Five-Thirty AM - XXXV

Since Noel had a late call on Friday, he arrived at the studios in a wonderful mood. Spending time with Mitul was working wonders for him, and he was whistling, (well, trying to at least, as whistling wasn’t an art form that he had mastered) as he walked into this vanity. He hadn’t expected Dev to show up at the studios today.

So he was rather surprised to see Dev sitting in the vanity waiting for him. He looked awful! The stubble on his cheeks almost overtook his soul patch. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy, indicating a sleepless night. Although his clothes were as pristine as ever, Noel smelt the distinct odor of cigarettes on him. Dev didn’t smoke, until he was stressed.

Dev was obviously stressed.

‘What gives?’ he asked, throwing down his gym bag on the table, having come straight from there.

Dev sighed. ‘I fucked up!’

‘Huh? Fucked up what?’ Noel was just the teeniest bit alarmed.

‘I fucked up with Myna,’ he scowled.

A slow smile spread across Noel’s face. ‘You already told me that. What’s new?’

‘Last night,’ Dev said. ‘I fucked up last night. Again.’ He ran a hand down his face.

‘Last night? You saw Myna last night?’ Noel was trying to understand what happened.

Dev nodded. ‘At the lounge. She was there, with her friends.’

‘And you were with...?’

‘Doesn’t matter who I was with,’ Dev waved it off impatiently. 'Tanya,' he answered Noel's raised eyebrow.

‘So you spoke to her?’

Dev nodded again. ‘Yeah.’

‘And?’ God! This was like pulling teeth! Noel thought. The man was really far gone, and he wouldn’t tell him what was bothering him - at least not in words that he understood anyway.

‘So tell me what happened,’ he prompted again.

‘She was there with her friends. I went out for a smoke. She came out. We talked.’ Dev stopped.

‘And I gather, that during this talk,’ Noel air quoted, ‘the two of you said somethings to each other?’

‘She told me her parents were fixing her marriage.’ Dev stopped. He was surprised at how painful that thought was. Myna wasn’t supposed to get married yet!

‘I presume that at this point, you said something asinine?’ Noel was pretty sure he knew where it was heading.

‘Yeah. I congratulated her,’ Dev mumbled.

Noel narrowed his eyes. ‘And what else?’ he demanded.

‘That you would lose your biggest fan,’ he looked defiantly at Noel’s face.

Noel stared at him. ‘What the F-?!’ he exclaimed. ‘Dev, have you gone mad? Wait. The girl tells you that she’s getting married. You congratulate her. Fine. I can understand that. But that? That was beyond asinine, Dev. That was just plain vicious!’ Noel was really disturbed at this side of Dev.

‘I know,’ he groaned. ‘But that.. there’s something about her. Something that makes me want to shake some sense into her, and make her see things the right way, and then I just open my mouth and ... Boom!! Out comes crap!’ Dev was pacing the room, his agitation clearly showing, banging his fist into his palm.

Noel was silent. ‘She’d be humiliated, Dev,’ his voice was quiet.

‘I know,’ his voice was gruff. ‘But I can’t be second best in a woman’s life, Noel. If she wants me, she’s going to have to reach out to me.’

Noel shook his head. ‘She’s not going to reach out to you after that, Dev.’

Dev was silent, his head in his hands.

‘Did you try calling her?’ Noel asked. Of course, if he’d known what Dev had told Myna the first time, he probably wouldn’t have been so kind to Dev. So it was lucky for him, that Myna had never spoken of it to anyone.

Dev nodded. ‘I tried. A couple of times. She kept hanging up on me.’

Noel sighed. ‘You’re going to have to find a way to apologize to her, Dev.’

‘How?’

‘Do you want Mitul to talk to her? Ask her to meet you?’ Noel didn’t really want to drag Mitul into the middle of this. They were just starting to know each other, and taking sides - as it were, with Dev and Myna might be a little difficult at this point.

‘No,’ said Dev. ‘I need to do this myself,’ he frowned staring into the distance. Noel nodded. That was the best way. Yes, the entire family had come to his and Mitul’s help. Dev had stood by him. But ultimately, it had been up to Mitul and himself to find their way to each other. And so it would be with Dev and Myna. They needed to find their way to each other.

Unless of course, Myna decided to marry the millionaire. Then, all bets were off.

