by Ajay Patel
“Valerie? Hi, it’s me,” he returned her phone call.
“Hello! I’ve been waiting for your call! So tell me!” she cut to the chase. “How’d we do with Operation Game Control?” In the course of the morning, she had already personalized his meeting with Mona to involve the both of them.
“Let’s just say that if I ever thought you were trouble, you have nothing on her!” He then went on to explain how Mona played the game very well and how she was someone he already descriptively knew as the infamous Madame Ex.
“Wow, this is like wrestling and I feel left out because I don’t even have a nickname!” she laughed. “I really want to meet this woman now after all you’ve said about her. She sounds like a worthy adversary!”
“Well,” Vijay said, opening the invitation in his hand, “there a fashion show this afternoon. I’m hoping that if you come with me, she’ll realize she can’t just push me around!”
Vijay put on a white shirt and a linen suit. Appropriate attire he said to himself given the hot weather and according to what he had read in GQ last week. After doing a complete circle in front of the mirror to make sure all looked like it was supposed to, he went downstairs and met up with Valerie. She was wearing a short and sheer summer dress with sunglasses on even though she was still inside the hotel lobby. Vijay could tell that she had her “game” face on.
They took a taxi into the Village. As they were riding, Vijay said, “I really appreciate your coming with me like this Valerie.”
“Please,” she disregarded his thanks, “I wouldn’t have it any other way! After all, we’re friends. I can’t let some other woman treat you like I treat other men!”
Vijay just shook his head wondering what he had gotten himself into. But there was no stopping Valerie now.
They arrived at Washington Square, a park located in the heart of the Village. A large part of the square had been fenced in with a security entrance at the front. They were let in after Vijay presented the card that Mona had given to him to the person standing by the entrance. A large white-canopied tent was set up in the middle of the fenced in area and intermittent applause could be heard from within.
Once seated inside, Vijay looked around. Raised in the middle of the tent was a runway with photographers flanked on either side. When they had entered they had each been given a program listing the schedule of showings. At this time a skinny male designer was at the microphone talking about what the models were wearing as they walked up and down the runway. Flashes were going off in staccato patterns as the models did their turn on the catwalk.
After a few minutes, Valerie asked “Is that her?” She pointed to Mona who had replaced the previous designer at the podium. She looked even more radiant on stage. Evidently, it was her turn now.
No sooner had Vijay nodded confirmation to Valerie that Mona’s segment began. On cue, the lights in the tent which had become bright after the last designer had finished, were dimmed. Sedate sitar and flute music began to play in a languorous tune.
“When India and fashion comes to mind,” Mona enunciated very properly and clearly, “one might have visions of women in rather plain cotton saris covering much of their bodies. I am here to show to you, however, that it is much more with much less!”
With that, the lights went out completely, and a spotlight pierced the darkness focusing on the runway. The soft Indian music was replaced by an up-beat bhangra beat that could have just as easily been playing late at night in one of the dance clubs in Manhattan. Mona’s electrifying stage direction and her designs set the room on fire as even the most staid viewers sat upright having had their senses jolted to attention. The models then came out one at a time showcasing Mona’s designs. Her style, she explained, used as a starting point what was standard Indian fashion for hundreds of years. The models walked down the runway wearing elaborately woven fabrics with multi-colored hues. One outfit with tiny mirrors sewn in an elaborate pattern made the model wearing it look like a walking disco ball as the outfit sprayed back in thousands of directions the light thrown from the spotlight. Whether or not the outfit itself was appreciated was immaterial. The audience was dazzled by the spectacle.
Vijay definitely approved, and it had appeared to him, judging from the reaction of the crowd, that they agreed. Although it wasn’t like the home shopping network where a solid measurement of appreciation could be seen based on the number of items sold flashing in the corner of a screen, Vijay could tell the crowd was excited about what they were seeing.
Each of the models was attractive and, in addition to wearing revealing outfits, had delicate mehndi designs on their hands and, on some, around their ankles and arms. The designs drawn onto the bodies complemented the outfits that each model wore. Vijay could just see affluent fashion conscious women, in their constant attempts to outdo each other, having their own personal mehndi designer draw patterns matching their outfits in “one of a kind” fashion.
After the show was finished, Vijay and Valerie walked through to the back to meet with Mona. “Operation Game Control is about to start,” Valerie said wrapping her arm around his arm as they approached her.
“Hi Mona, that was a great show!” Vijay said, suddenly cognizant of Valerie’s arm when he tried to hug Mona.
Mona answered with a “Thanks! It means a lot that you came, really.” She was flush with excitement, no doubt feeling that her segment was as much a success as Vijay thought it was.
“Are you kidding? We wouldn’t have missed this for anything!” Valerie said as a way of introducing herself as a part of Vijay. The need for Valerie to emphasize this, however, was superfluous. It not only was very apparent based on how Valerie was acting, but also by Mona’s reaction when they had approached her. Vijay could almost hear Mona say to herself “so this is the person that Vijay was talking about.”
