Brute

2. Kalki

Kalki looked at her calendar placed at her desk, she liked the month of August. It wasn't particularly busy, so she could spend time drawing up plans and making moves instead of hovering around her models.

She looked out the giant glass panels that provided a view of the city, the sky was grey. She sighed, she was hoping to get lunch with her sister before she head off to another shoot. But clearly, the weather had other plans.

She diverted her attention back to her laptop, an email popped up. She clicked on it to see what it was about.

Hey Kalki!

We would be pleased to have you address our crew at FIA Girls on track event taking place on the weekend of the Belgian Grand Prix.

We believe that your stories and experiences from your karting career would be a great opportunity for young girls to be inspired and empowered to take up the path of motorsport.

It would be great if you could confirm your availability for the same at the soonest. Looking forward to your response!

Thanks,

Jemma Brown
Public relations officer
FIA Girls on Track

Kalki peered at the screen for a good minute, was this real? Was someone trying to play a prank on her? She quickly looked up the credentials of the person who had emailed her, all of this looked very legitimate.

She chuckled a little, who would possibly be interested in her "karting career" that ended eleven years ago. She didn't delete the email, she let it sit there in her inbox and went about the rest of her day.

But the thought that someone knew about her karting years just played endlessly in her mind, it was time to clock out. She packed her things, grabbed her bag and was ready to get out of here.

Ma: Have you left work?

You: yeah I'm in my car

Ma: why are you looking at your phone while driving? Put it down!

You: you texted me that's why I checked! I haven't started driving yet

Ma: okay, I just wanted to ask if you want to eat dinner here, with us.

You: are the little troublemakers coming?

Ma: Neel is already here, Anika hasn't said anything yet.

You: I'll be there! I also have to tell you about a funny thing that happened today

Ma: Okay! Drive safe and please put down your phone I beg of you

She started her drive, the radio stations were playing good songs, she didn't mind being stuck in traffic for longer. Kalki glanced at the screen displaying the time, she was getting hungry, in a short while she'll be at her parents' house she could eat to her fill she convinced herself.

When she arrived, all of them were already deep in an animated conversation. She washed up and took a seat, hearing what everyone was talking about. Anika was talking about how strange the photographer at today's shoot was, while Neel was talking over her about how insufferable his colleagues were and somehow her dad was nodding and asking both of them questions and their mother was on some other tangent of her own.

She missed when all of them lived under one roof and had noisy evenings like this everyday, but growing up meant needing your own place, following where opportunities took you. She was just glad that all of them lived in the same city, she could still reach them and spend time with them when she wanted.

"Are you still with that loser of a boyfriend of yours?" Neel asked, snapping Kalki out of her little daydream.

"Huh?" She looked at him processing what he just said, "Kabir is not a loser! Stop calling him a loser." She huffed.

"Okay let's not fight, dinner's ready." Their mother intervened.

The jabs continued over dinner, Neel calling Kalki's boyfriend things worse than a loser while she taunted him for having absolutely no one. Their mother once again doused the flames by changing the subject.

"You wanted to tell me something funny, tell me what it was!" She smiled at Kalki.

"Oh yeah! Someone from FIA reached out inviting me to come talk to girls about karting." She laughed.

"That's nice? What's funny?" Anika looked at her in confusion.

"I stopped karting like 11 years ago, what could I possibly tell those girls?" She picked on the food on her plate.

"Bachcha the paneer is already cut don't cut it anymore." Her dad teased her, noticing the way she shredding the tikka.

"When is the event?" Neel asked.

"During the Belgian Grand Prix, I've been invited to watch the race."

"That's amazing! You'll get to watch Max race." Neel beamed.

"In this household we don't say the 'M' word." Anika glared at her brother.

"He's world champion and he was one of my childhood friends why should I not-"

"Shush!" Anika silenced him.

It was already too late, Kalki had already dissociated. She was nineteen again, sitting at the same dining table, working on her project with Anika's help.

"That's amazing! That's so cool!" Neel shrieked talking on the phone.

"Who is it? And like get out of here! We can't work with all the noise you're creating." Anika scowled at him.

Neel ignored them and continued talking loudly to his friend, it was already pretty clear who it was. Anika glanced at her sister, she had tensed her jaw.

"Are you alright?" She asked her.

"Yeah I'm fine. Let's just not switch on the TV for a few days." She sighed.

She realised she had spoken too low, for her dad just sat down on the sofa in the living room and switched on the TV. There his insufferable face is, she thought to herself.

Max was announced to race in Formula One at the age of 17- making him the youngest competitor ever. He was basically given the same attention as Justin Beiber was on the music scene around the same time, it made Kalki even more angry.

She kept thinking about how things would be if she had never stopped, what if she had still continued with karting? Could she have made it through the single seaters and humbled him on track? That regret of never knowing gnawed her a little bit, but she got very good at suppressing it.

"Kalki you must go." Her mother insisted.

"For what Ma? To be humiliated? That I gave up?" She blinked back tears.

"No. To remind them that Max was frequently bested by you." Anika smiled victoriously.

"That." Neel pointed, "I was going to say because the girls need to hear it from you, it gets difficult but it's not impossible."

"No pressure Kalki, but don't you think there's some thoughts from that time of your life you couldn't quite tell us because we couldn't understand, but it would strike a cord with the people there?" Her dad added.

"Ugh." She rested her head in her hands, "you've all given me such rational points. Looks like I'm going to talk to the girls on track."

The whole table cheered, her dad gave her a solid pat on her back, her reaction made everyone laugh even more. It was settled, she would accept the invitation, talk with the girls hoping to inspire them and enjoy a Grand Prix weekend.