THE NAJDORF VARIATION

She walks in on the twenty third
In braided hair and pleated short skirt
That finishes just above her knees
All hormones and scented jasmine


During the entire thirty seconds (we know because she keeps looking at her watch)
He steals nine glances at her
He thinks she looks like....like that girl from that....that English movie where...
He knows how to spell her name on the ceramic walls
He imagines making love to her.... twice
He realizes he has forty two rupees in his pocket
Then they lurch to a stop
And she says, "Thank you"


Then for the first time in two years
Xenia smiles


Though she walks away
The jasmine dust and the memories of her smile
Get left behind
At that moment, poor Bahadur is the happiest one in all of Calcutta


Since the nineteenth of this month
She has started putting on lipstick (sshhh..) to school
She has started sleeping with a curled smile on her lips
She has started appreciating Tennyson now
She has started thanking her elevator boy
She has started enjoying the winters


Nowadays, she suddenly starts laughing in the Biology class
She startles Rumki by hugging her at every opportunity she gets
When she sees an urchin, she doesn't hesitate to give it a hundred bucks
She doesn't mind her parents any longer (she thinks they're 'awesome')
And Ma is worried why she doesn't complain about her lentils anymore


Aar eyi maasher unish taarik thekei
Proshanto has started humming in the shower
He has started driving his motorcycle that bit faster
He has stopped playing football with Subrato on Sundays
He has started stopping on his way and admiring the cacti
He has started writing passable poetry in foolscap notebooks


Nowadays, he's the first to stand up when an old man gets on the local train
He has suddenly discovered that yeah man, he loves Rabindra sangeet
He's even praising Lal kakima's greasy 'kobiraajis'
He's speaking less and smiling more
He's waiting for Xenia outside her home


And Lennon is saying,
"It's only love"