THE GIRL WITH THE MEMORIAL TATTOOS

Chapter 4 LIVE IN RELATIONSHIP

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ife is vicissitude. It’s your choice that decides whether you go immaculate or sordid’. These lines were reverberated in Surya’s head while he was going downstairs retrospecting the past events happened the day before. Chakradhar, Bharat, Surya and Kiran were sitting in the 2nd floor of the wooden Cabin opposite to the Folklore Manali Hostel. Surya ordered a beer for himself while Kiran gave a try for Vodka which she ordered for herself, being nostalgic about her kids but still feeling relieved being away from her mother-in-law. She gulped the shot in one go and munched the Paneer tikka, with a satisfactory rate measuring 10/10 on her diabolic face. Chakradhar was a middle-aged man, tall with dark complexion, with a bass voice seemed to be bossy on his melancholic face most of the times. He involved in his own world drinking beer, smoking packs of cigarettes, mumbling indiscreetly cursing his own life. The part whether he was cursing his own life or his wife was not sure for anyone of them but definitely he might have felt a sense of freedom for being far away from his wife. They knew very less about him as he was more introvert and intimidating. Even Surya had a feeling of freedom being away from his Mom. It seemed like everyone had rivalry with a woman. Even a woman is an enemy to another woman. Surya always felt that women should be considered as a different species. 

Chakradhar sat beside Surya and was ready to give his monologue relentlessly about his family, wife and children in the high of alcohol. 

‘You know Surya? Marriage is a quagmire. Once you get into it, it’s not easy to come out. You wriggle all the way just to know that you have been sufficiently buried in this Manhole. Yeah, marriage is a Manhole which sucks a man’s whole life’. He gulped his beer. Kiran was listening keenly, swaying occasionally, but maintaining her disposition. ‘So Chakradhar babaji, what do you suggest instead of getting married, Babaji ka thullu?’ and chortled into laughter. 

‘Live-in relationship!’ Chakradhar took one more gulp experiencing his sense of elation. ‘It is the entire solution of our problems. Check compatibility earlier and return if you don’t like’. 

Kiran sat before him like a disciple, ‘Like a product on sss’. ‘Exactly’, Chakradhar continued with his sermon. Surya was observing them with an eye of connoisseur. ‘You know Sri Krishna and Radha, they never got married. But their love story is the true one’. 

Kiran added, ‘If Shah Jahan and Mumtaz were in Live-in relationship, Shah Jahan would have never built a Taj Mahal’. 

Surya raised his voice for the first time in a while, ‘Kiran! Taj Mahal was a symbol of true love, not his marriage’, and he winked at Chakradhar. Chakradhar slowly laid down on one side with the support of elbow, and palm placing beneath head, taking the posture of Lord Vishnu, ‘Yes yes! If I had the clarity you have at that time, I would have been so happy’, he said and started singing a song ‘don’t marry be happy’ in low melancholic tone, with the thickness of voice crescendoing  gradually and later his tone hushed gradually while he dozed off to sleep. Kiran looked pale as if the only source of entertainment was gone. She gave a glance over Surya who in turn shrugged his shoulders and stood up from his place in fear of listening to another sermon, this time from Kiran. 

Then the live concert of the foreigners started. Probably it was a concert of Spanish songs. Surya peeked over the balcony to see what’s happening. A foreigner with long hair, thick beard and moustache, and a tattoo on left arm, was playing his guitar in the live concert. A beautiful foreign girl, probably in her mid-twenties was dancing rhythmically to music. She was fair, with black hair and beautiful black eyes, with a slim waist perfectly twisting like a snake to the music. There came Faizan, one of the friends of Surya, hailing from Hyderabad, joined the show dancing rhythmically with the music with an enchanting smile as if he had been with a master plan to impress the girl. Surya felt an awkward feeling as probably he was jealous. Surya planned this trek of Hampta pass with a few friends with whom he came to Manali and Hampta pass. Unfortunately, one of their friends got injured while trekking, so Faizan took the responsibility to take him back to the base camp and from there to Manali. From then onwards, the whereabouts of Faizan was a suspense to Surya. 

Faizan stayed back in Manali while other guys left for Hyderabad. He was a fitness freak with an athlete-like body. When Surya, Faizan, Varsha and Rohit landed in Delhi airport, on the way to Manali, the first thing they did was to buy a bottle of Vodka. At the base camp of Hampta pass, those guys left Surya and had the Vodka for them to overcome the chill that night. He got angry that he could not join in the drinking party. When Faizan and his friends celebrated their night drinking Vodka, Surya had to keep dreaming about the plan to drink the Vodka in some other tent. The worst thing was that Surya continued believing that Vodka was there still unsealed for few more days. Only when Faizan was leaving with his injured friend Rohit, he whispered in the ears of Surya about the way they betrayed him. It was too late by then as Faizan was leaving for Hyderabad. Surya knew little about his stay in Manali. He never thought he would get his chance for revenge. 

Surya climbed down the stairs and stood beside the dance performance. Part of him pushing him to join the dance while the other part was scared. Surya was completely dependent on his beer bottle for boosting him. He was taking a sip and trying to step forward but felt the inadequacy of the boosting, so he stepped back and had another sip. Kiran was watching him amusedly with a dumb-witted head. He finished a bottle of beer but still there was no sign of hope. Surya went upstairs, started having another beer, slowly advanced toward the dance floor in between the hostel and the wooden cabin. Many foreigners joined by then. He was slowly swaying his body, dancing to the rhythm of music more than enough to enjoy the music less enough to be spotted. But one foreign girl spotted him and welcomed him to join the dance floor. 

