Inji and her story

A true story that never happened.

"Mom, I'm leaving for work; and will be late".Before her mom could react, Inji had galloped down the stairs of her fourth floor apartment. You wouldn't call her a workaholic, but a talkaholic or a eataholic.A day in the life of Inji would revolve around gossip, food, sleep and little or no work. When the day began, she thought that this would be one of her stereotyped days.. But!
Inji was 22, a thin, tall young girl who liked wearing heels the shape of stilettoes. Her height would give any man an inferiority complex and so would, her attitude. She was this -in your face- kind of a girl, who had an answer to every question, and if not, She had a question for every answer. Inji vroomed away on her scooterette, a bright red machine, which rarely saw speeds of less than fifty.
The speedometer was her adrenaline rush in the morning and even today, barely ten minutes after leaving her house, she had screeched into her office parking space.
People at the workplace greeted her with loud hellos, something which was commonplace. Everything around Inji had to be loud and noisy. And there was a special reason for the noise too. It was her birthday today. Inji had loads of sweets to be given off to her folks at work. This was her fun day.After a whole day of answering the phone, and the cake smearing ceremony- Inji decided to leave for the day .
But the day had not ended for her, she was to meet her other friends whom she had promised for dinner.
The dinner was just as she had planned.Music playing in the background, sumptuous food and an even better company. It was just getting better.Star sign talk was the order of the day, it seemed. "Injo!, But whatever you say, you are not a Scorpion - I mean, the characteristics do not match", said Arpita. "Oh, yeah Madam Linda Goodman you are the original" That was Shaurya, with a sarcastic smile. "That was rude, Shaurya, I do not get into the Schumachers and the Alonsos, Do I?" "Hey, Hey, Hey- Why are we fighting" interrupted Inji. "And such a trivial topic at that!"
"This isn't trivial Injo!, Seriously, you dont fit the part - You should have been a Libran, everything about you is so so Libran!". But one thing was certain, nobody could dispute the fact that after Linda Goodman and her shadow, if it was anyone closer to the signs - it was Arpita Chattopadhyay. A bookie to the core, and with a special inclination towards stars, tarots, numbers, palms. Her character analysis was immaculate. Inji smiled, "You are right, my birthday is actually on the 5th of October." There was deathly silence all around. Even the singer with his guitar on the stage paused, he was actually finding his next song. "Heehaaha", guffawed Inji. "Wait a minute, Jo - What is the 18th of November then"? "People, there was an incident that happened years back", said Inji, barely able to contain her chaotic laughter. "My school records show my birthday as the 5th of October, a definite mistake". Even the 200 pounder Arijit was now listening intently, having stopped slurping now. "What 's going on?, 5th October"? That voice was Tiara's, the detective in the group. She was not much of a reader, but the criminal psychology major had had too much of an effect on her. She loved the killer movies and forensics was one of her pet interests. "Let me explain" said Inji, who had now regained her composure."We had a goof-up, the birth certificate got exchanged with a certain Mr Pinto's daughter". And you all know the absent minded Mr Rasmus Pinto , my dad. He never checked the birth certificate until I was in the second grade". Stunned silence again. No one spoke a word. "What! Why are you people staring at me. That's the story. So in school, I wore colored dresses on the 5th of October. Children sang me the Happy birthday song on this day. That was school.." Tiara was the first one to break the silence. "There is something fishy here, This is not as transparent as it looks. What if, you are actually born on the 5th of October and not on the 18th of November"? Arijit moved the plate away to keep both hands on the table. Knowing him, this meant a serious moment. "Come on, folks - there was a goof-up, but you all know me since college right?" she paused for effect. "18th it is!". "But the Libran characteristics?" I dont have to tell you who that was. "I guess, your parents owe you a creditable explanation Miss Inji, No absent minded parent forgets to look at the birth certificate until his kid is 7 years old." Tiara seemed agitated and excited as if she had just started off on a murder trail.
Oops. That was some statement. Symbolically, the singer announced a 10 minute break from the live music and left for a pint of beer.That did set Inji thinking, If you see Inji and not hear her, she 's definitely thinking hard. The rest of the dinner saw Inji very subdued. "You may well, be Inji Ramanathan for all you know", remarked Arijit. Those words were not well chosen, Inji smiled a wry smile."Or What if, you are the maid's daughter and you were adopted by the Pintos ". "Oh, stop it! Tiara, Jo! Have the tortillas, You seem to have stopped eating".
Inji reached home and found her parents away. The plot thickens. Her parents were away on a late night movie show. She spent the next 2 hours like a prisoner doomed to walk to the gallows. Needless to say, the doorbell was louder than ever before.She waited for her parents to settle down and then confronted them. "What was the birth certificate issue, Dad?, Why the 5th of October?". "Err, Why this question, now?". Dad questioned. His forehead was all wrinkled now.Mom smiled a very casual smile. "Inji, We have to tell you this, It had to be out someday". "Bring it out, Mom" Inji almost shrieked."See, its not a case of absentmindedness on your Dad's part. We were warned that your birth had to be in an odd numbered month or your school career would have a lot of issues. October was even, so we got the ceritificate doctored to make it November. This was suggested as a way out for this problem" "And we did not want you to get worried about this unnecessarily". Dad added.
Inji was not entirely convinced, but was relieved. She reached her room and soon enough, Sleep conquered her- She had had a long day.
The next morning, while she was getting ready for work, she saw that her mom's bedroom was latched. Her Mom would normally not close the door. She heard her Mom talking on the phone, very very softly. She tried to put her ears to the door.
She heard her Mom speak, "We should not have lied to her yesterday".