We’d wrapped up the second day of the trip pretty quickly. The rafting bit didn’t
take much time, except for all the posing and the harsh morning sun which made
clicking photos a proper pain in the neck. Then as usual, dear Geetu had to do
the skirt-blowing Marilyn Monroe position on every rock she climbed, which took
another year to get right.
By the way, we had two members in the gang about to get hitched (not
to each other!). One’s Mr Deepak of course, and it’s quiet little Ms Leela who is
going to hear the wedding bells soon after. Her groom-to-be was roaming around
Coorg around with a gang of his own about the same time that we had planned our
little trip and our gangs ran into each other a couple of times. I liked the leather
jacket that Leelu’s fiancé wore, and Krishna and Geetu liked Leelu’s fiancé’s good-looking
best friend. What our hungry lot liked even more was that the groom’s gang
treated us to tea and snacks.
Following that, we headed straight for the Golden Temple (Namdroling Monastery), which last I remember, was a serene, ultra-peaceful
place to be. That’s however only if you manage to get there by afternoon. By
the time we got there, the place was teeming with noisy humans. Anyway, we got
into the big main hall, sat around for quite some time, and I can hardly
remember a word we’d uttered. It was mostly tales of our native villages in
Kerala, how all the neighbours want to know when you last had sex, which one
next door is scheming what and a lot of things that aren’t currently coming to
mind. Back to the hotel then, with a good bottle of locally made rum! Yum!
By this time, we had gotten a bit more accustomed to each other’s
eccentricities… I think. The ladies called me Ganapathy for some reason. When I
asked Geetu why, she said, Ganapathy was a god, who you offered the first plate
of food, as he’s the one who alleviates you of all your troubles (well,
something along those lines). Understandably, I understood little from the explanation.
I was just happy to get the first shot of the rum. Haha. Maybe, I was the only
one that got properly sloshed. Actually no. I was pretty much in control. I do
remember Leelu letting a bit of that guard of hers down, Deepak was a little
looser in his manners, Yaseer had gone to bed after one drink or so, Geetu didn’t
kill me, and Krishna looked as peaceful as Buddha.
A bit about Krishna here. At 5’11, she’s a towering giant, a
gentle one at that albeit, and she’s the first woman I’ve hit it off with straight
away on the very first meeting. She’s the protective kind, the kind who’ll never
let you stay low, perpetually effervescent in manner, or at least that’s the
part that most people see. Dig a little deeper and you’re likely to break down
on the first story she tells you of her life. Fortitude, bloody hell. No wonder
she looks like an unshakable mountain.
Back in our room, the booze party continued, and that bottle of
rum lasted less than I’d thought it would. I’m partly to blame for that. What I
don’t get is why people mix their liquor with weird soft-drinks. Coke, Pepsi,
Limca, goodness know what all, cumin flavoured fizzy pop, wha?????
Anyway, there was the fag-end peg or so left in the bottle by the
time I saw it finally. Krishna had decided not to drink, Leela didn’t look like
she was up for one more, Deepak was probably too lost thinking about his fiancé,
Yaseer was in deep slumber by now, which left Geetu and myself as the last men
standing. “Let’s split the last one” I said. She agreed. “Neat”, she agreed to
that too. “Bottoms up”, I was a bit surprised that she didn’t refuse.
Glug-glug-glug-glug, I poured into her glass, let the rest of it into mine. 3,
2, 1 and it all went in within the blink of an eye. Damn, that was fun! “Rum khatam, paisa hajam.”(The rum’s over,
the money seems well spent)
Chapter 5: Happy falls
Chapter 5: Happy falls
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