THE GIRL WITH THE MEMORIAL TATTOOS

Chapter 5 THE RUSSIAN GIRL

B 

harat, Sudheer and Manav planned to go for shopping. Manali is famous for its Jerkins. The quality of the leather is so good. The trio went inside a Leather shop.  

The shopkeeper greeted them,‘Aayiye Saab! What are you looking for?’  

Bharat replied, ‘Bhai! We are looking for Jerkins could you show me a few.’  

The shopkeeper showed a few jerkins. Bharat tried a jerkin. When he looked into the mirror, his paunch was pressing upon the buttons with a pressure which Virat Kohli exerts on his bat. Bharat suddenly removed the Jerkin, pretended nothing happened, to overcome the embarrassment. Manav gave it a try. It looked very well on his fit body.  

The shop owner appreciated,‘Masth hai Bhai! It’s looking perfect on you’. Manav wondered if it’s a genuine comment or a trick played by shop owners to attract their customers to purchase their products. Bharat was trying the outfits one after another. Nothing seemed satisfactory for him. Manav chuckled at the helpless situation of Bharat and made funny comment, ‘I will get you a membership in Gym. Come here a year later after reducing your paunch’.  

Bharat looked serious. Sudheer was trying an outfit. He asked the owner ‘Bhai! What is its price?’  

It was a chocolate colored leather jerkin which was looking good on him. The shop owner replied, ‘It’s actually 2,500 but you look like a gentleman and came from far away. So, I can give you discount on this. You can take it for 2000’.  

Sudheer felt so happy! Bharat took him aside and whispered something. They were talking to each other as Team India was planning to win over its opponent in cricket.  

Bharat took the lead and asked the owner, ‘I have a number in my Mind. Tell me if it is possible to give at that price’.  

Shop owner asked ‘Tell bhai! What’s the price you want for?’ Bharat slowly bent over the desk and cautiously said, ‘We will give you 500’.  

The owner impatiently asked them, ‘Get out of my shop quickly before I throw you douchebags out’.  

Manav got shocked. He didn’t expect Bharat would stoop so low to ask for such a low price and Shopkeeper would react in such a harsh way. Immediately they ran out of Shop!  

On the way, Bharat was talking to Sudheer laying his hand over his shoulder, walking ahead of Manav. ‘Come on yaar! Let’s find another shop. We can find such jerkins so cheaply. This Shopkeeper is trying to fool us’.  

Sudheer nodded his head like a sheep, ‘Yeah exactly! Let’s try in some other shop. We will definitely find a better one for better price’. 

By this time Manav lost his patience. He cursed Bharat that he couldn’t buy the jerkin he liked because of his stupid bargaining. ‘It’s not stupid, it’s bizarre to ask such way’, he shouted angrily at Bharat. ‘Come on Manav! Let’s find a better one’, Bharat replied frivolously.  

‘You guys just go ahead; I am tired of this Shopping’.  

Bharat shrugged his shoulders ‘Yeah it’s ok! Sudheer, let’s finish our hunt’.  

Manav retreated on his path to reach his Hostel. On the way there was a Burger shop in which the Russian girl who had danced before, was sitting silently and having burger. He remembered the time with her. 

 After the dance, the Russian girl and her guitarist friend, who too was a Russian, were enjoying their dinner. After their performance, they threw a party for themselves. Manav felt inspired from their performance. He wanted to appreciate them. He himself was a guitarist so it’s natural for him to be curious about the couple. Moreover, he was infatuated for the foreign girl. When he was about to greet them, to his surprise, Faizaan already took his seat facing them. Manav approached the guys. Faizaan with his mischievous eyes remarked, ‘What a dance Manav!’ Manav nodded and smiled with suspicion if Faizaan came to know that he was the one who made him slip. Half-heartedly he shook hands with Faizaan who was soothing his nose with ice. Manav with a pretended shock asked, ‘What happened Bhai? You look like injured’.  

