Chapter I: Jumping Jive

 

 “One, two, three and four, and turn and twist, turn and twist, lift your leg and five, six, seven, eight,” Adil bawled as he smoothly completed the step. While his legs swayed, his dilated pupils radiated a glow that could make any woman’s heart prance to its beat.

 

He was obviously the best dancer of the “Jumping Jive” dance school located in a small corner at Rashbehari Avenue, Kolkata. He had been dancing since he was fourteen and occupied the centre position of the first row.

 

 He was the quintessential heart-throb- with girls giggling every time he entered the rehearsal hall in his grey vest and blue track pants. His short bouncy curls adorned his dimpled chin and dusky skin. Everybody loved him- the instructors, the fellow male dancers and evidently the ladies. There were rumours that young girls persuaded their parents to join the dance academy just so that they could catch a glimpse of Adil every day. Adil shrugged every time his friends took a dig at him for being the ‘ladies’ man’.

 

A 20 year old Adil would roll his eyes and say, “I don’t have time for love. I’m married to dance.”

 

Chapter II: Bharatnatyam

 

Namrata carefully took off her ghoongroos, lifted it to touch both his eyes, and kissed them before neatly placing them in the jute bag. She went ahead to touch her guruji’s feet as little droplets of sweat dropped from the tip of her nose. Her guruji had a satisfied look on his face.

 

“Bless you! You have made me so proud,” said Guruji.

 

Namrata quickly took the opportunity to reveal her plans.

 

“Guruji, I have been meaning to tell you this for long,” she paused for a second to gulp.

 

“I think I want to pick up a little bit of the western styles, now that I’vecompleted the final year in Bharatnatyam,” she finally said and waited eagerly for her guruji’s approval.

 

Guruji ‘s lip twitched a bit, making her nervous. After a few seconds, he said, “I think it’s not a bad idea. It’s important to experiment. But I would suggest that you join the ‘Jumping Jive’. It has the best reputation in the city.”

 

Namrata was elated. She left the dance school to venture into a new arena with his guruji’s blessings.

 

Chapter III: Together we dance

 

“Hey, Adil! Listen up, man. I’m really caught up with some work. Can you handle the classes for me today,” said Rohan, the senior instructor.

 

“Sure, sir!” assured Adil.

 

Rohan was about to leave in a hurry when he turned, “Oh, and hey, there’s a new entry! Some classical dancer who wishes to try a leg at western styles. Just check which classes she fits into!”

 

“Right, sir! Have a nice day!”

 

Adil began the classes at 6pm sharp. Music blared in the rehearsal hall surrounded by mirror. At 6.15 pm, Namrata almost ran into the hall.

 

Adil stopped to look at her. Her doe-shaped eyes rested below her perfectly shaped eyebrows. Her high cheekbones flushed with a tinge of red. Her straight black hair was tightly tied into a ponytail. Her T-shirt had distinct sweat marks indicating that she was hurrying throughout her journey.

 

“You’re late, Miss?” Adil raised his eyebrows.

 

“Namrata. I’m so sorry, I had difficulty finding the place and……”

 

“Anyway, we are done with the initial exercises. I’m afraid you have to start with the routine. Please take the first position in the second row!”

 

Namrata silently took her position and the music started again. Adil showed the moves so that everybody could follow.

 

“Hey, new girl! That’s not how you do it. Tilt your head towards the right,” Adil instructed.

 

“But Sir, I’m trying!”

 

Adil walked up toNamrata, held his head and tilted it to the right. Their eyes met. Those deep eyes made Adil’s heart rock and roll. He fell in love, almost immediately.

 

Chapter IV: “Best friends”

 

 “But, she’s your best friend,” said Rohan as Adil sat gloomily, his head buried in his face.

 

Namrata was indeed his best friend. It had been two months since she had joined the dance classes. Since that day, there was not a single day they had not met and a single thing they didn’t know about each other. They went on coffee breaks together and exchanged their knowledge in dance. Adil taught her contemporary dance while Namrata shared her skills in Bharatnatyam. It was not just dance. They talked about life, relationships, screw-ups, college gossips, books and TV series. Their friendship evolved effortlessly, much to the envy of all the other girls in Jumping Jive. Telephone conversations flowed during the ungodly hours of the night.

 

Adil was immensely in love with her. But Namrata never showed signs of affection other than friendship. She sometimes stroked his curls and said, “What would you do without a best friend like me, you idiot!”

 

Adil felt a pang in his heart every time Namrata used the term “best friend”. He would want to tell her what she meant to him but silently smiled most of the time. Until one day, he just couldn’t take it and decided to end it all. He had been avoiding Namrata for a week now- rejecting her calls, not replying to her messages even though he read them a dozen times. He would make excuses of leaving early to avoid conversations after the dance class. Rohan was advising him to deal with the situation better.

 

“I can’t be her friend anymore. It’s silly! Doesn’t she understand that being her ‘friend’ kills me,”Adil lifted her face.

 

“Then muster the courage to tell her! The Divine wouldn’t pour the words in her ears,” Rohan smirked.

 

Adil rolled his eyes again.

