Ride on Time

Chapter 39

Shri found some free time after work and decided to give Misao a long-distance call. The phone rang and eventually connected to the other end in Japan.
"Hello?" Shri said as soon as the dial tone stopped. "Misao?"
"Shri!" Misao's voice came after a pause. "How are you?"
"I'm good, how about you?"
"I just finished your book, and I'm reading Mystical Mist now," Misao said. "The Collision of Two Worlds was amazing. Is Masako and Krishna supposed to be us?"
"Yes, they are. I just named the character after my grandfather, gotta give him some credit for giving me that Om, right?"
"My grandmother's name is actually Masako too," Misao remarked on the other end. "How did you know her name?"
"I didn't know, I just named her randomly," Shri admitted in surprise. "I didn't know what to name her at first but I found that name in a romanised Japanese newspaper that I got for this sole purpose."
"Oh... is that how you get ideas to name your characters?"
"Yeah, actually," Shri chuckled. "Because where else am I supposed to find names? The newspaper's my lot."
"Interesting..." Misao remarked. "So that's how you get ideas. Ever tried the Internet?"
"It's stupidly expensive and it isn't much help. It costs like two dollars for just an hour."
"Sounds cheap to me," Misao shrugged. "I'd gladly pay two yen for an hour's worth of Internet."
"Misao, our currencies are different. Two dollars is like sixty yen, Misao."
"Okay, that's a little too much..." Misao admitted. "It's that expensive?"
"Yes, it is," Shri deadpanned. "But we have Internet in the office so... yeah. Also, how's Mystical Mist going? I wrote that after visiting Cameron Highlands last year. Picture this, I wake up and look out the window, and all I see is white."
"What?"
"It's mist! I opened the window and got the shock of my life when it actually entered my room. It quickly disappeared, though. Imagine that, mist! So full of mist that nothing else could be seen!"
"That does sound mystical. Anyway, you haven't seen mist before?"
"In PJ? Hardly..."
"What's PJ?"
"It's short for Petaling Jaya, where I live."
"Oh... where is this PJ? Is it in Kuala Lumpur?"
"No, it's PJ. It's very near KL but it isn't. It's in the Selangor state. KL is on its own, a Federal Territory."
"I see but... PJ, KL. You shorten everything, it's hard to understand..."
"That's what the locals call it here. Anywhere you go in Malaysia, they know what KL and PJ is. And then there's PD."
And then he went on talking about the places.
"Well, here we don't have states, we say prefecture," Misao said at last. "It used to be province, but they changed it to prefecture afterwards."
"I see..." Shri nodded. "Anyway, tell me how the book is after you've finished."
"I will," Misao's smile was clear. "Goodnight, Shri. It's nearly midnight here."
"It's nearly eleven here."
"You're an hour early," Misao teased. "Anyway, bye! I'll call again soon."
Shri bade his farewell and hung up before turning to the typewriter in front of him, his smile instantly turning into a frown. He was trying to start on a new story, at least a short one, but no ideas seemed to materialise no matter how hard he tried.
Eventually, he decided to just sleep on it and just ponder about it later.

***

Suganthi came in with lunch once again, this time with Shruti tagging along because of semester break.
"What you cook today?" Siddharth asked as soon as he sat down.
"Fish sambal," Suganthi answered, opening the container she brought. "You like, right?"
"I don't know about him, but I do," Shri grinned and watched as his mother pushed the container of spicy fish gravy towards him, instantly helping himself to a piece of fishtail. "Mmm... smells very nice."
"Hallo!" Wang appeared and sat next to Shri, his own container of fried rice in his hand. "What y'all eating?"
"Fish sambal," Shridhar answered. "You want some?"
"Just the sambal, and a small piece," Wang grinned, combing the wisps of fallen strands back into the rest of his hair. "Thanks, Auntie."
"Mikail where lah?" Siddharth asked.
"He puasa lor today," Wang answered, helping himself to some fish. "He sitting in his office only."
"Oh yeah, it's Ramadan now..." Siddharth nodded. "Going to the bazaar ah?"
"Don't want lah, very crowded," Wang remarked as he ate. "Eh, you going meh?"
Siddharth shook his head. "No."
'You where will go? You always busy looking for ponnu only, what.' Shri smirked to himself, stuffing his face with rice and fish.
"This time Raya comes very early ah..." Shridhar said between mouthfuls. "January itself. Before all, like June, July. Now very early."
"Because it comes forward by like ten days every year," Shri said. "So through the years, it moved all the way to January now."
"Yeah," Shridhar nodded. "The Malay calendar is a bit shorter than ours, right?"
"Yeah, what, they only have ten months," Siddharth said as if he knew. "That's why it's very short."
Shri swallowed his mouthful of food and cleared his throat. "Actually, they have twelve, just like us. Just that, there aren't as many days. That's all."
Siddharth fell silent and continued eating.