Faizaan appreciated his concern, ‘It’s okay bhai! Just an accident’.  

‘Accident! Shall I call an ambulance?’ Manav taunted wickedly. 

‘Thanks, yaar! I am fine! Don’t do too much melodrama now’  

Manav smiled with a cunning face and sat down with those guys. He looked at the Russian girl ‘Whoa! What a dance! What a guitar performance! Mind-blowing yaar’. 

The Russian girl replied ‘Thank you’ with a smile glowing on her face. ‘Even we appreciate you guys’ performance. Thanks for encouraging us’. 

‘Manali will take care of guys who had talent. So, what was the dance style?’  

‘It’s just mixed Russian dance, had no name for that’. 

‘OH, I see! Just like our Bollywood dance! We mix different varieties of dance’, he said with the air of connoisseurship.  

Then the Russian guitarist began lighting a cigarette while meticulously handling it from his packet. Manav doubted if it was Charas ‘w**d’ which was so famous in Manali. Manav wanted to try once. He had never tried cigarette before but had a desire of trying w**d. He observed the Russian who lit his lighter and started warming the cigarette which was in his mouth, all through length of the cigarette before lightening it. Manav looked puzzled why he was doing that.  

He asked straightly, ‘Why do you do that?’ The guitarist looked at an angle with raised eyebrow and a cigarette in his mouth, being unable to understand what he meant. Manav clarified ‘I mean you warmed the cigarette, what it for is?’  

The guitarist explained, ‘Yeah it is to dry the Cigarette so that it gives more pleasure later’.  

The female Russian interrupted, ‘Well that is Charas! If you have any disputes with your friends, it calms down’ winked toward Manav. He looked puzzled. 

Faizaan bid bye to everyone ‘Chalo guys! Catch up later!’ still holding ice pack which melt to water by then. Even the guitarist went away being exhausted with his performance. Manav hesitated to ask but mustered his courage and asked suspiciously, ‘What was that about?’ 

The Russian girl put her elbows on the table, moving a little closer to him and whispered ‘Well, I saw you!’ 

‘Huh?’ 

‘Yeah I saw you how you tricked him to fall accidentally’, she winked at him.  

Manav shocked. ‘You saw?’ 

‘Well you think I only care about music and dance? So, what was all that?’  

‘Well it’s a big story. Simply a Vodka dispute’. 

‘It seems like you guys are on uneven terms tonight; dispute by vodka should be settled with Charas’. 

‘I will buy some then. Seems like you are selling some and it’s a salesman’s trick’ Manav shrugged. 

‘Whatever you think’ She stood up with a smile and was about to leave. 

‘You didn’t say your name!’ Manav asked. 

‘Well, you people couldn’t even pronounce our names. Why do you struggle to remember me?’ 

‘I don’t think it’s much of struggle to remember your name. After all, our mind remembers the things which are only interesting, beautiful… umm’. 

‘Okay, okay, enough! I understand you are in a mood to flirt’ the girl looked at him with her eyes wide opened, pretending anger. ‘Seriously! You don’t want to remember me when you know more about me’. 

Manav couldn’t understand what she meant. He looked down only to see her feet just to confirm if she was real or ghost. When he looked down under the table in the pretext of taking the Beer bottle he put on the floor, he couldn’t see the feet. He was frightened. He checked above the table. To his shock he couldn’t see the girl too. She was leaving away waving goodbye to him. ‘By the way, my name is Andria!’ 

Today he saw Andria in Bakery. She ordered Chocolate brownie! She was waiting for her order. Her face was calm, carefree as if she had all the time on Earth to wait. She was listening to music while humming to the songs. Manav took a chair opposite her swiftly and greeted her,  

 She reciprocated with a cute smile. Manav felt something in that smile. He ordered ‘Death by chocolate’. She faced her phone selecting the track list. 

Manav teased, ‘Well it’s better to die of Chocolate than being in suspense about a girl’.  

