Things That Bang

Cotton soft snowflakes fell against her chapped lips. She smiled despite the inconvienence of being marooned in a cabin with frozen pipes and a surly lover who missed his beer and cable.

She took in the panoramic view. The snow capped mountains with thick ever green forests hardly spoke of the teaming wild life hidden in their cold embrace. The dark skies gently unloaded their hoarded wisps of angel feathers and insisted that Christmas had not passed a few weeks back. The world was pristine white, uncorrupted and silent.

"Come back in!" Bobby's call broke Kajol's reverie and she rolled her eyes. So much for honeymoon in the mountains.

"You're letting in the cold. Get in now!" His irritated tone had gone up an octave. She went back in and he growled at her "Look at you! You are not even wearing a sweater! Get into bed."

Bed?! Again? Kajol bit her tongue and eyed her gorgeous husband lying buck naked under the thick blankets. She wished he had a reading habit and rued the fact that she was the one who told him - No laptops, no portable dvd players. Nothing to distract us! Just you and me in the wild.

She thought they would enjoy nature together instead her husband had turned into a bored octopus with eight hands.

Kajol wanted to kick herself. Her husband had taken the -you and me part to heart and neglected the wilderness completely. There was no space between them and she already was suffering from cabin fever. She wanted out of the luxurious cabin with its roaring fireplace, plush wall to wall carpeting and cozy furnishings.

"Come baby! Lie down with me. I'll warm you up." He waggled his eyebrows at her and she opened the thick wooden door a little more letting in the cold. Bobby shivered and crossed his arms over his naked chest "Sweetie? Whats going on?"

He cocked an eyebrow and stared at his beautiful bride. Something was different about her.

Kajol took off her nightwear and stood naked before Bobby. Her brown nipples peaked in the cold and goose bumps raised the downy hair and tingled every inch of her soft skin. It was time! She could feel it in her bones. They had find the one common ground to seal their marriage forever.

Bobby knew something was wrong. "Baby?! You'll fall sick! Close the door and get in."

Kajol thrust her head back and ignored the cold and spoke in measured tones "Are you sure you want me Bobby? This time it will be different."

Bobby grinned and pushed back the doubt that was slowly gripping his heart "Honey, its always different. Every act between us is beautiful and special."

She walked over to him and pushed him back against the warm bed. He relaxed against the soft cotton pillows and stared into her cool brown eyes. She pulled the blankets off him and rested her hand against his scrotum.

"You talk a lot of bullshit, Bobby. This is not going to be beautiful. Its going to be wild and painful"

He cleared his throat "Painful? You're kidding; aren't you Kajol? Stop playing around and close the door Kajol! You're letting in the cold."

"A little bit of cold won't kill you."

He sucked a breath in as she caressed him and he felt desire rise within him. He looked at her expressionless face. He tried to reach forward and kiss her lips but she put her slim fingers against his mouth and whispered "Look outside Bobby. What do you see?"

"Babes! C'mon!" He tried to roll her into the bed but she grabbed his balls and commanded " Look out mate of mine! What is it that you see?"

Bobby held back a nervous chuckle- Mate of mine?! And she had him by the balls. Well, two could play the game he figured.

He looked over her shoulder and whispered in awe "I see nothing. Its dark and cold. Its feels like cold death."

"Cold death?" She whispered and began to caress him again "Yes, there will be death but it won't be cold."

"You mean little death?" Bobby smiled up at his wife as she sheathed. But Kajol didn't smile back. She looked at him with serious intent as she rode him. He sucked a breath in and held her waist. It was different this time. It was more intense and his body seemed to react to her's strangely. It was as if he was captured. He bucked as his juices flew through his member to her dark womb and her inner muscles gripped him tighter.

There was no respite. His eyes flew to her and tried to push her off. She stared into his eyes and took in short breaths. She continued to grind against him and his member responded.

Bobby's struggle became frantic "Kajol! Stop it!"

He grabbed her shoulders to push her off. She grabbed his hands and pinned them to the bed and continued to move.

He bucked again and this time he felt as if his very essence was being pulled in her.

She fell on him.

