Randhir was startled by the presence of the teenage Sanyukta desperately hanging off the mango tree just outside his bedroom balcony. "Who is it, son? It must be those infernal kids after the fruit in the garden!'' His mother Renuka called out to h...
After they had lunch Danny helped Anju wind up quickly and left to go home while Randhir stayed back to coach Sanyukta. It was nearly five in the evening when he finally set her free from his Math tutorial. The doorbell rang and before Anju got up to answer Randhir stopped her and went over himself. A man at the door handed him something, he counted some cash from his wallet and gave it to him before closing the door.
"There's a change in Sanyukta's travel plans. She need not board the 6.30 pm bus anymore, my travel agent managed to get her a berth on the overnight train. This means she gets more time with you and can travel more securely and sleep comfortably to arrive rested." Randhir showed Anju the confirmed ticket. She didn't know what to say, she was simply amazed.
"But Randhir, she could have taken the bus, why did you........" Before she could finish her sentence Randhir interrupted her. "Because we have something else lined up before we put her on the train at Dadar. On our way we are stopping by to meet someone who's really special to you." He paused to let the message sink in. Both mother and daughter stared at him, waiting for him to go on.
"Tell you what, let me just go change, I'll be back in a few minutes. Both of you can change meanwhile and we'll leave as we had planned earlier. I promise that you won't be disappointed." Without giving them time to react he left, leaving the two women stunned.
"Did you know about this Sanyu?" Anju asked. "Of course not, you know him Ma, he excels at planning but he does not always share. Maybe he was waiting for the hard copy of the ticket before letting us know. And you know him, he won't let you pay. If you try to he'll just remind you about how I worked for him last summer without getting paid. Anyway let's get dressed. We don't want to keep him waiting." Sanyukta was right, Randhir was too strong willed to argue with.
He was back within a few minutes and Anju and Sanyukta locked up the house before heading downstairs to meet him. He had managed to shower and change and looked as fresh as he was excited about executing his plan.
"Who is it Randhir, who are we calling on?" Anju could not resist asking him. "It will ruin the surprise if I tell you, we'll be there in a while, the highway looks fairly empty." For the rest of the journey he kept his eyes on the road and they reached Bandra by 6 pm. Randhir stopped for some last minute shopping and when he returned he was carrying a large bag of packed food and a bottle of wine. The women were even more mystified.
"Isn't that store-front window display fabulous? This furniture store is renowned for putting up a tasteful and thematic display every year. They've had some classic themes in the past, like Puss in Boots and Alice in Wonderland. And the owners don't mind if people like us stop to look." Randhir managed to distract them by stopping before the cheerful tableau to let them admire it. Sanyukta even managed to click pictures on her phone.
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Soon the car turned into a meandering lane lined with heritage villas that looked like they could could be in Goa, they were so out of place in the sprawling concrete jungle of Mumbai. They stopped before a house that was painted white and had a baked tile roof. Randhir dialled someone's number, informing the person that they had arrived. By the time he led Anju and Sanyukta toward the gate they could see a lady with white hair approaching them and they could hear a dog bark somewhere in the neighbourhood.
