Bolpur Blues: Episode 5

Episode 4 is here!

Durga puja went away in a jiffy. When I try to recall the one long month, I see passing images of lights, friends, food, and colors.

Happy month!

But somehow, the quirk and me, we would always keep in touch. Also, on one of those nights of midnight texts and laughter-inducing banters, I gave him a nick name, which later I found out, means ‘bacteria that causes food poisoning’.

Weird happens to be my forte too!

Also, we got so happy, just by conversations, he later started calling me his ‘happy hormone’.

I returned back to Santiniketan after a month, but he didn’t.

We would keep calling, each other, usually in the dead of the night, just to talk about how the day went.

Nyctophilliacs in synchronization.

One month went away, and one day me and my Kala Bhavana beat partner, who introduced me to the quirk in the first place, we got some weed for us.

Enough for four joints, and more than enough to get us shit high!

There is this place, which happens to top my little list of the places I find solace in Santiniketan; behind one of the theater houses, a stretch of land, used by students of painting and sculpture for practice.

A land, surrounded by abstract sculpture, structures designed for people to sit, and a half-broken wall, injected with concrete flowers, which was earlier a stage used by performance arts’ students for presentation.

Me and my Malayalam partner, we sat there, rolled us four joints, and had all of them together.

In some time we got to realize the sun was going down, and we could hardly get up.

All dangerous places are seductive, they say.

This place had no light to guide us in the dark, and it was a damn long walk to the main road through what you would call a overgrown forest.

I got up after giving efforts to my head and my legs for almost fifteen minutes.

The sky was putting out his last bit of light, when we two high people, unable to grab anything that was happening, walked to the faint source of the light; streetlamp of the main road that was visible from there.

After walking for what looked like a mile, since weed messed up our timeline too bad, I realized my partner was not beside me anymore.

May be I freaked out, maybe I tried to find my phone which I couldn’t, the last memory I have is me trying to open the gate to my house, where I hurt my palm badly. I felt no pain then, only after I was back to my senses, I saw the blood clot.

At around 9 pm, I woke up in my bed, by a phone call. The quirk!

“Hey, I booked my tickets. My train’s tomorrow.” The cheerful voice and I could imagine that big smile which is his patent.

“So in three days, you are going to be here?” I was so happy.

“Yes. Just three more days. Will you come to the train station when I reach?”

“Can’t wait to hug you a welcome.” I cut the call, and hummed a little happy song.

In three days, he was back.

Struggling with his two huge luggage, came out of the platform, searching. I was standing right in front.

I hugged him a welcome, and we started walking.

Station happens to be a half an hour walk from the place where we wanted to go, and only midway, we came to realize, we were so busy in conversations, that we forgot to get ourselves a transport. Apparently he has shifted to a place, which was in my locality; I mean just the lane almost opposite to mine.

We came to his place, dusted things, made him settle down, and he came to drop me off to my place.

That goodbye for just the night, I tell you, was the most confusing one.

I wanted to shake his hands, and he came closer for a hug.

Finally, we laughed and settled for the hug.

To be continued…

Bolpur Blues: Episode 4

Bolpur Blues: Episode1

Bolpur Blues: Episode 2

Bolpur Blues: Episode 3

Songs, music, walks, conversations, happened to increase in the weeks that followed.

My routine for the day remained the same. Wake up early, text my virtual boyfriend, go for classes, come back, go out on a tea date with myself; only the thing that severely changed was, this time I would keep on bumping into the quirk, almost every day.

One day, I returned from my classes a little early, around afternoon. Since I had nothing to do till the sun goes down and the world creates the perfect ambience for a date with myself, I lazily kept scrolling my Facebook newsfeed, and came to realize, my boyfriend has gone off Facebook.

I tried Whatsapp and that account was deleted.

I tried his phone and that was switched off.

For natural reasons, that upset me. I kept calling that number once every ten minutes, only to listen to the same robotic lady telling me the same words.

Upset, heartbroken and worried, I decided to go out, have a cup of tea, and think upon what can be done.

Tea date with myself done, I lingered around the marketplace that day.

Dark, silent lanes were only accelerating the worries.

In one of those noisy, tourist-crowded shops in the marketplace, I met the quirk, checking out a burnt clay bangle.

I went beside him and asked, “For your mother?”

He turned around, little distracted by my words from his deep inspection of jewellery, “No, for myself.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, “Do men in Kerala wear bangles?”

I expected him to get angry, but he seemed equally amused, “No no, but I want to wear. See, even the color goes with my skin tone.”

My mind kept whispering, ‘Say hello to the quirk!’

He not only bought the bangle and made me bargain with the shopkeeper, but also posted a picture wearing it on his Facebook profile.

This time, more than amused, I was amazed at the straightforwardness of a person, in public.

Anyway, days went by, my virtual boyfriend stayed lost and gone, and came Mahalaya, and that only meant, Durga puja was just a week away.

Santiniketan organizes a fair on Mahalaya, where each department of my University puts up stalls. Ours had newspapers to sell.

I was hardly interested in the fair, but in the fact that the next day I was going home; for one long month.

After roaming in the fair for some time, and getting choked by the amount of crowd in a small place, I came back to the ramshackle halogen-lit tea stall for a late evening tea.

The quirk with another friend, walked in almost then.

After rounds of lemon tea, horribly made though, and appreciation of the vintage flavor of the shop, we were out to walk back home.

On the way I told him, “I’m going back home tomorrow.”

“Oh. I’ll go too.”

“When? Go home. Anyway, the holidays are on, and there is nothing to do here.” I replied.

“I’ll go. Maybe this week. Just little lazy to book my ticket.” He smiled back.

I returned the smile and the bent to my lane came.

“Okay then, see you soon?” He smiled and held my hand.

I faintly pressed his hand before letting go, “Very soon.”

He smiled and went his way, and I mine.

The next episode is up here!

To be continued…