A Road trip down the memory lane

Short story for an online contest.

Section I

Six months back…

‘How many cocktails would you all have? I need to pick up the breezers accordingly.’ I asked everyone as I stepped out of the car to head to the liquor store.

‘Won’t drink much dude, just not in the mood. And we all need to wake up early for the dive tomorrow, and then drive back to Mumbai. Pick up only one breezer for me’, replied Suryansh. Sanjay, Rohan and Roy nodded in agreement taking the total count to 4.

Never the one to err on the miserly side, atleast in case of booze, I picked up 8 breezers and a club soda as I prepped for the customary evening drinks session, being the group’s perennial bar tender.

‘Why did you pick up the soda?’ Sanjay asked as I got back into the car.

‘Just…I might try making a new cocktail with it.’

‘Soda in a cocktail!’ he said with a weird expression, making his unbearable face even harder to look at.

45 minutes into the session after returning to the resort, we were out of everything to mix the tequila and vodka with, except for the club soda I had picked up randomly. That’s when we realized, it’s not the quantity and brands of booze available in the bar cabinet which determines the capacity of alcohol one can consume in a single night. But the perfect concoction of the ambience, company of people around and the mix of emotions which defines it. It’s got to be this, else there is no way to justify not having more than 4 drinks during the entire two night stay in the country's beach side booze capital, and then consuming it at the speed of light during the only night stay in Tarkarli " a small hamlet about 100kms from Goa.

Cool moist breeze blowing in from the sea, low rippling sound of the shoreline and the view of the beach bathed in white on this full moon night was the perfect setting to get five drunk alpha males talking about life in general. Usually, such a situation leads to a rare celestial event of the unfair sex expressing their emotions freely, and this evening turned out exactly that way. As far as I have noticed, such conversations follow a pre-defined pattern " someone starts expressing how blessed he is to have everyone sitting there as his friend, and how all of them mean the world to him, etc etc. Thereafter, either he will raise a toast for the entire ‘group’ or make a clichéd resolution of a pilgrimage to Goa atleast once a year.

Just as you feel that he is getting nowhere, he would start talking about some real issues he is facing in life. And even if he does not make a lot of sense initially, the trick lies in sitting back and letting him talk. He would become clear at some stage, because in his defense, expressing freely doesn’t come naturally to men.

Having gulped down four of my timeless cocktails, even though he had asked for only one breezer initially, Suryansh followed the pre-defined pattern perfectly. When he got down to business, he told us he had made up his mind on getting a divorce. Despite the fact that we were aware of the issues between Priya and him, in just one and a half years of their married life, no one ever imagined it would turn out like this. Recollecting all the major events during this time and also during their two year relationship before the marriage, he was apologetic of all the fights and struggle he had endured to get himself married to the love of his life, which actually turned out to be one-sided post marriage. By this point, he had started weeping and repeating whatever he had already said.

Irrespective of how creative and effective guys can be when a female friend of theirs (or even a stranger) starts crying, they get impaired about how to react when a guy gets emotional. Even if he is a very close friend.

This was not the case with Roy though. Not sure, if it was the alcohol or his genuine concern for Suryansh, he got up and pulled him out of his chair and embraced him. Roy succeeded in getting Suryansh to let it all out; all the frustration, anger over his family and wife’s stubbornness, everything flowed out with his tears.

Rohan was dumb-struck seeing all this. While all of us were feeling sorry for Suryansh, he seemed to be looking at his own future. The look on his face reminisced me of Sanjay’s conversation with Rohan’s wife, Maya, few months back, which he had shared with all of us sans Rohan, as he was concerned about the couple.

Section II

What the hell is going on between my husband and that b***h?' Maya's patience was at its lowest ebb and she was ready to burst.

Sanjay knew that she was serious. 'Look, Maya. There is nothing going on between the two of them. Just a little bit of healthy flirting, I'd say.'

'Flirting? Healthy flirting? Really Sanjay . . .' she rolled her eyes in disgust. 'That's what you men call it? There is nothing healthy about flirting, Sanjay, not for a married man.

Healthy flirting is a term introduced by perverted men who want to lend legitimacy to their extramarital dalliances. Flirting invariably has a sexual connotation to it.' She got up from her seat and walked around the room gesticulating and muttering something to herself. Suddenly she stopped, turned back, looked at Sanjay and asked, 'Did my husband sleep with her? You are his friend. Did he ever tell you anything about it?'

