Posted by: dekchidriver June 29, 2009
The college years - Book I
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Note: This is a ficticious account. Please keep that in mind.










******************CHAPTER 1*****************
**               Same Old Story           **
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Work finished and Sunny came home all tired and greased up from closing the campus cafeteria. He'd been working there for the past six months along with a whole 'basti' of other fellow Nepali students earning to pay for their textbooks. The job was allright, it was better than working for construction, but it had its tolls.
One could only work during the weekdays, which meant juggling class schedule and work was quite a task. Getting a substitute to cover was as simple as calling someone and asking them if they wanted hours, and if they did, they'd be glad to oblige. Everybody was happy that way.
Sitting down on the tattered beize couch he untied his boots carelessly and flung them into the closet by the door. Basket! He praised himself. It was Friday night, and Sunny always loved Fridays. Espcially since this was only his second semester in college and the 100 level courses just consisted of silly multiple choice question answers that required as much as 2 hours of total studying before the finals to mug up all possible answer combinations. All too easy!
'So where is everyone', he found himself asking. And it was weird, because usually by 8pm on Fridays his roomates would have been figuring out what alcohol to get for the weekend. Today, it was calm. Across the room the 20" Sharp television flickerd the Xbox logo dancing across the screen.

The Xbox could be viewed as their temple, or their battlefield. Many a lives had been destroyed, over and over again, on the surreal ring planet of Halo. Snipers, swordsmen, turret gunners, drivers, demolitionists, and even hand combatants dished it out all night long here. It was a sub-culture thing. People from far and wide (ie: other apartments) used to visit the famed apartment to partake in the vitual bashing of their peers.
On occasions the atmosphere used to get so heated that physical taunting of competetors became common. But it was all in good spirit.
After all, it was just a game, played on a teeny 20" screen by four participants, all of them skilled at reading the other person's screen to find out exactly where he/she was running about. It provided for good entertainment value and idle talk.

With nothing else to do, Sunny humbly grabbed his weapon, the controller and initiated single player campaign. While he was waiting for the loading to complete his eyes fell on the communal ashtray. 'El Roacho!' he exclaimed as he spotted a half smoked joint chilling casually on the rims. 'The boys must have saved this for me' he thought reassuring himself as he hurried to the stove to light it up. A couple of drags later, he was Master Chief, protector of the universe, opening a can of major whoopass on a group of Unggoys, with his battle rifle.

In the midst of his intergalactic saga, a knock on the door, followed by the abrupt entrance of Sunil dai. Sunil dai was a dimunitive man, with a balding head, and always had dark circles under his eyes. He was reputed for being infamously anal about the younger generation. People jokingly called him Hitler for his almost nazi-like fundamentalism.

"K ho muzi, jahile ya ayo, ki game kehlirachunchas, ki gaza khai ra hunchas, ki party garira hunchas! Tei garnu ama bau le talai pathako america?" Sunil dai opened the floodgates.

"A dai, ama le asti chitti ma heroin khanu chai na birsi hai chora, bhanera leknu bha thiyo, aba tyo chai baki cha. Basnu na dai, ek shot hanne ho ki?" mocked Sunny. He didn't like Sunil dai. Infact, there were very few people who liked the old goat. Its because he always preached his ideals to people younger than him. Always ready to emotionally blackmail you with promises made to parents, with misguided patriotism and other general bullshit.

Always out to spoil the fun, Sunil dai was. The old man just never shut up, except when in the presence of his older peers!

"Heraaa ellai! Najayaz balak! I pheel sawry phor your parents!" chided Sunil dai.

"Me too." replied Sunny picking up a shotgun in game. Oh how he wished he had a real one. It was usually useless to argue with Sunil dai. Budo le kahile kahi ati tension dine sapailai. Here was a man who was living in the past, and at the same time trying to force his version of reality on the bunch of young guniea pigs he found in Sunny's apartment.

That was one of the reasons for his unpopularity. Everyone missed their parents, in their own way. They didnt need sum old spiteful boka reminding them at each and every turn of how they were fkking up their life and shattering their parent's expectation. But he could not get used to the notion that not everyone thought like him. A piously rigorous man he was with a fixed set of rules. Rigid. And he never gave up on the nagging.

"Ani dai, aja k cha ta plan?" Sunny was trying to make conversation. He already knew what the buda boka had in mind, but still.

"Tei ho bhai" Sunil dai softened up. "eso raati tira ekchin downtown janu parla!". Sunny couldn't help but stifle his laughter. Weekends, Sunil dai and downtown was a common story in the neighborhood.

