Part 4- Sex, Lies and Romance

“Ok peeps! We’re missing something.” Ricky growled and took some quick sips of water from his glass. “Look at them damsels! Wow, what a figure!” He rested his glass on the table as he kept drooling over a busty African American girl who had just entered the bar along with a group of women. He leaned sideway towards Abin and whispered to him. “How much is she worth? A paycheck would do, I suppose?” He giggled as he took a glance or two at the girl’s big curvy rump. Abin followed Ricky’s line of sight while Biplav kept smiling. Suraj gently shook his head sideways and grinned.

“Wow, fu*kin great” Ricky was still at it.

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Ricky was a happy-go-lucky chap working at a mortgage company in Northern Virginia as a Business Analyst. He had done his MBA in finance from a renowned school in Illinois. Born in an affluent upper class family in Kathmandu, his pedigree had roots in Bajhang, a far western district of Nepal. His father was an envoy and her mom a social activist at the local level. He was born under complicated medical circumstances by caesarean section which went wrong and that cost her mother her fertility. Being the only son in the family, his parents were too protective and possessive about their son. When kid, all his demands would get fulfilled without much squabble so his expectations from people in his surroundings went out of bounds. He was raised as some sort of a spoilt brat although his parents wanted to give him a normal childhood. But with busy professional life of parents, the son’s childhood got overlooked. They had local nannies from Bajhang, hired to do the job of upbringing and taking good care of their fondly-called “Sano Raja”

Ricky spent a major chunk of his childhood with his parents in several countries in Asia and some in Europe. He did not get a whole lot of opportunities to look at Nepal from a close-up lens. He had visited Bajhang--his ancestral home--just once, the memory of which had long been erased as he was too young to cache in the place to his tender memory. Before he could resurrect the fading memory, he was taken to Bangkok, Thailand where his father was appointed to his new tenure of his office. Ricky was admitted to a boarding school in Bangkok and would come home only in weekends. During Sogkran and Phi ta Khon—Thai festivals, the family would go on a vacation trip to Sumatra Island in Indonesia or Singapore or Hong Kong.

Bangkok was one of the major hubs in Asia for narcotic drugs business and girls trafficking. When he was in his first year of high school, Ricky befriended few local Thai boys. Warat was the best of his friends. When classes would be over, he would often go to Warat’s place and they would smoke together in his bedroom. Ricky was barely fifteen when he took his first puff on which he had choked so badly that he had promised he wouldn’t smoke ever again. He broke his promise the very next day. Once when he was home for vacation, his mom found packets of Marijuana from the pockets of his jeans and several empty bottles of Phensydil lying underneath his bed. Fearing addiction to drugs, company of spoilt friends in the neighborhood and seclusion from own culture and people, his mom brought him to Nepal soon thereafter, two years before the all important SLC exam and put him in her close custody at their bungalow in Sinamangal. He did not get much chance to go off the hook once his mother took things under control for him. When she would be gone for trips for her social activities across the country, the house-workers would remain in vigilance to make sure he is in track. He was admitted to a boarding school in ninth grade. Thanks to the connection of his mom, the school approved his admission notwithstanding his dismal performance in the entrance exam. Home environment and company of good friends proved beneficial for Ricky. He took his SLC exam after two years and passed it in first division. To his own and more to his parents’ disbelief, he had radically improved in Mathematics that became his most favorite subject. He got enrolled in another school for the Intermediate level and did fairly well in the finals there too. It was a sweet comeback for the once spoilt kid. When he was done with high school, he came to the US for his undergraduate studies in a Liberal Arts School in Pennsylvania.

Ricky had had several relationships in the past none of which celebrated any anniversaries. The more he was aging, to his bewilderment and his friends’ despair, the shorter his relationships would last for. Upon asked about his love life, he would go: “Girls, after a while, become boring and so is my love life. But I like it this way. Why settle with Lena, when you know there are several Teenas around who are yet to be explored and experimented?”

