#
Naga played the recording over and over again on his audio system, reclining on the sofa and scribbling notes on a pad, while Maya leaned her head against his shoulder, gently caressing his thighs.
‘Maya, please stop it. Let me concentrate.’
‘Promise me my reward and I will stop.’
‘OK I promise you,’ he said, even as he was tempted to pounce on her and suck her luscious lips right then. ‘You did a great job.’
‘There are still a few missing links. I do not think he was telling the entire truth.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘He said he went to Seoul in 1975, the same year as my father disappeared. We have to find out if it is true. We also need to find out the whereabouts of his Indian colleague who accompanied him, Venkatramaiah. Lastly, he said that my father supported Karunanidhi, which is not true, my father has clearly mentioned in his diary that he supported MGR.’
‘Do you want me to email my professor in Corea and find out about his exchange program in 1975.’
‘Will he be able to give us the details?’
‘Of course, he did his PhD from SNU and he has powerful connections in the university.’
‘Great, that will be very helpful. Since I am meeting Professor Ganapathy tomorrow, I can find out more discrepancies in his stories. I am sure he is hiding something.’
‘Fine, now give me my reward,’ she said, as she pounced on him.
The loud buzz of the doorbell interrupted their foreplay.
‘Who can it be?’ Naga said, glancing at the wall clock. It was eight o’ clock.
‘Did you order any food?’
‘No, it slipped my mind,’ he said walking towards the front door. ‘Daai, Sunder! You came early, I was expected you tomorrow.’
‘I thought of surprising you,’ his roommate said, dragging his luggage to the corner room. Your Corean friend here?’
Yes, she is in the living room. Why don't you freshen up, I will introduce you.’
‘Sure thing.’
Naga hurried back to the living room. ‘Sunder is back. He came earlier than expected.’
‘Good for you, he can find out about Ganapathy and his colleague.’
‘Yes, but it also means we have to stop fooling around. There goes our privacy.’
‘I can always sneak into your room at night,’ she said, adjusting her hair, as she noticed Sunder walk into the living room.
He looked younger than his photograph. Although the grey hair did give him a scholarly look, she noticed that he was younger in real life.
‘Sunder, meet Maya. Maya, Sunder my roommate,’ Naga introduced them.
‘So how are you finding Madras? The last time Naga called, he said that your research has been progressing well.’
‘Yes it has, but I think we need your help to resolve some other issues.’
‘You mean Professor Ganapathy?’
‘There is more,’ Naga interrupted, ‘why don't you take a shower and relax, you look pretty tired.’
‘Yes, it was a tiring trip; my flight was delayed by about four hours because of a bomb hoax. Have you had dinner?’
‘No, we were just about to order. You want any?’
‘I have a better idea, why don't we drive down to my family restaurant. It's my dad's birthday, one reason I came early.’
‘It will be a good opportunity for Maya to meet them. She was curious about life in Hindustan.’
‘Fine, let me just freshen up. I will call them and ask them to get dinner for three ready. By the way, I have to warn you Maya, my dad talks a lot, you may be bored to death.’
‘That is fine with me, the more he talks the merrier.’
‘I will brief you on new developments in the car,’ Naga said.
#
Taj Mahal was one of the finest North Indian restaurants in Madras. Situated in a glitzy corner of Triplicane, the mouthwatering vegetarian cuisine was cooked by Hindustani defectors. With a seating capacity of 40, it was not big by commercial standards, but the authentic Hindustani food drew huge crowds everyday, mostly expatriates and tourists, but also the occasional Dravidian families who wanted a break from curd rice and sambar.
It was a good thing that Sunder alerted his parents. As soon as they arrived, they were ushered to their table, much to the envy of the long line of onlookers who had been waiting for close to 30 minutes.
‘My parents will be here soon, we can have some fresh juice.’
‘Don't they serve wine here? I could do with some white wine and meat.’
‘I'm sorry Maya, my parents are strict Brahmins and do not condone alcohol. This restaurant only serves vegetarian dishes cooked in the authentic Awadhi style.’
‘Awadhi cusine is from the city of Lucknow, which is the capital of his parents province, Uttar Pradesh in Hindustan. Although the non-vegetarian dishes are more popular, the vegetarian food is equally delicious,’ Naga added.
‘Here he comes,’ Sunder got up from his seat, and touched the feet of an old man who was approaching their table. His head was shaven, except for a tiny ponytail that reached his shoulders, and was wearing a dhoti and kurta.
‘That is his dad, it is a Hindustani custom to touch the feet of elders as a mark of respect.’
Bringing him to their table, Sunder introduced Maya.
‘Hello Uncle, how is business? How is Aunty's health?’ Naga asked.
‘Everything is fine, by the grace of God. Aunty had to visit a friends house, they just had a grand daughter,’ Vinay responded, then turning to Maya he continued,’ I heard you are here for some research.’
‘Yes uncle, I came 10 days ago.’
‘How long will you be here?’
‘I initially planned for a month, but may stay longer if my work is not finished.’
‘Naga, you should take her to other provinces, she should experience the different cultures here. I remember my roommate in University was from Corea, poor chap could not see any other province and had to leave within a month.’
‘Why, what happened?’ Naga asked.
