Half Truth

Untitled Part 10

CHAPTER 19

By the time the authorities became aware of the theft in the bank, John along with Nina had safely boarded the flight to India. John was his normal self. He was jovially cracking jokes with Nina and was enjoying his flight to India. As usual, he was not fully aware, the grave crime, he had committed. In his opinion, he had only taken a bag from Joe and delivered to Roderik, a simple assignment of a carrier boy and nothing else. The forthcoming trip to India and Nepal was the actual assignment and part of his real job. He had been adequately tutored regarding his the duties and responsibilities. The pep talk of sincerity, honesty was lurking in his mind. He was feeling obliged to Roderik for placing the trust in him and in his capabilities. He had been adequately compensated in advance for this new position as 'Manager Liaison, Delta Enterprises'.

Nina had gathered all the information about India and Nepal, about their culture, places of interest from various websites and her Indian friends. Feeling at ease, she asked "Would we be visiting Taj Mahal in India?"

"Oh! Yeah, sure, we are going to stay there." replied John.

"No, no, nobody stays at Taj Mahal. It is a tomb famous for lovers. It was built by some king in memory of his beloved queen," said Nina. She was quite astonished at John's ignorance.

"But, I have been directed to take a cab, straightaway from the airport on reaching India to Taj Mahal. It is a five star hotel. I am sure of this. Somebody will be meeting us as per the itinerary given to me," replied John.

"I see, I am talking about the monument Taj, which is also supposed to be the one of the wonders of the world and you are talking about some hotel, which is named after this great place," replied Nina.

John was quite ashamed of his poor general knowledge and wished he was not a school dropout. Shielding his embarrassment, he said, "Okay, we will cover both, stay in Taj Mahal hotel and visit the monument you have named." Then both laughed in unison.

"We will visit the Taj on a full moon night, when the white marble glitters like silver," said Nina.

Really wondering on the words 'full moon night', John said, "Every night is a moon lit night, during day it is sun and at night it is moon. I fail to understand you."

Nina found herself to be staring at John, whether he really understood what she had said and then remarked, "Every night is not a full moon night, it appears only after every thirty days."

"I see, I had flunked my astronomy classes, may be you are right. Okay we will make the program accordingly," replied John hiding his ignorance.

Nina was taken aback, she realized that she could not converse intelligently with this man, since he had no education and consequently lacked knowledge. It was really not his fault, but wondered was she under any compulsion to be friendly with him? She thought love was really funny. Love had no boundaries, no limits. She was with him because she was in love with him otherwise he was quite inadequate as a companion .The situation was funny and she would learn to cope with such situations and save the embarrassment. On a second thought she considered that this man was on a business trip and was he capable of conducting business successfully? She decided that she would accompany him in his business venture to look after his interest which in turn would also benefit her interest. She would gradually share knowledge with him and eventually refine him before introducing him to her friends and family. Overcoming her thoughts, she asked, "How long are we going to stay in India, before proceeding to Nepal?"

"We are on a holiday for a full month. We would cover places by road in India and Nepal. An escort has been arranged for us. He has the exact program. I was too busy to have collected all the details," replied John to change the topic. In fact he himself was not aware of the program. All he knew, he had the money and was required to strike a deal with a priest in Nepal, whom he would be meeting for the first time.