When he was in his freshman year, a Nepali girl named Isha, also in the freshman year in the same school, fell for Ricky under strange circumstances. Ricky was an average looking guy but lively and good spirited with a decent sense of humor that was funny sometimes but campy for the most part. Isha was tall with some curves and quite attractive. They both had come to the US on the same day, in the same flight from London that landed at the JFK international airport in New York. Isha had stayed in London with his paternal cousin’s family for a month before coming to the states for her studies. Throughout the journey, they did not exchange pleasantries, let alone words of acknowledgements for both being from the same country. Their eyes met for few times and although her body language suggested her intent to break the ice while they were waiting to be boarded in London Heathrow Airport, Ricky maintained silence disregarding her presence. He rather kept chewing his gum arrogantly. His eyes caught sight of and got fixated at her bottom a few times while they were in the waiting lounge, but the temptation was not strong enough for him to bring forth any conversations from his part. “Kali, black a*s dhotini” He had thought. She never looked at him again and that’s how the first meeting had ended.

They saw each other for the second time at the welcome party organized by the international office. All newcomers had to give their brief introduction to all other international newcomers and seniors and at the end of it; it became obvious to both Ricky and Isha that they came from the same country. But still, nothing happened between them. He was too full of himself for her and she was not interesting enough for him. It took a month for them to come to terms with each other’s attitude. The first frat party of the year was held and Isha was high having gulped two drinks in a short interval. He was in his second. When she spotted him in a corner of the hall all alone talking on his phone, she got encouraged to break the shackle. She came directly to him and asked him to come outside of the room in the hallway. Perhaps the drinks had boosted her confidence and deflated his dilated ego. They came outside and stood in a corner of the hallway. The cacophonous noise from the party hall could be heard scantily in the background. She kept looking at him with her fiery eyes for a while and asked him why she was being ignored. He countered back asking why she could not initiate instead and what held her back if she was ‘that’ interested. His attitude pissed her off instantly. She did not utter a word. She just grabbed him by his shirt and kissed him strenuously on his lips that lasted for few seconds and left him agape. Ricky was taken by surprise and hence fell short of reacting verbally or physically to the physical onslaught done on him. He saw her going back to the party hall, noticed her sagging buttocks and said to himself “What a filthy b*tch!”

They met again in the next party two weeks later. He had started the conversation in a decent positive manner this time and she had responded gleefully. Both were fresh when they started and the talk went smoothly. She told him about her family and friends. Isha came from a middle-upper-class family in Kathmandu and went to an all-girls school in West Bengal, India for her middle and high school level education. They also had a common friend in Kathmandu and both had gone to his house several times but they never happened to bump into each other before. Isha was addicted to drugs while studying in India. When her parents came to know about it from her friend, she was still at her initial stage of the addiction. They sent her to a rehab in Calcutta and it did wonders for her. She had completely come out of the addiction within a year.

Among many things that they talked about that party night, marijuana was one. He had already known places where good brands of pot were available for taking. She had got excited. They kept talking, got a little drunk, continued talking for hours and got drunk even more. Gradually he had discovered hots for Isha. When the party was over, they came back together walking all the way to their dormitory. In the elevator he asked her if she could come into his room. She thought it was too late but the temptation was growing stronger. She could not turn down his insister. Soon they were in his bedroom. The night was still young and the passion more intense. When they had nothing to talk about, she came closer to him, looked him into his eyes and asked fervently “Do you like what you’re seeing?” He thought for a second, looked at the reflection of her curvy rump and her fleshy thighs in the mirror right behind her and said, “Yes, I do”

He put his arms around her and cuddled her and kissed her gently on her cheeks to begin with. When she responded by snuggling him even more tightly, there was no stopping for both. Soon they went on a rampage. It was hot and steamy. That night, their very first night together, they were both wildness and ruthlessness personified as if they were taking revenge on each other.

