Chapter 3 : CRAZY SHOPPING

Just a few minutes after the counsellors left, Mom suddenly turned toward me with a determined expression.

"Beta, chalo. Shopping karne chalte hain."

(Beta lets go for shopping.)

I blinked.

"Shopping?"

"Of course shopping! You are going to live in a hostel now!"

Before I could respond, she had already started listing things.

"Bag, laptop, phone, clothes, books, stationary, bedsheets, blanket, toiletries-"

"Mom."

"Yes?"

"I'm going to a hostel, not migrating to another country."

Mom ignored me completely.

Honestly, mothers have a special talent for hearing only what they want to hear.

Meanwhile, my sister Mahi had been silently listening to the entire conversation.

And suddenly I saw the look in her eyes.

The look.

The dangerous one.

Behete paani mein haath dhona.

(Taking advantage of a situation.)

"Mummyyyy," she said sweetly. "Didi ko uss wale mall le chalte hain na?"

I immediately narrowed my eyes.

That girl was planning something.

Mom, however, nodded enthusiastically.

"Good idea."

Traitor.

Dad sat on the sofa with his usual neutral expression.

Sometimes I genuinely wondered whether the man experienced emotions or not.

Like-

Did he feel happiness?

Sadness?

Excitement?

Or was he secretly a robot?

Mom disappeared to get ready.

I thought she was coming with us.

Turns out she wasn't.

Because apparently she had a kitty party to attend.

Of course.

Now I finally understood why she had taken a leave from work.

The conspiracy had been exposed.

So Mahi and I left for the mall instead.

It took around thirty-five minutes to reach.

The moment we entered, my phone started exploding with messages.

Mom.

Obviously.

She had sent a shopping list longer than some research papers.

SOAP. PERFUME. LAPTOP. CLOTHES. BEDSHEETS. NOTEBOOKS. BUCKET.

Wait.

A bucket?

Mom really thought I was opening a new household.

Anyways.

Our first stop was Pantaloons.

I looked around.

Then looked around again.

And concluded:

"Nope."

Nothing caught my attention.

Meanwhile Mahi had somehow disappeared.

When I found her, she was standing in front of a mirror holding five different tops.

"How?"

"Wdym how?"

"We entered three minutes ago."

"Talent."

Fair enough.

Our next stop was Lifestyle.

There I finally managed to find a couple of nice jeans.

Nothing too fancy.

Just something comfortable.

Hostel life wasn't exactly a fashion show.

At least that's what I thought.

Mahi clearly disagreed.

That girl was entering changing rooms with three outfits and coming out with ten.

At one point I gave up following her.

I called Dad instead.

"Dad?"

"Hm?"

"What's the shopping budget?"

There was a pause.

Then he said,

"Beta, you've made us proud. Buy whatever you want."

I smiled.

Aww.

That was sweet.

Then he added,

"Try to keep it under fifteen thousand."

And there it was.

The finance department had entered the chat.

"Okay."

"That's only for clothes."

"Oh."

"For the laptop, I'll come myself."

That sounded about right.

My father trusted absolutely nobody when it came to electronics.

Not the salesman.

Not the internet.

Not even me.

Only himself.

A few minutes later I found Mahi holding an entire mountain of clothes.

"Mahi."

"Hm?"

"You know you can't buy all of those."

She smirked.

"Why?"

"Because there's a budget."

"Yeah."

"Fifteen thousand."

I froze.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

I turned toward her.

"How do you know that?"

She grinned.

"Oh, Didi."

Then she shook her head dramatically.

"You're still so naive."

I stared.

"I'm seven years younger than you and I still know everything."

Excuse me?

"College mein survive kaise karogi?"

(How will you survive in college?)

The audacity.

The disrespect.

The confidence.

I immediately straightened.

"Mahi, don't tell me how to survive. I know exactly what I'm doing."

She started making faces.

Honestly, she was so annoying.

But since we were standing in the middle of a crowded mall and I wasn't interested in creating a public spectacle, I took a deep breath.

"Fine."

I shrugged.

"I'm only trying to save your money."

That worked.

Immediately she put half the clothes back.

Smart choice.

After billing, our total came to around three thousand rupees.

A miracle, honestly.

Then we headed to Zudio.

And finally found some really cute outfits.

A crop top.

Baggy jeans.

A denim jacket.

A few casual tops.

Things that actually felt like me.

After that came footwear shopping.

Bata.

Nike.

A few more stores.

Mahi bought heels.

Because apparently she was preparing for the Met Gala.

I bought a pair of Nike sneakers instead.

Way more practical.

By now our shopping bill had climbed to nearly eleven thousand.

And my legs were considering filing a legal complaint.

At around three o'clock, we finally surrendered and headed to the food court.

I ordered garlic noodles.

Because noodles are love.

Noodles are life.

Mahi ordered pasta.

Because Italian food was basically her religion.

We sat there eating and talking.

For once, we weren't arguing.

Which was honestly suspicious.

After finishing lunch, we moved on to the most important course.

Dessert.

Because let's be real.

A meal without dessert feels incomplete.

We ended up getting vanilla shakes.

And yes.

They were totally worth it.

By four o'clock, Dad arrived.

Right on time.

No greeting.

No small talk.

Straight to the laptop section.

"My daughter is going to IIT Bombay," he announced.

"We're buying the best laptop possible."

The salesman looked delighted.

Dad looked dangerous.

For the next forty-five minutes he compared specifications like he was evaluating national security equipment.

RAM.

Processor.

Battery.

Storage.

At one point I was convinced he knew more than the employees.

Finally, after extensive investigation, approval was granted.

The laptop was purchased.

World peace was restored.

While Mahi had been busy trying to bankrupt our family earlier, I had secretly bought a few things too.

A lipstick for Mom.

A dress.

A watch.

A suit and a couple of kurtas for Dad.

Little gifts.

Nothing extravagant.

Just something to thank them.

Because none of this would've been possible without them.

As evening approached, we picked up the remaining essentials and headed home.

The moment we entered, Mom looked exhausted after her kitty party.

Dad disappeared into another meeting.

The cook had already made dinner.

But honestly?

Neither Mahi nor I could eat another bite.

We were still full from lunch.

So we dumped all our shopping bags in my room and collapsed onto our beds.

As sleep slowly took over, my eyes drifted toward the new suitcase standing in the corner.

For the first time, something hit me.

Those weren't just shopping bags.

Those were preparations.

For leaving home.

For IIT Bombay.

For a brand-new life.

And suddenly...

The excitement felt a little scary too.

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