CHAPTER :16 Delhi
That day, seeing her looking so down, Abhi asked, "Hey, what's with the long face? You've been looking gloomy for days. What's up?".
She forced a smile. "Nothing, Abhi, just feeling a bit under the weather".
"Get well soon, we need to go to Delhi," he said.
"Delhi? Why?" she asked.
"I have a seminar there. You're coming as my assistant," he said, his tone firm.
"Oh, really?" she thought. This felt like a better option than staying here with all the gossip. But would it be safe? She pulled up her mask. I have to manage.
" We leave in two days," Abhi said. Two days later, they landed in Delhi.
"Why do I need to assist for a seminar, Abhi?" she asked, as they checked into their separate rooms.
"This is a golden opportunity for you, Tulasi! Top doctors from abroad and India will be there. Don't take this seminar lightly!" he explained. Tulasi was stunned.
"He's giving a seminar to all these people? Wow, to get an opportunity like this, he must have worked so hard! Abhi is so talented!" she thought, her heart swelling with pride.
"Abhi is truly great!" she gushed to herself. (Little did she know, Abhi had only given her half the reason; he'd worried about getting bored without her for three days and had arranged for her to come with the Dean's help!).
That evening, they went out to see the city. Tulasi, engrossed in her phone, wandered towards the road. "Hey, brainiac! Can't you even watch where you're going?!" Abhi exclaimed, yanking her back. She stumbled, colliding straight into his chest. She looked up at him, startled, then quickly scrambled back. Abhi, without looking at her, said, "Watch your step!".
"Just a sec, Abhi!" she replied, immediately looking at her phone again.
"What is it now? More emails?". He snatched the phone from her hand and slipped it into his pocket.
"Hey!" she protested, looking at him. He simply pointed. "Look over there!".
There were all kinds of beautiful flowers. "Wow, they're gorgeous, Abhi!" she laughed, walking forward.
"Exactly! And you were glued to your phone, missing all this!" he teased.
"Abhi, can you take my picture here?" she asked.
"Sure," he said, taking out his phone and rapidly snapping four pictures, then handed it back. "There, check them out".
Not a single one was perfect. She made a pouty face and looked at him. "What? They're all terrible!" she sighed, then took a few selfies of herself. She really wanted a photo with Abhi, but she was too shy to ask, worrying he might think something. She didn't have a single photo of the two of them together.
"Let's take a selfie together!" Abhi said, grabbing the phone. He stood next to her, pulled his face close to hers, bending to her height, and started snapping photos. Tulasi's heart did a wild dance. Abhi, this close? "Look!" he said, handing her back the phone. "They're beautiful!" she exclaimed. They both looked great. She quickly sent the photos to her own phone.
"Looks like there's an exhibition happening here. Shall we go?" he asked.
Tulasi's eyes sparkled like firecrackers. "Really? An exhibition? Yes, let's go, let's go, let's go!" she gushed.
Abhi looked at her curiously. "What? Have you never been to an exhibition before?" he asked.
"Honestly, I haven't! I've always wanted to go since I was little, but it never happened! Please, Abhi, take me!" she pleaded.
"Alright, come on!" he said. From the moment they entered the exhibition, Tulasi looked around with wide, amazed eyes, as if she'd stepped into a brand new world. Abhi chuckled, "Easy there, moonwalker, we're at an exhibition, not on the moon!".
"Wanna try a ride?" he asked.
"Oh my god, no, I'm scared!" Tulasi replied.
"How about this one?" he pointed to a smaller one.
"No, no, I'm scared!" she insisted. Abhi gave her a slightly exasperated look, then pointed to a small kiddie Ferris wheel.
"How about that one?" he asked. She gave him a pouty, angry face. Abhi laughed.
"So, what do we do?" he asked.
There were lots of games, including shooting and rings, with gifts for winners. Abhi grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's play these!". They had a blast, winning several prizes. Tulasi also did a lot of shopping. "These would look great in our home! Should I get them?" she asked, picking up paintings, shelves, and dolls. "Hey, does this look good on me?" she asked, trying on earrings,dresses….
"Whatever you want," Abhi said, reaching to pay.
"No, no!" Tulasi insisted, paying for them herself.
Abhi looked annoyed. "What? I'm not allowed to pay?" he asked, clearly irritated.
Tulasi just laughed, "I'll ask you when I need something, Abhi. Then you can buy it.".
"What next?" Abhi asked.
"They're doing henna over there! I want to get some!".
"Alright, go on," Abhi said, standing nearby the mehandi stall with all their shopping bags, checking his phone. Soon, a few girls, also waiting for henna, approached Abhi, staring at him. Abhi ignored them for a bit, then looked at them irritably. "I'm not the henna artist! Go stand over there!" he snapped.