When they got up, Ricky saw a message on a small piece of paper hung on his door which read:

“Please make sure you don’t cage Argus and Daisy together in the same crate. Although their initial intermittent moans were pleasant to ears, the incessant growls afterwards were so loud and disturbing that we could not sleep at all last night. Hope it won’t happen again. Thanks”

Ricky’s roommate was fond of pets. He had a dog and a kitten. Argus was Cavalier Spaniel and Daisy was Bombay.

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“Hey Ricky, whatever happened to Stuti?” Abin asked Ricky. Stuti was the seventh or eighth girl Ricky had dated. She was born to a Non-resident Nepali family in the US.

“Oh we’re good. I mean good, now that we’ve broken up” Ricky stated proudly. “She was being a pain in my neck for the last two months or so. I don’t know what makes these girls think that they would be dumped. So insecure. No confidence whatsoever”

Ricky would change his girl with his hairdo that he would change in 3 months time on an average. From short takes to shaggy medium to razor cut he tried all lengths and styles possible. Sometimes he would have long crazy sideburns; sometimes ponytails or mullets. Once he had it all shaven and it took him about 8 months to come to a new style—that’s the longest he was in a relationship with a girl. He probably needed to go bald to stick to the permanent one for good.

“Man, Ke garchas yar ta? Kahile sudhrinchas?” Biplav was perplexed.

“And how do you manage?” Abin added.

Ricky smiled and said “Well, men get turned on by what they see; women get turned on by what they hear. I just make sure that women hear the right thing. I very tenderly explain to them that I guarantee them at least one irresistibly quivering orgasm”

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Next three and half months went fine for Ricky and Isha. She would call him every morning to wish him and they would meet regularly at his place in the evening and make love all night when they had no assignments due or test to take the very next day. It was obvious to Ricky that his attraction for Isha was all physical and no platonic. There was no emotion involved apart from his testosterone which would come oozing out when he held her in his arms. One fine day, something came to his mind and he decided to not pick her regular morning calls. She thought he was busy or sleeping until he did not pick her calls consecutively for the next three days. She started to get weird feelings. She went to meet him at his room the third day. When she asked if everything was alright, he told her right at her face that he could not like her loud snores while sleeping. “It’s irking and disturbing” He said. In response, she told him she too had to put up with his incessant sneezes early in the mornings but still refrained from complaining. “I wouldn’t have come after you if I had known you have a serious sinus problem” She was infuriated. They dumped each other that day. Both were being dishonest to each other in the reasoning though. Ricky needed something to be told and Isha wanted a tit for his tat.

Fact of the matter was: Ricky had realized that he could not find Isha’s butt as attractive as before.

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Part 5- Darwin’s Theory and Hopeless Romanticism

“How is Aakriti, Abin? She could not make it here?” Suraj asked.

“Oh she is busy with her work. She just started on a project. Bicharilai fursat chaina ajkal” Abin stated in a despondent tone.

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As implied by the popular adage: “Love makes the world go round”, the world of Abin was round and romantic. He was a firm believer of the school of thought: “Love happens at first sight”. But there was his own extension to it as well: “If it doesn’t, it never will so go for it, big boy, don’t give up!”

Abin was working as a system-on chip-performance-analysis-Engineer for a company in the bay area of California after completion of his Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from a school in Los Angeles. He was born and raised in a middle-class family in the village of Chapagoan in the southern Patan suburb of Kathmandu valley. The family comprised his parents and their four daughters and two sons-- Abin was the youngest. His family earned its living from agriculture during his early childhood. Being a huge family, Abin’s parents had to endure exorbitant hardships to raise their kids amidst dormant yet expensive living in the eighties of Kathmandu. They had seven ropanis of cultivable land (khet) in Khokana and few workers (khetalas) to help them cultivate various crops--mustard and chilly being the major ones. His father was into oil pressing business but it was not remunerative enough to look after the living of the big family and most importantly education of six kids. Abin went to a local government school and excelled well in all subjects—more so in Science and Mathematics. He was a studious kid and serious about his studies from his early childhood. His parents wanted to send him to a private boarding school but due to financial limitations, they had to think and do otherwise. His father realized that it would be a sin to send Abin to a mediocre government school considering his talent and diligence but he knew he could not afford to send him to a better school.

