Page 1 of Right Where I Belong
PROLOGUE
Fourteen years ago
On a train between Rishikesh and Delhi
“Wow, this is so amazing!”
Eighteen-year-old Karina Kumar looked outside the window of her train compartment, her wide eyes looking this way and that, taking in the passing view. This was the first time she was taking a train journey. The first time she was leaving Rishikesh, and she was so excited. She’d also dressed for the occasion, wearing her only pair of frayed jeans, a long gray top and a red stole, and had even applied a bit of lipstick.
Growing up in an orphanage, one didn’t get many chances to dress up. So a day trip outside the city was the perfect occasion to look good. And Karina had been waiting to go to Delhi all her life. She’d heard stories about the city, of its impressive monuments, the sharply dressed people in the malls, and the fancy restaurants and cafes. The few times the children were allowed to watch television at the orphanage, she’d seen glimpses of the city in movies—bright lights, wide roads, peoplewho always seemed to be in a hurry yet looked so polished. She’d been eager to see this big city for a long time, and now, thanks to her friend Dorab, she was finally going to visit it.
A sudden pang hit her chest. Her brothers. They must have gotten her note by now. She ought to have told?—
“What’s wrong?” A voice opposite her asked. “You look worried.”
She looked into the face of Dorab Kumar. The two of them had grown up together in the orphanage in Rishikesh, and he was a close friend of hers, someone she trusted completely.
“I keep thinking that I should have waited to tell Mihir, Armaan, and Vedant where I was going,” Karina said. “I don’t want them to worry.”
“You left them a note, didn’t you?” Dorab asked. “They know you’re safe as long as you’re with me. They also know that I know my way around the city.”
While Dorab was her close friend, Mihir, Armaan, and Vedant… they were her family. A family that she had chosen for herself, and the one that had chosen her in return. Her brothers. They didn’t share blood, but they’d claimed each other as their own as long as she could remember. She loved them to bits, and she knew they loved her as well. Mihir was the eldest in their group, followed by Armaan, Vedant, and then her.
Yesterday, Karina had turned eighteen, and this morning, Dorab had come to her with train tickets to Delhi—his gift to her for her birthday. He’d recently started working in Delhi, and it was only a matter of time before his visits to the orphanage would become fewer and farther between. He’d reached the orphanage a day after her birthday with tickets for a day trip to Delhi. Since her brothers were away for some work, she had hesitated to leave without informing them. But Dorab had insisted. He told her that he had saved his first salary for her, to take her to Delhi and show her around. The train wasleaving soon, and hence, she had quickly scribbled a note for her brothers, telling them her plan before she hopped on to the train with Dorab.
Karina chewed her lip, thinking now that she should have waited for her brothers to return. She knew the three of them had gone to meet Alexander at his hotel, the kind old man who had become a mentor to them during his visits to India. Thanks to his generosity, her brothers and she had learnt to speak fluent English and also knew their way around a computer. She frowned when she recalled that Mihir had told her he wanted to talk to her when he returned, but then Dorab had shown up and she’d been so swept away by the idea of going on a day trip that she hadn’t paused to think.
“Mihir’s not going to like that I left like that,” she lamented.
“Oh, come on,” Dorab said. “Mihir worries too much. Besides, you and I have gone for picnics in and around Rishikesh plenty of times.”
While that was true, there always had been some of the other kids from the orphanage with them. This, although exciting, suddenly seemed like something she ought to have told her brothers in person. Mihir, Armaan, and Vedant had never really gotten along well with Dorab. But he had been warm and friendly to her ever since they were kids. She’d always taken up for him, and her brothers looked the other way just because they loved her too much.
Dorab leaned closer and wiped the frown from her forehead. “Relax, we’ll be back by tonight. It will be like you hadn’t even left.”
A moment later, he pointed to the lush fields outside the window. He kept her engrossed throughout the train journey, telling her about his job and his new boss, and how successful he was going to be soon. She was happy for him, but a small kernel of doubt continued to linger. She’d never done somethingthis bold and rash before. She’d never not consulted her brothers prior to taking any decision.
All too soon, the train pulled into the bustling New Delhi railway station. She swung her cloth bag across one shoulder as she walked beside Dorab. He quickly guided her out of the station and into the bright morning light. Her breath caught as she looked around. The city around her was too busy, too crowded—unlike anything she’d ever seen before. A sudden burst of fear assailed her. She exhaled, putting her hand in the pocket of her frayed cloth bag. Her fingers clasped a familiar leather handle, its touch soothing her. She was safe. She was out for a lovely day with a friend, and Mihir had taught her to look after herself. Hence, she was going to push all her negative thoughts aside and enjoy herself to the fullest.
“Where are we going first?” she asked Dorab. “Shall we go to the Red Fort? Or to that fancy mall you mentioned? Oh, let’s go to the mall, please. I’m excited to see the people there.”
“Sure, whatever you want,” Dorab said, hailing an auto rickshaw.
She sat in the rickshaw, taking in her surroundings. Dorab leaned forward and spoke in quiet tones to the driver.
She asked several questions to Dorab, pointing at various sites, but his answers were short, his tone clipped. Perhaps, he was worried about the expenses. She smiled. Her brothers were all working with an NGO close to their orphanage, and for her birthday, they each had given her a small amount of cash. It wasn’t enough, but for sure she could pay for her own meals, and perhaps even for Dorab’s. They didn’t need to go to expensive places to eat. Today was all about the experience.
Dorab didn’t know she had money with her. Usually, they were all broke. No one in the orphanage ever had any money, except those who did some odd jobs here and there. In her case,she was the designated cook in the orphanage kitchen, a job that brought in barely any money.
Well, she’d surprise him when she paid for their lunch. Soon, she too would get a job outside the orphanage and then her life would begin for real. In fact, on her birthday, her brothers had told her that they were all going to move out of the orphanage together. Her breath hitched, and her eyes widened. Was that what Mihir had wanted to talk to her about? She sighed. No worries, she’d talk to him as soon as she returned in the night.
She looked outside again.
“Is that the Red Fort?” she gasped, her lips curving in excitement. “Are we going there first? I thought we were going to the mall. But this is fine too.”
Dorab didn’t reply. The auto crossed the towering monument and entered a narrow lane, lined with buildings very close to one another and crowded with bikes, auto rickshaws, and cycle rickshaws. They kept winding down the narrow roads, the buildings getting denser as they passed.
She frowned. “Where are we going, Dorab?”
