Mira on the roof..
12. Flute songs..
Maliha reached her room first. Kirtana was getting up and what she saw was a little monkey sitting in the balcony watching her as she did that. Mali smiled and looked at the little devil; he had a small pink face and a nice silvery coat, and a long swishing tail that seemed to have a life of its own. He was quite chubby for a monkey and very clean. Definitely a pet…she made some typical sounds to call to him, get his attention, and he came after some careful speculation. She looked at his collar, and saw the words, ‘Call 9900.... if found.. .’.
She was thinking about the other occasions someone would have found him and had to make this call… and how ridiculous the conversation would have been…”Errrr I have your monkey, I mean well.. he just landed up at my house, care to take him back?? Or… did you know you monkey’s in my house now, you lunatic…what’s the big idea??”… Maliha picked up the phone, punched in the number… “…hello?” said a voice…Maliha began ‘Sir, I am Yoe Wong, I believe your monkey found its way to my home.. and it is custom in my Chinese village to sacrifice the animal if it comes to your home before noon and drink his brains… for breakfast. I was hoping to get your blessing and thank you for sending me this monkey. In my family this bring good luck’… she was pretending to be a Chinese monkey eater, and had put on the perfect accent… Kirtana was laughing so hard she was almost in tears…and looked at the poor monkey who was now staring from one to the other, trying to make sense of the two puzzling creatures before him. “NOOOO!” Screamed Manu..”That monkey is my pet! You will NOT eat him and I will NOT bless you??!!… What kind of person are you, where are you??!! Tell me now, I will come over there and take him. If you touch one hair on that monkey I will have you arrested so fast, you’ll be packed off to whichever Chinese village you came from, don’t mess with me…!!!” he said as harshly as he could… Maliha burst out on the phone…”wow, relax, we are just messing with you. Your monkey is safe, can’t say the same about roommate though, care to come and collect your pet anytime?? How about right now? We live at….”…Mali said. Manu sighed heavily..”I’ll be over soon… keep him safe till then!” he barked on the phone, clearly annoyed by the call.
The bell rang 20 minutes later and Maliha got the door… Manu took Monkey immediately and softened up a bit, on seeing Maliha. “Kirtanaaaa!” screamed Mali… she was calling to her. “ the monkey’s owner’s here, come say hello..”. Kirtana emerged from her room moments later. And stopped in her tracks. “You!!”
Half an hour later, they were sitting like civilized people, but the moments leading up to that were not so civil. Kit had looked about ready to strangle Manu, but Manu’s face had softened entirely… they were both talking simultaneously, and Maliha was confused by what was going on. Finally they took turns in explaining what had happened today and a few days before. And Maliha arbitrated. They made peace and sat down for a cup of coffee… Maliha was not sure why Kit was so aggressive about his ‘advances’ earlier, well yes he was a little dramatic, so what??
Manu began talking to Maliha, and they discovered they had a lot in common, including a birthday that was a week away!! Maliha had been wanting to have a get together of all the people she had met this past week or two… but she was still thinking about. Kirtana was beginning to feel just a tiny bit left out as the two of them gabbed away about art and film school… but she just sipped at her coffee.. she had had more to drink than eat this morning.. and wait a minute where was Raghav!?
Maliha looked at Kit as though she had read her thoughts…”Raghav’s sleeping Kirtana.. jet lag remember? So Manu, what play is it that you want our Kit to be a part of..” also sensing Kit’s sudden detachment from their conversation so far..
Manu blushed slightly..shockingly! He went on..” it’s not that I have a plan, but when I saw Kirtana at the restaurant, sitting there… something came over me, the poise, and the grace that she herself seemed so unaware that she was exuding… was well… just irresistible. I want to use her as my inspiration at the very least.. if only she would let me?”…he added, not so subtly.
Kirtana said..”Manu how would you be inspired by me? What? would you follow me around, you and your monkey… hoping to find some mundane activity of mine ridiculous enough to make a story out of?”…she said laced with a little bit of sarcasm… Manu responded..” well yes! And no! yes I would love to follow you around, but no I don’t think anything anyone does is mundane! It’s all… well how you pull it off!”
Mali stepped in.. “Kit what about it… how much harm could it do you.. let Manu study you for a few days? Either he finds what he’s looking for… or well he gets out of your way.. correct Manu? Give it a shot Kit, giving in can be fun at times, trust me… and besides Manu seems like quite the gentleman, right Manu? I trust you will treat my Kit with the respect she deserves?” Mali delivered this by simultaneously challenging Kit and Manu, making sure both knew what had to be done, and how it was harmless yet, something to be careful while doing.
Kit said she would think about it, and call Manu back later that day.
About an hour’s drive from where Mali, Kit , Manu and Monkey sat nibbling at biscuits and drinking their second cup of coffee.. Mira was sitting on the terrace of her house… she had made herself a small hideaway on the top, covered by a roof, to keep the rain away, but open from all sides.. the four poles holding the roof up, were painted with various designs, nothing regular, just random scribbling’s of a then expression starved teenager! She now looked at this space, three years wiser, smiling knowingly… yet feeling the familiarity of those insecurities and dreams and how she had come up here when she felt her little house was stifling her dreams. She often played her flute here. Since she had gotten so good, no one ever objected, and she tried to write her own melodies and tunes. Her parents had been shocked to see their daughter bald headed, even though they had seen pictures and spoken to her using the webcam, seeing her in the flesh made it more ‘real’. They let Mira get away with mostly anything actually… and this would be one of them. So Mira sat down , took out her flute and began to play… all the while thinking of the boy on the plane. She was also thinking about why she had come back home! And that was more complicated..
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