Lost and Found

Hair Wash — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 10:33:03 +0000

There will always be books that hint at anarchy and guilty promise. And there are the kinds which can barely hold the violence inside them. And then there are the ones that you wouldn’t want to be anywhere near. Go ahead, you know you want to. Take a quick short breath. And check if there’s no one watching in that aisle that you find yourself in. Drag the stool close to the shelf . Get up and place your right index finger (or left, if you don’t have one) onto the top of the book and pull it downwards so that it tips over to an angle. and you can easily slide it out. Never try to pull and drag a book out of a shelf. Cardinal rule #1. Especially for this one. And now that you’ve got it, the real easy part is done. Do NOT under any circumstances lose control. You should pretend its just another book. Yeah, give it a name. Just another book. 101 Hats? Sure. Why not?
Go back to the chair you were sitting at. Keep this one aside. Casually. Continue reading the one you were with earlier. A Woody Allen? But why? Keep your eyes on the page. Do NOT steal a glance. Slowly raise one hand above the table and use the fist to rest your head. Rest your left hand on 101 Hats, so that no one can see the title. Excellent. Another boy engrossed in a book. At this juncture, it is crucial to go over the 3 steps left. But don’t think too much. Should I slide the book out to under my notes, and then drop them together into the bag? Or should I drop the book earlier? Should i slide it really slowly so that no one sees any visual movement. Dash it. Exactly. Do NOT under any circumstances remove the book from the building. Now. Slide the book from your left to rest right under your nose. Carefully open it and locate the correct page. Your hands will become sweaty at this point, and there’ll be something close to an anxiety attack. But ride it. Scan through the list of names and dates. Columns and Rows. Names in blue ink and dates in red. You start from the top. First issue, August 19, 1948. You scroll faster down the years. Issued thrice in ’58. You realize, no one issued it during the beatles years. Next entry is 1970. Crazy year. Beatles broke up. Jimi died. So did Janis. I hate that year Man!.

You reach the end of the list to an entry for Tuesday, 13th June, exactly a month back from today, and then you see that name. A measured Scrawl. A good clean convent school handwriting. Someone who did cursive writing at home. Or perhaps, studied architecture. You go over the name again. 12 letters. 3 vowels. Just like yours.

You got her name. And for now, that will do.