Reshma

8

“What are you doing here?” Reshma whispered, sunlight creating a light-and-shadow effect on her face near the window.
It was around 3.00 in the afternoon, and Ishaan stood infront of her, all smiles.
“I can’t come?” he asked.
“Not all know that you still come.”
“Oh, hey, Ishaan!” Sarla said, jumping from nowhere to greet Ishaan. Other than the people who were there on the agreement night, only Reshma’s roommates knew about Ishaan. And among them, only Sarla spoke to him.
“Hi, Sarla,” he said, smiling.
“How come you’re here? At this untimely hour of the day?”
“Sarcastic, huh?”
“Sarla,” the receptionist called out. “Tilak is asking you to go collect your salary receipt.”
“Coming!” Sarla yelled. “Catch you later.” And she ran off.
“Haan, toh Ishaan, janab, aapko kuch kaam hai?” Reshma asked.
“Don’t do this janab-shanab to me. Anyways, come with me,” Ishaan said.
“Huh? I can’t take you up for free. It’s my working hours.”
“Arrey! Come with me. Outside!”
“Outside?” Reshma exclaimed. “No, no, no, no... I can’t do that!”
“Come, please!”
“Kaam kaun karega? I’ve no interest in losing money.”
“Goodness!” Ishaan went to the receptionist. “See, I need Reshma. For at least two hours. I’m paying you an hour worth. The second hour, you manage.”
Turning to Reshma, he said, “Go. Change your clothes. No saree. Wear anything else you can find.”
“Uh...chudidar?”
“Anything. I don’t want you in a saree there.”
Smiling to herself, Reshma rushed into her room, changed into a yellow chudidar, rubbed off the kilograms of makeup, and came back running, all in twenty minutes.
“Perfect. Come,” Ishaan went out the doors, leading to the muhalla’s streets.
Reshma’s heart beat faster and faster with the minute. She had never been outside the red light area. The area had everything—a grocery store, a cheap clothes store, some unclean dhabas—but outside? She had not step foot since the day she had come to the brothel. And that was two years ago.
Ishaan was already sitting on his bike—a beautiful, big, black one whose name she did not know. “Fast!” he barked. Still scared, she got on. He speeded the bike, and off they were.
She looked on as the familiar streets gave way to wider roads, and sturdier, taller buildings. The roads and buildings looked a bit familiar if not much, as she tried recalling her faded memories when she was first being dropped here. The humid air blew gently, as Ishaan rode at a medium speed. She looked at him in the mirror and caught his eye. Smiling, he said “Your cheeks will start hurting. Stop smiling.”
That’s when Reshma realized that she had been smiling all along.
“Where are we going?” she asked him.
“Somewhere nice. You’ll like it,” he replied over the wind.
“Where?”
“The beach!” He slowed down.
“Beach!” Reshma squeaked, just as he parked his bike at a parking lot.
“Hope you like ice-creams,” he said walking fast.
“I do.” Reshma said. She was confused. Ice-cream and beaches didn’t comply with her imagination.
“We have to cross the roads,” Ishaan said standing on the sidewalk, looking right and left.
“Which I’m not used to,” Reshma said, hurrying beside him. Ishaan turned to look at her, an eyebrow raised. Shaking his head, he held her hands and led her across the street.
“Which ice-cream?” he asked, as they approached a small ice-cream parlour, right beside the beach compound. Reshma was blank. She did not know what to ask for.
“I’ll get you the proline one.” He went in and came back in a few minutes, holding two ice-creams. Giving one to Reshma, they went in.
As they walked in, silently, Reshma felt the hot sun, slightly burning her skin. She could smell salt in the air. Sand poured into her slippers, burning hot. She shook her feet, and the sand fell out. They went to a bunch of weird looking chairs. As long as a bed and made out of what was probably iron, umbrellas were kept open right beside them.
Ishaan sat on the edge of one. “Sit,” he smiled, patting the chair next to his. She sat down on the hard chair, and looked front. The ocean looked beautiful. It was blue and shimmering in the sun, and waves rolled high and wide. She couldn’t look far; the bright blue waters hurt her eyes. She had already started smiling. She gave a soft laugh and looked at Ishaan. He was smiling to himself, uncovering his ice-cream. He looked at her, still smiling. “What?” he asked.
“What?” Reshma asked.
“What what?”
“I’m asking you that!”
Both laughed. “Nah, nothing,” Ishaan said. “But you look happy.”
“I am,” then after a pause, “I’ve never been to beaches actually.” She unwrapped her ice-cream, and started savouring it. It instantly melted in her mouth; she liked it.
“Kaisa hai?” he asked.
“Tastes good,” she replied.
“Main beach ke bare mein baat kar raha hoon.”
“Oh...it’s...heavenly. I-I don’t know what to say.”
“You’ve like...never been to beaches?”
“My place is land locked,” she said flatly.
Ishaan didn’t speak. Perhaps he’s letting me enjoy my ice-cream and the view, Reshma thought.
After several minutes, Reshma looked at Ishaan. He was looking at the waves, still eating his ice-cream. He was halfway done with it.
“Can I tell you something?” Reshma asked.
“Huh?” he aksed, startled. His face was calm and serene. He was waiting.
Should I tell him?, Reshma asked herself. Would it be right? No one knew this. Not even Sarla.
“My name’s not Reshma,” she said finally. “It’s Tanya.”
Ishaan looked on. “Oh...” he breathed. His expression clearly told that he did not know what to speak.
Reshma giggled. “Why that expression?”
Ishaan shrugged. “I...dunno...I...uh...”
“It’s okay. I just felt like telling you.”
“Why is your name Reshma?”
“Hmm... we’re not allowed to keep our real names, actually. I don’t know why. Maybe because we can be tracked? Memsahib tells us it’s for our own safety. There were cases when few maniacs were intent on marrying few of the call girls, it seems. All that, ladki ke mata-pita se haath mangna, and all. I guess it’s because of that. Crazy, eh?”
“Maybe they really liked them,” Ishaan replied, practical.
“Did I mention they were maniacs?”
Ishaan smiled. “So...Tanya?”
“Tanya sounds strange to my ears. It’s been a couple of years that I haven’t heard it. To you, I’m Reshma,” Reshma sighed. “Let it be that way.”
After several minutes, Reshma asked, “By the way, why’d you get me here?”
“I can’t come tonight. At 2.” Ishaan said.
“Oh. Why?”
“I’ll tell you, but not now.”
“Huh?”
Ishaan looked at his watch. “No time. Come, come,” he grabbed her age-old leftover ice-cream and threw it.
“Wha...”
“Take off your slippers,” he said, rolling his jeans up. he took off his own shoes. Reshma hurriedly unbuckled hers, and stood up.
“Let’s walk?” Ishaan asked, “To the waters?”
Reshma nodded.
As soon as she stepped foot on the sand, her feet turned warm. The san dhad cooled down. It felt slippery beneath her. Walking all the way to the waters, Reshma stopped.
“What happened?” Ishaan asked, right beside her.
“Scared, I guess.”
Ishaan step foot onto the wet sand. He beckoned Reshma to join him. Taking a deep breath, she joined him. Wet sand stuck to her feet. A small wave hit her legs and she felt as if she was sinking. She gasped and help Ishaan’s elbow. He started laughing.
“Shut up!” Reshma joined his laughter, as the wave receded. They stood there for quite some time before leaving.

~~~