part0012

It was the best night of Shashi Shivaramakrishnan’s life. Better than anything she could have dreamed of.

It didn’t matter that none of them knew Charlie’s whereabouts for six months. His last known address was a lodge in Jaipur, where he’d been apparently playing tourist guide to foreigners showing them the forts around Rajasthan. It didn’t matter that Charlie Thomas was the most unpredictable friend a person could have, Shashi was insanely happy he was here.

“It’s your first time in Mumbai, Shashi. Do you think I’d miss the chance to be here with all of you?”

As she entered Avi and Meher’s Chalet, her arm around Charlie’s waist she wasn’t surprised to find happy tears filling her eyes. Blinking rapidly, she tried to make sure they didn’t fall and ruin her makeup. Arjun would run away if he saw her with bhadrakaali eyes.

Shashi stopped mid-way and looked back at Arjun and Anu still outside the door. “Come in, both of you! Do you need formal invitations?”

Anu rolled her eyes. “No. But your suitcases aren’t going to roll themselves in.” She grunted a little and brought one large bag across the threshold.

Charlie immediately left Shashi’s side and picked up the bag from Anu. He didn’t say hi to Anu. Didn’t smile at her. Then Anu smiled at Charlie, quiet and shy and he smiled back. Inviting her in.

“Come in, doctoramma ,” he said. “Your hands aren’t meant for carrying luggage. They are meant to save lives.” Then he looked at Arjun in that way men did – sizing him up and down with one look – taking in the polished shoes and the designer shirt and unwrinkled pants and drawing his own conclusion. “Please, come in, Arjun saar .”

Arjun followed inside with the other suitcase, through a small passage-lobby, where their group photo was blown up and took up most of the wall.

It squished Shashi’s heart to see he didn’t roll it like Charlie did. He actually carried it with ease. The man was strong and tall and handsome…and he didn’t want her anywhere next to him.

The shine dimmed from her smile but she was determined to not mope. She walked over to Arjun’s side and said, “Charlie, meet my fiancé, Arjun Seshadri. Arjun, this is my favorite idiot in the whole world. Charlie Thomas.”

Charlie and Arjun shook hands. Charlie was actually a little shorter than Arjun, by a couple of inches or so but he had presence. In the ridiculous Hawaiian lungi and black tee shirt and that sanyaasi beard that covered most of his face, Charlie had presence.

Arjun, on the other hand, was perfect. Not a hair out of place, his glasses were unsmudged. He pushed them up the bridge of his nose and took his hand back.

Charlie nodded easily. “Famous. Notorious. They’re two sides of the same coin.”

Strangely, his answer put Arjun at ease who also smiled and said, “I feel you, bro.”

Charlie cocked his head to the side and then winked at Shashi who’d been quiet throughout this little exchange. “I might actually this one, kunju .”

She elbowed him in the stomach and he howled, dropping the suitcase on the floor. “Be nice and behave yourself, anna .”

Charlie winked at Arjun then. “She only calls me anna when she wants to piss me off.”

“Because,” Anu answered, “Charlie doesn’t like to be part of his family. Or anything, actually.”

Charlie shook his head. “That’s not true,” he said. “I have my family. I chose it. And.” He dragged Shashi closer for a sideways hug, which she returned with all her heart. “They chose me back.”

“Eh muttaalle !” Avi said as he appeared in the lobby-passage. “Are you going to talk here all night or come in?”

Anu grinned then, more natural than she’d been through the car ride with Arjun. “We were waiting for Mama and Mami to call us in.”

Avi narrowed his eyes and lunged at Anu, who shamelessly hid behind Shashi. Towering over her, while she did so.

Shashi enveloped Avi in a hug. “You are our Mama,” she said happily. “Where’s Mami?”

“Mami’s here,” Meher said in a half-crying voice, as she reached the awkwardly standing group.

And Shashi hugged her, feeling Anu at her back, holding on tightly, sandwiched between two women who understood her the best. Surrounded by the other two people who loved her unconditionally.

She’d missed this so much. Needed this so much. She turned her neck and gave her fake fiancé a grateful, trembling smile.

After freshening up in Meher’s fancy guest bathroom (she had soft towels with crochet ends) which smelled of expensive candles, Shashi had made her way to the living room, where everyone was gathered at the dinner table, lit up by candles with soft music playing in the background.

There would be plenty of time to go over the flat in leisure, right now, they would all just eat.

Avi had cooked a delicious meal worthy of her homecoming. It contained all of Shashi’s favorite dishes – masala dosai stuffed with paneer, vegetable biryani and mutton biryani for the meat eaters of the group, thayir pachadi Tanjavur style where okra was fried after marinating in spices and herbs and then soaked in thick curd, Meher’s mom’s avakkai pickle and appalams.

