Page 164 of 12 Years
‘I can. There’s an interesting company called CloudX. I want to see if we can invest there,’ I said.
‘You’ll be overstretched. You’re already working past nine every night.’
‘I have the capacity, Nimit. It’s okay.’
My phone buzzed. A text message from Mom popped up on my screen: ‘Sunday. R City Mall, Ghatkopar. Urban Tadka, 1 p.m. Lunch with Parimal.’
I turned my phone face down.
‘Sorry about that, Nimit. As I was saying, I can look at CloudX too.’
‘If you insist,’ Nimit said. ‘But what about your work–life balance?’
‘Right now, Iam actively looking for work–life imbalance,’ I said. Because my life is hell, I wanted to addbut didn’t.
By the time I got back to my desk, my mother had sent another message: ‘Be on time. And wear the pink salwar kameez I got you on your last birthday.’
Parimal wore a shirt with blue and black paisleys printed all over it, the kind of shirt that only certain types of Gujaratis and Jains find cool. It was also three sizes too large for his skinny frame. He had a box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates with him.
‘For you,’ he said, handing me the box.
‘Thank you.’
‘You look very beautiful,’ he said.
‘Thank you,’ I said again.
Urban Tadka, a Punjabi-dhaba-themed restaurant, was packed with families with loud kids. We managed to get a table for two and sat facing each other.
‘Lot of non-veg items here,’ Parimal said, opening the menu.
‘Yes …’
‘Do you want to drink something?’
‘Like what?’ I said. I wondered how he would react if I ordered an extra-large tequila?
‘Like mocktails?’ he said. ‘They have jamun lemonade. Virgin mojito as well.’
‘Too much sugar,’ I said. ‘You can order one though.’
‘Actually, it’s a rip-off. Two hundred rupees for jamun lemonade. Not worth it.’
‘Right.’
‘What about food?’ Parimal said.
‘You should order whatever you want. I’ll share with you.’
‘They have parathas with chole. I wonder if they can make it Jain-style.’
‘I’m okay with onion and garlic occasionally. Especially when I go out to eat and if they have nothing else on the menu. Too hard otherwise.’
‘I keep it Jain as much as possible. They have khichdi too. That should be okay.’
‘Fine,’ I said.
A waiter came to take our order. Parimal spoke to him. ‘Paneer parathas but without onion and garlic. Can you make the chole without onion and garlic too?’
