’ she said and turned away, marching off to where her vehicle was parked.
Ch -
This time when they reached the park, Hardiik and the team were already present and exercising.
'Hardiik, this is my friend, Kirti. She wants to join too.'
When Hardiik turned his eyes to meet those of Kirti's, he found no self consciousness or guilt for having been caught lying.
She looked at him impassively and he was forced to nod his head at her, a little disappointed at her indifference.
'Hello, Kirti. Have you ran before?'
'Does running after the bus or from one room to another count?'
The left of his lips was lifting in a smile but he curbed it maintaining a business-like facade.
'Then you will only jog for the first two weeks.' He instructed, turning away, dismissing her.
But she had his attention the entire time. He couldn't be in the same space as her and not notice her.
He could tell which path she turned, where and on which bench she plopped down, with what expression she gazed at the cloud, which child had her attention, or which gossip disgusted her.
Observing her had become second nature to him now.
XxxX
Lily exchanged a worried look with Hardiik as they tried to keep up with Kirti.
Kirti had been told to keep to jogging in the first week but she began running and running she was quite hard in the present moment. It was evident to Lily, who had been a runner for more than a year now, that Kirti’s technique was all wrong. She would exhaust all her energy very soon and would also end up with a muscle injury.
‘What’s up with her?’ Hardiik asked, sprinting to Lily. ‘She usually leaves by now.’
Oh yes! Lily remembered. Kirti usually left before others because she had to pick Radha from drawing class.
‘Kirti,’ she called, speeding up. ‘Kirti, you have to go pick up Radha.’
‘I will take care of Kirti,’ he said, signaling she should take care of her other business. Lily looked at Kirti for one last time, turned around, and ran back to take care of the kid.
Her legs on their own volition had picked up speed and now she had to win.
=======
She was getting up, but then her dead legs miffed at such maltreatment refused to support her. Her head also felt dizzy and she found herself falling back but a pair of arms found her.
Hardiik supported her but she struggled in his hold. ‘Oh No. It isn’t like this. Nobody comes to help me. This is supposed to be the end, you know. I am dead and even till the end, I don’t get any help. And, when the news reaches them, they are not grief-stricken but yes, they feel a momentary sadness overcome them. For a second, they must think, we overdid it with her. She was, after all, a human. Bone-muscle-heart. There was only this much she could take.’ she slid down, on her feet, and he followed suit.
‘No, it doesn’t end like this,’ he said, handing her a water bottle that he had bolted to get for her. ‘She is running and falls at one point. The man who has witnessed her race longer tracks than this, and also win, knows this cannot be the end. She is a human. A strong one at that. Grit-Determination-Resilience. But he lets her cry. Because it is okay to grieve. It is okay to scream and it is okay to be angry. There is only this much she can take at a time.’
Kirti cried silently and then embarrassingly loudly. Drinking water in between and then coughing it out all on him. He did not flinch in disgust, nor did he utter any extra word.
‘Why are you tearing up?’ She asked through her sobs.
‘Tears are maybe infectious?’ He replied.
‘Don’t look at me. It makes me angry that I cannot control my emotions.’
‘Okay. Then let’s do one thing. You wait here while I go get my car? You won’t do anything right?’
‘I have my exam coming up. The application fee was Rs. 850! You think I will let it go to waste?’
-----------
Hardiik came in the evening to check on her. Kirti was locked in her room giving a mock test.
While he waited, Radha decided to convert the guest into her Ludo partner. She laid out the game for him, even chose color pieces for him.
When he won, he was called a cheater!
He began to drop more often on the pretext of playing with Radha and Radha too began to look forward to his visits because, after the initial win, she was able to always defeat him. He brought Poppins and played as many times as she told him to.
Hardiik did not have much interaction with Kirti apart from accidental glimpses of her through the window.
‘I am sorry for lying. I was uncomfortable to share my name,’ she had said the only time they had a conversation after the evening she had broken down. ‘And thank you for helping me out. I...it was a bad day.’
‘It’s okay. I understand. Happens with everyone.’
He usually sat outside playing board games with Lily and Radha.
Occasionally when luck would be on his side, he would hear her cram some data, sometimes breaking into a song mid-way.
An indifference curve is a curve that shows the alternative combination of two products, each giving the same utility.