Tulasi watched and chuckled. "Dude's got a fan club no matter where we go! Girls are always swarming him. What a heartthrob!".
"Control yourself, Tulasi, control!" she told herself. Once her henna was done, she showed her hands to Abhi. "How is it?" she asked.
Abhi just looked at them and said, "Alright, let's go.".
"What happened? You don't like it? "
"Just leave it .lets go"
"It's not good?".
"It's horrible! Your pretty white hands, now with all those lines and weird animals? It's disgusting!" he grumbled. Tulasi was angry and hurt.
She saw a tap in the distance and marched over to wash her hands. "Hey, what are you doing? Why are you washing it off?" Abhi asked.
Tulasi, still angry, replied, "What's it to you?!".
Abhi looked at her hands; a faint colour was already showing. "It's fine, it'll fade in two days, go back to normal," he said.
Tulasi looked at him, surprised. Abhi kept getting calls, but he was cutting them. "I'll stay here, you can talk, Abhi," she said.
"Okay, stay here," he agreed, walking a bit aside to talk on the phone.
A foreigner approached Tulasi. He looked good, but Tulasi didn't feel comfortable. The way he was looking at her made her feel uncomfortable. He was speaking in his foreign language.
Tulasi said, "Sorry, sorry, I don't know your language, but I am comfortable in English. Do you know English?".
He said he didn't know English, but kept talking in his foreign language, getting closer to Tulasi. Tulasi felt extremely uncomfortable. Abhi, still on the phone, saw everything. "Who's hitting on my girl?!" he thought, cutting his call and quickly standing between Tulasi and the man.
"Hi," the foreigner said, speaking in his language. Abhi looked serious and replied in the same foreign language. Abhi knew that language. Tulasi was surprised to hear Abhi speaking in that language. Abhi and the foreigner continued their conversation in that language, and Tulasi couldn't understand a single word.
"What do you want?" Abhi asked him.
"I came here for sightseeing," the man replied.
"And what are you doing here?".
"This girl is beautiful," he said. Abhi looked at him seriously. " This girl is so beautiful. And her hair is so long! Do all women in India grow their hair like this?". Abhi looked at him seriously. "Not everyone, only a few. Why, do you want yours to grow like that?".
"The girl is Gorgeous. Will she come for coffee with me?".
Abhi was annoyed by his persistence. "She won't come, and I won't let her!" he declared.
"How about her phone number then?" the man asked.
"She won't give it, even I won't," Abhi said, his voice laced with menace.
The man recoiled slightly. Understanding Abhi's anger "Oh, sorry, is she your girlfriend?" the foreigner asked.
"Girlfriend? No, she's more than that, mate!" Abhi snapped.
But the guy didn't give up, he was really pushy. "This country is new to me, can I come along with you?" the foreigner asked.
"No, you can't!".
"Oh, please?".
"No, we have other things to do!". Abhi is beyond irritated but held back from punching because the man as he is a foreigner. He just doesn't want to punch him and make it into an international issue.
"What kind of work?".
"Work like Baby-making !" Abhi blurted out and looked at him seriously.
"Can I join?" Foreigner smirked
Abhi was fuming, his fists clenched. He don't like how that foreigner is eyeing Tulasi.
Tulasi, seeing this, quickly grabbed Abhi's hand. Abhi, controlling his rage, accidentally said in English, very seriously, "She's not into threesomes!".
Abhi's clenched fists and serious expression made the foreigner realise that if he stayed any longer, he'd definitely get punched. So he left. But Tulasi had heard the words.
Once the guy left, Abhi cooled down a bit and started walking away with Tulasi. "Abhi, what did you talk about with him? "
"nothing"
"No, you guys talked for ages! What did you say?" she pressed.
"Oh, nothing important, just forget it!" he replied.
"No, you definitely said something! "
"What was it?"
" You said something about 'threesome,' didn't you? "
Abhi stopped in his tracks and looked at her, surprised.
" Oh, yeah, I heard it! Why did you say that?" she demanded.
"What? Do you know what 'threesome' means?" he asked in surprise 'this naive girl.'
"What, did you think I was born in a jungle? Of course, I know what 'threesome' means! Why did you say that to him? What were you talking about?!" Tulasi insisted.
"Oh, you know things like that, but you don't know the names of medicines, huh?" he teased.
"Come on, tell me, Abhi!".
"Ugh, it's nothing! He didn't know where a good bar was here; he's new to the country, right? So I just told him to go a little further, and there's a bar called 'Threesome,' and to go drink there! That's it!".
"Then why did you get so angry?" she asked.
"Have you ever asked me so many questions when I'm giving classes?" he retorted.