The girl chuckled, ‘Better die drowning in the chocolate then’ and was still fixed on her phone. 

There was a quotation on the wall. ‘If the world is Being, hypocrisy is its Disposition. Don’t worry about it, just beware of it’. 

Manav was pondering upon the quotation. Andria waved her hand over his face. ‘What are you looking at?’ 

‘I think about my life’. Manav continued staring deeply at the quotation, ‘I wanted to be a writer but I sacked up into this medical Profession’. 

‘I wanted to be a doctor and right now doing concerts.’ Andria said with a cunning look. 

‘Concerts... good right? New songs, new people, lot of encouragement?’ Manav widened his eyes.  

‘We always feel jealous about others’ lives and feel low about ourselves. You didn’t see much world’. She stood right there at her place hanging her hand bag over shoulders, paid the bill for the Brownie she ordered before and waved at Manav.  

‘Let’s go!  Before you end up thinking to become a chef’ She joked.  

‘Where?’ 

 ‘See yourself’ She shrugged. 

‘death by chocolate?!’  

 She pulled him dragging his hands and pushed him forward. 

Andria drove him on her Activa bike. The cool morning wind was blowing against his face. Manav asked aloud,  

She pulled the vehicle over a market place. The place was crowded with vendors on each side. Surpassing the market there was an open space full of sand, looked like a beach.  

After reaching the shore she showed the sea, ‘turbulent outside but deep inside it has its true nature. Peaceful and giving shelter to beautiful creatures.’  

Manav sighed. ‘You brought here to show me the beach?! I watch it every day in National Geography channel. If you asked me, I could have showed you there at home in TV’ He chuckled and looked leisurely towards her. She folded her hands with a serious look. He shut his mouth to let her say.  

‘When I look deep in your eyes, I can see what you are going through.’ she wheeled towards him. Her long hair blew over her face. She carefully brushed away her hair tendrils. ‘I can see deep inside you through your eyes behind the fake smile. Everyone does have problems and running away is not always the solution.’ Manav was quite an introvert. Expressing his problems to another person seems ridiculous and bothering for him. He was taken aback with her statement and left perplexed. 

To his relief, a vendor selling cotton candy approached them. 

Andria gave a break to her monologue to ease the tension and gazed at the cotton candy. ‘This reminds my childhood memories of buying candy on roadside.’ Manav smiled. 

‘It’s worth to rejoice them again’ She looked at the candy vendor, a middle-aged man with a turban over his face and tanned skin with curled moustache wearing shabby clothes. ‘How much is the cotton candy?’  

He perplexed. Manav explained him properly in the local language. 

‘20 rupees. Sir’.  

‘Why are you looking at my face? Give him money’. 

 Manav became wary all of a sudden as if someone poured filtered hot coffee on his face, and gave money to the vendor. Andria was walking step by step on sand which was showing imprints of foot behind her. Manav followed her, tracing her footsteps in silence, appreciating the sea, the winds, the wet sand and the whole ambiance occupied by the chattering of the tourists of varied age, a mother caring for her toddler son. An old father being cared by his son. A young couple making plans for their future. Different phases of an entire life cycle of human being were wandering around him. 

‘Human relations are weird. Why would be someone so happy seeing the same face all the time. I feel bored by meeting the same friend again’ Manav broke the silence.  

‘Sometimes you can feel the value of a person only when you lose them. Until then these relationships seem like an act in circus to impress someone’ She said curtly. 

‘You talk older than your age with maturity, being carefree as you have all the time in this world and no problems?’ 

‘I do bother about problems but I prefer to look at the positive side. I have ecstasy in living this way. It wasn’t this way before. I had a terrible tragedy. I was depressed and lived like dead. Time heals. Need to move on’.  

‘Sounds like a love failure. Happens. Glad that you moved on’. 

‘Perspective. Spend time with friends, develop hobbies which you love to do, live like there is no tomorrow. See how you don’t move on. Don’t expect any angel would knock your door someday with the solution for all your problems’.  