Icocost line is a line on the two axis graph which shows the combination of factor inputs that can be...that.can.be….Then she would stare into space, a faint warble of song would reach them, ‘Baazuyon mein tum mujhe betahasha ghere ho...kal ki fikr hai kisko..’ Her neck would crane and eyes would drift close, ‘Tum abhi toh mere hoo…’
And when Kirti sang, he would watch Radha, too hum along the lyrics and bob her head. It was endearing to watch the two so in sync with each other. When Radha would notice she had their attention, she would get more boisterous, tapping her feet and singing loudly, stressing on syllables...ohh humsafa...hamanvaaaaa…
'Do you know any spellings? Or do you just know songs?' Lily would ask, in response to which Radha would begin spelling out her entire vocabulary.
XxxX
'Radha, come and drink your milk,' Kirti walked out to find Radha with yet another pack of Poppins. She had even torn open the packet and was ready to pop a green candy into her mouth.
Snatching the candy from the girl's hand, she tapped her head.
'The rate at which you are eating sweets, big-ugly worms would be announcing a teeth-warming function anytime now!'
'It is my toffee!' Radha protested, jumping to catch hold of her toffee.
'Go and drink your milk and after that sit with your books.'
'Give...give it back,' Radha did some pleading but realizing it did not affect Kirti, stomped away. 'You are bad! You took away my toffee.' She shouted when she was sure of the distance between them.
'Baby, I can get worse than this. i will cut your pony if you use that tone with me again! Go and study!'
Once she was sure of Radha not being around, she popped a red candy into her mouth. It had been a long time since she had tasted Poppins.
'Uhm excuse me, I think…' Kirti turned around to find Hardiik. 'I had left my keys behind.' He explained.
'Oh,' she said with the candy still in her mouth and moved aside as he went to fetch his car keys.
She had heard someone's steps but had thought it was Lily coming up.
'Thanks,' he said, eyeing the toffee packet in her hands.
'I took it from her. If not, then she would eat all at once which isn't good for her teeth. I just had one. Don't worry. I will give it back to her.'
The next time, he got three packs of Poppins, asking Radha to share them with the other two girls.
XxxX
‘Why does Hardiik come here?’ Kirti asked one day. ‘For you?’ She teased Lily. A pair of pigeons outside was making guttural noises disrupting the quiet of a January afternoon.
‘Why would he come for me?!’ Lily’s reaction was louder than she had wanted to.
‘I am sorry,’ Kirti backtracked, ‘I shouldn’t have said that. It wasn’t my place.’ Embarrassed, she turned to look out of the window.
‘Why did you say that?’ Lily asked after a while, unfolding and unfolding a slip of tattoo that came wrapped around one rupee candies. It had a picture of some ancient animal.
‘Huh? Just like that. It was wrong of me.’ When Lily continued to stare, Kirti continued, ‘You both have known each other for years. I thought maybe he was or you both...I am sorry, not my place, I realize.’
‘I know him but only barely. He moved out and I saw him less. It was only recently we connected during running practice.’ Lily clarified.
‘Oh,’ Kirti nodded.
‘I think he comes for you,’ Lily said, mindlessly removing the transparent foil that was stuck protectively over the temporary tattoo.
‘Me?’ Kirti asked disbelievingly. ‘I don’t even know him.’
Lily shrugged. ‘That’s what I felt.’
XxxX
Hardiik was as usual climbing the stairs that led to Kirti's quarters when he heard her talking on the phone.
'Biplab, how would you feel when you come to know that your life has been a lie? That everybody around you has been lying to you! I cannot trust anyone anymore! I feel like a fool…'
He turned around to never come again. Days later, he passed a note to Lily, for Kirti.
'I told you he didn't come for me!' Lily said.
'And I told, he would leave too.'
She opened the note.
'I am sorry,' it read. 'I always knew you weren't Urmi. I also always knew who Urmi was.'
XxxX
Biplab was scrolling down the pictures Radha had sent to him. There was one unfamiliar man who featured in most of the pictures with her.
Hadik, sometimes she called him, and other times Hard-ick and both the times he couldn't get the names right, her pronunciation sounding like headache or Harddisk to him. On zooming in on the guy's face, somehow he didn't look unfamiliar. He had seen this face before. He had known the face before!
His most recent entry was in - Kishan but since the entire chapter is his I will not put it up here. I guess if one is interested one can go and read that one. It's a small chapter.
Edited by Meerkat - 2 years ago
Cricket
436