“Chips and cold drinks, right?”

“Yeah. Someone was supposed to come with the food, न?”

“A was supposed to. I posted on the group.”

“I wasn’t. No one told me.”

“Come on. I posted on the group.”

“You know मेरा net बंद रहता है । Couldn’t you have just called?”

“Why don’t you take a better network? You face this problem every time you are back home.”

“Why should I? This works fine at my place.”

“पर यहाँ तो नहीं चलता न?”

“हम यहाँ नहीं रहते न ।”

“Eh, leave the network. B भाई is getting angry. What about food?”

“भाई गुस्सा हो भाई? खाना लाओ बे कोई ।”

“गुस्सा नहीं होंगे? We meet after such a long time and there’s no food.”

“Party तो बनता है भाई ।”

“हाँ भाई, party तो बनता है ।”

“भाई बोल दिया न, बस । Party तो बनता है ।”

“हाँ । Network-Network बंद कर और  जा, कुछ ले के आ ।”

“हाँ । Which chips?”

“कुछ भी ।”

“एक brand बोल । I don’t want a fight later on.”

“Whatever, bro. No one will say anything.”

“हाँ, bring whatever you like. Chips and some cold drinks.”

“हम अकेले नहीं जा रहे । Someone come with me.”

“I will come. I have to recharge my number. चल ।”

“भाई, मेरा भी thirty का recharge करवा दे न ।”

“कौन वाला number?”

“The main one itself.”

“ठीक है ।”

“D, हो गया? चल जल्दी ।”

“Close the door behind you.”

“और जल्दी आएगा ।”

“जा खुद ले आ ।”

“अबे ये C को क्या हुआ ? ”

“हाँ बे । सुबह से मुंह फुला के बैठा है ।”

“What happened भाई ?”

“Nothing much. Just like that.”

“बोल न । भाई लोग को नहीं बताएगा? ”

“अब girlfriend हो गई है भाई की,  भाई । भाई लोग को कौन पूछता है ।”

“What happened? बोल न”

“Girlfriend से झगड़ा हुआ होगा ।”

“नहीं भाई । वैसा कुछ नहीं हुआ ।”

“तो क्या हुआ? बोल ।”

“Nothing much, भाई । I was transferred from P to Q. I took a room in Q last week. Yesterday, landlord को पता चल गया कि हम X हैं । बोल दिया लौट के आना तो घर खाली कर देना ।”

“सही । Welcome to the club, bro.”

“मेरा पहला है भाई । So far, I had just heard of such things happening.”

“तेरे साथ भी हो गया? Where the hell is this place Q? I haven’t even heard of it.”

“हमने भी नहीं सुना था भाई । It’s pretty far from P and a very small town.”

“चलो, सही है । अभी you have a lot left to see. Best of luck.”

“Is there no X area there?”

“है । अब वहीं घर लेंगे । I had never thought I won’t get a house because I am an X.”

“Why were you even looking for a house in a Y area?”

“Yeah, don’t even try that. P में political mobilisation शुरू हो गया है । There has already been a riot in that state. Stay in X areas.”

“वैसे अच्छा हुआ । Now that it has happened to someone among us, I at least feel sure कि real में भी होता है ।”

“F के साथ भी तो हुआ था, वो भी यहीं R में । His family went to buy a house in a posh Y area but no one gave them a place there. They had to buy one in an X area after much wastage of time. Think of it, Uncle is a lawyer and Aunty principal हैं ।”

“F के साथ हुआ था? I didn’t know of this, भाई ।”

“Yeah, neither did I.”

“It happened. He himself told me. In fact, I have heard of this happening with a lot of people. The first person close to me was my colleague. This too happened here itself – in R. Another person I know who was a retired Navy Captain couldn’t get a house, too.”

“हम तो सोच चुके हैं । घर लेंगे X area में no matter how dirty or underdeveloped it is.”

“भाई, but सोचा नहीं था कि मेरे साथ भी होगा ।”

“Bro, ज़्यादा frustrate नहीं होने का । जब problem and stress होता है then there’s just one thing that will cheer you up – porn.”

“भाई, already दो बार वो room में masturbate कर चुके हैं ।”

“सही । लड़का दो क़दम आगे निकल गया ।”

“बढ़ाना होगा । जब घर छोड़ना ही है तो पूरा enjoy कर के छोड़ेंगे ।”

“भाग बे । अबे, जा और कुछ खाने को ले के आ ।”

“हाँ, जा रहे हैं ।”

“Chips and cold drinks, right?”