Luck favored and turned its table towards Abin’s family. Kathmandu began to clutter with people moving in from various parts of the country and soon the price of land in Kathmandu sky-rocketed within few years especially after the 1990 revolution when multiparty democracy was established replacing the age old Panchayat. Abin’s father sold few ropanis of land in a competitive price and bought a local kirana shop in Mangalbazar, Patan. The business stood out pretty well and he became the sole distributor of his Khoakana brand mustard oil. It elevated the living standard of the family altogether in few years time and Abin was sent to a private boarding school in Budhanilkantha. He struggled in English for the first two years as his bases were weak. Even technical words in Science or Mathematics were used to be taught in Nepali in his previous school. The work became doubly difficult as he needed to understand the meaning of the technical words he learnt in English first off. He failed in the first terminal exam in the ninth grade and that made him hopelessly nervous because the SLC exam was round the corner. With his gruesome hard work and dogged determination, he managed to pass SLC in first division. He scored 45 in English but he had excellent scores in Mathematics and Science.

He improved remarkably in his Intermediate level and graduated with good overall percentage and a high distinction in PCM--Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics aggregate. He was a competitive student and he fought well in the entrance exam conducted by the Ministry of Education. He stood third and was well placed for a scholarship to pursue further studies either in Australia or Japan or India. He could not get into the first two but he had shined well enough to snatch the Colombo plan to study Engineering in a reputed school in Mumbai.

“You reap what you sow, son” His father used to tell him and Abin knew that he was reaping fruits of his toilsome hard work he had put into his studies thus far. Embracing the age old Sanskrit Sloka “Gyanam Paramam Dhyeyam” meaning knowledge is the ultimate goal, Abin packed his bags to fly for the very first time away from his country to India.

Abin knew India for Bollywood movies and big stars, Sanjay Dutt being his all-time favorite. He didn’t know much about the actor until his ever-zealous eldest sister once laughed and screamed in sheer excitement after having spotted a sparkling resemblance in the eyes and some facial features between Sanjay Dutt and her own beloved brother. They were all watching the big hit of its time, Saajan in their TV room. According to his sister, both eye-sets were big and dreary that looked like high on drugs. The room was filled with their close relatives and neighbors most of who had agreed with the jumping and clapping sister. That was the biggest compliment Abin had gotten for his otherwise mediocre looks and it had meant a lot to the shy and reserved person as a kid.

“Mera dil bhi kitna paagal hai, yeh pyar to tumse karta hai” He would mumble in his croaked voice whenever he looked himself in front of the mirror and proudly smear his favorite Keo Karpin oil on his hair. He was growing his hair as a tribute to one of the finest actors of Indian cinema and to him his “look-alike”—supposedly. Abin wanted to sing the song for “the girl” of his life---“the girl”, who was seemingly everywhere, yet nowhere. He had many one-sided secret affairs at different stages of his school life and few were known to his dear friends. The girls would come and away they would go without knowing that they had been framed in Abin’s ever picturesque dream-girl-virtual-album. It was the second line of the song that had done Abin “Par saamne jab tum aate ho, kuchh bhi kehne se darta hai”

Abin was timidity and low self-confidence personified.

