Next morning, Rivanah and Nivan took a cab to the CCD where Ishita was already waiting for her.
‘It’s lovely to see you, babes.’ Ishita hugged Rivanah immediately and then went slightly stiff seeing Nivan.
‘Tell me he is your cousin and is here to bride-hunt,’ Ishita whispered in Rivanah’s ears. The latter broke the hug with an amused face and said, ‘Ishita, meet Nivan, my senior at work.’ The two shook hands. As Nivan sat down, he realized the girls were still standing. He excused himself and stood back up.
‘Please excuse us,’ Rivanah said as Ishita pulled her towards the washroom. The moment they entered, Ishita asked, ‘Is he your—’
‘No! Though I didn’t tell you I’m single now.’
‘You are fucking Nivan?’
‘Shut up, no!’
‘What happened with Danny?’
‘Same thing that happened with Ekansh. Life! We broke up because of my alleged infidelity.’
‘What the fuck! Seriously?’
Rivanah nodded.
‘And what exactly is Nivan doing here with you?’
Rivanah took two minutes to fill her in.
‘Hmm. Everything is so twisted. Do give me your kundali after this.’
‘Huh?’
‘I want to know what kind of planetary position a girl needs to first have a hot guy like Danny and now a sex god.’
Rivanah smirked and with a tinge of sarcasm in her voice said, ‘Oh, I too want to know that because every one of them slips out of my grasp.’
The girls came out of the washroom. They ordered their coffee after which Rivanah put it straight to Ishita, ‘Just tell us what happened after we returned from Hiya’s house last time.’
‘Okay.’ Ishita took a deep breath as if she was recollecting all of it correctly in her mind and then said, ‘Your mother called a few times after which you said you had to accompany your parents to meet one of your father’s colleagues. We guessed they wanted you and this colleague’s son to get hitched. Then I guess you went there. I went with my colleagues for an outing where there was no phone network. I came back two days later, and when I called you back seeing your missed call alert and inquired if you had unearthed something about Hiya, you surprised the shit out of me by asking who Hiya was.’
Nivan glanced at Rivanah once and then looking at Ishita said, ‘That’s weird. How can Rivanah forget someone just like that?’
‘This isn’t the only weird thing that happened. I was pretty sure I had accompanied my parents to Mr Dutta’s house.’
‘Obviously, the two are connected. But how?’ A couple of seconds later, Nivan asked, ‘Who exactly is this Mr Dutta?’
‘Manick Dutta is Baba’s colleague.’
‘Have you met him before?’ Ishita asked.
‘No.’
‘And what exactly happened at his place? Do you remember?’ Nivan asked.
‘I went there, talked to him, all the while feeling sleepy. Then he suggested I take a nap. I was reluctant but my mother insisted as well. So I went to his bedroom only to doze off. And when I woke up, I was in my bedroom. Later, when I asked Baba, he said we were supposed to go to Mr Dutta’s place but it was cancelled at the last moment.’
‘You are scaring me,’ Ishita said. They became quiet. Ishita’s phone broke the silence. She took the call and, a few seconds later, told Rivanah, ‘I’m sorry, but I have to go to office now. I’ll call the moment I’m free today. Take care.’ Ishita stood up.
‘It was nice meeting you, Nivan,’ she added, before hurrying out.
‘We can trust Ishita, right?’ Nivan asked.
‘Oh yes. She knows everything.’
‘Hmm. We have to pursue this mysterious Mr Dutta you mentioned.’
‘I had messaged him on my father’s behalf. And he asked if I was all right.’
‘All right? You ask that if someone has had an accident or . . . if they are suffering from something.’
Rivanah had no clue what to say.
‘Tell me something,’ Nivan said, ‘Is there anyone who might know everything about you for, let’s say, a week, before and after Hiya’s death? Not your parents. Like someone who was always there with you in college as well.’
Rivanah didn’t have to think hard for this one. The name was clear in front of her: Ekansh Tripathi. How many times would she promise herself not to go to Ekansh and how many times would she have to break it?
