Delhi

The next year was spent in relative tranquillity in Saraya. I gave my Intermediate exam privately and when talk about choosing a college began, I felt complete panic at the idea and refused to even think about going. As a result of this unreasonable phobia I remain till today, supposedly unlearned and unqualified for all intents and purposes.

My aunt Kiran whom I affectionately call Kay, lived in Delhi , and it was decided that I would go stay with her for a few months until I decided what I wanted to do with my life. I landed on her doorstep, waif like and lost and she immediately took me under her wing.

The first stop was the beauty parlour where I had never been before. I was  given a cotton  gown to wear and then firmly ensconced in a chair, where Mr V was told to give me a head massage followed by a hair cut. He began to do the needful, and then whilst kneading my shoulders, suddenly  reached down and whipped his hands much lower than he should have. I glanced in the mirror expecting to see an evil glint in his eye, but was only met with a stony blank stare. I presumed then that the touching of taboo places was part of the 'maalish', so stared blankly back at him, as ever so often he ventured downward for a quick swipe. Once we got home I told Kay that I never wanted another head massage because I was uncomfortable with strange men touching certain body parts. She was furious and exclaimed that it was definitely not part of the deal and I should have shrieked blue murder. I told her sheepishly that I did not want to appear like a village idiot so had held my tongue.

Darling Kay was my ideal in those days and I wanted to be just like her. I tried to dress, talk and conduct myself like her, whether I was comfortable in that avatar or not. I tried hash and opium and  puked violently after every session, so these social drugs were avoided. In fact I was lucky enough to react badly to every thing I experimented with, so never ever got addicted to the more dangerous and heavy stuff, unlike so many of my less fortunate peers.

My parents decided that I should make a trip to Mauritius to spend time with very close and dear family friends - Uncle G and Aunty S. Their son SK, whom I had known all my life, was in Delhi at the time and was supposed to put me on the flight from Delhi to Bombay, from where I was to catch the connecting flight to Mauritius. Tickets had been bought and all arrangements made, but en route to the airport he began to lecture me on how I was expected to behave while I stayed with his parents - no bad language, no freaky clothes, no smoking. I decided on the spot that I did not want to go on this trip at all, and told SK to drive me back to my aunt's place immediately. I refused to listen to any reasonable argument put forth by the poor man and defiantly landed back on Kay's doorstep a couple of hours after I had left, while poor Uncle G waited at the Mauritius airport and my parents tore out their hair in frustration at my unreasonable and impulsive behaviour.

I stayed on in Delhi for a few years after moving out of Kay's flat and finding  accommodation of my own. I enrolled in the secretarial course at the YWCA which bored me so I left half way through. I worked for a while at Jean Junction in Connaught Place, which was a hep and happening place back in the day, but got fed up there as well and quit in a few months.
Days were spent hanging out at The Cellar and nights were spent dancing at Wheels in the Ambassador Hotel.  "The Exorcist" and "Omen" were released and this genre of movies were a new experience for die hard horror fans like me. Money was saved to buy records - Saturday Night Fever, Fleetwood Mac and Giorgio Moroder's From Here to Eternity were the hits of the day while Donna Summer's Love to Love you Baby made hearts beat faster. CP was where one wiled away time and Nirula's was THE joint where one ate. I had a good looking boyfriend from Jalandhar who would drive up to Delhi most weekends in his red Mercedes and life was great.
But knowing my penchant for misfortune it was not long before trouble found me again.