India came as a nice big change that helped Abin to groom his personality more than academics. The first impression that he got about India was not very pleasing though. He got petrified by busy roads, fast traffic and ragamuffins who looked more like wily thieves than incapacitated beggars strolling on the streets of Mumbai. He had seen skyscrapers only in post cards but he was seeing them for real in front of his eyes in Nariman point—the business hub of Mumbai. From Andheri to Bandra, Worli to Colaba, all he could see were running people and moving vehicles all over the place. Everyone and everything seemed to be in rush. It was distressing. Once, he stopped when he got off the train in Victoria Terminus station and wondered where all those people pushing and jabbing each other were heading to, what the big rush was for. “Is there a fairytale town somewhere in the Arabian Sea where they distribute peace candies?” When he came back to senses, he realized he had his pocket picked by some smarty pants. Thankfully, he hadn’t carried much cash – the suggestion of his mom, based on her own fateful experience, had come in handy. With sheer frustration, he came to the Queen’s Necklace in Marine Drive to find some solace but even it was crowded to add to his already sickening agony.

First day in the college was a harrowing experience for Abin. He had heard of some funny and few horrifying stories of ragging in Indian schools through his friends but he hadn’t heard or thought that they would go berserk on shy guys.

“Oie, Ram Prasad! Eklai aayis? Khai ta chiya? ” His seniors from Nepal greeted him. He was asked to recite all the swear words he knew in Nepali just to see if his vocabulary strength was good enough to give the newbie a place in the group. Abin had been hearing the sacred words since childhood but he wasn’t too comfy speaking them in front of a group of people who were all total strangers to him. He started with the infamous ‘M’ word and murmured all others he knew and heard of. It was not that difficult, he figured. All he needed to remember were two keywords: machine and chicken. The swear words were their derivatives with most of the letters from those two words in them. Abin was asked to speak all the words loudly and clearly and repeatedly. He thought at that rate, he would get habituated to the words and might speak them accidentally whenever he is infuriated with his family, especially with his father. He got so nervous that he slipped his tongue and mispronounced some of them more than once. He blushed when the group laughed at his naivety.

Next, he was asked to pose in “superman” outfit—which meant to take off his underwear and wear it over his jeans. Light was switched off for precisely ten seconds and he had to do the switching before time to save himself from standing naked in front of them. He was made to walk through the hallway in his local Rupa superman costume greeting all the seniors living in the floor of the college hostel. He found all those incidents, in retrospect, extremely hilarious but at that spur of moment he had thought he would leave the school and India the very next day.

“Woh dekh, langoor” Kamini told her friends and they all giggled as Abin walked on the verandah in front of the college cafeteria. Abin did not know what langoor meant. He thought probably something good, but then he knew how he looked like. “It must be anything but good” He said to himself. When he went past her, he realized that he had seen her somewhere before. He went inside the cafeteria, ordered a cup of chai and two samosas. He was eating and wondering who she could be. When he looked around the wall, he saw a poster of Shilpa Shetty, the actress. That reminded him of the flick Baazigar and Kajol, the other actress in the movie. That was it, Kajol! “Kamini looks like Kajol” He told himself in excitement.

Kamini was from Goa, a small state on the west coast of India. She was in her first year at the college like Abin. Her father had a cottage industry in Panaji that produced fenny—the local drink prepared from the cashew apple. She went to a high school in Siolim, a village situated along the Chapora river in North Goa. She had lots of Portuguese friends in Goa. Being a typical Goan, Kamini lived her life in style. Goans lifestyle reflects a unique blend of east and west. They work hard to earn and spend their earnings extravagantly in foods, dresses, festivals and entertainment.

Abin liked Kamini. He had a major crush on her. Both were majoring in Electrical Engineering hence their classes were same. They would see each other every day but nothing happened for Abin. Not that he took any initiatives and failed but bubbly and charming Kamini seemed just a tad bit too expensive for the rustic and uncouth Abin. There were at least two studs in the college who were seriously hitting on Kamini and Abin stood nowhere in front of them. First two years went by and they did not reap any fruits in the romance department for Abin . His study department was quite productive though as he secured a good overall percentage in the finals. Kamini knew Abin existed but his existence would not tie knots in her stomach. He was a bunch of laughter for his peers. Once when a professor asked him his name in the class, he answered his roll number. The whole class became hysterical at his funny, naïve gesture. Then once when a guy at the back bench, where he was seated, offered him Tulsi zarda—the Indian brand tobacco, he took few pinches and put them all behind his lower lip. Within seconds, he saw that the classroom was spinning. He felt grossly dizzy and couldn’t help himself. He slept on his table. When the professor noticed that his head was down, he came to him and smacked him on his head with a hard-cover book. He came back to senses and screamed, “Aiyaaaa!” and the class hall vibrated in laughter. When the class was over, he was teased by his friends, both boys and girls, like never before.

