‘Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts. We will be landing soon,’ the pilot announced.
‘If you are thinking of holding my hand again, please do it nicely. No more piercing,’ I told her jokingly. To my surprise, she smiled back, held my hand and interlocked her fingers with mine.
‘I am no longer scared. Thank you.’
Was she also falling for me? Some strange sense of confidence grew within me. I didn’t feel like the guy any more who would shy away from talking to a beautiful girl. I felt worthy. I felt I was good-looking. I felt this was a new me. Till date, Meera was the most beautiful girl I had ever dated but, believe me, she was no match for Anushka when it came to looks. I realized that I was dating well below my standards. I kept looking at her with a smile on my face and a lot of thoughts inside my head.
The plane landed. We collected our luggage and came out of the airport, chatting all the while. We reached the Uber pickup point to board our cabs.
‘Want to catch up again sometime?’ I asked when she was about to board her cab. I was now confident that she liked me.
‘I thought you were never going to ask,’ she replied, smiling.
I took out my phone, unlocked it and smiled at her without saying anything. She took the phone and entered her number and asked me to call her.
She was about to turn around and board her cab when I called her again.
‘Anushka!’
‘Yes?’ She turned around, smiling.
‘I think I like you.’ I didn’t want her to leave.
‘You think you like me?’ she replied, stressing on the word ‘think’.
‘I mean, I really like you. I am sure of that.’
‘I got to go now. My cab is waiting. By the way, I am free this Saturday,’ she replied with a smile.
I felt tremendous joy inside me. We bid goodbye to each other and she boarded her cab.
I saved her number and was going to call her when Meera called.
‘Hey! I told you to call me once you land. You forgot?’ she asked.
I remembered she had told me so many times to call her as soon as I landed. I had totally forgotten. ‘I am at the Uber pickup zone. I was going to call you after boarding the cab.’
‘You idiot! I am at the airport. I came to pick you up. Thought it would be a surprise for you. And you were going to give me a shock.’ She was laughing on the phone.
‘Where are you?’ I asked.
‘Behind you, Mr Idiot.’ I turned around and saw her walking towards me. My heart started pounding again. Had she seen Anushka? I was so screwed.
She ran the last few steps and hugged me tightly. ‘Missed you so much.’
‘I missed you too,’ I replied.
‘Come, let’s go.’ She grabbed my trolley bag and started walking.
I started walking with her. My head was messed up. I did not know what to say.
‘We are going to my place now. There is another surprise waiting for you.’ Meera was smiling. My head was still trying to process everything going on inside me.
‘Don’t tell me you have prepared my favourite mutton curry and jeera rice,’ I asked.
‘That was an easy guess.’ She laughed. ‘By the way, why didn’t you call me when you landed?’
‘I actually met an old friend of mine on the flight. I was talking to her and thought would call you once I board the cab.’
‘That is one super-hot friend you got.’ She winked at me with a smile.
‘How did you know?’ My heart stopped beating for a couple of seconds.
‘I was waiting for you at the exit to surprise you. But then I saw the two of you coming out. You were laughing and talking to each other. So I decided to wait and surprise you after she leaves.’ She unlocked the car and put the trolley on the back seat.
I was at a loss for words, my heart was pounding heavily and this was happening for the second time in three hours. ‘You know what? Had it been someone else in your place, she would have been suspicious,’ I said nervously while getting into the car.
‘That is because that “someone else” does not know you as much as I do. I love you and completely trust you.’ She smiled at me and turned on the ignition.
All this while when I was with Anushka, not for once did I think of Meera. There is no denying the fact that Anushka is really beautiful and we have many things in common. Whereas when it comes to Meera, we have very few things in common. Our taste in movies or music doesn’t match. She likes beaches whereas I like mountains. Yet she cares for me, she trusts me blindly and loves me deeply.
Meera was driving and telling me about how she’d spent the last weekend with her friends, since I was not here. I was half listening and giving occasional nods and smiles. Maybe I was assuming things, and Anushka just wanted to be friends. Or maybe she wanted us to be more than that. But I didn’t trust myself like Meera did. I was sure that I would fall for her with every passing day and would eventually ruin my relationship with Meera. The two hours that I spent in the flight with Anushka would be in my memories forever. But with Meera, I made memories every day. She was the one who forced me to go to the gym every day to stay fit. She was the one who took care of me when I met with an accident last year. She cared for me, she shouted at me and, most importantly, she inspired me to be a better person.
In the real world, superheroes don’t wear capes or possess any superpowers. In the real world, superheroes are those people who become the pillars of your life without your knowledge. They make you a better person and are there for you even when you don’t expect them to be. They don’t give up on you even when you want to give up.
Sometimes imperfect relationships can make you happier than a perfect one can. I am thankful to Anushka, because I gained a confidence I thought I would never have. Maybe Anushka could have been my superwoman. But there was no confusion in my mind any more. I took out my phone and went to contacts. I searched for Anushka’s name and deleted it without a second thought.
24
Arjun
Maria K. Jimmy
Devotees flocked to the temple in the ungodly hours of the night. Lanterns were lit and a faint hint of jasmine and incense sticks lightened the tense atmosphere.
Kandanar Kelan, the fiery god, was running frantically around the court. Clad in a flowing straw skirt and awe-inspiring headgear, Kelan leapt into a bonfire and rolled in the flames. Frenzied drummers began beating in perfect synchronicity. Young priests lit palm-frond torches, swishing the embers into the air, and devotees recited hymns as Kelan screamed and performed his incredible kalaasams* of the night. I held my breath. The flames were not singeing him, not even a little bit. The deity who had possessed him was Kandanar Kelan, a king of the yesteryears and a fearsome warrior god who had rendered him invulnerable and invincible.
He must have danced for minutes or hours—I still have no idea. Time seemed non-existent in the midst of such a captivating and soul-wrenching performance. The transformation from incorrigible wrath to raving ferocity, the dance was a sight to witness—a true explosion of music, dance and fervent devotion.
Towards the end, young boys fanned his sweaty body and priests brought him offerings of rice as the crowd broke up as fast as they had emerged, mumbling prayers and asking for blessings from the deity. The overall effect was distinctly supernatural and I figured that that was precisely the point.