by Marisha Pink
TWENTY-NINE
HANARA and Lucky were thrilled and, unsurprisingly, both supported Arun’s decision to stay in India. Though Mumbai was not exactly around the corner from Puri, its proximity relative to London was enough to make regular visits an affordable possibility. Being a bigger, more modern city, there was also much less chance of Arun growing bored there whilst he completed his studies. It was so simple that Arun didn’t know why the idea hadn’t occurred to him sooner and, too excited to sleep, the three siblings stayed awake late into the night, plotting and scheming how best to move things forward. Their discussion wound up being largely theoretical, and with Lucky and Hanara both having left school at a young age, there was little that they could offer Arun in the way of advice. At the very least it seemed likely that he would have to delay his studies for another year in order to make the necessary applications and complete the mountains of paperwork that he was certain would accompany the process.
After sleeping soundly for the first night in a long time, the following day passed impossibly slowly and, unable to focus on anything except advancing his new plans, Arun found himself consistently making errors in the shop. There was so much to figure out and so much to be done, but he was confident that this was what he wanted, and an inner peace prevailed within him now that he was no longer agonising over the decision to return to London. He couldn’t wait to tell Chandni of his plans either, knowing that it would bring to her face the shiny smile that he so adored, and the prospect of remaining near to her set his mind adrift with thoughts of their future.
By the time evening came and the trio were journeying to the mandir, Arun was entirely absorbed in his own thoughts, leaving Lucky and Hanara to bicker in the front seat over how best to assist their brother. Lucky rejected Hanara’s repeated calls for him to speak with Naresh for assistance, reasoning that not only was involving Chandni’s snooty cousin in their business a bad idea, but also that her judgement was impaired by an obvious attraction towards him. Arun slipped in and out of his daydream, occasionally catching snippets of their conversation, and, without having fully engaged in the discussion, determined that Naresh was a logical starting point for his enquiries. If nothing else, he figured that it couldn’t hurt his cause and the opportunity to build connections with Chandni’s family seemed like something he ought to embrace.
After the evening prayers were over, they were engaging in their usual chatter when Arun spied Chandni lingering behind Hanara’s other friends, who after all this time persisted in shamelessly competing for his affections. He politely excused himself and, pushing past the giggling ladies, deftly slid past Chandni and grasped her hand, tugging her a few metres away from the crowd.
‘Arun,’ she muttered through gritted teeth, her beautiful green eyes wide with alarm. ‘What are you doing? You know that you’re not supposed to touch me in public.’
‘Sorry,’ he said, dropping her hand instantly, ‘I just really needed to talk to you.’
‘What’s the matter? Has something happened?’
Her bright eyes widened even further with concern and Arun once again felt the overwhelming urge to kiss her. Instead, he took a deep breath and prepared to deliver his exciting news.
‘Chandni, I’ve decided to stay in India.’
‘What?’
‘I’m going to apply to medical college in Mumbai.’
‘Hey Bhagwan! Really?’ she cried, a little louder than intended, unable to prevent a sweet smile from breaking across her face.
‘Yes, really. I don’t want to go back to England. Not yet anyway. I want to be near to Lucky and Hanara, and well … to you,’ he answered, returning her smile.
‘I can’t believe –’
‘Hey Chandni, is this guy bothering you?’
A short, slightly balding, but young man, with skin as fair as Chandni’s and thick-rimmed glasses had appeared from nowhere and placed his arm protectively around Chandni’s shoulders. Dressed smartly in western clothes, there was an air of superiority and self-importance about him as he sized Arun up, causing Arun to take an instant dislike to him.
‘No, not at all. Naresh, this is Arun; Lucky and Hanara’s brother,’ she responded, her eyes silently communicating a look of warning to her beau. ‘He was just telling me that he’s going to be applying to medical college in Mumbai.’
‘Oh, well you know I study at Topiwala,’ he said gushing, ‘where are you applying?’
‘I, um, I haven’t really decided where I will be applying yet,’ Arun answered hesitantly.
