I'm a sucker for punishment...
"The peeper is out," said Neha. She was standing
on the balcony. Dev thought she looked beautiful, in her white T-shirt, against
the backdrop of the green and scarlet of the bougainvillea that cascaded down
from the top floor. It was Saturday evening.They would have to leave for a
party soon, but now, there was just enough time to savour the end of a
beautiful day. He picked up his glass of Pepsi joined her.
The peeper was the man who lived in the apartment across the
road. They didn't know his name, but he spent a lot of time on his balcony,
ostensibly looking at his roses - he did grow beautiful roses - but most of the
time, he was looking at their apartment, checking Neha out. At first, they
hadn't noticed it -they had moved into their apartment only three months
before, and the peeper wasn't the only one trying to get a look at the new couple
that had moved into the neighbourhood. There were the old women who counted the
boxes the movers brought in, the housewives who evaluated the furniture, the
watchmen who tried to strike up conversations with the movers and the men who
checked Neha out.
Men were always checking Neha out. It made Dev both proud
and a little apprehensive. He still wondered why she had chosen him. Things
settled down soon after. The old couple who lived on the first floor were
decent people. And since both Dev and Neha worked, the apartment was usually
empty, coming to life only at around 9 pm. But the peeper stayed interested. As
soon as their car swung into the lane, he would be out on the balcony. Sometimes
Dev and Neha considered drawing the curtains and shutting the glass doors that
led to the balcony, but it seemed silly to shut themselves in. "We're just
encouraging him to continue peeping, you know,"said Dev.
"Let’s give him some more encouragement," smiled
Neha. She went over to the balcony railing and bent over, leaning on it.
"Let's do it here, now," she said. Dev gaped. "You're crazy!"
he said.
She turned her head and gave Dev a long, slow wink.
"But in a good way," he said, tugging at his track pants. They put on
quite a good show, Dev thought to himself, as they got dressed for the party. It
was nearly 1 am when they returned. They were both pleasantly buzzed. They were
about to turn into their lane when Dev saw that it was completely blocked by
cars. There were people standing in small groups, talking in muted voices, in
front of their apartment. Dev and Neha got out of the car and went up to a group
near a Toyota that was parked in front of his gate. Subramanian, the old man
who lived in the ground floor apartment, was one of them. "What
happened," Dev asked. "Kumar Gowda passed away this evening,"
was the whispered reply. "Kumar Gowda?" asked Dev. "The
gentleman in 301 - the apartment right across the street to you? Heart attack,
I think. Happened this evening. His wife found him on the balcony, poor
woman." A driver moved the Toyota away from the gate. Dev and Neha walked
back to their car in silence. "Maybe we shouldn't have done it," said
Dev. "Maybe he shouldn't have looked," said Neha.