Are you game?
“Bajiya you really need to stop talna bhajiya in the kitchen and let your hair down”, Chitra nudged her cousin as she deep fried another plateful of home made chips.
“Uffo, I don’t think I can do it”, Ishita made an expression of helplessness, while Chitra picked up her phone and went onto playstore to download tinder on her phone.
“C’mon yaar. Ye ghar ke kaam aur office k kaam kar kar k kaamwali hoti jari ho tum. Ye amma attitude or look side karo, and ye lo tinder pe swipe karo” Chitra winked mischievously.
“C’mon. I cannot date people off dating apps anymore. I am actually going to focus on finding the right kind of a person who would be worthy.. ..
“The chosen one, the Raj to your Simran. Ranveer to your Deepika? Aisa kuchh?”
“Hmmm. . .”
“Dekh behen, sabzi lene mei bhi tamaatar chaar uthao to ek achha milta hai, aur usme bhi aksar andar se sada nikalta hai”. Chitra turned to her mother, “Hai na Mummy”
“Hmmm. . . .tum log dekh lo. Ishita beta koi pasand ho to bata de, aur nahi hai to pasand karle. Tum log to abhi bachche ho, khelne kudne k din hain, apni pasand ka koi achha sa ladka dhund lo aur settle ho jao sahi time se”
“Mami. . . . .Chitra” Ishita glanced at her cousin and aunt and left the kitchen.
After dinner, everyone retired to their respective rooms. Ishita was to share a bunk with her cousin Chitra while Nikhil, their younger cousin, slept on a mattress on the floor. How much sleep they were actually going to get was questionable as the trio got nostalgic about the childhood days when they would all sleep on mattresses lined up in from of the cooler during summer break back at nani house.
“Yaad hai kaise cooler k aage robot wali awaaz bnaate the”, Nikhil said as he adjusted the temperature on the AC, complaining about the remote not working.
After a laugh session, Chitra decided to pull out a sheesha while the parents slept. She asked Nikhil to prepare the setup while she and Ishita sneaked out to the kitchen to get snacks, as this was gonna be a long night.
“Baji ek Kash lien” Nikhil offered Ishita, who chose to stick to her basic beer while her cousins made smoke rings of mango flavour. Apparently smoke came in flavours these days.
“Don’t be such a prude yaar, try to kar” Chitra nudged
“I don’t think I can, humse na ho payega”
“Tum Chitra ki behen ho, zaroor ho paega”, Chitra smirked at her sister with pride and showed her the technique to enjoy the smoke.
“Okay, here goes nothing. . . . Inhale . . . little cough. . . . inhale . . . . .little cough”, Okay, lo kar liya try.
“Behn flavour pata bhi nahi chala hoga itne se mein, dobara try karo na.” Nikhil urged.
“Sharm karo begairaton, I’m supposed to be the elder one”, Ishita pretended to be irked.
“Ek do saal ka gap sara hai. And we all know how much that matters. Bachcha koi nahi hai, na tum na hum. Mazey karo” Chitra smiled carefree.
“Mazey se yaad aaya, subha gym jana hai maine, instructor jaan le lega nahi to meri. I’m going, you two have fun” Nikhil went back inside the room to sleep on the mattress,leaving the sisters in the balcony.
“Itna khauf gym instructor ka?” Ishita was visibly confused.
“It’s complicated, you would know if you had a gym routine, instructors Maa se zada khatarnaak lagne lagte hain. Khiar abhi hum sirf mazey ki baat karengey, which brings me to, your phone and tinder” Chitra smiled her wicked charm smile.
“Iss time Tinder? Seriously? And what will I do. I just agreed to commit to the idea of finding my lobster, my match, a serious commitment. I cannot go on any dating app and ruin it.”
“The universe is not Zomato k aap decide karo aur aadheghantey mei ladka aapke darwaaze pe dibbe mei pack milega, it takes time.” Chitra chided.
“So why are we going on it?”
“For fun, you find singles polish your flirt skills and hopefully learn what to not look for in a man”
“Is that even a thing? I mean I do know what I want, and also what I do not want.” Ishita tried to sound sure, and Chitra could see right through her sister. It was something sisters had, a soul connection, a knowing of when the other was unsure, or in some anxious situation.
“Okay, then just humour me. Here, take my phone, I’ll take yours and we both swipe on some hot profiles. Just be free for the night and flirt away. Thoda jee le yaar.” Chitra smiled again, this time with mischief filled in her eyes reflected back in her sister’s too.
Barely two hours of staying up and gossip and they already had some 50+ matches and 15-20 DM asking them their names and numbers.
“What if someone likes us?” Ishita looked at Chitra worriedly.
“Then you know you should stay away from them. Our profiles have no clear picture, or a name even just an initial and people are pouring in like rain in monsoon.” Chitra stated to Ishita
“And your point is?”
“My point is dear sister, you can never be too sure with people, and it is always good to know what to avoid when going out to pick. It is easy to lie thanks to the internet. I have seen my fair share of bad people and probably you have too. So be careful, sit tight and don’t forget to have fun. . . . . . .Life hi to hai”. Chitra trailed off the last line with a philosophical undertone and both the sisters stayed up listening to Dil hi to hai while sipping on some warm beer and cold snacks from the night, not realizing the early song birds coming up on the balcony. Going to bed at 5:50 in the morning, they were groggy, sleepy and felt a whole lot closer to one another after swiping and critiquing random strangers for each other through the night and sharing secrets from stolen nights. Sisterhood is beyond blood and time. And as Ishita got up to start work, she smiled. Life has a lot of important parts, but they’re all just parts of life. As for life, life hi to hai. She unlearned to take everything too seriously and instead have some fun.
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