“Mukundo Babu! I wanted to talk.”

Piyali caught a fleeting look of terror on Mukundo’s face, before he put up a brave smile and said, “Sure.”

“Please don’t jump to conclusions from what I am saying, Mukundo Babu. Okay? I am just thinking out loud. And I am doing that with you, because there is nobody else I can go to.”

“Go on, Piyali.”

“Feelings are not a problem at all, Mukundo Babu. In one sense or the other, despite my supposed hatred, I have always loved you.” Mukundo forgot to breathe for a moment, but she didn’t notice his reaction and continued, “With anybody else that should have been sufficient to give the relationship a chance. Because if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. One can move on. But between us. I don’t know if that is possible. It is an all or nothing situation. If something ever went wrong the world around me will crumble and I wouldn’t know what to do. Am I making any sense?”

Despite his anxieties, he smiled. If thinking alike was a criterion, they were doing pretty well for now!

“I know exactly what you are talking about, Piyali. Why do you think I was so hesitant to talk to you?”

“Then couldn’t we take time? We know each other, but we could get to know each other in ways that may matter in practical life, we could just talk a lot more and then decide–”

“You want to date?”

“If that’s what it sounds like…”

“Never thought that would be possible between us–”

“It was silly idea, forget it–”

“Never thought. It doesn’t mean I am not thinking right now.”

“I have to be in Delhi for at least another year.”

“And I am going to be bedridden for several weeks yet. Your vacations would be over long before. Ideally it should have started over a dinner in a nice restaurant, or a music concert, or at least a stroll in the park, but it will have to start with you by my sick bed, while I eat my sick food.”

She blushed furiously, then chuckled to hide it.

“And I have a plan for making it work in Delhi,” Mukundo added.

“You already do?”

“Believe me, countless number of times in last one year, I have thought of appearing at your doorstep in Delhi, spending the day with you and then coming back without anybody being any wiser.”

She looked puzzled.

He explained, “There are two perfectly timed flights. One in the morning for Delhi. And second in the evening for coming back to Kolkata. I would have to be pretend to be busy with on Saturdays. But nobody needs to know that I am in Delhi, not Kolkata.”

“You are incredible. I shouldn’t have driven myself crazy worrying about it. I should have spoken to you earlier.”

“I so wish that too, Piyali. Not just for this.”

“What do you mean?”

“You were always reserved around me. Now, I know the reason. But I wish now that it had been resolved earlier and we hadn’t lost so many years. That we could have talked – for real – earlier.”

“I am so sorry–”

“No. No. That’s not– It wasn’t your fault. You should understand that once and for all.”

She nodded, then said, “It’s not like we didn’t talk. And I suppose you still got to know me enough to fall in love with me.”

“And what about you? How well do you know me?”

“Is this an interview?”

“If it gets the conversation started, why not?”

“All right. Let’s see. Your favorite color seems to be white. You would wear your white kurta-paijama to everything from a wedding to a funeral if you could. I had cooked your favorite breakfast last year in Delhi. You favorite contemporary classical singer in Mitali Sarkar. You like ghazals, but you have trouble understanding their Urdu lyrics. You love Physics. You love teaching as well, although you are easily disappointed with your students. You wouldn’t live anywhere other than Kolkata. But you like traveling. You used to go on trip with your friends often. You haven’t travelled much in last 3-4 years though, I don’t know why. You were in a relationship with Alka Ma’am at the university. It seemed like a serious affair, but then she left for Delhi and you didn’t try to stop her, I don’t know why. And finally, it is baffling that you aren’t married yet, even though you don’t seem to have anything against marriage. It’s impossible that women don’t like you, and it doesn’t seem like you have extraordinary expectations. So, I don’t know why.”

Mukundo was already grinning, and when she finished, he guffawed and threw his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “When exactly did you learn all that?” He asked, still smiling.

“Thirteen years is a long time, I suppose. Will you fill me up on everything I said I don’t know why.”

“I can’t escape that, can I?”

“I suppose, no.”

“Easier ones first then. My relationship with Alka was one of convenience. We both knew it. She didn’t leave because of me or despite me. She was a free spirit who couldn’t remain tied down to a place for long. Unlike me who, as you know, wouldn’t live anywhere other than Kolkata.”

Piyali looked taken aback. Then she laughed.

“Does that sound bad?”

“No. Just unexpected and too casual.”

“It is tempting to hide things from you – the ones that would make me look bad. But–”

“I am not talking to you to judge you, Mukundo Babu. For all my stupidities, you have never judged me.”

“So, you had knowingly cooked my favorite breakfast in Delhi?” he immediately changed the subject.

“I was trying to gain your forgiveness, wasn’t I?”

“And you were pretty sure I will come around. You had bought concert tickets.”

“Hadn’t you declared before leaving after my admission that you cared for me?”

“Had I? I am glad that I had. And I am glad that you believed me.”

Mohima and Debangi came there just then interrupting their tete-a-tete. When Debangi got up to leave after asking after Mukundo’s health, it felt proper for Piyali to leave too and she left with a silent promise to come back the next day.

—

To be continued