ONE NIGHT (25 page)

‘Because I need the money. My friends have a lifestyle that I have to

keep up with. Money lets me come to places like this,’ Vroom said.

‘It’s just Bakshi. You are worked up about him and now you are blaming

it on the call center,’ I said.

‘Screw Bakshi, he is not the only bad boss around. C’mon, the whole

world is being run by a bad, stupid-evil boss,’ he said, pointing to CNN. ‘Look

at them, scared out of their guys, ready to bomb everyone. Meanwhile, all we

do it talk on the phone all night. White the world snores away,’ Vroom said.

‘Stop complaining about working at night. Doctors do it, hotel people do

it, airplane pilots do it, factory workers—hell, even that does bitch works at

night,’ Priyanka said.

‘There is nothing wrong with working at night. And I agree the money is

good. But the difference is, we don’t have jobs that make up work to our

potential. Look at our country, we are still so behind these Americans. Even

when we know we are no less than them,’ Vroom said, gesturing wildly at the

TV screen.

‘So? What other kinds of jobs can there be,’ Esha said with a hairclip in

her mouth. She had begun the ritual of untying and retying her hair.

‘So like, there is so much to do. We should be building roads, power

plants, airports, phone networks and metro trains in every city like madness.

And if the government moves its rear—end and does that, the young people in

this country will find jobs there. Hell, I would work days and nights for that—

as long as I know that what I am doing is helping build something for my

country, for its future. But the government doesn’t believe in doing any real

work, so they allow these BPOs to e opened and think they have taken care of

the youth. Just a this stupid MTV thinks showing a demanded chick do a dance

in her underwear will make the program a youth special. Do you think they

really care?’

‘Who?’ I said. ‘The government or MTV?’ I got up and signaled for the

check (in bars you always ask for the ‘check’—never the ‘bill’). It was 3:50

a.m., and I had enough of Vroom’s lecture. I wanted tog get back to the call

center soon.

Vroom paid for the bill with his credit card and we promised to split the

costs later.

‘Both. Both of them don’t give a fuck,’ Vroom said as we left Bed.

The door bitch and the bouncer gave us a puzzled looks we walked out.

#28

Vroom drove us out of Bed and we were soon back on the highway.

Every now and then the Qualis swayed to the left or right of the road.

‘Careful,’ Esha said, ‘you okay Vroom?’

‘I’m fine. Man, I love driving,’ Vroom said dreamily.

‘I can drive if you…’ I said.

‘I said I’m fine,’ Vroom said in a firm voice. A few minutes later, we

passed by Sahara Mail, the biggest shopping mall in Gurgaon. Abruptly, Vroom

brought the Qualis to a halt.

‘I feel nauseous,’ Vroom said I think we were all feeling a little nauseous

after Vroom’s erratic driving.

‘Whatever you do, don’t throw up in the Qualis. The driver will kill

you,’ Esha said.

Vroom rested his head on the steering wheel. The horn blew loud

enough to wake up the street dogs.

‘Let’s take a walk Vroom,’ I said and tapped his shoulder. We got out of

the Qualis.

I made Vroom walk around the perimeter of the Sahara mall. We passed

by several advertising hoardings showing all kinds of people: a couple all

smiles because they had just bought a toothbrush; a group of friends giggling

over their mobile phones; a family happily feeding their kid junk food; a

young graduate jumping with joy, clutching a credit card; a girl holding seven

shopping bags and beaming. All the ads had one thing is common. Everyone

looked incredibly happy.

‘What the hell are they so happy about?’ Vroom said. ‘Look at that

toothbrush couple. My mom and dad, they are never that happy.’

‘Just take deep breaths and walk in a straight line Vroom. You’re

drunk,’ I said.

‘I’m fine,’ he said, ‘but mom and dad…Shyam, why do they hate each

other so much?’

‘Grown ups man, they are way more complicated than we are. Don’t

even try figuring them out,’ I said.

Vroom stopped walking and straightened up. He told me to pause as

well, and continued: ‘Think about this. The people who gave birth to me can’t

stop hating each other enough. What does that tell you about me? Half my

genes must be fighting with the other half. No wonder I am so fucking messed

up.’

‘We are all messed up man, let’s go,’ I said and prodded his shoulders.

He walked faster to get a few steps ahead of me.

At the corner of Sahara Mall we passed by a Pizza Hut. It was closed.

Vroom went up and stood in front of it. I wondered if he had really gone

crazy; was he expecting pizza at this time?

We stood near the entrance. On our right, there was a thirty-foot wide

metal hoarding of a cola company. A top Bollywood actress held a drink bottle

and looked at us with inviting eyes. Like a fizzy drink was all it took to seduce

her into bed.

Vroom walked close to the actress’s face.

‘What’s up dude/’ I said.

‘You see her?’ Vroom said, pointing to the actress.

I nodded.

‘There she is, looking at us like she is our best friend. Do you think she

cares for us?’

‘I don’t know. She is a youth icon man,’ I shrugged my shoulders.

‘Yes, youth icon. This airhead chick is supposed to be out role model.

Like she knows a fuck about life and gives a fuck about us. All she cares about

is cash. She doesn’t care about you or me. She just wants you to buy this

black piss,’ Vroom said, pointing to the cola bottle.

‘Black piss?’ I said and smiled. I sat down on some steps nearby.

‘Do you know how much sugar there is in one of these drinks?’ Vroom

said.

I shook my head.

‘Eight spoons of sugar in every bottle—and nothing else. And yet, they

convince us this is important. It isn’t.