Shri sat, pondering over his paperwork, when there was a knock on his door.
"Yes?" He called. The door opened, and Sufyan stepped in, fully clad in his crisp blue police uniform complete with the cap, and a grin lifting his moustache. "Eh, Sufi! What brings you here?"
"Had to investigate something around here and decided to drop by to see you," Sufyan shrugged. "I actually came in just now, but met your assistant instead."
"Mikail?" Shri asked.
Sufyan nodded. "Yeah, the guy we saw in Jaya the other day. I accidentally entered his room. I found yours too but you weren't here."
"Oh, I was actually in the pantry with my dad," Shri said. "You could've waited, we ate faster because of puasa."
"You puasa?" Sufyan asked in surprise.
Shri snorted. "What, nah... if I wanted to fast, I'd have to do it with full sincerity. I don't think I can."
"Try lah," Sufyan urged. "It isn't all that hard. All you need to do is..." he sighed. "Yeah lah, you need the mind for it."
"Yeah, I know..." Shri sighed. "Also, how's puasa? Feeling okay, right?"
"Yeah, never been better," Sufyan chuckled. "Feel a little dry, but I'm okay."
"Drink a lot of water after Maghreb," Shri advised. "And try to drink lots during sahur too."
"I will..." Sufyan laughed and sat down in front of Shri. "Also, I just finished your first book. It was really good."
Shri smiled proudly. "Started on the second one yet?"
"Yep, and it's going good too," Sufyan smirked.
"Do you ever take your hat off?" Shri snorted. "Even during Ramadan, you're still wearing it?"
"What, it's part of the uniform," Sufyan shrugged, a smirk forming on his face. "Besides, it looks good on me."
Shri smirked and nodded. But then, a faraway look came to his eyes as he suddenly walked down memory lane. "Remember how in secondary school you guys have to go to the surau for Yassin during Ramadan?"
"Yeah?"
"It's the loneliest time for me since I'll have to eat alone. The canteen would be so empty and the library would be deserted. And I can't get to meet you guys until it's time to go home, even that only for a few minutes, if ever."
"Aww..." Sufyan smiled. "Yeah, it's true because we miss hanging out with you too."
Shri snorted. "I'd break into the surau but the ustaz is always there."
"You tried to break in?!" Sufyan said in amusement.
"What, nah... just saying that I would if I could," Shri shrugged. "After all, you know how boring it is. So I usually just end up reading."
"I thought you started writing at the time?" Sufyan asked.
"Yeah but I can't eat and write with the same hand now, can I?"
"That makes sense," Sufyan laughed.
There was a knock on the door and Shri called to enter again. It was Mikail. Sufyan's smile instantly faltered.
"Shri, nah," Mikail passed some papers to him.
"Thanks," Shri nodded and turned back to Sufyan before turning back to his assistant. "Mikail, this is Sufyan. I think you met in Jaya the other day."
Mikail nodded, looking intently at Sufyan. "Yeah, I remember him. I saw him in the surau too."
Sufyan scowled at him, his face contorted with disgust. He finally turned back to Shri and attempted a smile. "Sorry, Shri. I've got to go. I'll come back another time."
He got up and left, not sparing another glance, especially not at Mikail.
"What is up with him?" Mikail burst as soon as he left the office. "You see, I saw him in the surau the other day in Jaya and he was staring me down back then too. And now this."
Shri frowned. "He said he saw you here, leaving paperwork or something?"
"Yeah, I did, and he abruptly left as soon as he saw me," Mikail stated. "I think he doesn't like me."
"Why?" Shri asked, frowning.
"Maybe because I'm a Malay too...?"
Shri shook his head. "That's bogus. I was the only Indian in our friend group. The three of us were very close, me, Sufyan, and my other friend—Jamal. He isn't like that."
Mikail frowned. "I don't know, but he keeps giving me that stink-eye."
"So you're done with the paperwork?" Shri changed the subject, picking up the sheaf of papers that the other man delivered. "Looks kinda good. You wanna go home early? It's Friday, and you have to go to the mosque, right?"
"Yeah, I do," Mikail nodded. "Thanks for reminding."
Shri nodded and watched him leave, a slight frown on his face.

Notice how Shri says dollars instead of ringgit. This is because the Malaysian currency didn't become ringgit till '93. Before that it was still dollars. Till this day, a lot of old-timers say dollars and not ringgit, me and my family included. So in Shri's time, it's only been five years since they renamed the currency and that's why he still refers to it as dollars instead of ringgit. Also, the reason why Sufyan thought that Shri was fasting too is because some non-Muslims do that to support their friends. I've personally never did because... like what Shri said. Heh.
-sahur means breakfast before fasting.