Foreign Affairs - Chapter 4

 

Chapter – 4

 

Having an empty room in my home, made my heart heavy and my wallet light.

Yes, I felt so bored and lonely and I missed Arura a lot. Also paying rent for a 2BHK apartment located in the heart of the city, was causing a hole in my pocket.

“You must get a new roommate or shift to a smaller flat with lesser rent,” Arura said.

We were on our routine video call. It had already been a month since she had left and we tried to stay in touch through Skype.

“Ah! I like this flat a lot. I don’t think I will be comfortable anywhere else,” I said.

“Ok, then try to find a roommate,” she said.

“As if I have not tried. Just after you left, there were many guys and even few girls who were interested to take your room,” I said.

“That’s great. Pick one of them.”

“I did not want to go for any girl roommate. I don’t think I would be comfortable with any other girl. With you, it just felt like being with a guy,” I said.

“Should I take this as a compliment or what?” she asked with raised eyebrows.

I chuckled and said, “What I mean to say is, the equation with you was great and I don’t think any other girl would be as cool as you.”

“Hmm. Then get a guy,” she said from the other end of the call.

“Guys are weird too. In the last 2 weeks I had about 4 guys who moved in one after the other and I had to drive each of them away after a day or two,” I said, shaking my head.

“Why? What was wrong with them?”

“One was so very noisy. He was always on calls, talking loudly or had his speakers banging with heavy music or kept the TV on full volume and sometimes did all the three together,” I said.

“Oh!” she exclaimed.

“The other lived like a pig. He was so very dirty, walked inside the house with his shoes on, wore the same set of clothes even for the whole week, picked his nose and I had never seen him taking a shower,” I said.

“What? Were you peeping into his bathroom?” Arura asked laughing hysterically.

“Stop laughing. You know what I mean,” I said in an irritated tone.

“Ha Ha. I am sorry. I was just joking, continue,” she said.

“The other had a cat as his pet. A dog I could have accepted. But not a cat. Believe me, that cat hated me more than I hated him. He always snarled and showed me his teeth whenever I saw him. I swear, he believed that I was staying as a guest in his home and always tried to scare me away. One day he ate the rat which was in our home and left the carcass at my door. Yuck. I had to get the guy and his cat out immediately,” I said.

“At least, you got a solution to your rat problem,” Arura said, looking all amused.

“You are enjoying my miseries, right? I am going to cut the call now,” I said with mock anger.

“No. Don’t. Don’t cut the call before you say about the other guy,” she said with a chuckle.

“You are worst! But not worser than the last guy. He got girls to our apartment, every night. A new girl, every night and I just hated all that unpleasant sounds they were making on bed,” I said holding my forehead and shaking my head.

“Now that’s a reason,” Arura said with a nod.

“I am not going to find any roommate,” I said looking all worried.

“Yeah, probably. But, accept it,” she said.

“Accept what? That I will have to shift somewhere else?”

“No. That I was the best roommate ever,” Arura said with a wicked smile.

“No. I am the best roommate ever and maybe you can be the second best,” I said.

Arura rolled her eyes and said, “Anyway, I guess you need to keep hunting for a good roommate until you get one.”

“Yeah, I will. Anyway, enough about me. Tell me what you are up to,” I asked.

“Yes. I recently met this amazing guy via tinder…”

“Twitter?” I asked.

“No Sachin. Tinder. It’s an online dating app, where girls and boys can see each other’s profile and can fix a date if the other person is also interested.”

“Whoa, Whoa. So, you are picking guys from the internet? Arura, you need to be careful,” I said with all concern.

“No. Dating via Tinder is the norm here. Maybe you can checkout Tinder too,” she said.

“For getting a room partner?” I asked.

“No idiot, to get a date for yourself. You look so very lonely. Do you even talk to any other girl, other than me?” she asked.

“Nah! I am not interested in girls,” I said.

“Sometimes I seriously wonder if you are gay or something,” she said with a wink.

“Hey..!” I started.

“Just kidding. But you need to go out with other people too. You can’t just keep on talking with me on Skype every day. You need some real friends to hang out with,” she said.

I realised whatever she said was true. I nodded.

“Anyway, I am getting late for my date and I have got to leave now,” she said.

“You are going out at this time?” I asked.

“It is just 8 pm here. And there, its way past your sleep time,” she said.

I looked at the clock, it was 1.30 am already.