It was in his third year when Abin got two opportunities to display some histrionics and he cashed in both. First was the inter-college soccer tournament in which Abin played as the center forward in the final and scored two goals against their arch rival team from Kanpur. Then in the welcome party for the newcomers, he performed as a lead guitarist and a singer for one song. He sang ‘Musu musu hasi deu na lai lai’ which was liked by many. He became known to many after the two events. Kamini too was impressed perhaps but Abin could not capitalize on it. To this date, Abin would regret on missing out on the opportunity to date Kamini. He seriously thought he stood some chance with her. He would not think he could marry her though. Cultural and linguistic variations were something his conservative family would never compromise upon.

The following year, he scored a suicide goal against his own team in the final. His team lost that game 1-0. “Do pal ruka, khwabon ka kaarawan, aur phir chal diye tum kahan hum kahan” He sang on the final day of the college.

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Abin came back to Nepal after graduation. He took the GRE and applied to six schools in the US; two were within top 20, two first tier and two mediocre ones for safe bet. He got three acceptances; the best of them was from a school in California. He came to LA, California after two months for his Masters degree.

Two years went by very fast. Graduate school was less fun and more hard work. When undergrad students would booze and chill in sorority and frat parties, Abin would be working on his paper for some IEEE conference. The strenuous effort paid off for him. He got a job offer from a company in bay area right before his graduation. The following summer, he went to Nepal and got married.

He thought he found the right girl of his choice and match. Aakriti had completed her MBA from Ahmedabad, India and was working for the standard chartered bank in Kathmandu. Abin’s mom’s relative had brought the proposal on her family’s behalf. He was given her email-id. They added each other in their MSN buddy list and talked for few weeks. They exchanged their pictures as well. He found her smart and attractive. “A rare combination!” He marveled in ecstacy. “I can’t say much about myself but I have the looks of a langoor as per some pretty damsels. I ain’t that bad a langoor though as per my own assessment of myself. So up to you. Make your own mind up” He had candidly described his appearance to her. She liked him being funny and open-minded. Abin had an ingenuous sense of humor. He did not need to say or do anything in deliberation to sound or look funny. They would often talk over the phone--sometimes for hours. She would laugh most of the time at his naivety and innocence. Aakriti was very well cultured and her simplicity and candidness would not go un-noticed to anyone who came in touch with her. She was beautiful but she herself was oblivious to her own beauty and she was not being modest about it. It made her look more beautiful inside-out. Everything clicked between them. When Abin went to Nepal and met with her personally, he fell for her even more. They got married the following month.

Abin was a virgin before marriage. He did not have any girlfriends and he chose rather not to submit himself to something of a one-night stand worth. When some of his batch-mates in India would often go to a local bar to explore the opportunity to get laid, he would stay at the hostel. He thought something was not right about it. He found it grossly filthy and vile. The day before his marriage, he got so nervous that he had thought he would embarrass himself and Aakriti. He booted his computer at one in the morning and googled “female reproductive organ”. He clicked on the images just to make sure he knew how it looked like. He wanted to make sure he knew where to look for. He also wanted to be sure of the contraceptive measures. He did not want to end up making her pregnant on the very first night. Ricky was there to attend his marriage ceremony and that gave him some confidence. Ricky had brought a packet of Trojan for Abin. He taught him and gave him basic tips on how to go about it knowing it was the couple’s very first time.

