"You guys are simply obsessed with this festival, no?" I poked Kunal, who was the most excited of the lot. 

I didn't know why he would start jumping around just at the mention of Durga Puja. For God's sake, the festival had concluded just weeks back. Even Diwali was gone, yet Kunal still wasn't out of his 'Pujo Phase.'

In my entire twenty-five years, I had never seen any community obsessed with their festivals the way Bengalis were with Durga Puja. They seemed to be eternally in their 'Pujo Phase' mood. This collective high they lived in, all in the name of festive fever, sometimes became too much to digest. At least for me.

Back in Delhi, too, the festival was celebrated way bigger than any other. I had witnessed Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai, also Christmas in London, and Chinese New Year in Beijing being celebrated with much pomp, still it couldn't match the Bengalis.

"It is a very important part of our culture, Ved," Shreetama di reminded while scribbling in her notepad. "Should I also add that it is your other half as well?"

I rolled my eyes. Of course, she was, as usual, on point.

"Absolutely, moreover, we are just – "

"Three hundred and fifty days away!" I answered on Kunal's behalf with a mock smile.

"Approximately!" Tuhin shrugged, sipping a weird-smelling tea, which he insisted on making himself. Good! I would never touch something as horrible as that. It looked more milk than tea. I had tasted once, and that was enough to clog all my senses.

"Concentrate, Ved, it is the 75th anniversary of the club, next year the celebration will be monumental," Moubani excitedly added. Though I didn't quite understand if that was excitement or sarcasm. She usually flipped between opposites, and half of the time, her words went over my head. Huh! Gen Z!

"Why don't I see this excitement when you are solving equations?" I narrowed my eyes at her, and she started sulking.

"Well, she is not wrong," Shreetama di chuckled, "Pulling up a festival of that scale is huge, and now that our idol this year was invited for the annual Red Road carnival, the next year's pressure is double."

"Sometimes it is good to take things seriously even though it doesn't churn money."

That fucking witch! She just had to comment, and at the precise moment!

"Listen, even though I am relatively new here and these guys – " instead of looking at her, I pointed my accusing glare at Tuhin and Kunal, " – roped me in, I didn't back out." I glared at Shumi.

"OKAY! Truce!" Shreetama di quickly intervened before Shumi could launch another verbal attack, but she was too fast.

"Really, then where are the quotes?" She questioned, throwing her sharp, piercing gaze at me.

My jaw clenched. 

Apparently, a club as famous as the neighbourhood's started their preparations way ahead. So duties were assigned right after Diwali, and Shreetama di's team was taking care of the Theme and Cultural programmes. While everyone had done their homework after the previous wrap-up meetings, I was the only one who didn't.

"You had one job and you still failed!" Shumi shrugged, looking away. I narrowed my eyes at her, mentally preparing a counter reply, knowing very well that she was right, but I would be damned if I admitted.

"Yeah, Ved! Concentrate! How hard is it to get a quotation from glass manufacturers? You own a fucking architectural firm, you could have got the quotes within seconds!" Kunal joined in to play along. I swear he was having a field day watching me speechless in front of my nemesis. 

"I'll get it done tomorrow," I gave up, but didn't miss the satisfied glint in Shumi's eyes. You wait till I get back to you for this!

"Better," Shreetama di gave me a curt nod and turned towards Moubani, "Did you finalise the band? I hope you and your bunch of equally crazy friends do not come up with those peculiar Western beats."

"We won't!" Moubani heavily protested.

"Di, let her be, I am sure, they will do their best," Shumi smiled, embracing Mou in a side hug.

See, what did I said? She only hates me.

"Done then! We are mostly sorted; hopefully, by the next committee meeting, we will remain a step ahead. Oh, by the way, Shumi, are you sure the aunties will be able to pull off Macbeth?"

"I am confident!" Shumi flashed her usual chirpy smile, which I simply ignored.

"Good," Shreetama di nodded and went back to taking notes. "Also, now that we are on track with the Puja preparations, can we discuss the New Year's Eve Party?"

"Oh, give me a break!" I groaned, "How many celebrations do you have every year?"

"YES, PLEASE!" Tuhin instantly backed me up, or else I had reached my limits and was just a tiny step away from exploding! "Let the Neogi's handle Christmas and New Year, Shreetama di, we have our hands full, besides, I am hungry, can we please eat?" he whined, tapping his foot on my newly bought Kashmiri carpet.

Shreetama di sighed. "Alright, that's all for today," She said, finally closing her notebook.

"Uh! Thank god!" That was a collective relief from Kunal, Tuhin and I. 

"Great! I'll take my leave then –" 

"And what will I do with the Korean takeout? Throw them away?"

Shumi had stood up to leave, but I suddenly found myself interrupting her abruptly. Not that I regretted. 

Shumi's fingers rolled into a fist; I saw her tightly gripping her phone and debating whether to throw it at my head or on the ground.

"Shumi, please, sit down," Shreetama di held Shumi's hand and pulled her back on the sofa. "We know you don't like wasting food, and among us, you are the only one who loves Korean. So I insist, have dinner with us."

"Hey, I like Korean as well!" Mou chimed in, but Kunal glared at her to remain quiet.