He felt her teeth break his skin and bite his jugular. He screamed. She held him down. He felt like a child pinned down by a monster. His mind reeled- Was she human?

Memories flashed in his mind as she sank her teeth deeper. He remembered meeting her at their workplace, taking her for dates, meeting her family, marrying her. Kajol, the ever kind Kajol, his loving bride was killing him!

He screamed and his call flew out of the door and decimated into the silent night.

He whimpered - Please ..please

Before he fainted, he saw his wife rise above him and push his hair away from his forehead and say softly- Its done.

For two days and two nights he remained in bed. She did not hold him down. She didn't need to. Fever rode him hard. He sweated and mumbled. Dreams tormented him. He ran through the forest and felt the moist earth greet him and egg him on back towards the cabin. Back to Kajol. He tried to resist but the pull was strong. The door of the cabin was open and she stood inside waiting for him.

He reached her and tried to kiss her. His beloved wife. He loved her so and she bit him. He howled his betrayal and woke up with a start and found himself looking at his wife.

Kajol smiled at him softly "Welcome back!"

"What?" he croaked and tried to clear his throat. She handed him a glass of water and spoke.

"You had been out for a long time but now you are back. The door is still open. Tell me what do you see?"

Bobby turned his head and looked out into the night and spoke "The skies are clear and the moon looks - my god! it looks as if I could reach over and touch it. Its looks as if its rising from below the mountain. How can that be?"

He turned back and looked at his wife "I don't feel the same. I don't feel human."

Suddenly he shifted his head and stared at the corner of the cottage "Snuffling! I can hear snuffling. Whats it? A rabbit?"

Kajol threw her head back and laughed "You made it. You truly are my mate. Come, rise. Walk with me."

She moved away and let Bobby rise on his own. He looked at his naked body in surprise. He felt renewed instead of exhausted from the illness that had plagued him for so long.

Kajol held out a hand. "Come husband. The moon beckons."

Bobby walked out of the cottage with Kajol. The wet crunchy snow felt good under his feet. He stared at the silent moon that pulled his very bones and began to change.

The moon was always gentle and benevolent in her magical gifts. In his heart Bobby heard the primeval call from deep within the forest and let the wolf that was now him respond in a deep throated howl.

Kajol gently nuzzled against her husband and raised her head and joined in the call. The two wolves with the dreaded silent grace that was granted only to the lupus then streaked into the wild.

The perfect honeymoon had finally begun.

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Greed is never good but unfortunately nature's bounty always has something enticing to offer that a gardener must have. In my last article I had talked about some plants that I wanted but couldn't get in Bangalore. As it happens there is a nursery, the Krishnendra Nursery in Jayanagar on that little road none but the most ardent gardeners know of, Lalbagh-Siddapura, that had two of the young trees that I wanted - Magnolia Pumila and Magnolia Grandiflora. This nursery has a great website too, with an exhaustive catalogue and directions.

I wanted them both but then decided to take two Magnolia Pumila, one tree of sweet lime, some treasure flowers and ornamental grass.

There still are plants waiting to be planted and soil that needs to be weeded, dug up, replenished and seedlings to be taken care of. And I basically added more stuff in the queue.

Since I have a lot of plants in containers, watering them is also a chore I have no way of shirking. When it pours I thank the gods for taking the chore of my hands if only for a day or two. But then again its back to toiling for over an hour every day.

One can never be done with a garden since its forever evolving. A friend of mine in the US used to devote her Sundays to gardening. Initially I couldn't understand her obsession but then again the love of soil soon enough pulled me down and made my roots earth bound.

Sometimes I even find myself apologizing to a wilted plant. But then again I'm not the only gardener who feels guilt if a plant dies of neglect.

Gardening takes us back to nature and I think I am ready to now try my hand at growing vegetables. Flowers look good and balm the soul but its the vegetables through which we really reap what we sow.

Next week I will prepare a small plot to grow tomatoes, aubergines and gourd and will blog about my efforts.

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Travel Review written by Aaman

When we drive up to Mysore, which is just over two hours from Bangalore on the well-constructed new highway, we tend to leave by 4:30 AM or so to beat the morning traffic build-up as you get out of the city. This time, though, it was about 5 as we bundled the drowsy kids into the backseat, double-checked locks, bags, cats in the house and bumped our way through the half-completed road in front of our house towards the highway.

