Anyone Else But You... (9 page)

On being mentioned, Rishav faced Jai and Hardik and smiled.

“Oh, okay ma’am. Ma’am as I was saying that the Council needs to be…” Jai started off again.

“Listen
na
!” Veenu interrupted him again. This time there was going to be Pearl Harbour within Jai.

“Yes ma’am?” A clearly frustrated Jai asked.

“This boy Rishav, sweet boy he is. You should make friendship with him. He suggested that the top floor corridor is a hazardous prospect for the children because it is not covered. And there is no parapet, why didn’t you guys notice that before?” She shot a question.

“Ma’am, erm erm…actually we were going to talk…” this was Jai’s third try.

“Oh, wait. Rishav, this is
Jai
Chauhan
, a very bright, intelligent and responsible student. One of the best we have in this school,” She said proudly. “And I hope that you too join them in the list of responsible and bright students of this school.”

“Will surely ma’am,” Rishav nodded with gratitude.

A visibly flattered Jai couldn’t really stop thinking about the words ‘bright’ and ‘intelligent’. It was like two ads were running in his head simultaneously. One was of Surya lights and the other, Intel Processors.

“Yes, Jai…you were saying?” Veenu finally remembered that Jai was to complete what he had begun saying.

The royalty couldn’t afford being snubbed a fourth time so he chose the easy way out, “Nothing really ma’am. Just came to say
hi
.”

“Aaaw, how
sweet
,” Veenu said as she opened her drawer. “Take this,” she handed over to Jai
a bar of Kitkat. Share it with your friend Hardik. She beamed with abnormal happiness.

“Right ma’am, I shall see you then.” With his mission being nothing but a waste of time, Jai stepped out of Veenu’s cabin with unparalleled gloom.

“Bloody
bangali
…!” he scowled. “Yo dude!” Hardik backslapped him knowing that a new kid taking away the spotlight from Jai wouldn’t really have gone down too well with him.

No Madhuri
and
Veenu
has a new poster boy…

Could life get any worse for
Jai
Chauhan
?

EIGHT

The bartender was ready to show his skills in the luxury apartment of Jai Chauhan. Jai was hosting the pre Council party to garner student support for his council application. Everyone had assumed that Jai would host it. As for Jai, he didn’t mind. After all he had to become the Head Boy. It was worth it.

Plus, he had another reason - to meet his ex- flame- Arzoo. He had still not gotten over her since she unceremoniously dumped him. Three months ago. He hoped that this would be the time when he won her back.

The terrace of Jai’s house was immaculately cleaned. The pool was cleaned and the water gave a blue-ish tinge to everything around it. The pool chairs were neatly arranged and a barbecue was set up. The ambience was perfect to one of the much hyped DHS parties.

As one by one the guests arrived, the music got louder and louder and the party picked up its gusto. The dancing on the floor got wilder as people drunk more, of the expensive alcohol.  But Neil Oberoi, the ex-Head Boy of Delhi High School, stood with his girlfriend stuck to his arm, sipping apple juice from his glass.  He stood there, away from the dance floor – seemingly uninterested in the hooliganism on display. Instead, he laughed a bit, cracked a few jokes and mostly kept to himself and his girlfriend.

Jai was dancing like a robot with his friends while in the other corner, Rishi and his girlfriend, Shruti were making out, hidden from the view of most.

Jai’s one time best-friend and ex-girlfriend, Arzoo giggled her toothy horse like grin every time Jai tried to outdo himself with some act that he thought was funny.

What a goon
, she thought.
Almost like a chimpanzee. Good riddance.

“Watch me bitches
,”
screamed a girl as she took off her shirt and jumped into the pool. Everyone, especially the guys, looked at her as she took off her shoes and shirt. After she had landed in the pool with a loud splash, everyone hooted.

Apart from the important ones, were present the not-so-important ones. Like
Jai
’s personal favourite ass lickers and the wannabe
Jai
s who wanted some
Jainess
transferred into them. Topping the list of them all was Chintan. All his life, he tried walking like Jai, talking like Jai, even acting ape-like like Jai but never managed to get close to the million-dollar grace that
Jai
Chauhan
carried.