27
The next morning, Rivanah considered several times before calling up Ekansh. She had blocked him, deleted his number and yet he kept reappearing in her life like an unwanted necessity. It showed her just how much their past was intertwined. And there was no way she could undo it. The best way, Rivanah decided, was to pretend there was no past. Holding on to this thought, she typed Ekansh’s number on her dialler and called him. She would finish it over phone and be done with it.
The number you have called has been temporarily suspended, an automated voice said in Marathi.
What the fuck, Rivanah lamented. She typed a message, both on WhatsApp and SMS, and sent them to his number, hoping he read it. Morning turned to afternoon with no response from Ekansh. In the evening, Nivan called her.
Rivanah told him about Ekansh Tripathi, and Nivan enquired if he was the same person who had stayed in his flat before her. When she replied in the affirmative, it piqued Nivan’s interest immediately. And he was sure Ekansh would prove to be an asset in their quest though Rivanah tried to convince him he was nothing but an ass.
‘Did you get through to him?’
‘Not yet. His phone is temporarily suspended.’
‘And there’s no other way of getting in touch with him?’
‘There is . . .’ Rivanah knew she could call Ekansh’s parents and get in touch with him. But . . .
‘Did you try the alternative way?’
Rivanah wanted to say she wasn’t interested, but Nivan didn’t know of her past with Ekansh except for the fact he had been a good friend in college. And there was no reason why he should know anything else now.
‘Give me two minutes. I’ll call you back,’ Rivanah said and cut the line. She remembered Ekansh’s landline number as well. She cursed herself for remembering every inconsequential thing about him. Perhaps girls are like that, she concluded, they remember the so-called unimportant details of a relationship much more than guys do. She called on the landline which was answered on the fourth ring.
‘Hello aunty, this is Rivanah here.’
The response came after a long pause, ‘Hello, Rivanah.’
‘I wasn’t able to get through to Ekansh. Do you have any number where I can reach him? It’s important.’
Rivanah heard Ekansh’s mother move away from the receiver and call out to Ekansh.
‘Hello?’
‘Ekansh?’
‘Rivanah?’
‘What the hell are you doing in Kolkata?’ she asked, and knew how weird it sounded. He could be in Timbuktu, for God’s sake. How does it matter?
‘I left my job.’
‘Oh!’
‘Where are you? How come you are calling me on my landline?’
‘I’m in Kolkata. I called you on your Mumbai number but—’
‘Yeah, I cancelled that number. Do you want to meet up?’
No, I want to finish it on phone, she thought but said, ‘Okay, we’ll keep it short.’
‘If you want it short, it will be short.’
Why is he suddenly so friendly? Especially after the frivolous treatment she had been giving him?
‘Coffee house?’ he asked.
‘Okay. In an hour.’
‘Done.’
Rivanah cut the line and messaged Nivan saying she was meeting Ekansh shortly and would call Nivan once done.
Rivanah reached the Coffee House on time; Ekansh was already there. Was it a coincidence that he had chosen the same corner where they sat whenever they bunked college? She gave him a tight smile before sitting down opposite him.
‘How is everything between Danny and you?’ Ekansh asked.
Rivanah looked around and said, ‘All’s fine.’ She wasn’t going to give him a reason to feel he had a space in her life.
‘Good,’ he said.
She could sense sadness in his voice.
‘I left my job and Mumbai too. I’ll be at home for some time, figure out what I really want to do in life and then perhaps . . .’
‘Hmm. That’s nice.’
‘I miss Tista.’
Rivanah had decided she wouldn’t let him use his guilt as bait to fish her guilt out. She intentionally pretended his last sentence didn’t mean much to her.
‘I want you to tell me something, Ekansh. And tell me honestly.’
‘Is that why we are meeting now?’
‘Yes.’
‘Okay, tell me, what is it?’
‘You remember Hiya Chowdhury?’
He thought for a second and said, ‘Yes, I do. You have asked me about her earlier too.’
‘I know. She hanged herself a day before Tech Sky came to recruit on campus.’
‘I remember that too.’
‘I want you to tell me if you noticed anything odd about me from that day onwards.’
‘Odd?’ Ekansh seemed lost in thoughts. He spoke after some time, ‘I think all was normal. You had gone on a vacation with your family for a month or so.’
