PENGUIN METRO READS NICK OF TIME

PENGUIN METRO READS NICK OF TIME Komal Mehta suffers from an overactive imagination and thinks she is good at making up stories. The idea of finding the right love at a wholly wrong time always fascinated her and Nick of Time is an attempt to capture the emotion of this exquisite dilemma; to know if there is anything such as the right time to embrace life-changing love. Komal is a senior manager with Hash Entertainment, a film marketing agency in Mumbai. This is her first novel. She can be reached at justkomal@gmail.com. PRAISE FOR THE BOOK An adorable tale about being confused, being impulsive and being in love. Aditi Rao Hydari, Actor, London Paris New York, Rockstar, Yeh Saali Zindagi

PENGUIN METRO READS Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110 017, India Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Group (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England First published in Penguin Metro Reads by Penguin Books India 2012 Copyright Komal Mehta 2012 All rights reserved 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN 9780143417248 This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental. Typeset in PalmSprings by SÜRYA, New Delhi Printed at Manipal Technologies Ltd, Manipal This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser and without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above-mentioned publisher of this book.

With love to my Mom, Asha Mehta, and gratitude for the second chance I ve been given.

ONE To Alehya Mehta! my friend, Jyoti, raised a toast along with all my office friends who had gathered for a goodbye dinner for me. Everybody hooted, clinked their glasses together and sipped their drinks. Except me. I wasn t much of a drinker. A glass of wine was all it took to get me drunk. So, Alehya, what plans... now that you have quit your awfully boring and time-consuming day job? Arun asked. No plans as such. I may go on a trip, catch up on my reading. Let s see what life has in store for me. I really have no plans of my own, I replied truthfully. I, frankly, did not have any plans in life. I wanted a good job and to do well in my career so much that I did not really think of anything else. Now that I d quit my job, because of a whole lot of politics and unpleasantness, I really did not want to jump into another one quickly. I just wanted to take the time and do something meaningful in life. As the music went one notch louder, my phone rang. I was very surprised to see that it was my childhood friend, Shagun. Shagun! What a surprise! How are you? I yelled into the phone. Alehya! Kaisi hai tu? she said, yelling equally loudly and sounding very excited. What? I asked, sensing the excitement in her voice. What is it, Shagun? Jaldi bol! Can you guess? she said, baiting me. Arghh! Shagun, don t test me. Bol na kya hai! I can t guess. 1

2 KOMAL MEHTA Teri aas paas itna shor kyun hai? I m partying with friends. But that s digressing. Bol, what s the news? I asked her again. Are you ready for this? she said, building the tension. I slowly made my way to the loo so that I could hear her properly. I am so ready. Please tell, I said, begging her now. I am getting MARRIED! My heart stopped beating for a minute. Did I hear you right? Did you say you re getting MARRIED? Yes! Yes! Yes! OH MY GOD! It s my best friend s wedding! I started jumping with joy, just like I knew Shagun would be jumping at the other end. How? When did it happen? To whom? And where? It happened all of a sudden, Alu. The wedding is on the twenty-first of next month. That s less than a month away! I exclaimed, feeling that there wasn t enough time to get things in order. Yeah. It s soon. So, you know you have to leave everything. Chuck your job if you have to and get your ass back in Chandigarh, she commanded. What luck that I found myself with a lot of time just when my best friend was getting married! Suddenly, my break from work seemed very exciting. You bet, Shagun! And it s great to know that shaadi Chandigarh mein ho rahi hai and not in Delhi. I haven t visited Chandigarh in so long. How are Dadu and Dadi? They are fine. They were thinking about you. Just come quickly, yaar. It s been a while since we spent any time together, Shagun complained. There was a time in my childhood when Shagun and I couldn t stay apart. We used to spend all our vacations together, too! I felt stupid about not having visited her sooner. I m going to fly there as soon as I can book the tickets. Great! I need you here. There s so much to do... But Shagun, who are you marrying? Someone I ve known pretty much all my life. Dad ke friend ka beta hai.

NICK OF TIME 3 Poor guy! I said, mocking her. Hahaha. Yes, he is. Dad s friend s son means it s an arranged marriage? Umm. Think that it s a love marriage that got arranged. Okay, what s his name? Shagun started to say something but her voice was drowned by a huge cry of ALEHYA! My three friends who had come looking for me in the loo wanted to drag me back to the party. I d missed his name. But how did that matter? I d make it a point to ask Shagun about it later on. My best friend is getting married. I m flying off to Chandigarh next week! I declared to my group of friends with Shagun still on the phone. All of them cheered. Who are you talking to? Shagun asked. I said I was partying with friends, na. Just told them about you. Shagun, I ll have to hang up now, but I m so happy to hear this. This news is probably the best I ve heard in a long time! I told her truthfully. Then come here quickly. I ll see you in Chandigarh, babe. It s been years since the two of us were here together. Yup! See you in Chandigarh! I said as I disconnected the call. I had a smile on my face all evening, a smile that was difficult to wipe off. Suddenly, there was so much to look forward to. TWO Motion sickness and my fear of flying notwithstanding, I could barely contain my excitement as the plane landed in Chandigarh. I was feeling extremely buoyant. It had been years since I d taken a vacation and even longer since I d been in Chandigarh. All I wanted to do was to run out of the plane and see Shagun and her family once again. However, I had so much luggage with me that it was quite a while before I could actually come out of the airport to the parking lot. There were a lot of people waiting to collect their loved ones, but I couldn t see anyone familiar in that crowd. I walked some

