Les Flammes Jumelles

3. PEHLI SUBAH

"Aane ketlanu chhe? (How much is this?)" Shiva twisted the carrot in his hand, scanning it from top to bottom.

"Chosath rupiya. (Sixty-four rupees.)" The vendor said after glancing in his direction once. "Ek kilo maate chosath rupiya. (Sixty-four rupees for one kilogram.)"

Shiva looked at the vegetable-seller, nodding his head in understanding once.

"And this?" He said, picking up a bundle of spinach kept near the previous item.

"Ognees. (Nineteen)."

Shiva again nodded his head with understanding, his mouth being turned into a perfect o shape. This whole thing was new to him. With nostalgia lifting his feet, he had come here without a thought. However, now that he was here, he realised he had never done this before. He just didn't know how to shop for items. Vegetables, to be specific. He had no idea either of the money or the quantity one was supposed to take from these local markets. This was all his Dhara Bhabhi had always done back home. And he, had only ever shopped from stores and shopping malls.

"A hundred grams of cilantro too, please." He heard the lady next to him - the one in the lilac Anarkali - place her order in a gentle voice.

The vendor began packing her order and adding the newly informed item to it. Soon, it would just be the seller and Shiva here. And Shiva, knew nothing of the needed conversation between them. He decided he wanted to leave before the lady. From the looks of the vendor - a middle aged man with slight grey hair at the temples - he didn't seem to be a man with patience. And Shiva didn't want to bother him anymore with his cluelessness.

Clearing his throat once, Shiva decided to speak again.

"A hundred grams of potatoes, please." Said he modestly.

And as soon as he did, the vendor paused his hands, only to look at him with all his attention, his eyes then scanning him from top to bottom.

Had he said something wrong? He noticed the lady next to him pause in her work for a moment, then continue with checking the items of the shopping bag in her hand.

"Su, bhai? Don't joke around at the hour of work." The vendor said to him, raising a palm in the air.

Joke around? What was wrong with buying vegetables? Did he say something in an alien language? Why was the vendor giving him such a look?

"Na, na, Kaka." Shiva immediately said apologetically. "I really want to buy potatoes. Also, umm, a hundred grams of tomatoes, chillies, ginger, radish, eggplants, bitter gourd and...a hundred grams of carrots. Yes." He quickly let his gaze brush upon the vegetables lying on the cart before him. These were the things he knew were healthy for the sick.

The vendor only gave him a puzzled look, before scratching the back of his head. What was this young man saying? Had he been out in the markets for a first time in his life?

"Young man, what do you need these vegetables for?" The man asked him. And as if the heavens were waiting for a signal, he sneezed there again.

"Um, for a vegetable soup." He said, sheepishly. "Actually I just arrived here last night, and I'm down with a cold due to the night rain. I'm here alone, so... I'm sorry I've never shopped for vegetables before. So-"

"Do you-"

"Kaka." He heard the feminine voice speak for the second time since his arrival. And he could sense a tone of suppressed laughter in her voice.

"Please pack one kilogram of carrots, peas...spinach, cabbage, tomatoes, and some...ginger and coriander with it." The lady requested in a calm voice. Shiva looked at her side then back to the vegetables and again to her side all the while she spoke, with slight awe at the knowledge she had and he didn't.