‘Oh, come on Maya, don’t over-estimate Rohan so much. After all, Seema has a good taste when it comes to men.’ Sanjay chided Maya to change the topic.

He might have been successful in containing the storm for the time being, but he told us about this conversation which got us worried. I thought of confronting Rohan immediately, but I knew a direct approach won’t work with him. So, we dragged him, almost literally, at the last minute for this trip. Never the one to like my antics, this did not go down well with Maya. But then she didn’t know we were actually doing it for her own good. She did not protest much though, as I guess she realized even she can use a bit of time away from Rohan.

Meanwhile, Suryansh had gathered his wits and was back to gulping down soda based cocktails. I made a mental note to keep the alcohol content low in his drinks.

‘Wassup with you a*****e’, I asked Rohan as he flinched out of the nightmare he was imagining.

‘Nothing much mate. You tell me, when are you getting married dude? Your hair is already greying on the sides’ he said with a smirk.

‘Oh, that reminds me of your friend, Seema. How is she? She is so hot yaa, saw her few days back. Is she still single?’ I asked, observing Rohan’s reaction carefully.

His smirk immediately transformed to almost a forced smile and his facial muscles tightened, just as everyone else suppressed their laughter and surprise at me bringing up the topic finally. After an eternity, he managed to respond.

‘Seema! No clue mate. Been ages since I saw her. You know how Maya is slightly possessive and how she reacts to stuff like this..right?’

‘Yes, I know that. And if I can clearly see you are lying about Seema, even though we are catching up after ages, I can only imagine what a possessive person like Maya must be feeling about her’

‘What are you getting at?’ Rohan enquired.

‘I saw you with Seema last week dude, so stop making up stories. You were never good at it anyways.’

He tried rebutting but wisely decided against it.

‘Its not what it seems’, he finally said.

‘So you realize what it seems like. That’s a good start’. I added.

Sanjay tried to break the awkward silence which followed, but Roy and I gestured him against it. It worked.

‘Im sorry for lying about Seema earlier’, Rohan said.

 

‘But there is nothing going on between us’, he protested.

‘Ok. But Maya is clearly unhappy about it’, Roy said and told him about her conversation with Sanjay.

‘I know about it. And, believe me I want to address the distance this has created between Maya and me. But somehow, I am unable to do it. Not sure why, but even though there is nothing between Seema and me, I enjoy her attention and like spending time with her’.

‘May be I am doing it to annoy Maya. As I know how she reacts even if I just speak to a female friend of mine. And I don’t like her inquisitiveness about every aspect of my life. It’s suffocating’.

‘Hate to say this, but this is something which you should have addressed much earlier and not now, almost 8 years after your marriage’ I said, realizing he was done talking.

‘I agree. I know exactly what you are feeling, and to ensure I never face such issues, I had a very open conversation with Jiah on this even before we got married’. Roy added

‘Irrespective of Maya’s short comings, your proximity to Seema or anyone outside your marriage is obviously not a solution’, Sanjay spoke for the first time this evening.

Thankfully, it was meaningful, else he can be a loose cannon especially after a few drinks.

‘Needless to say, if you don’t sort it out with Maya, you would end up in my position’, added Suryansh.

‘Ya, he already realized that earlier’, I said.

‘Even though my issues with Priya are nowhere similar, but lack of communication in a marriage always leads to the same result’. Suryansh said, fighting back his tears.

‘True that. But that alone will not sort out everything in Rohan’s life’, I added.

‘Yes, you need to unwind more often. And I don’t mean another trip to Bangkok by-the-way’, Roy told Rohan with a grin.

‘You need to hang out with us or any of your other gangs regularly. Its very important for a happy and peaceful married and professional life. Once in a while, you need to get rid of all the stress but do it only with people you trust and not with anyone under the sun’, Roy said as I made another round of drinks for everyone with the last remains of the club soda.

‘She doesn’t like me hanging out with you guys either’, Rohan replied.

‘We know’, I said.