4 KOMAL MEHTA distance around the parking lot to see if Shagun was waiting for me somewhere else. I knew the airport was slightly far away from their home in sector 1, making travelling a bit of an issue. I remembered, as kids, Shagun and I would come to pick up everyone who ever arrived by plane to visit us because it was such an outing. I was expecting her, or at least Dadu and Dadi, to be there to receive me. Almost everyone from my plane seemed to have left and the parking lot was emptying fast. I spotted a guy leaning against a car, staring at me intently. I looked closely to see if I knew him and if he had come to pick me up. But he didn t look familiar at all. In fact, I was a little bothered by the way he was staring at me. I looked around and saw the rickshaw stand some distance away. I was very tempted to just take a rickshaw and leave. Had they forgotten I was going to arrive today? I took out my cellphone and called Shagun. Shagun, where are you? I said as soon as she had answered her phone. Alu! You ve landed? Yeah! But where are you? Arre, I was going to come too and collect you but something came up at the last moment. I was a little disappointed. So should I take a rickshaw and come? Rickshaw kyun? Oh, you haven t met him yet? she asked somewhat belatedly realizing my plight. Met who? Arre, look around. Someone very special has come to pick you up. I looked around to see who she was referring to, when I realized that the weird guy who was staring at me from afar was standing right next to me. I was slightly unnerved. Excuse me? I said as he picked up my luggage and started walking towards his car. He turned around and glared at me. He seemed disappointed. Was I supposed to recognize him? I, for the life of me, couldn t place him. I looked at him and racked my brains a little harder.

NICK OF TIME 5 He snatched the phone from me and spoke to Shagun. Haan. Idhar hai, he said, eyeing me distastefully. I suddenly placed his voice. Haww! Vicky? He handed the phone to me and started walking towards the car. Vicky, it s you! I said. And to think I d thought he was some hooligan staring at me! Shagun, I m on my way, I said as I hung up the phone. Vicky was one of my childhood friends. I only saw him in Chandigarh when I was there for my yearly vacations. Come to think of it, we weren t really friends; we just knew each other because Shagun and his family were close. In fact, we weren t particularly close and all my old memories, of me and him, were of us fighting and squabbling we couldn t stand each other unless we had to. But I was so happy to be back in Chandigarh that I didn t even mind him. I m sorry I didn t recognize you, I said, trying to keep up with his long stride. It s okay. It took me some time to recognize you, too. There was an awkward silence. Vicky opened the dickey of his car and started putting my luggage in. I just looked at him. The last time we d met was about seven years ago, before he had left for Vancouver. I didn t have great memories of that time. In fact, I had some very uncomfortable memories of our last meeting. He still looked the same and I wondered how I hadn t recognized him. He used to be the tallest person in our group, and he appeared even taller than I remembered. He still had his arrogance about him. His hair was longer now and he was much better dressed than he used to be. He actually looked quite good. He caught me staring at him. Dekh kya rahi hai? Gaadi mein baith. I did as I was told. I couldn t understand the someone very special Shagun had been thinking of when she sent him to pick me up. So, how have you been? he asked, as we settled down in the car.

6 KOMAL MEHTA Been okay. You? Not bad. We both lapsed into silence again. When did you come back from Vancouver? He looked at me surprised. I guess I was really behind things. Six months after I went there? he said with a straight face. Oh... okay! I guess he didn t like it there. Fancy meeting you here this way, I said, trying to make some conversation. He looked at me curiously again. You are not very updated on things here, are you? he asked somewhat arrogantly. Yeah. I ve been very out of touch with everyone here, I confessed reluctantly. Including Shagun? We did speak! I said defensively. But yeah, she has been busy with her life, and I with mine. Hmm He made me strangely uncomfortable with the way he was behaving. I somehow felt weird being alone with him. So, have you met Shagun s husband-to-be yet? No, I haven t... have you? He was slightly surprised. Yeah, I know him. He s a nice guy. Actually, he is a great guy! Really? Tell me all about him. Well, achcha ladka hai. He s a good guy from a good family. Aur kya? What does he look like? Tall. Handsome. Dashing! Wow! I said, really enjoying the conversation now. That good-looking, huh? Very. Bilkul Shagun ki takkar ka. Shagun was quite a looker. Great! They will make a very handsome couple. I can t wait to meet him. He smiled a little. I m sure he feels the same. You should tell Shagun to introduce the two of you soon. I will! I replied, making up my mind to do that at the soonest. What about you? Any plans for marriage? That comment took me back to the last time we were together, alone, this way. No plans as such. What about you?

