Sutirtho Ganguly
3. Neel
My bird watching flair found itself at a better disposition as usual, and this time the results were even better. I imagined myself as a screening machine with the search criteria ‘Hot, handsome, sexy …’ I expected the server not to return “Too many parameters for search or your search returned 0 entries!” I found Pune decent enough to harbour good guys, I had developed a peculiar scale of rating a city based on the number of decent guys I saw while staying there. I knew this was very irrational, but why shouldn’t I think my own ways, after all I am just trying to rate a city based on my passion. While I vaguely defined my preferences and wouldn’t at all discriminate based on color or caste, but sometimes I really look confused as to what my parameters were for deciding whether a guy turned me on. I always felt I would be able to figure out my likings crystal clear, but every time I tried, it turned futile. And given the context of love, I had been a loser so far, especially when I had fallen in love with a straight boy. That calls for another discussion which I would prefer to jot down sometime later.
We had booked a night sleeper coach bus for our onward journey to Goa. I would rate this part of the prose interesting as by god’s grace I was lucky enough to have a twist in my mundane life. The bus started at around 8:00 pm. It was supposed to take ten hours to reach Goa. I was allotted one berth and my mom and dad another. I discovered that one berth was large enough for two people; in fact it was a double berth. So, I thought that I was lucky to get all over myself in a double berth. It made me happy as I thought I wouldn’t have any problems sleeping at night due to space constraints.
I could see two beautiful girls in the passengers’ lot. I was pleased that at least I would have some eye tonic to relish, if not better guys. The later clause really disappointed me as I could identify uncles and grandpas among the rest!
The bus stopped after sometime, and I heard more people boarding it. One boy crawled onto my berth. I was disturbed at the same time happy. I found out that the boy was of my age, and this made me feel good. I couldn’t see much of his body as he was wearing a woolen jacket. He kept his small bag, near our feet, and settled down in a more or less reclining position. “Hi!” he said.
Then it was very odd not to talk with somebody with whom I was supposed to spend the entire night. I started off, “Hi! Are you going to Goa?” It was a sheepish start as I should have guessed that the bus wouldn’t have any more stops before it reached, but couldn’t manage anything better.
“Yes, you have the same destination I believe?” he gestured.
I nodded and then introduced myself, “I am Mohan, I have just completed my third semester engineering exams, and now we are on a tour of Maharashtra and Goa.”
“Hey that’s cool, I am Neel. I am studying second year B.Com in Pune. Pleased to meet you,” he replied. I started thinking about my prospect with this boy for the rest of the night.
I couldn’t help but carry on chatting with him, somehow I wouldn’t act indifferent. Being introvert by nature, it was not always possible for me to build rapport with strangers, but given the current context, I got some enthusiasm to go ahead.
“Is your native Goa?” I asked.
“Yes, I was born and brought up there, what about you?”
“Well, I am from a so called state,” I added “Tell me something about Goa.”
“Where are you planning to stay?” he asked.
“Dad has booked a room in his company guest house near a place called Miramar.”
“Hey that’s great dude; my house is also near Miramar.”
“Oh, I see,” I said.
I found out from him that the bus would stop once more for dinner, and then it would move until it reached Ponda. He continued the discussion about places of interest in Goa. He talked about North Goa & South Goa, the various beaches and also the famous churches. We were growing friendly in this way.
“Be there at Calangute beach, it’s a place where you can see lots of foreign chicks having sun bath.”
“Oops! I need to be careful while watching, you know, my parents will be around!” I said.
“You better be careful,” he winked. We laughed at this point which made us cozier.
I was having a mixed feeling about Neel; I liked his poise. I also found out from our conversations that Neel was a Konkani. He would be staying in his home for the same period, i.e. seven days, the same as we would stay in Goa.
I was interested to know about the place where a particular scene of DCH was shot, the one in which the three guys were sitting on the border of a broken fort with the seamless sea in front.
“Its Chapora Fort, you have to climb a lot in order to get there, as private vehicles are not allowed after a certain point; this fort is near Vagator beach.” he was descriptive.
“You need to be with friends to enjoy Goa, no offences, but you would find it a bit boring with your parents,” he said.
Goa, from my perception, was a place for water sports & scuba diving. I was always ebullient whenever I saw scuba divers on National Geographic or Discovery. I asked, “Any idea about scuba diving near the beaches?”
“That’s a fantastic sport; I have not done myself, but have seen people doing it. They need some specialized paraphernalia.”
“So, does that require any training, before you can actually go on a real tour?” I asked.
“Of course dude, novices cannot dive in just for fun!”
“And what are the equipments required?”
“I have some idea; you require a mask for seeing clearly through water, a snorkel for breathing, a pair of fins for gliding, and a few more. Good equipments will accentuate your dive experience and keep you safe.” I liked the way the information was shared precisely by him.
“So, do you have plans for scuba diving?” he asked.
“My parents will never allow, I can’t just think of!” I frowned.
“That’s sad, but in a way that’s helpful as well, because you never get into any sort of trouble.”
“And what about water-biking?” I continued the discussion.
“Oh yes, you can definitely do that at Calangute, the spot boys are helpful and they will take care that you don’t fall off!”
“Hey! That sounds quite interesting,” I said and added “How much do they charge?”
“Guess around hundred bucks for fifteen minutes or so.”
“But that’s too much!” I exclaimed.
“That’s the going rate here dude!”
It was time for dinner. I introduced him to my parents. He felt comfortable even with my parents. My father was happy to find someone from Goa. So he started enquiring him about things we needed to know in order to enjoy our stay and visit the places of interest. Neel, as usual, was very informative and briefly discussed almost everything he was aware of.
