I broke down after only seven days of my stay with the Sekhars. I was stumped to make proper conversation, too blue to sleep or eat and when Shiv's Daddu cracked unerringly poor jokes about his plants named after yesteryear actresses' I could not help but cry when the tears finally came after long overdue.
First day of school could not have been a more dispiriting affirmation of my doubts about enrolling into IIMU - I was sent out of class for not finishing my pre-admission assignments. Well, I didn't care to explain that I didn't have prior knowledge of the submission deadline. I didn't want to give away that I had come from understaffed average town schools that didn't start syllabus until mid-term.
If none of that were enough things to fortify against, Saanchi saw me as her blood enemy from another birth. Her family members' meaningless comparison brought about a reaction in her so acutely opposing in nature that the contrast was too great for words.
Lying down, I drew my knees up and balled myself into a fetal position to see if it could contain the deluge of emotions spouting inside me.
When nothing helped, I called the only person I could trouble with my woes in the middle of the night - though I couldn't wrap my head around the reasons why I thought he would understand. Or why I sought him among others who were far more a friend that he was.
"Anandi..." I heard the surprise in his voice and something that conveyed he was a little too happy to hear from me. "Just the person who can help me."
My brows drew together in confusion, but before I could voice any of them, he spoke to disperse them. "I'm making Kitchdi and I'm trying to google what goes into the tadka."
"Kichdi? Now? What happened to your joined at the hip - government approved PA - Bheem singh?"
"He is off. And it happens to be one of those nights you are hungry as a horse, but you wouldn't settle for anything less than that one dish you are fixated in your head. Yeah! That's tonight."
"Ah! I see. You have got it too bad then. Alright, do you know where Bheem singh keeps the cloves?"
It was another twenty minutes before the spices were hunted down in the dungeons of his cabinet and located. I walked him through the steps thereafter, all the way to plating his cooked meal and throughout that time, he had me laughing so much that my stomach hurt towards the end. For at one such instance, he put his arm out to reach for the kadai in the back and his hand came out dusted with cobwebs instead, making him swear off entering his kitchen again.
It was as if I was back in Jaitsar again and there wasn't a thing that needed fixing in my life that moment.
"Ah!" I heard him exclaim with a pleased contentment in his tone and it brought me out of my short lived reverie just as he took in a spoonful his tedious labor. I was nearly about to assume that the dish had turned out edible, when he added, "Now, that is a kitchdi everyone can resist."
"What happened?" I sat up curiously, albeit knowing that one or the other ingredient had been used in surplus or not at all.
"Too much dhal and too little rice. It wouldn't even remotely pass for Kitchdi. Let me just eat up dinner that I bought from the canteen."
"You do that." I said biting back the words that rose to my lips - I had suddenly lost interest to discuss what I had originally called him for. "I will catch you later then, Shiv. Good night!"
"Anandi..." And he drew a pause in a way of telling he was about to share something of importance.
"Did you know that I got an F in my first semester at the London school of Economics? Well, they don't make a big deal about such things, but back then I felt like it will always be my single most failure that I will never get over. But, you should know that I also went on to finish the degree with the best GPA in class." At first, he sounded rather nonchalant while he spoke about his past and in a second I heard his voice take on a tone of concern.
"These setbacks should only be seen as instances to drive our personal motivation up, not the other way round. I understand that being sent out of class is an image issue for you, but you will hardly remember it once you focus on the things that actually matter."
Just like that, my head fell back against the wall and my eyes closed feeling a squeeze in my heart. "How did you know?" I whispered into the microphone.
"Anandi, its midnight and you didn't call because you knew that I had somehow developed a craving for Kitchdi. Or to make petty complaints about Saanchi; that she is giving you a hard time at home. I would have called you earlier, but then it would become unsolicited advise."
"Is there anything that you don't know?" I laughed, incredulous that he had been well appraised of the events at home and at school.
"A lot of things you cannot possibly imagine." There was that pause again, but this time his voice trailed with a faint exasperation and I couldn't possibly conceive all that it entailed.
"Well, that's besides the point and let me apologize for what Saanchi did," he let out a sigh as though he wished he hadn't spared the cane with his sister, "She is impulsive and would not stop to rest until she got her point across. But, that was no reason to come into your room with her pile of old jeans and tops."
"Shiv, if it was anything of a bother I would deal with it. On my own terms. Furthermore, I do need her fashion lessons. It will be one less thing to worry about in campus."
"Fine!" he said and I could picture him rolling his eyes at me. I smiled as he prompted me. "What else?"
"I was thinking..." my voice drowned as I was nowhere prepared to give solutions to my own issues. "Actually, study groups are not an option. You cannot imagine the scorn they have for me because I got in easy under the rural quota, while they slaved away their youth prepping for the admissions test."
My next proposal was ludicrous at best and I half-expected him to have a good laugh at that. "Do you think I can find tutors here who can come close to the unattainable standards of IIMU?"
While I steeled myself for his teasing, he sounded relieved and excited in equal measure. "Shit! Why didn't I think of him before? Prithvi...he lives in Udaipur too."
"Prithvi?" I couldn't tell what surprised me more - the fact that there were tutors of the kind I was looking for; or that such a tutor also happened to be his acquaintance.
"Prithvi Sukumaran - Brooding, unreliable, eccentric, my batch-mate and friend by some bizarre standards. He is IAS too, but he thinks he is a better artist than a civil servant. It runs in his family. According to his last whereabouts, he was in Udaipur working on the palace restorations and some commissions for Leela palace hotel." He sounded a bit contemplative before he continued, "If these things take years as they claim, then he must still be living there. You should be able to get all the help from him. Rascal! After all, he beat me in the civil services exam. I will call him tomorrow and also text you his number." He finished off in one breath.
"Do you always have all answers handy for my queries?" I was smiling and yet, I sensed some remnant disappointment in me.
"I will work very hard not to have any for the next time." He responded with his usual lazy charm, before we bid our goodbyes.
Falling into the plush of the pillow, I tried to close my eyes and waited for sleep to come. However, it appeared elusive until I could reluctantly admit the thought that was relentless in its assertion inside my head.
It was the first night I wished Jaitsar wasn't so far from where I was.
Link to Prithvi
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Edited by Lahari. - 12 years ago
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Arjun
Cricket