NICK OF TIME 7 Umm, I have plans. I wanted to chat more, but a car ahead of us braked suddenly and Vicky swerved, braked and flung a slew of curses at the driver. Then he realized I was sitting there and apologized. It s okay, I said. It s not the first time I m hearing you swear. He made a face. How many years has it been since you were last here? Almost seven. So the last time you were here was during that vacation after which I was going to leave for Vancouver? That thought made me distinctly uncomfortable. Yeah. And the last time we met was at my farewell party when I was leaving, right? he said and then smiled mischievously. Now I was positively troubled. How far are we from Shagun s house? Why? You don t feel safe with me here? Actually, I don t, I said in a matter-of-fact way. Don t worry, I will not attempt that stunt again. Once was quite enough for me, he said cheekily, reminding me of the time I slapped him. Good! I said, really cringing in my seat now. I had been looking forward to this trip for a long time. I wasn t going to let this loser ruin it for me. Tell me something more about this Aditya guy, I said, taking the conversation back to the safer topic. Aditya? Who Aditya? he asked surprised. Arre, Shagun s fiancé, who else? I said. His name is Aditya something, right? Oh, Aditya. Yeah! It is. I can t praise him enough. Shagun is very lucky to find a guy like him. What does he do? He handles his family business. Do you know him well? Quite well. We are close, he said smiling. I knew Shagun s family was very close to Vicky s family, so Vicky knowing Shagun s fiancé did not really come as a surprise to me. I can t wait to see him.

8 KOMAL MEHTA Oh, you will be swept off your feet, I m sure. What news of the others? Ah... Vir, Bunty and Renu? They were all the friends I saw once a year during my visits to Chandigarh. Renu got married a few months ago. Bunty is working now. And Vir... Vir toh Vir hai. Ab tak koi change nahi aaya usme. Vir and I had always got along like a house on fire. He was ultra rich, ultra cool and ultra funny. His father owned an IPL team, a local liquor label, a construction company and many other businesses. Vir wasn t interested in any of it. His only passion was life itself. He loved the good life. So many things to catch up on! I said, mentally making a note to meet Vir soon. Yes. You have missed a lot. I know. More than anything, I m just dying to see Shagun. It s been so long since I ve even spoken to her properly. You must spend some quality time with her. Once she s married, she probably won t have enough time for you. I tried not to baulk. Shagun and I were close even time could not erase that. I didn t take kindly to him, him being somerandom-guy-not-even-a-part-of-the-group tell me about Shagun s priorities after marriage. Let s take it as it comes, shall we? I said blandly. By the way, tumhare saath koi aur bhi aanewala tha kya mujhe pick up karne? Vir, he said, but he got caught up with something. Why? Nahin, woh Shagun phone pe bol rahi thi ke she had sent someone special to pick me up, and here it s just you... Oh, that! She didn t mean Vir. I think you will get your special surprise once you reach Shagun s house. Shagun s grandparents house loomed ahead just as he said that. I felt like a child again. I just wanted to leap out of the car and fly the rest of the way. Shagun was waiting at the gate for me. I jumped out of the car as soon as it stopped. Shagun was wearing a white salwar kameez and looking absolutely gorgeous. If anything, she had only grown more beautiful since the last time I saw her. She was giving off those beautiful bride-to-be vibes. This whole shaadi scene was only just sinking in for me.

NICK OF TIME 9 We screamed each other s names in unison and ran to embrace each other. I almost choked up. I ve missed you so much, Shagun! Me too. Me too, she said, hugging me tightly. I stepped back to look at her. She looked thinner, happier and more radiant than I remembered. Shagun, you look gorgeous! I gushed. She smiled at me and then looked at Vicky, who was pulling my luggage out of his car. Thank you for doing this for me, she told him sweetly. She made it sound like picking me up was quite a task. Anything for you! he said equally sweetly. And then they hugged. It was diabetic! Shagun took my bag and went inside the house. Jaldi aa. Everyone is dying to meet you. I stood transfixed, looking at Vicky. His behaviour was very fishy. He was smiling from ear to ear. Clearly, I was missing something. He walked up to me and deliberately kissed me on the cheek saying, It s good to see you again. I cringed at his touch. Don t ever try to touch me again! I told him and ran into the house. THREE Why did you thank Vicky the way you did? I asked Shagun, once we had safely retired to our old childhood bedroom. What do you mean? There is so much work at home and he was nice enough to go and pick up my friend, the one he is not particularly fond of. I think that was very sweet, Shagun said, her eyes twinkling. Shagun, who are you marrying? I asked suspiciously. Shagun gave me a conspiratorial smile. Something was definitely wrong. Who did you say you were marrying? I asked again. His name was Aditya something, right? Vikramaditya Singh Kahlon, Shagun teased. Just shows you don t listen to me properly!

10 KOMAL MEHTA Vikramaditya Singh... I parroted. That name was ringing a bell in my mind and producing a nasty feeling in my stomach. Vikramaditya... I repeated, trying to remember why that elaborate and elegant-sounding name felt so unpleasantly familiar. Also simply known as Vicky, Shagun added. I gasped. Oh God! I realized who she was hinting at. Please! Please! Please! Please tell me he is not the person I think he is... I said, as the truth slowly dawned on me. He is not the person I think you remember him as any more. You re marrying Vicky! THAT WEAKY! I said, using Vicky s childhood name. Yes! How? Why? Couldn t you have told me? I asked her, my shock still not subsiding. How idiotic I must ve appeared to him during our conversation in the car. He always behaved this way! Flashes of unpleasant childhood memories came to my mind. All of them had merciless Moti Moti Moti taunting going on endlessly in the background. Almost as if on cue, Shagun s phone rang. I somehow knew it was him. Vicky, can you believe it, Alehya couldn t guess that it is you I m going to marry! I cringed. I was just trying to imagine him and Shagun together... and it was distressing. How could this have happened? It was most puzzling. Alehya, Jiju se baat karo, Shagun said and blushed as she handed the phone to me. I scowled as I took the phone from Shagun, first for being forced to talk to him, and second for having to call him Jiju all my life. Kyun, Alu, kaisa laga Shagun ka husband? Vicky taunted me on the other end. I m speechless... I said truthfully. I told you. He is awesome! Hmm, I said, realizing that the next three weeks might not be as much fun as I had envisioned them to be. Now, you won t be able to ignore me, he said naughtily. I didn t say anything. I could see myself coming to Chandigarh

