'AM 9934' and 'Rin Supreme': A Love Story

The dark-haired girl hiding behind
The clothesline on her balcony
Cannot define Love.

She met this word some years ago
In a dark cinema hall
Where Govinda screamed at the valleys
“I LOVE YOU!”

On a hot summer afternoon
Later that year,
She encountered it again
When she heard her elder sister
whispering to her friend
and then burying herself in giggles."eesshhh..."

When Rekha next door was beaten
And then locked inside her room,
The girl heard her mother say,
“This love…”
When Rekha hanged herself from the fan
A month later
The girl was not allowed to go see her body.

But beyond the movies, agony columns
And the futile cries of Rekha,
The girl never bothered to find out
Whether the word was of any use to her.
When she sang to herself
“Tu meri zindagi hai..”
It was just to pass time while bathing.
Her sleep was always sound
And her heart longed for
Nothing more complex than aloo-chaat.

She has now for twenty-six days
Seen that dark-skinned boy ride past her house
On that noisy motorbike.
She has noticed that his eyes
Are always on the balcony
Where he first saw her.

This boy who likes fluorescent t-shirts
And honks the horn arrogantly,
Is a blatant invasion on her universe.
He brings fear with him –
A fear like nothing she has known
That vaguely reminds her of closed rooms
And a ceiling fan.

But he also brings indecision,
A sense of adventure,
And suddenly,
A squirrel-like creature inside her
That she never knew existed
Is rebelling against all her instincts.
Much to her mother’s surprise,
She is always waiting for a chance
To wash and dry clothes.

The girl doesn’t know
How the boy found out about her
Or why he guns past her gate at 10 a.m.,
Or what he plans to do on the twenty-seventh day.

She just knows
That he owns at least three pair of goggles
And seven t-shirts.
That he always gels his long hair
And combs them back.
That his bike has the number AM 9934
And a broken tail-light.

She also knows that
On the twenty-seventh day,
He will be there.

The girl cannot define Love
But she wonders
Whether relying on someone
To arrive everyday on time
Counts as faith,
And if such steadfast punctuality
Means dedication.

She is always too far to see
If the boy smiles at her
But she knows
That he nearly collided with a cow four days ago
While driving with his eyes on her
And made her laugh.

She still does not know Love
But she has started thinking about it.
A lot.

Even now,
When the tea is almost made
And the snacks ready,
She is smiling.
She has to look her best today
Because the guests who have come to see her
might be her in-laws if she's lucky.

Later at night,
She will rummage through the house
For laundry,
Gathering as many clothes as she can
So she can spend more time on the balcony.
Even though she knows
That he never passes her house twice in a day.

Yes,
This ritual will never cease
Till the wedding cards are printed
And the girl is ordered to take care of her hands.
When mehndi attempts to mask
the roughness left behind by detergent.
When she finds herself at the threshold
Of another universe
Where Love and Faith have another meaning
And the clothesline is in the verandah behind the house.

The girl cannot define Love
and we cannot teach her now,
when the fat pundit has already made off
with her kundli and Rs.101.
Perhaps she is better off this way.
I think she needs a sound sleep
and not a rope to hang herself with.

We leave her to play this harmless game
till she is ready to go
far away from the puzzled beeps of horn.
Leaving her stupid definitions and fantasies
drying between the folds of her mother’s petticoat.