Chapter 3: Longings and Small Luxuries

Looking at the excited Priya, I suddenly understood.

All those hints, the way she’d watch me count money, her jealous sighs. It hit me that this wasn’t a sudden plan; she must have dreamed of it every time she borrowed my pen or eyed my branded shoes.

Not long ago, she borrowed money from me to buy milkshake and happened to see my seven-figure bank balance. She was so shocked, she counted it over and over again.

I still remembered her mouth forming a silent ‘wah’, her fingers trembling. She even texted her cousin, typing furiously, to check if it was real. I could picture her standing outside the mall window, eyes lingering on the display, then glancing at her own scuffed sandals.

“Rhea, how do you have so much money?”

She asked in a half-whisper, eyes darting like someone scared of being overheard by nosy aunties.

“My mother gives me fifty thousand rupees every month. After saving up, it just added up.”

The pride in my voice tasted bitter. I had rehearsed this line, but it never impressed anyone the way I hoped.

“Your mother… she’s so rich! What does she do?”

“She runs several companies.”

I tried to sound casual, but even the peon in the corridor seemed to stop and listen.

“Wow, that’s amazing. You’re so lucky,” Priya complained as she drank her milkshake. “My mother is just a housewife, so stingy. She only gives me fifteen rupees a day for lunch. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have to borrow money from you.”

Her tone was half-joking, but I could hear the sting. Fifteen rupees—a plate of vada pav, sometimes less. The comparison was stark, like the difference between a South Bombay flat and a chawl in Malad.

I listened quietly, swallowing as I stared at the milkshake in her hand.

Actually, I envied her too.

Because after I turned ten, I never had milkshake again, nor tasted the flavour of happiness.

I would have traded all my pocket money for her laughter, her mother’s gentle scolding, the aroma of halwa drifting from a small kitchen. But I never dared to say so aloud.