tales of Suchita

Energee bhaiya had one of those kirana shops a little to the right of the school compound. Though students weren’t allowed to leave the premises during school hours, it was their adda after school. It helped that Energee bhaiya was generous with his credit, told excellently tall tales and could make a mean magic masala Maggie: ingredients a student looks for in the 10-15 minutes of relaxation she or he gets before they have to either head off for class or tuition.

It had been five days since Radha babu had made an appearance in his shop. And though he knew his babu had been suspended (he also had big ears which he used fully to catch snatches of news and gossip), he had foolishly hoped he’d miss him or his Maggie and come visiting.

He loved Radha babu more than any other student-customer he had and not just because he always paid his dues. No. Only Radha babu had the ability to listen to his tales with that specific kind of rapt attention, drinking in his words like they were water and he was the thirstiest soul on the planet. And what does a storyteller truly need apart from a rapt audience? Nothing, he thought. It was an added advantage that babu too could spin tales as convoluted as his.

Usually Energee bhaiya did not involve himself in school politics; after all any student with money in his pocket was welcome in his shop. But when he saw the girl behind his precious babu’s suspension enter, he had to reel himself back from making an angry retort and throwing her out.

“Ek masala Maggie dena bhaiya,” she said politely enough but it did little to retract the hackles that had arisen.

He nodded to Chotu who promptly got up from his stool, carefully placing his notebook to the side and switched on the gas. Energee bhaiya made his special Maggie from his hands only for Radha babu.

Seeing her red face though, he started to feel concerned…and more than a little intrigued. So he went closer and tried to ask as nonchalantly as possible, “Sab theek hai?”

Priyanka, alarmed at the sudden scrutiny showed him the finger and removed her phone, a clear sign that she should be left alone.

Confused and affronted with her rudeness, he was about to give her a lecture when he heard the beloved chuckle. He turned around to confirm it was indeed Radha babu standing there, in his green and white checked uniform and grinned. He clapped his hands like an eager beaver, thankful that his wish had been granted. He enveloped babu in a bear hug. “I missed you!”

“Awe bhaiya, you’re so sweet.”

“What are you doing here? I thought you didn’t return until Monday?”

“Aapko sab pata rehta hai,” he said with a laugh. “Ameen miss wanted to meet dad. So I had to come with him. I come back to school on Monday.”

“Maggie khaoge?”

“Kya baat kardi bhaiya! Isiliye toh mein aya yaha.”

“Bas do minute,” he said and jumped to where Chotu was just about pouring Prinyanka’s Maggie into a bowl. He knocked the poor boy aside in his eagerness to start cooking his special Maggie.

“Hi,” said Radha to no one in particular. The one week away had done him good. He had had time to work out his anger and had realized he wasn’t really angry with Priyanka. He was angry with the thief. And so he didn’t mind it at all to talk to her.

Now him she couldn’t flip off but she also didn’t know what to say to him so she turned away and focussed on her Maggie instead.

“Sorry about calling you a thief.” Radha could see Energee bhaiya’s concentration was on him. But his hands were so attuned to what had to be done, they didn’t falter or make a mistake once.

“I told you I’m not a thief.”

“No what you had said was I didn’t have evidence.”

Priyanka shrugged. Then attacking her bowl, she said, “I’m sorry for getting you into trouble. I now know it wasn’t you.”

It was Radha’s turn to shrug. “Water under the bridge.” A term he had learnt only yesterday from his mother, he couldn’t wait to get back to school and throw it on Gayatri miss!

“Do you know who’s behind all this?” When he shook his head no, she nodded her head as if to say she understood.

“I want to help you,” she said abruptly. “But I refuse to be called either Watson or Timothy. Does Sagar even know Timothy is the name of a dog?”

Radha laughed but then stopped. Yes Timothy was the name of a dog but he hadn’t named Sagar that because he thought less of him. Sagar was just such a warm and loyal friend, Radha had only been able to think of Timothy as the character he wanted to name him after. Obviously he hadn’t told Sagar the truth because he hadn’t wanted to offend his friend.

“Why?”

“I don’t like what this person did to you and to me. I want revenge.”

“He doesn’t take revenge,” said Energee bhaiya, chiming in. And then he had to look away, embarrassed to be caught so.

“Bhaiya meri Maggie toh de do.”

Still red in the face, he placed the bowl of the now cooling Maggie in front of Radha and opened an Energee milk bottle – the green one because that’s the one Radha loved.

“I have two rules,” he said sombrely. He looked at her and found her grinning. He waited for her to realize he was being absolutely serious. When she stopped grinning, he continued, “I do not take revenge. And you do not get to make fun of my methods or Mayur or Sagar.”

“That’s three rules,” she said, once again extending her hand.

He took her hand and shook once.

It was time to put a stop to all this. They had suffered enough. It was time now to attack.

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This is the thirteenth post in the series. To know more about Radha, click here.