Love Lasts Forever (5 page)

I wrapped my a
rms around her shoulders and scooted closer. The wind had seemed to pick up as the calm sea was suddenly flecked with whitecaps. The sun had left for the day, gulped down by the sea, leaving behind an amber colour in the sky. Soon it would be time for me to leave as well. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, something hit me and I turned to face her, and said, ‘Hey, what if we get married now?’

             
‘What? Ha, ha, seriously?’ That gleeful spark in her eyes reinstated my decision.

             
I smiled under my breath. ‘Yeah, seriously, what do you say?’

             
‘What?’ she snorted. ‘Are you crazy? We are just eighteen!’

             
‘I know and that pretty much is the legal age to get married in India; isn’t it?’

             
She hid her face beneath her hands, and shook her head in disapproval, or out of shyness, or contempt, I couldn’t really fathom. Then she looked at me, smiled, and said, ‘seriously Ronit you want to get married to me at the age of eighteen and that too after knowing me for just about a month!’

             
‘Absolutely! You heard it right,’ I said without any thought or hesitation. I was so sure I wanted to marry this girl and spend my life with her. What more can I want? I mean what more can anyone want, being in love and getting married, and all that, right?

‘
I love you Aisha and where does it say you can’t get married at the age of eighteen or after knowing a person for just over a month.’

             
‘Yeah, I know,’ she said, ‘but…you are being weird.’

             
‘Weird? Why?’ I threw a curious look at her. When she had nothing to offer, I asked, ‘Alright, will you marry me or not?’

             
‘Of course,’ she said, ‘I love you and may be we’ll get married sometime in the future, but not now, I mean as teenagers. You are anyway leaving tomorrow.’

             
‘Yeah, so what, we’ll get married before I leave. I still have a day.’

             
‘OK, now, hold on marriage boy.’ She perked up on her seat and freed her arms from mine. ‘It’s getting creepy now, you please go and come back; we’ll date for a few years and then decide if we should even get married in the first place.’

             
‘What? So you have doubts about that now?’

             
‘No,’ she said, ‘I didn’t say that, but I think marriage is not child’s play, you have to be sure that you are doing the right thing.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘And with the right guy…’ she whispered under her breath. Her last line wasn’t intended to be heard, but she said it a tad too loud.

             
‘So you are not even sure about me now?’

             
‘No! I’m not saying that, I mean, we ought to give ourselves more time Ronit before even thinking of getting married.’

             
‘OK, look, here’s the deal. I am sure that I want to get married to you right away, just tell me whenever you are ready and I’ll be at your door step asking for your hand from your father, and well…brother.’

             
I only got a wry smile in return.

An hour later I was dropping her home driving past the crazy Mumbai traffic. Silently, I actually admired it. More traffic meant more time with Aisha. She rolled down the window and craned her neck out, enjoying the wind past her face. Her hair was open that flew with the wind like the waves of an ocean.

             
‘I don’t believe I’m so madly in love Ronit,’ she said breathily a minute later as she settled back on her seat. ‘It feels so good and bad at the same time,’ she added in a whisper.

             
I nudged her shoulder mischievously. ‘I want a good bye kiss.’

             
‘There you go! All you men are the same,’ she spluttered, moving away from me in her seat. ‘I’m trying to have a nice romantic talk here and all you want is a…damn kiss.’

             
‘So what’s unromantic about that?’ I asked.

             
She gave me a cold stare. ‘You are so bad.’

          That
definitely was the cue of her approval. ‘So we’ll do it?’

             
‘No, I can’t let you do it,’ she replied curtly. ‘It’s just been a month in our relationship.’

             
I waited.

             
‘OK, but I will not allow you to kiss me on my lips, only cheeks,’ pat came her reply only a minute later.
Why couldn’t she admit she wanted it too?

             
‘OK,’ I replied casually, pulling up the car down the road. ‘Let’s do this.’

             
‘In the car?’ she said distastefully.

             
‘Yeah, where else, you want me to get a room for you?’

             
‘You are really bad; I’ll never do it here.’

Ten minutes later we had our tongues in each other’s mouth, and yes, we did it
in the car.

While on my way back
toward Joe Singh’s house to drop his car, I was struck by the realization that today had to be the best day of my life.

8
. TEN MILLION DOLLARS

2
6
th
June 2011, Somewhere in Somalia

I wish she had refused for that elusive kiss, and in frustration, I had killed the bitch. I would have to live in a prison then, but at least, without her. Life here is no less than a prison anyway!

             
It’s been almost a day under the captivity of these inhumane people. All the crew members have been escorted to the bridge, and including Captain and I, have been made to sit on the bridge floor in silence.

In pin drop silence!

I have been sitting in this place, in this position, for more than twelve hours now. We are not allowed to move; they have told they won’t harm us if we follow their orders. My legs and back are aching, my knees are knocking, and my stomach is growling.