As the party went on, the music got louder and more and more people jumped into the pool taking their clothes off. With every splash there was a bigger hoot.

“Do you want to go in?” asked Jai, hoping that Arzoo would’ve been impressed by now.

“No. Sorry. I’ll get a cold if I go” she said and excused herself and stood next to Chintan.

Jai depressed guzzled a few more shots of vodka. And jumped into the pool.

As Arzoo left the party, a few others followed her cue and slowly the terrace of Jai Chauhan was almost empty except for Neil and his girlfriend and Rishi and Shruti.

As Rishi dragged his girlfriend towards the washroom to get some action, a loud noise stopped them in their tracks… There was some kind of commotion going on. Rishi stepped out. He could hear Jai singing on top of his voice inside the pool. He noticed Jai’s dad, a noted name in the field of Telecommunications. Next to him was a person who appeared to be a cop in plain clothes. Drunk enough, he was to be talking gibberish to teenagers who were drunk enough to be not trying to understand what he spoke. White flowing mane and a French beard, Jai’s dad placed an arm around the cop and guided him towards the elevator. While the glass elevator moved down, Rishi caught a glimpse of Jai’s dad sliding his hand into the cop’s pocket. And then within moments, both were out of sight.

NINE

The Met department would have predicted turbulence in Vajpai's House No.23 as a destructive tornado.
Sasha, Sahana’s cousin, had got the results of her Test Series.
She was the daughter of Mr. Arvind Vajpai. The man with a temper of nothing less than a tempest, was screaming at his only child for getting a 91 in Mathematics. Sasha studied in APSN School, Delhi. Not having the prestige of going to her cousin's school didn't bother the frail looking, a little-slow-on-things girl. She didn't resent anything that her cousin had. Rather she pitied her for not having what she had for herself.
 