What was that for? Anyway, I hardly understood their sign language. While I appreciated how easily they had welcomed me into their inner circle, I didn't get why they were always so cautious around me. I wouldn't deny, this subtle indifference did bother me sometimes.

"I'll get the plates." I walked straight to the kitchen, refusing to listen to anything more that annoying witch had to say or tickle my curiosity regarding their behaviour. 

"You ordered Korean for her?" Tuhin appeared behind me, wriggling his brows.

"After the scene she created last time at my housewarming party, I decided to play safe!" I swear that was the only reason. 

I took out the plates from the lower shelf and handed them to Tuhin. I knew they liked home-cooked food, and I loved cooking, so it was my way of appreciating their presence. Well, I did make efforts to be inclusive, I wasn't evil, but the rest of the colony people tested my patience far too often.

"But you could have prepared anything else, I mean, Shumi hates Italian, but she is okay with other cuisines, so why Korean?" Tuhin smirked.

"You think she will eat anything I cook!" I raised a brow and heated the dishes. 

"Well, she might..." he trailed off, smirking. 

I know he was deliberately raising the topic simply to get on my nerves.

"Tuhin! Don't," I warned, shoving the cutlery into his left hand.

"Hhhmm, the ice is melting...." he hummed, turning in his toes and sauntering out of the kitchen, balancing the plates and cutlery. 

"TUHIN! Come back here, you idiot!" I whisper-yelled, and he was within earshot but didn't pay a heed.

No! This ice wasn't going to melt! I was determined.

There's no fucking way I would call a truce against that annoying witch. She was lucky that I even tolerated her in my home because of the others.

I had come to Kolkata for business purposes only, and a guy like me, who hardly made friends, had hit it off with the four of them since the first week of my arrival. I surely wasn't going to throw away that bond only because of one arrogant girl.

I agree it took a lot of effort from Shreetama di, Mou, Kunal and Tuhin to walk past my barriers, but they were the ones I had started to value. 

They were all super lazy, yet I couldn't stay away from them thanks to their helpful and simple nature. Though a bit cautious around me, they had turned out to be genuinely warm and delightful company to engage with.

At least they weren't complex like my Delhi circle.

Moreover, I kept moving most of the time due to my education and the hunger for remaining on top in academics, so maybe that's why I never had long-term friends.

Not entirely true!

I sucked at the friendship front. The few I connected with made their own quiet efforts to stay in my life, even though my reciprocation skills were limited. Surprisingly, the two or three that stayed were Bengalis as well.

Naveen Andrews, no, not the actor, a photographer born to a Bengali father and British mother. He was my constant during my days in London since we did our graduation and master's from the same university, and the only other friend I had in India who was also from Kolkata but based out of Delhi was Shomak.

A documentary filmmaker, he understood me well, not to become too friendly. He was a no-shit guy, professional as hell and extremely focused. I didn't get along with people easily, but Shomak was a sorted person.

We met at the Asian Documentary Film Festival in Seoul, which I attended because of Naveen, and we remained in touch. Shomak's cinematographer friend Ragnik was Naveen's acquaintance, so whenever we were in the same cities, we met and caught up.

Apart from Naveen, Shomak and Ragnik, these four people who kind of came blasting into my life had made me believe that with the right kind of companion, I can be friendly as well. Though Shumi was quick to remind why I kept my doors closed.

Annoying witch!

The dinner thankfully went on smoothly without Shumi and I picking up yet another fight.

"Did you try hiring from the contacts I gave you?" Kunal asked, finishing off the pasta.

"I did, Kunal, they all ran away within half an hour!" I shrugged, concentrating back on my plate. The conversation had shifted to the condition of my apartment again. It had become extremely difficult to hire help, and I could not understand what was the problem.

"Are there spiders?" Mou enquired, looking around. She had arachnophobia, and even a tiny eight-legged harmless crawlers could scare the shit out of her.

"Mou, the apartment was shut for ten years, of course, there are spiders!" Tuhin teased, pointing at the other two closed rooms that I hadn't explored yet. Mou immediately cringed, lifting her legs on the sofa.

"Why do you need help? It is just three rooms, surely you can do it yourself," Shumi huffed. Needless to say, my blood was boiling, and I tried to think of 101 ideas to simply kill her.

"Setting up a business is not like exam preparation or a college project. It takes most of your time!" I countered by maintaining my restraint as much as possible, "Besides, not that I didn't try."

"That is a horrible excuse and clearly shows you have zero skills in time management," Shumi threw at me, walking to the kitchen and putting the used plates in the dishwasher. While I was right there, she didn't even wait to check with me before switching on the machine.

How the fuck did she know where things were placed in this flat?

"Not again, you two!" Mou groaned. "I'll ask my mother to check with our house help if she can spare some time, otherwise she remains busier than any other working woman in our colony!"

I clenched my jaw and refused, "Don't bother! I tried speaking with her, she came and said my flat looks too much work, and she doesn't have time!"

Throwing one last sympathetic glance at me, they gave up.

I couldn't complain, for they had even tried to come together and help me out in their free time, but whenever we planned, it got cancelled. We tried during our previous committee meeting, but Shreetama di fell ill, so we had to shift the meeting to her home.

Hence, I was still at the same point with my flat where I was on day one. Complete Mess!

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