I took the on-ramp to the spanking new and as-yet incomplete NICE Road (or the Bangalore-Mysore Nandi Infrastructure and Corridor Expansion). The series of tolls before we touched the Mysore road took a somewhat unusual bite of over Rs. 50/-, unusual for a city that has taken its infrastructure for granted, and cannot fathom paying for better services. The toll road is a breeze, smooth tarmac, enclosed in a cocoon of cleanliness, and a time-saving wonder, except for the brief patch of disputed land.

Once we were on Mysore Road, our next landmark was our favorite halt at the Janapada Loka restaurant, which serves cylindrical idlis wrapped in plantain leaves, and piping hot coffee. Soon after, we drove past the drive-thru Mickey D's promising ourselves a visit on the return leg. We reached Mysore in good time, checked in to our temporary quarters, and post a quick bite, set out to explore the city.

We decided to check out the much-praised Mysore Zoo, set up by Chamaraja Wodeyar of Mysore in 1892, and designed by the German designer G H Krumbeigal, who also designed the Brindavan Gardens at the KRS Dam in Mysore, and Cubbon Park in Bangalore. The zoo was originally ten acres and has since expanded to over 250 acres of verdant greenery, very close to the Mysore Palace and juxtaposed against the slopes of the Chamundi Hill.

As soon as we stepped into the zoo, we knew we were in for a treat. The first exhibit was a large expanse of green with a few sparse trees and some very tall giraffes. One particular chap was quite curious about the visitors, bending down and peering almost into our faces.

The exhibits are laid out along a three km long path, and a nifty tour bus trundles along for those who might prefer a more sedentary pace.

Often the tour bus is held up by a bullock cart carrying snacks for the zoo's inhabitants.

The large felines have a happy hunting ground and seemed quite content. This particular tigress seemed to be waiting for her lunch to be served.

The Mysore Zoo is also the only zoo in South Asia to host a gorilla. He seemed quite glum and pensive.

An African elephant is also in residence, and a couple of lions.

Some of the best exhibits are the birds, ranging from pelicans to swans to more exotic varieties.

Zoos do engender an uncomfortable reaction. On the one hand, they perform a useful service, and well-run zoos like the Mysore Zoo are a delightful experience. On the other, the scenes of engineered captivity are unsettling, especially the evident pathos many of the animals display. The New York Times addresses some of these concerns in a recent article about the new snow leopard exhibit at the Central Park Zoo.

one of the dominant impulses in the contemporary zoo is a guilty conscience: Yes, we capture these wild creatures and put them on display, but we affirm that it is being done to save them— and to teach others to save them.

These justifications shape an approach to design. No one could wish a return to the 19th-century cages or the monkey houses you can still find in older zoos; they overwhelm with the stench of enclosed animal life, and cannot fail to inspire pity or dismay.

Now the smells are gone (zoos have become nasally antiseptic). And in the lovely snow leopard exhibition, the old zoo order is thoroughly overturned: the animals are on the outside and humans in the enclosure. But is this model any less artificial than the old? Look closely: Nature here is a stage set, portraying something we want to see and something we believe animals want to see. The waterfall, rocks and mist are manufactured, created for both the viewers’ pleasure and the animals’, shaping a creaturely spa for voyeurs. Some fake rocks are even heated during cold weather.

The claim is that this is an improvement on the natural world. The animals are taken in at night for safety and housed in a facility that allows for breeding and offspring. They are protected from the hazards of avalanche and predator. We are tempted to believe that the animals may be better off here: to speak anthropomorphically, happier.

The Mysore Zoo adheres to this principle of making the habitats aesthetically pleasing and more attuned to the animals' needs than merely cages with the stench of unhappiness. Visitors, too, seem respectful of their surroundings. There was minimal litter, and people did not crowd around noisily at the cages, hooting at the animals (well, a few did). This was a marked contrast to the Bannerghata National Park in Bangalore, which is a ghastly, over-crowded, poorly maintained excuse for a zoo. Interestingly, the Mysore Zoo is an autonomous body, not receiving any funds from the government. There were some incidents of animals dying mysteriously in 2004, including a couple of elephants, a macaque, an emu, and a tiger, allegedly due to poisoning.