Much to their chagrin they both had been born in a family that still lived in the 20th
Century when it came to the way their children had to be brought up.
Sasha’s family was complicated- to say the least actually. Sasha kept on worrying about
what her dear mother and respected father would say to her about her marks.
While on the other hand,
Sahana avoided thinking about her family altogether. She would keep herself busy all
the time to avoid thinking about it. Whenever something about her family
bothered her she slept, ate while reading a book
(
most of the times),
study
(rarely), go for a walk (in a park where her friends
would
be there to
greet her to take her for a round of
gol gappas
)
and just more sleep.
She rarely thought about how to solve the problems. She’d rather run away from
them,
far far away. Live alone and be happy.
She wished t
o meet new people who had
no clue who she was
,
so
that
she could be anything to them.
She thought about every detail of her running away plan from the hell she currently
lived in. That she would put her clothes in a backpack, take her money and go
to the ne
arest metro station. Go to the New Delhi Railway Station and take a
train
from there
to Kalka. From there take the bus to Kullu, where she had spent two years
of her life.
The
time spent there, according t
o her was the best. She kept on
daydreaming about
what she would do when she got there.
Maybe
she would
go to her old school and ask for some shelter. She would convince them that she
was an asset and they would let her complete her education and then become a
teacher there itself. Or, she thought, a fulltime maid for someone. She would show
those people her report cards. They would take pity and maybe admit her into a
nearby school.
She kept on coming up with alternatives each time. But that was
only
when she allowed herself
to brood. She made sure that
that
rarely happened.
Mr.Vajpai, Sasha’s father, was burning with rage. His daughter had yet again got the same marks in Mathematics as before. He was a
man who lost his logical sense when he was angry. This time he was blaming Sasha, but indirectly, blaming Sahana.
“You don’t study.
Tumhara dhyan idhar udhur ki cheezon mein zyada jata hai
,” he said with his daughter’s paper in his han
ds. "If Sahana is watching T.V,
sit in the other room for god's sakes!” he screamed. "You stay in that room and get hooked on to the television. If she doesn't want to study, why are you not studying? She has already passed her 10th. You haven't!!
Use padhna nahin hai toh tum bhi nahin padhogi?"
He glared at Sahana meaningfully.
“From today onwards you are not studying at
all. You will do the housework,
"
h
e said.
“Seemaaa!” H
e shouted his wife's name,
“
Aaj se yeh ladki ghar ke kaam karegi
.”
Sasha'a mother came with hurried steps. She looked at her husband and her daughter. She didn't want to get involved. She knew that her husband's rage was goin
g
to go away soon. So she chose to keep quiet.
Sasha was crying. But now that her father had said such words, she became defiant.
"FINE!" she screamed. "I am not going to study. AT ALL! Do w
hat you can
.”
"
Beta
, stop shouting.
Saare logon ko sunai de raha hoga
,”
Sasha's mom said with a serious tone in her voice.
"I don't care!" Sasha screamed again.
"Mummy, where is the broom?" She asked her mother.
"
Beta
, calm down,”
her mom tried to console her.
"WHERE IS IT?" Sasha now on the verge of exploding
screamed louder.
Sahana was watching this drama from one corner of the room. She'd rather not get involved in such unpleasantness. She detested it.
She a
bhorred it. But seeing her cousin go berserk for the first time, she thought that it was time to intervene.
"Okay, okay.
Chacha, chachi aap do minute ke liye jao
. I will explain it to her,”
Sahana said to the senior Vajpais.
"No need. Let her do what she wants. Two days. That's all it will take her to u
nderstand how difficult life is
,
”
he said throwing the paper on the floor with disgust.
He walked off from the room and his wife followed.
Sahana quietly closed the door and sat next to Sasha. She hugged Sasha from the side. Sasha cried more profusely now.
"It's okay,
bubah
. It'll be fine. If you just concentrate a li
ttle bit more it will be fine
.”
Sahana cajoled he
r cousin.
She hated this part, m
ajorly because she sucked at it. She didn't know what to say at all. She was scared that she might just end up making people cry more.
She frantically thought about what to say next.
“
Arre, yaar. Chorr naa
. Get full in the next test ok
ay
? Like, don't even make one mistake. Show the
m that you can do it. Alright?" Sahana said while stroking S
asha's strewn hair.
"I am sick and tired, ok
ay? W
hy do they always do this? It's a s
tupid test. Doesn't even count
,
” S
asha said among weeps.
"Baby, they are your parents. They want the best in you. And these t
ests are there to test how much
you've understood the chapter in detail. It's ok
ay. Do better in the next one,”
she said.
Sasha turned
away and lay down on the bed.  "Yeah...Okay,” she mumbled.
"Now, you should get up and start studying. Sho
w them how much you've studied,” Sahana encouraged her.
"I ne
ed a break,”
Sasha mumbled. She turned around and asked Sahana, "
Gol gappe khaane hain
?"
"Uhh. Sasha,
dekh, chacha angry hain. Thoda sa padhle
. We will go after two hours,
ok
ay?" Sahana said with
hesitation. She didn't want to go. And her intuition was telling her it would be the perfect
ly
wrong time to get out of thi
s house.
"No. I wanna go. NOW!" S
asha got up and started dressing.
 
Sahana sat there with a lon
g look on her face. "If you want to
go, then go. I am not coming. I am not abetting you in suicide
,”
she said.
"Fine.
Your loss,” S
asha said, while putting on her jeans.
When Sasha was done, she went out of the room opened the front door and walked out without looking at her parents si
tting on the sofa in the room.
Mr. Vajpai got up and rushed to the room where Sahana was sitting.
"W
hat did you tell her to do?!”
Mr. Vajpai screamed.
"I told her to study. She wanted a break. I told her not t
o. She still did. It’s not my fault;”
she
said
and turned her face away from the overwhelming man.
"Go after her. G
od knows what she will do
.”
Sahana stood there for a while. She thought about the prospect of going out. It gave her immen
se joy to be out of this hell.
"
Theek hai
,”
she replied in a monotone without facing the red-faced man.