Sobati

05

"I have to get some Ganpati decorations first. You okay with that? Then we can get to baking the cake." Maitreyi whispered, as she looked up from the message her mother had sent her. Her friend looked up from her notebook, deep in thought and looking absentmindedly at the blackboard in front of her, "How much time will it take? I have to get home by dinner time. Aai is making paneer butter masala today."

"Gauri," Maitreyi pouted, stretching out her friend's name, "it'll only take like, half an hour. I really want to bake a cake for Aai's birthday. And we've been planning on doing this since so long, you said you were going to teach me to make that one. " She didn't need to specify which one, Gauri knew which one Maitreyi was talking about.

Gauri rolled her eyes and smiled, "Okay, fine. We'll try to finish it by dinner time but you have to drop me home if it gets late."

Maitreyi fist pumped in the air and then quietly looked down when she saw the professor looking at her with his eyebrows raised. She whispered back, "Done."

******

Carrying a bag of fairy lights, and colourful sheets of paper, Maitreyi announced her arrival at home with a knock on the open wooden door. She removed her sandals beside the shoe rack on the porch, followed by Gauri. Their arrival went unnoticed at first, and Gauri raised her eyebrows at Maitreyi when they both saw the empty living room. There was a tray on the coffee table, with empty tea cups on it.

"Aai?" She received no response, so she deposited the Ganpati decorations and her bag on a chair near the kitchen table. As her feet took her towards her room, she could hear faint words and conversations, which eventually grew louder as she reached her room.

"Aai?" Maitreyi looked puzzled and wide eyed to see her mother talking about wall paint with Ajit kaka, of all people.

"Manu! You're home. That's great. I have made some upma, you'll have to heat it up though---"

"I bought the Ganpati decorations." She wanted to ask why her mother decided it would be a good idea to just show her bedroom to someone she considered a stranger without her permission. She wanted to run away from there and bury herself in her aaji's hug. Instead, she held her tongue and put on a polite smile, trying to control her breathing.

Her mother's eyes lit up as she came out of her room, Ajit kaka following her by giving her a polite, almost apologetic smile, "Oh, good! Did you get those paper sheets in red and yellow colour?"

"Yes." Maitreyi reluctantly followed them from her bedroom to the kitchen. Gauri was sitting on a chair at the kitchen table, her eyes wandering over the various paintings hung in their living room, to keep herself busy. She got up from her seat as soon as she saw Maitreyi's mother and Ajit kaka, smiling at her mother, "Hi kaku! How are you? I hope I'm not intruding."

"No no." Ajit kaka settled on a sofa in the living room, her mother taking a seat opposite him. "You girls can go to Maitreyi's room now. I was just showing him the house. Oh and Gauri, if you girls are hungry, heat up the upma, okay? It's there on the table."

"We'll get it when we're hungry, kaku. Thank you." Gauri said when Maitreyi didn't reply anything, then smiled at her friend's mother, and proceeded to follow Maitreyi into her bedroom.

Maitreyi closed the door, her back landing softly on the bed. Gauri did what she always did when she came over to her house; she went and stood by the window beside her bed for a while. The silence was deafening. Maitreyi wanted to say what was on her mind, that she didn't like that her mother had allowed Ajit kaka to see her bedroom, even if it was just to show the house. She opened her mouth but no words came out.