Surya felt like his dream came true. With a vivid sense of confidence, he stepped right into the dance floor and started copying the steps of whoever he had seen. Sometimes he even tried to invent his own steps. Somehow he seemed to enjoy the music. He forgot the world. All he remembered then was the beautiful Spanish music and the bottle of Beer he left on the table. At that moment he saw his friend c*m enemy Faizan. Suddenly, a flush of anger flew through his veins. He felt like it was the right moment. He sneaked behind Faizan who was already enjoying his own way of music and dance being not aware of Surya. Suddenly Surya put his leg to meddle with Faizan’s leg. Bang! Faizan fell on the floor breaking his nose. On the way of his fall, he accidentally grabbed the skirt of a foreigner beside him. She was carrying a beer bottle which she dropped over Faizan being in a state of shock and embarrassment. Bang! Another stroke on head while he was about to get! Faizan fainted after the impact of second blow. The security came and took him out. Surya enjoyed all this with a s******c happiness recalling the way he drank the Vodka. Surya looked like the Goblin in the movie ‘The Lord of the Rings’, rubbing his hands, bulging eyes, raising eyebrows with a wide grin, ‘My precious Vodka’. 

Surya, with his heightened spirits of taking his revenge somehow, mixed the dance with drink. Unlike drink and drive, there was no penalty for mixing drinks and dance. He saw a Russian lady shaking bum toward his side. Surya started shaking his bum toward her as if it’s some kind of mating signal. He had this wisdom to be happy with the moment, living in the present. Now it’s only music, dance and beer what all mattered to him was. Nothing else mattered anymore. His profession, career, problems, everything went dim before his sense of heightened freedom and happiness, experiencing his epiphany. He danced a lot and sweated a lot. Finally, the music came to halt. It was around 11pm. He left into the gully of Old Manali. All the bars and restaurants were glittering with LED lights. The road was narrow and inclined, and occupied with pedestrians who were shopping in Manali. Surya went against the inclination. Kiran, Chakradhar and Bharat went down the road in opposite direction to the Pink Panther club. Surya strode along the path dodging from the vehicles, swaying all the way, somehow entered Over the Moon Restaurant. Already some of his friends were sitting there, among them Neha was one. They were sitting there enjoying the meals. Surya sat beside Sudheer, thin dark spectacled guy with an innocent face but well-mannered. He knew him since his school days. Surya had great bond with him which inspired him to start his monologue. It was very obvious that he drank too much. There was live music in the restaurant too. The Band was receiving song requests. The melody of the songs suddenly changed to one romantic Song. Surya couldn’t help himself from casting his eyes over Neha. Neha was looking like ‘Diva’ to his eyes. He could see her eyes dancing to the music, her lips humming to the melody, while she was enjoying her dish. He suddenly had an urge to spend some time alone with Neha. Neha was a girl from Rajasthan, North Indian, and Jain residing with her parents for the past 20 years in Hyderabad. Everyone in that group joined by a trekking club. Very little was known about her. Suddenly a Muslim friend of Neha, her office colleague, passed some Rotis to Surya over the table. Surya couldn’t deny her offer so he accepted the Rotis. He was cherishing the delicacy while staring at Neha! 

‘So Neha, what’s your opinion about Live-in relationship?’ 

Nazma and Sudheer stopped their activities and stared deeply at Surya being dumbstruck. 

Neha being from an orthodox family was expected to debate against it. 

‘Live-in relationship? I rather feel it’s a good idea’. 

Everyone was shocked with her answer. Nazma interfered, ‘How can you say so bluntly? Live-in relationship was not our culture’. 

‘What’s wrong in that? Don’t we order some product on Flipkart, and return it if you don’t like it?’ ‘How can you compare a long-lasting marriage with a stupid sss product?’ Sudheer corrected ‘Flipkart!’ 

Nazma cried, ‘Whatever Dumbo! Flipkart or sss’, showering her fumes over Sudheer, returned to Neha with a quick serious glance. 

‘What’s wrong in that? Even in mythology, Sri Krishna never married Rukmini’, Neha retorted. Surya corrected, ‘Radha you mean?’ 

‘Oh yeah Radha! Is he not happy?’ Neha exploded. 

Both of the guys were enjoying the heated argument between two women sitting opposite to them. 

‘Why don’t you think about Lord Rama?’ 

‘Whatever! If my parents had tried live-in relationship before marriage, I wouldn’t have watched all that domestic violence in my childhood. Now my Mom was living with my father just for the sake of me’, said Neha with a strained voice. 

‘Extremely sorry Neha for raising that topic’, Surya said apologetically. ‘Even I am Sorry Neha!’ Nazma apologized. ‘It’s okay guys! Chill! I just told... being out of control’, Neha faltered. 

Nazma laid her hands over her shoulder. Neha suddenly burst into tears hugging her. Surya assumed there was so much intensity deep within her beyond those superficial smiles. Everyone has a tragedy. Some people end up in depression, some turns into monsters while girls like Neha turns into escapist in company of friendship. We can’t trust even our parents but we can share anything with a good friend. Surya pondered over the beauty of friendship. 

‘Tell me Neha! Do you have a bf?’ Surya asked with a cunning smile to ease the air. ‘Why? Do you want to be in live-in relationship... with my boyfriend?’ 

Everyone burst into laughter. Nazma wished goodnight to everyone and left. She was a childhood friend of Neha who presently resides in Manali. 

Pondering about all that happened in Over the Moon Restaurant the before day, Surya was stepping down the stairs. He felt a tinge of romantic feeling with Neha’s laugh which he couldn’t help. Though those guys made fun of him, Neha’s smile was all he remembered as he just forgave everybody. He felt so light that he could feel the Telugu Song ‘Gallo telinattunde’, Pawan Kalyan’s song from Jalsa. He wished something spicy and romantic would happen between Neha and him.