"Oh no, sir's going into devil mode again! Gotta divert him!" Tulasi thought. "Abhi, look! Street food! Shall we try some?". And just like that, they ate street food and went back to the hotel.
The next day was the seminar. Tulasi looked beautiful in a saree with a small rose in her hair. She called Abhi. He didn't pick up. "What? Only two hours left for the seminar to start!" she fretted, then went and knocked on Abhi's room door. No answer. She knocked again a moment later. The door opened. Abhi stood there, wrapped in a towel, dripping wet, drying his hair. He looked at Tulasi and casually said, "Five minutes, Tulasi, I'm getting ready". Tulasi was frozen. She quickly turned away, her cheeks flaming red. "Seriously, why did he open the door like that? It's wrong! I'm a girl, he shouldn't appear like that!" she chastised herself. But even as she thought that, she couldn't forget the sight of Abhi.
Abhi, with bare chest only a towel around his waist, wet with a shower and that damp hair, his eyes when he is answering, casually looking into her eyes. A crimson glow colored her face. "What is wrong with him today? Even though they stay in the same house, he never appeared like that in front of her. Forget it, Tulasi, don't even think about it! Forget!" she told herself, trying to compose herself. Just then, the bell rang. She went and opened the door, and there stood Abhi, in a suit. "Oh my god, he's so hot today!" she thought.
"I'm ready, shall we go?" Abhi asked, his eyes scanning her from head to toe. Tulasi was in a saree. He tilted his head slightly, his gaze lingering on her waist. "Ugh, she's covered everything up, the devil! A little bit of waist should show, right?" he grumbled inwardly.
"One minute, Abhi," she said, quickly grabbing her small wallet and room keys, locking the door, and then walking alongside Abhi. "I know some lady doctors here," he told her. "I'll introduce you. This is a great opportunity, Tulasi. Mingle well with everyone. It will really help you". He took her downstairs for breakfast. Throughout breakfast, many people approached Abhi. many knew him, and he seemed very friendly with them all. As promised, Abhi seated her with some lady doctors, made introductions, and then, as he had to give his seminar, they sat separately.
He took his seat and looked around. Many renowned doctors were there. Just as Abhi had said, she had only read about them in news articles and their textbooks, but Tulasi had never imagined she'd get a chance to meet them. They discussed the latest technologies and the evolving medical system.
After a few seminars, Abhi's turn came. He gave a seminar on robotic surgery, the pros and cons of bringing it to India, the necessary changes, the government's role in implementing it, new medicines needed in India, and how Indian patients' bodies react to certain medications. Abhi was right; if robotic surgery came to India, operation costs could be significantly reduced. But, he stressed, the surgeons operating them were equally important. If Abhi's vision were realised, operations could easily be performed for the poor in India.
Not only for the poor in India, but also for people in some foreign countries where operations are very costly. If operations were available at a lower cost here, even they would come to India for treatment. This would further strengthen and advance India's medical system, he argued. Abhi's seminar received immense appreciation. As he stepped off the stage, Abhi looked at Tulasi. She gave him a small smile.
Even during lunch, after the seminar, Abhi introduced Tulasi to many more doctors. She had never imagined in her life that she would meet such great doctors. Among them was a doctor whose textbook Tulasi absolutely adored. She told him exactly that, praising his writing style and how certain topics in his book had helped her in real-time. Abhi, watching this, felt a little annoyed. "She never praises me like that," he thought. "And she's praising him just for writing a textbook! ".
That doctor also answered Tulasi's questions, then turned to Abhi and praised her, "She's a clever one, a very intelligent girl". Tulasi was overjoyed. It was no small feat for such an esteemed doctor to praise her. Their seminar was a great success, and Abhi even received an award. The next day, back to their hospital routine, the Dean came into Abhi's room and congratulated him. News about Abhi's seminar had even appeared in the papers, but Abhi didn't seem to care. He just formally said, "Okay, thank you," to the Dean and continued with his work.
Tulasi couldn't understand why Abhi was so indifferent to the Dean's congratulations; it wasn't a small thing. Why was he acting like he didn't care?. After the Dean left, Tulasi asked him, "Abhi, the Dean was giving you such great appreciation, why were you so nonchalant about it?".
Abhi, who was reading a file, closed it and looked at Tulasi. "This is nothing, Tulasi. You know what my real aim is?". He then told her about his grand ambition. Tulasi was astonished. "Is that even possible?" she wondered, but then looked at Abhi and smiled. "You'll definitely achieve it," she thought. Abhi was so talented and hardworking.
Abhi looked at Tulasi. "What, do you think it's impossible?" he asked.
"No, Abhi! You can achieve anything! You work hard, and you have great talent. Why wouldn't you achieve it? You definitely will, but it won't be easy. That's my only worry," she confessed.
Abhi liked that she praised him and worried about him.