Shashi didn’t talk much, just answered the occasional question and let the conversation wash over her. It wasn’t often that she didn’t take part in conversation but, for once, she was happy to just be. Saying nothing.

It hurt her heart in the best way possible to see Charlie and Avi argue over Dhoni versus Kohli, an ongoing debate for the last ten years. Their heads were close together, and they had similar eating styles – eating with their fingers, mashing everything on the plate together like hungry, impatient ten-year-olds.

Meher and Anu were discussing shopping plans for her, talking about places like Hill Road and a Globus that was shut down now.

Arjun made his way through all the food he’d piled on his plate, silent and contained in himself.

Her heart stuttered just a little, like a car that braked suddenly, at his remote expression.

Worse, he didn’t want to belong here. And maybe dragging him into their friendly little group was not her best idea but she wasn’t going to question it anymore.

Meher poured some pachadi for Arjun without him asking. She was so gorgeous, in her no-makeup face that highlighted her high cheekbones and marble-white skin, which was somehow untouched after years sweating in the Mumbai sun. She wore a pink salwar kameez with no dupatta, slightly faded from years of use and her hair was tied back in a simple pony tail.

She was resplendent in a way Anu and Shashi would never be. Anyu because she was too often stuck with her nose in a book and not bothered about fashion trends, happy in a tee shirt and jeans. Shashi because she was never going to be a stunner.

“What sad thoughts are you thinking, kunjumma ?” Charlie asked quietly, taking a break from his cricket argument.

Shashi smiled and shook her head. She tore off a piece of the masala dosa and ate it. It was delicious. “I’m not sad. You’re crazy.”

Charlie gave her a knowing look. “I might not have seen you for two years but I know you Shashi. Something is bothering you.”

Because he was so absolutely right she went on the attack. “And whose fault is it that we haven’t seen you for two years, da ? Who does that? Who doesn’t meet family for seven hundred and twenty days?”

Charlie took his hand away from the back of her wicker chair. Meher and Avi had really fancy furniture, but it was all put together with a knowing touch. Meher had always been classy like that.

“Well, it’s nice to know your maths skills are still perfect. Must help with the banking job,” he said.

Shashi nudged at his arm. “Don’t avoid the subject, Charlie. Where have you been?”

“Let it go, kunju ,” he said quietly. Then he gave her an earnest look, one that was so unlike him. Because it was filled with regret. Charlie was not the type to regret anything. “Please.”

Charlie shook his head, shoving biryani and masala dosa and pachadi into his mouth in a gross combination. Anu caught him eating and wrinkled her nose.

“I told you, no? I’m staying in Mumbai for the next few months. I’ll be working from here.”

Shashi sat up straighter. Ready to defend Charlie’s unconventional career choices. At one time, he’d played tour guide, photographer, graphic artist, gardener and house caretaker and night watchman. All jobs that didn’t require a college degree, which Charlie did not possess. Proudly.

Charlie worked so he could make money and enjoy life. It had always been that way.

Having a career is for suckers, muttaallgal , he’d always told the rest of them.

“Actually I’m going to be helping my friend with his photography business here in Mumbai,” Charlie said casually. “He is attached to one of those caterers – Ronak or Shamiana or something. I didn’t really ask.”

Charlie gave her a long stare before answering. “Yeah, I have an actual job.”

Shashi was taken aback by the exchange. She knew Anu and Charlie didn’t really get along but that was such a rude question to ask.

The silence was acute, uncomfortable. For a second, no one knew what to say.

Then Avi asked, with a mouthful of biryani and pickle, “Does this job require you to look like a terrorist or are you planning to shave that beard off?”

Shashi’s phone vibrated and she picked it up. “It’s Amma,” she said, as she swiped up to answer the call.

She held the phone out and panned it around the table, “Hey, Amma. Look, everyone’s here. Even Charlie anna . Isn’t it great?”

Everyone waved at her Amma and Appa from their places around the table. Even Arjun lifted his head up from the food to smile at them.

She knew her parents did not exactly approve of Charlie’s vagabond, lazy lifestyle but he was family. They understood the value of the connection and so they talked to him while Shashi finished the biryani on her plate.

It wasn’t surprising that Arjun stood up as soon as he was done eating. He made a great show of looking at his watch. “It’s late. I should go. I have a lot of work to catch up on.”

Shashi stood up too to walk him out but he waved his hand. “No, no. You sit. Enjoy yourself. I’ll call and we can schedule when I have to pick you up on Monday, okay?”

She wondered if he was actually going to shake hands with her, even though they had just shared a meal together. He didn’t shake hands with her. He just nodded at her and the table in general and left quietly.

