Page 8 of Made in Mumbai

“M?”

“Yes, G.”

“Why are you showing me Mumbai?”

“Because we are Kareena and Shahid.”

“Huh?”

“You all grumpy, me all sunshiny! I couldn’t do a road trip and find my Aditya so why not do BEST buses and Juhu Pav Bhaji?”

He squinted — “Are you… actually like this or this comes in phases?”

“Phases, G. Phases,” she grinned, popping a piece of pav rolled in bhaji into her mouth.

“But… aren’t you… scared?”

“Of what?”

“That I may be dangerous?”

“This is Mumbai. Nobody is dangerous here. And if you are, I’ll beat your ass like I beat that man’s on Pali Hill.”

“I always heard people in Mumbai are always busy. Are you not busy?”

“On a regular day, I am. Wake up, go to college, come back, sleep, catch a friend and go out in the evening, come back late, sleep late, can’t wake up in the morning but wake up, repeat…” she smirked. “You know, the normal kind of busy.”

“That’s a good kind of busy.”

She sputtered. “Don’t take my life as the average Mumbai life, huh. People here are really really busy. Like can’t-get-time-to-stand-and-eat-a-vada-pav-so-do-it-while-speed-walking-to-the-station busy. Whew.”

“Breath, breathe.”

“Phew. Yeah, so that’s there. But it’s fun. Whenever I come back from a vacation, I can’t wait to throw myself into the mix. Like there’s always something or the other to do. You are never left empty or alone. Just busy.”

“Huh. Today you are not busy?”

“I was. I had a whole day planned with my best friend to chill at her house. But her boyfriend came and they are making out all over the place…”

“Making what?”

“Makingout.”

He frowned. She made a kissing face and began kissing the air.

“Oh,” he sat back, enlightened. “Oh.Oh.”

“Yeah,oh. So until she texts me, I am free.”

“Your parents won’t worry?”

“No.”

She didn’t elaborate, but the way she kept stuffing the pav pieces into her mouth told Gautam that it wasn’t a pleasant topic to open. He didn’t open it. He knew a thing or two about parents not worrying. He was also a little… consoled, that there were normal people out there in the world, in Mumbai of all places, who were enduring what he had.

“Do you want to try their bhel puri? That’s another Mumbai special!”

“No, I am full. I can lie down and sleep here.”

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