NICK OF TIME 11 after a couple of years and visiting Shagun at Vicky s place. He would be there in every family picture with her. She would even have kids who would look like him. He was right. There was no way that I could ignore him. Maybe this would be my last trip to Chandigarh. What are you thinking, Alu? Nothing. You better keep her happy, I said more as a warning than a plea. I will, Saaliji, he said, mocking me further. I gave the phone back to Shagun. I can t talk to him any more, Shagun, I said and walked to the bathroom to take a bath. I felt disgusted and needed a good shower to make sense of things again. * I couldn t believe it! Everyone at Shagun s home was incredibly pleased about the union. Barso ki dosti rishtedari main badal gayi was the happy sentiment. I didn t voice any of my concerns when we were sitting with the family, but once we were alone I pounced on Shagun with all kinds of questions. Shagun, how did this happen? Just like that, Shagun said dreamily. What do you mean, just like that? It just happened all of sudden. Mummy and Daddy were looking for a guy for me. I thought I was definitely going to have an arranged marriage... then out of nowhere in a matter of few weeks, everything changed. Vicky asked me if I d marry him. I thought I wouldn t find anyone better than him and said yes. And everything changed! she said beaming. Have you noticed everyone at home? They are so happy. My life has become the stuff of dreams! I d always wanted her to have her dreams come true, but my choice of the person who would make her dreams come true would have been different. As long as you re happy, Shagun... I m surprised, that s for sure. What I remember of Vicky from our childhood days is just... well I didn t think he would be the kind of person you would choose to marry, that s all.

12 KOMAL MEHTA What you remember is something else, Alehya. We were so much younger; we were just kids. You can t possibly think he hasn t grown up since then, Shagun argued. I felt very torn between divulging what I knew about Vicky to Shagun and keeping quiet about it. I just hoped that Vicky had changed. If he is your choice, Shagun, I m sure there would be something special about him, I said, fervently wishing it was true. I know you, Alehya. You are worried about me. I know you guys didn t get along well as kids. But really, I ve known him for almost all of my life now and yet I never thought I d marry him. But now I m going to... and I m very happy about it. Shagun knew me well, but there were some things that I hadn t told even her. Would the past loom darkly over Shagun s future? I hoped not. You just stick around here and have fun. Keep your eyes and heart open, maybe you ll find love unexpectedly like me. Then maybe hum dono ki shaadi ek hi mandap main ho jaayegi, jaise Mom chahti thi. It was Shagun s mom s great dream to see us married together. I, however, didn t see anything like that happening any time in the future. * I lay awake that night, thinking about the conversation I d had with Shagun. I tried to recall that last vacation that I had spent in Chandigarh. That was just before Vicky left for Vancouver. Our friends had thrown him a farewell party. I was on the terrace and he had followed me. We were talking about college, keeping in touch and what we wanted to do with our lives when, suddenly, Vicky grabbed me and kissed me. It was my first kiss. It was my first intimate contact with a guy. I d been so taken aback by the affection, and maybe attraction, that for some time I just stared back at him. Then I d given him a tight slap and had run away from there, hoping to never see him again. It was a memory I thought I d forgotten. But seeing him again now had just brought everything back. The guy I knew then was someone I used to think of as a tharki. He was not serious about anything or anyone; he was just a dumb brute. I seriously doubted that guy had improved much.

NICK OF TIME 13 I d been looking forward to this vacation so much. It had not started on a good note. I wondered whether I should tell Shagun about that incident, but then thought that Shagun was going to marry this guy. The least I could do was to just be there for her and give her a shoulder to cry on when he started showing his true colours. I slept uneasily, thinking about the various ways I could convince Shagun to leave Vicky. FOUR It was a perfect September in Chandigarh lovely and mild before the winter set in. The sun was out, but instead of making you sweat, it just warmed your bones nicely. It reminded me of all the vacations I d spent at Shagun s grandfather s place. All my summers between the ages of eight and sixteen, were spent here in Chandigarh. When we were younger, Shagun s mom would usually pack Shagun off to Chandigarh on the first day of the vacations and would bring her back only a few days before the schools reopened in Mumbai. The first time that happened, I d cried myself hoarse at the lack of company. Since Mom had passed away very early in my childhood and I didn t have a lot of friends, I d wailed for days with nothing to do. Irritated and exasperated, my father asked Shagun s mom if he could take me to Chandigarh to see her. I stayed in Chandigarh for two months. Dad stayed with me for a week and once I refused to budge from there, he left me with Shagun in Shagun s grandparents expert care and went back to Mumbai. Shagun s grandfather held a high position in the Punjab Electricity Board office, courtesy of which they had a huge house. It was actually a nice cottage surrounded by a massive lawn with all kinds of slides, swings and fun things in it. There was also a spare smaller cottage, which was a guest house. We had the entire vacation to enjoy, the entire house to play in and all our imagination to use. Every vacation we spent in this house was memorable. We would wake up late, play all day and in the

