half-girlfriend-chetan-bhagat

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Riya tweaked Shabnam's nose. ‘So are you,’ she said. Shabnam blushed. Riya spoke to the girl next to Shabnam.‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ The girl buried her face in Shabnam’s lap. Riya laughed. She repeated the question to another girl. 'Mother. I want to be a mother,’ the girl responded. ‘And?’ Riya said. And what?’ the girl said. 'Doctor? Engineer? Dancer?’ The little girl thought for a while. 'Teacher,’ she said. 'Nice,' Riya said and patted her back. Riya and I came back to the staffroom. My mother and the other teachers had class. Only Riya and I remained in the staffroom. We sat the long table. She coughed again. I said, ‘You really don’t sound okay.’ ‘I was fine. I don’t know,’ Riya said. She went into another toughing fit. ‘Let’s find a doctor,’ I said. ‘I’ll see a doctor in Patna.’ Riya excused herself and stepped outside. She looked around. 'There’s no toilet. Kids go in the corner there. Or in the fields outside,’ I said, coming up behind her. Riya walked out to the fields, still coughing. I saw her body shake from a distance. I ran up to her. She turned and smiled at me. ‘I’m fine. I just need to properly cough it out.’ ‘Spit out the phlegm.’ ‘Sorry, I’m being gross.’ ‘As if,’ I scoffed. ‘I should head back,’ she said. ‘Alone? Let me come and drop you.’ Riya laughed. She patted my shoulder.
‘You are so sweet. There is no need. It’s just an allergy.’ ‘I should come with you,’ I said. She held my shoulders and flipped me around. ‘You have classes. Now go back in, mister, before all your little girls come looking for you.’
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Praise for the author Many writers
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First published by Rupa Publication
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For my mother For rural India For t
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expectations, Love accepts some fla
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‘Half-girlfriend,’ ‘What?’
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possible. ‘She used to like your
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‘I’d like to cancel a ticket on
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1 Where?’ I gasped, trying to cat
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‘Do you speak in full sentences?
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Piyush to translate what I had said
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‘I’ll do my best, sir.’
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passed the ball. The crowd tittered
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the next half. As her team meeting
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even Hindi. He meant: will you play
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‘Yeah. But if they do, then see y
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anymore. I wanted to fit into my ne
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We had played a half-court game; I
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iuinraon, the oldest princely state
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‘They're ditzy. Forget them,' she
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The hands-on-hips pose meant no fur
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is bothering you. And, if something
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Police guards tell you to stop and
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‘Even though you eat all my lunch
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me. ‘Madhav, please understand, I
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6 She entered my room and I slammed
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‘Good observation.’ I looked st
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'No woman has ever meant more to me
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Shailesh said. 'What?’ I said. As
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‘Shut up, fatso,’ Shailesh said
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I stepped inside. A maid gestured f
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‘So thoughtful. This will keep me
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‘It’s okay, uncle,’ Rohan sai
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‘Riya, babe, you only got guy fri
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spring rolls. 'Madhav, so many gues
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Riya raised her eyebrows from the d
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‘You are the new exotic creature
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‘Have you been in love before?’
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I had proposed to her. The least sh
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said in a baby voice. I took that a
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secretary must have asked a hotel i
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11 We had practised for less than t
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I went back to my book. ‘What do
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‘What is your problem? I’m not
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She stood up to change her seat.
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12 Six months later After my break-
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asshole doing here? It's amazing ho
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isk steps away from me. ‘Riya,’
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13 We walked out to her car. She ha
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Our eyes met. Maybe it was my imagi
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‘I’m sorry.’ ‘It’s fine.
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more dignity than I thought I had.
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14 One year and three months later
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The other interviewers cleared thei
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‘It’s just a way they express l
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ACT II Bihar
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class, rest low class’ bullshit t
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‘Like whom?’ ‘The over-educat
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I folded my hands to wish both men,
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‘SMDC didn’t send anyone,’ he
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The difference between seventy kids
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answers for us.’ ‘I am from her
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treatment,’ I said. ‘Now the vi
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not declined the ticket.’ ‘What
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18 I reached the Raj High School pl
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tray from her. Mrs Ojha touched my
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My mother knew the political game.
