When a Lawyer Falls in Love (9 page)

Besides, if someone can get on stage and smile while talking high sounding nonsense, if nothing else, after a point the audience is embarrassed on behalf of the speaker and smiles back in return.

This was also more or less the job of a VJ and having trained as a lawyer for so long, Ankur had perfected the art of sounding intelligent while speaking nonsense.

‘If you are invited for a pool party and you arrive wearing your swimming trunks only to realise it is a billiards game in progress, how would you react and why?’ The only other female judge asked, her silver nose ring quivering with the emphasis on ‘why’.

‘I’d pretend it is my normal outfit. After all, presence of mind is what counts the most in life,’ Ankur answered even as a group in the audience erupted in cheers. The marathon question, Ankur had covered in a single leap.

The judges also seemed impressed—but the next round wasn’t going to be as interesting. Ankur had to identify music and name the musician, something he was as proficient in as a zoo instructor being made to synchronise a symphony.

A very unclear rendering of some music on a poor quality tape sailed through the speakers and Ankur had to identify it.

Giving a very intelligent tilt to his head, Ankur enquired, ‘Is it Ben E. King?’ Never mind if he had heard precisely one song by this artist. The female judge at the mike actually giggled, her bleached hair also joining in the mirth.

With a poker face the bald judge with a French beard informed him, ‘That was Usha Uthup.’ For once, Ankur was confused whether to continue smiling or to dart behind one of the banquet curtains. He did neither. Instead he just stood there grinning and sure enough, after a point, the embarrassed audience also grinned back.

As the boys drove back that evening, Ankur thought of the idle Sunday spent well. That was the nice thing about rickety Ambassadors, their slow motion always facilitated thought.

Though none of the guys made it through the VJ hunt, they were richer for the experience. If the people in the hostel were to know that the future lawyers had already begun practising making a fool of themselves, there would have been loads of sniggers. At one level Ankur was glad he didn’t make it. He could well imagine himself being transformed into one of the ear stud wearing judges with flashy glasses. Ankur valued streaks of intelligence over streaked hair.

Yet, like one’s first swig of beer, and long bike rides with the wind in one’s hair, taking part in inane VJ hunt contests was also part of the thrill of being in college. And Ankur was glad he was still in college.

Eighteen

‘Souvik,’ a soft voice called. Souvik stopped in his tracks. They had just finished their classes for the day and were returning to their hostels, when Souvik’s ear drums had registered the mellifluous sound. It was Jaishree.

A week had gone past since he had given her the card, and with no response coming, Souvik was half prepared to give himself up to the local mortuary. He turned to look at her. Jaishree stood there, as beautiful as ever, holding the card. All kinds of thoughts darted through Souvik’s head. This was the first time in four years that Jaishree had actually wanted to talk to him. Was she going to use the card as a frisbee or was she actually pleased to receive it?

‘Souvik, thanks for this card…I’ll always keep it,’ Jaishree said smiling shyly.

Souvik’s dimples suddenly forgot to flash. Instead, his otherwise dark face turned a strange maroon. ‘I am so glad,’ He found himself blurting. ‘I thought you’d be angry…’

‘Angry?’ asked Jaishree almost amused. ‘I was thrilled.’ Thrilled was a rather long word for Jaishree’s normally monosyllabic speech and probably even she realised it. It was Jaishree’s turn to blush.

‘I mean, it was so well written…I was touched,’ Jaishree spoke, entangling herself further.

The twelve-line poem, had worked its magic. Jaishree was actually fumbling for words, just like Souvik had been doing for the past four years.

‘Thank you so much…but I really meant all that I wrote,’ Souvik modestly shrugged though his heart was brimming with immodest pride. Just why hadn’t he thought of writing a poem for her in the first year itself?

‘Jaishree, I was just wondering…,’ Souvik asked wondering if he could try his luck further. But Jaishree was not wondering. She apparently knew what was coming. She decided to make things easier and complete Souvik’s meandering sentence.

‘We can have pani puri tomorrow…but not in the canteen.’ Jaishree said. Souvik didn’t know which part of his anatomy would deceive him, but he felt his head vigorously nodding.

‘Tomorrow is Sunday. I’ll come to pick you up in the morning,’ Souvik said, all in one breath.

‘No,’ Jaishree mildly protested, ‘In the morning I’ll be in the library, let’s go around four in the evening.’

‘Absolutely! Whatever is convenient!’ Souvik eagerly replied. The sun had begun to shine brightly on Souvik’s love life, and he was willing to brave even prickly heat and tanned skin as long as he could go on a date with Jaishree.

‘See you tomorrow, then,’ Jaishree said softly and took leave. And with her, Souvik’s whole night’s sleep took leave of him.

Souvik Bose was technically not very good-looking. In fact his colour was that of a chocolate brown cookie that had been forgotten in the oven. Yet he was a true son of the soil, as the only reason he had taken up law was to be able to serve his country. Souvik ought to have been a barrister during the time of Gandhiji and Nehru, except that his romantic soul would have been so taken in with the freedom struggle that he would have run the risk of breaking into a jingoistic song in the middle of the courtroom.

Then, of course, there were his dimples. There was something very endearing about the way Souvik smiled— something that made people trust him instantly. He exuded a certain air of reassurance that even Vyas’s lanky frame or Ankur’s podgy presence couldn’t match. So when Souvik and Jaishree stood together next to
Radhe Shyam Chat Bhandar
, they looked like a cute couple.

‘This is spicy!’ said Jaishree making happy sounds, when she was served another round of pani puris.

Jaishree was looking unusually beautiful that evening. Her slim female form could only be measured in superlatives. She had just washed her hair and it was carelessly tied with a hanky.