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"You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness, or even despair “the sense that you can never completely put on the page what's in your mind and heart. You can come to the act with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and take down names. You can come to it because you want a girl to marry you or because you want to change the world. Come to it any way but lightly. Let me say it again: you must not come lightly to the blank page."

----------Stephen King

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He is a handsome man. Look at him. Charismatic, isn't he? Look at those puppy brown eyes with sweeping eye lashes. Those cold thin lips tend to give a ghost of smile with a slight tilt to the right. He is a real man's man.

No, don't get all uncomfortable about it. Where is the waiter? I want my whiskey on rocks! Alcohol tastes good, doesn't it? Look at the glimmering gold that burns a smooth hole down my belly and gives me the courage to stay put in the same room as him.

He has maintained his slim figure despite the ten years that I last was with him. Lucky man! Handsome men wear age well whereas pretty women like me start to look like plastic surgery wannabes.

There you again looking uncomfortable. No! I'm not drunk. Bitter? Sure! Sorry! I think I'm a little dizzy. Drinking on empty tummy does reel the senses. Nice music, don't you agree? Wanna dance? Its been a while since I let loose.

Come on! Just you and me. Don't be so mean. You and I are single ready to mingle and all I am asking for is a dance. Fine! We won't hit the floor. We can dance right here.

Nice coat, must say. Let me remove the flint from your sleeve. White hair? Oh you have a cat uh? How sweet! Am I too close? Want me to move away? Don't look so worried. I won't pounce on you not like he pounced on me and forgot all about me.

He used to pounce on me quite a bit during those good old days. Sit, did you say? Sure, why not. Lets sit at the bar. And yes I will drink and no, you will not stop me. Waiter! Bloody Mary. And yes! I am mixing my drinks.

See how he is all over that barely out of college kid. She is all weak- kneed over him being a 'uncle figure' and he has pedophilia thoughts stuffing down his pants.

You are laughing? Yeah, I can be funny. At a grand old age of forty some shit I can afford to be funny. But you know its easier for me to get a lay than for him to get a fuck from that kid.

I can have just about any man in the room, even you. Too much to drink? Maybe but not enough to go completely Dev D on you. Now you find me hot, don't you? I can see it in your eyes. Liquid Sherry! Thats the color of your eyes.

Your skin feels smooth under my fingers. You shaved for our date, didn't you? And yet you won't even hold my hand. The thorough Indian gentleman.

He on the other hand is a wolf tearing through sheep's clothings. Bad boys like him get all the action, the money and the pretty girl where as men like you get spent women like me!

Don't shake your head. Men like you don't get women like me. I'm sorry about that. You are very nice man. And deserve a woman as nice as you not someone as hard as nails like me.

There you go shaking your head. I think I am going to be sick. Ladies loo for me! I can walk on my own. Damn! I better not bang into that a-hole. Now that would be a real highlight of the evening, right?

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After dropping kids to their bus stop I came back home and lay down for a while. I had a nightmare. In my dream a group of ten people with mattresses and massive luggages came knocking on my door. I let them in and they sprawled in the living room. I asked -what will you eat?

Demands came and my heart sank. There was no food and no help. I muttered - I need to get some groceries; won't take too long. They nodded the guest nod and went on conversing. I grabbed my car keys and drove out and to my utter horror found all the roads dug up. I found myself in a jam and began to have a massive anxiety attack. I couldn't breathe, my fingers shook and I began to sweat.

I stepped out of the car to take a breather but my heart kept skipping like a frantic rabbit. There were people and yet I was alone. I rested my head against the heated metal of the car and tried to catch my breath but I couldn't breathe.

It seemed as if my lungs felt constricted and I began to crumple on dug up road. I was dying -no more breathing for ddlamba, a voice whispered and just then I woke up with a start!