14 KOMAL MEHTA evening go swimming in the pool at the Government Chandigarh Club, which was right next to Dadu s house. We would then play squash and come home tired and sleep early. Since I d stayed with Shagun and her grandparents each summer, I knew almost all of Shagun s relatives and they knew me. We attended at least one wedding in her family every time we came to Chandigarh. And I went with Shagun for all the functions like it were an event in my own family. I was easily accepted into Shagun s family. It would be a cliché to say Shagun was like a sister to me she was more than that. She was my closest, dearest friend. I loved her and her family, especially her mother. There were times when Shagun and I had our fights, but Shagun s mom was one of the people I was closest to. Maybe it was because I did not have my own mother while growing up. It had been very tough on me when Shagun s family had moved to Delhi from Mumbai when we were seventeen years old. The first few months without her were extremely difficult, but then we got busy with our studies, college, new friends and eventually, our jobs. But we never drifted away. We always were close and remained so. However, once Shagun shifted, I completely stopped visiting Chandigarh. It was almost seven years since I had been to Chandigarh, seven years since I had been in Shagun s grandparents home. As I sat surrounded by Shagun s family discussing the upcoming wedding, I felt nostalgic. I felt a surge of lightness and happiness wash through me, one I hadn t felt in a very long time. I felt like I d visited my own family after an eternity. Alu, kitni patli ho gayi hai said Shagun s grandfather. Yes, Dadu, I worked on it. I can t stay fat forever, I said, wearily remembering how plump I used to be as a child. Chalo, ab Shagun ke saath tumhari bhi shaadi kar dete hai. I had been there only a day now and had already been getting a lot of that. It s not that easy. As soon as I find someone nice, I will get married. Should I look for someone for you in Chandigarh? Then you two will always be together, he added.

NICK OF TIME 15 Won t that be nice! Of course, Shagun and I have slightly different tastes. Mereko yeh Vicky ke type ka ladka nahi chalega. What s wrong with Vicky? Dadu asked sharply Shagun jumped to his defence, Dadu, don t listen to her. She and Vicky have been having some childish fight since they were kids and sadly, they haven t grown up much since then. He is the one who hasn t grown up yet! Thankfully, Dadu dropped the Vicky topic. Instead he said, You must go and meet everyone while you still have the time. Next week will be busy, and left the table. Shagun snapped, as soon as Dadu had left the table, Alu, its one thing to not like Vicky and complain to me, but don t talk crap about him in front of all the grown-ups. They won t understand your tiff with him and will seriously think there is something wrong with him. So be very careful about what you say. Itna aasan hai kya, to get you two separated? Trust me, I would like that, I whined. Shagun looked at me gravely. What s wrong with you? I m marrying him. I think he is a great guy and I love him. You can t talk nonsense about my future husband this way! I panicked. Shagun, chill. I was just joking, I said, trying to calm her. I was lying, of course! I really couldn t understand what Shagun saw in Vicky. She calmed down a little and said, He s not like what you think. He is a great guy once you know him. If you give him a chance to prove himself, you ll see it. I bet if you spend a couple of days with him without judging him, you will just fall in love with him! She looked so earnest saying it, that I did not want to argue further with her. She had made up her mind to marry this guy. Whether I liked it or not, that was what was going to happen. I shrugged and pretended to agree with her. * When Shagun had said spend time with Vicky to get to know him, I did not even have a clue about the sinister plan she had hatched in her head.

16 KOMAL MEHTA I was brushing my teeth the next morning when Shagun came and announced that she had forgotten some very important oufits at her Delhi house, and Vicky was going to get them. Would I be so nice as to accompany him to Delhi and pick up the right ones because Vicky wouldn t know right from wrong? I was appalled and pissed off to the very depths of my soul. I didn t want to accompany Vicky to Delhi. One full day with him!! I wanted to just lounge around, visit old friends and do some shopping at sector 17. Unfortunately, she had picked an opportune moment when I couldn t speak. But I m sure I made a potty face. Alu, I know you ve just travelled from Mumbai yesterday and might not want to travel today, she said as I nodded my head vigorously, but the point is, I want you to spend some time with Vicky. I cringed audibly. Wasn t it bad enough she was going to spend her whole life with him why did I have to spend time with him? Dekh, Alehya, he is the man I m going to marry and you re my best friend. What you two think about and feel for each other means a lot to me. Please make peace with and get to know each other before the wedding. I didn t know what to say. Please, Alu, just do this for me. What s the big deal? You just sit in a car, pick up something and come right back home. Pleeeassse... she pleaded. What could I do! I just put my hands up in a gesture of resignation. She yelled Yay, hugged me and then said, Get ready quickly, okay? He ll be here in ten minutes. I could only glare at her. At the very least, I needed to have some time to get dressed at leisure; this was like being back at work! * How a nice sweet girl like Shagun had been best friends with such an ill-mannered brat, all her life, was beyond my understanding. Shagun, are you sure your friend will not kill me midway or do something equally drastic? Don t be silly, Vicky! Shagun said, defending her best friend.

