Part-Time Devdaas... (6 page)

‘So, Arjun, how do you like my baby’s roar,
haan
? He asked attempting a weird accent while he inhumanly throttled the car. To me it felt more like a buffalo’s snore than a roar.

Kartik, like his car, was of random make. Five feet six inches in height and dairy milk brown in colour, he was partly bald and had the rest of the hair cropped like an army cadet. He had a paunch too. Devika had been dating this bozo for five months. When we first met him, all of us took turns to go to the loo to laugh. Whenever in conversation with him, I had an acute itch of mimicking his fake accent, but for Devika’s sake, I behaved myself.

Devika was waiting at the gate when we reached. For an instant I thought I saw Kartik actually slurp his drool off his lips when he saw her, but I don’t blame him because for the first time in all these years, even I checked Devika out. A knee-length blue off shoulder dress made her look even fairer. A black belt with red stones on the buckle, red stilettos with a clutch completed her outfit. Highlighted cheek bones, blue eyeliner combined with pink eye gloss and the extra something that she did to her naturally pouting lips made them look more luscious and kissable. She was truly drool-worthy. She hugged me as I got out of the car. She smelled awesome. She sat in the front and I took the seat behind Kartik.

“Why are we leaving the city?” I asked as the car swerved on to the highway.

“Because the party is in Khandala,” Devika replied.

“Wow!” I fist pumped.

“Isn’t it great?” Kartik said, clearly missing the sarcasm.

Devika slapped my knee as I chuckled. It was going to be a highly enjoyable two-hour ride, listening to awkward gear shifts forcing the car to wail like an animal being butchered.

I cursed myself for taking the back seat as the car’s air conditioner only cooled the front of the car. I was so cooked that anyone could have easily taken a bite of me. I looked like I had taken a shower with my clothes on. I was never sitting in that car again, I promised myself. Finally, the beats of the music could be heard from the farm house. I jumped out of the car as soon as it halted and walked to the desk at the entrance.

“Arjun...” I told the bouncer at the entrance.

“Stag for now, sir?” he winked at me checking my name on the list.

“Yes,” I said realising it was the first time in seven years that I was walking alone to the party.

Raghu saw me and came running to me with a bottle of tequila and pushed a nice sixty millilitres shot down my throat. He pulled me inside while Devika and Kartik followed us.

The party pimp had done it again – poolside dance floor, open bar, more girls than guys, empty rooms and mind blowing music – everything typically Raghu. Our college friends, long lost girls from school, their friends from college, chat friends, Facebook girls, random girls, girls we met at the events we worked on, and even the girls we met at James Coffeewala and Pyaasa were there. This bastard had been in touch with every single one of them. I have to confess that for a minute I felt like a hungry man in a free for all cafeteria. But the happiness didn’t last for long.

“Where the fuck is Hrida?” Raghu asked as he pushed another shot of tequila in my mouth. I didn’t say anything, and a girl pulled Raghu on the dance floor. I headed straight for the bar, and swigged down a mouthful of whiskey.

As Shashank entered, a spot light followed him on the dark dance floor and led him to the cake. The lights came on and there were screams and
woohoos
wishing him. The girl he had brought with him fed him the cake. The tequila and the whiskey had begun to kick in. The volume of the music increased and the lights began to move faster. Raghu pulled me on the dance floor. I flicked a bottle from the bar and followed him. Shashank kissed me as soon as he saw me. I couldn’t tell if it was the music or the whiskey that was intoxicating, but I didn’t care as long as it kept Hrida’s thoughts away from me. One more sip directly from the bottle and my body began to move, the substandard downmarket moves breaking out of me. Within minutes I was dancing alone in the middle of the dance floor. A cheering crowd circled me. Raghu and Shashank joined in; I looked for Devika and pulled her in too. Kartik followed us. The world around me began to spin. I gazed at the people around. As the music got wilder, I emptied the bottle, took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Hrida was smiling at me saying she loved me and that she’d kill me if I ever went away from her.

“I love you too...” I slurred.

I felt my hands holding a female body by the waist. Her hands cupped my hands and her body began to sway with mine.

“Just be close to me, always...” I said, my eyes still closed.

“I will,” the girl said as she turned around facing me. I opened my eyes. My hands still feeling her body slid further down her waist. Her face was an inch away from mine. I blinked my eyes twice in the hope to register her face, but I could only see her blurred image. I suddenly felt lip-glossed lips kissing me; strangely even in the loud music I could hear her breathing heavily. It took a few minutes before I reciprocated. She let me loose for a second, looked at me and then caught my hand to pull me away from the dance floor. The music began to fade. I was out of the party. And the kissing and gnawing of our lips began again.

“Poncho, what the hell?” Raghu’s voice whispered in my ears. The girl was now biting my neck.

“
Chutia
, are you fucking out of your mind,” he asked in a hissing voice. “What if Hrida finds out?”

“Nothing will happen, she’s already left.” I giggled. Shashank joined us.

“What do you mean she left?” Shashank said.

“She is gone. Out… of my… life.” I whipped my hand in the air like a sword.

