It was dusk. The starry sky and KSRTC night bus noises(they have a different noise at night) invaded Trivandrum. The call of the conch rose from a nearby temple. Moonlight streamed through the long, narrow leaves of the surrounding coconut trees onto that terrace. Seated on a mat there, were Raghu, Isha and Nair eating sandwiches.
"Nair-ey, you are so stuck up in your past and so stubborn to changes that you are letting go of the new memories that you could have made. Don't keep whining about not belonging. For you, that belonging came after you went neck deep in water. " Sneha remarked.
"Yes. But, I still want to savour the things that happen to me. You jump too fast and get tired too easily."He replied.
"Savouring can wait. Until, old age comes."
"And, when is that?"
"...Hold it."Raghu interjected Nair's dreamy narrative."So, all this is over a clash of opinions. Slow-mo and laid-back versus let's-conquer-the-world."
"That's simplifying it a bit. There were other reasons. But, at the heart.."
"..You were very different people to begin with" Isha finished the sentence for Nair."But, you people did carry off it with flair. I do not understand why your friends think she is to blame though."
"Because, they are our friends"Raghu replied.
"Don't do that bro-thing to me, eh. You Malayalis and your perversion towards simplification. Naive-and-simple-hearted-guy-in-the-gang faces breakup. The girl must be a bitch."
"Simple-hearted-guy can't be the dog."
"I did not say that. But, please eh? You knew Sneha before. You think she can be stereotyped into a black-white continuum? Bitch, my foot. People should reserve their opinion when they do not have adequate information."
"Raghu, you know. First time, I am seeing people eating sandwiches and getting angry."Nair grinned. "But, she is right. It was a slow and gradual attrition. To blame it on either of us, would be injustice. Anyway, that is not important. What's your opinion on the savouring part?"
"Hmm. Potayto. Potahto. Different people. Different ways."she replied.
"What is there to savour so much, around here anyway?"Raghu asked Nair.
"I don't know. This has always been a sleepy town, Trivandrum. And, now its slowly becoming a melting pot for all the different stereotypes. Khaki-and-mundu-wearing opinionated auto-chetans and jasmine-wearing churidaar chechis. Curly haired, thick-specs intellectuals in kurtas and sometimes marley t-shirts. Jeans-wearing college girls who get ogled at. All the prim and proper Catholic schools. Thattukadas. Strong chais. Temples and Mosques. Extreme conservatism fighting against a new liberal generation. Alavalathis in superbikes. The pub culture slowly trying to seep in. Our sexual contradictions. I like this sleepy town. We work our asses off in other states and countries so that we can come back and let go here. "
"Haha. Like on this terrace, yeah. Eating sandwiches and toasting ourselves to the moonlight."
"Exactly. I mean you come to this place. And, your heart slows down a bit. You offload all the work. Have some good old communist, philosophic thoughts."
"KOBAYASHI MARU." Isha burst into the conversation.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"That's my opinion. Kobayashi Maru. It just struck me. Let me explain. Kobayashi Maru is a term from Star Trek."
"Aah. Star trek."
"Shut up. So, Kobayashi Maru is a simulation game that the Starfleet cadets have to undergo in order to complete their officer training. It's a no-win game. You cannot win that simulation and it's designed to test how the officers face defeat."
"Er so??"
"If you read all the philosophers, writers and religious gurus in the past. Camus. Buddha. Sartre. Fitzgerald. They all say the same thing. Life's rigged towards losing. People are too greedy and horny. They long for all sorts of stuff. They don't get it. They lose. Every one of us."
"Cheers to that."Raghu raised his sandwich.
"If so, what's important is we lose in a style comfy for us. I mean, we do it our way. We lose in a way that reflects us the best. For you, that means something slow. Dipping yourself in nostalgia often. You are the wine guy. You sip. You savour. You toast. You have sandwiches with friends on a beautiful moony night. You fall in love with a land that has so many assholes and as many sweethearts. A place with contradictions that is a reflection of you."
There was absolute silence for a while. Then, Nair spoke up.
"So if I am the wine guy, she must be the tequila woman. All shots. Lapping up new experiences, one after the other. Always on an adventure. "
"And both give you a hangover in excess. "Raghu quipped and winked. "But, Isha, this also seems like an excuse to mediocrity."
"Agreed. People should not make such a reasoning an excuse towards mediocrity. The whole point is they should chip at stuff they love and chip in a way they love because at the end of the day, nobody is really a success story. We all bob up and down in sine waves."
"So, the lazy going, mundu-wearing, beedi-smoking, philosophy-chewing and philosophy spitting commie uncle is doing it in style as well."
"Oh yes, he is. As long as that is the life, that satisfies his soul. "
Nair went to the edge of the terrace. He touched his phone and suddenly pink floyd filled the air in a subdued volume. He flicked his sandwich away.
