He increased the speed of the car considerably. But after a short while, he noticed something strange. The intersection he had just crossed reappeared in front of him as soon as he stopped at the red light. He was utterly bewildered.
His head began to spin when he realized that this was happening repeatedly. He would cross the signal, move ahead, but after covering a bit of distance, the same signal would appear again. He glanced around inside the car. It felt like some invisible force was following him, somehow stretching the road and delaying his arrival home.
Bhatanagar remembered what his boss used to say: whenever something strange happens and your mind stops functioning, eat something you love. It will satisfy your body and help your brain make a clear decision.
He pulled over to the side of the road. Right in front of him was "Champa Rabri Bhandar," open for business. Outside, on a large furnace, a boy was stirring thick, creamy rabri in a big iron pot.
Without hesitation, Bhatanagar ordered one and a half pavs of rabri. A second boy inside the shop was about to serve him some rabri from the glass cabinet, but the shop owner stopped him. The owner was experienced; he had noticed that this customer had arrived by car, not on foot or a rickshaw. He also sensed that the customer hadn’t inquired about the price and had promptly ordered a large amount. To the owner, this customer looked promising. He figured that if rabri were served with a bit of extra respect, he could easily charge him seventy rupees instead of fifty without any objection.
With this in mind, the owner said to the boy, “What are you doing, giving yesterday’s rabri to the gentleman? Serve him the fresh batch that’s being made right now.”
Bhatanagar preferred cold rabri, but he thought that since the owner was offering fresh rabri with such respect, he should try it hot. He smiled a little. The boy took his smile as eagerness for fresh rabri and began serving it from the pot.
Holding the dish of rabri in his hand, Bhatanagar hesitated for a moment. Should he eat it standing there or sit in the car and enjoy it leisurely? To make the right decision, he decided to taste a little first. He quickly tasted a few spoonfuls with a wooden spoon.
The rabri was delicious.
He decided to savor it at his leisure inside the car.
He reached into his pocket to pay. His face suddenly fell. His wallet wasn’t there.
How could this be? He thought for a moment. Then it hit him—of course! Whenever he took his briefcase to the office, he put the wallet inside it.
He hurried to retrieve the briefcase from the car, setting the dish of rabri on a table outside the shop. If he took the dish along, the owner might stop him since he hadn’t paid yet.
But as soon as Bhatanagar turned around, he was shocked. The car was gone.
— "Where did it go? Who took it? And how didn’t I hear anything?"
(To be continued...)