Sunil dai's father owned a travel agency back in Nepal. His parents had probably borrowed from here and there to send their 35 year old son to a better place where he could hopefully be successful in what he liked doing. Sangeet. Or the lack thereof.
So the old guy, had made it so far, and now instead of accepting what was around him, he was trying to forcefully change it. But one thing he did try to accept. And that was the women. Whenever Sunil dai noticed slender white legs plowing through the pavements, his eyes turned into saucers and whoever was around him at that fateful moment got splashed with his extremely vulgar intentions as to what he would do if he ever got a woman like that. The deaf were definitely lucky in that they didnt have to hear the volley of sexual motifs set forth deep from Sunil dai's labido!
Rumor had it that Sunil dai got the wrong impressions from overwatching Girls Gone Wild and henceforth started visiting clubs in downtown every Friday, in hopes of bagging himself a prize snowbunny! And EVERY Friday/Saturday night, he lurked in the shadows of the clubs waiting, watching, wanting.

And darned clever he was too! He once confided to Sunny that his main aimfor the moment was to get married to an American girl by professing his undying love for her. So that he would have the proper contacts to help out with his father's waning business in the tourist industry back home. "Shes going to be our ticket to richness" he had sneered in his typical way.


"Ani bhai, khane kura kei chaina yaha? Malai ta kasto bhok lagyo yaar. Timiharu kei pakako chaina?"

" ... " Sunny acted like he was fully engrossed in the game but the back of his mind was shouting insults. Sunildai ALWAYS did this. That old goat was too lazy to cook, and too kanjus to do groceries so he used to mooch off them as often as he could. Word on the street was Sunil dai was so kanjoos that he set up agreement with his roomates NOT to pay for toilet paper since he didnt have use for them. Poor roomates of his recall hearing the the tap in the bathtub go on everytime Sunil dai had to answer nature's call. "Khai dai ma ta bhakkar kam bata ako, fridge ma kei hola ki." Sunny could not be mean even if he tried to. Plus he was tired and stoned! He just wanted to chill!

Sunil dai came back with a plate and 2 chalupas! "oho! kolle mero lagi bachayecha" bhandai, khanu thalyo. Sunny just ignored him. He sat there thumbing his way through Halo while Sunil dai sat by his side and noisily finished off the chalupas, put the plate on the table in front of Sunny and with some words of excuse, left the room.

Back in the game, Master Chief was really kicking ass!

After what seemed a couple of hours the door opened and the remaining heroes of the apartment entered, carrying plastic bags with Walmart sign on them. Sanjiv, Suste, and Dharmendra. Yep that was his real name. Dharmendra. Given him by his parents who were probably a big fan of the Bollywood icon. At least thats what the rumors said. No one really cared to ask if it was true.

"Oye, bahira gadi bata doodh ra anda lyai de na, ani alikiti saman haru ni hola." ordered Sanjeev.

Sanjeev was the cool headed responsible diplomatic roomate who knew how to get stuff done without really making anything seem like an issue. He was the much needed cement to keep the bricks together. The three of them were bricks. They were unique and individual, but bricks. And some of the ladies even thought it was spelt with a 'p'.

*****************END CHAPTER ONE*********************
*                 to be continued...               **
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********************Chapter 2 *********************
**           Guilt free semesters                **
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Sunny stepped outside the apartment into the parking lot.  It was 30F and snowing lightly. Cursing under his breath, he made his way to the parked Mazda MX6 and scavenged what was left of the groceries; milk, eggs, a couple of Walmart bags with  coriander, broccoli and tomatoes, and rushed indoors to escape the biting cold.



Inside, Sanjeev had already gotten preparation underway instructing the boys to stow away the groceries in the appropriate places, most of which went into the refrigerator.  



"K cha ta plan bro?" asked Sunny teasingly. He knew there HAD to be some sort of fun activities planned for the weekend. The 'Ghetto Boys', as they called themselves, couldnt live without rewarding themselves a little over the weekend. It was customary.



Every Friday, the roomates would pitch in $20 each and go out to the liquor store to get some goodies for the night. Suste was in charge of the alcohol as he was considered the 'connoiseur' amongst them and always came back with fruity delicacies to soften their palate and intoxicate them with. Sunny was in charge of getting the 'chicks' as he had contacts in the college dorms, which were always full of eager minors interested in hanging out with the internationals. Plus it was a dry campus, meaning no alcohol within campus boundaries so if someone wanted to drink, they'd either have to go to the bar and shell out tonnes of $$ or crash an off-campus apartment party.



"Boka lai call gar, ani chix haru kati auncha bhanera khabar gar" instructed Sanjeev to Sunny. 'Boka' was their friend who lived in the dorms and hence had friends, girls and guys who were looking for a decent place to hang out. WIth his help, the boys had become acquainted with a good number of college students, both american and international. "Dharmu, khana ko intazaam gara yar" poked Sanjeev, "esto bhok lagi racha".