“He is zonked; I’ll take him upstairs.” Shashank began to pull me by my hand.

“I broke up with Hrida,” I said pulling back my hand.

“You what?” Raghu yapped. “Why?”

“What happened?” Shashank asked in a relatively less agitated tone.

I silently walked away.

“Hello boss? I asked why?” Raghu asked.

“She fell out of love with me.”

I
dialled Raghu’s number and left a missed call, a standard procedure of intimating each other. Why waste two rupees fifty paisa on a call? Five minutes later, he came down with the cake. It was twenty minutes to midnight. I started my bike and hit the highway rather than taking the alleys and pulled the throttle realising we were not going to make it to Shashank’s place before twelve. I quietly enjoyed the cool December night air brushing my face. I caught Raghu’s eye staring at me in the rear view mirror and raised my eyebrows to ask what happened.

“What does he do?” Raghu asked.

“Who?” I tried to sound as oblivious as possible.

“You know...” he ate the rest of his sentence.

“You know who?” I said adjusting the mirror for the conversation.

“The boyfriend,” Raghu asked sounding more uncomfortable than I would have been.

“I don’t know, and actually I don’t care.” I raised the speed.

“You should at least know whom you are competing with,” he held me by the shoulder as I braked for a municipal corporation funded crater.

“There is no competition, Raghu. She has a
boyfriend
that means she is
not
available
, so there
is
no competition.” I said as I made a sharp turn to enter Shashank’s complex.

“But this is ridiculous man, shouldn’t she have told you earlier?” Raghu said getting off the bike as I parked it.

“Look, it was my mistake.” I was surprised at my defensive tone. “But it’s over now. Honestly I’ve forgotten about her,” I lied. “Anyway, it’s Sachdev’s birthday, so let’s not botch it up with my
chuttadgiri.
Seriously, I’m fine.” Raghu stared at me knowing I was lying.

“Hurry up, just two minutes left.” Raghu said and poked the candles in the cake. I lit them with my lighter while Raghu rang the door bell.

“Happy birthday, Slutty... Happy birthday oh dear Slutty...” we began to sing as Shashank opened the door. We made him cut the cake at the door itself. Raghu plastered most of the cake on his face and I followed.

“Put some more,” Neha whooped.

“Hey, you are here too? Swift move, Slutty.” Raghu elbowed Sachdev and hugged Neha.

I froze when I saw Hrida sitting on the couch. It had been twenty-two days since I had seen her. She was wearing the same purple t-shirt and black jeans that she had worn the last time I had seen her. The only additions were her hair that she had pulled back with a hair band and her eyes carved with
kajal.

Shashank cut the cake that Neha had gotten for him. She gifted him a shirt and ordered him to wear it. He obediently went to his room and came back wearing it. I occasionally peeked at Hrida from the corner of my eyes trying to avoid direct eye contact. 

“Arjun, Rageshwari misses you very much.” Neha said noticing me stealing glances at Hrida.

“Who?” I asked confused.

“
Y
our sweetheart ya… the girl you were eyeballing in the theatre that day?”

“The Third Girl
” I said to myself. Everyone began to laugh at me. I looked at Hrida sheepishly. She smiled at me forcing my heart to jump in the ribcage. Her glowing face, her eyes trying to figure out my thoughts, that mischievous smile, pink kiss ready lips,
and then,
I have a boyfriend!
Her voice screamed her message in my head. It was getting unbearable to be around her. I was sure I would do something nasty. I messaged Raghu asking him to wrap up. Raghu looked at me; realising my discomfort, he stood up stretching his back.

“Let’s go honey, I won’t let these monsters bully you anymore,” he told me as everyone laughed.

“Wait I’ll drop you.” Shashank said. “Let Hrida go with Arjun… they stay close by.” Shashank’s arrangement had stunned me a little so I didn’t see it clearly, but I think he winked at Raghu while Neha and Hrida exchanged a look.

I started the bike and Hrida climbed on it as if it were a horse, first standing on the foot rest with her left leg and then throwing her right leg across practically wobbling the whole bike. She clenched the shaft behind her with both hands. I could see her face in the left mirror. In the right mirror, I saw Neha clutching Shashank’s arm and jumping up with a smile as we left. There was something cooking.

I exited the complex compound and took the highway. It was twelve-thirty and the temperature had dipped significantly. A smile popped up as the cool air swept Hrida’s face. For the next seven minute or so, there was fluttering sound of wind and my eyes shuttling between concentrating on the road and looking at Hrida’s smiling face in the mirror. If it was one of the Priyankas or Poojas, I would have made my move, but with Hrida, it felt horribly wrong to keep looking at her knowing that she had a boyfriend. Just one more time I convinced my high-principled self. As I shifted my eyes from the road into the mirror, I gawked right into the big dark brown eyes. She smiled at me and I looked away.

“You know I owe you a humongous apology, right?” she said. I peeked at her again, defying my mind’s ethical authority.

“For?” I decided to show my resentment by using bare minimum words to reply.

“Ruining your birthday?”

“You didn’t,” I said with a straight face.

