“I will be in Delhi tomorrow for a day… yes, oh no no, no problem. Mom is there too but I won’t get more than an hour with her before I fly back here… mmm, she has a school reunion with Jameela Aunty and their friends… mmm hmm… cool, I’ll see you if I see you, no need to rush on my behalf. Bye-bye.”
Samar stood there, silent, as she ended the call and set her mobile down on the windowsill, back still to him. She did not even know he was standing there. More seconds passed, and she remained unaware. She pulled open the window and hollered out — “Saad bhai!”
The chaos outside was loud.
“Saad bhai!”
Samar observed as she kept calling out to their gardener through the noise.
“Saad bhai! Suniye!”
“Haan, beta?[87]” Their old gardener came running to the window.
“Atharva Bhai ne kaha hai ki paas wale ghar mein bhi paani dalna hai.[88]”
“Ji.[89]”
“Aur yaha ke liye seb ke beej aa gaye?[90]”
“Mangaye hai, Itvaar tak aane chahiye.[91]”
“Badam aur Chinar ke saath-saath, ab seb bhi khilayenge.[92]”
“Saalon lag jaayenge.[93]”
“Toh kya hua, kabhi toh ugenge.[94]”
Saad bhai moved along with his watering pipe. And Amaal stood there, fixated on him. Samar stood there, fixated on her.
“Usme nahi!” She hollered. “Maine kal hi dala tha. Ab parso daalna. Aur Lily ki mitti badalni hai![95]”
Her mobile rang. She pressed it to her ear — “Ms. Bhattacharya, hello! How are you…? I am very well, thank you… Umm hmm… of course, we’d love to talk about it. Why don’t I redirect you to our PR associate, Saba Ahmed. But I’d request you to arrange for it before 12th May. Circuit will prevent the leaders from appearing in any public events 48 hours before voting begins… sure thing. I’ll share her contact right after this call…”
She finished the call and turned, her thumbs on her mobile, head buried in it. She looked up, and staggered back. “Sa…! You scared me…”
“You are not coming?”
“No.”
Samar stepped inside the room and pushed the door. It didn’t click shut, which was what he needed. The last thing he wanted was to start rumours. Atharva and Iram were enough gossip in this party.
“Why?”
“It’s good this way.”
“Good for whom?”
“Excuse me?”
“You work for the party.”
Her face hardened. “And I can handle it well.”
“I didn’t mean it like that… I don’t want KDP to suffer because of…”
“Don’t say it.”
“Me.”