NICK OF TIME 17 She just has some misconceptions about you. I m sure the two of you can clear them up on the way... and Alehya is very nonviolent, Shagun added for effect. I chuckled at that. Alehya Mehta was anything but non-violent. I knew that better than anyone else. I m ready! Alehya yelled as she entered the room. She looked good after she had lost weight, I thought. Sorry if I kept you waiting, she said in the most insincere tone possible. Only for forty-five minutes. Not a lot of time. I could have waited longer for you, I responded sarcastically. Alehya was going to retort with stinging sarcasm when Shagun jumped in the middle to pacify her. Guys, please try and be nice to each other. I want the two people who mean the most to me my future husband and my best friend to like each other. At least for today, be nice to each other, she pleaded. She was such a nice girl. She deserved a much better friend, I thought. Don t worry, Shagun. We ll manage, Alehya reassured her. Shagun walked us out to my car. Kids, behave yourselves, okay? she said as she saw us off with doubts written all over her face. She was being so sweet. I was lucky to marry a girl like Shagun. Just for her sake I wanted today to work out well. I gave her a hug as we left. She looked at Alehya and me standing stiffly together and troubled by the hostility between us, she frowned. Sportingly, I put an arm around Alehya, trying to pretend that all is well. Surprisingly enough, the brat smiled too. I guess she did care about Shagun as much as I did. But as soon as Shagun turned, Alehya pushed my hand away from her shoulder. Don t touch me. Tharki! It was so irritating to hear something like that. No one got away with calling me a tharki, except her. I m not interested in touching you, brat, I said and got into my car. It was going to be a long, irritating day the sacrifices of married life had begun! *

18 KOMAL MEHTA We hadn t spoken a word to each other in the past one hour and the only thing I did was to listen to one loud Punjabi remix after another. I decided to be the magnanimous person who would break the silence. You don t have any other music? I asked him. He looked at me incredulously, like he had just realized there was someone else sitting in the car with him. Kya? he said. Tumhare pass koi normal music nahi hai? I asked again. Normal, meaning? This is not normal for you? he asked, looking even more surprised. Dude, if I listen to one more Punjabi remix, I ll lose it. You don t have English music? No, he said curtly. This is all I have. I had a nasty suspicion that even if he did have any other music, just to torture me, he wouldn t play it. Your music taste is like that of a truck driver, I said. I bit my tongue and looked at him, fearing his reaction. Excuse me? he said with a scowl on his face. Just as he said that, a truck passed by us, blaring the same Billo Rani song that was playing in the car earlier. I couldn t help but laugh out loud. My point exactly! Very funny, he said blandly. Truck driver music, huh! He muttered under his breath and then increased the volume by several notches. I ejected the CD and tried to browse through the various radio stations for some good music. Almost all the channels played some variant or the other of loud Punjabi music. I settled for a station that was playing old songs. What the...! How can you listen to such old, pakau songs! It s better than your Billo Rani, I replied defensively. So boring! I ll fall asleep while driving. You said I could change the music myself, so I did. Now bear with it. So pakau. Jaisi personality, waisa music, he taunted me. Ok, truck driver! I fought back. I wasn t going to let him ruin my trip. Aunty!

NICK OF TIME 19 Truck driver! How old are you? Two years! I know! You ll never improve. Hello. There is nothing wrong with me. What s there to improve? I asked, getting even more irritated with him now. After a pause I added, But I hope you have improved. Hopefully, you are a better person than I remember. What do you remember, Alu? he asked me, very irritated. In fact, what do you know about me at all? Nothing. I don t even want to know, I retaliated. Neither do I, he said defiantly. I m here for Shagun. She means something to me and if she means anything to you please don t create any more scenes during the wedding. Why would I? Because you are an attention seeker and it s your habit. Attention seeker? What is my habit? I asked, completely surprised. This, he said, pointing accusingly at me. Doing drama and seeking attention. What rubbish! What drama have I ever done? He began to say something... perhaps something to do with our childhood... but then stopped. Never mind. You won t get it, he said softly. Why won t I get it? What won t I get? He just started ignoring me again. Weaky, I m talking to you. I tried to bug him with the childhood nickname that I had created for him. He looked pissed at me, Shut up! Don t you dare call me by that stupid name! Moti! Dude, you CAN T call me Moti any more! I yelled back. You may not be Moti but you re still Aloo, he jibed. Unfortunately for me, a huge Aloo was what I was like when I was younger. Vicky had then twisted my nickname Alu into Aloo, just like I had twisted his name Vicky into Weaky. Don t call me that! I said. The familiar feeling of being harassed by him began to bubble up. I can call you whatever I want, brat. You re still a brat. Really unbearable.

