before the rains, 13

then, he pulled out two cigarettes from his trouser pocket, right one, and a matchbox from his left pocket, lit up, and smoked for a while. i made a few calls, one to my brother who heads sales in a mobile company, and one to my mother who lives in gurgaon.

it’s amazing how you remember some things and forget so much. i don’t remember the man’s face. but i remember him drawing out a detailed map to her house with his finger, on a wet patch near the bench. i remember him advising me to avoid the office hour, the traffic, cp in the evening. I remember him saying go early and have a drink at volga.

and i remember him smile as if he could see me sitting at volga with a beer. and i remember him say, it’s a good place to relax, it’s got large windows, and when it rains outside, you can drink yourself dead watching the waters run down the panes slowly all evening.

i even remember me asking him where tunisia was, and him chuckle.

that's when the sky cracked up bright like a carnival and the kids in the park and the girls all ran for cover to the trees