The six of us

[ A conversation dated 26 December, 2011 ]

Hyde: This is fun.. It's not so bad after all.

Bane: Oh yeah.. So you don't miss me at all then.

Hyde: It's not like that, man..

Bane, getting a little worked up: Oh yeah? Then what's it like?

Hyde: Forget it, man.. You're still trapped there.

Bane: No no.. tell me. I want to know.

Glum, who was sitting silently in a corner all this while, chips in: Hey Bane.. For what it's worth.. I miss you.

Hyde: Shut up Glum, will ya? It's not about you. Okay Bane, I'll tell you. It's not like I don't miss you at all. It's just that I had imagined that I'd be stuck up in some shitty place with no friends. But truth is, it's not really like that. I'm having a good time here. And maybe..

Bane: Maybe what?

Hyde: Maybe I'm not realizing it now. But I guess I'm having it even better than it was with you..

Bane: You smug bastard.. I knew something was amiss..

Hyde: Hey, I still visit once in a while.

Glum: But Hyde, it's not the same now, not without the trio. Why don't you get it!

Hyde: Why do you keep butting in, Glum? Let Bane speak for himself. I'm pretty sure he's not missing much without me. Why don't we just get moving with our lives. And Glum, you should be grateful for all the good times you shared with us and just learn to let go.. Can't be living in the past now, can we!

And now, emerging from the shadows, Darko: Ah! True that. Pearls of wisdom.

Bane: Oh, so you're still lurking around, Darko. I wonder what kept you from rearing your evil head for so long.

Darko: Oh Bane, come on now. This is how you greet your old friend.

Bane: Friend, you say!

Darko: Ouch! You strike right where it hurts. I never left. You were the one who neglected me then. And now, I don't need you. Because you know what, your story is over now. Hyde is here now and he takes good care of me. Isn't that right, Hyde?

Hyde: Not now, Darko. It's enough already dealing with Glum here..

Darko: Blame not me for Glum's problems. You gotta deal with it yourself. I can't help it if doing what I gotta do makes Glum the way he is.

Glum: I can go away. But you do know yourself that Darko needs me. And so do you. You might not see me for a while, but you can be sure that I'm only hiding in a closet somewhere, ready to come out and play any time.

Darko (with a smirk on his face): Ha! Guess it's high time you actually came out of the closet, Glum.

Bane: Okay Darko, we don't need your caustic jokes now.

Darko: No no no, my dear Bane. Now is the most opportune time for it.

Bane: Don't you..

Hyde: Let it rest, Bane. He can't change who he is. And neither can we. It's best we come to terms with reality as soon as humanly possible.

Darko: That would be best for all of us. And let that stupid Hart know that too. He's the one who needs this advice the most.

Hyde (laughing): Yeah.. you're right.

Bane: Where is Hart, by the way? Wasn't he too supposed to be here? You did call him, right, Hyde?

Hyde: Yeah, I did. But you know him. Never really complies with what you tell him. But don't worry, he'll hopefully figure out soon what he wants.

Darko: And I need to see K. too. It's finally time to have a sit down with him. Questions need to be asked. Answers must be given. We can not put this off any longer. Till then, adios amigos.

Hyde: So long..

Guitar Man

he listened to the guitar man and thought he could be one too
he found meaning in his words and dreamed of writing too
sometimes grew inspired and penned down a few
most of it was crap and none of it was new

he tried to sing along and add some music to it
that didn't help much and he ended up feeling like shit
the spark was there but he wished for more fire
searching for that light to get him higher

they said he was a nice guy and that's what he thought too
he believed them but knew not all of it was true
for deep down he felt under-compensated
waiting for something that was much belated

he longed for his friends though he had friends here too
spending long nights trying to make the perfect brew
having until now only watched the hawks that flew
he realized that it was now his turn too

Sleepy Saturday

Ever had one of those days where you sleep right through them? I mean, you've had a long hard week of work. Okay, not that much hard work, but still a long week. The Manic Monday, which you entirely spent going through the clutter of a few hundred mails which had gathered in your mailbox over the weekend. You didn't even read all of them, but cared enough to just mark them as read. The Torrid Tuesday, on which you actually finished up that piece of work you were supposed to do the previous week. And the Wishful Wednesday, which you spent with conceited ideas about the grandness of the work that you're doing and delusions about the meaningful purpose of the sedentary life that you lead. Then the Truthful Thursday, when you actually realized that you're an inconsequential speck in the universe and what you do (or don't do) doesn't mean shit to anyone else. And lastly, the Favoured Friday, when all you had hatching in your mind were plots to leave early from work, so you can go get sloshed in some shady corner of the city. Well, you get the drift...

And now you have Sleepy Saturday ahead of you, with nothing much that you've planned to do. Of course, you had plans of catching that movie and finishing up that book. But then, eventually you do give in. After only twenty minutes into the movie or fifteen pages into the book, dopiness overpowers you. And you let it do so since it's simply so blissful. Slam the laptop screen shut, or fling away the book... Okay, now I don't really do that. I safely keep aside my precious laptop after putting it on hibernation, or carefully place the book on the bedside table after placing the bookmark, and then I get on with it. Switch over to the dark side, if you know what I mean.

Fast forward n hours (who cares how many hours you slept), and you are sitting up in bed, fully energized, raring to go and conquer the world, and that's when you glance at your watch. The entire day has passed and now you have only the whole night ahead of you. And you obviously can't go back to sleep, because...well, now you can't sleep. It's like being left high and dry with a boner and all you can do is take matters into your own hand. That's what you might actually do to while away time once you've woken up like this in the middle of the night. Obviously, you're hungry too, so you cook up a quick omelette to nibble on and brew a cup of tea for yourself. The chai is an absolute must because that's the first thing I want on waking up, irrespective of the iniquitous hour I wake up at.

Then you finally get round to watching that movie you wanted to, go on to watch a couple of tv series episodes too, check your gmail and facebook to find other nocturnal creatures out there, get bored and shut down your laptop. But the night is still young and you're still not sleepy enough to go back to sleep again. Ah, what else is there to be done in the world, you wonder. Might as well try writing something which you're pretty sure will end up as a superfluous rant. And congratulations, you've succeeded at that.

Should probably get on with the book now and wait for Smug Sunday. Oh, it's here already!