“Yup, I need to crash,” I said with a yawn.

“Yes. Good night. Sleep tight. And this weekend, do not just sit at home or do OT in office. Get out and try to find a roommate or a date or at least a friend to hang out with, Okay?” she said.

“Sure maam. You too take care,” I said and ended the call.

 

I knew that she was concerned about me. She feared that maybe I won’t be able to get along with others and would end up being a loner. And her fears were all justified.

Because, I did staunchly believe that no one could replace Arura in my life. Nor anyone could be as close as her to me. She was my perfect partner in crime and maybe I would never have so much fun with anyone else. And if I was the old Sachidhanandha, that shy and nerdy guy from Coimbatore these reasons could have been enough to keep me within my shell again.

But now I was this software guy in Bengaluru, Sachin. A bit more matured, a bit more daring, a bit more extrovert and a bit more practical, than what I was earlier. So, I did know that I had to get out of my den.

So, I started to go out with my other office colleagues. I was also one of the key players of my company’s cricket team and we played corporate matches, so soon I had friends outside my workplace too. In no time, I had my own gang.

Days just flew by. Weekdays were busy with office works and moved quick, while weekends went even quicker with cricket, movies, pubs, parties, smokes and hookahs. Even me and Arura drifted away. Initially, our calls which happened every day, reduced to once in a week and then once in a month and then we caught up only when both of us were free, which almost never happened. I guess that’s how life is. You change without even realising that you are changing.

So many things did change in my life, except for the fact that I continued to live in the same flat without any room partner. I continued to stay alone and eventually started to like the freedom, space and privacy. And so stopped looking for any roommate.

I had a strict rule in my home that no pets or smoke or booze or sex were allowed. This was to keep my friends from thinking my home as their own safe haven to do anything they wanted. So, the other room was empty for most of the days, except occasionally when any of my friends or their guests stayed for a day or two.

I even brought my parents to stay in my home for a few days. Yes, one fine day I asked for their “permission” for me to shift from PG to an independent flat, as I wanted some privacy and the food was horrible which made me sick often. Of course, I couldn’t say that I had already been living there.  So, came up with this plan. And after much deliberation and discussions between them and also with me and weighing all pros and cons I was allowed to stay alone.

So, from that day, at least I did not have to lie to my parents about my stay and that was like a huge weight that was lifted off me.

After my persistent invitations they finally visited me at Bengaluru. In fact, it was the first time we had ever been outside of Coimbatore, as a family. I was so excited to have them. We roamed around Bengaluru and visited all the major tourist attractions in Bengaluru like, Lalbagh, Cubbon Park and few temples. For the first time in this one and a half years, I had visited these places.

I was so very happy to have my parents in my home. It did remind me of my good old days in Coimbatore. For those few days when they were there I did not have to worry about my home as they were taking care of it

Though my home was pretty neat and tidy, as I liked to keep it that way, my mom complained that my home was a mess and was hell-bent to clean every bit of it. I also used to cook my own food as I liked to cook and was also good at it. But the entire time my parents were there, my mom cooked for me, especially all those dishes that she knew I liked. Moms are moms, right!?

And my dad was just observing everything silently. Occasionally he used to ask few questions about my stay, friends, work etc. Though he did not say it out I could sense his feeling of pride that I was managing everything all alone and I have become independent.

When we were just watching TV, he casually asked me, “Are you living in such a big house, all alone?”

“Yes, appa,” I said.

“Are you not afraid of being alone?” my mom joined in the conversation too.

“Amma, I am not a small kid,” I said.

“Yes. You are not a kid but still, you could have got a roommate. It is better to be with someone else than alone,” my dad said.

“But appa, I was already frustrated with my roommate in PG and that’s why I wanted to shift here. So, its peaceful to be alone,” I said.

“But don’t get used to all this loneliness,” my mom said with a chuckle.

I wondered what she was implying and gave her a questioning look.

My dad cleared his voice and said, “Sachidha, it is time you get married. We have already started to see good alliances for you.”

“What!? I am just 24 years old now. What is the urgency?” I asked.

“I am 66 years old. That’s the issue. My blood pressure and sugar levels are already on the higher sides and I feel so weak. Don’t I have the desire to see my grandchildren before I die?” My father asked.

Oh my God! When they are already talking about the grandkids, that only means that they have already gone deep into this marriage thing and of course no amount of protest from my side was going to help. So, I remained silent.

