A Sum of Some Things

The floor was wedded to the patch of morning sunshine. The windows or curtains could never be an impediment. It came in softly, and stayed like smoke, refusing to leave even when you could hardly trace its many moves in the air dust anymore. The occasion was chaired, on that point of the floor, by the majesty of the local priest and his command over sundry items off the list. He sits there, often times, choosing to explain certain sections of the rituals, while at most, lost in his own trance of religious jargon. Beside him, an array of arrangements sat, lapping up the wedded sunshine. Forty minutes here and I can make it in the evening to the shop. 

Far in the corner of the room, Anindya looked deep his laptop screen, unaware of all such things as are rituals. The only reason that could have called for his presence was a change in setting. He tried solving the equation inside his classroom, in the library, at home in his room, in the park and even at Vikram's. This morning as he sat at it again, his mother warned him of the many relatives coming in and a few remarks about his scholarship issue. He earned sitting at home, off his research in Mathematics. With the intuitiveness of a detective, he kept looking into the sixth line of the equation. It felt as if the solution lay there. He was certain. Till his eye caught the thought of the priest. You aren't even interested, are you?

His phone vibrated. Vikram. Son of a bitch, must have cracked it! He cancelled the call and sent him a text, "Calling in a while. Sms if urgent."

"Solved" came the expected reply.

A surge of restlessness overcame him and he could not wait to get out. Putting back his reassurance into a rucksack, he left without an explanation. Vikram's house smelled of desi ghee even before he entered it. They must have gone for the lungar. Raas-purnima, Guru Nanak. Vikram opened the door and smiled at him. "Terrace?"

"Later. How did you solve it?" as Anindya made his way into the apartment.

Vikram deliberately delayed, "Juice? Tea? Coffee? Beer?" It was rare to be on the winner's side, and he was enjoying each luscious second. Anindya went inside the kitchen and set up two cups for coffee. His silence threatened Vikram and he rushed in to fetch his laptop. The solution, indeed, was lurking in the sixth line. As they entered the enchanting world of equations, Anindya recalled the wedded sun-spot of his living room. The priest, his world, the array of things and the many relatives -- they took their place in the laptop screen. The lines up to the sixth filled up with the faces. The Maths of it gave way to the things left somewhere behind.

Even as Vikram and he laughed out the simplicity of stupidity, Anindya's mind filled up with the morning of his home. He wished to return and participate in the puja, have the sweets, and greet the guests. He did none of those. Together with Vikram, he planned to apply for a Post-Doctoral thesis instead. Some sums were solved differently.