half-girlfriend-chetan-bhagat

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‘You're beautiful, it’s true.' I just kept looking at her. What all you made me go through, Riya Somani, my eyes said. I’m sorry, her eyes said to me. A tear ran down her cheek. Mine too. I thought I would have so much to say to her when I finally met her. I had mentally rehearsed it many times. I would be angry at first. I would shout, tell her how much she had put me through. I would then tell her what she meant to me. How I was not that jerk, Rohan. Or that others may have let her down, but I wouldn’t. And that my mother could only be happy if I was. I had my speech all planned. However, neither of us said a word. We just looked at each other and cried, and cried. After some time she stepped forward. That is all Riya Somani does. She gives you a little clue she is ready. You just need to be alert enough to pick it up. I opened my arms. They shook as she came closer. I took her in my arms. ‘I... I’m sorry...’ she said. ‘Shh,’ I said. ‘Remember you placed a condition last time? No questions asked twice. I have one now.’ ‘What?’ she said in the softest whisper. 'No questions at all. In fact, if possible, no words.’ She buried her face in my chest. I lifted her chin. ‘Riya Somani, I love you. Always have. Always will. Please, never, ever leave me.’ She shook her head and said,‘l won’t...I can’t...’ I continued,‘Shh... Because next time I will find you again and kill you.’ She smiled and cried at the same time Some of the crowd cheered, even though they were confused about what was going on. The pianist ended the song. The restaurant staff switched on the concert room lights. People began to make their way out. I continued to hold her.
‘Sorry, I left because I got scared... ’ she said. ‘I know.’ ‘But how did you...?’ she said. ‘I said, no questions.’ ‘Just one last one.’ ‘What?’ ‘Why is your shirt so wet and cold?’ she said. I laughed. ‘What?’ she said. ‘Nothing.’
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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
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‘We are a poor school. We don’t
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20 'Speech?’ my mother said. 'In
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‘So what do I do?’ ‘You work
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hotel called Nest, provided I didn'
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‘I’m Madhav,’ I said. ‘All
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22 I returned to Dumraon after my P
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I looked around. I wondered if I sh
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lobby, my eyes fixed on the entranc
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23 We sat at a corner table and had
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‘Nestle. I am in sales, for their
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‘What?’ ‘Ask me things. I wil
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famine. I bought the two-rupee tick
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‘All the time.You should come som
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8. Calling call centres and choosin
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‘All we have for peace in this ci
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choosing my words with care, afraid
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inaugurated her hot plate and utens
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There isn’t much to see in Dumrao
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27 Savitri tai served us daal and s
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‘Sometimes.’ My mother didn’t
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My mother did not respond. Riya too
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28 'I have a confession to make,’
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‘Can we please not do all this ot
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the quality of the kiss, or what di
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29 'So this is the famous Dumraon R
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I moved to class IV and then to cla
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‘You are so sweet. There is no ne
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Riya had not reacted much to her fa
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‘You want to sleep here?’ No an
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indignant. Samantha had called me o
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the royal family,’ Samantha said.
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‘And in this backward Bihar is th
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Students took over the stage again.
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talk later, okay? I need to rush. I
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‘Many people are coming home for
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I asked you to stay back last night
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‘Where is that divorcee friend of
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‘Sure, sir. Sir, I will move her
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notice period.' ‘When did she res
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‘Just take them,’ I said in a f
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the gifts that arrived from London
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‘I am not comparing anything. I w
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silence. So I walked up to the beds
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'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
Page 241 and 242: I reached the southeast corner of t
Page 243 and 244: 38 You bagged a Gates Foundation gr
Page 245 and 246: ‘Everything? You thought she was
Page 247 and 248: singers are?’ ‘Too many, my fri
Page 249 and 250: 39 The Gates Foundation’s head of
Page 251 and 252: Shailesh gasped. He covered his mou
Page 253 and 254: 40 'No Indian singer here. I’m so
Page 255 and 256: vegetables, arrived on our table. I
Page 257 and 258: around Pylos. I used to live here e
Page 259 and 260: 41 'I'm so ashamed, I can’t even
Page 261 and 262: ‘Thank you, Madhav. I look forwar
Page 263 and 264: 42 Of course, my visit to Union Squ
Page 265 and 266: ‘I actually have to go home.’ T
Page 267 and 268: 43 'Surprise!’ A crowd of people
Page 269 and 270: Saturday and Sunday. Each table had
Page 271 and 272: whispered to Shailesh, making up wh
Page 273 and 274: Where can I get a cab?’ 'Want one
Page 275 and 276: it said. ‘C’mon, Madhav. Be ama
Page 277: You're beautiful, it's true.' The b
Page 281 and 282: She unzipped a side zipper and step
Page 283 and 284: ‘Tourists spend a day with our ki
Page 285: Table of Contents girlfriend My pho
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