I don't Wear Sunscreen (2 page)

***

“
Laksha,
please bring more water bottles tomorrow. I just got the news from
the teacher that we are participating in a school rally about green
peace and deforestation,’said the text that was delivered to
Laksha’s father’s cell phone from Pallavi’s family cell phone. This
was used as the common phone in Pallavi’s house.
Argh! But at least the rally
will be a good escape from accounts,
thought Laksha.

October
2009

The rally was big
and had 8 schools participating, among which 3 were co-ed. Which
means the bird's flock together to pick the right worm. Pallavi and
Laksha were holding hands and waiting in queue, chatting. “Hey,”
said a voice from behind them just then, which made Pallavi turn
around with her eyebrows raised as if asking, “What?”.

“
Hi am
Prabhu. I’m here to explain the peace formulation that you should
campaign for further. Is that ok?” he asked. “Fine, exxxxplain.”
said Laksha. “See, it’s all about deforestation, whenever you get
time, do read more on the website and talk about it to whoever you
meet. Ask them to encourage plantations and grow a tree in your
region. Try to use solar energy, for example get solar cookers at
home, solar lights are also getting famous these days, just go
green. Avoid plastics as much as possible and try to encourage
agriculture. If your native place is somewhere other than Chennai,
if it’s in some remote place, talk to people there about the
importance of farming.”

“
Hmm..
Hmm.. Okay.” said Pallavi, trying to take in all the information
the guy was giving. “Fine, I guess our friends are waiting for us,
ok?”said Laksha.

"Yeah, nice meeting
you.. Prabhu, right? See you,” Pallavi cottoned on and waved him
bye, with an eyelash bat in slow motion.

As they walked
away, both the girls heard him call out “hey,” but only Laksha
turned and looked at him. “Huh, not you, the other girl,”Prabhu
said. That felt like a slap and did hurt her, but Laksha managed
really well. She gave Pallavi a stern look as her friend walked
back, looking at the ground with a puzzling thought. “Give me your
number,”Prabhu said when she reached him. “No, I’m in twelfth
standard, ah, I don’t–” stammered Pallavi, to which the guy
laughed.“Come on, I am not a lion, I will not pounce over the
phone. Here, add your number and name, this is just for the
campaign and not for personal use,” he said, still laughing, though
his eyes twinkled with a new interest. So, numbers were exchanged
with smiles. All of this was observed by Laksha and made her feel
really left out, and it forced her to look in the mirror more often
and to cut down on her dinner for a few days.

Somewhat sensing
her emotions, even though Pallavi had started chatting with Prabhu,
she kept this knowledge from Laksha ever since.

***

14
^th
February
2010

February
14
^th
wasn’t just Valentine’s Day,
it was also Pallavi’s birthday. Laksha wanted to surprise her with
a midnight wish followed by a little party with four other close
friends. Ever since they had been best friends, it was always
Laksha who wished Pallavi first, but unfortunately and a bit
obvious, this time Prabhu stole the show. When Laksha called at
midnight, Pallavi’s number was busy for about 2 hours straight.
This hit her hard, so much that early next morning, she dressed
swiftly and rushed to Pallavi’s place, showing up there with
unkempt hair and a sobbing face.

“
I want
to talk to you, your garden is free, right?”was the first thing
Laksha asked fiercely.

“
Yeah!
Come in and have some coffee first, why do you look so dull?” asked
Pallavi. She knew she was in trouble and was trying to frantically
think of an excuse for the previous night.

“
Garden!” Laksha walked away swiftly while Pallavi followed.
“That deforestation, no plasticsguy, right?”

“
Prabhu,” Pallavi answered, lowering her head in
guilt.

“
Chin up
princess, your tiara will fall down my darling baby. Oh, my best
pal now belongs to a stupid creepy social activist,” yelled Laksha,
while her eyes filled with tears.

“
I was
afraid to tell you Laksh. Prabhu is really a nice person, we are
not in a relationship, we are just great friends, you
know?”

“
Oh
yeah! So you think this stupid Laksh, who stayed awake and got
sleep deprived and dialed your number like a crazy bug, is going to
believe you?”

“
Fine,
it’s your birthday today and your first valentine’s day, why ruin
it with this lame, dumb, plump girl, go enjoy it with your guy.
This is my final goodbye and never come back!, ”Laksha stomped
off.

She spent the whole
day crying in bed; though her parents noticed, they pretended like
everything was fine and didn’t approach her even for lunch. The day
passed like this till the evening, when Pallavi entered Laksha’s
room with a lot of hesitation.

Laksha didn’t even
get up. She looked away as Pallavi latched the door. But when
Pallavi put her head on her lap and started weeping, she responded
instantly. Pallavi caught hold of her hands and said,

“
I am so
sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you. But since I know you were hurt by
him, I didn’t want to reveal our friendship. He is a nice guy, but
you’re more important than him. I will cut his friendship for you
Laksh, please don’t leave me, I’m sorry!”

When there was no
response, she continued, “Talk to me, please, kill me if you want,
but don’t burn me with your silence. I promise you, no more Prabhu.
He is going to Mumbai for his internship and if he does well, the
company will pick him, offering a job, that’s why he really wanted
to talk yesterday.”

“
Whatever,”Laksha
replied.

***

27
^th
May 2010

The days rolled by swiftly
and the final exam results
were announced
. All landline
and cell phones in the house were busy, with Laksha biting her
nails in anxiety and praying to her favorite spiritual guru, Shirdi
Sairam. She could hardly bear it when the day came and her dad was
noting down scores relayed by her cousin on the other end,"160 –
commerce, 152 – Accounts, 187 – French, ok then, ok, ok" ermmm..
Excellent, “Lakshaaaaaa, You passed with 78%,” shouted her dad with
excitement.