20 KOMAL MEHTA You don t have to bear me, okay. I did not want to travel with you. I m doing this for Shagun. I just can t understand how someone like her can marry you, I said blatantly. What do you mean by that? You don t think anyone can like me? Anyway, what would a cold-hearted person like you know about anyone else s feelings. You re not smart or nice enough to understand it. I was shocked and a little hurt to hear what Shagun s future husband thought of me. That is just mean. You know nothing about me any more to say anything like that, I retaliated. I know you well enough. Let me prove it to you. Tell me something, tera koi boyfriend hai? I knew if I told him I was still single he would make fun of me so I said, Haan, Weaky, hai. Liar. Tere jaisi pakau Aunty ko koi bardasht nahi kar sakta. I knew I could never really lie convincingly and he knew that too. It s true. Hai, I fought him off. Name? Puneet, I said, without batting an eyelid. It was my boss s name. I had had a passing crush on him, so it wasn t entirely false. Are you telling the truth? Yes I am. Anyway, having a boyfriend has nothing to do with whether I m cold-hearted or not, I said defensively, speaking up for all single people in the world. You are lying. I can hear it in your voice. You re still single, he accused. What does being single or not single have to do with any of this? It just means you haven t gotten over your fear of everything in life. I guess fear of life itself. You just don t know what it s like to swallow your BIG ego and pride and make your heart vulnerable to another person s whims. You don t have it in you... to live that way or feel that way. You need to give your heart away to someone to know why people love people they think they can never fall in love with. It s illogical. And clearly you re still too calculating to understand how to be illogical.

NICK OF TIME 21 I knew he had taunted me indirectly but, instead of thinking about myself, I found myself asking, Do you love her? I could at least feel camaraderie with a man who loved Shagun. She deserved to be loved. He looked at me intently. I felt like it was the first time he was really looking at me. I couldn t make out his expression behind his shades. I think I do. Wrong answer. You should ve said Yes. Yes, I do love her, he repeated. Earlier in the day Shagun had also told me that she loved him. There was no way to separate them now. Did you seduce her or something? Maybe. It s none of your business actually, he said with a straight face. Why is it so difficult for you to believe that she can actually love me? Because it is difficult to love you, I said, without understanding why I had said it. How do you know that? Have you tried? I faltered for a second. No, I said meekly. Then maybe you should try. That is what this whole journey is about. Shagun wants you to understand that it is not too difficult to fall in love with me. I m trying, I admitted defensively. Don t try too hard, he said cockily. You might actually end up falling in love with me! You wish, I said, exasperated. * Why did she have to argue so much about every single thing? I had a splitting headache by the time we sat down for lunch. I remember this place. Haveli is my favourite restaurant on the Delhi Chandi highway, she said excitedly. She was very childish sometimes; or maybe I just had the memory of the seventeen-year-old Alehya imprinted in my head. I was comparing everything about this Alehya to the girl I used to know. I remembered her being more ambitious, livelier and somehow more hopeful. The girl in front of me now looked

22 KOMAL MEHTA confused, lost and bogged down by everything in life. But it was nice to see her dropping her defences every once in a while. Good. Why aren t you so agreeable all the time? Because not everything is as agreeable as food, she said, as she pounced on lunch. Clearly, her appetite had not been overly affected by her weight loss. So, what is our plan for the day? It s actually very simple. We ll go to Shagun s place, pick up her stuff and then go back to Chandigarh, I said sarcastically. I feel bad for you you have such a long way to drive, she said, trying to be nasty to me. Driving is all right, but putting up with you throughout that drive? Now that takes a lot of patience. Abhi tu shaadi kar le! Then I ll come and visit Shagun every few days, stay over at your place and irritate you like hell, she said with an evil glint in her eyes. Once we had lunch, our journey to Delhi was quite uneventful. We reached Shagun s house and Alehya picked up all the stuff that Shagun wanted. We didn t argue again... for a while. You re suddenly very quiet, I remarked on our way back. I was thinking about your cold-hearted comment. It s not true. When I love someone, I d go the whole way for him. Do anything for him. Ya, but who can love a pain like you, I said, pitying the person fated for such misfortune. There are masochistic people in the world, you know. I m sure there is someone out there who will fall in love with me, she said without any conviction. Sad truth. It s not so difficult to fall in love with me either, you know, she said, mocking me. You almost did when we were kids. I cringed. I knew she would bring that up. I could not counteract her statement. I did have a crush on her all those years and, instead of expressing it properly, I d gone and done the most foolish thing ever. I d kissed her! That was my hormones acting up, I said, putting up the only defence I could think of. Hormones, my foot! You lurrrrveeed me! she declared, frustrating me further.

NICK OF TIME 23 Shut up, Alu, I said ineffectively, trying to put up resistance in the face of mounting mortification. You know, Weaky, denial is the first form of acceptance. I did not LOVE you! I defended myself further. I had a passing crush on you. I never dreamed of spending my life with you. Still, socha toh! It s not your fault. I am awesome and beautiful, she said arrogantly. Theek hai. Socha, I admitted. And I m lucky I had the time to rethink it and I realized you and I would never have been good together. Why? Tu kaise jhalli type ki hai! I m classy and my standards are high. I don t like girls like you any more, I said haughtily. Really! Classy ka spelling bhi pataa hai? Besides all that is in the past. Now I m marrying the nicest girl of them all, I said, trying to get the conversation to a topic that she couldn t argue about. I have to give it to you! You have an excellent taste in women. First me, and then Shagun. Yeah, I know. It s one good way of looking at it. Console yourself with the fact that you had your chance but ruined it. Shagun took her chances and she is happy. It was the best thing I did. I would never dream of marrying you. You re unbearable. I would have shot you and killed you or something. Yeah, although I m a gentleman, I would have killed you too. So just be glad that we are not together. I am, I said loudly. So am I, she said equally loudly. Call it even then, I said, trying to broker some peace between us. She thought for a bit and then said, Okay. No fighting until the wedding, I said. Ya, okay! she responded somewhat reluctantly. And after? I asked, surprised by her silent agreement. No fighting if you keep Shagun happy. Your murder if I hear one complaint about you.

