The Waves Whisper ✓

28 | family?

"He's your grandfather?" Kabir asked Naomi, who was standing with her back against the tree in the yard that bore pink flowers. It was a question that he already knew the answer to. Apoorvanand Rathore is her grandfather. It's obvious now how she and her mother got their dark, curly hair. For some reason, she couldn't picture him as her grandfather. For her, he's a fictional man-young and unreal. She doesn't know what he looked like. Her grandmother did not even leave a photograph of him. She created a vague image of him from the descriptions in the book-a brown-eyed, curly-haired man with dimples.

"Apparently, he is. My fictional grandfather." She sighed. A few petals of the pink flower have fallen onto her hair. Kabir thought she looked adorable but decided to restrain himself from speaking out his thoughts.

"Did Mom know this? Perhaps I should ask her." She had almost pulled out her phone from the pocket when Kabir's voice stopped her.

"No. She might not know. I mean, we don't know whether she knows or not."

"You're right." She pushed her phone back into her pocket.

"We still have a few pages left on the story to read."

Naomi was silent.

"What are you thinking?" Kabir spoke almost like a whisper, refusing to interrupt her thoughts.

"I want to see him. I mean, just to see what he looked like."

"There might be a photo somewhere around in Roopali ma'am's office."

"I've looked, Kabir. Everywhere." It might have been the first time that Naomi said his name. He liked how it rolled out of her tongue, making his name sound a bit funnier in her American accent.

"Do you think..." She hesitated. "We could go visit his house." She noticed Kabir's eyes widening. She knew how risky it sounded. "I mean, we could lie. Of course I'm not going to say I'm his granddaughter."

"Yeah, we could work that out."

"But do you have any idea where his family might be living now?"

"His family is pretty popular around here, I guess. Let's ask Garima. She might know."

"Let's ask Garima." Naomi repeated.

Garima was in the kitchen, preparing dinner, when Naomi and Kabir popped into the room.

"There are thousands of Rathores with successful businesses around here. Which one of them are you looking for?" Garima said, as an answer to Kabir and Naomi's query. They both looked at each other. The fact was that they didn't know which one.

"Hm, my friend Bhavna might know some. Well, she works in one of those families."

"Can you ask her?" It was Naomi who asked the question.

"Now?"

"Yes, now."

A woman answered the call after a few rings. "Garima, kaise hain?" (How are you?) The call was put on loudspeaker.

"Badiya. (Good) Now listen, I need your help." Garima replied.

"Yeah, I know you won't be calling to inquire about my wellbeing." A dry laugh was heard from the other end of the phone. "What is it? You need money? Again?"

"No, no, not that. Do you know a Rathore family?"

"Yeah, I know a few. Which one?"

Garima looked at Kabir and Naomi and asked. "Do you know anyone in that family?"

"Sapna Rathore." Naomi said it instantly. Apoorva's sister. There was no response from the woman on the phone. Sapna must be living with her husband now, somewhere else. Naomi cursed herself for not thinking that way. "Shyamanand Rathore." She said again.

There's a response now. "Of course I know. I work there."

Naomi's eyes glistened with hope.

"But Shyamanand died decades ago. His eldest son's family lives in the house now. They look after the family business."

"Oh. We'd like to meet them."

"Uh... Why? What's the matter?"

Naomi's lips parted to say something-a lie. But she did not come up with a lie before calling the woman.

"We're planning to film a documentary. We just need some details." It was Kabir who came to her rescue. She thanked him with her eyes.

"What documentary?" The woman asked.

"Umm, we'll clarify that once we're there." It was Naomi who answered this time. "Can you send Garima the address?"

"Okay." The woman sounded less convinced. But it didn't bother Naomi much.

"You're making a documentary?" Garima asked with a frown on her face after the call ended.

"Yeah, we are," Kabir said.

"About what?"

"About all the Rathores in Rajasthan." Kabir winked at her. She blinked her eyes in disbelief, whispered "weird" to herself and went back to cooking.