Naresh regarded him curiously and Arun felt his insides freeze, certain that he’d said something wrong.
‘Your accent; you’re British?’
‘I live in London, yes, but –’
‘Oh well then you can’t apply to Topiwala, they only admit Indian citizens.’
‘Actually, I was –’
‘In fact you can’t apply to any of the good colleges; they’re all state-run and they absolutely don’t accept foreigners. You’ll have to look at the private colleges.’
‘Okay, thanks for the –’
‘The private colleges are very competitive though and there are only a few places for international students. You have to be really smart to get in.’
‘That’s okay, I –’
‘And then even if you did get in the fees are absolutely astronomical, especially for the foreigners, so you shouldn’t really even bother unless you have a lot of money, otherwise you’ll only be disappointed,’ finished Naresh smugly.
Arun’s mouth was wide open in disbelief, unable to compute Naresh’s obnoxious discourse, but Naresh seemed completely unaware of how his words had fallen and quickly turned to his cousin, ignoring Arun completely.
‘Chandni, Rajukaka said to tell you to go home if you are tired. He is going to be a little while yet, but I’m going to stay and come back with him later.’
‘Okay,’ nodded Chandni, pink from embarrassment at her cousin’s arrogance.
‘Nice meeting you, Arjun,’ he called over his shoulder, before skulking back towards Rajubhai Joshi and the group of men gathered around him.
‘Sorry about that. Naresh is my cousin-brother … he doesn't mean any harm.’
‘I’m sure he doesn't,’ replied Arun dubiously, immediately recalling with greater understanding Lucky’s dislike of Naresh.
‘It’s all very exciting,’ she continued hopefully, trying to put Naresh to one side.
‘Yes, it is. Do you think that he’s right though? About me only being able to go to the private colleges?’
‘I really have no idea, I’m afraid. But either way you are an Indian national; you were born here, remember?’
‘That’s true. I don’t know if that qualifies me as a citizen though,’ he concluded with a sigh, ‘I guess I need to do a little more research.’
‘It will all work out, Arun. Don’t worry,’ Chandni whispered softly, lightly grazing his arm with her hand.
‘I know it will. Come on, let’s get you home.’
Chandni dutifully followed Arun outside of the mandir to where Lucky and Hanara were already waving goodbye to their friends and a few moments later they had all climbed aboard the chugging rickshaw to commence the short journey home. Amongst friends and aware of his plans, Chandni chatted freely with Lucky and Hanara, the three of them delighted by Arun’s decision to stay, but Arun found himself distracted and unable to dismiss Naresh’s words from his head.
He hadn’t realised that there would be so many rules and regulations, so many layers of complexity governing the simple right to study in India, and he had foolishly assumed that the costs would be lower than they were at home; wasn’t that why all the big companies were shipping their operations out to India? He was well aware that Arthur was going to be livid when he informed him of his intentions, but he had rather hoped that the cheaper cost might soften the blow and make for a compelling argument. He sighed deeply, the chatter inside the rickshaw washing over him; it was all very well getting ex
cited, but it was painfully clear that this was not going to be as simple as he had first thought and before he could make any more plans or promises, or even broach the subject with Arthur, he had a lot more investigating to do.
He decided to devote the next two days to the pursuit of information, travelling into Puri with Lucky each morning to gain access to the tools and resources that he needed. He worked meticulously throughout the days, flitting between the district library and a nearby internet café, detailing his findings and desperately trying to clarify their accuracy. The information that he happened upon seemed to be limited and often contradictory, and it greatly frustrated Arun that uncovering the basics alone was such an arduous task. With no alternative, however, he persevered and by the end of the second day he had, what he considered to be, a reasonable understanding of how the whole process would work.
Unfortunately, despite his arrogance, Naresh had been right and without Indian citizenship Arun was not eligible to apply to a public medical college. There were a number of notable private colleges in Mumbai and the annual fees were on a par with those at Oxford, but with lower living costs and courses only lasting four-and-a-half years, overall, study in India remained the cheaper option. Courses started in July and there were many companies and agencies that could help him to navigate the somewhat convoluted application process for a small fee, but all of these things paled into insignificance when compared to the biggest hurdle that he would need to overcome: the intake of foreign students to each institution was tiny, perhaps only five places at best, and competition was fierce.
