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‘One can stay there as well?’
‘Yes, ma’am. Please give me your details; I’ll take your booking.’
‘No, I don’t want to stay, just give me your address.’
Sudha disconnected after noting down the address and booked a taxi to go to Mussoorie the next morning. She spent the entire night in anxiety. She kept feeling that Akshar was crying. Certain parts of our memories are so black that they unfold like the night the moment we turn the page.
M for Musafir Café
The next morning Sudha called Akshar’s school to confirm if he was doing all right. She was told that he was one of the few kids who hadn’t cried at all. Reassured, Sudha called for the taxi and left for Mussoorie.
On the way, when they crossed the Shiv Mandir, the driver asked if she wished to have tea there. As she sipped her tea, Sudha wondered if Chandar would have stopped here too on his way to Mussoorie. He could stop anywhere for tea. He would often say that if he was dying, he would take permission from Yamraj to have his last cup of tea.
As Mussoorie inched closer, Sudha found herself getting more and more anxious. Within two hours of leaving, she found herself standing in front of Honeymoon Inn. The hotel reminded her that if she had married Chandar, he would have brought her here. She wondered if he had come here too.
After asking around a bit, it took her twenty minutes to find herself in Musafir Café.
A few tourists were sitting inside. Some were reclining on the mattress. There were hundreds of photographs on the wall in front of her. When she went up close, she saw that there was a woman with Chandar in all those photographs. She was sitting on the counter; Sudha figured out that she must be Pummy. Seeing Chandar in those photos gave her a bit of comfort and a bit of happiness. She sat down at the smallest table.
Pummy spotted her sitting alone and came to take her order.
‘What will you have?’
‘Can you suggest something?’
‘Our cold coffee is world famous,’ Pummy told her.
‘Then please get me that. Do you have toast as well?’
‘Yes, sure.’
As Pummy was leaving, Sudha asked, ‘Is that your husband in these photographs?’
Pummy replied, ‘Oh no, no, no. Who’d marry this guy? He’s my partner in this café. Where are you coming from?’
‘Mumbai.’
‘Visiting Mussoorie?’
‘No. I came to Dehradun for my son’s admission and thought I’d take a break for a day or two. Your partner is nowhere to be seen?’
‘Who, Chandar? He’s off on a trek. He will be back tomorrow. Why don’t you stay at our place for a day? Trust me, you will love it. Your husband is with you too?’ Pummy asked.
‘No, I’m alone. Please get my booking done.’
Pummy went to the counter and checked, but no room was available that day. After the coffee was served, she went to Sudha’s table and told her, ‘There’s no room available right now. But you can stay with me in our home. Chandar will come back tomorrow and there’ll be a room available by morning.’
Sudha found it a bit odd but she said yes anyway.
‘Arré, we talked about so many things but I never got around to asking your name,’ Pummy said.
‘Sudha.’
Pummy did a double take. She wondered if she was the same Sudha. But something came up in the café at that very moment and she couldn’t pay attention.
As Pummy got caught up with work, Sudha started to look closely at the bookshelf in front of her. She did recognize a few of the books in there. She took out one of them and started sifting through the pages. The last page of each book had a date noted on it. It was Chandar’s habit to write down the date on the last page of the book after he had finished reading it. Sudha turned over a few pages and touched an underline. She felt like she had touched Chandar after years and stroked his head.
Sudha’s entire day was spent trying to experience Chandar in Musafir Café. Pummy took her home in the evening. The moment she entered, Sudha saw a photograph of Chandar and Pummy together on the wall. She immediately regretted her decision to stay back. The room was littered with some of Chandar’s things. There were a few books lying around. It was Chandar’s habit to begin reading two or three books at the same time. Pummy showed her Chandar’s room and went back downstairs to the café. After she left, Sudha plopped down on Chandar’s bed and started to think. After some time, she went into the balcony. The mountain in front of the balcony looked at her and smiled as if it had been waiting for her for years. She started to think about the past ten years sitting on the chair in that balcony and didn’t realize when she drifted off to sleep.
