Rohita

Chapter 30

MILIND

Milind went upstairs and entered his bedroom. Everything inside appeared clean and tidy. No doubt his mother had taken care of his place well as she did before. The new flower-patterned curtains hung to the windows caught his eyes. The framed photograph of Lord Raghavendra adorned the wall just above his bookrack and a small blue light flickered on top of it. Perhaps, his mother had wished for his auspiciousness.

He needed to freshen up and change his clothes as the jeans he wore weighed heavily on him. After a refreshing hot bath, he wore a cotton purple night suit and sprayed almond cologne on it. Brushing his hair, he looked into the mirror. At last, Milind was in India and he couldn't conceal a smile on his face. But it disappeared soon as he thought of Esha. He must act fast and know what had happened to her before he faced surprises. He remembered keeping a list of phone numbers in one of his old diaries. He searched for it in his bookrack and found it. Among the list of his classmates' contacts, he found Esha's home number. Heart pounding in his ribcage, he grabbed his phone and called. It beeped for a few seconds and then disconnected. Damn it! The phone was out of order. What should he do now? He ran his finger through some more entries in the book. He noticed his close classmate Sunil's number. Sunil worked in Bangalore and no doubt he would help him. But Milind had noted the details a year ago and he hoped Sunil had still retained the number. Pulse quickened, Milind called him. He sighed in relief as the phone started ringing.

Sunil answered after a few rings. "Hi, Sunil here."

"Hey, Sunil, Milind here. What's up?"

"Milind, what a surprise? When did you come to India?"

"A couple of hours ago. How are things? Are you still in Bangalore?"

"Yes, I'm with Infosys and doing well."

They remained silent for a few seconds.

"How is Rohita? I haven't seen much of your activity on Facebook these days."

Milind had met him on his wedding day and they both had communicated a couple of times through Facebook. Milind stopped browsing the social networks after he faced problems at his work. Milind didn't want Sunil to know his marital breakup and he needed to change the subject. "Rohita is doing well in America. I came alone to attend personal work." He paused. "Sunil, can you do a favor for me?"

"What is it?"

"Do you remember our classmate Esha?

"Oh yeah, I remember. How can I forget your love affair with her?

"I want to speak to her. Now."

"Who is stopping you? Don't you have her phone number?"

"Her phone has been switched off for a month."

"Did you email her?"

"Yes, I did. But I haven't received any reply. "Milind swallowed. "I need your help, Sunil. Can you meet her at her residence?"

Sunil paused for a couple of minutes. "All right. SMS me her home address."

"I'll, right away." Milind ended his call. He keyed in the details and hit the send button. The phone jingled, acknowledging it.

The clock chimed at 10:00 AM. Milind wished Sunil would get back to him soon and he would hear something positive. He was sure Esha would be all right and would go to Bangalore to meet her in the evening. Having reached that far, Milind didn't want to give up. Another few hours and he would set right everything.

A few minutes later, his mother brought him breakfast. Milind savored the homemade idlis with hot sambhar and coconut chutney, his favorite food. He didn't deny his mother's extra servings as it had been for several months he ate at home.