The title came into my mind first, n i tried to use it in a poem, realizing later i'd already written a similar one. So i've written a story about all the recent little observations i've been making n the questions that they evoked, giving it a situation to come out...its a slow story, but its been my most satisfying experience..:)
Another lazy weekend. The same old drill; my friends would come in one of their cars, and we'd all go to some mall or bowling alley and hang for a while. After that we'd go for a long drive somewhere or jam a little, and then come back in the evening. All along the way, laughing and joking, making a merry time of it. But over the months I'd grown weary of it, and I was yearning for a change from this shallow, monotonous and uninspired existence. Nonetheless, fact was they were coming in half an hour and I had to be ready. They came, a little late as usual.
My mobile rang. 'Dude get out fast, we're already here! You ready or not?' Vinit's booming voice sounded over the line.
'Yeah I'll be out in two' I answered in a half-tired voice. I told my mom i was leaving and trudged my way out and greeted my friends with pseudo-excitement. We got into the car and got out of my building through the back gate.
That's when I noticed that the watchman at the gate was talking to himself. I turned in my seat to watch him for a while, but he soon went out of view. I sat quietly in my seat, not even bothering to ask where we were going.
'Let's smoke up today man. We've been hearing others talk about it, we've talked about it....let's do it' Karthik, my friend, piped up all of a sudden. Everyone looked at him silently for a few moments. This was a big step for us. We waited with bated breath for someone to speak up.
'Sure, sure'...'ya'..we all agreed in an offhand way, 'big deal'...
Vinit looked at all of us. 'Really? We are? All right I'll call Jimmy, he's supposed to be the guy who's into all this.' He called and spoke for a brief while. 'All right, Jimmy's told us to come to this place near Forum, there's his friend's house where we can do it.' He looked questioningly at us once again.
'Go already man!' I shouted. He laughed and revved the car. At the intersection near my house, there was a traffic police officer. Standing erect and looking all business, he diligently directed the traffic. All of a sudden there came a little girl, running across the street, narrowly missing the speeding vehicles. He stopped her as she passed by him, and admonished her for her recklessness. He then stopped the relentless flow of traffic and gave her a passage, right after he had patted her cheek.
There was a gentle kindness about that gesture, from a man who otherwise looked so formal and upright. I found myself staring at them for as long as I could. Then, as they usually have a tendency to do, the vision went out of sight, to be replaced by a new one.
We got to the place, finding Jimmy there with two other people that we didn't know. But they welcomed us with a brotherly feeling that we did not expect. It seemed like they weren't doing this for the first time. But I'd heard about this happening; when you dope together, introductions are secondary. We went in and sat inside a really small room, piled with books, old unwashed clothes, magazines, and a computer that lay in a corner. There was barely enough room for the six us of, plus the three of them, but we managed. The three of them got to rolling the joints and preparing the bong, while I was left wondering if this was going too fast. That was when Jimmy looked at me, saw the anxiety writ clean on my face, and smiled.
'Chill man, it's okay. It'll be all right in a while anyways...'
We all were silent for the next ten minutes, as the trio got about their job, and soon, the bong was lit up and being passed around. Fifteen minutes, four bong rounds, and three joints later, we all were tripping in various degrees. Since we all were first timers, all we felt was a thoughtlessness, an all-pervasive sense of joy and contentment, as we reclined in our places and looked at the walls. Strobe lights were playing across them, and everything was moving and shimmering, but very slightly. You had to look twice, to see the thing that wasn't actually there.
The other three were just sitting in one place, eyes red and dazed, face void of expression. God only knew what they were experiencing.
Somehow I felt that it was hitting me more than any of the others, and I felt reality slip out of my hands like grains of sand. For a while I was in rem-state, of which I did not remember absolutely anything. All the other times, I vaguely remembered what people were saying and doing.
Vinit was up there in the clouds somewhere. He looked at Shreesha, a huge friend of ours. 'Dude...you're Mount Shreesha...let's mount Shreesha', he slurred, staring at him and simultaneously at nothing.
Karthik was resting his head on Shreesha's shoulders, and grunting every once in a while, and for his part, Shreesha was just staring forward fixedly, not muttering a word, not wavering in his gaze.
All this while, I was busy tickling my own stomach, and trying to get smoke out of my ears, and it seemed to be working. Then we wolfed down some grapes that Vinit had brought, and listened to Shpongle's songs. After an hour, we all got up, feeling suddenly wobbly as we did so. We staggered home, reaching after a seemingly endless drive. And that night I was on edge, but fitfully tired, both at the same time. I slept like a sick dog.
The next day we all met in college, exchanging knowing glances. But there was something in everybody else's eyes. Something like a cross between amusement and confusion. I asked them what it was.
'Dude don't you remember the stuff you said yesterday? You were like, at it man! All that yous said...' Karthik trailed off.
We all decided to bunk the first hour and talk about it. Then Karthik started retelling all that I had said, with others chipping in wherever he faltered. And I listened to him, eyes wide with amazement.
Yesterday, apparently had been just...Radical...
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