*****

Mitul had been gone all morning, working. She didn’t have a chance to talk to Noel, as even lunch had turned into a working lunch at the temporary desk in Joyce’s office. Which is why she wasn’t at home when the phone rang.

Kamini picked up the phone, and heard a melodious voice say, ‘Can I speak to Mrs. Imani please?’

‘This is she,’ she replied.

‘Mrs. Imani, I am Maria, Noel’s mother,’ the voice introduced her self.

‘Oh, hello, Mrs. Figueiredo,’ began Kamini.

‘No, no, please call me Maria,’ she insisted.

‘In that case, you must call me Kamini,’ she smiled, already liking Maria.

‘Kamini, how nice to talk to you. Sorry for suddenly calling you up. But I just wanted to ask you something. Noel has told me so much about Mitul. Unfortunately, when we were in Mumbai, we didn’t get to meet her. Next weekend, we’re having a family reunion of sorts. We have it every year around this time. Noel will be joining us. I would like to invite Mitul to join us this year, that is, if you’re okay with it?’ Maria seemed to have rehearsed what she wanted to ask for some time before she made that call.

Kamini was in a fix. It’s not like she didn’t know about this, since Noel had already told her and her husband about it. They’d had ample time to think it over. It was unconventional, it was true, but they had already decided to let Mitul make her own decisions about her life. The man she had chosen, even though it was her first relationship, was an excellent man. They had no problem with him.

‘I mean,’ Maria continued, worried about the long pause. ‘I thought Noel had already mentioned this to you. You’ve met Noel. And we are all waiting eagerly to meet her, so please don’t say no.’

She sounded so eager to meet Mitul, that Kamini had to smile at that. She liked the sound of Maria. ‘Maria, Mitul makes her own decisions. If she wants to go, she can go. I will tell her that.’

‘Thank you so much. Noel will make their travel arrangements. Please don’t worry about your daughter while she is here. We’ll take good care of her,’ Maria hurried to reassure her.  

‘Oh, I don’t doubt that. Noel had asked us first before he took Mitul out, and you’ve called me to invite my daughter. I know my daughter is in safe hands,’ she said. Her voice softened, ‘you have a wonderful boy, Maria. You should be so proud of him.’

‘Thank you,’ Maria said, and Kamini heard the tears in her voice. ‘It means so much to me. My boy has suffered a lot. And now he seems so happy to have with Mitul.’

Kamini’s eyes filled, too. A mother’s heart always understands another mother’s heart. ‘And Mitul is happy with him, too.’

‘I hope ..,’ Maria left it unsaid.

‘Me, too,’ Kamini understood exactly what Maria hoped for, because they both wanted the same thing. Their child to be loved and happy.

‘Thank you, Kamini,’ Maria said.

*****

Kamini was folding laundry. She was really happy to have had that call from Maria. It showed that he came from a family that respected traditions, and she wanted that for Mitul. And it sounded like Maria wouldn’t be the typical mother-in-law. Of course, Noel and Mitul weren’t talking weddings yet, but she was in no doubt that that would happen, hopefully not too far in the future.

With these and other wonderful day dreams in her head, Kamini picked up the folded clothes and headed to Mitul’s room. She passed by Myna’s, on the way and was surprised to see her sitting there. She wasn’t on the phone. She wasn’t on her iPad. She was just sitting there. Blankly. Staring out of the window. Her whole demeanor screaming of dejection and defeat.

She entered the room, and said, ‘Myna?’

Myna wiped her cheeks, before turning around. That action did not go unnoticed by Kamini. ‘Yes, Badi-Ma?’ she said.

‘What’s the matter, my child? Why are you crying?’ Kamini asked her, sitting beside her and stroking her hair.

‘I’m not crying, Badi-Ma,’ she denied brightly, smiling at her.

‘Don’t lie to me. I saw you wiping your face,’ Kamini was gentle with her. ‘Tell me what’s wrong?’

Myna sighed and looked at the window, before curling up with her head in her Badi-Ma’s lap.

‘Did someone tell you something?’ Badi-Ma asked.

Myna hesitated and nodded.

‘A man?’ Kamini’s intuitions were working overtime.

Another nod.

‘What did he say?’

‘He said somethings to me. Told me I was nothing more than a fame junkie. That I was trying to come between Mitul Di and Noel,’ the tears had started afresh. She got up, looking earnestly at her aunt. ‘Badi-Ma. I would never do that. I would never even TRY to do that to Mitul di. You believe that, don’t you, Badi-Ma?’

