The sun shone brightly but there was enough shade over their heads. There was greenery all around and a reflection of it could be seen on Hina’s face. Asrar held her hands and said, ‘The thought of staying away from you for such a long time makes me feel bad.’

‘Don’t think too much, you won’t feel bad.’ Hina smiled.

‘Who has control over his thoughts?’ Asrar said.

‘The control does not work in the jungle,’ Hina said as she laughed.

She was trying to lift Asrar’s mood.

They kept talking and it relaxed them.

They came out of the National Park at around 3 p.m. They proceeded towards the Borivali station and then boarded a train to Bandra. They took a rickshaw from the Bandra station for the Bandstand. In the long list of Mumbai’s beaches, the Bandstand was a popular one. Around this beach were bungalows of film celebrities. Rough, black rocks were spread across the beach. The rocks were of various shapes and sizes and many couples sat in their shade, expressing their love without saying a word. Vidhi had once explained to Hina that the tongue is an essential instrument to communicate what the heart feels. She had said that it was foolish to use the tongue only for eating food. The openness with which Vidhi had shared her sexual encounters and her love stories had initially scared Hina, but they now seemed to give her courage and made her comfortable about those things as well as removed her fears and doubts.

Asrar and Hina looked at each other after seeing the sights at the Bandstand. They smiled. There were a thousand things in that smile, and both were aware of it. Asrar held Hina’s hand. They crossed the rocks and proceeded towards the sea. While crossing the rocks, they saw many couples kissing each other in the shadow of the rocks. They moved ahead. An adolescent couple was making out near a rock. The whole scene was so ‘unclothed’ that Hina was astonished. She looked at Asrar. Asrar pressed her hand and gestured to her to remain quiet. They walked for a while and then sat on a rock. They turned and saw a huge skyscraper staring at the sea with pride. It was as if the other buildings around were a part of a background to that scene. The sunrays were playing hide and seek with the glass on those buildings.

They sat there till sunset. They repeatedly expressed remorse and grief on the fact that they would not be able to meet for a long time. Their passion led them to kiss, touch each other’s lips with their fingers and feel the warmth of love in the eyes. When they got up, many other couples were also getting up and walking towards the road. Their faces shone with the colours of bliss that had been evoked by meeting the beloved. Hina noticed that the same couple who had astonished her a while back was walking in front of them. That girl who had removed one side of her salwar to have sex under the open sky. She was now walking in a burqa. Hina had recognized the couple because of the boy’s shirt. Hina’s shock knew no bounds. She did not know what to make of it. She stayed silent.