French Fries

1st March 2020

We both sat in silence. I had nothing to say to her, she had nothing to say to me. Weirdly, it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence at all. We were both perfectly comfortable not saying anything to each other, just staring out at the ocean.

“You think there’s going to be a lockdown?”, she broke the silence

“I guess. Things seem to be getting out of hand. Better to do something now than to regret it later”.

I’d come to realise much later that there were greater truths in that sentence I’d said.

1st February 2020

Anjali was a sight for sore eyes. Amidst the chaos of this country, our monthly meetings were all I looked forward to these days

“Stupid country”, she grumbled angrily as we went in for our customary hug. She hugged me tighter than usual.

“Why won’t they revoke this stupid bill? Can’t they see the damage it will do?CAA does no good for ANYONE”

I looked at the sun barely peeking out from behind the horizon.

“There is hope, Anj-o.”

“Hope? There is no hope in this stupid world, forget this stupid country. Someone in China ate a bat and now people are dying of some strange strain of corona virus. World Health Organisation says it might become an epidemic. What hope is there? Stupid. Stupid. STUPID.”

I could see the child in her throwing a tantrum.

“Hope is all we have, babe”, I mumbled. I wasn’t just talking about humanity.

1st January 2020

“Happy New Year!”

I hugged her tightly. We sat down on our bench and looked at the ocean. The beach was all messed up from New Year’s Eve. There was trash everywhere; empty bottles and remains of a fiesta from the night before. Even the ocean air smelled vaguely like a bad hangover. Speaking of hangovers, I was pretty hungover myself — I’d come straight to see Anjali from a party.

“You look nice”, she laughed. How she managed to look this pristine at 6 am, I’d never understand. I was always a hot mess — hair out of place, shabby clothes, dark circles — but none of that mattered to her, or to me. Meeting Anjali wasn’t about impressing each other.

“I wish this year is better than 2019”, Anjali sighed, then continued, “Last year was such a shit show. I mean we began 2020 with anti-CAA protests. What a terrible situation for our country to be in.”

“I don’t imagine it could be much worse”, I tried to reassure her.

1st November 2019

“ Wow, would you look at that? Time flies huh?”

“Mmmmmm. 2019 is almost done. Just 2 more months to go”, Anjali added

“No silly, I mean when we’re hanging out”, my voice faded away, a little embarrassed. “It’s 8 am. I have to get to work”

“Alright”, she smiled her big beautiful smile, “See you in a month then?”

“I wouldn’t miss it.”

1st April 2018

I looked at my wrist watch. It was 5.45AM.

Anjali will be here in 15 minutes. Do I do it? Do I tell her? No. No. NO. It’s her birthday. I mean I should tell her, but not on her birthday. I’m sure I want this. I’m sure I want her, right? Right. No. I’m over thinking this. I’ve just been lonely and the idea of Anjali turning 30 and realising she may be lonely too and marrying someone else scares me. I’m confusing myself. I don’t love Anjali, She’s just some girl I meet every month and spend a couple of hours with talking about everything under the sun. Right. Then when I’m not with her I’m always thinking about her, texting her, thinking about the things she likes, wanting to be with her, wondering if she’s thinking about me, wanting to meet her but too scared to ask and break a tradition. Besides she used to date that guy right, what’s his name? Vishal? What if she still has feelings for him. No. NO. This is a terrible idea!

As I argued with myself, Anjali slowly appeared in the distance, looking immaculate, in a white Lucknowi kurta and blue jeans, the wind wreaking havoc on her hair. How she managed to look like the personification of perfection at 6 AM, I’d never know, but my heart began to race.

No. NO. I like her as a friend and I’m confusing my feelings. I best bury these feelings and never think about them ever again. Yes. That is the right thing to do.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY AN-JELLO!!”, I bellowed, to over-compensate for the loudness of my beating heart.

She ran the rest of the way, and into my arms for a tight hug. My heart skipped several beats.

1st March 2010

There was something about catching the sunrise at the beach at 6 AM. I didn’t like going to the shore, or getting my feet wet. Just sitting on the bench in the promenade and watching the sun inch its way up. Today, for some reason all the benches were taken — except one.

“Excuse me”, I interrupted the girl on the bench looking at the horizon with great expectation and eating french fries at 6 AM, “Is anyone sitting here?”

“No, please, make yourself comfortable!”, she chirped, gesturing to the empty side of the bench with a lone fry in her hand. I sat down, not prepared to share this rather personal moment with a complete stranger who might be slightly cuckoo. We sat in complete silence, looking at the sun rise from behind the water and make its way up into the sky.

The silence was only interrupted every now and then by the soft crashing of the waves at a distance.

“Do you come here often?”, she suddenly asked, startling me

“I try to. I don’t live very close-by, so I try to come by at least once a month. I really love catching the sunrise at the beach”, I confessed

“Me too!”, she exclaimed, setting her now empty box of fries on the bench and turning towards me. She was really chirpy and bright; a little too bright for 6 AM, just like the sun that day, but there was something about her that I liked instantly. I just couldn’t resist wanting to get to know her. The french fries girl.

“ We should do this again, you know, sit in the silence and watch the sunrise. It was fun!”, she beamed.

“I agree”. I couldn’t believe myself, I’d agreed to meet a crazy stranger to watch the sunrise, again.

“Okay, so since you said you try to come once a month, why don’t we do this exactly one month from now, on the 1st of April ?It’s my birthday. Not a prank, I promise!”

“Sure, why not”, I agreed hesitantly

“AWESOME!”, she exclaimed, “I’m Anjali, by the way! Hi!”

“Hi. I’m Sunaina. Pleased to meet you”

1st April 2020

Today is the first time in ten years I haven’t met Anjali at the beach.

I should have told her.

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This is part of a lockdown writing series. Today’s prompt was “There is one particular bench on the promenade near the sea. Two people have been meeting on that bench on the 1st of every month for the past 10 years. What’s their story?