“Mona, this is Valerie,” Vijay introduced Valerie to Mona with a smile of confidence. He felt the tide of control had turned in his favor now.
“Hi, so nice to meet you,” Mona extended a hand of greeting. “So, what did you think? Did you like my designs?” Mona asked them.
“I was just telling Vijay,” Valerie said looking at him rather than Mona, with a smile, “that your designs were amazing!”
“I agree,” Vijay said. “And those models you picked!” he continued, “They sure had the body to show the clothes off! I was just thinking that it was a good thing you didn’t use a bunch of old out of shape aunties. That could have gotten ugly!”
Mona laughed at that and then they all stood there in silence. Mona, perhaps feeling a little awkward being the third person and Valerie loving it because Mona was feeling awkward. Mona was saved, however, as one of the organizers came by and asked her to join the other designers for some group pictures that they wanted to take.
“I’m so sorry,” Mona said to them, “but I’ve got to go do this. Are you two going to be here for a while?” she intimated for the three of them to get together later.
“No, probably not,” Valerie said, looking first to Vijay to indicate that she was answering for both of them. Evidently, she felt that they had accomplished what they had set out to. “Mona, you’re going to be busy for a while and we shouldn’t be bothering you!” Vijay tried not to look too surprised at how Valerie was spinning out their “relationship.”
Vijay turned to Mona, having received his cue from Valerie, and said, “Well, it’s too bad we couldn’t talk more.”
“I know. I’m sorry, with this whole fashion show and everything, it really did make things a little tough,” Mona apologized. “I’d like to talk more later. Become better friends…” she trailed off.
“Maybe next time,” Vijay said with a shrug.
“Mona!” the organizer persisted in calling her away.
“I’ve got to go,” she said. “Is it all right if I call you when things calm down?” she asked.
“I’d like that very much,” Vijay said. They then separated, probably forever. Valerie told
him that Mona was likely not the kind of woman who would call Vijay because the Rules didn’t allow for such a transgression. Valerie then added that this was probably best for him because he was walking away the winner.
After Mona left to have her picture taken, Vijay and Valerie exited the park and decided to walk back to their hotel. Vijay said with a tired sigh, “After the last few months, I’ve finally realized that this whole arranged meeting thing is a lot tougher than I ever thought it would be.”
“Oh, shut up!” Valerie said, not willing to tolerate any of his whining. “To start with, it’s dumb for you to even have thought that it would be easy. I mean we’re talking about big-time decisions here. Of course it’s going to be hard!”
“I don’t know,” Vijay couldn’t entirely agree with what she was saying. “If you were Indian, I bet it wouldn’t be hard for you at all!” he said while looking up at the city skyline while walking. “You’d have a line of guys wanting to marry you.”
“You keep forgetting something important!” she shook him to get his attention. “This whole thing you’re going through is not just about having a whole bunch of people liking you. It’s more about having that one right person love you. For that to happen, it’s just as hard for anyone, including me. So stop thinking you’re the only one that hasn’t found their soul mate after only a few months of looking,” Valerie said forcefully, trying to set him straight. “Can I give you some advice though?” she asked as they stood on a corner waiting for the light to change. “Just because you’re looking doesn’t mean you should stop living.”
“What do you mean by that?” Vijay asked.
“I just sometimes worry that you get so wrapped up with this whole finding a wife thing and wondering when it’ll happen, that you don’t realize how great you have it now. So just remember, as much as it’ll be great that day when you meet that someone special, it’s also great now while we’re single and looking. So make sure you enjoy it!”
9
Little Facts
His alarm clock kept ringing the morning after coming back from New York and Vijay finally relented. He groggily headed to the bathroom to take a shower, leaving the alarm to shrill for no one in particular except the next-door neighbor who could probably hear it through the bedroom wall. Served him right, thought Vijay grumpily. His neighbor often watched television with the volume up late at nights while Vijay tried to sleep.
After getting ready, he drove to his office in Century City. He took the elevator to the 34th floor, walked into his office, and looked at the yellow post-its that he had stuck to the side of his computer monitor to remind him of things to do. He pulled one of the post-its off. It read “Call M re: 28 on 8/8.” His face broke out in a smile of remembrance.
He looked at his watch. It was 7:12 a.m. He opened one of the desk drawers and pulled out his address book. After flipping through some pages, he looked up a number and dialed the telephone. A woman’s voice answered.
Vijay smiled again when he heard the familiar voice. “Hi. It’s Vijay. How are you?” he asked.
“What a surprise! To what do I owe this pleasure?” It was Megha.
“Just wanted to call to wish you a happy birthday. Besides, I thought we promised that we would try to keep in touch,” he said. Of all the women that Vijay had been introduced to in the last year, Megha still stood out as the one woman with whom he genuinely had become friends. He always hoped, despite the nature of their introduction, that they could maintain that friendship even after they continued on in their own respective searches.
“I appreciate the call,” she admitted with sincerity. “It’s nice to hear a friendly voice wishing me a happy birthday that’s not in a tone of ‘you’re getting older and you’re still single!’“
Vijay laughed. “So I take it that there isn’t a Mr. Right in your life yet?”