Her rather small mouth with baby pink lips were concentrating on taking an entire pani puri in, her flawless skin marred only by a splash of
jal jeera
on one smooth cheek. Souvik could have stood by the roadside, admiring her forever. His masculine mouth had given him the advantage of finishing a pani puri at a much faster rate than her, leaving him with ample time to watch the class beauty struggle with a spicy puri.

‘That was really amazing,’ Souvik said after a marathon session of gulping pani puris. ‘I need water,’ Jaishree gasped, her lips pursed. A dainty hand with light pink nail polish was fanning the air in front of her mouth. Involuntarily, Jaishree was fanning Souvik’s emotions. Souvik was actually embarrassed.

‘We can go to that ice cream parlour there,’ he suggested pointing across the road. The two classmates had strolled out of the campus to the
chat bhandar
just outside. Now Fate was devising ways of extending their date.

‘Water…one watermelon cream ice cream and one…’

‘I like strawberry,’ Jaishree joined in as they were placing their orders at the ice cream parlour. ‘Okay make that a strawberry, for me too,’ suggested Souvik hastily to the man behind the counter. Aminute later, he walked towards the table holding the ice creams where Jaishree sat sipping water. She seemed a little uneasy.

‘I think we should head back. I don’t like sitting here.’ Each time Jaishree spoke in long sentences, she was very serious. Souvik agreed after a second of hesitation. Holding their cones, they walked out of the place that had a glut of dating couples.

It was pleasant outside. Acool breeze blew while deep grey clouds filled one corner of the sky. Jaishree’s light green salwar with a bright yellow dupatta fluttered in the wind, playfully dancing about. A few rebellious locks had broken free from her flimsy hanky giving extra work to her dainty hands that kept pushing back her strands behind those delicate ears. Jaishree was wearing hanging earrings that she had picked up at the exhibition. The light green stones danced animatedly when she spoke and occasionally caressed her slender neck.

When Souvik was with Jaishree, silence was the only thing that did all the speaking. Souvik actually liked it that way. With Jaishree it was always a comfortable silence, Souvik was slowly learning. This in turn truly amazed him. Of course they had spoken during their almost two hour long date. Souvik had told her about his plans of going abroad, his brother’s wedding and his ideas about his future, and even his plans for the country! With such grand plans, if nothing else, Souvik could at least look forward to being a politician.

Jaishree in a series of monosyllables had informed him that she came from a close-knit family with her elder sister already married. Her mother had passed away in a freak accident six years ago and now it was just her father and grandmother who stayed in their ancestral home. Jaishree spoke mostly Tamil at home, hence the lawyer in Souvik deduced that those from Tamil Nadu had a linguistic advantage when it came to matters of planning a future with Jaishree.

They had crossed the road and had reached the college gates when it started to rain. With their melting strawberry cones they started jogging towards the building and Jaishree suddenly let out some pure hearted giggles. Souvik stopped to listen. He had never before heard Jaishree emit such happy sounds. They had trotted some distance when Jaishree decided it was futile to run, and a walk in the rain would be far more pleasant. The romantic in Souvik was delighted.

Licking the last of their soggy cones, Jaishree and Souvik walked through the steady drizzle alternately laughing and avoiding muddy puddles. Souvik was suddenly thankful to the municipal department for doing such a shoddy job in laying the roads. He had never seen Jaishree so ecstatic before. She had transformed into a little child as she went about giving a girlish squeal before crossing huge puddles in the middle of the campus road. After a point, she was crossing each puddle with the deliberate intent of getting splashed.

The rain washed sky watched over the playful pair as they made their way back to the hostel. The sweet smelling earth and the cool breeze from the freshly scrubbed green leaves seemed to give their approval as Souvik sat down to write in his diary after drying his hair. This had been the most romantic evening of his life.

Nineteen

‘He deserves Paradise, who makes his comrades laugh— so goes a line from the Holy Scriptures. In that case, I’m sorry to disappoint you folks, but my services can’t be availed of in Hell. Try not to miss me,’ Ankur was saying, a mischievous grin on his face.

He was standing atop his chair making his grand speech to an amused audience. Ankur often doubled up as a class comedian, entertaining a bored set of students during a free hour. The school boy in him made him indulge in chalk fights and he had once even dislodged the noisy class fan with Vyas. Of course he was then forced to make arrangements for its repair or risk having a case slapped on him by a classroom full of sweating lawyers.

It was a lazy afternoon and except for Ankur’s energetic chatter, a cloak of lethargy covered the lecture hall. Sonali sat alone in a corner, she had been unusually quiet these days. Ever since that day when Ankur broke his own record of foolishness by lending his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend his laboriously compiled notes, he wasn’t too eager to interact with the pretty Gujarati who had been a broker in the deal.

Even Sonali was a bit guilty. Yet more than guilty, she was sad. During the first three years in college, she used to share everything with Ankur, yet now there was a chasm between them, even though they were in the same class. All thanks to Rohit who was a class apart. The guy wasn’t to be seen these days. Perhaps that was the reason behind Sonali’s round face turning long. Yet Ankur had the vague feeling, that perhaps Sonali was hiding something. The very thought made him uncomfortable.

For the outspoken Sonali to be hiding something seemed ominous. There had to be something. Nothing else could explain her long disappearances from class, with Rohit missing as well. Whatever it was, it wasn’t making Sonali too happy. Sneaking off for dates was not exactly uncommon in class, yet the naughty glow it would give any happy couple was always a dead giveaway. But this didn’t seem to be the case with Sonali and Rohit.

Ankur was confused. Yet the one thing he was sure of was that his once best friend and Rohit’s current girlfriend held a secret. The thought of which made him feel very unsettled.