As for Lata, she said nothing to her mother, simply remaining tight-lipped when she was told to pack her things for the journey. ‘We are going to Calcutta tomorrow evening by the 6.22 train – and that is that. Don’t you dare say anything,’ said Mrs Rupa Mehra.
Lata did not say anything. She refused to show any emotion to her mother. She packed carefully. She even ate something for dinner. The image of Kabir kept her company.
After dinner she sat on the roof, thinking. When she came to bed, she did not say goodnight to Mrs Rupa Mehra, who was lying sleeplessly in the next bed. Mrs Rupa Mehra was heart-broken, but Lata was not feeling very charitable. She went to sleep quite soon, and dreamed, among other things, of a washerman’s donkey with the face of Dr Makhijani, chewing up Mrs Rupa Mehra’s black handbag and all her little silver stars.
3.20
SHE awoke, rested. It was still dark. She had agreed to meet Kabir at six. She went to the bathroom, locked it from the inside, then slipped out from the back into the garden. She did not dare to take a sweater with her, as this would have made her mother suspicious. Anyway, it was not too cold.
But she was trembling. She walked down towards the mud cliffs, then down the path. Kabir was waiting for her, sitting on their root in the banyan grove. He got up when he heard her coming. His hair was ruffled, and he looked sleepy. He even yawned while she walked up towards him. In the dawn light his face looked even more handsome than when he had thrown his head back and laughed near the cricket field.
She seemed to him to be very tense and excited, but not unhappy. They kissed. Then Kabir said: ‘Good morning.’
‘Good morning.’
‘Did you sleep well?’
‘Very well, thank you,’ said Lata. ‘I dreamed of a donkey.’
‘Oh, not of me?’
‘No.’
‘I can’t remember what I dreamed of,’ said Kabir, ‘but I didn’t have a restful night.’
‘I love sleeping,’ said Lata. ‘I can sleep for nine or ten hours a day.’
‘Ah… aren’t you cold? Why don’t you wear this?’ Kabir made to take off his sweater.
‘I’ve been longing to see you again,’ said Lata.
‘Lata?’ said Kabir. ‘What’s happened to upset you?’ Her eyes were unusually bright.
‘Nothing,’ said Lata, fighting back her tears. ‘I don’t know when I’ll see you again.’
‘What’s happened?’
‘I’m going to Calcutta tonight. My mother’s found out about us. When she heard your name she threw a fit – I told you what my family was like.’
Kabir sat down on the root and said, ‘Oh no.’
Lata sat down too. ‘Do you still love me?’ she said after a while.
‘Still?’ Kabir laughed bitterly. ‘What’s the matter with you?’
‘You remember what you said the last time: that we loved each other and that that was all that mattered?’
‘Yes,’ said Kabir. ‘It is.’
‘Let’s go away –’
‘Away,’ said Kabir sadly. ‘Where?’
‘Anywhere – to the hills – anywhere, really.’
‘And leave everything?’
‘Everything. I don’t care. I’ve even packed some things.’
This hint of practicality made him smile instead of alarming him. He said, ‘Lata, we don’t have a chance if we go away. Let’s wait and see how things work out. We’ll make them work out.’
‘I thought you lived from our one meeting to the next.’
Kabir put an arm around her. ‘I do. But we can’t decide everything. I don’t want to disillusion you, but –’
‘You are, you are disillusioning me. How long will we have to wait?’
‘Two years, I think. First I have to finish my degree. After that I’m going to apply to get into Cambridge – or maybe take the exam for the Indian Foreign Service –’
‘Ah –’ It was a low cry of almost physical pain.
He stopped, realizing how selfish he must have sounded.
‘I’ll be married off in two years,’ said Lata, covering her face in her hands. ‘You’re not a girl. You don’t understand. My mother might not even let me come back to Brahmpur –’
Two lines from one of their meetings came to her mind:
Desert not friendship. Renegade with me
From raptured realm of Mr Nowrojee.
She got up. She made no attempt to hide her tears. ‘I’m going,’ she said.
‘Please don’t, Lata. Please listen,’ said Kabir. ‘When will we be able to speak to each other again? If we don’t talk now –’