Feeling somewhat dispirited, he discussed his findings with Lucky and Hanara over dinner that evening, pushing his food absent-mindedly around his plate. They both tried their best to pep him up, but the reality was that they were so in awe of everything that their brother had already experienced and accomplished, that neither could fully grasp the probability that Arun would not be accepted into medical college. Lucky promised to help however he could and Hanara vowed to pray for him each and every day until he secured a place. Though Arun was usually sceptical of such intangible approaches to real world challenges, he too found himself offering up a small prayer when they reached the mandir that evening, willing to attempt anything that might help his cause.
After the prayers were over, Arun noticed Chandni on the opposite side of the hall discreetly trying to garner his attention. She motioned towards the door with her eyes and quickly disappeared outside. Somewhat taken aback by her boldness, a few moments later he seized the opportunity to slip away from Lucky and Hanara, and joined her on the steps of the mandir.
‘Hey,’ he said, sitting down beside her.
She was a picture of perfection in a silky violet sari, the moonlight dancing mischievously in her eyes.
‘Hi,’ she replied, almost nonchalantly.
‘What has gotten into you, Miss Joshi? Outside the mandir, alone, with a man; people will talk,’ he mocked, stealing a cursory glance around the grounds to make sure that no-one had followed them outside.
‘Arun, I got a place,’ she gushed breathlessly, unable to hold it in any longer. ‘I got a place on the travel programme in Mumbai!’
‘That’s brilliant! Congratulations!’ he exclaimed, throwing his arms around her without thinking.
Chandni offered no resistance, allowing Arun to hold her tightly and to express his pride at her achievement. They stayed that way until the heat of the night rendered their embrace uncomfortable, but when Arun started to pull away he felt the same warm, feelings of longing that he had experienced on the beach begin to creep over him once more. He looked into Chandni’s eyes, bright and shiny with hope, and he knew, unreservedly, that this was the right time. Cupping her face in his hands, he gently pressed his lips to hers and kissed her long and deep.
The electricity between them set his pulse racing on contact and a small moan of pleasure and surprise escaped Chandni’s lips. She returned his gift, gingerly at first, but steadily growing more confident and firm, and when Arun finally prised his lips away, he left a broad smile behind on Chandni’s flushed face. He grinned back at her inanely, causing them both to giggle, but quickly remembering where they were, Chandni shuffled along the steps to reinstate a safe distance between them.
‘I’m really excited for you, Chandni. You’re going to make a great tour guide one day.’
‘Not if my Bapu-ji has anything to do with it. He’s going to be so cross with me for going behind his back.’
‘Talk to him, Chandni, he might surprise you. Anyone can see how much you want this; I’m sure that he will understand,’ he said, reassuringly.
‘What did your father say when you told him that you were staying in India?’
‘I … I haven’t told him yet.’
‘Arun!’
‘I’m going to tell him, eventually. I’ve been doing a bit of research and it’s very difficult for someone like me to get a place. Even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to start until next year and either way he’s not going to like it, so I figured I should hold off on telling him until things are a little more … certain.’
‘I think you need to take your own advice,’ replied Chandni, matter-of-factly.
‘What do you mean?’
‘You want this as much as I want the travel programme, maybe even more. You are really smart and you have as good a chance as anybody at getting accepted, you just have to believe in yourself. Your father will understand if you take the time to explain it to him, he might even be able to help you.’
Arun looked into her eyes and smiled sarcastically, but he knew that she was right. Knowing too that the possibility of Chandni going to Mumbai was fast becoming a reality spurned him on further and now, more than ever, he was desperate to make the situation work in his favour.
‘Okay, I will make you a deal. I will talk to my father tomorrow, if you’ll talk to yours too. Deal?’
‘It’s a deal.’