Kamini was shocked at this. ‘Of course, I believe you,’ she said. Wow! She thought. Who was this person making such snap judgements of her niece? She was already annoyed with him. ‘Why would he say such a thing?’

Myna only sniffed and curled up again.

Kamini was processing this new information. Obviously, this man whoever he was, had hurt Myna by his accusations. Was there more, or was this just it? ‘What’s his name?’ she asked.

‘Dev. Dev Karmakar.’ Myna said in a low voice.

Kamini frowned. Where had she heard that name before? ‘Who is he?’

‘Noel’s friend,’ Myna replied.

The light went on. ‘The one you don’t like? and have fights with?’

Myna kept silent.

Kamini bit her lip. Uh-oh! If she really didn’t like Dev, then what he’d said, wouldn’t have mattered to her. The next logical step therefore, was that she liked Dev. His opinion mattered to her.

Suddenly, Myna sat up. She held Kamini’s hands in hers and said, ‘Badi-Ma, I don’t want to get married. Not right now. I want to do something with my life first. Make something of myself,’ she said.

Kamini smiled. She was right, and Myna was making the correct choices. But Kuntala had to be dealt with also. ‘Nobody is going to make you marry anyone you don’t want to, Myna, my child. Have you decided what you want to do?’

‘I looked up these jobs,’ Myna said, showing her a sheaf of papers. ‘They’re jobs in the fashion industry. For designers. I know I’ve spent these past few years not using my degree and I know I’ll have to start at the bottom. And I’m willing to do that. But I need time, and this marriage thing won’t let me do it.’ She was speaking earnestly, the hours of thinking finally coalescing in her mind into concrete thoughts and plans.

‘What if the boy’s side agrees to let you work after marriage?’ Kamini pointed out reasonably.

Myna threw the papers down, her eyes flashing with her old fire. ‘No. That’s not relevant. What is relevant is that I get to have a say in my future. And right now, this is what I should be doing,’ she said firmly.

Kamini smirked. Myna was back! She had a plan and she was going to work to it! ‘Well then, what are you waiting for?’ she asked. ‘Start applying.’

‘But what about Ma?’ suddenly Myna was deflated.

‘We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,’ Kamini said, making a mental note to talk to her sister-in-law before Myna did. She kissed Myna’s forehead and said, ‘start writing those applications.’

Myna threw her arms around her Badi-ma and kissed her cheeks. ‘Thank you, Badi-Ma,’ she said, chirpily, her good mood restored.

Kamini got up, took the clothes and walked out the door. She paused at the doorstep and turned around.

‘If Dev Karmakar had half-an-eye in his head, he’d know what’s good for him,’ she grinned mischievously, and was rewarded by Myna turning a bright red.

*****

Myna was more than pleased when she received call backs from two of the places she’d applied to. The interviews were the next week.

Dev had called her, but she’d ignored his calls. For now, she wanted to focus on herself, she needed to do this for herself. If he really liked her, then he would wait. Things would work out for them. But the time for him was not right now.

She still had to face the wrath of her mother when she told her that she wouldn’t be marrying that millionaire any time soon.

She even went out shopping happily with the Puri twins and Mitul di. They all noticed the change in her, and gladly welcomed her into their group.

Her Mitul Di was of course, in la-la land most of the time. Either working on Noel’s biography or out with Noel or talking on the phone with Noel. She’d even begun to tease her about it, that her whole world revolved around Noel now. Mitul had blushingly said, ‘Yes!’ and hugged her. Ugh!

Mitul really was on cloud nine. She was leaving with Noel on Thursday for the weekend in Goa. Of course, she was very nervous about meeting his family. A fact which he never stopped teasing her about, reminding her of his first meeting with her parents.

At the same time, she was happy for Myna as well, who seemed to have bounced back. She was enthusiastic about Myna’s job search and helped her with it.

So when Myna got the call backs, she was genuinely glad for her and wished her luck for the interviews.

And so it was, that on the following Thursday, two things happened in the Imani household.

Myna got a job.

And Kuntala called the Imanis.

Mitul was busy in her room, packing for her trip. Myna had gone for her second interview, early that morning, and wasn’t back home yet. Aditya was out at work, and Kamini was sitting watching TV when the phone rang.

Kamini picked it up, only to almost drop it, when she heard Myna scream into the phone. ‘Badi-Ma, I got it, I got it! I got the job, Badi-Ma!’