Vroom looked around and noticed a pile of bricks. He lifted one and

threw it hard at the cola hoarding. Bang! It hit the actress’s cheek, creating a

dimple you would almost think was natural. She still kept smiling.

‘Careful, for fuck’s sake. Let’s go back. Someone will see us and get us

arrested.’

‘Like I care. Nobody cares,’ Vroom said and staggered towards me. I

looked at his lanky outline in the streetlights. ‘The government doesn’t care

for anybody,’ he continued. ‘Even that “youth special” channel, they don’t

care either. They say youth because they want the damn Pizza Huts and

Cokes and Pepsis of the world to come and give pizza and coke, we will be

happy. Like young people don’t have a fucking brain. Tell us what crap to

have and we’ll have it.’

Vroom sat down in front of the Pizza Hut steps. ‘Shyam,’ he said. ‘I’m

going to throw up.’

‘Oh no,’ I said and moved three feet way from him.

‘Unnh…’ Vroom said as he threw up. Puke spread around like a 12”-thin

crust pizza with gross toppings outside the entrance.

‘’Feeling better/’ I said as I carefully helped him up. Vroom nodded his

head.

He stood up and jerked his shoulders free from me. He lifted another

brick. He hurled it high, and with one wide swing smashed it into the Pizza

hut restaurant. Crash! A window shattered, and bits of glass fell down like a

beautiful ice fountain. An alarm began to ring.

‘Damn, Vroom have you gone mad?’ let’s get the hell out of here,’ I

said.

Vroom was startled by the alarm as well, and his body sprang to

attention.

‘Fuck, let’s run,’ Vroom said and we sprinted towards the Qualis.

‘I thought you liked pizza,’ I said when we reached the Qualis.

‘I like pizza. Damn well I do. I like jeans, mobiles and pizzas. I earn, I

eat, I buy shit and I die. That is all the fuck there is to Vroom. It is all, bullshit

man,’ Vroom said, panting and holding his stomach. He didn’t look too good,

but at least the run seemed to have sobered him down.

‘Seriously dude, can I drive now?’ I said, as Vroom opened the front

door of the Qualis. He was talking noisy, heavy breaths.

‘No way man,’ Vroom said and pushed me away.

The car jerked ahead as Vroom turned on the ignition while in gear.

‘Are you okay/’ Esha said.

Vroom nodded and raised his hand in apology. He waited for a few

seconds, and then started the engine carefully. He promised to drive slow and

soon we were on the road again.

‘You liked Bed?’ Vroom said, more to change the topic from his

inebriated state.

‘Great place,’ Esha said, ‘just the kind of high I needed. Hey Vroom,

have you kept any music in the Qualis?’

‘Of course. Let me see,’ Vroom said and shuffled through the glove box.

He took out a tape and held it up. ‘Musafir lounge?’ he said.

‘Cool,’ Esha and Radhika said.

‘NO,’ Priyanka and I said at the same time.

‘C’mon guys. You two not only hate each other, you hate the same

things too?’ Vroom said and smiled. He put the tape in and turned on the

music. A song called
Rabba
started playing.

We sat in the same order as before. Except this time I sat next to

Priyanka. With every beat of the song, I could feel her body along my entire

right side, like soft electric sparks. I had the urge to grab her hand again, but

restrained myself. I opened the window for some fresh air.

‘Don’t open the window,’ Esha said, ‘it is so cold.’

‘Just for a minute,’ I said and let the breeze in.

I focused on the lyrics of the song. The singer spoke of why no beloved

should ever enter his life. That if one did, she should damn well stay and

never leave. Somehow the lyrics were too close to heart. However, I was

more worried about the next song. It was
Mahi Ve
—which would bring back

memories of the 32nd Milestone parking lot.

I saw Priyanka’s face change from the corner of my eye. She looked

nervous in anticipation too. Yes, this was going to be hard.

‘I love this song,’ Vroom declared, as the song I was dreading filled the

Qualis.

The lyric hit my ears and I pressed the rewind-and-play button in the

privacy of my head. Every moment of 32nd Milestone replayed itself. I

remembered how Priyanka sat on my lap, stubbed my toe and hit her head on

the roof. I recalled every little second of her careful, slow and yet amazing

lovemaking. I missed her breath on my stubble, her eyes when they looked

into mine, the pleasurable pain when she bit my ears.
What is it about music

that it makes you remember things you prefer to forget
? I wished I had got

promoted. I wished Priyanka had never left me. I wished my world were a

happier place.

I turned my face to look outside. The breeze felt cold, particularly along

two lines on my cheeks. I touched my face. Damn, I couldn’t believe I was

crying.

‘Can we please close the window now? It’s ruining my hair,’ Esha said.

I slid the window shut. I tried to keep my eyes shut as well, but I

couldn’t as tears wanted to come out. I didn’t know I was such an

embarrassing wuss.

I looked at Priyanka. Maybe it was my imagination, but her eyes seemed

wet too. She turned towards me and then quickly looked away. I couldn’t

bear to meet her eyes right now. And I certainly could not look at that nose.

Vroom pulled out two tissues from the tissue box in front and swung his

arm back to hand them over to us.

‘What?’ I said.

‘There is rear–view mirror. I can see,’ he said.

‘We all can see,’ Radhika and Esha said together and burst out laughing.

‘You keep driving alright,’ I said. I took the tissue, and on the pretext of

wiping my nose, wiped my eyes. Priyanka took one and swabbed her eyes as