‘Since she had opened up to Sanjay, let him take care of that part. But that’s secondary. First, you need to have a candid conversation with her and also end your interactions with Seema. I am not supporting Maya’s inhibitions here, but Seema does seem like trouble. Besides, she deserves someone better; introduce me to her. I will take one for your marriage dude’, I said raising my glass to him.

‘Sure you would. Despo’, Suryansh intervened.

We managed two more rounds of drinks, thanks to mineral water to mix the drinks with. That was the only option, as none of us was in a position to drive back to the liquor store for getting more stock. Finally, when we even ran out of mineral water, we decided to take a stroll on the beach.

Walking on the moist soft sand, courtesy an unseasonal shower earlier that evening, we were enthralled by the charismatic full moon which seemed much bigger in its reflection in the sea. For the first time that evening, none of us was in a mood to say anything. Everyone seemed captivated by the serenity of absolute silence except for the refreshing sound of waves hitting the shoreline. Stray clouds playing hide and seek with the moon added some more magic to everything.

None of us wanted to call it a night, but for the fact that we were booked for a scuba dive early in the morning.

Section III

Waking up to clear skies meant good visibility inside the water for our dive. Descending into water seemed like teleporting to a different distant world. Time came to a stand-still with the only audible sound being my labored breathing using the oxygen cylinder. The vast aquatic life in its natural backdrop was a sight to behold. Hundreds of fishes moved helter-skelter with the sudden intrusion in their habitat. But just as I adapted to their universe, they welcomed me in. Slowly, they reverted to moving along in a whimsical rhythm.

Few minutes later, what seemed like a huge alligator initially, spoilt their rhythm once and for all. It turned out to be Sanjay who just started his dive and the peaceful aquatic life was never the same again, atleast till such time he was in there.

The dive seemed like a fitting end to an amazing three day trip. However, we were in for a surprise after-party on the drive back. Acting as a navigator while I took the wheel, Roy suggested we take a different route before approaching the national highway which would zip us back to Mumbai. I am glad, we all agreed to him, because the route we ended up taking crisscrossed through a breathtaking wildlife sanctuary. Peppered with beautiful landscape and some never seen before flora and fauna at almost every corner, it provided umpteen ideal locations for clicking truck-loads of snaps. Good quality tarmac road, sun-roof in Suryansh’s car we were driving in and six unplugged versions of Arijit Singh’s classic tracks proved to be the perfect icing on the cake. Never before had the return journey on a road trip been so refreshing. After driving for about 10 hours, we got back home, in time for office the next day.

 

Epilogue

Present Day

Surprisingly, sticking to his promise, Rohan sorted everything with Maya and broke off his ties with Seema. So, the objective of forcing Rohan to come for the Goa trip to make Suryansh’s unfortunate marital situation an eye-opener for him, worked out perfectly. Although, he is back to his old ways of not staying in touch with us. Not sure, if this is because of Maya’s lack of fondness of his childhood friends, or his own fickle mindedness about finding new company at regular intervals, but we are just content that everything is slowly getting back to normal between the oldest couple amongst us; atleast in terms of the duration they have been married for.

Suryansh has officially filed for a divorce. Hopefully, it won’t be a messy one and enable both of them to move on with their lives.

Roy and I are back to our professional roles in our respective desk jobs. Looking at our critically acclaimed success with advising family and friends, we might consider starting a column in a daily newspaper and give it a not-so-creative title of ‘Agony uncles’.

Meanwhile, Sanjay continues to grow fatter and obnoxious by the minute.

Author's Note

The below preface had to be included in the story, as per the contest rules:

What the hell is going on between my husband and that bitch?' Maya's patience was at its lowest ebb and she was ready to burst.
Sanjay knew that she was serious. 'Look, Maya. There is nothing going on between the two of them. Just a little bit of healthy flirting, I'd say.'
'Flirting? Healthy flirting? Really Sanjay . . .' she rolled her eyes in disgust. 'That's what you men call it? There is nothing healthy about flirting, Sanjay, not for a married man.
Healthy flirting is a term introduced by perverted men who want to lend legitimacy to their extramarital dalliances. Flirting invariably has a sexual connotation to it.' She got up from her seat and walked around the room gesticulating and muttering something to herself. Suddenly she stopped, turned back, looked at Sanjay and asked, 'Did my husband sleep with her? You are his friend. Did he ever tell you anything about it?'