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Bangalore comes to life during the monsoon season. For nature lovers this is the best time not only enjoy walks around the parks but also dig into the fertile red soil of the land. The soil spills forth its generous nature and greenery abounds. My neglected garden has come to life. Plants that were barely straggling, bearing heat, their leaves sunburned healed and returned to their glory thanks to the famous Bangalore downpours.

This is the best time for gardening is when the soil yields and the weather is no longer blistering hot and the best time to get in tune with nature is either early morning or late afternoon. Gardening can also be a good way of exercising. I bought over ten plants on the way back from Mysore and they required planting. So I grabbed a spade and got to work yesterday evening

I struggled with the heavy sack of potting mixes, grabbed my containers, my rickety wooden stool to park my butt on and got to work. It took me over two hours and still there were more plants and even two small trees that required planting. I heaved and wondered if all the toiling was really worth it and then I looked at the greenery and the flowers.

Beyond my little home lies a land stripped of all greenery. There is only dirt and construction. On entering the Lamba residence one is welcomed by the site of greenery. Trees, plants and lots of flowers lift the visitor's spirits. But it all takes effort and without a gardener the toiling is therapeutic and yet tiring

Gardening has become more than a hobby for me. It is an obsession. I want to visit more nurseries than my usual ones and look for exotic plants. In fact I have a long list of plants that I want but are not available. Living in a city like Bangalore where a family even managed to grow strawberries can easily be a gardener's paradise if one is willing to put in a wee bit of effort and time.

We have other visitors too. A resident rat snake is a regular, and I've encountered him sunning himself on the cool granite at our doorstep. The carcass of a lizard was found yesterday.

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She undulated and left her home. Her movements were silent and went unnoticed as she slithered through the thick bushes, the planted pots, the heated stones of the driveway and through the open doors into the cool interiors of the human home.

He watched her enter and followed her as she made for darker cooler interiors- the bathroom. Her beautiful light brown scales caught the rays of the rising sun from the window before she went and coiled herself behind the frosted plastic bucket.

The youngest of the family members entered the bathroom. He peed in the pot. His mother screamed “Did you put the seat up before peeing?!” The five year olds tongue snuck out between his teeth and his eyes glimmered with surprise. His mother had caught him without even being there. She was all knowing. He flushed and scampered out of the bathroom. The snake went unnoticed and so did the one who watched the snake.

The bathroom door shut with a bang and a childlike voice could be heard demanding Gobi Paranthas. Adult voices responded. The male voice said something and the female laughed. The little boy cackled and whooped. A happy family he told the resting snake that ignored him.

She hid her head between the smooth twists of her form and felt his loneliness as he watched over her. He garnered no sympathies from her. It wasn’t in her nature to empathize. She lived to procreate and to eat those delicious rats that were becoming few in number. The rains were coming, the rats were dying and there were few places left to live in moist cool solitude.

Here too, there was no peace to be found. She would have to move. The noisy human had proven the place was not a conducive habit but where would she go? It would be best to wait, even if only for a while. The cool stones beneath her lulled her to sleep.

He stayed with her for she was his brethren in nature. He lodged against the wall and waited for the next human to enter. It was the blurry eyed father who next walked in. He ran a hand over his rough unshaven cheeks and began to shave.
The snake went unnoticed. The father didn’t take a bath. It was Sunday after all.
There was no need to hurry.

“Anil?! Where are you?”

“Coming! What yaar? Can’t I even shave in peace?” The father of the five year old yelled back and left the bathroom.

There was more yelling. He heard them fight as did the snake catch the vibrations who was rudely woken from her siesta.

“Why do you always go to the bathroom when I lay the table?” she yelled
The father yelled back “Woman! This isn’t the army. I can go to the bathroom whenever I want to.”

They fought on and the snake raised her head. It was time to leave.

He nodded. Wise decision. The family could drive anyone up the wall. He would know he had suffered them since the damn house was built on his land and he was forced to live with them.

The bathroom door was left ajar and she began to make her silent trek whence she came from. He followed her till the thresh hold of the house. She slithered out of the open doorway. Out into the open where nature was distorted and pillaged by hungry humans.

She didn’t look back. Why would she? He turned back to be in the midst of those whose warmth never touched him. The five year old ran through him and he felt a slight tremor in his ether and he resumed his form.