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19 I prepared a proposal for Ojha a
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I smiled. I did go to the best Engl
Page 139 and 140: ‘We are a poor school. We don’t
Page 141 and 142: 20 'Speech?’ my mother said. 'In
Page 143 and 144: ‘So what do I do?’ ‘You work
Page 145 and 146: hotel called Nest, provided I didn'
Page 147 and 148: ‘I’m Madhav,’ I said. ‘All
Page 149 and 150: 22 I returned to Dumraon after my P
Page 151 and 152: I looked around. I wondered if I sh
Page 153 and 154: lobby, my eyes fixed on the entranc
Page 155 and 156: 23 We sat at a corner table and had
Page 157 and 158: ‘Nestle. I am in sales, for their
Page 159 and 160: ‘What?’ ‘Ask me things. I wil
Page 161 and 162: famine. I bought the two-rupee tick
Page 163 and 164: ‘All the time.You should come som
Page 165 and 166: 8. Calling call centres and choosin
Page 167 and 168: ‘All we have for peace in this ci
Page 169 and 170: choosing my words with care, afraid
Page 171 and 172: inaugurated her hot plate and utens
Page 173 and 174: There isn’t much to see in Dumrao
Page 175 and 176: 27 Savitri tai served us daal and s
Page 177 and 178: ‘Sometimes.’ My mother didn’t
Page 179 and 180: My mother did not respond. Riya too
Page 181 and 182: 28 'I have a confession to make,’
Page 183 and 184: ‘Can we please not do all this ot
Page 185 and 186: the quality of the kiss, or what di
Page 187 and 188: 29 'So this is the famous Dumraon R
Page 189: I moved to class IV and then to cla
Page 193 and 194: Riya had not reacted much to her fa
Page 195 and 196: ‘You want to sleep here?’ No an
Page 197 and 198: indignant. Samantha had called me o
Page 199 and 200: the royal family,’ Samantha said.
Page 201 and 202: ‘And in this backward Bihar is th
Page 203 and 204: Students took over the stage again.
Page 205 and 206: talk later, okay? I need to rush. I
Page 207 and 208: ‘Many people are coming home for
Page 209 and 210: I asked you to stay back last night
Page 211 and 212: ‘Where is that divorcee friend of
Page 213 and 214: ‘Sure, sir. Sir, I will move her
Page 215 and 216: notice period.' ‘When did she res
Page 217 and 218: ‘Just take them,’ I said in a f
Page 219 and 220: the gifts that arrived from London
Page 221 and 222: ‘I am not comparing anything. I w
Page 223 and 224: silence. So I walked up to the beds
Page 225 and 226: 'I don’t want anyone,’ I said.
Page 227 and 228: 35 Chanakya Hotel, Patna Madhav con
Page 229 and 230: from her in years,’ Madhav said.
Page 231 and 232: 36 After Chetan Bhagat left, I rema
Page 233 and 234: urger and a large order of French f
Page 235 and 236: ‘Ah, no wonder Michael said you h
Page 237 and 238: 37 'Name?’ the officer at the imm
Page 239 and 240: done an MBA from Harvard after Step
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I reached the southeast corner of t
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38 You bagged a Gates Foundation gr
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‘Everything? You thought she was
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singers are?’ ‘Too many, my fri
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39 The Gates Foundation’s head of
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Shailesh gasped. He covered his mou
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40 'No Indian singer here. I’m so
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vegetables, arrived on our table. I
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around Pylos. I used to live here e
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41 'I'm so ashamed, I can’t even
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‘Thank you, Madhav. I look forwar
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42 Of course, my visit to Union Squ
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‘I actually have to go home.’ T
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43 'Surprise!’ A crowd of people
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Saturday and Sunday. Each table had
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whispered to Shailesh, making up wh
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Where can I get a cab?’ 'Want one
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it said. ‘C’mon, Madhav. Be ama
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You're beautiful, it's true.' The b
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‘Sorry, I left because I got scar
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She unzipped a side zipper and step
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‘Tourists spend a day with our ki
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Table of Contents girlfriend My pho
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