PART 1
1.
Daksh Dey
‘Bhaiya, yaar,’ Gaurav protests. ‘Why are you not coming?’
I ignore the question just as I have for the last twenty times he has asked me.
‘Aanchal’s and your clothes are marked according to the functions—cocktail, wedding, reception,’ I remind him. ‘Give me a couple of picture options. And, of course, don’t tear them, drop anything on them or lose them. We have to give them all back.’
‘Bhaiya, please come, no. We will travel first class. My treat!’
Gaurav’s immaturity grows with each passing year. He’s becoming more like the thirteen-year-old mad superfans who idolize him. I ignore his wasteful offer, knowing that if I let him loose with his credit card, he’d quickly amass a debt larger than some small island nation’s.
‘Listen to me, Gaurav. You’re allowed to lose everything but your passport. There are a bunch of events lined up and you can’t afford to be stuck there. There’s team practice too. There are radical changes in the new Fortnite. I have made a list of pain points.’
He nods distractedly. Then, his face contorts into the pathetic, sad-puppy expression he has been making since the day Vanita, the crush of his life, announced her wedding.
‘I can’t believe I’m going to watch Vanita get married to someone so random.’
‘It’s absolutely believable because you’re an idiot. And don’t give me shit about closure. You guys had nothing. All this drama for nothing. You can still choose not to go.’
‘It’s not—’
There’s only so long you can argue with a wall. ‘Don’t get too drunk or kiss someone in public. It’s all illegal there and you can’t bribe your way out of jail,’ I warn him.
Gaurav has just started to drink occasionally, often without my permission, and it pisses me off majorly. Alcohol and drugs are Kryptonite for gamers. Elite gamers have a short shelf life. By twenty-four, reaction time dulls and renders them uncompetitive. There’s always a sixteen-year-old with razor-sharp reflexes to take over the entire scene. To counter what is one of the shortest professions, we crafted for Gaurav a social media persona so he could extend his career and didn’t have to rely on championship wins. But even then, he needs to be sharp and game as if his life depended on it.
‘That’s why you should come with me, Bhaiya,’ he pleads. ‘Listen, Bhaiya, we will be at our hotel. You don’t have to meet Didi. I won’t even tell her you’re there. Please, Bhaiya.’
I ask the porter to start walking with Gaurav’s trolley.
‘I will miss you, Bhaiya.’
‘Get a haircut.’
His Instagram fans have convinced him that man buns are cool. One of these days I’m going to take garden shears to it.
Gaurav hugs me.
It’s still as weird and squirmy as it was the first time. It was right after our team, Phoenix Rising, won its first major gamingconvention, which put us on the map as the rising stars in the Asian gaming scene, and positioned Gaurav as a legitimate genius.
‘I love you, Bhaiya.’
I love him, too, but of course, I’m not going to whisper that into his ear mid-hug at an airport.
‘Do you want me to say something to Aanchal Didi?’ he asks me with a wink.
And because he knows what I’m going to say, he slaps his big headphones over his ears.
‘Ask Aanchal to fuck off,’ I tell Gaurav. ‘Tell her that she’s the worst person in all of history. I hope every day of her existence is the pure definition of torture. Tell Aanchal she’s the worst ex-girlfriend of all time.’
He smiles, waves and follows his porter into Delhi International Airport. A group of adoring fans, none of them older than twenty, spot him. They flock around him, gush over him and whip out their phones for pictures. He obliges everyone with a smile, a tip for Tekken and a hug. Apart from his gaming skills—unmatched in Asia—it’s also his way with his fans that makes him as popular as he is. Within minutes, his Discord group comes alive.
Gaurav Madan spotted at Delhi Airport!
My phone explodes with notifications from Gaurav’s social media accounts—1.5 million on Instagram, a million on YouTube, and another million smattered across X and Discord. The DMs pour in, begging for autographs, meet-ups and offers to give Gaurav blowjobs. Gaurav remains oblivious, having been absent from Instagram for over a year.