‘The civil war broke out,’ he said staring into Maya's eyes. ‘I know all Coreans look alike to us, but your friend does have some resemblance with my former roommate.’
‘Pitaji, we are all very hungry,’ Sunder said.
‘Sure. Your mother has already chosen the menu for our dinner, it should be ready by now. Why don't you talk to Manager Abhay?’
As Sunder got up to go to talk to the manager, Maya asked, ‘Was there a lot of violence in your city during the war?’
‘No, not much, it is in the heartland of Hindustan. The violence was mainly in the four provinces in Dravida.’
‘Then why did your Corean roommate leave?
‘It was here in Madras. I studied at Madras University, but had to return home because of the war. I later completed my degree in Delhi, now renamed Delhi.’
‘So you are speaking about your hostel roommate at Madras University in 1965?’
‘Absolutely. He asked a lot of questions and kept arguing with me. The strange thing is, he was my roommate but hardly slept in the room, and disappeared every night only to reappear in the morning. I could not get to know him better, and by the time we were getting friendly, the war broke out.’
‘Was your room mate’s name Choi Moon-kyu by any chance?’
‘No, I don't think so; it was Moon Kim or something like that. We used to call him Moon.’
‘That's the same. He was my father. He mentioned to me that his roommate was from North India,’ she said, without revealing that he also told her that he was an obnoxious racist.
‘Jai Shri Ram. Unbelievable. I am meeting my roommate’s daughter after 40 years. Glad that he escaped back home. What is he doing now?’
‘He teaches economics in Corea.’
‘So he ended up well.’
Sunder returned with the manager, who promised to get dinner started in a few minutes, as the waiters started la
ying the table. It was difficult to carry on further conversation, what with the constant interruptions, so Vinay started catching up on Sunder's life and activities. The father-son talk soon veered to the familiar topic of marriage, which only seemed to infuriate Sunder, but he kept quite mumbling his protests.
‘His parents want him to marry another defectors daughter, a Hindustani Brahmin, but Sunder's girlfriend is a Goa Christian,’ Naga whispered to Maya.
‘What is a Goa Christian, is it another sect like the ones Ruby and Mathew belong to?’
‘No, Goa is part of Karnataka province, it used to be aseparate region ruled by the Portugese from 1510 to 1961, when it was annexed by the Indian army. After the civil war, it became a part of Dravida. His girlfriend is catholic.’
‘Why are his parents against Sunder's girlfriend?’
‘They are conservative Brahmins and do not want any relationship with a Christian family. They believe that Christians are impure because they eat beef and drink wine.’
‘My father had mentioned that his roommate was a racist and hated Dravidians for their dark skin. Isn't it ironic that he had to escape to Dravida for a better life?’ she muttered under her breath.
‘It is, why don't you ask him why he came here? Let us see what he says. By the way, Sunder is the complete opposite of his father and is very liberal in his views.’
As the waiters left the table, Maya looked at the spread in front of her. The food looked delicious and the spices smell was exotic. However, as Sunder started rattling off the names she was confused: Navratan Korma, Arbi ke Kebab, Rajma Galoti Kebab, Tehri, Naan, Lachha Paratha, Rumali Roti... the list seemed endless, and she decided to observe Naga to follow his eating etiquette.
‘Uncle, when did you come to Dravida?’
‘I came here in March 1975, when Sunder was just a kid. As you probably know, my father got into trouble with the authorities because some Muslim peasants hid in our house during the riots.’
‘Naga told me that he protected them from a Hindu mob which attacked their houses.’
‘That is not entirely true. We did not even know that they were hiding in our house, someone saw them climb the walls and informed the police. We tried to reason with the authorities, but the officer in charge wanted money, which my father refused to pay, so he was hauled to prison.’
‘What was the harm if Muslims were hiding in your house? Their life was in danger,’ Maya asked.
‘That is not what the government tolerates. Minorities are considered non grata, Muslims are considered as Pakistani agents and Christians as Dravidian agents.’
‘I hear there are around 110 million Muslims and 15 million Christians in Hindustan. Why don't they all join together and fight for their rights?’
‘Maya, it is not very easy. Hindustan is a totalitarian state. I fully backed Indira when she became the Prime Minister, but after the civil war, she became increasingly insecure. She did not tolerate any dissent, and her political opponents were all sent to prison. Many innocent people like my father were caught in the cross-fire.’
‘Do you think the situation has changed, now that she is dead?’
‘No it will only get worse. Her younger son who became the President is even more insecure. The only way of retaining power is through creating fear in the minds of people and reminding them of some imaginary foreign hand. It helps that Pakistan and Dravida, the two biggest enemies are neighbors on either side.’
‘Don't you think if Hindustan had followed Dravida's example and become a true democracy it could have developed?’
‘I do believe it now, having lived here for so many years.’
‘What about the personality cult in Hindustan?’
‘I support the Nehru family, and find no harm in it, but dynastic politics should be followed only in a true democracy. If the people truly want the dynasty to stay in power, no one can object. The situation is different now, and the people have no say. It is the military which is the most powerful government organization.’
Sunder's father was not as obnoxious as her father had told her. Maybe reality had put him back on track, she thought, as the conversation continued for more than an hour longer.
Although she found it hard to believe many of the stories of atrocities narrated by Sunder’s father, she knew that he was not lying.