‘A month? Where?’
‘What do you mean where? It was Leh and Ladakh, don’t you remember?’
Leh and Ladakh. Rivanah had never seen any photographs of that vacation nor had any memory of it. Assuming she had made it to the vacation in the first place.
‘Did I ever show you any pictures?’
Ekansh frowned and said, ‘Why are you talking like you are an amnesia patient?’
Rivanah didn’t react.
‘I asked you for pictures, but you never showed me any,’ Ekansh said.
‘So, I was away for a month and then I was back and everything was normal?’
‘You only went with your family for a vacation. It is normal anyway.’
Rivanah was thoughtful.
‘Were we in touch when I was in Leh and Ladakh?’
‘There was no network in your phone.’
‘Which means we were out of touch.’
‘Totally.’
Neither spoke for some time. Rivanah tried to fit in the information Ekansh had given her with whatever she knew of Hiya, but it didn’t make sense: Hiya’s death and her vacation—two seemingly unrelated incidents. So many students must have gone on vacations at that time. So what? But what kept her suspicions alive was the fact she didn’t remember the vacation.
Ekansh snapped a finger to break Rivanah’s trance. ‘I think you are hiding something.’
Rivanah gave him a sharp glance and said, ‘It’s nothing. Thanks, Ekansh, for meeting up. I’ll have to leave now.’ She stood up. Ekansh grasped her hand rather impulsively. They looked into each other’s eyes. Hers seemed to ask why and his why not. He let go of the grasp and asked, ‘How long are you here in Kolkata?’
‘I’m flying to Mumbai later tonight,’ she lied and added genuinely, ‘Stay well and take care. I miss Tista too.’ Rivanah put her bag over her shoulder and walked off.
Nivan had been putting up in room no. 510 at the ITC Sonar Bangla. And though he had asked her if she wanted to meet outside, it was Rivanah who told him she wanted to be away from the noise and people for some time. She needed a quiet place to analyse the dots now that Ekansh had given her a new one—her supposed Leh and Ladakh family vacation.
‘You want a tablet?’ Nivan asked, noticing Rivanah rubbing her forehead as she settled on the couch in his suite.
‘Perhaps some water,’ she said.
Nivan brought her a bottle of water from the mini fridge.
‘Thanks,’ she said, taking a sip.
‘What did Ekansh tell you?’
Rivanah took a minute to recount everything.
‘So according to him, you tagged along with your parents to Leh and Ladakh, but you say you have no memory of it nor photographs to support it.’
‘That’s correct. Nor have I heard my parents ever mention it.’
‘And you are confident Ekansh won’t lie to you?’
Rivanah looked at Nivan. ‘Why would he?’
‘Okay. So after Ekansh, the two parties whom we should approach are Mr Dutta and—’
‘And?’
‘Hiya’s parents. I remember, Ishita mentioned you two had gone to her place after the convocation.’
The mention of Hiya’s parents brought back memories of the crazy-looking woman she had seen at her place and Hiya’s worried-looking father. And yet she had forgotten only about Hiya and not her parents. What. The. Fuck.
‘By comparing what Ekansh, Mr Dutta and Hiya’s parents tell us, we can hope to get a solid lead.’
‘Right.’ Rivanah understood Nivan had a point. Nivan’s phone, kept at the centre of the glass table, rang and vibrated at the same time. The vibration swirled the phone towards her. Before Nivan could pick it up, Rivanah saw the name—Advika. Nivan excused himself and went to the other end of the room where the window was. As he stood there talking over the phone, Rivanah already had her questions ready for him. Nivan came back a couple of minutes later.
‘Who is Advika?’ she asked.
Nivan paused before settling on the couch again.
‘I’m sorry if I’m being too personal,’ she said.
‘Advika is my girlfriend.’
‘That’s nice to know,’ Rivanah said, knowing well Nivan must have guessed from her tone that she meant the opposite.
‘What happened to her?’ She had to ask something before the air turned too awkward between them.
Nivan reclined on the couch and set his gaze on the ceiling.
‘Remember you asked me if I had a secret?’
Which you didn’t tell me, Rivanah remembered clearly. ‘Yes,’ she said.
