Casa 11 (Casa de la Buena Suerte)

Dec 19 2011
Monday

8:22 PM

Casa II

She rode home from work. Pradeep as quiet as her, barely spoke… or may be the “drivers of the wealthy have an unwritten code they follow?”

This is how it would be if Aada visited frequently. There was nothing in common between Sunil and Aada. Aada’s nondescript job at Gujarat electricity board was no match to commodity trading. Her Aada had never flown out of India… not even to Singapore. Her FIL logged 200k miles a year was part of some exclusive “2k” club… He did not have the sense of humor as her FIL, the way he engaged with the Hill neighbors or the Mumbai high society…. All her Aada could talk about was the weather or the traffic near Sabarmati….

He would occasionally talk about national politics, or cricket

At her in-laws’ nobody followed cricket, they spoke of games like rugby and soccer and “football” They watched matches together, father and sons drank together

They only spoke in English… sometimes Punjabi… only ate meat sometimes vegetarian….

Her Aada’s English was tolerable at its best…….. he avoided driving his scooter on roads that had butcher shops….

His daughter now was married into a family and ate at a table where things were meat was a fixturet… she married a man, who would eat off her plate with his silverware… would ki…. Her after a drink or a meal………….

She closed her eyes and laid back…. Her heart raced when she imagined her husband’s eyes…. That smile….. naughty, wicked…. Wayward…………….

He didn’t go to the engagement, so she took the liberty of extending her stay at Pai’s by two days….

Since their reconciliation, this was the pattern……… if he did something, she would double it…. And vice versa..

They both got an immense high by taking the other to the edge… precipice…. Then the sheer drop… like her para gliding experience in Chesapeake Bay and most recently at Seychelles…………

The sheer drop would make her insides plunge freely….. she could taste her heart in her throat………

Everytime…..When she would pick up her jewelry and clothing and his clothing lying in a disarray……….. all over and around the bed… later……………she would rebuke herself….

They were addicts…. “compulsively doing an act over and over again” Addictions make people selfish and blind them. Nothing is more important than the addiction itself. Everything is geared towards getting the dependence met, and the deeper into addiction the greater the selfishness. “upon cessation of activity withdrawl symptoms ofetn occur, anger irritability…. And CRAVING”

Her Google search results was correct………

She heard a faraway voice….

She opened her eyes with a start…

It was Pradeep “Aapko aaj apne swimming mein jaana tha?” he asked as they paused at a traffic intersection…

She had been postponing her lessons two weeks in a row at the Towers………… neither had she worked on any art projects… her studio lay intact….

“Aaj nahi” she responded softly

“Aap so jaayiye, sorry” he was apologetic

She shook her head, but did not speak further………..

It was close to 9 PM when she reached home…

As usual there was nobody in the living room…. 7000 sq ft of space just lay empty……. Day after day……… except those evenings when Mumbai's glitterati converged.... Hermes and Valentino grazed each other.. in passing... when wine flowed like a swollen river and  gourmet food teased the eyes and palate..

Paula had said “Tumera Shaan aaj whole day Ulwe site par hai jaan, aaj idhar aayaich nahi”

She knew he wouldn’t have returned…. She could have her dinner and hit the sack……..

For now….

She stripped out of her black pants and cream/offwhite chiffon, puff sleeve blouse… showered …… wore a tee that read “Sobriety is over rated” with a upside down wine glass and a pair of peach cotton capris…

It was Ritu’s gift to her J

Went to the rec room, Dadi greeted her warmly

They exchanged pleasantaries……

Dadi switched to Gujarati news…. Her fave evening routine…

Paged HL…

Dadi: Haan Daadi

Dadi: Is everything OK

Khanak smiled her glorious… rare smile “Jee” she nodded

Dadi: Beta, HL answered the phone thrice and I did once,

Khanak: Who called (baffled, as Dadi would first announce the name of the person and THEN tell her how many times he or she called)

Dadi: A guy from Integra Collections Solutions… (Dadi’s voice was softer.. anxious)

She was devastated as she saw the young girl’s face pale……..

Khanak reacted in signature style, in utter panic but with an “Oh!”