In the morning a group of men had come to assess the ship, cargo
, and crew to decide on the ransom amount. A representative of the pirates called ‘Translator’ who was their chief negotiator had accompanied them. He spoke immaculate English and had to be the smartest Somalian around. Together with the leader he decided for a whopping ten million dollars ransom and informed the company with the help of Captain.

             
I almost threw up after hearing that amount. With the austerity measures being taken in the shipping industry owing to the recession, I have serious doubts of our release. But the cargo on our ship might just be the saving grace as its value is much more than the ship itself, and well, us.

             
To further add to my misery, I am grappling to find the answers of Captain’s story.

What is the catch? Is he crazy?

I have been trying to make eye contact with h
im ever since we reached here so he gives me some hint as to what happened in the end. This is the first time in my life I am more interested in someone else’s life story than my own. He had told me he wants to help me, so that I don’t make the same mistakes he made.

But I don’t see any of his mistakes
…

It was his stupid wife who was careless and
made all the mistakes in their marriage. She was the one who asked for a divorce, not him. Then where the hell is his mistake? Why has he been feeling so guilty for their separation? And more importantly, I can’t help but ask myself all the time, ‘Why is he still madly in love with her?’ In fact, how can one love someone forever? Especially after getting married to the same person?

             
I don’t have a good control over my mind and it drifts aimlessly from Captain’s story to my own. But what else can I do here anyway?

I
wrap my arms around my knees and look around. All of us have a woeful expression and we glance at each other helplessly – in shock, pain, fear. None of us have been able to accept the fact that this has really happened. The goddamn hijack still feels like a nightmare.

             
Then there is another feeling that’s exacerbating our misery – Hunger. They haven’t given us food yet and we haven’t eaten anything in the last eighteen hours. I am starving. But honestly if I were to get my wife’s cooked food here, I think I’ll avoid it.
What does she even cook?
Horrible will be an understatement. And then she tells me I’m a little
mama’s boy
who can only enjoy his mother’s cooked food. From where does my mother even come in the picture? And why can’t two women ever stay peacefully together?

             
As I struggle to find the answers (which I know I never will), a faint smile has unleashed on everyone’s face. Finally the food is here! Not much though, however, enough for us to keep going. The pirates can’t let us die; their purpose would not be served otherwise. What bargaining power would they have if all of us were dead?

Few minutes later,
I dig into the clammy rice that is served with some awfully looking vegetable served in soiled paper plates thrown at us. I am too hungry to make a face and silently try to eat it. That should be our meal for the next twenty four hours. Horrible as it is, it makes me want to ask the pirates one question ever since the food hit my tongue, ‘Did Aisha cook this?’

9. Sorry brother!

July 2007
, Mumbai

We’d been dating for over three years now and every year on our anniversary I’d been asking her to get married. For some reason I never get a coherent answer and she’d always manage to gurgle out something, taking the marriage topic astray.
Does she even want to get married, to me more importantly?

             
Today, she called me over her place for a cup of coffee. Her parents and her sister Priyank, I mean brother, were not around. The moment she asked me, I’d been squealing with excitement over the phone with Joe Singh.

             
‘Dude this is it, your night, make it large,’ Joe Singh yelped. I couldn’t figure out why
was
he
that happy?

             
‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking,’ I asked him hesitantly. I didn’t want to discuss...you know what, about my future wife with my best friend.

             
‘Of course! She has not called you for coffee, that’s anybody’s guess.’ He screamed into the phone.

OK, now seriously, why wa
s
he
so excited?

‘
Just do it and then tell her to buzz off, your job is done here,’ he added malevolently, interrupting my thoughts.

             
‘What? No! I’m not gonna tell her to buzz off!’ I snapped. ‘How many times have I told you I love her and want to spend the rest of my life with her, Joe Singh?’

             
‘Oh don’t you call me that!’ he said. ‘And how many times have
I
told you to address me just Joe, it sounds weird that way, man.’

             
‘OK, Joe Singh.’

             
‘Fucker!’ he said, giggling. ‘You’ll never learn, huh? Anyway man, listen. Don’t be so much in love with her because you’ll get hurt if things don’t work out between you two. Trust me man it’s not worth it. These girls have tremendous power to hurt us guys.’

             
‘Oh really!’ I said, cradling the phone between my left shoulder and ear, and glancing through my pictures with Aisha of last year. She looked phenomenally pretty in that navy blue sweater. ‘And how could you possibly know that? You’ve never had a girlfriend man.’

             
‘Just…common sense…that’s…all,’ he fumbled.

             
‘Bye,’ I said hurriedly, ‘and please never give me such lame advices again.’

I kept her picture aside
and opened my closet to get ready for the evening. My aunt was kind enough to have given me a room in her flat in Andheri whenever I visited Mumbai.