Manav chuckled. ‘Angels? I don’t believe in God, forget about angels.’ Manav pondered upon something deeply. ‘When you told about hobbies, I recalled the way James play his guitar. How did he become so good at it?’ 

‘Everyone does have their own part of struggles. James was a d**g addict some time ago. He was my step brother. My father had a love affair before his marriage. That person was frivolous minded, irresponsible. James had a problem family all his childhood. His mother abused him. When my father came to know about that, he tried to change her behavior and make her a better person but he couldn’t succeed. One fine day he divorced her, admitted in asylum and married my mother. James was irrevocably damaged by then. He had bad friendship and got addicted to the drugs. We tried to get him out of that habit. Old habits die hard. When I realized his passion on guitar, it was easy for our family to encourage him to focus on guitar after his rehab program.’ 

‘Sounds like an inspiring story.’ Manav commented. 

‘You will feel that ecstasy even in your life if you focus on what you are passionate about. Many people get lost in the flow following a herd. Instead, it's better you make your own way and struggle to know who you are. It shows how beautiful your life is. Just use that confidence upon other skills. Focus one at a time’, she told that while eating her cotton candy.  

‘I want to write a Novel’. Manav remembered his passion. 

‘Good. I am going to see you as an author in near future’, Andria said with a glow in her eyes. It was relaxing for Manav to look into her eyes and her smile. It was more beautiful than anything else in this world. 

‘But there is no support from my family. I even felt so ashamed of myself to say that I want to be a writer.’ Manav said apologetically. 

‘What do you have to be ashamed about?’ she asked with asked gentle smile. 

‘I don’t know, I feel so worried about what people judge me. Sometimes I fear that what if I end up in writer’s block and just can’t come out through it… what…’, Manav faltered. 

‘Manav! Just come out of your fear. Nothing great can be achieved without being scared initially. It’s okay to have fear but don’t let it conjure you. Whatever fears you are facing now were faced by someone at some time. It’s not just you.’ Andria shrugged. ‘Just see such exemplary persons. Know about how they succeeded in it. Inspire from their lives. You will always have an answer. Don’t think too much about what the world thinks. Follow your passion, success follows you’. Andria ended her speech. 

A small kid was passing by, playing with a kite. It’s so beautiful to see his smile, being carefree not thinking about anything. Andria showed the kid. ‘What is he so worried about in this world! Everyone had been a kid once. We never felt so crumbled up with our thoughts then. Wake up the child within you, he will wake up new world within you’. 

Manav was experiencing an epiphany in her presence listening to whatever she was saying. Hypnotizing.  

‘When I was a writer, I had to face some difficulties. There was no support from my parents too’, Manav told with an effect of melancholy. 

‘Remember a shark in a fish tank will grow 8 inches but in an ocean 8 feet or more. Shark will never outgrow its environment. Same way human beings too. You are outgrowing yourself. Don’t think everyone will support you and praise you. Be prepared for criticism. At the same time work hard to achieve praise…’.  

Her words felt assuring for Manav. ‘I am good at writing; I enjoy it but I am bad at marketing. It’s so stressful’ he told with a strain in his voice.’ 

‘One day you will become famous for your books’ Said while munching the cotton candy. ‘Where there is a will, there’s a way.  Be positive. You know what’s the quality of a good writer? He doesn’t just write what he sees, but expresses along with what he feels. It’s not just about inspection, but something deeper, inspiration’.  

There was silence for some time. Andria broke the silence. 

Manav and Andria were walking ahead. The beach was pleasant with the beautiful sound of sea with its tides touching the shore like a mother caressing her child. 

‘Shall we go near the sea?’ 

‘Do you want to drench in water?’ Manav trembled even with the mere thought. 

Manav had fear of water. Superstitious. The Swamiji, who his father was a disciple, inculcated this fear that he had threat from water. ‘Andria! I had life threat with water’. 