Myna was breathless with the excitement of getting her first job.

Kamini laughed and said, ‘congratulations! I’m so proud of you!’

‘Yes, Badi-Ma. I wanted to call and let you’ll know. I’ll be home in forty minutes and I’ll tell you all about it. Badi-Ma, keep some sweets ready,’ she was yelling excitedly into the phone.

‘Yes, yes. Come back home, beta, and we’ll definitely have some sweets for you,’ she said, happy for the baby in the family to have finally found her wings.

Once she put the phone down, she called Mitul from downstairs. ‘Mitul, Myna got the job,’ she said.

‘Awesome, Ma,’ Mitul came running down, and hugged her mother. ‘When is she coming home? I’m dying to hear all the details.’

‘Come on, let’s go make some kheer for her. She loves that,’ Kamini said, heading to the kitchen. ‘She’ll be home in about half-hour, forty-five minutes.’

The phone rang right then.

It was Kuntala.

‘Didi,’ she said, once the niceties were over. ‘Where is Myna?’

‘She’s out,’ said Kamini, grimacing at Mitul, who was gesturing at her to turn the speakerphone on. She turned it on.

‘Oh! Actually, I wanted to talk to her. You know, I told you about that boy, didn’t I?’

It didn’t escape Kamini that Kuntala had not once asked where her daughter was this early in the morning, and who she was with!

Kuntala went on. ‘Well, the family want to meet with Myna. I told them she was in Mumbai for a wedding, and wouldn’t be back for two weeks. It turns out that the boy will be in Mumbai next week, on his way back from the US. So they want to meet Myna next week in Mumbai itself.’

Mitul and Kamini looked at each other with dawning horror, before Kamini cleared her throat and jumped in, closing her eyes and sending a prayer to the Goddess for protection. ‘Kuntala, I wanted to talk to you about this. I know Myna is your daughter, so perhaps I don’t have a right to say anything,’ she began.

‘No, no, didi,’ Kuntala protested. ‘She’s your daughter, too. So please, tell me what you want to say.’

‘Well, have you asked Myna if she’s ready to get married?’ she crossed her fingers as she spoke.

‘Why do I have to ask Myna, Didi? We’re her parents, we’ve made the choice. We’ll only choose what’s good for her,’ Kuntala sounded a little miffed. ‘Why? Has she said anything to you?’

‘Er.. yes, actually she has. She’s not ready to get married right now, Kuntala,’ she broke it gently.

‘What? Why didn’t she tell me this before? Before we went to all these lengths? Besides, it’s not like she’s doing some great work right now. She’s been sitting at home for the last two years. The older she gets, the more difficult it will be to find the right boy for her.’ Kuntala had worked herself up into a nice tizzy.

‘Didi, I left her there with you because I know you’ll take care of her. I expect you to make her understand that it’s best for her to marry now. This is the right thing for her,’ she was almost crying now.

‘No, Kuntala. The right thing is to let her decide whether she wants to get married or not. If it’s in her fate, then she’ll find the right person to marry,’ Kamini tried to placate her.

‘I should’ve known. You let your own daughter free to go about making her decisions. Now you’ve made my daughter also like that,’ she was really crying now.

‘We’ve given our daughter the right to choose. And we’ll guide her and support her, in all her decisions. Both Aditya and I have given her the right tools to be able to make those choices. You need to let Myna make those choices, too,’ Kamini said firmly, if not a little sternly.

‘You won’t understand,’ Kuntala said. Kamini’s lips thinned. ‘This is such a good opportunity for her, and once it’s out of our hands, then it’s gone! The Kapoors are such a great family. The boy is so good looking, and such a nice boy. And Myna would live like a princess in San Francisco!’ she wailed.

‘Kuntala, enough. What about your daughter’s happiness? Doesn’t that matter to you?’ Kamini was already tiring of this conversation.

‘She would be happy,’ insisted Kuntala.

‘No, she wouldn’t,’ said Kamini. ‘She would be miserable.’

Kuntala shut up for a while. Then, she asked softly, ‘Myna will marry the Kapoor boy, Didi. And I won’t hear a no from her. Please tell her to call me when she gets home.’ With that, she disconnected the call.

Mitul sat down with a thump. Kamini looked at her. She had tried. Now, it would be up to Myna to stand up to her mother.

*****