24 KOMAL MEHTA Done! I said, agreeing, as the Chandigarh city limits came to sight. At least today had not been a complete waste. Shagun would be happy with the progress Alehya and I had made. FIVE It had been so many years since our entire vacation group of friends had gathered at Mount View, which used to be one of our favourite places to eat out ever since since we were kids. Dadu and Dadi would bring all the neighbourhood kids here for dinner every Saturday night. Shagun and I were hosting the party. We were lucky that Vir graced us with his presence, since he had just come back from Delhi from a high-profile wedding. Renu had joined us with her husband Viren, and Bunty with his fiancée. Shagun s elder brother Sahil and his wife, Anju bhabhi, were also there, along with some of Sahil s friends. While we were waiting for Vicky to join us, the conversation at the table veered, inevitably, towards marriage. It turned out that Vir and I were the only two unmarried, uncommitted people in the group. At least Vir had a new girlfriend at regular intervals; for whatever that was worth, he was not single. Me?... I hadn t even started! I was still single. It seriously made me feel like there was something wrong with me. Guys, is there something wrong with me? How come I m still single? It s a little late for you to realize that, no? Vir said. Shut up, Vir, Shagun snapped. There is nothing wrong with you, Alehya. You just need to find the right guy. Someone who will love you and appreciate you for what you are. How do you find the right guy, Shagun? I asked, really exasperated. There has to be a limit to waiting for something you are not even sure exists. After seeing almost all my friends happily married and settled, I did actually feel like I was missing an important part of life. There was something nice about the fact that certain things should be done at the right time in life, in the right way, and I was completely missing the boat.

NICK OF TIME 25 You don t find him, Alehya. He will find you, Shagun said. I really doubted the wisdom of her advice. It was so difficult to believe in something so abstract. But it just seemed like one of those prophetic sentences that you were supposed to hear and follow without question. There were so many times that I had wanted to just yell out in frustration to God, the universe, or nothing in particular for not having sent me my special person, or maybe not even having made a special person for me. Maybe special people didn t exist. Maybe I should let Dadu find me a nice, suitable guy in Chandigarh. Did Shagun and Vicky think of each other as special? Had she believed in something like that when she had found Vicky? Or was it Vicky who had found her? I was just about to ask her that, when I was interrupted by the object of my irritation. There you are! Vicky said as he found our table. He kissed Shagun on the cheeks and then joined us to sit at the table right in front of me. Alu, you have a pact with me, remember? Vir said. If you don t marry anyone else by thirty, you will have to marry me. I marvelled at my childhood intellect. I remember it too! Marrying you might actually not be such a bad option. Maybe I should do it, I said truthfully. Tere se aur koi shaadi karega bhi nahi, Alu, Vir said. You haven t told these guys that you are seeing Puneet Mahajan? Vicky asked. I cursed inwardly. I shouldn t have lied. I always got caught when I lied. I wanted to kill Vicky. He would actually enjoy my public humiliation so much. Everyone looked at me like I was doing something scandalous and I hadn t told them about it. I didn t know what to do now. Continue with the lie and face my friends curiosity or admit to my lie and face Vicky s contempt? I decided to go with a semi-lie. Puneet and I work together. We hang out together, but it s nothing serious. That s not how you made it sound to me, Vicky blurted out. Listen, dude, I don t think I have to tell you everything about my love life, I said defensively. Everyone jumped in the middle to pacify us, before we fought again.

26 KOMAL MEHTA Okay, chill! Shagun said. So is Puneet your boyfriend or not? Bunty asked earnestly. Damn! Everyone leaned in to hear my reply. Vicky was grinning as I looked at him with loathing. No, he is not. Vicky smiled arrogantly, very pleased with himself, remembering, no doubt, the conversation we had had just the day before. Now I m there for you, Alu, Vir said, Bhool ja yeh Puneet Vuneet ko. I m sure you will find someone real wonderful really soon, Bunty s sweet diminutive fiancée Ashka said. Thanks, Ashka, I really hope so. I sighed and concentrated on my food to avoid looking at Vicky. I indulged in visions of him choking on his food. Alehya. My thoughts were interrupted by Sahil bhaiya, Tune toh bahut shopping ki hogi, apni saheli ki shaadi ke liye? Actually, everything happened so quickly that I didn t really get a lot of time to shop. I was thinking I d finish my shopping here, I said, looking at Shagun and Vicky. But, of course, now Shagun won t have the time to go shopping with me, I said sarcastically. I m sorry, Shagun said. I really have not been able to give you much time. I ve bullied you into doing something or the other every day since you got here. We ll go and buy your clothes tomorrow. Then she added, Maybe Vicky can also join us. I tried to mask my feelings of disappointment. Why did Shagun have to drag him along everywhere? I was hoping he would say he was busy and he couldn t join us. Of course, I would love to, he said. Waise bhi I had great fun with Alu yesterday. Great fun, my foot! I had a feeling that he wanted to reduce a nice fun day that I wanted to spend with my best friend, to a miserable one. Don t you have any office or job to go to? I asked him directly. Shagun looked daggers at me. Alehya, Vicky s on leave, she said, defending him. Otherwise voh bahut busy rehte hain. Rehte hain, I remarked. God I was going to be sick!