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Part 6: The Reunion

“Oh by the way, does anyone know the whereabouts of Anita?” Biplav asked as he started his fifth drink of the night. Anita was their batch-mate who went to the same high-school with them.

“She is in Chicago, working with a start-up company. Her husband is a software engineer. They have a two year old” Abin sighed.

“Do you talk with her?” Suraj asked Abin.

“Yeah sometimes. But not as much as I used to. She is a busy person with work, family and kid to take care of. She wants to make a lot of money and in a quick time it seems. I sometimes feel she is in a bit too much of a hurry to make money. Too much money driven I guess.” Abin said as he wiped his mouth one more time with a tissue.

“Everyone is money-driven. Just the extent is different. Some are less, some are more. That’s why you came to the US, didn’t you?” Biplav asked Abin.

“But too much of greed is no good either. Not only for money but for anything…and everything.” Suraj interrupted.

“If you look at it closely, I think everyone is driven by something or the other else the world would not work! Everyone is ambitious. Some want money, some want good education. Some want to make a big name for themselves. Who is not ambitious? Even those hermits who have left all the worldly pleasures in search of enlightenment are ambitious and driven by something. They are driven by spirituality—something they felt they needed and craved for. It’s useless to blame only on people who are after money” Biplav explained his view.

“I agree. To each their own. It’s how you see things--depends on your field of vision, the width of it. How broad it is. For you, money means everything. For some, education, enlightenment and the understanding of the crux of the things matters more. They spend billions of money for research, new findings. Why would they do that, if education and enlightenment was less necessary than money?” Suraj opined.

“Coz they want to achieve more so that they could make more money out of it. Everything boils down to money making at the end of it all” Biplav interrupted.

“And when you have enough in your pocket along with some confidence in your heart, just go ahead and ask the damsel you have the hots for out. Don’t need no fancy hummer or long hammer, but confidence is essential.” Ricky giggled.

“Yeah and for me, I think it’s the relationships you make with your people which are most important of all. Whatever you achieve, even if you launch a rocket in space on your own, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense if there is no one to celebrate with” Abin stated.

“See, but to be able to launch a rocket on your own, you gotta have money son, and a lot!” Biplav interrupted again.

“If you have adequate resources, skill, education and valid objectives, you can write a grant proposal and they will pay for you” Suraj was quick to pounce on Biplav.

“Ok stop now, mothafu*kers!” Ricky grunted. “Don’t fight. Let’s not spoil the night” He continued.

“Who’s fighting?” Abin looked at Ricky in amazement.

“Yeah who is?” Suraj added.

“Tehi ta kasle jhagada garyo khai? Just a normal brainstorming session” Biplav stuck his tongue out and winked at Suraj. Soon they all started laughing together, sometimes at each other and sometimes at other patrons—mostly girls.

“Oh boy, this night is special, ain’t it?” Abin was tipsy.

“Yeah very special. Three boys and just a girl. What a tragedy!” Suraj giggled.

“Chup lag! But seriously, we should organize this sort of reunion at least once a year. What say you guys? Abin asked.

“Definitely!” Biplav seconded Abin.

“Yeah, friends are important” Suraj approved. “Just imagine, there are billions of people in this planet. A few thousands you come across, few hundreds know you and very few of them love and care about you the way we do for each other. You cannot leave a person who knows your inside-out, who knows your inner-self. They are really precious” Suraj became a bit emotional.

“Pheri arko emotional bhayo. We are gonna meet together every year at least once. Let’s make a solemn vow as a group” Abin said.

“I agree. That calls for a toast. Last drink? Bottoms up? Shall we?” Biplav proposed.

“Yeah but don’t forget, bottoms up can lead to bottoms spread” Ricky burst into laughter.

Biplav ordered the last round of drinks. They did bottoms up together. When they were done, all of them got madly drunk. They laughed their hearts out until dawn.

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Two days later, Abin, Suraj and Ricky left for their respective places and left a void for Biplav. He was trying to get back to his normal routine but he felt something was missing. He went to his bedroom and turned his CD player on.