 

Chapter V: Drunken Birthday

 

 “Happy Birthday!” Namrata called out exultantly as she appeared with a bouquet. The rehearsal hall was filled with fairy lights and decorated with steamers and balloons. There were plates with snacks lying all around. Bottles lay scattered on the floor. Namrata was late to the party. Adil was already drunk.

 

She walked up to him.

 

“Why the hell did you not pick up my call at midnight! You’ve been acting all weird for the past two weeks. Anyway, it’s your birthday, so I would stall the fight for later,” said Namrata before she hugged him.

 

Adil embraced her awkwardly.

 

“You’re drunk already! Where’s my liquor?” Namrata’s eyes searched around the room.

 

“I really need to talk to you,” Adil slurred, as his eyes reddened.

 

“Ok, let’s go to the balcony!”

 

At the balcony, Adil clumsily held her hand and looked into her eyes as his vision blurred.

 

“Namrata, I can’t be your friend!”

 

Namrata’s heart sank. She had been upset with her best friend’s behaviour in the last two weeks. She waited for him to return her calls. Sometimes, she would run after him as he walked away from class with earphones plugged in his ears.

 

“But why? Are you going through something? Is everything alright?” she finally said gulping the lump in her throat.

 

“Everything is not alright! I’m in love with you. I love you, Namrata!”

 

Namrata jolted her hands off Adil’s. She stood there in shock as tears welled up in her eyes. That was the last thing she had expected to hear! The words, “I love you” seemed to cast a shadow on the most sacrosanct friendship in her life. She hated those words as she knew that they would snaptheir bond.

 

Adil gulped down the remaining beer in the bottle. Then, he made a strange request. He already knew that Namrata did not love him. But his inebriated self suddenly grew the devil’s horn. She asked Namrata to kiss him once. He demanded it as a price for their friendship.

 

Namrata stood there weeping. The thought of losing her best friend already made her delirious. The revelation of that night was too much for her unaware soul. She loved Adil a lot. Just not the way he wanted her to, maybe. The thought of being the reason behind her best friend’s heart break had taken away her better sense of judgement.

 

She complied. The moon peeked through the meek clouds as their lips met amid the shrieking car-honks in the road below as loud music entertained guests in the rehearsal hall outside.

 

She gifted Adil her first kiss on his twenty-first birth day.

 

Chapter VI: The end

 

Namrata opened the envelope. The text made her heart skip a beat.

 

“Jumping Jive organizes a reunion for its ex-students. Please be there at the famous rehearsal hall at 7pm this Saturday. We would be waiting for you!”

 

Namrata read the words while all the memories gushed down her brain.

 

She hadn’t seen Adil since that night. Namrata had quit the classes and went back to her Bharatnatyam training and Adil was too embarrassed to get in touch with her. Ten years rolled by in a hurry and Namrata was happily married to the ‘love of her life’.

 

She kept away the card and decided not to go. But, as Saturday neared, she couldn’t fight her urge to re-unite with her once best friend. She always wanted to know how he was doing but never mustered enough strength to pick up the cell and dial his number.

 

Finally, when Saturday arrived, Namrata foundherself dressed in a mauve kurti, oxidised silver earrings dangling from her ears. The cab had arrived.

 

“Where, madam?” asked the cabby.

 

“Jumping Jive! Drive fast. I’m already late.”

 

Namrata took a deep breath before she entered the rehearsal hall. She smiled at all the known faces and blushed at everyone’s compliment, as her eyes wandered around the hall, looking for the face which brought her here.

 

She spotted it. Adil stood there in a white shirt with black denims. He had grown a thick beard which hid his dimpled chin. His impish charm had turned into a manly demeanour.

 

Namrata walked up to him and slowly tapped his shoulder.

 

“Hi, Adil!”

 

Adil turned to look at her. His whiskey glass almost slipped as he exclaimed, “Oh my God! Namrata! When did you come?”

 

“Just arrived!”

 

“Still not out of the habit of being late, huh?” Adil grinned.

 

Namrata smiled.

 

They talked about the part of their lives that they had missed- Adil’s wife and daughter, Namrata’s husband and twins, Adil’s dance academy and Namrata’s job as a school teacher. They talked for an hour before Namrata decided to address the elephant in the room.

 

“Listen, Adil. Whatever happened that night…..”

 

Adil laughed out loud before she could finish her sentence.

 

“We were so silly back then! I can’t stop laughing whenever I think of that night! You know, I always knew I was an idiot. I didn’t know you were an idiot too!”

 

Namrata stood there stunned.

“Excuse me, I need to use the washroom!” she said as she rushed out of Adil’s sight. 

 

She closed the bathroom door behind her. Adil’s laughter resonated in her ears as the melted mascara created black droplets of tears rolling down her eyes. She sobbed like a child, much more intensely that her twenty year old self in the balcony that night.  As she cried and cried, uneasiness creptin her disappointed soul. She had sacrificed her ‘first kiss’- one that she considered sacrosanct in her teenage years. All these years, she had glorified the act to compensate for the latent guilt of breaking her best friend’s heart. And now, she learns that it was for NOTHING!

 

Adil stood there in shock, unable to fathom why Namrata ran frantically to the bathroom. For a grown up man, it was difficult to express what that evening ten years ago meant to him. He sipped his whiskey and thought to himself, “Gosh! She is still so beautiful. I could fall in love with her AGAIN.”