Page 181 of 12 Years
‘No, you’re perfect …’ I said. ‘I mean, you’re perfectly on time.’
Damn, what happens to me when I’m with her?
‘Shall we go in?’ she said.
I nodded and led her into the main temple hall. Given that it was the first day of Navratri, the temple was busier than usual. We went to pray at the Vaishno Devi idol, both of us with our hands folded. I smiled as I watched her mumbling some silent prayers. Her mumbling was the same as when she typed out emails. I was still staring at her and smiling when she suddenly opened her eyes and caught me looking at her.
‘What?’ she said.
‘Nothing,’ I said.
We bowed in front of the idol, foreheads touching the floor. We went up to the other idols and prayed there aswell. Finally, we went up to the priest, who put a tilak on both of us. We sat down on the temple floor for a few minutes.
‘Thank you for bringing me here. I feel so peaceful,’ Payal said.
‘I’m glad you came.’
‘Anytime you want to come to the temple while I’m here, I’ll be happy to join you,’ she said.
We stood up to leave.
‘Listen, Payal,’ I said as we came outside the temple. ‘I didn’t realize this before, but I had dinner plans tonight. Someone’s birthday.’
‘Oh, okay,’ Payal said.
‘Tania’s birthday, actually. I can’t get out of that. I won’t be able to join you for dinner.’
‘Oh, that’s absolutely fine. I didn’t assume we were going to eat dinner together.’
‘Yeah, but it’s late and …’
‘Relax. I eat alone daily. I’ll go back to the hotel and just order room service.’
I checked the time. It was 8.15 p.m. ‘I do have an idea though,’ I said.
‘What?’
‘I have about half an hour before Tania picks me up. You see the building next door? That’s a gurdwara.’
‘Okay … and?’
‘They have a langar. In case you’re interested, you could eat there. I’m fasting, but I can give you company.’
‘Langar?’ Payal sounded excited. ‘I love gurdwara food. Come, let’s go.’
We went inside the gurdwara. I placed a headscarf on my head and Payal covered her head with her dupatta. We bowed and paid our respects to the holy book, and sat down for a few minutes, listening to the kirtan together.
‘This is amazing,’ she said.
We left the darbar and came to the langar area. We sat on the floor and volunteers served Payal with some dal, aloo sabzi, phulkas and raita.
‘Best idea ever,’ Payal said as she ate the sabzi with the phulka.
When we came out, I spotted the silver Porsche convertible with red interiors instantly. My phone rang. It was Tania.
‘I can see you. Wait, walking towards you,’ I said to Tania and cut the call.
I pointed towards the Porsche. ‘I need to go there,’ I said.