I 'm all out of love, I'm so lost without you
I know you were right believing for so long
I 'm all out of love, what am I without you
I can't be too late to say that I was so wrong

Air Supply was playing. He was moved by the song. He had listened to it several times before but it did not have that effect on him. The moment was different. A realization had hit on him. The importance of people who loved him had struck his mellow heart more than his ambitious mind. He realized that all of a sudden his eyes were getting wet. It just happened that tears trickled down his cheeks and he felt that he should call her.

“Hello, How are you?” He asked her over the phone.

“Oh hi! How come you called me today out of the blue?”

“Yeah life’s not always all rosy. It gives you lot of blues intermittently”

“Biplav, are you okay? I hear someone crying”

“Yeah I am fine. Just wanted to clear my blurred vision a bit” He faked a smile

“Ok. Tell me how you are then”

“I am good. Just as usual…or may be not. Did you graduate?”

“Yes I did. Am working for a law firm. It’s been just a month” She sounded quite excited.

“That’s really good news. So you control crimes huh?”

“Yeah I do. Criminal Justice Major, what else do you expect Mister?” She giggled.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah sure, go ahead!”

“Does your Criminal Justice find me guilty or innocent?”

“I can’t say. It’s not objective. Probably it was time more than you. It was not under your control or mine”

“I am guilty in my eyes though. I realized that I had been a prick so if I get down on my knees and make an earnest request to you asking for reconsideration, would you please reconsider?”

A long silence followed thereafter until Biplav broke the ice. ”Would you please reconsider?.......Please?”

“Yes…….I would but I am afraid it’s too late Biplav. My parents want me to get married soon. By now, they must have chosen a partner for me as well”

Biplav could not speak futher. “All the best” was all he could muster. He thought he deserved it. Rachita deserved someone better.

---------------

He called his mom a day later. After usual exchange of pleasantries, his mom asked him if he was ready for marriage.

“I have a very good proposal from a dear friend of mine” She said.

“All your proposals are good mom, it’s not about that. I just don’t want to get married right now”

“Pahila sun ta ramrosanga. Okay, the girl is in Australia. She is working for some law company and she just graduated in Criminal Justice. Khai ke naam po bhanthi. Ekchin pakh hai, I will look at my address book….oh okay, it’s Rachita. I have her email id too. lekh ta!”

Biplav was jubilant with what he heard from his mom. He could not have asked for anything better. He tried to sound as if he was not interested though“ Aba hajur testo bhansincha bhane, okay I will take down her email”

“Birth, marriage and death are predestined by karma” Biplav had read somewhere and he thought it was true. In his case, marriage was both predestined and free-willed.

---------------

Biplav and Rachita got married that summer in Nepal. Rachita quit her job in Australia and came to New York with her husband. She got a job in a law firm in New York City. The following winter, believe it or not, Ricky got married as well. It was a love marriage. He realized that he was balding so he thought he should stick with the one he was dating then—Ashwini. “It’s not a*s but Ash that I should settle with” He had realized. Suraj’s parents visited their son in summer and he introduced Jessica to them. They liked her but marriage was a big no initially. After five months of stay, they came to terms with her culture because of Jessica’s good nature and open-mindedness. “It’s the person and not her culture that matters eventually” They convinced each other. Abin accidentally made Aakriti pregnant. It was a cold rainy night and they went outside without umbrella or rain-coat. Thank god the thunderstorm was not that violent.

The following year, the four friends again got together. The venue was San Jose, California. A year before they were four, a year later eight. They talked about whole lot of stuffs they experienced before and after marriage. “Life is not that bad even after marriage” They all concluded over a toast.

---------------

Care is the ingredient that keeps true friendships alive despite separation, distance or time. Care gives latitude to another person and gets you past the dislikes and annoyances. Quite simply, caring sustains love.

*************************THE END*************************