"Haha. Isha. You and your theories."
"Sweethearts, both of you know one thing. I am always right."
"Nair-ey, you are so stuck up in your past and so stubborn to changes that you are letting go of the new memories that you could have made. Don't keep whining about not belonging. For you, that belonging came after you went neck deep in water. " Sneha remarked.
"Yes. But, I still want to savour the things that happen to me. You jump too fast and get tired too easily."He replied.
"Savouring can wait. Until, old age comes."
"And, when is that?"
"...Hold it."Raghu interjected Nair's dreamy narrative."So, all this is over a clash of opinions. Slow-mo and laid-back versus let's-conquer-the-world."
"That's simplifying it a bit. There were other reasons. But, at the heart.."
"..You were very different people to begin with" Isha finished the sentence for Nair."But, you people did carry off it with flair. I do not understand why your friends think she is to blame though."
"Because, they are our friends"Raghu replied.
"Don't do that bro-thing to me, eh. You Malayalis and your perversion towards simplification. Naive-and-simple-hearted-guy-in-the-gang faces breakup. The girl must be a bitch."
"Simple-hearted-guy can't be the dog."
"I did not say that. But, please eh? You knew Sneha before. You think she can be stereotyped into a black-white continuum? Bitch, my foot. People should reserve their opinion when they do not have adequate information."
"Raghu, you know. First time, I am seeing people eating sandwiches and getting angry."Nair grinned. "But, she is right. It was a slow and gradual attrition. To blame it on either of us, would be injustice. Anyway, that is not important. What's your opinion on the savouring part?"
"Hmm. Potayto. Potahto. Different people. Different ways."she replied.
"What is there to savour so much, around here anyway?"Raghu asked Nair.
"I don't know. This has always been a sleepy town, Trivandrum. And, now its slowly becoming a melting pot for all the different stereotypes. Khaki-and-mundu-wearing opinionated auto-chetans and jasmine-wearing churidaar chechis. Curly haired, thick-specs intellectuals in kurtas and sometimes marley t-shirts. Jeans-wearing college girls who get ogled at. All the prim and proper Catholic schools. Thattukadas. Strong chais. Temples and Mosques. Extreme conservatism fighting against a new liberal generation. Alavalathis in superbikes. The pub culture slowly trying to seep in. Our sexual contradictions. I like this sleepy town. We work our asses off in other states and countries so that we can come back and let go here. "
"Haha. Like on this terrace, yeah. Eating sandwiches and toasting ourselves to the moonlight."
"Exactly. I mean you come to this place. And, your heart slows down a bit. You offload all the work. Have some good old communist, philosophic thoughts."
"KOBAYASHI MARU." Isha burst into the conversation.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"That's my opinion. Kobayashi Maru. It just struck me. Let me explain. Kobayashi Maru is a term from Star Trek."
"Aah. Star trek."
"Shut up. So, Kobayashi Maru is a simulation game that the Starfleet cadets have to undergo in order to complete their officer training. It's a no-win game. You cannot win that simulation and it's designed to test how the officers face defeat."
"Er so??"
"If you read all the philosophers, writers and religious gurus in the past. Camus. Buddha. Sartre. Fitzgerald. They all say the same thing. Life's rigged towards losing. People are too greedy and horny. They long for all sorts of stuff. They don't get it. They lose. Every one of us."
"Cheers to that."Raghu raised his sandwich.
"If so, what's important is we lose in a style comfy for us. I mean, we do it our way. We lose in a way that reflects us the best. For you, that means something slow. Dipping yourself in nostalgia often. You are the wine guy. You sip. You savour. You toast. You have sandwiches with friends on a beautiful moony night. You fall in love with a land that has so many assholes and as many sweethearts. A place with contradictions that is a reflection of you."
There was absolute silence for a while. Then, Nair spoke up.
"So if I am the wine guy, she must be the tequila woman. All shots. Lapping up new experiences, one after the other. Always on an adventure. "
"And both give you a hangover in excess. "Raghu quipped and winked. "But, Isha, this also seems like an excuse to mediocrity."
"Agreed. People should not make such a reasoning an excuse towards mediocrity. The whole point is they should chip at stuff they love and chip in a way they love because at the end of the day, nobody is really a success story. We all bob up and down in sine waves."
"So, the lazy going, mundu-wearing, beedi-smoking, philosophy-chewing and philosophy spitting commie uncle is doing it in style as well."
"Oh yes, he is. As long as that is the life, that satisfies his soul. "
Nair went to the edge of the terrace. He touched his phone and suddenly pink floyd filled the air in a subdued volume. He flicked his sandwich away.
"Haha. Isha. You and your theories."
"Sweethearts, both of you know one thing. I am always right."
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