Ride on Time

Chapter 61

Tears streamed out of her eyes as soon as the two left. Shruti didn't know why, but she couldn't keep herself from breaking down all of a sudden.
Whoever this Mitsuo was, she felt him familiar. Very familiar.
The way he fingered his necklace whenever things were awkward, the way his dimples showed whenever he smiled and...
The fact that he was a writer.
Something was very familiar about him.
Shruti's gaze fell on the old picture of her younger self with her close brother. It was taken in Japan, with both smiling in their yukatas, completely unaware of the tragedy that would happen to their lives mere months later.
Shruti decided to go to the nearest bookstore and get herself a copy of Mitsuo's book.
The last book she read was her brother's, and this would be her first in nearly twenty-five years.

"This kerabu isn't actually that bad..." Shree remarked as she ate the blue-coloured rice. "It's actually quite good."
Mitsuo nodded in agreement. "It's very unique."
Shree chuckled and tore off a piece of chicken with her spoon. "The chicken is quite big too. Worth the price."
"If a local says this, then it's true," Mitsuo shrugged. "Also, what's with that restaurant I ate at? You and Ms. Shruti seem to have something against it."
Shree smirked. "You didn't notice how it tasted bad?"
Mitsuo shrugged. "I don't know. It tasted more flavourful and spicier than the Indian food I had in Japan."
"Oh, you poor thing..." Shree chuckled. "You don't know squat about Indian food..."
"Fine, then enlighten me!" Mitsuo grinned. "If you want to, that is..."
Shree frowned thoughtfully. "You seem to want to learn about Indian culture. Why don't you come to the Sakthi Easwari Temple this Sunday to watch the dance performance?"
"I can?" Mitsuo asked, surprised.
"Of course you can," Shree nodded, a slight smile on her face. "Anyone can go to a temple. Just wear appropriate clothes, a t-shirt and slacks would do, but still a lot of people find a way to be scanty."
"T-shirt and slacks," Mitsuo nodded. "Got it."
"Also, if you want, you can go to the temple in the morning too," Shree beamed. "They make Pongal Rice at the wake of dawn. Not sure if they do it in the temple, though."
"You're Indian and you don't know?"
"It's because I don't go to the temple that early on Pongal."
"Oh... okay... and here I thought I can get some info that can be used for a book."
Shree sighed. "Mitsuo, I don't go to the temple on the morning of Pongal because we'll be busy making our own Pongal Rice at home. Pongal is basically the milk boiling over, a symbol of abundance and prosperity. We have to do it in our home to bring good luck for the family. We still go to the temple, just later in the day."
"Oh so you have to do it at home..."
"Yes and my grandmother never misses it. She would always wake up and make the rice early in the morning. All of us will gather around the pot and cheer it on. The more it boils over, the more—" she stopped short when she saw Mitsuo doing something else. "Hey, what are you doing?"
Mitsuo looked up from his little notebook. "This is good information, I'm writing this down."
Shree smirked and spooned some rice. "You should go to the temple to watch the ritual."
They finished their rice and Shree ordered three more to take home.
"Tapau nasi kerabu tiga," Shree told the waiter who nodded and left to get the order.
"What did you just say?" Mitsuo asked, finishing his iced Milo.
"I said I wanna takeaway three packs of nasi kerabu," Shree said. "Tapau is takeaway in Chinese. Tiga is three in Malay."
"But this is a Malay restaurant..." Mitsuo was still confused. "Why did you say it in Chinese?"
"Am I Chinese?" Shree deadpanned.
"No?"
"Tapau is a universal word that everyone understands in Malaysia," Shree said. "There are lots more words like that, mainly from Chinese and Tamil."
Mitsuo nodded in awe, jotting everything down.
"You remind me of Shingo from The King of Fighters," Shree chuckled. "You know that game, right?"
"Grew up with it," Mitsuo said without looking up from his notebook. "It's all over the arcades."
