“Did
anything else happen?” It was Arjun’s turn to pull Joshi’s leg
“Shut
up. We did not have any such intentions. As such we were in an emotional mess.
A physical involvement would have made it more complicated”
“Oh
there was some sense left in you Joshi. It is not that you are such a considerate
fellow. We know that you love having fun and have had quite a few adventures.”
Arjun remarked
“Tell
us the exciting stories Joshi” Chandy asked
“Another
day. I am going to have a joint and then sleep” Joshi said with a gleam in his
eyes.
He
took out a small packet from his hip pocket. He opened it, took out a pinch of
grass and placed it in his left palm. Then he folded the remaining in the
packet and placed it back in his pocket. He carefully cleaned the grass and removed
the seeds. He took a cigarette and deftly squeezed the tobacco out from it. He
let the tobacco fall into his left palm with the grass. When about half the
tobacco fell into his palm, he stopped and tipped the remaining into a flower
pot. Now only the filter remained in the cigarette. He placed the role on the
table. He gently mixed the grass and
tobacco. He took the role with his right hand, tilted it to an almost
horizontal position and brought the tip of the roll to the mixture of grass and
tobacco. He pushed the cigarette roll into the mixture. Some mixture went in.
He tilted the roll upwards to let the mixture settle down near the bottom. Then
he repeated the action of pushing some mixture, tilting it upward and slowly
shaking it so that the mixture settles in. The roll was filling up. Intermittently he moved the cigarette to the
left hand and held it with the fingers in such a way that the mixture held in
the palm did not spill. Then with a matchstick he pushed the mixture down to pack
it densely. After a couple of cycles the cigarette was almost full and there
was little mixture left in the palm. He held the cigarette in his mouth with
the other end in the mixture he sucked hard. What was left in the palm got
sucked into the cigarette. He squeezed the end of the cigarette to a cone so
that the mixture doesn’t fall off.
He
now sat back in the chair and lit the joint. He took a deep drag and held the
smoke in his lungs.
Chandy
and Arjun sat quietly watching the whole exercise.
“The
Stuff is great man. I got it from the hills.” Joshi explained with contentment
“Who
went to the hills?” Asked Arjun
“Oh
Nobody. I have a good equation with Kathrikada Joseph the famous dealer in
town” Joshi explained
“Whenever
some good stuff comes from the hills he will let me know. He will also sell me
unadulterated stuff” Joshi continued with pride
“How
about a drag guys? Asked Joshi
“No”. Chandy refused vehemently. He was scared
“Come
on Arjun. Have a drag” Joshi was persuasive
Arjun
took the joint from Joshi and took a drag
“How
is the stuff” Joshi asked
“Feel
smooth. But for me the grass and booze cancel out” Arjun replied
Arjun
always felt the conflict in his heart when he tried these adventures. His
upbringing did not make it easy to try these. He felt a sense of guilt. On the
other hand he liked experimenting. He knew he had the strength of mind and he won’t
get addicted. So he often tried out everything; but in moderation
“I
have landed up at the right time” Somesh Nair said aloud as he came in.
Somesh
was another of their colleagues from Tridevpur Auto.
“Of
course. The food is here, drink is here and there is grass.”
“First
let me have a drag” Somesh reached across to Joshi
“We
were waiting for you to come to start our game. In the meantime we were all
narrating stories of our love lives. Now it is your turn to tell your story.”
Arjun commented.
“Man
I have no story to tell” responded “You guys are already nice and high. I have been running errant the whole evening
after the office. Joshi pass me a joint”
“I
don’t have rolled one. You roll one” Joshi extended the paper package
Somesh
quickly rolled two.
“Hay
what happened. Something seems to bug you” Arjun commented
“Nothing”
Somesh replied
Arjun
took the pack of cards and started to deal
Joshi
and Somesh were in one team and Arjun and Chandy the opposite team.
The
game was progressing. Somesh finished one joint and quickly lit the next one.
“Somesh,
You are not in the game and appear to be quite distracted. You talk to us. You
know we are your friends and we can help you. If we can’t help you at least you
can let out with us what is in troubling your heart” Arjun reached out to Somesh and tapped his shoulder.
“I
don’t have a love life; but a failed love” Somesh said regretfully.
“It
is the time to let this elephant out of your heart” Arjun said semi-seriously.
He knew there was something biting Somesh’s heart and wanted to give him a
chance to take this out.
“You
guys remember Oormila.” Somesh started after taking a long drag from the joint
and holding it in his lung.
“She
was our senior in college. Isn’t she?” Chandy asked
“Yes
the same one.” Somesh replied
“But
she is related to you” Isn’t she?” Joshi asked
“Yes,
But as per our Nair Custom I can marry her” Somesh told
“Then
why didn’t you?” Chandy asked
“We
grew up together. We spent lots of time telling stories to each other. We
studied together and did shopping together. Sometimes during holidays we cooked
some nice dishes together. Sometime I used to lie in her lap and she used to
ruffle my hair and feel my face while I narrated my stories. I felt so nice,
comfortable and cared for” Somesh was talking to himself
“I
loved her from the bottom of my heart. When I sat near her holding her tight I
felt I was at the top of the world. I was willing to do anything for her. She
knew it and she also loved me a lot.”
“Then
where was the problem” Arjun asked. “Did the parents object?”
“It
was never discussed with them. But I don’t think they would have objected” Somesh
replied
“Man
this is confusing. You love her, She loves you, nobody objects. Then where is
the problem” Joshi asked with his hands up in the air and eyebrows raised.
“She
felt that the current generation looked down on marriage between cousins. She
had a lot of hang up about what others thought”
“I
told her that we could immigrate to some other country where not many people
knew us. She knew I had the will and the capability to do that” Somesh
continued
“May
be you have to keep trying for some more time. She will finally see the depth
of your love and come your way”
“That
is what I also hoped. But today everything is over. They finalized her marriage
to a guy settled in Australia” Somesh was sobbing hard.
“Today,
you cry as much as you want. Tomorrow you wake up with the story behind you. It
will hurt some more time. But you can’t let it mess up your mind”
“We
are all tired. Let us crash now. Sumesh you sleep on the couch in the sitting
room and Joshi can sleep with me on my bed. It is large enough for both” Arjun
got up.
“First
let us clean the terrace. Else Fernando uncle is going to shout at us”
Arjun
took the lead and they cleaned up the mess.
“Arjun
has always been the one the clean up after the mess we created even when we
were in college; he was ready to clean even the puke” Joshi remarked
“Somebody
had to clean the mess. Unfortunately after the drinking sessions normally I was
the only one who had some sense left” Arjun replied
“I
am going to pour a bucket of cold water on my head before I sleep/ My head is
buzzing” Johsi remarked
