By Muthamma Prasad
Clean Air. Friends dotted around tables. Long queue to the sole ladies’ toilet. I sat at my regular seat- a stool at the corner of the bar with a back rest (the only one of its kind in this pub). The 3-minute bell signalling the show rings. The audience politely shove each other to get to the stairs- there are no allocated seats, you can sit anywhere.
I’m on my second beer, half-heartedly annoyed at the smoking ban, reading a book which I switch in and out of as people move around me. The bar staff take their breaks trying to talk to me- I’m there often; they ought to feel familiar enough to talk to me about nothing and everything. Sometimes, I prefer to read my book; sometimes I wish I could talk to them about nothing.
And then, he walked in. Sober. He is old enough to be my father’s youngest brother. There is something desperately sad and pathetic about him. The way he swiftly gets pissed and tries to act nonchalant while making throw away comments about surfing and “hip” music. I remembered the first time I met him. He shook my hand and held it for a little too long, trying to maintain eye contact that he, undoubtedly, thought was going to get him somewhere.
The next time, he tried to talk about life and its mysteries. To be fair, he might have made some valid points, but I was too under the influence and surrounded by good friends to pay him any attention. But, today, sober, he walked in. I pretended to not notice. I knew that he knew that I was ignoring him. I felt ridiculous.
So, I looked up and said, Hi. Five rounds later, the end-of-the-interval bell rang. The audience rushed back up the stairs, a lot less politely than before. I’m sure I saw the odd elbow. And then he asked, “Where do you want to be?” I wanted to say something trivial, something to make him realise that his attempts at being wise was nothing more than a joke to me.
In spite of the volume of my contempt for him, I said “Anywhere. I want to be anywhere but here. But, I don’t know how to get there”. “So start walking”, he said, “like the bunny said to Alice, keep walking and you’ll always get somewhere.”