‘Did you stop bathing then?’ She laughed heaving her bosom heavily. She nudged him to go near the shore. Manav felt a chill passing through his body when a low tide of water touched his feet. 

He started shivering initially but slowly felt comfortable with it. 

‘How do you feel now?’ Andria asked with a smile throwing her hair across her face which was dancing to the wind. 

‘It’s good’. A smile flickered over the lips of Manav. ‘I can feel the sand underneath my feet slipping off’.  

‘Doesn’t it feel amazing.’, she told whimsically. ‘Let’s go nearer.’ 

Manav contemplated for a moment, took a deep breath, gathered all his courage and went deep into the water making small strides along with Andria in perfect synchronicity. Andria grabbed Manav’s right hand with her left hand gently, which passed goosebumps in him. He appreciated that her hands were soft and cool with tender fingers, emerging from the palm as the branches of a holy tree. She entwined her fingers with his. 

‘Sit!’ He was in some kind of trance state being completely hypnotized by her enchanting words. He was ready to jump into the sea at her will. They took a seat on the wet sand relaxedly with water touching his bottom, which made Manav feel some current passing through him. 

‘Look at that! Tide is coming!’ He looked suddenly when Andria grabbed his back. He slowly slipped his hands hesitantly over her back while Andria was looking at the tide with a beautiful smile on her face, with fibrils of hair covering her eyes which she gently brushed aside. ‘Be alert, the tide is coming!’ 

And she grabbed him tightly. He also grabbed her closely feeling bosom heaving against his body with her respiration. The tide hit them and went past. Both of them lifted slightly with the force of water and came back to position again, feeling the sand slipping beneath their bottom.  

‘We have been for a long time’. Andria said relaxedly being content. 

‘We can stay a bit longer’ Manav mused. 

‘I heard someone saying that he had a life threat with water’. Andria teased him playfully.  

They were walking on the beach with wet clothes, enjoying the weather. It’s already evening. 

Manav just lost track of time in her presence. Andria nudged him, which made him to be alert. She showed an old woman selling globe-shaped glass inside which there was a beautiful model of Taj Mahal with sprinkles spread all around in Brownian motion. 

‘It’s so beautiful. I like it’. 

Manav looked into the woman’s eyes and asked her the price. 

She told it’s 50 rupees. Manav had 100 rupees and gave it to her. She was about to give 50 change but something in him stopped to take it. 

‘It’s ok. Just keep the change’. 

The old woman smiled pleasantly exposing her sparsely toothed gums. Manav reciprocated with gentle smile. They were heading out of the beach where he surpassed a man with his son straddled over his neck. Manav was observing them. It reminded of his childhood memories when he was happy with his father. As time passed, distance began growing between them.  

Andria interrupted him with gentle tender voice asking, ‘Do you remember, he was the man from whom you bought cotton candy?’ He looked again keenly over his shoulder. ‘You saw the cotton candy earlier, now you are seeing how your money gave happiness to them’. 

The father made some candy and gave it to his 5-year-old son ‘How was it…?’ the kid nodded his head with appreciation of the delicacy.  

A carefree haughty smile blossomed on Manav’s lips. 

He turned toward Andria and asked. ‘Even the old woman was so happy with the little she was earning.’ 

‘Money is not everything’, Andria said with a pleasant smile. ‘Your money gave value to their lives. If you see the same with your profession, you feel good’. Her words had an effect on him. He looked Andria out of gratitude and hugged her. Gently carressed her hair. 

‘Thank you’.  

She patted his shoulder gently.  

An old man walking beside the beach, with his dog seeing strangely at Manav! It seemed like the dog sensed something, as if dogs can sense catastrophes earlier than humans. It barked loudly. The old man held the dog in control and left the place. Manav couldn’t take off his eyes on the dog. And the real quake was yet to begin. Manav waved bye to Andria, who later went to visit her friend and Manav left for his hostel.