Damn humans, he muttered and watched them eat their Gobi Paranthas.

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"I am not going to be milked for free!" Sampurna glared at her best friend who flung her hands up in protest.

"Ok! I hear you. I was just arguing for the heck of it." Rachna leaned against the black granite slab of the TGIF bathroom and watched her friend rummage through her Gucci bag for a lipstick.

"No! Seriously, Rachna. If Indra gets sex, food and company from me why the hell would he marry me? And no, don't start with the living in is as good as being married. I want to have kids later on and don't want them to wear the tag of bastards!"

Another woman entered the washroom and adjusted her bra straps. She then proceeded to cup her breasts and push them upwards as if her actions would automatically defy gravity. She then leaned towards the mirror, retouched her lips with a engine red shade of lipstick, ran slim artistic fingers in her lush dark hair and smiled a benevolent thirty something year old smile at the two twenty-somethings before leaving the loo.

The two friends grinned at each other.

"Men like women like her." Sampurna tilted her head towards the washroom door the stranger had gone through. "Her type are the female versions of the bad boys kind."

Rachna laughed "You mean good in bed, good for partying but not the marrying kinds?"

"Sure!" Sampurna agreed "But what makes her different from us? Sex with her comes without any kind of strings. And men love her kind of women."

"Really?" Rachna asked as she headed towards the cubicle to take a leak.

Sampurna raised her voice so she could be heard over Rachna's energetic alcohol laced pee "Yes! That woman won't feel regret after a night of passion. She would even make sure the man wears a condom. Fact is a woman like her would leave at the heat of the moment if the man refused to wear a condom. And men respect that in women who are freely available and yet have certain standards."

Rachna stared at the cubicle door and felt her thighs strain with the hovering she did over the pot. It had been a while since she had hit the gym and had lost most of her flexibility.

"Ok, so what you mean is she is a slut who is good at self preservation and that gives her the air of being high maintenance."

"Exactly! She is a bad boy who knows she comes first. The man she is with has to wear a condom and the man has to give her orgasms or else he is as good as a roach under her heel."

Rachna somehow managed to get out of the narrow cubicle without bumping into the walls or the inward opening door.

She grinned at Sampurna who was brushing her hair and spoke up "You make it sound as if she has more balls than us."

Sampurna raised a patronizing eyebrow. "Recklessness is not the same as bravery. Women like her end up alone whereas women like us have successful marriages, we keep our men in line and grow to be old content ladies having lived stable lives."

Rachna nodded her head and repeated herself "True! True!"

The girls looked at themselves in the mirror one last time and headed out of the washroom.

Music thumped around them and in the muted lights of the bar the girls saw their dates sitting at someone else's table. Sampurna frowned and Rachna gasped when a waiter ducked out of the way and gave them the view of the table their dates were sitting at - the woman they had been bitching about.

"Should we go to our table?" Rachna asked Sampurna and before she could reply the men waved them over.

"Here! Here!" The men beckoned. Sampurna and Rachna reached the table with pasted smiles.

It was a table of four people and the men had pulled up additional chairs. The woman they had been bitching about was with two children and an older man with peppered hair and a dashing smile.

Sampurna's boyfriend Indra introduced the woman and her family "This is Samya. She was my senior back in school and a topper in school and went to Oxford or was it Cambridge?"

Samya got up from her chair and shook hands with the girls "Actually Stanford. I teach there."

Indra gave a sheepish smile and apologized. "I'm sorry. I guess the grapevine got it wrong."

She laughed and introduced her husband and kids. "Prashant and my two naughty kids!"

The kids gave toothy smiles and Prashant moved the children to the nearby empty table with their food.

Samya looked over her children who happily munched away at the chicken tenders and then sat back. "Did you know this is the only place where they don't spice up the chicken tenders? Since we've come to India on a break, the kids have driven me crazy with their demand for spice-less chicken."

Prashant pitched in. "Only the kids? A while ago you were complaining about me as well."

Samya rolled her eyes and laughed. She nudged the girls and replied, "Oh you know men are such babies. Even after twelve years of marriage I have to take care of all his needs."