My father had high regards for Neel’s branch of study. This was because my dad had done a Masters in Commerce, but he always relented about not having applied his knowledge the way he would have liked to at his current job. He used to encourage me a lot to read Economics. I remember those stressful nights when my father would explain me everything I needed to know for the ten-mark economics section in class ten board exams and I would say at the end, that I didn’t understand a major portion of it! The way he used to get pissed off, and then start all over again. I admired his tenacity and patience. I didn’t do justice to his efforts at the exams, not because I didn’t try, but some fool preferred not to give me what I deserved while awarding marks. Now seeing a person from the same line of study dad was really excited. They discussed the future course of career, something which I was not able to make heads or tails about.
My mom also discussed a couple of things with him, but not related to his course of study. We were sitting closely as a family, with Neel beside us. I noticed that he was tall and dark, taller than me by a few inches. He had solemn eyes, which sparkled with the intellectual brilliance in him, and a long nose.
A turbulence of thoughts had initiated in my mind with so much happening in front of me. I was scared to think that I would ever initiate anything spicy with this boy. If I would misbehave, firstly, he might find it very odd. Secondly, I wouldn’t get to see him for the rest of the tour. I was so comfortable talking to him, within such a short time, and I wanted him to be with me for the period of stay in Goa. I thought, I wouldn’t get bored, and it would be fun with him accompanying us during our sight-seeing. I didn’t want to spoil it doing anything unwarranted in the later portion of the night. I had to take a decision, and rightly so, I thought in the correct direction. I relinquished hopes of anything special happening that night. I wouldn’t give it a second thought even. I could figure out from the conversations we had, that he was not oriented otherwise.
So when we came back after dinner, I started gathering more information about him. I knew his college or course of study wouldn’t be of any special interest for me, so I didn’t prefer any discussions on that arena.
“Do you have siblings?”
“Yes, I do, one brother and one sister, what about you?”
“I am the single offspring of my parents.”
“That’s kind of cool, ain’t it? You get the complete share of love and care,” he mused.
I was not amused, I always felt the need of a brother or a sister, and I craved for that. I knew it was impossible. The special love and bonding one develops while growing with his siblings is a fantastic experience altogether. Subtle arguments, then making up, caring, all these touch of emotions had always haunted me. I would often feel an unfathomable emptiness lingering within me, which could never ever fill up. Deep in my soul a quiet amber knew, it was me against me, it was the apparent paradox that drove me on towards de-alienating, turning acquaintances into friends and sharing some true feelings with them.
So, I told him, “You don’t realize the value of people you have around you, I do, as I have none. Only a blind person can tell what it feels being able to see the slightest of worldly lights.”
“Co ‘on dude, I just said like that, don’t get sentimental.”
“Actually you know what; I have felt the solitude without a sibling, which even I had told my mom. My mom had tried to console me saying a few kind words but it doesn’t really help much.”
He understood the gravity of the discussion he had sparked off! In an attempt to change the topic he started asking me about college.
“I understand, anyway don’t worry much, friends are always there at the time of need. Tell me about your friends at college, do you have a girlfriend?”
“No, I didn’t have that luck, though I have some feelings for one in our class,” I sighed.
“Interesting! Why don’t you tell her?” he wondered.
“It’s a different story dude, will tell you if I get the opportunity,” I said.
“Ok, if you are not at ease now.”
“What about you Neel?” I quizzed.
“I had one, when I was at school, we broke off due to some differences, now I am single and not looking.”
“Why not looking? Haven’t you yet recovered from the break-off?” I asked.
“It’s not like that, there are some other problems, which I need to sort out now, I won’t burden you with my difficulties dude,” he smiled.
We kept quiet for sometime, respecting each other’s need of doing so. Meanwhile I started thinking about him as a prospective friend, even though we had been just acquaintances for a few hours. I gathered some courage and spoke again “Neel can I request you for something?”
“Sure, go ahead!”
“Would you please accompany us during our sight seeing?” I urged.
He thought for a moment, and then said “I am not sure, if I can be there with you all through, but yes of course I won’t say a complete ‘no’. I have some plans while I am at home.”
“What about tomorrow?” I enquired.
“I have a function at home, which would be over by evening.”
“No chances of meeting you then?”
“I didn’t say that, we can meet after dusk, may be, go out for a stroll on Miramar beach,” Neel proposed.
“Wow! Miramar has a beach, that’s great!” I was exuberant.
“There’s nothing wow about that beach dude, it’s not good enough for bathing. But that place is the confluence of Mandovi River with the Arabian Sea. You can also see a lighthouse in the distance – that’s the Aguada Fort,” Neel was eloquent as ever.
“Ok, then will I call you around, say 8:00 pm? Will that be fine?” I asked.
“Fair enough,” he said and wrote his number on a piece of paper and handed over the same to me.
“Thanks dude, time to sleep, Good night.”
He wished me back with a smile and turned the other way and made himself cozy. I decided not to think about Neel anymore, and so tried to get a wink of sleep. But then, he was so easy going, and friendly. The way he spoke with a Yankee accent, spelt specific information about anything briefly, the panache he carried, were really impressive. I felt at peace that I would be in touch with him throughout my stay in Goa. With that thought I didn’t even remember when I would have knocked the doors of sleep.
The next morning Neel woke me up “Dude! We have reached Panaji.”
We boarded a local bus to Miramar. Neel accompanied us, and got down before we reached the beach bus stand. He reassured meeting me at dusk. It was not a difficult proposition finding the guest house as it was pretty near to the beach. The room was facing the sea. There was a verandah in front of the room; from where we could get a comprehensive view of the beach. This provided a perfect location for a stress free holiday. We felt contented and took some time off for ablutions & refreshment.
