Page 20 of Musafir Cafe

‘It means spending time on it; what more can someone give somebody?’

‘Spare me these serious conversations.’

‘Okay, let’s go shopping then?’

‘Yes, let’s go but today I’ll do the buying.’

‘Why would you do that?’

‘Because my almirah has a lot of space for your clothes.’

‘Try giving better reasons, please?’

‘Okay, will try next time onwards.’

‘By the way, rather than making space in your almirah for my clothes, try making a little bit of time for me in your life, got it?’

‘No, I didn’t.’

‘No issues. Let’s go shopping, you’ll figure it out.’

Most men seem to hate shopping; Chandar was also one of them. Sudha also didn’t like it much. There was a mall very close to Chandar’s house, but Sudha preferred shopping at the Fashion Street near Carter Road. Malls had brought in lots of interesting things into our lives but had also left out a lot of things; bargaining was one of them. Sudha liked to shop at places where she could bargain. She was happier doing the bargaining rather than in doing the shopping. By the time they got back, they were really tired and dozed off immediately.

B for Bad Morning

Chandar always showered after Sudha. He liked the way the bathroom smelled after Sudha had taken her bath.

Whenever someone starts living somewhere new, the first thing they change is the bathroom. Sudha had already put her face wash and shampoo in the bathroom.

After discovering the word ‘love’, the world had stopped looking for new words. But two people in a relationship find something between themselves that goes beyond ‘love’ almost every day. Chandar was looking for a new word in Sudha every day; Sudha was looking for a new book in him.

‘Good morning.’

‘You know I don’t like saying good morning but you still keep at it.’

‘Okay, then, bad morning.’

‘Yaar, can’t mornings just be mornings?’

‘Tell me, what would you like? Tea or coffee?’

‘You know I don’t like coffee, still you keep asking me like that good morning thing. How many times do I have to tell you this?’

‘I know both of us hate coffee and saying good morning. Sometimes when two people need to touch each other, their dislikes should match, not their likes to make sure they stay in love.’

‘Why do they have to touch each other?’

‘So that they can know each other.’

‘You can know someone without touching them.’

‘But you can’t feel them.’

‘Then say that you want to feel the person.’

‘You know I am terrible at words.’

‘That’s a lie.’