Prashant laughed. "But you know I like you taking care of me."

Samya laughed back.

Rachna's date Druv asked, "So, you guys have been together for twelve years?"

Samya agreed as she took a sip of her Bloody Mary. "Yes! But time flies. It feels like yesterday when we got married. We both were drunk and in Vegas and the natural outcome was marriage. The next day we woke up with a hangover and decided to stay married."

All eyes except Prashant's popped open.

Prashant chuckled and winked at his wife. "We get the same reaction every time we tell people how we got married. You see, she wanted to do her PhD with me as her best friend and not husband. She called me a distraction. But then after she submitted her thesis we went for a break to Vegas, got drunk and woke up married."

He shook his head and continued speaking. "I thought she was going to be mad with me but she just looked at me and said that marriage was an eventuality between us and it just happened faster than she had anticipated and hence it was no biggie. So much for romance."

Sampurna shifted in her chair and found herself inhaling Samya's light perfume.
She shifted awkwardly under Samya's open glance. "Have you ordered yet?"

Sampurna shook her head. "We are here only for drinks but will be eating somewhere else."

Samya nodded and then smiled at Rachna who returned a wilted smile that didn't quite stretch across her cheeks.

The waiter came with their drinks and the girls took dainty sips of their frothing beers.

"So Prashant what do you do?" Druv asked.

"Oh, I tinker around at the NASA."

"Tinker around?" Indra asked.

Samya laughed. "Yes literally. He tinkers around with rockets!"

Then both Prashant and Samya started laughing and Samya spoke up "Don't go by our jobs. We are just regular folks earning our bread and butter like other people."

She then looked at the menu and asked, "Hey! why don't you guys eat with us? The food looks good here."

The younger group looked at each other. The men wanted to stay. Sampurna gave a slight nod to Indra who gave her a pleased smile.

"Yes! We'd love to dine with you two."

Prashant beckoned the friendly waiter who handed over menus.

They each ordered their food and the men then excused themselves to go to the washroom with Druv muttering, "There is only one way beer goes - down the pipes!"

Samya flicked a look at the departing backs of the men and then leaned over and muttered, "These underwires are digging into my flesh. Can you girls tell me where Marks And Spencer is? I need to buy good bras. I can't breathe in any of the bras I picked up in the US. Even now my boobs are hurting."

Sampurna couldn't look into Samya's eyes. Guilt caused her to blink before she peeked into the warm brown eyes and replied huskily, "The Garuda Mall has a Marks and Spencers and so does Lido. Though I am surprised you are having trouble with your bras. I got mine from Victoria's Secret and they are fine."

Samya shook her head. "I've been here for over a month and eaten like a hog. I've put on a lot of weight. Since I had my angels I've been putting on weight. Between work and family I have no time for myself."

The other two women made sympathetic noises and waited for the men to return.

The evening progressed well with the older couple keeping the younger couples entertained. Each of the little ones curled up on their parents' laps and were sound asleep.

The bill came just as they finished drinking coffee and the older couple insisted on paying it.

As they walked out of the restaurant, Samya gave her e-mail address and phone number to the girls and Prashant gave his to the other two men.

"Call me," she insisted as she pulled her sleeping two year old closer to herself.

"Have a great time," Rachna gave Samya and her sleeping child an impromptu hug and moved away.

Sampurna nodded and said, "It was nice meeting you and I will call."

They smiled at the older couple as the men walked the young women to Sampurna's car.

"Drive safely and call me once you get home." Indra hugged Sampurna. She smiled back and got behind the wheels.

"Bye Indra, bye Druv." Rachna smiled at the guys and sat in the passenger seat of Sampurna's Santro.

The men waved them away as their car drove off.

Silence reined in the car for a while. Rachna looked out of the window and Sampurna looked straight ahead. There was little traffic on the road.

"Won't take too long for me to drop you." Sampurna said eventually.

"Yes" replied Rachna.

Sampurna cleared her throat and spoke. "Nice lady."

Rachna nodded. "Yes, she was nice. Will you call her?"

Sampurna didn't bat an eyelid and replied. "I may. I liked her."

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