“Hmm.” I knew she was looking at me, but now the lovelorn moron inside me insisted on acting pricey, so I concentrated on the road. A few more minutes of silence passed before she spoke again.

“I have to tell you something... about the message I sent you that day.”

“There’s more?” I said sarcastically. I hated the fact that she had a boyfriend and no matter how many explanations were given, the fact that she would not be mine would remain constant and that was killing me.

“Yes,” she said attempting to look through my hostility. “I’ve been thinking about talking to you for a while and...”

“Thinking for twenty-two days! Is the decision finally made?” I cut her short and took a turn into the by-lanes of her locality.

“I’m sorry. I should have explained it to you earlier,” she said quietly.

“Oh please, don’t bother. I’m used to getting jerked by girls like you,” I snapped back.

“Girls like you? What the fuck is wrong with you”
I wanted to smack myself, but it was too late. I was fuming ever since that ill-fated day. I had contemplated the use of all ways – from messaging, to calling, to mailing, even writing a letter to vent out my anguish but the male chauvinist pig who owns point one percent stake in my brain did not permit me.

Finally I saw a frown on her face that satiated my itch to piss her off.

There was dead silence on the bike and dogs were barking in the background. I stopped near her building gate.

She left without saying anything. I started the bike as she entered the gate. Halfway into the building, she walked back.

“The boyfriend I told you about… he doesn’t exist for me anymore,” she said.

“Wh…what do you mean?” I asked as my brain only processed the words
boyfriend… doesn’t… exist… anymore…

“Too late, you had your chance to know the details,” she smiled snobbishly and left.

I stood there experiencing happiness, frustration, confusion and love…all at the same time.

I tried her number, but it was switched off, so I called Shashank. He cancelled the call. I had to know what was happening. In desperation, I called Neha, but she didn’t answer either. Shashank sent me a message which read
‘Rghu’.
I called Raghu.

“Where are you guys?” I almost yelled.

“I’m standing outside the car,” he replied.

“Where is Sachdev?”

“Inside the car...” he paused “...snogging”

“Bang the door and pull him out... I’ll meet you guys at Pyaasa.”

“I’ll try.” He hung up.

Pyaasa was a round the clock bar opened by Bada Anna in the memory of his younger brother Chota Anna who had died in a car crash. Since its opening thirty-five years ago, Bada Anna’s only motive in life was relieving people of their miseries by getting them drunk. At night Pyaasa had a special management for the customers. The cops stood guard at the gate of the compound making sure no one interrupted Anna’s social service. The three floors of the bar made sure every miserable, unhappy, dejected soul coming to Pyaasa’s doorstep quenched his thirst. Subbu the special ‘captain’ who stood at the door made sure regular patrons got their regular seats on the top two floors which overlooked the lake.

After waiting for over an hour on my bike, my back began to hurt. I dialled Raghu’s number for the sixth time, but before the call could connect, Shashank’s car pulled up at the gate. The boys along with Neha got down. I was a bit bugged seeing her.

“How many?” Subbu asked.

“Four,” I said.

“Ladies there no?”

“Yes, Subbu, thirty-four number
dena
please,” Raghu said.

The tables from thirty-one to forty were cabins specially meant for guys who brought girls with them, and thirty-four was a secluded cabin with comparatively less noise made by happy high customers who Anna freed from their miseries.

The waiter escorted us through the service stairs used by hotel staff to the third floor which led to a passage that directly took us to the table discounting Neha of the embarrassment of being X-rayed by drunken eyes. She and Shashank cozied up on the sofa while I slid on the inner side of the sofa facing the floor captain.

“Will you guys care to tell me what hell is going on?” I said

“What do you mean? Nothing is on, man.” Shashank said as he adjusted his arm around Neha’s waist.

“I saw you wink at Raghu.”

The floor captain came for the order and the suspense was beginning to kill me. Raghu gave him our orders.

“Focus guys!” I yelled.

The captain came back, “Nothing get a bottle of water,” Raghu shooed him away.

“Why are you so worked up?” Neha asked.

“Didn’t you guys set me up to drop her?”

“Yeah, we did, because Hrida asked me to,” Neha said.

“I suck!”

“Poncho kill the drama already!” Raghu begged.

“She was trying to say something about her boyfriend but I deliberately ridiculed her so she got pissed and left without saying anything.” the waiter came back with our order, and made our respective drinks.

“Why would you do that?” Shashank asked.

“Because I’m a dick,” I cursed myself. “Now please can you tell me about this boyfriend?”

“
Aare
, she was seeing this guy in school who was our senior. He shifted out of town after school. He was in touch with her, but later he just disappeared. He changed his number and stopped responding to her mails and all. It’s been two years now,” Neha paused to take a sip.

“Continue.” I said impatiently.

“Nothing ya… this guy is a ghost. He has just
disappeared. It’s not that she still longs for him or anything like that, she just wants to officially break-up with him before getting involved with anyone, but that hasn’t happened. Yesterday we had a night long discussion about you and the message she sent you. I asked her to simply forget him and respond to you. She just told me that she wanted to meet you alone for a while… that’s it.”