Shree smiled. "Our favourite game growing up too. We played all of it from KOF '94 right up to 2001. My brother recently downloaded the new ones, KOF XIV or XV. I sometimes join him too, usually play as Iori."
"Iori is the red-haired guy, right?" Mitsuo asked, remembering the game character. "He has the Yasakani no Magatama."
"I actually thought the Three Sacred Treasures were just a part of the game story but turns out they're real?" Shree remarked. "I actually didn't know until I looked it up."
"Yep, they're the Imperial Regalia of Japan," Mitsuo nodded proudly. He leaned forward, his eyes falling on the green comma-shaped jade that Shree was wearing around her neck. "Also, is that a magatama you're wearing?"
"Yes," Shree smiled. "But it isn't the Yasakani no Magatama, just something I got online."
"It's really pretty," Mitsuo smiled. "They say that the magatama protects its wearer from unwanted things and evil."
Shree nodded understandingly, her gaze falling on the manji that Mitsuo wore. "Is that a swastika you're wearing?"
"No, it's a manji," Mitsuo stated, fingering the pendant.
"Ah, a sauwastika," Shree nodded thoughtfully. "Represents the sacred footprints of Buddha, right?"
"Yes, and just because I'm wearing one, that doesn't mean I'm involved in any controversy," Mitsuo pointed out.
Shree smirked. "I know because we Hindus worship the swastika too and it represents peace, not controversy. I also know that the Japanese believe in the manji too, and it's called sauwastika in Sanskrit. I've seen it on the gates of the Buddhist temple near my house too."
"There's a Buddhist temple near your house?" Mitsuo asked in surprise. "Where?"
"There are many here, actually," Shree pointed out. "There are like... three in Old Town? And one Hindu temple. Oh, and two mosques too."
"I see... I see..." Mitsuo nodded. "So this is how Malaysia is a very diverse country..."
He pulled out his book and started jotting down, much to Shree's amusement.
The waiter soon came up with a plastic bag. Shree paid for everything before leaving.
"You didn't have to pay for mine too," Mitsuo protested.
"Consider it as a token of gratitude," Shree smiled. "You went your way to chase me just to return that kanzashi. And if it wasn't for you stepping in at the LRT, that guy would've gotten away with it."
Mitsuo turned pink as he smiled. "It was nothing, I just didn't want to hold on to it for too long. Also, I always step in whenever I see chikan."
Shree smiled. "That's nice. I like that. Many people just go on their way, afraid of getting themselves into trouble."
"And just let stuff happen?" Mitsuo snorted. "I'm not letting that."
Shree nodded. "How long do you plan to stay in Malaysia?"
"For a few weeks, but I have a ninety-day visa."
"You're planning to stay for three months?" Shree asked in surprise.
"No, it's because a ninety-day visa comes for free."
"Oh yeah, I read about that... somewhere..."
They at last reached the Kelana Jaya station and went straight to the ticket counter. Shree waited as Mitsuo got himself a token since she was using a Touch n Go card instead.
"Can you tell me where I can get one of those cards?" Mitsuo asked when Shree simply touched her card onto the sensor before walking through the turnstile.
"You have to register for it, I think," Shree shrugged. "But you're gonna need a Malaysian number."
Mitsuo nodded. "I see..."
"It can get you through highway tolls too, if you're planning to travel interstate by road, that is," Shree said, watching as Mitsuo scanned the token before getting through the turnstile. "It also has an e-wallet."
"Where can I get one?"
Shree frowned. "I think you have to go to Sentral for that."
"Sentral as in KL Sentral?" Mitsuo remembered the crowded place.
"That's the one," Shree nodded. "I'm not really sure of the procedure. This one is actually a membership card from a drugstore. It also doubles as a Touch n Go, apparently."
They went up the platform and took the first train that came. Mitsuo got out at the Asia Jaya station while Shree got off at Taman Jaya.