chapter 18

“The neighbors!”“Are you planning to go begging door-to-door in the middle of the night?” I doubted whether he’d gone mad.“It’s not begging,” he calmly corrected me. “It’s the age old tradition practiced in every housing society called, ‘borrow from thy neighbor!’”“Kabir, please don’t…”He ran out of the house even before I could finish.    Kabir rang the doorbell of the apartment opposite to mine. My neighbors were not among those who would open the door at the very first ring and that too in the dead of night the probability was high that they wouldn’t open it at all. But Kabir was not going to give up either and was determined to make them open the door. He kept pressing the bell. Luckily for him, Tina, who was chatting with her friend, removed her ear piece for a second and heard the doo bell.“Mamma, there is somebody at the door,” Tina called out to her mother, who was sleeping in the adjacent room.“Good night, honey,” came the reply as Mrs. Goswami turned to her side to enjoy some more of her beloved sleep.“Urrgh…” Tina muttered and stomped out of her room to open the door.A frustrated Kabir clenched his teeth and was about to thrash the doorbell with his fist when Tina opened the door. As his gaze slithered through a ravishing girl clad in a night gown, he acknowledged that the all the pain he had taken to punch the door bell was worth it.“Yes?” Tina stared suspiciously at him.“Do you have some coffee powder?” He leant against the wall, his flirtatious eyes glued to her.“Who are you?” Tina asked, “I haven’t seen you in the neighborhood earlier.”“I am Kabir, your neighbor Sam’s colleague.” He held out his hand to her. “Sam is not well so I came here to take care…”“What? Sam is not well?” Tina slammed the door shut on Kabir’s face.Kabir stood there as if struck by a thunderbolt. A little later, the door opened again and Tina emerged out, wearing a shawl over her gown. She ran out with the speed of lightening to Sam’s apartment. Kabir blinked for several times like an oaf, unable to make out anything and then ran after her.“Oh, Sam!” Tina came rushing towards me. “What happened to you?”“I am fine, Tina. I’m having a slight fever, that’s all.” I woke up from my half-slumber and was dazed to see her. “But who told you?”“This gentleman did,” she said pointing towards Kabir who was standing by the door.Kabir smiled and humbly took a bow as he sat down by my side.“That was so kind of you, Mr. Kabir.” There was sheen of gratitude in Tina’s eyes as they turned towards him. “You readily came forward to take care of poor Sam who lives all alone here. These days, we rarely come across such youngsters who are compassionate towards their fellow beings.”“After toiling all day long under the scorching sun, a site engineer like me would want to crash on his bed early at night,” Kabir said in a weary voice, “but my conscience would not allow me to ignore an ailing friend.”“What?” I opened my mouth but Kabir instantly gagged me.“You don’t have to say anything, Sam,” he said. “You have already expressed your gratitude several times since evening.”“When did you become a site engineer?” My mind grumbled as I silently glared at him.“You are a gem of a person, Kabir.” Tina was truly impressed by his lies.“I need a little favor from you, Tina,” Kabir said, “Sam hasn’t had anything since morning and I need your assistance in rustling up a quick meal for him.”“I told you Kabir, that I am not hungry.” I said as danger bells rang in my mind. “Please go home, Soni…” Kabir gagged me again.“I know you don’t want to trouble us anymore,” Kabir said as sweetly as was possible, “but we don’t consider you a burden but a dear friend of ours, isn’t it Tina?”“Yes, Sam,” Tina joined in. “Please don’t think like that.”“What can I say!” I stepped back as there was nothing much to say either. I could already see Tina falling in the lucrative trap of Kabir’s charms.“Shall we?” Kabir said pointing towards the kitchen.“Sure!” Tina was brimming with excitement. “I think vegetable soup would be good for him.”I wondered whether Tina was the same girl who found salvation in keeping herself abstained from household jobs while Mrs. Goswami spent sleepless nights, worrying about the ‘compliments’ she was going to receive from Tina’s future in-laws for bringing up her daughter so well!“I am a part time volunteer in an NGO for welfare and empowerment of women.” Tina said on her way to the kitchen. “Would you like to join us?”“Of course!” Kabir was thrilled, “I am always ready to do my share when it comes to the welfare of the women folk!”“I knew it, Kabir,” Tina rejoiced, unable to understand the real cause behind his willingness to contribute for a good cause, “you have a heart of gold.”“And so do you,” Kabir complimented her and she blushed.For the hours that crawled by, Kabir and Tina kept praising each other’s benevolence while paying no heed to the ailing one they had sworn to take care of. I waited the whole night for the coffee and the soup which was not supposed to come my way till I finally fell asleep.