‘Advika and I dated for five years and have been living together for seven.’ Nivan was still staring at the ceiling. ‘We met for the first time at a friend’s birthday party after my higher-secondary exams. She had just passed her high school then. I remember she simply stood in one corner with a smile, not knowing I had my eyes on her all the time. I found her quietness amidst the party cacophony so very attractive. I can never forget that face . . . that moment. That evening, something unprecedented happened: I fell for a girl for the first time in my life. And it led me to do something I had never done before. I proposed to her by the time the party ended. She was so scandalized that she simple scampered away without saying anything. I became the butt of my friends’ jokes. Then two days later, Advika got my number from a common friend and said yes to me on the phone. I never asked her why she took two days’ time. All she told me was that, for her, I was the first. And I hope she knows that, for me, she is the last.’ Nivan had a nostalgic smile on his face.
‘Advika was always a non-confronting kind of girl, never found faults in others. It always surprised me. Actually, she’d always lived a protected life, never facing the harsh world ever, which ensured she had a pure heart. But it was not a practical one. During her college days, I used to pick her up from her house every day. The way she held on to me tightly every time I raced my bike amused me. And I did it on purpose most of the times.’ The nostalgic smile on his face stretched at this point. He stood up and went to pick up his wallet from the table beside the television. He flipped it open, and staring at something inside said, ‘Every touch of yours is a memory, each memory is an orgasm, each orgasm hides a realization and the realizations leads me to self-discovery.’ He closed the wallet and came back to where he was sitting.
‘It was something she had written for me after our first year together. I have kept it with me ever since. You know what, if I have to tell you about Advika in one line, she is a girl who never lost her innocence.’
Rivan
ah felt like she was hearing an excerpt from a romance novel. It sounded incredible and yet it urged Rivanah to believe it with her heart. The depth of a man’s love, she realized while listening to Nivan, was evident in the way he reminisces about his girl.
‘Advika was afraid of speed. She would never sit on a roller coaster. She always took her own sweet time to cross a busy road. Every time we took a flight, she would clasp my hand hard before take-off and while landing. That was also why she never learnt driving. I used to tease her about it, because speed was something that gave me a kick. Though I used to push her to learn driving, which she eventually did, Advika never really drove.’ There was a pause akin to the one which usually preceded a storm.
‘It was the fourteenth of April four years back, when we had planned to go for a movie at night. I was at work, and I had not brought my car that day. So, for a change, I wanted her to come over to the office and pick me up. She kept telling me we could take a cab, but I was adamant. After all, if one doesn’t drive then how does one overcome this fear? I simply wanted her to confront her fear.’ Nivan was suddenly quiet.
‘And?’
Nivan’s eyes fell upon Rivanah but he looked away quickly.
‘She gave in to my stubbornness, drove but, before she could reach my office, met with an accident. A drunkard had hit her car. She injured her spine. The result of it,’ his voice turned heavy as he completed, ‘is for you to see.’
Rivanah was at a loss for words. There was a prolonged silence.
‘I’m not going to marry her,’ Nivan said, sounding choked.
Rivanah frowned.
‘If I marry her,’ he continued, ‘People will make me believe that I’m with Advika because she is my responsibility. It would be my duty as a husband to be by her side. But, to be honest, Advika is neither my responsibility nor my duty. Advika is my choice. And when you choose someone, you are by default embracing all the consequences the choice may bring along.’
Rivanah tried to understand what Nivan was telling her, putting her life in context. Here was a man whose conviction in his love was so strong that it eclipsed the impossibility of it going the distance. Of course, Advika was an invalid now in every sense of the word, and yet this man sitting in front of Rivanah was confident of spending a lifetime with her. As if the tryst of destiny couldn’t touch his love. As if fate was irrelevant. The realization of the existence of such a powerful love story made her feel empty. It made her feel jealous of Advika. And it made her feel insignificant too. She always wanted to be one such choice of one such man—neither responsibility nor duty, as Nivan had put it. She was happy to know such men existed, but they were the rarest of rare. And the one sitting in front of her was already taken.
Forget Me Not, Stranger Page 16