“Already our relatives are on the lookout for prospective brides. If you had been in Coimbatore, by now we could have got you married. But since you are in a different city, it is getting a bit difficult to convince girls’ side. Don’t worry, soon we will find you someone.”

“Yeah. I know. People would happily get their daughters married to guys in US or Europe, but would think a lot if they had to send their daughter to any other city within India,” I mumbled.

“What?”

“Nothing appa. You know what is good for me. I will listen to whatever you say,” I said.

Both my parents were happy to hear this. My mom showed her happiness by hugging me and my father just stood there with a proud expression on his face which he tried to mask.

And that was the end of discussion.

 

It was like any other day in office when my Team Leader, Mr. Rama Reddy called me and said, “Sachin, listen. Our client from Luxembourg will be here tomorrow to discuss about their requirements for this new project. Can you please go to the airport and pick her up?”

“You want me to go to the airport? But Rama, is this part of my job profile? To pick up people from airports?”

“I know Sachin. But the client is a high profile one and this is the first time they are working with us. They had specifically asked us to take good care of the lady who is coming. This is her first visit to India. I could have given this job to someone else, but you are the only one I can trust with women. You know that all others act like weirdos around women, right?” My TL tried to reason.

“Oh, that’s flattering. But still, I think a driver can do this job,” I said flatly.

“Come on Sachin. She has to be taken good care of and need to feel at home. First, she has to be settled at her hotel room and also if she wants to see places around, she has to be taken around the city. A driver can take her to these places, but she also needs a good companion to be with her all the time. We need someone who is smart, trust worthy with good communication skills to escort her the whole time,” he explained.

“Oh, so this is not just a one-day job then. I feel more privileged,” I said in a sarcastic tone.

“See, you can also discuss about the projects as you roam around. Its better for us that way. Do it for the team,” Rama insisted.

“But why me? You can send some girl from our team to become her buddy,” I said.

“Oh! So that’s the issue!” he said.

“What?”

“I have heard from people. But now I realise,” he said in a low voice.

“What have you realised?” I asked in an impatient tone.

“That you hate girls or like what others say, that you like only guys,” he said with a sly smile.

“Excuse me.”

“Its ok. I understand,” he said, in almost a whisper.

“Are you calling me gay?” I asked in anger.

“No. That’s not what I am saying,” he said.

“Then what is it?” I asked, still looking angry.

“Its ok. I will ask someone else,” he said.

“I don’t know if you are saying this to manipulate me into doing this,” I said.

“No. I am not,” he said.

“Then you seriously think I am gay?” I asked. My face was turning red with rage.

“Sachin, don’t get worked up. I will find someone to do the job,” he said flatly.

“Fine,” I said and after a pause said, “I will go and pick her up,” I said and walked out angrily.

Maybe I saw Rama giving a victory smile as I walked out anyway. But I was too angry.

 

It was around 2 am and I was at the airport waiting for this lady from Luxembourg. The driver was standing beside me having a placard in hand that had our company’s name. I was impatiently waiting there. I was feeling sleepy and was cursing Rama for this assignment. I also kicked myself to have accepted this job despite not wanting to do it.

 

“Sir. I think, that’s the madam,” the driver said.

I looked up from my phone.

A tall girl with an athletic build walked towards us. She was dressed in a casual denim shirt and a distressed jean. Her hair was drawn into a high bun. I never thought that anyone would look cute in a bun but she did look very pretty and cute.

“M/s Systech?” she asked.

I nodded yes. The driver went on to help her with the luggage.

“Hi. I am Mia,” she said in her heavily French accented English.

“Mia Khalifa?” I said in a reflex and bit my tongue.

“No. I am Mia Koch,” she said and extended her hand.

I shook her hand nervously. Thank God she did not seem to know who the other Mia is.

“Shall we go?” I asked.

“Yes. And you are?” she asked.

“I am Sachidha…I am Sachin,” I said.

“Oh, the cricketer,” she said.

“You know Sachin?” I asked in surprise.

“I love Sachin and also cricket,” she said with a smile.

“I do play cricket,” I said.

“Of course you have to, at least for your name,” she said and smiled again.

I remembered that it was like the same conversation I had with Arura for the first time.

Maybe that was the reason or did not know what, I immediately liked Mia and I smiled back at her.

(to be continued...)