Avi and Meher walked him to the door, like the good hosts they were. When they came back, they looked wide-eyed at Shashi.

“How on earth did you manage to find the one person who is exactly opposite from you, kunju ?” Avi asked bewildered.

Shashi grinned even though her heart fell a little. They didn’t like Arjun. None of them did. He hadn’t done anything to make himself likeable to them. “Iyer Kalyanam dot com zindabad .” She winked at Avi. “Now what’s for dinner, Avi mama? I am starving!”

And because they all loved her so much, none of them commented anymore on her fiancé’s abrupt exit.

Cleanup duty fell to Shashi and Charlie since Avi had done all the cooking and Anu had to leave for work. Shashi tried her hardest to get Anu to bunk but she was the eternal good girl – she wouldn’t leave work for anything less than a calamity.

Meher helped them carry all the dishes and plates back to the kitchen which also had something called a ‘breakfast bar.’ Charlie grinned and asked her, “You guys drink in the morning? Awesome.”

Meher rolled her eyes and set about transferring the leftover food into Tupperware containers to be stashed in the refrigerator.

“You think you’re so funny? Why don’t you have your show on Netflix?”

Meher grinned, charmed despite herself and finished stacking the last of the boxes in the fridge. “You don’t have to do this. The maid will come tomorrow morning anyway.”

Shashi and Charlie gave each other solemn looks. “We are good guests,” they said in unison.

“Fine. Switch the light off when you’re done. And Charlie you’re sleeping on the couch since Shashi gets the guest bedroom. I’ll go make up your bed now and then crash.” She gave a delicate yawn. “I have to get up at four thirty tomorrow to do some power yoga.”

Shashi chuckled. “Why do you always feel so guilty after binging on Avi’s awesome food?”

Shashi looked down at her own, decidedly not-taut tummy and sighed. “You’re a woman of extreme willpower, Meher.”

“Manaivi ,” Avi called from somewhere in the house. “I can’t find the extra pillows. Why did you change their location without telling me?”

Meher grunted. “Their location hasn’t changed, Avi. You just forgot where they are.”

Avi yelled something back in return and Charlie and Shashi diplomatically turned to wash the dishes in the sink.

“I’ll go see what he’s up to. He’ll destroy the guest bedroom to search for the pillows,” Meher muttered and ran out of the room.

“Avi’s smart,” Charlie said, as he scraped the biryani and pachadi from someone’s plate neatly into the waste basket. “He just wants to make out with Meher. So he called her to the other room.”

Shashi laughed, tucked her hair behind her ear. “You’re mad, Charlie.” Then she shrugged. “But you’re probably right.”

She took the plates he handed her, squirted dishwashing liquid on them and started scrubbing. “Then why were you so rude to Anu back then?”

“I wasn’t rude to Anu. I offered to take her to the hospital, didn’t I?” Charlie was indignant.

“I know.” She softened her words with a sweet smile. “I saw that. You’re a true gentleman. A hero.”

“I’m better than your fiancé,” Charlie muttered as he stacked the last dish to be washed. “I didn’t run off the minute I finished stuffing my face. The dude must work out like crazy in order to keep off the weight, man.”

Shashi shrugged. “He mentioned something about running ten kilometers every day in the morning.”

“I know.” She nodded and washed all the dishes. “Amma, Appa are concerned about you. They want you to visit them.” She carefully put away the last dish for drying in the rack. “They said you haven’t spoken to Thatha in months.”

Shashi gave him an understanding look. “I know you don’t want to come back to us. But we are your family too, Charlie. You can’t just pretend we aren’t there.”

Charlie rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, scratched it. “Why not? Everyone’s pretended that I am not there for years now.”

Charlie hugged her waist. “I don’t mean you, kunju . I never mean you. I love you,” he admitted. “And I missed you so much.”

Shashi’s lips trembled, overwhelmed from the events of the day, from seeing all the people she loved gathered under one roof, by Arjun’s abrupt departure …from the lies she was spinning so effortlessly they almost seemed like truth.

“I missed you too. And you have to give me a number I can call you at.”

“Of course,” he promised her. “I told you. I’m here to stay, Shashi.”

Shashi wanted to protest but what was the point of denying the truth? “I could convince her. I’m good at convincing people of anything.”

“Yeah.” Charlie walked her out of the kitchen and into the living room. “You know that annoying habit of yours is going to get you in big trouble one day. You can’t just make people do what you want, Shashi.”

Shashi walked to the balcony, which was full of mosquitoes considering they didn’t have entry into the flat. Before her, lay all of Mumbai – glittering, shining with tall buildings and tiny lights, the sky a velvet black background against this magical place. Standing here, looking out at this view with Charlie was a dream come true for her.