Page 77 of Made in Mumbai

“When did you learn to cook?” He asked, stuffing a bite of roti bursting with bhindi into his mouth. The afternoon sun was high but not hot as they sat on a bench on Marine Drive, their tiffins open between them.

“It’s good, no?” She chewed, her cheeks full. “I had a bai. Sumi Bai… Did I tell you about her back then?”

He shook his head.

“She was there since I was born. Like my nanny… she took care of me more than my parents.”

“Hmm mmmm…” he nodded, not about to open his mouth for words when he had her food in it.

“She used to also cook our meals at home. I used to go to the kitchen to make fancy pasta or pizza, and she would always catch me and make me learn something or the other. Like basics. Roti, sabzi, dal, bhaat… and I haven’t tampered with her taste at all. It’s exactly as she used to make it.”

“Never thought you’d be so domestic.”

She gave him a mock bow of her head — “Poo and Parvati, right here.”

He snorted. This reference, he did get, because she had spent the entire train journey from Matunga to Khar narrating the story of Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham to him, complete with its ‘iconic’ dialogues. He had dozed off to that story that night too. It was one of the best ways he had gone to sleep.

“Gautam?”

“Hmm?”

“Where are we going now?”

“Wherever we want to go.”

“Not back to the office?”

“No.”

Her face lit up. For somebody who was so responsible before leaving office, she was now the party-planner. This was one of the things he loved about Maya. She was serious sometimes, and that too when it was needed the most. But she just knew how to make a bland day, a bland life, fun.

“Let’s go to the Aquarium!” She squealed.

“Aquarium?”

“Yes! Taraporewala. And then Nehru Planetarium. I haven’t been there since my school days. We will see fishes, then stars. It’ll be so much fun!”

If she was standing, she would be thumping her feet and dancing. Gautam agreed.

“But,” he added. “We need to be out of there before sunset. I need to take you somewhere.”

“Where?”

“2 of yours, 1 of mine.”

“Fine. Fair is fair.”

He snorted. They packed up their tiffins, washed their hands in the roots of a side tree, and began to turn.

“Oye, G?” She called out.

“What?”

“The real Marine Drive,” she pointed.

“Ha ha.”

That tempting tongue made an appearance again, and this time he was so close to pulling her and taking it. But he held his body, and his mind.Aquarium. Fish. Octopus.He thought all unattractive thoughts.

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