Laksha’s
eyes widened with happiness, and she got all geared up, jumping
with joy. Later that day, she dressed up to celebrate along with
her friends while her parents got busy informing all their
relatives.
Laksha was
overwhelming,
and
she was noting down her friend’s marks, the overall percentage of
her school seems to out
beat
the competitive schools which added
to her joy.

Pallavi had scored a high percentile of
89%, regarding which Laksha was almost happier than Pallavi
herself. They planned to celebrate together and after several
back-and-forth between the 2 families, they won by getting
permission to go to Pondicherry with a few other
girlfriends.

The five of them were going to be
accompanied by a friend’s older sister who was good at driving. She
promised their parents to take enough care of the adolescent bunch
and get them back home sharp 7 P.M After all the drama, they
finally headed towards the ECR highway that would take them to
Pondicherry.

“
You girls, are you all
nuts?
What do you all
know about Pondicherry? Do you at least know what one would do
there?” smirked the driving Priyanka.

Though annoyed, Laksha replied to this
by saying that they loved visiting the Ashram and
Auroville.

“
Come on! You girls have
just completed school, right? It’s time to get spoiled” she laughed
while the others glared at her younger sister

Pallavi and Laksha had a great time
walking along the French-style streets, while the others were
praying in the ashram. They had excused themselves from the others
for some time gripping each other hand tight, they walked
synonymously in the same speed with a plaster smile on their face.
The breezy weather allowed them to have a great time in silence;
they were totally comfortable with each other without even speaking
a single word.

Then Laksha asked, “Pallavi, any news
about that Prabhu?”

“
Nope, the day after my
birthday was the last time we spoke, he asked me to come to the
railway station, but I was busy crying on your lap that time, so he
sent me a long text and walked out of my life,” Pallavi blinked
rapidly six times to stop the sudden tears from rolling down her
cheeks.

“
Why this question all of a
sudden? You still suspect me, huh?,” she continued. “I trust you
more than my life. It’s just that as I was deciding on institutes
to study Interiors after my UG, and wondering whether to directly
join interiors, one of the best places is Mumbai. That very word
reminds me of this deforestation guy, I don’t even remember his
face actually,” she laughed.

“
Cool! Even I am looking for
other places in Tamilnadu rather than only Chennai, but I’m sure
I’ll join only after I’ve done the counseling process. Let’s see,
fingers crossed,” said Pallavi, smiling.

On the way back to Chennai,
Laksha slept while Pallavi played with her hair.
These years should go by quickly so that I can
join a big company even before passing out of college,
she thought.
I must fill
the place of my lost elder brother and help dad to have a better
retirement. I want to be the best ever, and thank God, I was about
to lose my concentration on my studies when Laksha intruded at the
right time. All is well as Aamir Khan says.

***

27
^th
August 2010

Pallavi got into KCT College in
Coimbatore. Her parents were ok with this choice since some of
their relatives were settled there and would take enough care of
their daughter in their absence. Meanwhile, Laksha joined B. Sc in
Interior Design in Mumbai after several fights with her family, who
wanted her to join Measi in Chennai. But she was stubborn about
going Mumbai for its scope and exposure, and she finally got her
way. It took a while for both of the friends to settle down; they
had promised to talk to each other every day for at least 20
minutes after college hours. They still loved each other the same
way as they did in school, and no one was going to enter their
zone.

Chapter two

Friendship is all about the
‘connection’. That is the moments where ten minutes spent over the
phone with a best friend are much better than hours together with
someone else. Thanks to Alexander Graham bell for the wonderful
invention as well as the others who came up with mobiles, SMS and
every other application that’s of great use so far. Pallavi had
never owned a mobile before, though Laksha had, and the liberty of
Mumbai helped her in getting many things she wouldn’t have
otherwise gotten, since the college put her up nearby.

“
Hey Pallavi,
what’s up with
you?” she asked in excitement. "I was talking to
one of my seniors the
other day
Laksha. She offered me the
opportunity to earn while I study, you know. So, since yesterday
I’ve been doing data entry to make a few bucks."

“
Ohhhh! That’s nice, but
don’t lose concentration in your studies,” “Yeah, of course, I work
only for an hour or so. I use my cousin sister's laptop to work so
that I don't have to ask uncle for pens and notes," replied
Pallavi.

“
Hmm! That’s good, so are
you going home this weekend?”

“
What am I going to do
there? Tell me when you’re planning to go, I will come accordingly.
So how are you studying?”

“
Pretty interesting, I’m
finally learning something that I love, designing and sourcing.
We’ve also started off with CAD designing,” answered Laksha,
grinning.

“
Okay, cool, let’s talk
tomorrow. I have to finish my work,” said Pallavi.

“
Done, don’t strain yourself
honey pie, concentrate on your studies and just wait for some time,
things will turn up,” saidLaksha.

“
Hope so, bye, take care,”
Pallavismiled and cut the call.

Pallavi's life was limited to a lot of
record work, studies, and the pressure of doing well and of course,
the data entry job. She kept her head down and didn’t really talk
to others in class except a few students; the only friend she
wanted to speak to was Laksha, who gave her the freedom to be
herself. Coimbatore was quite slow by her standards, but it helped
her in concentrating on her studies. But studying from her dad's
younger brother's place was very annoying.

On the other hand, Laksha
was fascinated by Mumbai. With all her new friends were from
Mumbai, and she enjoyed the city as much as the taste of its
panipuri and her late night outings. The city let her to fly
without wings; she explored and
enjoyed,
had a lot of fun with
her mix of friends, but still felt that no one could replace
Pallavi. She refused to share her new social life with Pallavi
knowing that she would feel bad about her own situation in
Coimbatore. This depth of understanding was the essence of their
friendship.