Page 80 of Red Flags and Rishtas
‘Too friendly, if you ask me.’ The woman, who must’ve been in her early thirties, seemed embarrassed by her pet’s lack of manners.
As if on cue, Charlie jumped up and planted a giant, wet lick right on my mouth.
‘Charlie! Off!’ she commanded, tugging forcefully on his leash and stepping between us.
She began apologising profusely, but I cut her off. ‘I don’t mind. Dogs don’t need consent like the rest of us.’
The woman let out a hearty laugh and I joined in.
‘I’m Ira,’ she said, sticking out her free hand.
She had short hair that showed off her delicate, attached earlobes. Two intricate jhumkas hung from them. ‘Ananya,’ I said, shaking her hand. ‘Did you move here recently?’
‘Yes, a month ago,’ she said.
Charlie had lost interest in me and was now trying to chase a grasshopper. Ira was heading in the direction of my house, so I walked with her. I found out she lived alone with her dog in the building next to mine. She was new to Delhi. Her recent divorce, coupled with a new job offer, had led her here from Jaipur.
‘It’s like starting over, you know?’ she said when I asked her how she was liking it so far.
I told her I was in the process of doing something similar myself, having quit my job.
‘So what’s the plan now?’ she asked, seeming genuinely interested.
It felt odd to be talking about my life with a stranger. Maybe it was the comforting presence of her dog or her easy smile, but something about Ira made me feel like I could tell her things.
‘Well, I’ve got a list. To get my life on track,’ I said, knowing how silly that must’ve sounded.
‘Ooh, I love lists,’ she said, her voice cheery. ‘Tick anything off it, yet?’
I thought back to how V and I had sat through that night, making our separate to-do lists to make sense of our futures. The first thing on hers was ‘Break up with Saurav’, while mine started with ‘Find something you love’. I didn’t know if I wasgoing to love it, but I’d decided I wanted to pursue interior design.
‘I got an entry-level job with a design firm … this morning actually,’ I told her.
‘That’s amazing,’ she said, flashing me a brilliant smile. ‘Congratulations.’
I sighed.
‘I gave up my promotion and an established career in events to be someone’s assistant in a field I have very little professional knowledge about.’ I wasn’t bitter, but a part of me did feel like I was being hellishly stupid.
‘Hey, it’s never too late to try something new … we’re all a work in progress, right?’
Work in progress, I thought to myself.I like that.
We stood in front of my porch for a few more minutes, chatting. After a bit, Charlie began to get restless and she walked away, but not without promising that she’d stop by later for a cup of coffee.
‘What are you so bubbly about?’ my mother asked when I entered the house.
I pecked her on the cheek and mumbled, ‘Nothing’, before taking off for my room.
The list was waiting for me at my study table. I ticked number eight off the sheet of paper.
Make a new friend.
I held the sheet in front of my face, allowing the letters to dance in front of my eyes. To anyone watching from afar, it might’ve seemed like I’d lost my plot. I was celebrating the most absurd things. Like having a job that would pay me one-fifth of what I’d been making at TMJ. But these wins, tiny as they might have been, were baby steps in the right direction.
I allowed myself to gloat over some of my other victories from the list.
? Find a job