Dharmendra was furiously burrowing through the fridge in search of something. Dharmendra was the mote amongst them. Every group of friends have at least one who is slightly stubby, lazy, and loves to eat. Dharmendra was The Chosen One of this group. Frustrated, he gave up and came outside by the sofa where Suste was playing Halo. Sunny was outside on the veranda talking to 'Boka' coaxing him to get 'as many chix' as he could.



"La bhayo" squeaked Sunny as he entered back, "Boka le 4 jana kt haru lyauncha re! Suste ja alik ramro jaad kinera aija. Asti tyo 99 Bananas thik lagya thiyo, tyo ni le na hai?".



"Taile mero chaloopa khako ho?" Dharmendra accused suspiciously. He had seen the plate that Sunil dai left on the table. He hated it when someone ate something that he had been planning/dreaming to eat later on. It never went well with him and all his roomates were aware of that fact.



Sunny was defensive "Ka maile khanu? Tero baje ayera khayo. Sunil dai le. Ja ullai gayera kara. Dimag kharab yaar. Ma bhanda ullai mero ama bau ko dherai chinta cha!"



Everyone laughed. They knew Sunil dai and his notorious tactics all too well. On seeing that the half saved joint was missing as well, Dharmendra teased, "G ni budo le sakayo hola haina Sunny?" This time the laughter was louder and longer.  Sunny's was a bit hysteric owing to his recent contact with the drug.



A couple months ago, Sunil dai had barged in, as always, into their apartment just as the boys were about to light one up. Sunny had offered Sunil dai a hit, but little did they know that the old man had never smoked his entire life. Sunil dai went crazy. He started blaming them for trying to kill him and even threatened to call the police on them. It took the guys a whole lot of effort to calm him down and persuade him that they were'rnt trying to kill him or anything. Then Sunil dai, once calmed, proceeded to appease the boys by showing off his musical talent in singing. And so the old frog croaked Sa Re Ga Ma and some motifs in the scale holding the boys hostage as his audience. It was a well remembered incident, and they vowed not to let that happen again.



The clock struck 9:40 and Suste was cajoled into his alcohol delivery because the liquor stores all closed at 10. Obiediently, he took his leave and Dharmendra proceeded to resign himself to the kitchen. It was going to be a long night, and they had just begun.



There was no such thing as preparation because all they needed were drinks and people. At five to ten Suste arrived with the drinks, and by ten thirty, the much awaited Boka arrived with his shipment of beautiful ladies and a couple other guys.  Sunny usually DJed for the crowd on the 5.1 Creative Surround Sound speakers that they'd bought off ebay. He started off with ATB and queued up Paul van Dyke on his jukebox.



Within half an hour, a steady stream of Nepali guys and girls flowed into the apartment from the neighboring apartments, each with his/her bottle of tequila or other preferred alcohol as was the unspoken rule of BYOB at house parties.



There was the Nepali Spice Girls, who were given the name cuz they were always together, the 5 of them, and they loved to dance. Then there were The Troopers, a group of 8 guys who had just come from nepal and stuck together most of the time. The Troopers were a lil wild and rowdy, but they were really nice helpful people and mixed well with the rest of the diaspora, often participating in jokes and laughs. Suste nudged Sanjeev to bring their attention to one of the Troopers hitting on the Spice Girls. "Monkey blast, geda fast" was the motto around their apartment. And things moved fast, especially when everyone was drunk.



A bunch of guys were crowded around each of the dorm chicks, offering drinks, smokes, phone numbers, dances. The four girls were thoroughly enjoying the attention they were getting. Dharmendra had one of the girl's undivided attention as he was explaining to her about the religion and culture of Nepal. Sunny and Boka were teaming up on this girl from Serbia, who was an exchange student and whose accent probably drove half the guys in the room crazy.



Suste was the quiet one. The reserved introvert who spoke very little and when he did it usually carried a lot of weight with it. He sat nimbly on the arm of the sofa listening in on all the conversation around him. He didn't really care for all these women, or the parties. His heart was with someone else, and at the moment his mind was preoccupied with her thoughts. No one else knew about it but Suste. Not even the girl herself knew that he even remotely liked her. He was good with hiding his emotions and keeping things a secret. Thats why a lot of people trusted him and told him their secrets and their grudges. He was very diplomatic too, offering a kind word when someone confided to him about their tragedy. His story, or his secrets, tho, were never known to anyone but himself. Suste had his own views on life and there was no one who could change the way he saw things.





In the midst of all the commotion there was a rasp knocking on the door. Nobody noticed it at first. Then the knocking turned into a banging. Sunny jumped and cut the music and went to the door and spoke "Who is it?".



From the other side, a serious voice shot back "Security!"



The look on the faces of the underaged drinkers were always the same.





********************End Chapter 2******************
**                to be continued...             **
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Last edited: 17-Jul-09 03:44 PM
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