“Not yet,” she admitted. “How about you? Any luck?”
“No,” Vijay admitted. “I guess you kinda spoiled me. I expected everyone to be normal, but so far there’s just been so much drama with everyone I’ve met.”
“Don’t even get me started about drama!” Megha said, evidently having been subjected to an arranged dating ordeal recently.
“Why, what happened?” Vijay asked. It was always entertaining to hear what others were going through during the process in order to put things in perspective.
“I was introduced by my folks to this guy named Niraj who at first seemed great. He was doing his residency at Duke but he was always took the time to visit me in Charlotte, which is not exactly close by. After about two months I asked him how he was able to get so much time off. And that’s when he told me…”
“Oh boy,” Vijay groaned in anticipation.
“That he never started residency after medical school!”
“You’re kidding me!” Vijay let out incredulously.
“He said he actually had a change in priorities after graduating. So he now works as a manager at a record store during the day and plays in a band at night, trying to live out his dream. He figures if it doesn’t work after a few years, he’d go back and finish residency.”
“Yeah right!” Vijay said in disbelief. “And he didn’t tell you this when you had first met?”
“No. He felt like not as many women would go out with him if they knew up front what he was doing now. Besides, he was getting so many great introductions because people thought he was going to be a doctor, he didn’t want to let the secret out about his new career.”
“He knew, of course, that one day that little fact would come out, didn’t he?”
“Of course! But he always hoped that he would meet some great woman who would so fall in love with him that she would look past that little fact. He asked me if I could do that. I of course ended it right then and there telling him that was much more than just a little fact!”
“As always, your stories always can top mine,” Vijay said ruefully, “Think of it this way, at least you’ve survived another year,” he tried to find the silver lining in the birthday cloud.
There was a pause and silence. Evidently, Vijay had only found darker clouds by saying that. Megha said sadly, in a voice full of frustration, “I’m tired of just surviving. I just wish this whole thing could be over with!”
“I know,” Vijay said understandingly. “But sometimes surviving is all you can do until the right time comes,” he reminded her. He knew those words really didn’t amount to much in the form of inspirational wisdom, but it was all that he had to offer.
After a few more words of encouragement, Vijay said goodbye to Megha and sat upright in his chair, putting his feet back on the ground. He rubbed his eyes. He felt sad. Here it was Megha’s birthday, a day of celebration, and he just couldn’t shake the feeling that all she felt was despair. Somewhere inside her was that sound of a clock ticking off her eligible years as they whizzed by at what must have seemed like a dizzying speed. Then he began to realize what Valerie had been trying to tell him. It was so easy to have this aspect of their life dominate and make them feel as though their entire life was lacking. But that certainly wasn’t the case. Not for him, not for Megha, and surely not for most of the people going through what they were going through.
Vijay’s computer beeped alerting him of a new e-mail message. As he scanned the message heading, he blinked in surprise. He surely did not expect this e-mail. Not after what Valerie had said. Not so quickly. Not ever.
To: [email protected] From: [email protected] Re: Hope you had a good time
Vijay,
I know I said I would get back to you and you probably thought I didn’t mean it so I thought I’d do it right away. I am pretty good about things like that.
I hope you had a good time in New York even though things didn’t go exactly as planned. I also hope you and I can become friends because I really did enjoy talking to you, even if was just for a little bit of time.
Anyways, e-mail when you have the time ... if you can and if you wan
t to. Mona
Vijay read the e-mail message quickly. He couldn’t quite decide what to make out of it. Why was she keeping in touch? It didn’t make sense. Then he thought that maybe she was keeping in touch because now she was behind in the game, and the only way for her to win was to keep playing until she was ahead. He then thought that he was becoming a little too obsessed about all this game playing nonsense by hanging out with Valerie.
He read her e-mail again and then thought to himself that no harm could come from keeping in contact with her, despite what everyone else thought about Mona. So long as he only thought of her and treated her as a friend, he should be safe. Vijay hit the reply button and worded his message carefully, wanting to make sure his reply reflected these intentions.
To: [email protected] From: [email protected] Re: Re: Hope you had a good time
Mona,
I actually had a great time in New York. And about Friday, totally understandable. In the end, things still worked out better than I could have ever imagined. Call it destiny or fate.
Anyways…Definitely, let’s keep in touch. I’d love to become better friends with you too. You’re very different than most of my Indian friends which makes talking to you great.
Take care and e-mail soon. Vijay
10
The Best of Both Worlds
It was Saturday a week after Vijay had returned from New York. Not having seen his parents recently, he was looking forward to a relaxing visit home. However, no sooner than having entered through the front door, his mother rushed up to him dressed in a colorful sari, her glass bangles making soft clinking sounds as she moved her arms to and fro frantically.
“Thank goodness, you are finally home! We need to go!” she said breathlessly. “Jayendra!” she yelled out. “Please, take car out of the garage. Vijay is here at last!”
“Why, where are we going??” Vijay was taken aback.
